關於"大姨媽"的10個神話傳說(上)
In many world cultures, menstruation has traditionally been seen as a source of intense female spiritual power, sometimes feared, sometimes revered. Here are 10 views on menstruation from throughout history.
在世界各地文化中，"大姨媽"歷來被視爲女性強大的精神力量源泉，人們有時害怕它，有時又崇拜它。縱觀歷史，我們來看看以下10種對"大姨媽"的不同觀點。eclad
10.石頭怪
Blood is an important part of the traditional Cherokee belief system, symbolizing life. Beliefs about procreation assert that a baby's flesh and blood are contributed by the Mother, while the father's sperm becomes the basis of the skeleton. Menstrual blood was considered particularly powerful, symbolic of female strength, and could be channeled against an enemy in sorcery, warfare, and ball-game rituals.
鮮血是切羅基人傳統信仰中重要的組成部分，象徵着生命。關於生育的信仰，他們斷言，新生兒的血肉是由母親提供的，而父親的精子則成爲了骨架的主要部分。他們認爲經血是特別強大的，象徵着女性力量，並能在巫術、戰爭以及球賽中用來對付敵人。
A Cherokee legend tells of a cannibalistic monster named Nun'yunu'wi, or Stoneclad. He was virtually invulnerable to attack due to his stone-like skin, and no warrior could ever hope to defeat him. He would lurk in the mountains, with a magical stick guiding him like a dog, where he would track, kill, and eat hapless hunters whom he stumbled across. His one weakness was that he could not bear to look at a menstruating woman. Though no Cherokee warrior could defeat him, he was destroyed in an encounter with seven menstruating virgins. One by one, they stood in his path and sapped his strength, and he crumbled into dust.
切羅基人有個傳說，講述的是關於一個叫做奴尤諾維或者石頭怪的食人怪物。由於這個怪物擁有岩石般堅硬的皮膚，所以他幾乎是無懈可擊的，沒有任何一個勇士有希望能夠打敗他。他隱居深山，有一根專屬魔杖，這魔杖擁有像狗一樣靈敏的嗅覺，引導他追蹤、殺害並吃掉那些被他絆倒的倒黴獵人們。這個怪物唯一的弱點就是無法忍受看到一個來"大姨媽"的女性。儘管沒有一個切羅基族勇士可以打敗他，但面對7個處於經期的處女時，這個"石頭人"卻能被瓦解。這7個處女一個接一個地站在怪物所處的道路上，削弱他的力量，使他碎成粉末。Menarcheal Rite
9.布須曼少女的初潮儀式
The Kung people of southern Africa believe that menstrual blood is a powerful life force, and a girl's first menstruation is believed to contain powerful num, or spiritual energy. When a girl first menstruates, she must go through the menarcheal rite, which involves isolation from others and avoiding certain activities. When a girl becomes aware of her first menstruation, she must crouch low with her eyes downcast until a woman mentor assists her. This mentor is not her mother, as the spiritual energy of first menstruation and childbirth are dangerous to combine.
非洲南部的布須曼人認爲，經血是一種強大的生命力，一個女孩的初潮也被認爲是牽制敵軍的有力武器，或者精神能量。女孩第一次來"大姨媽"時，她必須經歷初潮儀式，其中包括與他人隔離及避免某些活動。當一個女孩意識到她的初潮到來，她必須蹲下，低垂雙眼，直到有一個女性導師來幫助她。該導師不能是這個女孩的母親，因爲初潮和分娩兩者精神能量的結合是一件很危險的事情。A seclusion shelter is built for the girl, close to but separated from the community. As her spiritual energy is dangerously high, she must avoid affecting the environment. If the girl looks at the Sun, it would become hotter and destroy Earth plants; if she looks at the clouds, they would give no rain. She must be protected from touching the ground or rainwater. Also, she must be kept away from hunting men, as her powerful energy would reduce the power of their weapons and poison arrows and make the hunters lazy and lethargic.
少女初潮的精神能量具有高風險，爲了避免對環境造成影響，爲她們建的隔離場所離部落不遠但又是完全隔開的。如果正處於初潮期的女孩看了太陽，太陽就會變得更熱，地球上的植物也會因此遭到毀壞；如果她看了雲層，就不會下雨了。她也不能接觸地面或雨水。此外，她還必須離獵人們遠遠的，因爲她強大的能量會降低他們武器和毒箭的力量，讓獵人們變得懶惰、昏昏欲睡。ading The Red Dragon
8."赤龍"截流
In ancient Taoist thought, menstrual blood is called chilong, or Red Dragon, and is the source of female energy. (Semen, meanwhile, is the source of male energy and is called White Tiger.) Women lose their qi energy through menstruation as men lose it through ejaculation. In alchemical gynecology, there were techniques to reduce a woman's menses to a yellow flow before disappearing altogether, allowing women to maintain their energy.
在古代道家的理念裏，經血也叫"赤龍"，是女性能量的來源。（精液，也叫"白虎"White Tiger，是男性能力的來源。）女性在經期流失了"氣"，男性則通過射精失掉氣。古代鍊金術中有一門關於婦科的技術——在女性的月經完全停止之前，把經血弄成一種黃色的流體，這樣一來，經血帶來的能量就能持續。An ancient story tells of a young woman called Perfected Guan who fled into the mountains to escape an arranged marriage. There, she met an old man with thick eyebrows and blue eyes who drew a line on her stomach and said, "I have beheaded the red dragon for you. Now you can join the Dao." The methods were known as "transmuting blood and returning it to whiteness" and "refining the form of the Great Yin." Preventing menses required sexual purity, allowing women to "behead the Red Dragon." It was also meant to have the side effect of causing the breasts to retract. Taoist gynecologists recommended cultivating inner concentration and controlled stimulation of sexual energy through massaging the breasts.
傳說有一個叫Perfected Guan的女人爲了逃婚跑進了一座山裏。在那裏，她遇到了一個濃眉藍眼的老人，老人在她的肚子上劃了一道線，對她說："我已經停止了你的月經，現在你可以加入道教了。" 這個方法以讓血進行內化作用變回純白以及調整陰陽結構聞名。"性純潔"是停經的前提，只有保證性純潔才能"截斷赤龍"。這樣也就意味着還會存在胸部"縮水"的副作用。道教的"婦科醫生"建議增強內在精力專注度以及通過胸部按摩控制性能量刺激。7.禁忌
In Maori beliefs, tapu is the most important personal spiritual attribute, said to derive from the gods. It is both intensely personal and a universal force. Blood is said to be extremely tapu, and thus so are menstruating women. Therefore, this spiritual power means that restrictions of safety had to be placed on them. Menstruating women were not allowed to enter the sea, as sharks can smell the blood, nor were they allowed to ride horses, which can also smell blood.
在毛利人看來，禁忌是由上帝賦予的最重要的個人精神屬性。一方面它是非常私人的，另一方面它也是普羅大衆的權利。人們極度忌諱血，對經期的女性也如此。因此，這種精神的強制力就會給經期女性一些安全上的限制。她們不能靠近海洋，因爲鯊魚會嗅到血腥味；也不能騎馬，馬也會聞到。Some claimed that menstruation was linked to the Moon, said to be the husband of all women, and that menstrual discharge was so tapu because it was considered as a kind of immature or undeveloped human being. Chiefs and other men of rank were said to avoid women, as contact with places polluted by menstrual power could rob them of clairvoyant power. Some have claimed that menstrual blood was considered "unclean," but others have said that this is a misconception based on the conflation of Maori mythological concepts with Christian 2010, Te Papa Museum in Wellington, New Zealand, caused controversy when an installation of Maori jade artworks included a warning for "wahine (women) who are either hapu (pregnant) or mate wahine (menstruating)" to stay away, as the tapu of the objects and the tapu of menstruating women would be dangerous to put together.
有些人認爲經期是和月亮聯繫在一起的，據說月亮是所有女性的丈夫，他們還認爲，人們之所以如此忌諱月經，是因爲他們將尚未停經的女性看作不成熟或是未發育完全的人類。據說首領和一些等級較高的都不接近女人，因爲待在被經期的女性能量污染的地方會使他們失去洞察力。一些人認爲月經血是不乾淨的，但也有人認爲這種說法是建立在毛利神話概念和基督教理念結合之上的謬論。2010年，位於新西蘭惠靈頓的蒂帕帕國家博物館，在安裝瑪雅翡翠工藝品時引起了爭議，因爲該工藝品上有"孕婦和經期女性應遠離"的警告，而物體禁忌和經期女性禁忌放在一起是很危險的。Blood
6.女神之血
The Maya believe that menstruation and childbirth were linked to the Moon Goddess, sometimes known as Lady Blood or Ixchel. The Quiche Maya referred to menstruation as "the blood that stems from the moon," while the Itzaj Maya say "her moon is lowered" when a woman menstruates. The Tzotzil believed that the Moon itself was menstruating during the new moon.
瑪雅人相信月經和分娩都與月亮女神——又名血娘和Lxcil有關。瑪雅人把月經視爲月亮流出的血液，當一個女人來例假時，瑪雅伊特撒人會說"她的月亮降落了"。而索西族人則認爲是月經是月亮自己在新月形成時流血。Menstrual blood was considered a source of gendered power. Penile blood was the equivalent for men and was released in ritual ceremonies involving needles to allow them to be closer to the gods. In the case of women, it was seen as largely out of their control. One word for menstruation, yilic, derived from the word ilah or ilmah, translated as both "to menstruate" and "to see." Menstruation was seen as a form of sight, emanating not from the eyes but from the womb and the blood. Another Maya word for menstruation, u, also referred to the Moon and a month in the lunar calendar.
女人的經血被視爲性功能的來源。與之相似的是男人的精液，在正常的性生活中受到刺激被釋放出來，給男人帶來一種彷彿置身天堂的幸福感。但女人的月經在很大程度上就不受控制了。有一個關於月經的詞，yilic，來源於單詞"航空（ilah)或（ilmah）"，被譯爲"月經來潮"或"看見"。月經被視爲視線的一種，不同的是，它不是從眼睛裏放射出來的，而是來源於子宮和血液。另一個關於月經的瑪雅論斷認爲月經也涉及到月亮和農曆中的某個月。審校：梅子九 編輯：listen 來源：前十網
