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Part of
Cultural-Linguistic Explorations into Spirituality, Emotionality, and Society
Edited by Hans-Georg Wolf, Denisa Latić and Anna Finzel
[Cognitive Linguistic Studies in Cultural Contexts 14] 2021
► pp. 41–76

Cultural conceptualizations of magical practices related to menstrual blood in a transhistorical and transcontinental perspective

ORCID logo | University of Potsdam

Most, if not all, of the studies in Cultural Linguistics have (a) taken a synchronic perspective or (b) focused on specific, intracultural conceptualizations. In my chapter, I will look at a cluster of conceptualizations that have been found to exist in different historical periods, in different languages and varieties, and on different continents. The case in point is conceptualizations of magical practices based on menstrual blood. The existence of these conceptualizations across time and space raises the challenging questions of their motivation, and, more generally, the “flow of conceptualizations.” While these questions will be pursued in my chapter, the main focus will be on an elaboration of the conceptual network of conceptualizations pertaining to menstrual blood magic.

Keywords: cultural conceptualizations, menstrual blood, magic, love potion, universality
Article outline
  • Prologue
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Spiritualistic conceptualizations of blood and their geographical, temporal, and cultural distribution
  • 3.Menstrual blood and its conceptualizations
    • 3.1Conceptualizations of menstrual blood as a charm
    • 3.2Menstrual blood as a love charm
  • 4.Discussion
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 8 September 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/clscc.14.04wol
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