Despite modern studies producing inconclusive findings about the synchronicity of the menstrual and lunar cycles, historical evidence says otherwise. Lunar calendars were not merely timekeeping tools; they also tracked menstrual cycles, allowing early societies to track their cycles in concurrence with celestial rhythms. Prehistoric bone fragments marked with lunar phases illustrate how menstruators bodies were in harmony with the rest of the natural world. So why have we lost this innate connection to one of the most powerful forces in our galaxy—the moon?

Reclaiming the ancestral practice of manual cycle tracking is more than a personal choice; it is an act of defiance against the surveillance of popular period-tracking apps and the erosion of reproductive rights following the overturn of Roe v. Wade. By moving away from data-driven menstrual tracking, menstruators can regain autonomy over their health, resist the data-fication of their natural bodily rhythms, and reconnect with a system that has guided human existence for millennia. In a time when digital privacy and reproductive freedom are under attack, manual cycle tracking emerges as a radical, empowering tool for self-governance.