The Ovia app predicted that I should be getting my period on 3 February, the predictions have always been accurate until my recent cycle came a week-and-a-half later.
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I went into panic mode, as a sexually active adult: “OMG, I’m pregnant.” I consulted my partner and bought the Clearblue pregnancy test – let me say, I was disappointed to learn I was not pregnant x_x. However, confusion crept in as I didn’t understand why my period was beyond late. Then I had a light-bulb moment while scrolling through WhatsApp stories. A friend had posted something about the leap year and my wild imagination decided to link the late period to the leap year – a year that has an extra day added to keep the calendar year synchronised with the astronomical or seasonal year.
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Convinced that this extra day had vested power to overthrow my entire cycle, I consulted renowned astrologer Linda Shaw for an expert and detailed breakdown of my belief. Linda says the “leap year is a convenient way to deal with an inconvenient glitch in our calendar. 29 February has come to symbolise a time when we are willing to ‘leap over’ the standard traditions of the time and make different choices”.
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Shaw goes on to extend why this extra day in the year has so much power over human beings, particularly ladies. “So, for women who need their periods to change – to fit in with a holiday or boyfriend – they would have the power to alter their cycle. But they would have to want it enough to use their feminine gifts to challenge nature. It wouldn’t be easy – but it could be done. Women are extremely powerful when they want to do something in the name of love. And nothing will stop them.
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She concludes, “It’s not generally associated with changes in menstrual cycles, but for women whose cycles happen at precisely the same time every month, an extra day would obviously change the date on which their cycle starts or finishes. That aside, though, 29 Feb is a day of magic.”
