MINKY LEE

Pataphysical response -
Thaumaturgical Feminisms

2019 / MA project

We still think of old women with crooked nose and cackling laughter who's flying around on a broomstick with their black cat when we think about witches. There might not be an actual witch-burning anymore, but people still call someone (usually a woman) a witch very easily when they are disturbed by a person who has great talent in something or has charis- matic characteristics. Silvia Federici argues in her book ‘Caliban and the Witch ’ that accusing women of being a witch and punishing them could not have been ‘unless they posed a challenge to the power structure’. She also explains the great witch hunt in Europe with class struggle. Because the witch hunt was an excuse for the patriarchy and the then-emerging capitalist economy to punish women who tried to go against the social rules they set, this accusation is still a valid one for accusing women who are not fit for the social norms. And because of the very reason that the witches are powerful beings who challenges the social rules, feminists embraced the narrative of witches as strong and defiant women. Menstrual blood has been believed to have magical power in many cultures, sometimes used as an ingredient for magical potions mainly related to love. In some cases, it’s considered to be a ‘pollutant’ that has harmful effects on living things and some culture has taboos related to menstrual blood and menstruating women. In 1920, menotoxin theory was developed, saying that this invisible material called ‘menotoxin’ in menstrual blood blight flowers and prevent the jam from setting and bread from rising. Though people hardly believe in invisible toxic substance in menstrual blood these days, Sophie Laws argues the taboos about menstruation still exists under the name of etiquette. On a personal level, many women feel uncomfortable when talking about their experience on menstruation even though it’s what happens to their own body every month. The issues around menstruation are not discussed or accepted well enough on the social level. Though ‘blood meal’ sounds very witchy, it’s not an unfamiliar thing for many horticulturists. Rich in nitrogen and protein, blood meal helps the plants to grow well, and people have been feeding bovine and swine blood that comes from slaughterhouses or fish blood and guts to their plants for a long time. You can easily find information on how to make them on your own, or where to buy them online. As the feminism movement advance, some women tried feeding their menstrual blood to plants to go beyond the taboo of menstrual blood. After all, if a pig and cow blood are helpful for the plants, why not menstrual blood? We’ve asked some people to donate their blood for our experiment. We’ve adopted the medical guidelines for handling blood and other body substances and wore protective gloves, goggles and lab coats. During the process, we had a chance to have a very interesting chat with different women. Some people still felt uncomfortable with doing something using menstrual blood because they might harm us, and some people found out about new kind of menstrual product, and some tried the new menstrual product - menstrual cup. With everything we’ve gathered above, through para-scientific witchcraft, we’ve found the perfect way to produce botanical enhancer for thaumaturgical horticulturists. Anyone willing to use their magical power in their menstrual blood can sign up as a new member of our coven and get a kit box with an instruction manual of how to produce the enhancer. The enhancer then can be used to help to grow your evening primrose plant, which is also known as ‘the moon greeting flower’ in Chinese and Korean. The oil of evening primrose is known to be helpful with breast pain, PMS, and symptoms of menopause.