Your dedication to including medieval knowledge and even text to inform the common woman of how her rights have been systematically stripped away through the ages is both enlightening and necessary for growth to occur in us. Thank you for the immense amount of time you put into writing this well-penned essay!
Jamie, this comment is so uplifting. Thank you so much for taking the time to share these feelings with me, my heart is signing! I too find it so important we recognize that this suppression isn't new nor normal, and I'm grateful to connect over such a paradigm. Thank you for spending time with my words ❤️
There is some really interesting scholarship out there about how the new royal medical academies in the 17th century mined women’s receipt books for knowledge that then was absorbed into the male-controlled fields of “medicine” and “science.” Contemporaries and historians (especially the historians) then ignored women’s role and credited the male Academy members. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this one day.
As a modern licensed midwife (i.e. government sanctioned and regulated witch) I have not fully “progressed” beyond the healing plants of my garden, rather I have added many modern and ancient polycultural tools to my overflowing herb basket. I find the life-threatening political and social disruptions we’re currently experiencing (and perpetuating) in the US to be terrifying. It’s like half of our country is trying to get back to the Burning Times and childbed death. Thank you for sharing your thorough scholarship. Reading your words is like witnessing a mysterious and beautiful reweaving of a medieval-modern fabric.
If I could get " Reading your words is like witnessing a mysterious and beautiful reweaving of a medieval-modern fabric" tattooed onto my memory, I would. What a generous thing to say to a writer, thank you, Sadie! Thank you for spending your precious time here!! Thank you for the work you do, it is so, so important! Hyperbolic speaking aside, I too rely on my gardens for healing, and am so thankful for how you put it - you've just added more tools to your herb basket! Thank you for saying that and drawing attention to the importance of what our Mother provides to us in terms of healing alongside our modern luxuries. ❤️❤️
Thank you for writing on such an interesting topic. It makes so sad and angry to learn all these things, how hard women fought against oppression and how much we still have to fight.
I'm a sort of modern witch too, only my cauldron is set on 37°, I'm a clinical biochemist.
A few years ago I read a book about medieval Serbian society (I'm Serbian), before the Ottoman conquest. It was in the Eastern Roman empire's orbit and under heavy influence from Constantinople.
Chapters on healing were very interesting. I remember a citation from one of the sources (a monk) cautioning against chanting rhymes instructed by 'old wives'. Instead, deadly serious, he advised officially sanctioned prayers. I wonder which, if any, were helpful
Thank you for spending time with my words and for finding value in them, that means so very much!
A modern witch! I love it so much — a perfect turn of phrase for a biochemist.
Oh gosh, that sounds really interesting. Finding little snide comments such as that are always so hard — it solidifies just how long all of this hatred towards women has existed — but it also confirms that women were behaving in ways off-putting enough for those who viewed their own authority as righteous that they felt the need to immortalize them in writing. I love the irony so much.
A fantastic two-part essay which I will need to read again more slowly, to take it all in (a good thing). I am also a fan of Jenni Nuttall's book Mother Tongue.
Thank you for spending your precious time with my words, Ann! It was such a great read, I loved the way Dr Nuttall’s personality came through her words — Dr Eleanor Janega writes in a similar fashion, if you haven’t read her most recent, it’s right up the same alley!!
Amen. Very well-said. If only there was a way to travel back in time to 1484, publish a counter-manifesto, and then take an *actual hammer* to the (then newly-invented) printing presses to prevent, or at least greatly delay, the publication of the Malleus Maleficarum and the load of papal bull that went with it. Then the horrific Burning Times (the patriarchal gynocidal counterrevolution) would have burned itself out before the worst of it, and women would still have had a chance at actually winning the gender war for good via their slow-burn revolution.
Such a good add on here. So many moments crafted to other women right into invisibility and it is absolutely heart wrenching. I always have the thought, I wonder what the 14/15C midwives would think if they saw the anti woman midwife propaganda—if they didn’t do it, no one would have so I’m sure such sentiments would have almost been a laugh. The men are going to deliver babies, please?!? 🙄 Thank you for spending your time here!!! 💜
Your dedication to including medieval knowledge and even text to inform the common woman of how her rights have been systematically stripped away through the ages is both enlightening and necessary for growth to occur in us. Thank you for the immense amount of time you put into writing this well-penned essay!
Jamie, this comment is so uplifting. Thank you so much for taking the time to share these feelings with me, my heart is signing! I too find it so important we recognize that this suppression isn't new nor normal, and I'm grateful to connect over such a paradigm. Thank you for spending time with my words ❤️
Indeed. And the more things change, the more they stay the same, it seems.
There is some really interesting scholarship out there about how the new royal medical academies in the 17th century mined women’s receipt books for knowledge that then was absorbed into the male-controlled fields of “medicine” and “science.” Contemporaries and historians (especially the historians) then ignored women’s role and credited the male Academy members. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this one day.
Oh goodness this is wildly interesting, I’m grateful for your share! Thanks for spending time here 💜
As a modern licensed midwife (i.e. government sanctioned and regulated witch) I have not fully “progressed” beyond the healing plants of my garden, rather I have added many modern and ancient polycultural tools to my overflowing herb basket. I find the life-threatening political and social disruptions we’re currently experiencing (and perpetuating) in the US to be terrifying. It’s like half of our country is trying to get back to the Burning Times and childbed death. Thank you for sharing your thorough scholarship. Reading your words is like witnessing a mysterious and beautiful reweaving of a medieval-modern fabric.
If I could get " Reading your words is like witnessing a mysterious and beautiful reweaving of a medieval-modern fabric" tattooed onto my memory, I would. What a generous thing to say to a writer, thank you, Sadie! Thank you for spending your precious time here!! Thank you for the work you do, it is so, so important! Hyperbolic speaking aside, I too rely on my gardens for healing, and am so thankful for how you put it - you've just added more tools to your herb basket! Thank you for saying that and drawing attention to the importance of what our Mother provides to us in terms of healing alongside our modern luxuries. ❤️❤️
You’re welcome. My heart is singing reading your response. I look forward to reading more of your work.
Thank you for writing on such an interesting topic. It makes so sad and angry to learn all these things, how hard women fought against oppression and how much we still have to fight.
I'm a sort of modern witch too, only my cauldron is set on 37°, I'm a clinical biochemist.
A few years ago I read a book about medieval Serbian society (I'm Serbian), before the Ottoman conquest. It was in the Eastern Roman empire's orbit and under heavy influence from Constantinople.
Chapters on healing were very interesting. I remember a citation from one of the sources (a monk) cautioning against chanting rhymes instructed by 'old wives'. Instead, deadly serious, he advised officially sanctioned prayers. I wonder which, if any, were helpful
Thank you for spending time with my words and for finding value in them, that means so very much!
A modern witch! I love it so much — a perfect turn of phrase for a biochemist.
Oh gosh, that sounds really interesting. Finding little snide comments such as that are always so hard — it solidifies just how long all of this hatred towards women has existed — but it also confirms that women were behaving in ways off-putting enough for those who viewed their own authority as righteous that they felt the need to immortalize them in writing. I love the irony so much.
A fantastic two-part essay which I will need to read again more slowly, to take it all in (a good thing). I am also a fan of Jenni Nuttall's book Mother Tongue.
Thank you for spending your precious time with my words, Ann! It was such a great read, I loved the way Dr Nuttall’s personality came through her words — Dr Eleanor Janega writes in a similar fashion, if you haven’t read her most recent, it’s right up the same alley!!
Amen. Very well-said. If only there was a way to travel back in time to 1484, publish a counter-manifesto, and then take an *actual hammer* to the (then newly-invented) printing presses to prevent, or at least greatly delay, the publication of the Malleus Maleficarum and the load of papal bull that went with it. Then the horrific Burning Times (the patriarchal gynocidal counterrevolution) would have burned itself out before the worst of it, and women would still have had a chance at actually winning the gender war for good via their slow-burn revolution.
Such a good add on here. So many moments crafted to other women right into invisibility and it is absolutely heart wrenching. I always have the thought, I wonder what the 14/15C midwives would think if they saw the anti woman midwife propaganda—if they didn’t do it, no one would have so I’m sure such sentiments would have almost been a laugh. The men are going to deliver babies, please?!? 🙄 Thank you for spending your time here!!! 💜
I should also note that my "printing press" comment was inspired by this article by Katie Jgln:
https://thenoosphere.substack.com/p/how-the-printing-press-ignited-europes
Indeed, good point. Thank you, and you're very welcome 😊
This is really powerful! Thank you.