‘Grade-Three Witch’: The Alchemy of Menstruation

Samenvatting

Can menstruation be magical? This paper explores how the menstrual cycle has been reimagined as a source of power through art from the 1980s onwards. Beginning with a brief history of menstrual magic in the Western tradition, we examine how historical phenomena including the witch trials, the advent of Wicca, and the late twentieth-century feminist reclamation of the witch archetype have inspired artists. Next, we turn to examples of artworks that combine menstruation with witchcraft themes, beginning with the creative inclusion of menstrual witches in a 1980 educational Norwegian pamphlet, the project Biomenstrual: A spell book for more-than-human menstrual care from 2021, and a project exploring the potential to grow meat from menstrual serum by artist WhiteFeather Hunter from 2024. Positioned within Critical Menstruation Studies, Art History, and Neopagan Studies, the ensuing analysis examines the complex, often contradictory connections between menstruation, witchcraft, and witches, especially when negotiating medical and scientific paradigms.