#menstrual rites

[haggishlyhagging]

Among the plaited objects in the menstruant's hut, one of the first may have been her rug. Since she was forbidden to touch the ground with any part of her body, leaves were spread for her, banana leaves, broad pandanus leaves, pine boughs, or bark. Later the floor covering would be woven or fitted together—mats, sticks of bamboo, slats of wood. From this practice, it seems reasonable to suppose, people may have developed the habit of putting wooden floors in their houses.

During her seclusions she would have also acquired the wooden chair and stool as a matter of course, because her vulva could not touch the earth: "Among the Yabim and Bukaua, two neighbouring and kindred tribes on the coast of Northern New Guinea, a girl at puberty is secluded for some five or six weeks in an inner part of the house; but she may not sit on the floor, lest her uncleanliness should cleave to it, so a log of wood is placed for her to squat on." The menstruant squatted on special materials that kept her safely raised: slabs of wood, slabs of leather, woven mats, and in clothmaking cultures, pillows. Rachel, in Genesis, sat upon a special "camel chair" seat to menstruate.

The menstruant was propped up with logs or branches on three sides and underneath, to keep her contained and to keep her from lying down or from falling asleep. This form of her sitting body, outlined in wood, needed only to have its parts lashed together to become what we know as a chair. Men of course acquired the right to sit in chairs, just as they acquired clothing. My father and mother each had a designated chair, and they rarely sat anywhere else; chairs now belong to both genders. But as with all cosmetikos, the ideology for and the source of the form chair belong to the menstrual seclusion rites.

From the nakedness of the primal ancestress in her elemental hut, to the menstruant's emergence in full public ceremony at the end of her seclusion, women enacted and communicated fundamental mysteries by dressing in metaforms. The menstruant's paraphernalia piled up around her —her bowls, her straws, her mats, and her plates. They were hers alone; no one else could use them without being harmed. If she didn't break them, they had to be stored in special places, kept away from others in what would eventually become trunks, boxes, baskets, closets, cupboards—and my mother's red cedar chest. Her utensils would be carefully wrapped and cleaned, kept, like her, in the dark. She would become the one with the overflowing purse, the trunks of clothing, the hatboxes, the rolls of rugs and blankets, and the shelves of household "goods" that formed the basis, not only for family and village life, but for all technological measurement. The woman would carry her paraphernalia with her. She would become the gender who—around the world—carries the largest burdens.

-Judy Grahn, Blood, Bread, and Roses: How Menstruation Created the World

[tanuki-kimono]

Cw: We are going to talk here about periods, and sex education in the past. Read this note according to your own sensibilities :)

How women dealt with periods during Edo period, article by shunga enthousiast Shungirl who made a paper pad following instructions found in makura bunko 枕文庫 - ie ancient sex books illustrated with erotic ukiyoe.

One of such makura bunko is 渓斎英泉 Keisai Eisen's 閨中紀聞-枕文庫, first published in 1822. It details Chinese remedies recipes for menstrual pains and irregularities, give tips about sex, and information about menstruations and pregnancy. From a modern point of view, some beliefs are outdated, but it was then such a bestseller it went through several reeditions.

Several words were apparently in use during Edo era to designates menstrual period: keisui 経水, gekkei 月経, tsukiyaku 月水, etc.

When girls went throught their first period, their females relatives or nannies would taught them how to deal with them. One method was to use paper as sanitary products (please note people without easy access to paper probably dealt with periods differently).

__________ 御馬 paper pads

Sanitary pads, such as the one recreated above by Shungirl, were then called mima 御馬 (probably as a pun on true "mima" which were then fine horses own by noblemen, or attached to sanctuaries as mounts for gods etc) or simply ouma お馬 ("honorable" horse).

Ouma were made from inexpensive recycled paper called Asakusagami 浅草紙. Sheets were folded 8 times, tied with twisted paper strings (koyori 紙縒), and then wrapped with another layer of folded paper. It was secured once again with paper strings.

Part of the strings could be left long so to tie around the waist, or/and pad was hold into place by wearing fundoshi 褌 loincloth (which would also help prevent leaking on inner tights).

Asakusagami quality was low (it was also used as toilet paper) so paper pads had to be changed often, meaning you had to fold quite a lot of them to go through your period!

Shungirl folded the pad above following instructions found in the book 実娯教絵抄, which provided several other "models":

__________ 詰め紙 paper tampons

Another method for dealing with periods were tampon-like paper bundles which were inserted into the vagina, the 詰め紙 (tsumeshi? I am not sure of the reading).

This method may have first appeared in red-light districts (?). Beside its use for periods, prostitutes also used those tampons as method of contraception (OP has an interesting article on this subject).

By the end of Edo period and into Meiji, paper tampons were widely used even by women who were not prostitutes - despite voices branding this method as unsanitary.

__________ About girls' coming of age rites

Menarche (first period) was an important milestone for girls, and was celebrated as such via specific rites (shochō o iwau 初潮を祝). Those differed a lot from places to places, and also depended on social status.

Celebrations would concern close family, but often spread to wider community who could received for example a festive meal (sekihan 赤飯) for the occasion (some Edo era senryû poems stress how mortifying this publicity could be!).

Interestingly, some traditions were also pretty sweet: in some places, mothers would sew 3 stiches into their daughter's underskirt (koshimaki 腰巻き) as a good luck charm, hoping their periods would last only 3 days <3

Those rites were part of coming of age traditions (seijoshiki 成女式) which marked the start of a young woman adulthood. Another example is the blackening of teeth (ohaguro お歯黒) which usually started around 16-17 years old.

Celebrating menarche publicly was a way of advertising that the girl was no longer a child and would "soon" be a bride. Yet, if menarche often took place around 13-14 years old, in reality it was somehow unusual to have girls married so soon!

Before marriage, especially in non-noble/samurai families, young women often started their sexual life via flings or yobai 夜這い ("night crawling" ie pseudo-secret nighttime encounters) before any wedding actually took place.

[nyxshadowhawk]

Hellenic Gods Fact Sheets and Hymns: Hecate

Other Names: Trivia, Brimo

Epithets: Anassa eneroi  (queen of those below), Aidonaia (lady of the Underworld), Amibousa (she who changes), Atalus (tender, delicate), Borborophorba (she who feeds on filth), Brimo (angry, terrifying), Despoina (mistress), Eileithyia (of childbirth), Enodia (of the roads), Epaine (dread), Euplokamos (bright-tressed), Khthonia (of the Underworld), Kleidouchos (keeper of the keys), Kourotrophos (protector of children), Krokopelos (saffron-robed), Liparokredemnos (bright-coiffed), Nycteria (nocturnal; of the night), Nyctipolos (night-wandering), Perseis (destroyer/ daughter of Perses), Phosphoros (light bearer), Propolos (guide), Propylaia (the one before the gate), Scylacagetis (leader of dogs), Soteira (savior), Trikephalos (three-headed/of the crossroads), Trimorphos (three-formed), Trioditis (of the three ways), Trivia (of the three ways).

Domains: Witchcraft, magic, necromancy, ghosts, nightmares, death, initiation, the crossroads, gateways, passage between worlds, and the night.

Appearance: [My UPG] A tall (over 6’) woman, neither young nor old, with waist-length black hair, pale skin, prominent cheekbones, a heavy jaw, and intense green eyes. She is usually dressed in black folds molded into a simple dress or robes. She has a severe expression and an intimidating presence. She speaks with a low voice.

Sacred Days and Festivals: Eleusinia (22 Metageitnion). Nemoralia (August 13th-15th). Deipnon, last day of each (lunar) month.

Symbols/Attributes: Torches, keys, daggers, strophalos (iynx wheel)

Sacred Animals: Dog, polecat, serpent, horse, frog.

Sacred Plants: Yew, cypress, garlic, willow, hazel, black poplar, aconite, belladonna, dittany, mandrake, hemlock, asphodel

Elemental Affinity: Darkness, light, fire

Planet: Moon

Colors: Black, saffron, silver.

Crystals: Black onyx, hematite, obsidian, black tourmaline, moonstone, smoky quartz, agate, amethyst.

Incense: Myrrh, almond, cypress, camphor, saffron, mugwort, pomegranate.

Tarot Cards: The High Priestess, The Moon, Death

Retinue: Empousai, ghosts of the dead, dogs, Lampades (torch-bearing underworld nymphs)

Associated People: Witches (and other magic-users), the dead

Offerings: Bread, eggs, honey, garlic, menstrual blood, graveyard dirt.

Syncretized With: Artemis, Diana, Persephone, Eileithyia, Selene, Nephthys, Ereshkigal, Nicnevin, Heqet

Hymns to Hecate

Orphic Hymn to Hecate

Hekate Enodia, Trivia, lovely dame, Of earthly, watery, and celestial frame, Sepulchral, in a saffron veil arrayed, Pleased with dark ghosts that wander through the shade; Daughter of Perses, solitary goddess, hail! The world’s key-bearer, never doomed to fail; In stags rejoicing, huntress, nightly seen, And drawn by bulls, unconquerable, monstrous queen; Leader, Nymphe, nurse, on mountains wandering, Hear the suppliants who with holy rites thy power revere, And to the herdsman with a favoring mind draw near.

Hecate’s Hymn to Herself

I come, a virgin of varied forms, wandering through the heavens, bull-faced, three-headed, ruthless, with golden arrows; chaste Phoebe bringing light to mortals, Eileithyia; bearing the three synthemata [sacred signs] of a triple nature.  In the Aether I appear in fiery forms and in the air I sit in a silver chariot, Earth reins in my black brood of puppies.

(From Porphyry’s lost commentary on the Chaldean Oracles, preserved by Eusebius of Caesaria in Praeparatio Evangelica. According to Porphyry, this hymn was composed by Hecate herself.)

Magical Invocation to Hecate

Approach, you of the netherworld, of earth, of heaven, Bombo! You by the wayside, at the crossroads, light-bearer, night-wanderer, Enemy of light, friend and companion of night, Rejoicing in the howl of dogs and in crimson gore, Lurking among the corpses and the tombs of lifeless dust, Lusting for blood, bringing terror to mortals, Grim one, Ogress [Mormo], Moon – you of many forms, May you come gracious to our sacrificial rites!

(Preserved in Refutation to All Heresies by Hippolytus)

Invocation to Hecate from PGM IV 2708-84

Come, giant Hecate, Dione’s guard, O Persia [daughter of Perses], Baubo Phroune, dart-shooter, Unconquered Lydian, the one untamed, Sired nobly, torch-bearing, guide, who bends down Proud necks, Kore, hear, you who’ve parted / gates Of steel unbreakable. O Artemis, Who, too, were once protectress, mighty one, Mistress, who burst forth from the earth, dog-leader, All-tamer, crossroad goddess, triple-headed, Bringer of light, august / virgin, I call you Fawn-slayer, crafty, O infernal one, And many-formed. Come, Hekate, goddess Of three ways, who with your fire-breathing phantoms Have been allotted dreaded roads and harsh / Enchantments, Hekate I call you

[…]

O Hekate of many names, O Virgin, Kore, Goddess, come, I ask, O guard and shelter of the threshing floor Persephone, O triple-headed goddess, Who walk on fire, cow-eyed BOUORPHORBE PANPHORBA PHORBARA AKITOPHI ERESHKIGAL / NEBOUTOSOUALETH Beside the doors, PYPYLEDEDEZO And gate-breaker; Come Hekate, of firey Counsel, I call you to my sacred chants.

[odinsblog]

Traccye Love used hair relaxers for years and believes the chemicals in those hair products are related to her uterine fibroids. Love, of Oak Park, had a hysterectomy two years ago and is one of thousands of women who have filed suit against the hair care companies.

Growing up in Chicago’s Chatham neighborhood in the late 1990s, Traccye Love wished for the long, smooth tresses of pop star Aaliyah.

“That was the look then — smooth and straight,” said Love, of Oak Park. “My mom would press it (with a hot comb), but I wanted it to stay straight.”

Love wasn’t allowed to get her first chemical hair relaxer until she turned 18. For most of the women in her close-knit, predominantly Black community, the rite of passage of using relaxers to straighten their naturally kinky, thick hair had come much younger. Love’s mother worried about the dangers of using a relaxer: chemical burns or brittle hair caused by lye and similar chemicals in hair-straightening products.

Throughout college, and well into her 30s, Love slathered on chemicals from home straightening kits every six weeks or so. Then, in her late 30s, she began to feel knee-buckling abdominal pain during her menstrual cycles — on her worst days each month, Love downed five 200-milligram tablets of ibuprofen every four hours.

“It felt like someone was taking my ovary and twisting it like a balloon,” Love said.

After several years and trips to three different doctors, tests revealed Love had multiple, golf ball-sized fibroid tumors in her uterus. In 2022, at the age of 38, she had a hysterectomy. She was still using hair relaxers until her husband spotted a social media post about lawsuits targeting the manufacturers. She now thinks the relaxers caused her tumors.

“It had never occurred to me that there was serious risk to using relaxers,” Love said. “I thought the risk was getting scalp burns.”

In October 2022, the first of several thousand lawsuits was filed at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in the Loop by a woman from St. Louis claiming that chemicals in hair relaxer products she used — such as Soft Sheen, Just for Me and Dark & Lovely — caused her cancer.

(continue reading)

[hekatean-path]

Ways I connect with Hekate and my deities when I am feeling burnt out

Sometimes, there are days or weeks when I feel so burnt out that I forget to pray or worship my deities. It happens to all of us, and it is perfectly normal. So, I have found subtle ways to pay my respects to my deities that are meaningful but also don't weigh too heavy on my mind.

Hekate:

In Sorita d'Este's book Hekate: Liminal Rites, it mentions that some of Hekates devotees were vegetarian or did not use meat in their rituals. So, I have made 95% of my diet plant-based as a devotional act to Hekate.

Another thing I do is if I can not think of anything to say as a prayer to Hekate when I am at her alter, I play TikToks or Reels of prayers and hymns other people have created. It's not as powerful as saying your own prayer, but it is a good substitute if you can not think of anything.

Aphrodite:

I have a playlist of devotional songs to Aphrodite, which I play in the shower. These songs are also centred around the sea. I find the ocean sounds and songs soothing and cleansing.

I dedicate my makeup and skincare to routine to Aphrodite.

Selene:

As well as being the goddess of the moon, Selene has also been linked to the menstrual cycle. So I have dedicated mine to Selene, and at the start of my mind, I ask her for a good cycle.

I also track the moon cycle and plan my activities around the position of the moon. If the moon is close to a new moon, I will take things easier and put more effort into my self care routine.

Nemesis:

Out of all the deities I worship, I work the least with Nemesis. Not because I don't like her, it's just because my connection to her is not as strong as it is with others. Saying that, one of my small devotional acts to Nemesis is standing up for myself when I am being bullied. I am a quiet person, so standing up for myself is hard. But I do it as a devotional act to Nemesis.

Thanathos:

My route to my nail salon goes through a cemetery, and ravens/crows frequent the area. When I walk through the cemetery, I pay my respects to the crows/ravens that guard the area. I also take the time to honour those who are laid to rest there and reflect on my life and how much love there is.

[serpentface]

What body parts do people typically do their daily bloodletting from? Is there any significance for blood coming from specific locations? And are infections common among bloodletting, particularly with using plants?

It's expected to perform everyday offerings from the hands and lower forearms in the vast majority of cases. On a philosophical level (which the average everyday person will not be actively thinking about) the hand is the place of interaction between the body and the outside world, the body's mode of Action and transformation of its environment, which makes its blood very powerful while also highly versatile in use. The exact location on the hand/forearms does not matter for generalized offerings, and people will alternate between specific points (either with each offering, or sequentially as an area becomes scarred) throughout their lifetime.

Most people will have visible scarring, which both practically identifies one as adherent to orthopraxy and is a metaphysical signifier and agent- one has the signs and proof of a sustained connection to God permanently marked into the skin (one of the exceptions to taboo about permanent body marking for its highly specific purpose). Many people find these scars to be a source of comfort, a pinpoint on the body in which they can strongly feel their connection to divinity. It's a very intimate (though not necessarily romantic) affectionate gesture to kiss someone's scars, as a part of the body that is reckoned both deeply vulnerable and empowered- kind of establishing a connection to a very private, important part of a person.

Blood in of itself is regarded as having a universal power as the vessel for the body's living spirit, but there is great significance ascribed to blood coming from specific locations in regard to the Wardi medical-spiritual model of the body, where normal physical function is sustained by bloodflow carrying the living spirit through each part and organ and allowing these parts to perform their physical/spiritual functions. Location is important for more specified rites wherein certain Kinds of blood need to be offered, usually in league with the body part's perceived/actual function (you'll most frequently see rites requiring blood specifically from the hands, feet, lips, tongue, penis, or breasts).

This applies to animals as well- some sacrifices are generalized offerings of the entire body (in which case the throat just needs to be slit to allow the blood to drain) while others might require the extraction of blood from internal organs for specific purposes (in which case the animal is killed with less blood being spilled, and opened up to have its organs processed). This is not as applicable to human sacrifice, as the only officially condoned human offerings occur at the peak of the dry season and require all blood to be drained from the body, as an exceptionally grave and powerful offering of an entire body and living spirit in recreation of God's self-sacrifice to bring life to an empty earth.

Menstrual blood also has significance. It has a dual nature as an indicator of health and fertility, but considered to be impurity expelled from the womb and the bloodstream at large and to be a spiritually polluting substance. There are a select few rites intended to utilize and direct this impurity- it can be used in curses and countercurses, particularly pertaining to fertility (ie if your crops are poor and this is reckoned as caused by a curse, menstrual blood can be involved in the process of breaking the curse and restoring fertility).

The ritual prioritization of physical cleanliness goes some ways to decreasing infection rates. The majority of people bathe on a daily basis (though the cleanliness of the water used varies) which is seen as a necessity for physical/spiritual cleansing, and social etiquette (there's HEAVY disdain towards strong body odors in this culture). Vinegar has been widely used for cleansing for generations, with its use having been discovered through evidence based medical practice and being ascribed (largely indistinguished) physical and spiritual cleansing properties. The majority of urban people have access to vinegar and use this to clean tools and wounds, which greatly decreases infection risk. Everyday bloodletting wounds are also very small and shallow and not at tremendous risk of infection.

Infection still is known to occur- families are usually sharing tools, vinegar is not universally accessible (nor the absolute best antimicrobial agent), water used as a substitute is often taken directly from rivers or the sea, piercing with thorns results in a deeper puncture wound that may be harder to clean, etc. Bloodletting wounds that become infected are interpreted as a consequence of having entered into the rites unclean, which means the rite has failed, the connection not made, and polluting entities have been able to enter the body that would have been otherwise blocked by the established blood-spirit flow with God.

[audreyscribes]

What powers would you give to a child of Rhea?

Oooof, I’ve been thinking about this for a while so here we go!

[LONG TEXT POST BELOW!!!]

Let’s just start off who Rhea is. Her name means “Flow; Ease” and she’s the Titan mother of the gods, goddess of female fertility, motherhood, and generation. Being Kronos’ wife and with her name, she represents the flow of time and generations, alongside with the flow of menstrual blood, birth waters, and milk. She was also the goddess of comfort and ease, and is considered also the Titaness of Protection and Blessing. 

So first and foremost, a child of Rhea would have her ability to induce serenity; as the Titaness of Comfort and Ease, her demigod child would be able to emit feelings of tranquility. This can happen by either an actual power or be inherent personality, seen in Hestia, where they just exude comfort and ease, giving an aura of warmth, comfort, safety, and so forth. Regardless, just because its comfort and ease, personality-wise it doesn’t have to come off as something quiet and composed (though it can very much be). Their personality can be something gruff and tough, but  there is comfort and ease behind a strong persona, like a heavy weighed blanket. 

Though being a demigod, the caveat is that as a power, it can only be attuned if they practice the act of comfort and ease. Something like achieving Inner Peace but with Comfort and Ease. The best way I can put into perspective is like the child of Rhea already exudes comfort and ease but their aura leaks out much like a leaky tap. Only when they come into their power can they let the power of Comfort and Ease flow out of them like getting the stuck tap to flow. Once that’s achieved, I can also imagine their power being used to force their opponents to not fight, in a sense where a child of Hypnos just makes their enemy fall asleep kind of deal, getting their opponents or target to lose their desire to fight. In a better situation, it can be used to keep the peace and ensure communication is exchanged with words and not fists; which if they were at Camp, this would be used so many ways. In most situations, people are drawn to them to just feel at peace.

However, this power is not necessary a good thing to have on all the time. While Comfort and Ease are good things, it is a passive thing and things cannot always be passive. They will have to learn or be forced to allow things to happen and it is inevitable that people will fight one way or another because it is required and there are reasons to fight and be active in. 

Other than that, I can see the child of Rhea picking up the skills to invoke protection and blessings, stuff like having a safe journey, to be healthy, and etc. It’s not powerful and permanent as a god+ blessing, but being a demi-titan?demigod? Of Rhea has some power. Another power they would have is to heal, possibly their speciality in “Curing”; especially harder to heal afflictions, reflecting how Rhea cured Dionysus of madness casted by Hera. I can see the child of Rhea spending most of their time at the Apollo cabin.  There is also the minor perk of being able to befriend felines because Rhea and her lions. Obviously if the child of Rhea has contact with lions, they have their own pride of Lions by their side.

Y’know what their ultimate power is though? Being able to talk back to the First Major 6 Gods and direct children of Rhea, with no consequences (except Hestia, she is their favourite half-sister and reminds them the most of Rhea). Not because they have this power of immunity, but its solely because they’re their half-sibling, and by sibling rite, they are the youngest and able to annoy them and call them out. Of course they shouldn’t nor wouldn’t insult them to their face and blatantly disrespect them, because Rhea raised them better than this but when Zeus is trying to leverage his power as King, you’re allowed to call him out on his pettiness of power.

The direct children of Rhea can’t really do anything because that’s their half-sibling and Rhea would give them the ultimate “I’m not angry, I’m disappointed” which is far more effective than anything. It’s also a bonus they act very much like Rhea so it's really hard to justify doing anything to them; even by Demigod standards. And in turn the child of Rhea treats them like family, albeit with the whole being a demigod and whatnot.  Thus a revolving door of gods asking for them to join them and gaining little favours and payment. Hermes, Apollo, Athena, Ares, Hephaestus, etc. Heck even Zeus has asked politely to come to appeal Hera, and vise-versa.  

[themonstrousother]

Ginger Snaps Resource List

For the upcoming 25 year anniversary, I thought it’d be fun to make a list of reviews, blog posts, academic articles and books that delve into Ginger Snaps (2000) and its sequels. I might update this list as we go long, we shall see. I’ve also tried providing links where I can. If anyone has suggestions/resources, lemme know and I’ll add them to the list

Disclaimer: While I don’t necessarily agree with every author here, they do offer compelling perspectives and analysis on the movie and think they’re worth a read.

Content Warning: Canon-typical discussions of sexual assault/rape, incest, violence and death

Bitch training: discipline and punishment in postfeminist narratives of female werewolves

Ginger Snaps: The monstrous feminine as femme animale in She-wolf: A cultural history of female werewolves by Barbara Creed

The Monstrous Feminine (second edition) by Barbara Creed

Misfit sisters: screen horror as female rites of passage by Sue Short

The Werewolf Pride Movement: A Step from Queer Medieval Tradition by Caitlin B. Giacopasi

Bloody Transformations: Reinventing the Werewolf Through Explorations of Gender and Power in the Ginger Snaps Trilogy

Bloody Transformations: Reinventing the Werewolf Through Explorations of Gender and Power in the Ginger Snaps Trilogy: Megan Kenny

"Something's Wrong, Like More Than You Being Female": Transgressive Sexuality and Discourses of Reproduction in Ginger Snaps by Bianca Nielsen

John Fawcett's Ginger Snaps by Ernest Mathijs

“Welcome to Civilization”: Colonialism, the Gothic, and Canada’s Self-protective Irony in the Ginger Snaps Werewolf Trilogy Author: Sunnie Rothenburger

THE LAND BEYOND THE FOREST: A CONCEPTUAL NOVELLA AND ACCOMPANYING ESSAY ON SETTLER RESPONSES TO INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN GENRE AND CONCEPTUAL WRITING by Trystan Anthony Carter

‘The worst loups-garous that one can meet’: Reading the Werewolf in the Canadian ‘Wilderness’ Kaja Franck

Perpetual flight: the terror of biology and biology of terror in the Ginger Snaps trilogy by Patricia Molloy

"The Hair that Wasn't There Before": Demystifying Monstrosity and Menstruation in "Ginger Snaps" and "Ginger Snaps Unleashed" by April Miller

Sister Lovers: The Curse of Queerness in ‘Ginger Snaps’ by Noah Berlatsky

Feminist Flashback: Were-girls Gone Wild in Ginger Snaps (2000)

Queer Moon Rising / Bites and Binaries: Traversing Gender in Ginger Snaps (2000) by Marisa Mercurio

Love, Death and Transformation in Ginger Snaps

Menstrual Monsters: The reception of the Ginger Snaps cult horror franchise by Barker, Martin

Together Forever: Sisterhood and Femininity in Ginger Snaps (Women In Horror Series) by Kelcie Mattson

Ginger Snaps and the impossible task of growing up female

REVIEW: ‘Ginger Snaps’ (2000) Says that Becoming a Woman is an Undue Curse

All Them Witches: How ‘Ginger Snaps’ Teaches Us How to Heal our Bodies by Alisha Mughual

Feminist Flashback: Were-girls Gone Wild in Ginger Snaps (2000)

Werewomen: An Exhumation of Transness in Horror Cinema by Sam Miller

Made To Be Monsters: “Ginger Snaps”

Blood, Hair and Pain: Ginger Snaps at 20

GINGER SNAPS: Horror, Genre and Kick-ass Feminism

Edgy Un/Intelligibilities: Feminist/Monster Theory Meets Ginger Snaps

Desiring Monsters: Femininity, Radical Incontinence, and Monstrous Appetite in Ginger Snaps, Jennifers Body, and Deadgirl by Wills, Deborah

“Out by Sixteen”: Queer(ed) Girls in Ginger Snaps Author: Tanis MacDonald

Just Us Girls by Alice Bolin

Ginger Snaps and the Possession of Womanhood—Konstantina Buhalis

Possessed by Puberty: Dissecting the Monstrous Feminine By Hannah Mourousias

[chelsfischer]

NO GATEKEEPING! WARNING!!!
I will NOT Gate Keep but I am also NOT sharing spells; but I am going to warn you that Blood magic should NOT be taken lightly. It is extremely personal to each person that uses it. And it is a link to you. It holds energy and a connection that is unbreakable. Blood magic cannot be undone!!! it is very potent. Be mindful and be sanitary! Please be aware of blood-borne pathogens!
Do not do blood magic if you are not comfortable, do not do blood magic if you're a beginner in the craft! PLEASE DO NOT do blood magic if you have a history of self harm! Your mental health matters!!!
Blood magic is an ancient magic and has ties to ancient civilizations! Approach Blood magic with respect and intent! Blood is the symbolism of life, sharing this means sharing your energies and your life force. 
Blood is associated with life and death. It does not involve harming or sacrifices. It consists of only one or two drops of blood. 
Blood is very protective and healing, it can be used to provide protection to yourself, but it also helps in offensive magic. You can use blood in a protective spell for yourself, to heal something of yourself, and you can also use it as offensive magic, such as creating a guard against other people's magic towards yourself. Blood magic can act as a ward for you.
Do not use your own blood when doing work on someone else if it is not meant for you do not use your blood!!
Using menstrual blood can be used to bind someone to you, however be mindful of who you do this on because this cannot be undone! Using Menstrual blood can be used as an offering to a deity of divine feminine, since it is linked to your divine feminine. 
When offering blood to a deity, this is a gift to them. Blood holds a lot of power and is something that they will willingly accept because it is something they do not have. Blood is a giver of life. It may also strengthen your bond with your deity. It can also be used as a Fertility spell when talking to your deity and used as Fertility rites. DO NOT FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE TO OFFER!!! 
Do not use menstrual blood if you are trying to bring things to you as menstrual blood is leaving the body. Your body is getting rid of what it does not need therefore by using this to bring things to you you're actually pushing things away from you.
Do not do a blood spell/ritual out of haste THINK ON IT!!!
Menstrual Blood- Fertility, Warding Against Pregnancy. This could be used for either intention. However you must firmly set this intention do NOT waver!!
You can collect blood if your partner bites your lip, or scratches you during intimacy. This can be used for passion, love, and fertility since it was harvested out of intimacy. 
ALWAYS ask to use someone else's blood; never use it against their will!
Having intimacy on your period is also a form of blood magic. Be careful with this!!! You can bind yourself and each other to each other! 
Blood magic is actually derived from hoodoo practice. 
I am NOT going to post blood spells or rituals you can deep dive on your own, and make your own or find some. I just wanted to cover some Blood magic since a lot of people gate keep and it is not often talked about. It is also looked at as evil however it is not it depends on how you use your intention. 
PLEASE be mindful, I am just informing you I am NOT telling you to do this! I repeat BLOOD MAGIC CANNOT BE UNDONE!

[inkwingsinc]

ok so about my lack of update. I got sidetracked writing about the nightmare horse (!!!!spoiler!!!!) and the other flesh gifts Feyd is going to give Laera. Harkonnen giftgiving traditions are atrocious, I've decided. Also I've re-written chap 21 like three times and I'm pretty sure some of my readers will unionize to beat my ass if I don't post eventually. ~tee hee~

Here, have some random headcanons related to BMGWMBGG because I'm deranged:

the Harkonnen tradition of offering "flesh gifts" to the bride is essentially the manifestation of that one post that's like "my love language is acts of service and all I know how to do is kill"

given that Geidi Prime has to pump groundwater since the planet has no oceans and little rainfall, there are likely thermal pools/natural springs somewhere in the Fortress. They function like bath houses, essentially. Feyd-Rautha visits them frequently.

the Harkonnen tradition of draping their brides in betrothal chains came from the practice of having to physically restrain their wives because uhhhhh they did not often consent to marriage. Now the chains are just brutally pretty jewelry, but in ye olden days Harkonnens would kidnap their brides caveman style

the ceremonial lyggal warpaint is mixed with human blood. often the wearer's

Harkonnen men totally get married half-naked covered in warpaint. How else is the bride supposed to take her blood rite if he's all covered up? :(

Geidi Prime has a renowned rave scene. Party drugs? Evil techno? That's basically Tuesday for the upper classes

Despite keeping appearance of the contrary, Feyd-Rautha is not a hedonist with all pleasures. He holds himself to the standard of a warrior and forces purity of mind and body so that he can feel superior to others. Baby boi deffo has an eating disorder and like six different hangups about eating in front of others. Violence is his chief vice but sex is a close second, so he's not a monk all the time...

Feyd-Rautha thinks it's just so charming that women have a menstrual cycle. oh his partner lifts her skirt? and she's already bleeding? it's like Christmas came twice.

Feyd-Rautha has met Princess Irulan on two occasions prior to Arrakis. He was buck-ass naked during their first meeting (I will not explain) and covered in blood for their second. The Baron offered Feyd as a marriage prospect to the Emperor's daughter both times. "isn't my nephew strong? isn't he capable? wouldn't you like to give him children?" *gestures to the horrible little man covered in blood*

Feyd-Rautha is freaked out by horses. It's the spindly legs...

Feyd-Rautha's favorite food is nutrient paste. I am not joking

[haggishlyhagging]

Lipstick, then, may be considered the first cosmetic: "Among the Dieri and other Australian tribes, menstruating women were marked with red paint round the mouth, while among the tribes of Victoria a menstruating woman is painted red from the waist up. Among Tapuga tribes of Brazil and on the Gold Coast of Africa, she is also painted red." Among the Cheyenne, at her first menstruation a girl was painted red all over her body and secluded for four days in a special little lodge. In China, formerly, a woman customarily put a red mark in the middle of her forehead to signal that she was menstruating, and also as a cosmetic.

Pregnancy, childbirth, and nursing were also special states designated with red paint. The Kaffir and many other tribal women painted their bodies with red ocher when they were pregnant. Pregnancy and childbirth are numinous phases of life, but it was because of the creative/decreative powers specifically accruing to women's blood that the use of red signaling during pregnancy and lactation gave women enormous powers of restraint over men and the spacing of childbearing. In some tribes, by using paint women might signal "no sex" for six or seven years at a time, while they continued nursing. More usual was the period of three years used by Nigerian women of the eighteenth century, who kept their bodies smeared with red earth throughout the entire period as a public announcement that they were bearing, nursing, or weaning a child.

One meaning of the blood signals was surely reassurance: "It's safe to look at me now," or "I'm old enough to bleed, but I'm not doing it right now," or "Now I'm available for sex or marriage." Among other peoples the red marks meant danger, keep away, not sexually available at this time: "Don't look at me." Mouth marking and paint was a display not only of the female power to bleed, but of a range of complex signals meaning "come here" or "stay away".

All the earliest cosmetics—menstrual blood, slashed blood, and tattoos of blue or red lines suggestive of blood on the face—must have enabled women to free themselves from some of the severest world-forming taboos. Most of the complex taboos would have remained intact in the initial major rite of menarche, but more minor ones would mark all the menstrual periods after the first. Western reporters noticed that the strict seclusions of the menstruant were being replaced in the nineteenth century by milder menstrual signals, such as a brightly colored scarf, face paint, a special apron or ring, or even a smoking pipe clenched in her teeth.

Whole peoples in older times studied the color red through body use. Some completely painted their bodies red (the "Red Clay People" of the eastern United States). They tattooed themselves from head to foot (Scotland, Canada, Borneo). They plastered their hair with ocher and grease, with thick red clay (South America, Africa), or stained their teeth red (Southeast Asia, South Pacific, South America), or painted and dyed their hair, hands, and feet with henna (India, Middle East, North Africa, Europe). Even now, when menstrual rite has largely vanished, women continue to paint their cheeks and lips red to impart vitality, health, sexual desirability, and self respect.

-Judy Grahn, Blood, Bread, and Roses: How Menstruation Created the World

[stromuprisahat]

... what’s the difference between a witch and a wizard, really? You might say that wizards are men and witches are women. But that isn’t the case. There are male witches, too. There were male witches, too. And they also got burned at the stake. No, the difference between the witch and the wizard instead relates to their relationship with nature. The wizard studies hefty books up in his tower. He takes in the knowledge they offer and learns to apply that in a world beyond the castle walls. The witch, meanwhile, is out in the forest, digging for magic herbs with her bare, dirty hands. Besides this, the witch (whether good or wicked) also performs rituals. She dances naked at the forest’s edge, makes offerings in the pale moonlight, and performs some sort of rite with menstrual blood or medicinal plants or whatever it might be. In short, there is almost always a spiritual aspect to the witch. One that you won’t find in the wizard in the same way. Although Hermione Granger in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books is called a “witch,” she is in actual fact a female wizard. There just isn’t really a word for those. Which there should be, of course. What separates the witch from the wizard is her attitude to nature. The witch is interested in convening with and understanding the plants that give her magical powers, not just because they give her powers, but because that connection means something to her. The wizard, however, can’t really be bothered with all that. He’s interested in magic for the power it brings him over the external world. Not how it connects him to himself, his body, or the cosmos. He lies much closer to the vision of technology that dominates today’s society. Which is why we need the witch. Not because she is a woman, but because of what she represents: a road not yet traveled.

Mother of Invention: How Good Ideas Get Ignored in an Economy Built for Men (Katrine Marçal)

I didn't expect a description of the difference between Sarkan and Agnieszka's magic in a metaphor in book about history of inventions and women, but here we are, I guess...

[justabrowncoatedwench]

Alternative gods that aren't Shar to turn to in times of sadness & mourning:

Kelemvor, Lord of the Dead

Jergal, the Final Scribe, servant of Kelemvor (Withers, maybe)

The Raven Queen, Goddess of Death/Dying (collector of memories & strong emotion, esp dealing with loss & sadness) - lesser known deity, largely worshipped by shadar-kai

Loviatar, the Maiden of Pain (a way to externalize internal pain)

Talona, Lady of Poison (worshiped by survivors of pestilence)

Myrkul, quasi-deity re power level, serves Kelemvor (oversees old age, among other pieces of his portfolio)

And that's just deities who also have Death as a cleric domain. This is just talking about broad Faerunian deities, most races also have their own pantheons, with their own deities they'd turn to in different situations. The majority of people in Faerun aren't solely worshiping a single deity, they worship deities within the situations & circumstances that that deity has jurisdiction over.

Deities of human/broad pantheon(s) who aren't Shar that you might turn to in a time of grief, sadness, or loss:

Chauntea, the Great Mother (OG nature goddess, these days goddess of agriculture & how civilization interacts w nature)

Selûne, the Moonmaiden (viwed as cyclical, & esp worshipped by human women during their menstrual cycles for example)

Ilmater, the Crying God (portfolio is endurance, suffering, martyrdom, perseverance)

Lathander, Morninglord, Lord of Birth & Renewal (the death rites are actually pretty neat imo)

Umberlee, Goddess of Oceans (for deaths at sea)

Etc etc etc

Basically, if a person has a deity they favor, every church/organization is going to have death & mourning rites. The majority of people aren't going to be turning from their other deities to seek succor at Shar's door just because they're mourning or sad; the kind of loss, and the solution Sharrans offer, is the way you'd rather forget what made you happy so you don't have to feel the pain of having lost it. That's what comfort Shar & her clerics offer.

[happychildcreation]

Death, spirit me away My anguished soul doth strain On taut and twisted reins Yet, insatiate I still remain Like a proud, unfalled star That dares thee from afar To calm my thund'rous heart Else, rend it's knots apart So I may never sing

Of jewelled skies o'er my strings And love, a wanton thing Can plunge on burnt, black wings To hang amid the thorns In scarlet, like velvet worn About the clouded moon Who wanes in solitude

I am alone Thirsting for the dark That lurks beneath marbled stone What black witchcraft Shalt prise thee from thy dreams And what perverse world-strategy Will wend it's way with thee from sleep?

"Rouse my disease And with cadent naked dance I shalt teach Thee wisdom of darkness From earth and red sea

Light bearing Samael Coalesce with me"

Twilight Through pagan city gates Bred shadows play like twining snake By candlelight Thanateros rites Death seduced and chaos wakes

Obsession grips, blindragon fever In throes of scythed orgasm, Eros dies And Saturn rapes faith's lovelorn Diva Upon a cyprean altar, stripped bare for sacrifice Virtue births a demon Pandora's box, unhinged, sets loose the night Winged lilith born for want of Eden Fanning plumes of harlotry Like pearls before the desert swine

The skies, they darken And the oceans part

Storm forth indignant Kraken Reborn Venus as thou art Feasting at my banquet Of Saturnalia I call thee having wrestled The tides from lonely Diana

"For thee Endymion I forsake the cerements of this star-flung tomb"

Be-with-us come Unveil the ancient flame Throw the cats our enemies Desire's menstrual strain Eastern Devil eyes A cruel erotic plague The Shekhina is in exile And the Israelites enslaved to shame

Midnight Jerusalem A tenebrous phantasy Revelates to men Their celestial walls crumble When walks the Xul Born to the scarlet whore in Babylon

The centuries of wait have all but gone Behold dark beauty stirs to conquer on and on

Now worship everything

[okari-blackpaw]

A mythological and Pop culture run down of Ammit and her associations. (Based on my experience with her)

(art credit to Jeff Simpson)

Ammit: Crocodile headed goddess of death and the scales of justice / Truth

Associations: Associated with Entropy, Death, Spirit Work, Justice, Afterlife Rites, Protection, Vengeance.

Appearance: her usual depiction, her moon knight depiction and then she has a human form to me that resembles isis

Symbol: Scales of Justice/ Truth

Animal associations: Salt water crocodiles, Nile crocodiles, (crocodiles in general), Alligators, Lions, Hippos.

Colors: Gold,  Greens, Browns, Yellows and Oranges (Ties to Sekhmet)

Titles: Lady of the Duat, Bringer of Justice, Eater of Hearts/ Man

Insense:  Jasmine, Dragons Blood, Myrrh

Other offerings: Salt water, Sand meat and bread based foods- traditional, dark red wines or nonalcholic colored drinks (needs to be red or red is preferred), menstrual blood, obsidian stones, blood stones, moonstones

Herbs: Hibiscus, Rose, (anything associated with death and or protection)

Tarot Card: Judgment, The Star. 

Note: Ammit, like Sekhmet is balanced out with Anubis or Tarweret. 

Worked with at any period that is a transition: i.e. new moon into full moon ect.

(so like any period of the moon just starting to enter a new moon or full moon phase of thats confusing- riiiight when it's almost a new moon or full moon but not quite)

Note 2.0: I personally use her Funko pop for a figurine and she seems to absolutely love it

Update: October 2023: actual organ offerings such as beef or chicken hearts are acceptable, blood magic/ offerings are acceptable (only if you have an understanding of the pros and cons of such magic and it is a practice you are comfortable with)

[lilflowerpot]

I was wondering as a child of teenage pregnancy what would that be like in the galran empire and if its even possible for galrans to get pregnant durring their teenage years. And if it is possible what would the discussion around that be like and what are the resources for the parents and chlid. And if it isnt how would they react to the fact humans as young as 14 can get pregnat.

Sorry if this make u uncomfortable and u dont have to answer. I just rarely even see the topic talked about in general and got curious.

Aging & Lifespans | Pregnancy & Children | Galra Fertility | Q'tskraal

Infancy: 0–13 idp Childhood: 14–38 idp Adolescence: 39–63 idp Young Adult: 64–139 idp Older Adult: 140–229 idp Elder: 230–280 idp

The above illustrates the broad strokes of different galra life stages, though for this question we're obviously focusing on adolescence. So galra adolescence (and therefore puberty) occurs between the ages of 39–63 imperial decaphoebs, with female galra typically reaching reproductive maturity a little later than their male counterparts; the absolute youngest a female galra could likely conceive would be around 50idp (the human equivalent of 14y), but remember that galra pregnancy is high-risk enough as it is, and even more so if the host's body is not yet fully grown. Then, of course, there's that monestrous fertility cycle to consider: unlike humans, whose menstrual cycle occurs year-round, female galra only experience a single phoeb of fertility per decaphoeb, meaning that an accidental pregnancy is infinitely less likely to occur.

All that being said, it is still possible for an adolescent galra to find themselves with child.

I here want to address the particular relevance of my Q'tskraal post, as there is technically a small overlap of 4idp between the youngest one could be when they succeed in the galra rite of passage (and therefore are considered an adult in Imperial society), and those last few decaphoebs of adolescence: if someone of 61idp who had passed their Q'tskraal were to fall pregnant, this would not be considered a "teenage pregnancy" by Imperial standards! In contrast, however, you could have someone who is 72idp and technically better equipped biologically to carry a pregnancy, but has not yet passed their Q'tskraal and so is still deemed a child themselves.

But I digress.

As I've said countless times before, the galra foster a collectivist culture, and so the very first social instinct would be for the entire local community to rally around the expectant parent(s) to provide them with all the emotional and practical support they could require—including unequivocal love if the pregnant galra decides they would like/need to terminate the pregnancy altogether. I thought I'd addressed the topic of abortion before (though if I did I cannot for find it for the life of me) but essentially, though Imperial culture puts great value on children, a foetus is not yet that: ever more important and therefore the priority is the bodily autonomy and right of the host parent to make their own damn decisions. In particularly dangerous cases, abortion may in fact be heavily recommended, if to proceed with the pregnancy is likely to result in fatality, but again,,, this decision is utterly at the discretion of the individual in question.

In the modern Empire, there is a third choice beyond those of child-pregnancy vs abortion: gestation pods! These serve as an artificial controlled environment within which a foetus can be carefully monitored and supplied with all the necessary nutrients it might require—the only caveat being that if a pregnancy is being transferred from a biological womb into this artificial one (rather than having been fostered within the gestation pod from the beginning as an intentional form of surrogacy) then the foetus must be transferred before the placenta takes over the transfer of nutrients to the embryo (at the end of the first quarter of the pregnancy), as at this point it has become entirely reliant on its host body for survival.

If, however, the pregnant galra decides they neither wish to abort nor transfer their pregnancy—or if it is too late for the latter—then every care would be taken by both their family and medical services to keep them as comfortable as possible; they'd likely be relocated to a local medical facility where they could be carefully monitored for the full duration of the pregnancy so as to minimise the associated danger, and all being well both they and the resultant kiting would end the experience hale and healthy. After this point, neither they nor their child would be treated especially differently from any other new family: the Imperial government would still grant them the allotted child support, while the local community would assist in child-rearing just as they do in all things.

The only thing that would induce a resoundingly negative reaction would be if one of the parents had passed their Q'tskraal while the other hadn't... unless conception had occurred prior to the Q'tskraal (in which case both parties were still legally children) this would be considered predatory behaviour on the part of the adult galra, even if the two are of the same age.