Medicine & Superstition
A series of works exhibited with Bookscapes Collective at the Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garrett 2025.
Scribatur Ista Medicina
(Let this Medicine be Written)
This is the place of her wandering.The place where she finds her way"
Susan Griffin
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This series of works explores the idea of textual amulets and the healing power of the written word. It formed part of a Bookscapes Collective Exhibition - Medicine and Superstition, held at the Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garret, London 2025.
Charms and enchantment form the very origins of medical practice and were often the first resort for healing in the early Middle Ages. During the medieval period, written texts were carried on the body as a means of healing and protection. Written charms offered safe passage through a turbulent and uncertain world. Words have power. They shape and give meaning to how we see the world.
Writing and speech were also seen as having distinct and over lapping practical, medical and protective applications. In certain cases writing had its own power not because it made speech concrete but because it transcended speech. Written words were used to make the power of the impermanent spoken charm endure.
Scribataur Ista Medicina considers ways in which these ideas continue to resonate today. The Bookwork consists of 365 pages of handwritten text. The work is shaped in the form of an equal sided cross - referencing the widely seen symbol on Pharmacies throughout Europe and the UK. Abandoning the usual rules of writing, letterforms are used to create drawings. Transparent pages echo fine parchment, creating a palimpsest of words and symbols of protection. While medieval texts would often include scripture and the names of saints, I have chosen to work with a contemporary book first published over 50 years ago - Women and Nature by Susan Griffin. I have substituted poetry and Nature over scripture and biblical verse. The work becomes a book of prescriptions - meditations that pay homage to the medieval scribes.
Griffin's book is a poetical text about healing, connection, and the nature of relationships. Certain passages have accompanied me over the years much in the way that scripture did for people in the past. Griffins words have their own 'magic' and continue to have power and are as relevant now as when first encountered. The translucent pages allow the text /drawings to be read in various ways, both across the page as well as through the various layers. Words recede, come forward, revealing fragments of sentences which encourages the viewer to decipher meaning from their own imaginations.
Charms and enchantment form the very origins of medical practice and were often the first resort for healing in the early Middle Ages. During the medieval period, written texts were carried on the body as a means of healing and protection. Written charms offered safe passage through a turbulent and uncertain world. Words have power. They shape and give meaning to how we see the world.
Writing and speech were also seen as having distinct and over lapping practical, medical and protective applications. In certain cases writing had its own power not because it made speech concrete but because it transcended speech. Written words were used to make the power of the impermanent spoken charm endure.
Scribataur Ista Medicina considers ways in which these ideas continue to resonate today. The Bookwork consists of 365 pages of handwritten text. The work is shaped in the form of an equal sided cross - referencing the widely seen symbol on Pharmacies throughout Europe and the UK. Abandoning the usual rules of writing, letterforms are used to create drawings. Transparent pages echo fine parchment, creating a palimpsest of words and symbols of protection. While medieval texts would often include scripture and the names of saints, I have chosen to work with a contemporary book first published over 50 years ago - Women and Nature by Susan Griffin. I have substituted poetry and Nature over scripture and biblical verse. The work becomes a book of prescriptions - meditations that pay homage to the medieval scribes.
Griffin's book is a poetical text about healing, connection, and the nature of relationships. Certain passages have accompanied me over the years much in the way that scripture did for people in the past. Griffins words have their own 'magic' and continue to have power and are as relevant now as when first encountered. The translucent pages allow the text /drawings to be read in various ways, both across the page as well as through the various layers. Words recede, come forward, revealing fragments of sentences which encourages the viewer to decipher meaning from their own imaginations.
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Medicus Curat, Natura Sanat
(The Physician Heals, Nature Cures)
'When the water approaches me, the shape of the wave is changed. And when the tide ebbs, you will see I too have changed"
Susan Griffin.
This work consists of a series of 28 contemporary amulet Pilgrim Badges. Amulets representing Gods and Goddesses who have a healing function have been carried by humans since the Stone Age. Objects can be evocative. They can bring comfort, or inspire. We imbue objects with meaning, whether worn, carried in the pocket, or displayed on a shelf. They can be helpful tools in channelling strength, courage or comfort in a time of need. Traditional Pilgrim badges allowed individuals to hold on to some of the healing power from the shrine they had visited and this could be called upon in a time of crisis. By the late Middle Ages precious metal badges were being produced that were perfectly designed for sewing into books or manuscripts.
Utilising card from medication boxes these contemporary pilgrim badges consist of symbols and images which reflect my relationship with the River Thames - a place where the river gives way to the sea. Medication treats physical ailments and is just one aspect of healing- walking along the shore can be considered another, assisting emotional well being, thereby bringing together body and mind.
Twenty eight amulets reflect the number of tablets in each box.
My daily walks, made during a period of personal loss and adjustment could be deemed a form of pilgrimage. The shore is often referred to as a liminal space - a place of transition. These walks offered a place to think, rebalance and transform anxieties.
Utilising card from medication boxes these contemporary pilgrim badges consist of symbols and images which reflect my relationship with the River Thames - a place where the river gives way to the sea. Medication treats physical ailments and is just one aspect of healing- walking along the shore can be considered another, assisting emotional well being, thereby bringing together body and mind.
Twenty eight amulets reflect the number of tablets in each box.
My daily walks, made during a period of personal loss and adjustment could be deemed a form of pilgrimage. The shore is often referred to as a liminal space - a place of transition. These walks offered a place to think, rebalance and transform anxieties.
Et Custodieris
(And you will be Protected).
"When you give yourself to places, they give you yourself back"
Rebecca Solnit
These amulets are made from found objects gathered from the shore of the River Thames. They are symbols of transformation, reminding us that everything exists in a state of change. They capture the essence of a particular moment in time and place- the strandline, the space between land and sea. Birds have a long captivated the human imagination holding symbolic significance and are often associated with themes of renewal, regeneration and rebirth, symbolising the cyclical nature of life.
"Free Me From These Fears"
Petrarch
This work is made from objects found along the shoreline on isolated walks during the Covid 19 pandemic 2020. Francesco Petrarch's sentiment, lamenting his inability to escape the grief and fear that remained with him after the death of his beloved Laura during the Black Death of the 14th Century, echoes through time to our modern world. His fortune and misfortune to outlive so many friends and family, speaks for a generation of plague survivors after 1353. it surfaces again once more in the 21st Century during the Covid pandemic in 2020.
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The Book Of Life
The Hand We are Dealt
The ancients believed The Fates wove our destinies. Today modern science does this in a different form and is increasingly unravelling life’s secrets. Back in 1628, the royal Physician, William Harvey published a ground breaking theory that blood circulated around the body, going from the heart to the extremities and returning to the heart and lungs. Further developments during the 17th Century revealed that blood is crucial in sustaining life, bringing oxygen and nutrients to organs and muscles while carrying away waste products.
Modern medicine continues this progress, astounding us with its discoveries. Today we are fortunate to understand more than any previous generation, how our bodies function and how diseases evolve. Sequencing DNA reveals to us the tiny 'messengers' that are unique to each of us.
But despite this increase in knowledge, it is still common to hear of familial traits being passed down through the blood. This work considers the internal circulatory world and its external links that impact on us thereby making our futures uncertain. Within my own family we carry a predisposition to Heart Disease.
Printed on card from prescribed heart medication boxes, these cards suggest interior spaces - minute ‘messages’ hidden in the blood, creating an ever-changing story, full of unexpected twists and turns. Ultimately it comes down to the ‘ Hand we are dealt’ and the 'wild cards' circulating in our blood system that predispose us to higher risks of disease. Ultimately we must all live with the 'hand we are dealt".
Modern medicine continues this progress, astounding us with its discoveries. Today we are fortunate to understand more than any previous generation, how our bodies function and how diseases evolve. Sequencing DNA reveals to us the tiny 'messengers' that are unique to each of us.
But despite this increase in knowledge, it is still common to hear of familial traits being passed down through the blood. This work considers the internal circulatory world and its external links that impact on us thereby making our futures uncertain. Within my own family we carry a predisposition to Heart Disease.
Printed on card from prescribed heart medication boxes, these cards suggest interior spaces - minute ‘messages’ hidden in the blood, creating an ever-changing story, full of unexpected twists and turns. Ultimately it comes down to the ‘ Hand we are dealt’ and the 'wild cards' circulating in our blood system that predispose us to higher risks of disease. Ultimately we must all live with the 'hand we are dealt".
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The Senile Heart
During the Middle Ages, the Heart was understood to be not just a symbol of love or courage, but the seat of all human emotions. The idea we can 'learn something by heart' comes from the medieval understanding that a person's history would be recorded within their heart. Hearts become central to superstitious practice and today a device called an 'Amulet Occuluder" can be surgically inserted into the heart to prevent blood clots from forming and escaping into the body, thereby reducing the risk of stroke. It is a modern day amulet continuously carried by the patient.
This work incorporates the ancient symbol of the heart with a timepiece, evoking a line from TS Eliots poem 'East Coker", 'a lifetime burning in every moment'' , expressing the idea that all of time and emotion, past and present, can be experienced in any instant.
This work incorporates the ancient symbol of the heart with a timepiece, evoking a line from TS Eliots poem 'East Coker", 'a lifetime burning in every moment'' , expressing the idea that all of time and emotion, past and present, can be experienced in any instant.
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