Reduction Print
For millennia, the mandragora has walked the thin line between sacred medicine and forbidden magic. This mysterious plant is a powerful healer, feared as a tool of dark enchantment.
Ancient civilizations from Mesopotamia to Egypt treasured the mandragora for its mystical properties. It can ease pain, induce visions, and aid in fertility. With a root in the shape of a human, the mandrake exercise control over the body. It could induce love, bring good fortune, wealth and power. Women, as keepers of herbal wisdom, understood its secrets: how to harvest it safely, to prepare it for healing and to harness its power for good.
But as patriarchal institutions gained strength, feminine knowledge became dangerous. In medieval times, mandrake was considered a key ingredient in a multitude of witches’ ointment, primary component of magical potions and brews. What was once sacred medicine became evidence of witchcraft. The church, threatened by women’s autonomy and healing knowledge, transformed the mandragora from ally to adversary.
This artwork reclaims the mandragora’s true essence: sensual, powerful, and unashamed. The root embodies the divine feminine that patriarchal forces sought to suppress. She truly is mysterious, potent and beautifully in her complexity.
In celebrating the mandragora, we honor the herbalists, midwives, and healers who carried this knowledge through centuries of persecution.
All my artwork is handmade and original with a mix of limited and open edition linocut prints. I design, carve, press and pull the prints in my studio in the Laurentides, Canada.
Please note: Because of its handmade nature there may be tiny variations to the picture. Be this colour, evenness of ink or other small differences.
