Menstrala: The Art Movement
Replying to humanity’s oldest and most provocative taboo.
Across continents, women supporting the Menstrala art movement are collectively reforming the stigma of cyclical bleeding for future generations.
Lamenstra
The Menstrala Mandala With Core of Gold Symbolizing Wholeness Through Seasonal Cyclicity
In the Menstrala titled, Galaxy Crossing, the rebirth of the immortal mythical phoenix rising with wings of fire offers a regenerative symbol of cycle logical transformation through menstruation, the silent monthly renewal process in which women regenerate their fertility power after bleeding for days and nights, most commonly during the dark moon phase.
What is the purpose of painting with the forbidden medium?
"Menstrala's creative purpose is to develop an affirmative visual of the misconstrued taboo while directing awareness to the challenge.
For girls, Menstrala reframe the menstrual taboo positively, thoughtfully, and respectfully.
Establishing this wholesome framework will solidify a new educational foundation for woman's cycle logical and psychological connection to seasons, lunar phases, evolutionary processes and even grander cosmic rhythms."
~ Vanessa Tiegs, Mother of Menstrala & Inventor of Monthmatics
Connecting The Menstrual Cycle With Cosmic Rhythms
The artist who named
the art movement Menstrala explains:
"Just as we renew during sleep and winter recess, women reclusively renew their fertility during the lunar-menstrual cycle, which is woman's natural, non-violent blood sacrifice enabling her to procreate humanity. The fact that menstruation became so easy to joke about (see examples of memes) shows that girls are unsupported in dealing with the painful monthly recurrence that affects their health, wellness, self-identity, self-esteem, and sexuality. Maturing from puberty into a woman involves teenagers finding their voice and self-defining their menstrual experience, regardless whether they choose to make Menstrala art or not."
. . .
"Defining menstruation as a monthly renewal embraces the mystery of womanhood: regenerating internal pro-creative powers after bleeding for days without dying."
"Menstrual cyclicity is a central part of woman's experience and needs to be illustrated to girls in relation to cycle logic power."
"This uncommon lunar-femcentric perspective encompasses distinguishing the four seasons with their three relative lunar cycles waxing and waning through the six polarity pairs comprising the ecliptic. Such a vital, energetic, magnetically infused teaching makes it possible to intentionally experience mindful menstruation as a monthly renewal over the course of a whole year. By further Integrating the woman's natal horoscope, natal lunar phase and natal aspects, her magnetic signature is uncoded."
A Lunar-Femcentric
Cycle Logical Perspective
Monthmatics (Mathematics)
Mathematics derives from the root word "ma." Out of necessity, mothers created mathematics by inventing the first calendars to count the number of dark moons in their fertility cycles from conception until giving birth. Woman's 9-month long gestation cycle, or pregnancy, correlates exactly with eclipse cycles: see Dietrech Pessin's Lunar Shadows III: The Predictive Power of Moon Phases and Eclipses, 2009.
Human World Cultures Have Menstrual Blood Origins
Dr. Judy Grahn's Metaformic Theory and Blood, Bread & Roses, explain how menstruation created world cultures.
The word taboo originates from Polynesian tapua referring to woman's menstrual blood.
Rituals: R'tu
The word ritual originates from Sanskrit r'tu meaning menstruation rite. Woman's blood rites of passage (menarche, defloration, giving birth, menstruating, and menopause) are the original human rites. Man's parallel menstrual rite was the ritual of tattooing and piercing.
Cosmetics
The word cosmetics, sometimes called make-up or war paint, derives from cosmetikos, meaning ordering the cosmos through symbols written on the body. (See Dr. Judy Grahn's Metaformic Theory and Blood, Bread & Roses).
Woman Is The Lunation
In the “Lunar Cosmology” of the Aymara people in the Andes Mountains of Bolivia, the word for the menstrual blood of woman is p'axsi wila, meaning moon blood, which also refers to the first glimpse of the new moon. (Denise Y. Arnold quoted by Dr. Judy Grahn.)
Hormones: Her Moon Currents
A woman symbolizes the full moon when she is pregnant and the dark moon when she is menstruating. Her hormones create a white current during ovulation and a red current during menstruation - two moon currents, or "moonies," from which the word money originates and later was replaced by paper currencies.
She bleeds for days without dying, enduring up to as many as 500 bleeds through womanhood with little to no cultural support to practice the benefits of mindful menstruation.
Astrology: Encoded Magnetism
Through cycles we evolve.
The Sun magnetizes.
The Moon reflects.
The Planets catalyze stellar narratives.
Time is cyclical.
Magnetism is spatial.
Consciousness is spiritual.
The human psyche is scripted into a cycle logical magnetic signature.
Celestial cycles generate the toroidal geometry of infinite futures.
Pain-Thing Memes
What started in 2000 as a visual journal of "Pain-Things" suddenly grew into an art genre by an army of memes focused on the red pixels.
Served to the Vatican
The jpeg of "October Flight" was requested and served to the Vatican's website domain on November 9, 2002.
Setting The Stage
How many girls absorb the indoctrinated shame of bleeding each month?
At the turn of the millennium, Menstrala definitively set the stage for teens to expand upon the movement. In the past decades, college students have been writing art research papers on the subject while others are publishing their expressive works in presentation lectures.
The 1st International Menstrala Competition, 2014
Over 100 Menstrala submissions were received.
In 2014, the artist was asked to serve as a judge in an international Menstrala competition organized by a University in Mexico. Increasing numbers of Menstralists around the world have begun choosing to address menstruation visually.
Deconstructing Mind Control
Menstrala take the stance of deconstructing mind control honed on girls who are in much need of support. Each new contribution to the Menstrala art movement raises awareness of the need for health reforms in public education and medical practices. One such organization is CeMCOR's Endowment Fund. Since its inception in 2002, The Centre for Menstrual Cycle & Ovulation Research at the University of British Columbia promotes new medical standards in women's health.
Copyright © 2023 Vanessa Tiegs. All rights reserved. Linking to the digital files on this website is permitted, but commercial usage of the artworks requires a licensing fee for any one time usage and a royalty fee for multiple usage in derivative works. Exceptions are applicable to academic and educational usages.