Tiktok Theorist slop

[medievalmaxxer]

Hey,

has anyone else seen the current theory floating around Tiktok right now? I feel like I'm going crazy looking at all of it... completely unfounded.

For those of you who haven't seen it, a bunch of new agers are saying that the plants in the VMS (specifically 20r) are grown from period blood and moon water.... based on a video a woman made filming a plant that supposedly grew from her period blood. I won't link specifics for my own sake, but a simple search for the VMS on TikTok reveals a slew of videos that people are making on this. There's also some claims that the VMS was written by a female coven. It's obviously extreme pseudoscience, but I was wondering what y'all thought.

[ololololo]

TikTok has never been a scientific social network.

[ololololo]

Oh, I remember seeing a video last July where a person was basically deciphering text. It was a typical slop, like "daiin — the seed is opening up".

The problem is that people who spend time on TikTok lack critical thinking skills, and they need only one impression to be convinced.

[Koen G]

I'm going to say ahead of time that Tavi and I will lock this discussion if it gets too unpleasant in any possible way. (For those who haven't followed this TikTok trend, there are a lot of ways this could get unpleasant).

But yes, I have noticed, primarily because I put out a new video yesterday and several people mentioned the TikTok thing in the comments. What's worrying to me is not that people post theories like this, but that it reached a massive audience who apparently don't do a lot of critical thinking.

[ololololo]

I'm going to say ahead of time that Tavi and I will lock this discussion if it gets too unpleasant in any possible way. 

It doesn’t look like an attempt at advertising of theory (as I assumed); You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..
Nevertheless...

[DG97EEB]

I'm going to say ahead of time that Tavi and I will lock this discussion if it gets too unpleasant in any possible way. (For those who haven't followed this TikTok trend, there are a lot of ways this could get unpleasant).

But yes, I have noticed, primarily because I put out a new video yesterday and several people mentioned the TikTok thing in the comments. What's worrying to me is not that people post theories like this, but that it reached a massive audience who apparently don't do a lot of critical thinking.

Great work on the video... I know you don't like blowing your own trumpet, but it's genuinely interesting.. I've been a daily visitor to this forum and I'd almost forgotten how close "we" were to figuring out that folio

[pjburkshire]

I managed to make my way through that awful video: 

Voynich Talk
Witches discovered the Voynich Manuscript.
Sep 28, 2026
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Quire 13 is about Pregnancy.  I have been saying that for the last four years – even before I started posting here on this forum.

But – I have not seen anything in the Voynich Manuscript about female monthly periods or moon water.  I have not seen anything in the Voynich Manuscript about asexual reproduction.  It is very, very clearly about sexual reproduction.

On You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. , the first page of Quire 13, the top illustration is a giant green male penis.  You know – the external male reproductive organ used for sexual intercourse.  You would think the TikTok witches would see that.

The lower right corner illustration is the female.  The nymphs represent the (medieval) "humors" within the male fluid leaving the male and entering the female.  Conception.  The start of a pregnancy.  That is not asexual.

Those "women in green baths" are semen.  The people in the early 15th century didn't have microscopes.  They didn't know about sperm cells.  But they knew, without a doubt, that there was something in the male fluid that caused pregnancy in the female – in both humans and farm animals.

The "women in green baths" behind walls are a warning against male masturbation.  The Roman Catholic Church has long been very clear about that.  Monty Python's "Every Sperm Is Sacred" is funny because it is true.

The patriarchy part is true.  There is no secret there.  The Voynich Manuscript was written for men.  The warning against male masturbation makes that clear.  They didn't care about women's health.  In the 15th century, women were mainly property like farm equipment for the production of offspring.

[eggyk]

But – I have not seen anything in the Voynich Manuscript about female monthly periods or moon water.  I have not seen anything in the Voynich Manuscript about asexual reproduction.  It is very, very clearly about sexual reproduction.

Tiktok witches: "We know what the VMS means, the images are clear"
You: "I know what the VMS means, the images are clear"

Almost everyone else: "I have no idea what the VMS means, these images are kinda weird and are lacking any clear meaning"

The "women in green baths" behind walls are a warning against male masturbation.  The Roman Catholic Church has long been very clear about that.

Could you elaborate on exactly how that warning is phrased in the text please?

[Rafal]

You are much more similar to these girls than you suspect. You really need to go to Tiktok and tell them about the giant green penis 

[seridane]

Hey,

has anyone else seen the current theory floating around Tiktok right now? I feel like I'm going crazy looking at all of it... completely unfounded.

For those of you who haven't seen it, a bunch of new agers are saying that the plants in the VMS (specifically 20r) are grown from period blood and moon water.... based on a video a woman made filming a plant that supposedly grew from her period blood. I won't link specifics for my own sake, but a simple search for the VMS on TikTok reveals a slew of videos that people are making on this. There's also some claims that the VMS was written by a female coven. It's obviously extreme pseudoscience, but I was wondering what y'all thought.

As someone whose on TikTok and on the receiving end of a deluge of the comments about this, it's been overwhelming and a little exhausting. There are several legit historians trying to correct a lit of the misinformation (complete garbage about women not being allowed to read at the time) but it's like trying to stop a flood with a picket fence.  The stories around it all are also sort of compounding upon themselves like some really convoluted fan-fiction. Any responses along the lines of "you're growing algae" is taken as gatekeeping, misogyny, or academic elitism.  It's getting very cult-like, and I'm watching in fascinated horror to see what kind of bacterial farms come of it all.