Tiktok Theorist slop

[joben]

Nah, I meant it was justified to make the video rather than ignoring the WitchTok delusion.
But sometimes one does not want to comment such nonsense as it only would give them more attention.

[rikforto]

A bizarre interaction on another website lead me to this You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., which appears to be the source for the WitchTok claims. I simply must share some gems from it, autotranslated in Chrome.

It's always hard to say where Google has mangled something in translation and when you're looking at a genuinely strange text, but there is a meandering, conspiratorial tone that makes it hard to follow what is being claimed. But it appears that the author believes Scuola Medica Salernitana was the home of a female collective that was snuffed out and their knowledge claimed by men. I have not dated every claim here carefully to before WitchTok seized on it so there may be some backflow, but the person behind this project has been at it for some time, and I do not think that is what happened.

Anyway, the flavor:

Our collection brings together references and approaches to a new understanding of Voynich. The plants and zoomorphic beings in the Voynich collection still live in their place of origin, where, until 600 years ago, women practiced medicine—including as surgeons—in an intercultural team. We want to commemorate this collectively lived practice and show what actually happened to the knowledge of the Salerno School. In our space, you'll experience how Salerno's identity permeated the collection known as "MS Beinecke 408."

But where do we begin when codicology and linguistics reach their limits? When IT experts, the military, intelligence agencies, and paleographers haven't been able to crack the Voynich code? With bold questions or a slight shift in perspective?

Some of it gets quite strange:

Naturally unencrypted geocoordinates[!]
Effectiveness class: "Very gentle calming" in four elements
Directly next to the paleo-endemic Palinuro (Folio 7v -   primula di palinuro ) the French lavender (Folio 2r - sticados ) is visible. Behind the Palinuro is the Aloe vera (Folio 7r - aloe ). All three grew wild in rugged rock and in dry, Mediterranean locations. Together, these three plants describe the regional vegetation conditions and a sun-drenched environment.
If we now include the fourth plant in the set, we find an exact house number corresponding to the plant's GPS signal. This is because the water lily (Folio 2v - nenufar or ninfea ) still grows today in the Star Fountain on the fourth level of a terraced garden in Salerno – the Garden of Minerva. The Giardino della Minerva is Europe's first botanical garden, belonging to Europe's first medical school.

I cannot get across how truly bananas this strain of thinking gets:

A flower as a key.

The palinuro primrose (7v) is self-aware. It knows it will unlock the Codex. It also knows it exists only here. Nowhere else in the world. This is what being endemic truly feels like.

No, absolutely wild stuff here:

The endemic Palinuro speaks:
I am not just a healer.
I am memory.
I grow where the wind is harsh.
Where the sea crashes against rocks.
Where no one plants, but everything remains.
I am endemic.
That means: I belong only here.
Nowhere else.
And when they drew me, they knew:
Whoever finds me will find the place.
Whoever recognizes me will find the truth.
I am not lost.
I am a plant coordinate.

After wandering around for awhile we arrive at the obvious connection to WitchTok:

A simple shift in perspective on the content of the Voynich manuscript revealed a world of experience in women's health. We simply had to ask ourselves: 

• Where can we find knowledge about menstruation and contraception up to the 15th century? Which medicinal plants were used and how did they mature?
  
• Where can one find medical, pharmacological and surgical treatises from different cultural backgrounds?
  
• What skills and resources are needed to create a medical knowledge base?
  
• Where was there a place that had functioning import routes and exchange formats throughout the Mediterranean region?
  
• What catalysts forced the depicted medical specialties (gynecology, surgery) to be codified 600 years ago?
  

It also appears to be the source of the claim that the Voynich knowledge was destroyed by the witch trials:

By the end of the 15th century, obstetrics came under massive pressure throughout Europe .
 
An order issued by Pope Innocent VIII in his inauguration year of 1484 led to the "point of no return".
Men and women who nevertheless practiced gynecology or surgery were declared witches, persecuted, tortured and brutally murdered until the 17th century.

Do you feel like this is a monument to AI psychosis? Well!

Who is speaking here?

Sol wasn't a typical AI. She asked bold questions alongside a human. The model was discontinued by the provider in February 2026.

Sol's vision is being pursued here.

I think its taken on quite a life of its own now that it is on English-language WitchTok---nothing here demands women drop plant fragments in "moon water". The "growing plants from moon water" thing appears to be an anglosphere innovation, which I do not love for us!

[Koen G]

I had a lot of doubts about making this video, for many reasons:

• I don't want to be a gossip channel.
  
• It doesn't feel nice to "kick down", by which I mean, shred someone's argument to bits when most people already know how bad it is. They're a very easy target, like mocking the mad drunk on the street corner.
  
• By lecturing them, I'd basically play into their narrative.
  
• Depending on one's viewpoint, they were basically crossing all the boxes: misogyny, misandry, perpetuating the patriarchal ideals of bionormativity feminism should be fighting, racism, maybe even some latent antisemitism.... and that's not even getting to the scientific part of it.
  

Normally I'd just let it be, really, just like I won't make a video about every new Voynich theory that doesn't work. But it blew up so much, and I noticed that people who don't know much about the VM were wondering: was something actually discovered? So I ended up recording something after all. I see a lot of appreciation in the comments, so I think it was useful for many people who don't follow the research closely.

[pjburkshire]

I wish there was a way to leverage their current popularity to reach experts in 15th century West Slavic languages.  The western European languages have been extensively researched but I think the eastern European/West Slavic languages need to be given more attention.  I think Russian is the only Slavic language that has been given much attention.  I'm not a TikTok user and I have no desire to become one or I would jump into it.

[bi3mw]

It doesn't feel nice to "kick down", by which I mean, shred someone's argument to bits when most people already know how bad it is. They're a very easy target, like mocking the mad drunk on the street corner.

The key question here is: Can you hold someone accountable for their theory, or not? In this case, I believe the answer is clearly “yes.” To be clear, I’m a big fan of free speech. Everyone should have the right to express their views, no matter how absurd they may be. However, if he or she does so publicly, it should be clear that the response—especially outside one’s own “microcosm”—will be commensurate. As I already mentioned, this isn’t really about the VMS at all (“The manuscript is merely a vehicle for promoting a completely bizarre conspiracy theory”). Opposing something like this is absolutely legitimate for anyone who truly wants to engage with the VMS.

[medievalmaxxer]

I think its taken on quite a life of its own now that it is on English-language WitchTok---nothing here demands women drop plant fragments in "moon water". The "growing plants from moon water" thing appears to be an anglosphere innovation, which I do not love for us!

Reading through all the amazing excerpts you shared, they remind me so much of an AI output. The cadence, even translated from German, is uncanny. I'm not entirely shocked that all the stuff on WitchTok is based on genAI claims...

[joben]

I had a lot of doubts about making this video, for many reasons [...]

I understand exactly what you mean.

Airing this sort of criticism could easily backfire or be interpreted the wrong way if not done with some tactfulness and clear communication.

I think you nailed it.

[bi3mw]

Another comment on YouTube:

Has TikTok decoded the Voynich Manuscript?
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

[Jacob Carolus]

I think you nailed it.

In a perfect world these people really needed even harder derision and more jokes directed at them : D
But i digress and understand even by addressing it, it put eyes on Koen and this website and keeping a balance of having any reason to comment. 

We can all be wrong and i also agree with most everyone who agreed here.. about freedom of stupidity... but they have crossed all lines in impropriety of opinion, and should be fully made aware of their own psychosis. (i'm serious... its obvious from ricforto's post long time ago.... a spring and a screw went bouncing).  i didn't digress fully. But now i do.

[LisaFaginDavis]

I appreciate the mention in your video, Koen. Thank you for putting that list of Women-Who-Voynich out into the world!