Windraiser

Whistling was considered an act of ill omen by seamen, actors and miners, particularly if the whistler is female. ‘A whistling woman and a crowing hen are neither fit for God or men’. On the coast, a female whistler was considered a raiser of winds.

It was believed that witches could sell the wind to sailors in a cord with three knots tied in it; untying the first would bring a fine breeze, the second a high wind and the third a destructive storm.

In researching elements of superstition and folklore for the continuation of the magpie_seven project, I came across these two references. They intrigued me and I wished to try them out in performance.

At Dartington 2002, I set up a sparse space containing nothing but a ball of string, a small pair of scissors, an aluminium bowl, a black stick a yard long and a candle. For the performance, I made and wore a grey knee length apron with twenty-eight small pockets on it.

The performance was begun by entering the space and kneeling before the objects. The candle was then lit. The action consisted of measuring out a yard of string and cutting it with the scissors after running it carefully through my hands. It was then doubled up and then I slowly and deliberately tied three knots. Then proceeded to loop the knotted string around my fingers and either place it in a pocket or give it to any viewer who came up close. Finally, I took a sip of water from the bowl. Throughout this action, I whistled a one of three tunes (Black-eyed miner, My Johnny was a Shoemaker and Witches Promise). This action was repeated until all twenty-eight pockets were filled. At which point I left the space having drained the bowl and blown out the candle.

The measuring of the twine had echoes of the practices of the three Greek fates who measured out the lives of the people: Clotho (the spinner), Lachesis (the allotter) and Atropos (the un-turnable).