Cernunnos sleeps
The Old God sleeps
down in the dark, moist,
odorous underfoot,
Waiting for us
To put down our roots
~ J A Reinbold

Veneration to Cernunnos, the god of fertility, abundance and regeneration, this gardening year


art: Luke Hillestad

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In Cumbrian dialect, 'wiggen-tree' is the rowan tree. Plant a rowan tree in your garden to ward off evil influence, and provide a home for benevolent faeries.


art: Arthur Rackham

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Shahmaran is a cave-dwelling woman/snake hybrid found in the mythologies of Iran, Iraq, Anatolia, the Armenian Highlands, & Kurdistan. When a man gets lost in her cave & discovers her garden, she falls in love with him & teaches him about medicinal herbs.

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- Celtic Phantom queen Morrígan was a magician who could shapeshift into anything as seen during her meeting with the hero Cuchulainn.
Her identity is still shrouded in mystery, but she may have been a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann.
More: https://t.co/1A402XtI2i

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An unknown forest being showed up in this painting. To some, he might be scary, but for me, he is a Protector who keeps the fire alive and opens portals to other worlds…🔥👩🏻‍🎨

The Fire Guardian
Acrylics and texture on canvas.
50 x 60 cm.

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Circe the sorceress, by Waterhouse, 1911. Everyone is psychic to some degree. Magical or divinatory practice is a training of an innate universal capability in order to direct it for conscious use. This cannot be taught, only learned. Circe sits in solitary study.

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First record of Merlin is Geoffrey of Monmouth's "History of the Kings of Britain." Geoffrey based Merlin on the Welsh prophet Myrddin, from 100 years after King Arthur, but had him perform magic previously attributed to Arthur's father Uther and uncle Ambrosius.

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Divs are demonic creatures of Persian lore, described as having human-like bodies, horns on their heads, & tusks like that of boars. They are powerful sorcerors, capable of inflicting people with nightmares, but can be bound by iron rings.

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The of Little Sunlight, where a bad fairy curses a new babe to never be awake in sunlight, only in the light of the the curse made her wane like it too. 'But the bad fairy lived in a horrid mud house, in the middle of a dark swamp.'

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Pre-A Midsummer Night's Dream, the classical belief was that fairies were beautiful, temperamental, & dangerous, larger-than-life beings who could grant humans gifts or punishments on a whim. This folklore was also a way to explain why bad things happened.

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Morning all, here, welcoming you to today’s theme of:

FAIRIES!

Bring on your tweets with the hashtag for a retweet. Image: When the Fairies Came by Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, 1920s.

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A fairy doctor was a kind of wise woman or cunning man in Ireland who was taught good magic by fairies. They were called "fairy doctors" because they used their magic to heal people hurt by bad fairies just like a regular doctor healed those hurt by diseases.

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In the epic Persian poem The Shahnameh, the divine being Sorush appears in the form of a peri to Keyumars, the first Shah of Iran, to warn him of the demonic spirit Ahriman. Keyumars assembles an army, including peri soldiers, to defeat Ahriman.

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"The Story of the Prince & the Peri" is about a young woman whose new husband, the son of a shah, won't speak a word to her. She discovers he's already bound in marriage to a peri princess. Once she breaks the spell, her husband declares his love for her.

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Peri (or pari) are winged, fairy-like beings in Persian myth who live in the land of Paristan on Mount Qaf. Originally they were spirits denied entry to Paradise until they completed atonement. Under Islamic influence, they became more benevolent & mischievious.

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In the fable of Shita-kiri Suzume ("Tongue-cut Sparrow"), an old man was rewarded with treasure after showing compassion to an injured bird. His wife, who had cut the bird's tongue, got her comeuppance after making a wrong choice because of her greed. 1/4

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“Now, my co-mates and brothers in exile,
Hath not old custom made this life more sweet than that of painted pomp?”
As You Like It, Act II, Sc 1

Image: John Leigh Pemberton

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In the countryside around Cambridge a whole host of dialect persisted into the 20th century, including:
Doddy = small
Fourses = afternoon meal eaten by workers in the fields
Slud = wet mud
Fen nightingales = frogs

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Morning all, here welcoming you to this Sunday’s theme of:
CITY vs COUNTRY! Use the hashtag for a retweet!
Images: Vintage Ladybird books

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In Aesop's fable "The City Mouse & the Country Mouse," a city mouse convinces his cousin, a country mouse, that city life is better than country life. After they narrowly escape a cat while in the city, the city mouse admits country life is safer & easier.

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