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How to harvest a #mandrake without getting cursed: Tether a dog to the base of the #plant and throw it a tasty morsel just out of reach so it lunges forward, uprooting the mandrake. The dog will die at sunrise & should be buried with secret rites. #FolkloreThursday @FolkloreThurs
In #Scotland there is an ancient belief that if you plant a #rowan tree near your front door it will ward off witches’ spells, as well as faeries & bad spirits. The rowan is also known as witchentree or witch-wood. Flower Fairy: Cicely Mary Barker. #FolkloreThursday #BurnsNight
#FolkloreThursday Mermaids are my favourite mythical creatures. Does anyone know where did the concept that they grow legs on land comes from? (Here is a mermaid I painted a few years ago.) #mermaid
According to this cracking article from The Spectator, 1908 - the last fairies in England lived in the South Downs. These Sussex fairies, once known as pharisees, were renowned for their love of dancing. #FolkloreThursday https://t.co/AlWFITsHq0
[image: William Blake, 1786]
Today is #FolkloreThursday and I thought that for once I would keep up with the art hashtag and post characters I did a while back inspired by Japanese folklore. ❤️
The Banshee has diff. names & forms in Celtic lore; but this female keening spirit will omit a high-pitched lamenting cry when a family member dies or is near death. This ominous herald of death is often the first warning to the family, that a loved one is gone. #FolkloreThursday
Błędne Ognie (Lost Fires)are Slavic Will-o'-the-wisps that are believed to be souls of treacherous men who in an attempt to regain their bodies made deals with serpentine bog&field demons to lure Men in so the serpents could bite, kill & take their victim's soul #FolkloreThursday
The Vroffa Tree Inn - renowned community hub of 'The League of Lid-Curving Witchery' - where creature-witches of all descriptions gather to tell tales, settle disputes and consume Grimwagel Wine in ever-impressive quantities... #FolkloreThursday
*17 January Take good care of your hounds in hard weather.
‘If it be a hard Winter, after your hounds are fed suffer them for an hour or two to stretch themselves before the fire.’ (Country Contentments, 1615)
#dogs #folklorethursday
Wassailing the apple trees takes place in the West Country, where there is cider-making. Traditionally held on Old Twelfth Night, 17th Jan, it is the custom of drinking & singing to the health of the trees so they yield plenty in the autumn.
Image: Cicely Barker #FolkloreThursday
#China The Goddess Weaver, daughter of the Celestial Queen Mother, and Jade Emperor, floated down on a moonbeam. She wove the stars and their glow, into "Silver River" (Milky Way), to shine over heaven and earth #folklorethursday
🎨 #illustration by Honor Charlotte Appleton
The 7 lucky gods of Japan (Shichi Fukujin)each symbolise a virtue, honesty, fortune, dignity, amiability, longevity, happiness & wisdom. Derived from Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist & Shinto gods they've been grouped together in Japanese Folklore since the 17th century.
#FolkloreThursday
#FolkloreThursday
Crones, hags & witches vilified & stereotyped as cruel, evil & wicked in most folklore & fairy tales, were in fact once the spiritual leaders, healers & midwives of their communities. Highly respected & esteemed as imparters of lived knowledge
🎨Brian Froud
New #cartoon from the brilliant @tomgauld for a #FolkloreThursday - come on parents, up your game!
Interestingly, there's no word for 'work' in Winchett Dale. The closest is 'theralush' - which loosely translates as 'loving to care'. Here's Arborella, sprite of Wand Woods contentedly 'theralushing' the trees around her... #folklorethursday #matlockhare
Traditional sea-shanties are sailors’ work songs used to coordinate labour through rhythm and to alleviate boredom. The shantyman would sing most of the song, the other sailors joining the refrain & chorus. Here is “Sailor’s Alphabet”:
https://t.co/9UsebkfPs5
#FolkloreThursday
#Eire Legend tells of spectral ‘fetches’, spitting images of living mortals, (sim doppelgänger). A sighting was taken as foreboding the demise of the person they resembled, UNLESS the fetch shows up in the morning, when it signifies longevity #folklorethursday
🎨 Elinore Abbott