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One crow means bad luck, but two means good. Three brings health, and four signals money. But five herald sickness, & a murder of six crows means death is near.
#folklorethursday
Travellers who had fallen asleep in the open were in danger of being "torn to pieces by these ferocious birds". - Francis de Castelnau on Andean Condors
ref: "Reptiles and Birds" by Louis Figuier (1870). #folklorethursday
Stikini, heart-hungry owl-creature in Seminole lore. By day a human, at night it vomits up its soul & organs, hides them in a tree, changes into its true form, & takes off to hunt, feeding on human hearts, which it plucks out by reaching down sleepers' throats.
#folklorethursday
Witches going to their Sabbath [aka, The Departure of the Witches or The Vision of Faust] (1878) by Luis Ricardo Falero (Spain, 1851–1896). #Art #folklorethursday
Late #Victorian wallpaper designed by Walter Crane:
Swan & Rush & Iris, 1875, (royalty)
Iris & Kingfisher, 1877, (abundance)
Fig & Peacock, c.1895,
(fertility)
Cockatoo & Pomegranate, 1899, (pairing of a comical bird with the sacred fruit of the Underworld)
#FolkloreThursday
This week's #FolkloreThursday theme is the folklore of #birds! Share your favourite bird-lore with us on Thursday! (Artist: W Heath Robinson)
Telling the bees ritual - when someone dies ‘a member of the household… is told to visit the hives, and rattling a chain of small keys tap on the hive and whisper three times: Little brownies, little brownies, your mistress is dead.”
https://t.co/WbohQCL6Ax
#folklorethursday
"The fairies from the enchanted islands regularly attended the markets at Milford Haven and Laugharne. They made their purchases without speaking, laid down their money and departed. Sometimes they were invisible, but were often seen"
Wirt Sikes, British Goblins
#folklorethursday
Whenever I think of fortune, I think of the trickster Leprechaun. Legend has it, they find buried gold coins & store them in a pot; hidden at the end of a rainbow. If a human catches one, they grant 3 wishes. But be careful, they will use your greed against you! #FolkloreThursday
Grootslang is a monster created by God as fusion of an elephant and a snake. When he saw how dangerous it was, he separated it in the two different creatures. One survived and people believe it is hiding in the cave Richtersveld in South Africa. Art by Jocarra. #folklorethursday
'Spring's Flowery Cloak' by Margaret Winifred Tarrant, one of hundreds of Tarrant illustrations we have via our exclusive representation of the Medici Society archive #folkloreThursday #springiscoming #Fairies #illustration #margarettarrant
According to one writer, Parisian miners in the 19th century hoped to find the "liard de pharaon", a coin from the time of Ancient Egypt.
Whoever unearthed it would be destined for a life of luxuriance. #folklorethursday
Ref: Les merveilles du monde souterrain (1868)
Jasmine is said to attract love & money if grown either in or around the home. It is a powerful
aphrodisiac & is symbolic of the moon, dreams, & the mysteries of the night.
#Illustration: Mary Cicely Barker,
A Flower Fairy Alphabet,
c.1930 #FolkloreThursday
It's #InternationalWomensDay -- as well as #FolkloreThursday and #WorldBookDay so I will share with you all three: some heroines of Angela Carter's short story collection, The Bloody Chamber- Old illustrations, but always dear to me ✨🙏
Selkies (seals in the sea & women on land) often have tragic stories involving human men hiding their seal skin rendering them unable to enter the ocean & return home. Trapped. Most common in Scotland these tales can also be found in Iceland & Faroe Islands
#FolkloreThursday
A few of my favorite fierce ladies, were Pirates; Anne Bonny, Mary Read, & Ching Shih (1st female Pirate Lord) These bold & adventurous #women left behind the stereotypes of the 18th century & successfully joined the Golden Age of Piracy! #FolkloreThursday #WomensHistoryMonth
Medb, Irish warrior queen of legend: strong & clever, she outlives many friends & many foes in many stories. Led the infamous Táin Bó Cúailnge, or Cattle Raid of Cooley. She was killed while bathing with a piece of cheese fired from a sling. #FolkloreThursday
Image credits below
Merrows/Murdhuacha: The gentle Irish version of mermaids. Beautiful w/fish tails & webs btwn their fingers, they appear before storms & fall in love w/mortal sailors. When they come ashore they wear red feather caps, but if it's stolen they can't return to sea #FolkloreThursday
Grace O' Malley/ Grainne Ni Mhaille the Irish Pirate Queen #FolkloreThursday #InternationalWomenDay #InternationalWomenDay2018 #Women
“Four and Twenty Blackbirds Baked in a Pie.”
Walter Crane’s #illustrations for his children’s book, Song of Sixpence, published in 1909.
#Edwardian #nurseryrhyme #BritishPieWeek #FolkloreThursday