Trees and Sympathetic Magic
Trees have long been important to humans. Not only do they provide firewood, offer shelter and make useful waymarkers but they were also often at […]
Category: Folklore
Blogs posts relating to folklore
Yew trees and graveyards
There are numerous reasons given as to why yew trees have become ubiquitous in our graveyards. Some trace it back to ancient times when druids […]
The ‘Invention’ of Folklore in the Nineteenth Century
The word ‘folklore’, was coined in 1846 by the British writer and editor of Notes and Queries, W. J. Thoms. Prior to this local traditions […]
Traditional Methods of Divination
Humans have always looked for certainty in life, after all it’s reassuring to know what the future might bring. As a result throughout history people […]
Traditional European Folklore on Death and Dying
Having recently been studying Victorians and the culture of death, I have been reflecting on how many of the traditions and superstitions around death and […]
Traditional Signs of Guilt
In the time before DNA testing, dusting for fingerprints and blood-spatter analysis proving guilt or innocence was a rather less scientific matter. Folklore, superstition and […]
Gardening folklore
Gardening folklore often has a basis in fact, so it is fascinating to read through some of the old traditions and superstitions surrounding plants, planting […]