Icy Sedgwick's Blog, page 13
March 25, 2023
Let Them Eat Cake: Cakes to Bring Love and Ward Off Witches
According to the Venerable Bede, what we call February was called Sol-Monath by the ancient Britons. This translates to ‘Month of Cakes’ and the people gave cakes to the gods as offerings (Gazur 2022). I don’t know about you, but that’s a practice I could get behind. It’s worth bearing in mind that what we […]
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March 18, 2023
Why does a London pub hang hot cross buns in the bar?
Go to Devons Road in London in Bromley-by-Bow and you’ll find a pub with a net of hot cross buns hanging above the bar. I know, it’s pretty weird – even for a pub. But a legend has grown up around The Widow’s Son. Every year, a sailor arrives on Good Friday and places a […]
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March 17, 2023
[Guest Post] The Psychology and Mechanics Of Horror World-Building
Writing horror is one of the most cathartic things you can attempt. As a Gothic horror writer myself, I’m naturally biased in advising people to have a go! (And I have a class to help you write your own haunted house story if you’re interested) But we don’t always necessarily think of world-building when it […]
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March 11, 2023
Fruit Folklore: Healing Remedies, Nursery Rhymes, and Love Predictions!
Fruit is an important part of our world, whether it’s through our diet, or the many proverbs attached to it. A variation on “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” is “Eat an apple going to bed, make the doctor beg his bread” (Binney 2018: 46). And look how many sayings involve rotten apples. […]
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March 4, 2023
Bread Folklore: Medicine, Divination Tool, and Love Magnet!
You wouldn’t think something as humble as bread would have so much folklore attached to it. Yet many of us encounter bread folklore when we’re young. I’m sure we’ve all heard the old wives’ tale that eating your bread crusts would make your hair curly. My primary school had a particularly draconic dinner lady whose […]
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February 25, 2023
Outerwear and Underwear: Folklore, Superstitions, and Lucky Pants
Clothing, by and large, provides a form of extra protection for the body. Outerwear can give us extra warmth, or prevent clothes underneath from being soaked through in wet weather. Underwear can also provide an extra layer, helping to trap warm air between layers. It also stops your other clothes from rubbing or irritating the […]
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February 18, 2023
The Folklore of Hats, Gloves and Belts: Wear Your Own Luck
One of the ways through which we can see the changes of fashion is our approach to accessories. Yep, we still wear gloves and hats in winter, but they’re of a very different style to earlier periods. Few people still wear hats as a habitual part of an outfit, and when was the last time […]
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February 11, 2023
The Folklore of Clothes: Defying Fairies, Finding Love, and Bringing Luck
Clothing is an intrinsic part of being human, letting us express who we are, what groups we belong to, what jobs we do, and so on. Clothes let us live in specific environments, providing warmth or cooling, depending on where we are. Apart from a few exceptions, it’s also part of our everyday routine. It’s […]
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February 4, 2023
The Folklore of Footwear: Shoes, Boots & Stockings
Footwear appears in a range of folklore and makes a memorable appearance is a series of fairy tales. Just look at the Seven League Boots or Cinderella’s glass slipper. But it turns out that it’s more than just a plot device when it comes to folklore. A whole range of superstitions and practices see footwear […]
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January 28, 2023
Royal Witches: 15th Century Women Fall Foul of Political Shenanigans
When you think of witchcraft in earlier centuries, you probably think of stereotypically wizened women, huddled around cauldrons or casting curses. You probably wouldn’t immediately think of royal witches. Yet within the space of a single century, there were four women in England’s royal family that fell prey to witchcraft accusations. Whether they actually practiced […]
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