Icy Sedgwick's Blog, page 36
July 26, 2018
A Joker in the Pack: The Folklore of Playing Cards
You probably own at least one deck of playing cards. And if you’re anything like me, you literally only know how to play one card game. Solitaire. Have you ever considered using them to tell fortunes? Cartomancy doesn’t just rely on fancy decks of special cards. True, Madame Lenormand became famous for her divinatory cards […]
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July 19, 2018
Folklore of Fortune Telling, Superstitions, and Avoiding Danger
In the 1990s, paper fortune tellers were all the rage at my school. They were like the low-tech version of a Magic 8 ball, another fortune telling ‘toy’. Ours never looked as fancy as this one, but this is what I mean. Their use in England dates to the 1950s (Opie 2001 [1959], pp. 341–342). […]
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July 12, 2018
Mirrors and Witches: How to Cast Spells using Mirrors
> As we saw in last week’s post on reflections in folklore, mirrors play a huge part in many superstitions. Linked to ideas around the double, mirrors can be downright creepy. The so-called Witches’ Mirror, or dark mirror, doesn’t help with the association. Traditionally, they’re made from slices of black obsidian. As this doesn’t grow on […]
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July 4, 2018
Review of Dorothea Brande’s Becoming A Writer
Certain books reappear on ‘you must read’ lists of writing manuals. Stephen King’s On Writing is a prime example. Dorothea Brande’s seminal text on creative writing is another such title. Becoming A Writer was first published in the 1930s, yet the wisdom it contains is still just as relevant today. Most writing books focus on the mechanics […]
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June 28, 2018
Black Dogs and Englishmen: Black Shuck in English Folklore
This month ended up being all about death omens, from the Bean Nighe of Scottish folklore to the Fetch of Irish lore. How about turning our attention to English folklore, and its spectral black dogs? In some parts of the country, the dogs act as death omens. Elsewhere, they represent the Devil. And in other […]
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June 21, 2018
Why Is The Fetch Seen As A Death Omen?
Folklore crackles with tales of spirits and doubles. These bad omens, like the Bean Nighe, point to the death of the beholder. Irish folklore also features the fetch, a shadowy double who appears at the point of death. According to the folklore, the fetch appears to a third person just as someone dies, or is about to. […]
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June 14, 2018
Why is the Bean Nighe seen as an omen of death?
We’re possibly all familiar with the idea of the banshee. The wailing female spirit cries out to announce a death within certain Irish families. But what of her cousin, the Bean Nighe? This lonely spirit also marks impending deaths, in Scotland and Ireland. Let’s get to know her a little better and find out why she’s an […]
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June 7, 2018
What Willow Folklore Surrounds This Beautiful Tree?
The weeping willow is a common sign of mourning. Willow folklore often pokes tendrils into death superstitions and sayings. Margaret Baker relates the belief that “[i]n Louisiana, […] when a willow grew large enough to cast a grave-sized shadow, a family member would die” (2011, p. 159). In the UK, no builders in the Fens used […]
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May 24, 2018
Meet the Oak Tree, All-Father of the Forest!
The oak tree is pretty synonymous with the English landscape. From the National Trust logo to the mighty Major Oak that allegedly sheltered Robin Hood, we’ve got a bit of a thing about them. But how does the oak tree appear in folklore? Last week we looked at the ash tree, and I mentioned the ash […]
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May 17, 2018
The Fantastic Magic and Folklore of Ash Trees
Ash trees form a common part of the British landscape. Bushy and beautiful in full leaf, they provide strong hardwood when coppiced. Use this handy guide from the Foresty Commission to identify ash trees. But what are the links between these trees and folklore? The links stretch back to ancient Ireland. Three of Ireland’s five […]
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