How are reflections important in western folklore?

Footwear is surprisingly common in folklore, with boots, shoes and stockings used for protection, divination, and medicine. Burning shoes, pinning stockings, avoiding those who are barefoot—it's all ...

4 Feb 202319min

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 wit...

28 Jan 202329min

Shapeshifting witches appear in various British tales, in which witches appear as cats, hares or even hedgehogs. In other stories, they can magically transform humans into horses, to carry them to the...

21 Jan 202317min

Shapeshifting is an ancient ability that appears in cultures around the world across a vast period of time. It appears in an array of 'types' of shapeshifting. Some creatures can simply shift their fo...

14 Jan 202317min

Furniture tells us a lot about a period, people, or place. It's solid, so it can often be the only tangible artefact left. It often bears the impression of human activity through use, and they tell st...

7 Jan 202321min

In this 9th episode of Fabulous Folklore Presents, I chat with Dr Delyth Badder, a Welsh folklorist and antiquarian book collector based in Pontypridd in the south Wales valleys with a special interes...

29 Dec 202242min

This episode isn't strictly a Fabulous Folklore episode...it's actually the Eerie Essex Christmas special, but I appeared on it, along with Jo from the Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast! So sit back wit...

23 Dec 20221h 34min

One of the plants that bears a festive name actually has nothing to do with the period - and that's the Christmas Rose. It's actually a black hellebore, part of the buttercup family. This is a plant ...

17 Dec 202215min