3 creepy tales of the Devil, the helpful dead, and ghosts in Venice

Archaeological evidence reveals a close relationship between people and the spiritual world back to the Bronze Age, often enacted through water. Springs often reveal ritual deposits, such as those found at the head of the Seine. It’s unsurprising that humans would continue this water-based relationship via wells. For some scholars, wells had either a patron deity or a guardian spirit, which was later replaced by a saint or angel. For example, there is a suggestion that the Celtic water goddess Alauna became St Helen. But wells took on multiple functions, used to heal, curse, make wishes, and even divine. And, of course, people used them as a water source.  Let's take a look at some of these wells across the British Isles in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore. Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/folklore-of-wells/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Enjoyed this episode and want to show your appreciation? Buy Icy a coffee to say 'thanks' at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/ Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social Tweet Icy at https://twitter.com/IcySedgwick

2 Mars 202421min

Forests are ambivalent places, both beautiful and tranquil, yet also dangerous to the unwary. They've always been a source of resources for people, which is either embraced or exploited. As a result, there is a whole class of folklore involving forest protectors, spirits who guard the woods and all the animals within. These protectors ensure that humans never take more than they should, and keep the forest in balance.  Let's learn more about the legends of the Leshy, the Wood-Wives, and even pangolins as forest protectors in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore. Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/forest-protectors/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Enjoyed this episode and want to show your appreciation? Buy Icy a coffee to say 'thanks' at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/ Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social Tweet Icy at https://twitter.com/IcySedgwick

24 Feb 202419min

Mushrooms have captured humanity's attention for thousands of years. But they still confuse us. Mushrooms spring up overnight, many of them are dangerous if you confuse them for their safer cousins, and they have an array of fantastical names. Witness the Destroying Angel, Spit Devil, Satan's Bolete, Witches' Butter, and Death Cap. Let's learn more about the folklore of fungi in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore. Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fungi-folklore/ Myths and Legends of the British Highwayman with the Last Tuesday Society: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-myths-and-legends-of-the-british-highwayman-icy-sedgwick-tickets-794055881517?aff=ebdsoporgprofile Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Enjoyed this episode and want to show your appreciation? Buy Icy a coffee to say 'thanks' at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/ Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social Tweet Icy at https://twitter.com/IcySedgwick

17 Feb 202425min

In this month's Valentine's Day-themed episode of Fabulous Folklore Presents, I'm thrilled to bring you a chat with Komal Salman! Komal Salman is a creative professional and Founder at Folkloristan, where technology meets storytelling to preserve oral Pakistani heritage. With a background in media studies, Komal is also the Content Strategist at Atom Camp, a tech ed platform. A writer and an illustrator, her passion for history and folklore fuels her creative endeavours, leading to most of her work work being inspired by culture, myth, and magic. In this interview, we're going to talk about romantic tales in Pakistan's folklore, enjoy a story about fairies, and chat about the different influences on stories in the region! Check out the Folkloristan website: https://www.folkloristan.com/ Find Komal on Twitter: https://twitter.com/folkloristan Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Enjoyed this episode and want to show your appreciation? Buy Icy a coffee to say 'thanks' at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/ Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social Tweet Icy at https://twitter.com/IcySedgwick

14 Feb 202429min

Trees are some of humanity's best friends, providing oxygen, storing carbon, and even improving the soil where they grow. Some are flashy and famous in folklore, like the oak or the hawthorn. Others are perhaps less well-known, but that doesn't mean they're any less important to folklore!  Let's learn more about alder, birch, and blackthorn in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore. Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/woodland-trees/ Enter the Fabulous Folklore Turns 5 Competition: https://forms.gle/F5vqPSNuMAzVYLin6 Myths and Legends of the British Highwayman with the Last Tuesday Society: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-myths-and-legends-of-the-british-highwayman-icy-sedgwick-tickets-794055881517?aff=ebdsoporgprofile Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Enjoyed this episode and want to show your appreciation? Buy Icy a coffee to say 'thanks' at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/ Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social Tweet Icy at https://twitter.com/IcySedgwick

10 Feb 202425min

Certain plants evoke particular areas, like grasslands, meadows, hedgerows, or gardens. Others are full of the mystery of the forest, splashing colour across the woodland floor. Bluebells are famous for turning ordinary woods into a stunning scene in late March until early May. So in this post, we're going to look at the folklore of woodland plants. Yes, some of them grow in other places, but they are associated with woodlands on the British Isles.  Let's learn more about cowslips, forget-me-nots, lily of the valley, primroses, and red campion in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore. Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/woodland-plants/ Enter the Fabulous Folklore Turns 5 Competition: https://forms.gle/F5vqPSNuMAzVYLin6 Myths and Legends of the British Highwayman with the Last Tuesday Society: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-myths-and-legends-of-the-british-highwayman-icy-sedgwick-tickets-794055881517?aff=ebdsoporgprofile Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Enjoyed this episode and want to show your appreciation? Buy Icy a coffee to say 'thanks' at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/ Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social Tweet Icy at https://twitter.com/IcySedgwick

3 Feb 202420min

In this month's episode of Fabulous Folklore Presents, I'm thrilled to bring you a chat with Morgan Daimler! Morgan is an independent folklorist who studies and writes about fairies in historic and modern folk belief. She has written a variety of books on the topic, as well as on Irish mythology, and is an amateur translator of old/middle Irish. Morgan has presented papers on fairies in folklore & fiction, fairies, gender, & sexuality, and fairies & witches for various universities and the Folklore Society.  In this chat, we talk about a range of different types of fairies, why fairies remain so popular, and what to do if you ever encounter a fairy! Check out Morgan's book Fairies: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12992/9781782796503 Or 21st Century Fairy: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12992/9781803410463 Find Morgan on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Morgandaimler/ or on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MorganDaimler Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Enjoyed this episode and want to show your appreciation? Buy Icy a coffee to say 'thanks' at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/ Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social Tweet Icy at https://twitter.com/IcySedgwick

28 Jan 20241h 12min

Culloden Moor is perhaps one of the saddest sites in the British Isles, the battlefield that played host to a massacre. It was also the last battle to take place on mainland Britain. The Battle of Culloden took place on 16 April 1746. It marked the end of the Jacobite Rebellion. It's also apparently given rise to ghosts of its own, and contributes to local legends inspired by the battle. Let's go and look and some of the legends in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore. Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/ghosts-of-culloden/ 'Culloden' (1964): https://youtu.be/hAdlS2Hdw28?si=-3iprbSXNkhbA7VW Mist on the moor: https://youtu.be/vcnErk55In8?si=VHoNFQq7XzIWXnxM Enter the Fabulous Folklore Turns 5 Competition: https://forms.gle/F5vqPSNuMAzVYLin6 Myths and Legends of the British Highwayman with the Last Tuesday Society: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-myths-and-legends-of-the-british-highwayman-icy-sedgwick-tickets-794055881517?aff=ebdsoporgprofile Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Enjoyed this episode and want to show your appreciation? Buy Icy a coffee to say 'thanks' at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/ Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social Tweet Icy at https://twitter.com/IcySedgwick

27 Jan 202419min