Readers don’t realize how much they can change an indie author’s entire week with one small thing. One review. One recommendation. One repost. One “I stayed up late reading this.” While marketing is vital, real reader enthusiasm is still the most powerful kind of promotion. #AuthorSky #BookSky

Fascinating thread!

Remember when one of Wesley's junior Ministers led us to believe Palantir couldn't access identifiable patient data? Turns out that wasn't true.

Learn more about the ghost light! I'm also diving deep into theatre superstitions over on Fabulous Folklore this week - with a bonus chat with delightful actor @mateooxley.bsky.social about theatre superstitions still in use! youtu.be/EquVK87eZKY?...

If you enjoyed my Fabulous Folklore Presents chat with @drcummins.bsky.social about geomancy (that wonderful form of divination), then you can learn to do it yourself with his Geomancy Foundations bundle, currently on sale! alexander-cummins.squarespace.com/talks/geoman...

Come and join us for another evening of storytelling online! Wednesday 6 May, 7 pm BST!

I had three art-related episode requests, so May will be Folklore and the Arts Month. We’ll explore a supposedly cursed painting, an apparently haunted portrait, and a painting at the heart of a weird urban legend in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! youtu.be/gtuBZ4vVoyk

Happy May Day!

Pleased to announce my new book, Fate or Fortune: The Art and Folklore of Divination, is now out in the US! It explores methods of divination found in folklore, from weather omens to playing cards, and animal omens to using plants for prophetic dreams! www.crossedcrowbooks.com/shop-crossed...

We're looking at divination using symbols in the air, in fire, and in dreams in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! pod.co/fabulous-fol...

I'm doing an online talk with Creswell Crags on 27 April, examining the folklore of May Day! It's at 6 pm BST. [Image by Isaiah Thomas, Public Domain] www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/maypoles-h...

We’re going to explore the folklore of casting lots, casting stones, and throwing dice in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! (Yes, there are demonstrations) youtu.be/s9aJBhl8W6c

For those of you in Newcastle, I'm doing a talk at Newcastle Castle on 19 June! This is going to be a storytelling tour of the north east's more magical legends... www.newcastlecastle.co.uk/events-activ...

It's fascinating how many people seem to be expecting the result of local government elections to affect national issues.

Very excited for this talk by @ciaranokeeffe.bsky.social tomorrow... thelasttuesdaysociety.org/event/unexpl...

We're looking at pendulum dowsing in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! It appears in a range of folklore, from the famous ‘sieve and shears’ practised by cunning folk, to wedding ring-based love divination! Let’s explore them further... pod.co/fabulous-fol...

I can't stop laughing at this post. It's perfect.

The North Sea earlier today. It's a lot more drafty than it looks.

Thrilled to welcome the excellent @morgandaimler.bsky.social back to Fabulous Folklore Presents to talk fairy courts from Scottish folklore, fakelore, why it's not a great idea to sanitise supernatural beings to suit modern sensibilities... www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Cr3...

Slender speedwell! In the Victorian language of flowers, speedwell represented 'female fidelity'. Richard Folkard relates how the forget-me-not was once called the speedwell, since speedwell was an old way to say 'farewell' or 'goodbye'.

Wikipedia’s AI agent row likely just the beginning of the bot-ocalypse www.malwarebytes.com/blog/ai/2026...

WIZARD OF OZ, 1939. Dorothy Gale is named after twin tornadoes that struck Kansas in 1879. The sky is said to turn green before a tornado. For Dorothy it conjures the green Wicked Witch of the West & transfers her to the green Emerald City #FairyTaleTuesday

Asking AI for personal advice is a bad idea, Stanford study shows www.malwarebytes.com/blog/ai/2026...

An unmarried girl had nine attempts to throw her shoe at a willow on Easter night. If it stayed among the branches, she’d marry that year. If the shoe fell out of the tree, then she would not marry that year. If you were unsuccessful at Easter, you could always have another go on New Year’s Eve!

Dowsing is often used to find water, minerals, or even lost items. I've already looked at dowsing for water (aka water witching), on Fabulous Folklore. In this episode, we’ll look at dowsing for treasure and criminals! pod.co/fabulous-fol...

Treat yourself this Easter to ANY book 3-6 April. You'll be supporting independent bookshops AND have a chance to win a £400 digital gift card! Why not take a digital meander around the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop? uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulou...

People believed that bread baked on Good Friday would never turn mouldy. Hanging a hardened Good Friday loaf by the chimney protected the house from fire. You could also grate it into water and drink it as a healing remedy - apparently good for diarrhoea!

Bronze Roman figure of Capricorn found in the Mendips, now in the Museum of Somerset. Unusual in that it’s about a foot long. Symbol of the 2nd Augusta Legion so probably had a ceremonial use #FindsFriday

I'll be telling the tale of the Lambton Worm at this online storytelling event if you're free this evening (3 April)... www.eventbrite.com/e/online-sea...

Hang wreaths of elder in the house on Good Friday after sunset to protect the house from lightning strikes.

“You can ask a lot of questions about Avebury but the answer you will get will depend on who you ask, when you ask them, and what time they answer from.” I circle the stones: open.substack.com/pub/sillylit...

It's Good Friday so it's time to bring out the Fabulous Folklore article and episode about the Widow's Son and its collection of hot cross buns... www.icysedgwick.com/hot-cross-bu...

NEW ESSAY – Roger Luckhurst exhumes the history of body snatching and burial Reform in 19th-century Britain — publicdomainreview.org/essay/the-gr...

Really looking forward to this talk later today. Come along!

I'm currently reading Lucha of the Night Forest by @tehlormejia.bsky.social and it is so good, I hiss at people like Gollum when they interrupt me while I'm reading it. It's a fantasy with gods, forest lore, and divine cats. What's not to like? www.amazon.co.uk/Lucha-Night-...

According to Margaret Baker, daffodils were originally white, and a favoured flower of Persephone. When Hades caught her, his touch turned the blooms yellow, and his link with graves explains why people planted daffodils on them. Some consider the daffodil to be the flower of the underworld.

Walnut trees are less familiar than oak trees, but it turns out they appear in plenty of superstitions, legends, and folk remedies. Let's get to know the walnut tree in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! pod.co/fabulous-fol...

Primroses! According to Margaret Baker, you could affect the colour by the planting conditions. Feeding a primrose with bull’s blood guaranteed red flowers. Planting them upside down on Good Friday gave a pink, red, or red with a yellow centre flower.

#PhantomsFriday #WorldTheatreDay The true history of pepper’s ghost, 1890, Professor Pepper (John Henry) The True History of the Ghost; and All About Metempsychosis. London, Paris, New York & Melbourne: Cassell & Company, Limited, 1890 www.sothebys.com/en/buy/aucti... #TheVictorianBookoftheDead

The mighty Durham Cathedral. According to the Paranormal Database, a secret passage apparently connects the cathedral with Finchale Abbey, some 3.5 miles away. The reason no one has seemingly documented it is because no one can survive the journey as it's so terrifying. Allegedly.

The Horned God of the Witches: A History in Images How did the Horned God come to be horned/antlered, sitting, furry legs crossed, with a ram-headed serpent or an owl? Join Dr Anna Milon to explore the influences which brought us this iconic deity Tickets: www.folkloremythmagic.com/event-detail...

Fascinating how you can be queuing at a train door letting people off first, and other people will just walk around you to try to get on.

We're getting to know the black and white poplar tree in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! How did people use the tree in their remedies, and what superstitions surround the poplar? Let's find out! pod.co/fabulous-fol...

Northern Lights forecast to reappear across UK on Saturday 🤩 www.bbc.co.uk/weather/arti... #aurora #nightsky #uk

Did you know romancing the Gothic is running a free online talk tonight of the history of the Gay Gothic romance? Back before Gaywyck there was (among other things!) Gay Nights at Maldelangue! Come find out more at 4pm or 9pm GMT (link for 9 below) www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1715525245...

Just spotted a sparrowhawk outside my house.

According to Ireland's Own, one Irish superstition follows that bumblebees buzzing at the window herald a visitor coming to your home. Red-tailed bumblebees indicate a male visitor, while white-tailed bumblebees indicate a female visitor!

Look at the vicious spike that gives the blackthorn its name!! According to Niall Mac Coitir, in Wales, people made blackthorn thorns into pins and threw them into wells. If they sank, their love was being insincere. (If you like love folklore, check out my book, Bring Me Love!)