The trail at Henry Hagg Lake, Oregon

Harrowing of Hell and Silent Saturday... the day before Easter Sunday and Resurrection was a quiet one and only the church bells rang for Easter Vigil. But in the Far North, someone went underground to dance, in our 35th #darkspringtide tale - read it below! 🎨 Jan Pienkowski

Calligraphic falconer. Torah, Germany ca. 1250-1299. BL, Add 21160, fol. 181v. #medieval #medievalart

‘The Dead are following,’said Legolas. ‘I see shapes of Men and of horses, and pale banners like shreds of cloud, and spears like winter-thickets on a misty night. The Dead are following.’ ‘Yes, the Dead ride behind. They have been summoned’ The Return of the King J RR Tolkien #BookWormSat

Elizabeth Blackadder, Tulips, 1998 #WomensArt #April.

Goodnight from Jamie Bestwick, listening to the click and whir of the Madame Zelda fortune telling machine on Brighthaven Pier as it prints a doom-laden future. Goodnight from Rosalind Trice, slowly coming to realise that not all vampires drink blood. Goodnight from Hookland.

Red dead nettle #scape. 📷 #photography

we're faeriemaxxing

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

#Eggs at #Easter relate to ideas of new life in the #Spring. Painted eggshells by artist Ruby Silvious #WomensArt

In many global cultures the egg is a symbol of new life and rebirth. Iranians decorate eggs on #Nowruz, Iranian New Year at spring equinox and eggs are eaten during Jewish #Passover. Fragments of decorated ostrich eggs found in Africa are 60,000 years old (below) #Easter

For the Devil is braided into our culture. He infects our imaginings. Claims a place in language. In Hookland his most common nickname is Old Clip. Under this guise he leers from pub signs, stares lasciviously at congregations from church alcoves. The Devil is everywhere. – Dr. M. Benn

Victorian print, John Rylands Library #PhantomsFriday

'Marguerite's Ghost Appearing to Faust' - an early 19th Century French print. #PhantomsFriday #ghost #engraving #artsky #Goethe

A ghost was seen by two young women in the aisle of St Mary’s church, Halford, in the winter of 1906/07. In Ghosts and Witches of the Cotswolds, J. A. Brooks notes that at the time it was assumed to be a shadow cast by the lectern. 🧵 #PhantomsFriday

FANTASTIC NEWS! The 2,500 year-old gold Coțofenești Helmet from Romania has been recovered! 🤩 Also recovered are two of three ancient gold bracelets, all were stolen in a raid on a Dutch museum more than a year ago. 📷 by me 2021 #Archaeology

For Good Friday let's go back to the time of early Christianity: a silver plaque and a gold disc from the Water Newton hoard carrying Chi (X) and Rho (P), the first two greek letters of Christ's name, a symbol frequently used by early Christians. The hoard...🧵1/2 🏺

UK Artist Prudence Staite created a playable chocolate record which worked just like a vinyl record, and played 'You Sexy Thing' by the band Hot Chocolate #womensart

‘There are moments when, even to the sober eye of Reason, the world of our sad Humanity may assume the semblance of a Hell…’ ~ Poe, The Premature Burial. This #BookWormSat flings itself into the fires of hell in literature. Join us in purgatory for a underworldly and fiery day of hellishness.

The temperate forest above Derwent Water in the Lake District. Look for the 'Surprise View' on the map! #forestfriday #cumbria #lakedistrict #ECK #landscape #classicmono #photography

Ancient Greek coin from around 500 - 480 BCE

Once, there was no dancing on Good Friday, any place they spoke German. But, as the story goes, there was a girl in the woods of Anhalt who did... Read our 34th #darkspringtide tale below. 🎨 Anne Anderson

Goodnight from High Barley village school, its resident ghost turning to the solace of minor vandalism during its Easter Holiday loneliness. Goodnight from Rosalind Tarver, gone to tell the trees of Bamberbury Wood all the shadowed secrets of her heart. Goodnight from Hookland.

Here for #BookologyThursday a few of my old #ghost books, which also serve as a plug for #PhantomsFriday when as always I will be looking forward to a full feed of ghostly #folklore, words, art, popular culture, haunted sites etc! All reposts: @phantomsfriday.bsky.social #Victorian #artsky #booksky

According to a Flemish folktale, the murderer of a woman was doomed to appear as a ghost dog after he died. It's said his eyes looked like lanterns. The dog jumped on people and forced them to carry him to the place where he had committed the crime. 🎨Dillon Samuelson #PhantomsFriday

The gardens of Avebury Manor are associated with a white lady ghost, said to be mourning the loss of her Cavalier lover. The Avebury site is particularly rich in folklore, with legends spanning its 5000 year history… #PhantomsFriday

For someone who rejected being placed in any box and being given titles, there is every risk of becoming a birder! This little grebe is perfectly formed but I also secured many shots of it dissappearing under the water too. They are not easy! #UKWildlife #littlegrebe #birds #photography #sonyalpha

Joanna Koerten (Dutch 1630-1715) painter, draughtswoman, pioneer in the art of paper cutting (silhouettes) #womensart

Male Epistrophe eligans hoverfly on a Bramble leaf in Ely last weekend. #WildWebsWednesday #Hoverflies #Diptera

Another late entry for #wildflowerhour. I blame the clock tinkering. I don’t know what time it is most days but now I shall be jiggered for a week. Anyway, there are so many English Bluebells out in my corner of South-east England already that the choice is obvious - plus Wood Anenomes.

Have you seen a Cowslip in bloom this year? This week’s challenge is to find one and share your pics for #wildflowerhour this Sunday using the hashtag #CowslipChallenge. Happy flower hunting! 💛

Hand ground watercolour on khadi paper by Zarah Hussain, artist who creates mathematically precise, geometric art inspired by Islamic Geometry #WomensArt

Goodnight from the photo booth on Ashcourt Wall rail station, spoiling hopes for passports and travel cards with its phantom additions. Goodnight from Thea Mayford, her cunning compass pointing to True Faery North and the hidden path up Wardstone Tor. Goodnight from Hookland.

...of a bear was carved from amber 10,000 to 8,000 years ago. Found on the west coast of Fanø, from a submerged settlement of the Mesolithic period. Bears played an important role in the life of hunters, figurines such as this were worn as pendants. On display at National Museum Copenhagen. 🧵2/2

WOW, I just hit 19k followers! When I joined Bluesky in July 2023, I never imagined things would take off like this. The exodus from X was clearly waiting to happen, I’m so glad it did. It’s great to see such a large community of archaeology enthusiasts here! Thank you all! This figurine...🧵1/2 📷me

"Pink Moon Over Water". Georgia O'Keeffe. 1923 #WomensArt #fullmoon #Pinkmoon

In villages around Long Barton there is always pub discussion about why signposts to it remain broken. Some argue its wartime hangover, artefacts of a desire to disorientate possible Nazi invaders. Others say it's to deter ghost tourism, pokers of phantoms so often being an irksome sort.

Celandines. March 2026 #celandines #flowers #wildflowers #wildflowerhour #BloomScrolling #nature #sonyalpha #photography

Pink and Yellow Tulips 1925 by Georgia O'Keeffe #WomensArt #April

Rider-Waite (Rider-Waite-Smith) tarot, 1st edition (1909) designed by artist, illustrator and writer Pamela 'Pixie' Colman Smith - (The Fool card) #WomensArt #AprilFoolsDay

Goodnight from Ellie Bracken, praying for kind angels to watch her walk home from shelf-stacking shift. Goodnight from PC Danning, bemused at being called out to reports that a silver-suited spaceman is bothering the all-night Phoenix garage at Bickbury again. Goodnight from Hookland.

Sometimes you don't have to search for an answer as to why certain doorways are sealed. Instinctually you know. It's to stop something terrible getting out. When you run your hands across them you can feel invisible lines of warding. Sigils set in the stone. – Vicky Pender #VOH

...the world-famous Margarete Steiff GmbH, known for inventing the Teddy Bear. Steiff’s plush animals, each marked with the iconic “button in the ear,” continue to bring joy to children and adults alike. 🧵2/2

Visiting the Steiff Museum today! 🧸 When Margarete Steiff made her first little elephant in 1880, she unknowingly sparked a global phenomenon: the world of plush toys. Born in 1847 and living with the effects of polio, Margarete defied expectations of her time to found what became...🧵1/2 📷 me

The Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden in St Ives, Cornwall, UK #womensart

Hannah Woodman, contemporary british landscape painter #Womensart

#HooklandCats - an occasional series: Bobby Fastpaw, Prince of St. Mary’s Boneyard.

It is not all about the birds. Though sometimes when you see a bird in motion it becomes all about the birds. A tufted duck looking somewhat shy! #ukwildlife #birds #tuftedduck #wildlifephotography #photography #nature

Detail from the ‘Four Season Mosaic’ depicting ‘Spring’ from Roman York (Eboracum). The mosaic was discovered in 1853 at Tanners Row in York, and is now part of the collections at the Yorkshire Museum. 📸 My own. #MosaicMonday #RomanBritain #YorkshireMuseum

Gorgeous Bronze Age 'dress fastener' needs our help so that it can be bought by Potteries Museum in Stoke. If we can't, it will be handed back to finder/landowner & likely sold at auction... 😭 Donate here: www.justgiving.com/charity/pmag... www.stokemuseums.org.uk/pmag/the-ell... #Archaeology 🏺