After the closure of The Cultural Futures Hub on Spatial this month, I'll be taking the opportunity for a short break from social media to catch up on my reading, research and creative projects! I'll see you all back here in August!

Marking the fabulous 11th birthday of #FolkloreThursday is the start of a run of celebrations for me~My book launch for Collected Curiosities begins on Saturday! Huge thanks to @folklorethursday.bsky.social because if they hadn’t asked me to guest host~my writing wouldn’t have been spotted!💚📚🌿💫

Happy 11th Birthday to #FolkloreThursday! I would not have written half the things I have had they not let me guest host! Thanks to Willow and Dee Dee, and everyone else involved. And my book, A Feast of Folklore, is out next Thursday.

If a young man sees a red envelope on the ground in Taiwan he shouldn't pick it up. It could be dowry to marry someone’s deceased daughter! The subsequent ceremony prevents an unmarried woman from haunting her relatives and gives her status in the afterlife 💀 #FolkloreThursday 1952 Richard Roussos

A little video I took at Cold Christmas today. I never saw anything remotely ghostly on my brief visit. But Cold Christmas certainly warrants its reputation. Just the name and history, coupled with a remote location helps lend a certain atmosphere to it. I enjoyed it though. #FolkloreThursday

The Irish Dullahan is far more terrifying than many modern Headless Horseman tales. Carrying his severed head beneath one arm, he rides across the countryside at night. When he stops and calls a name, legend says that person's death soon follows. #FolkloreThursday Art: Catherine Herold

Thanks to everyone who joined us at @culturalfutureshub.bsky.social tonight, and over the last two years! It's been amazing, thanks to you all! 🎉 And HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY, #FolkloreThursday! 🥳

Wishing a VERY Happy 11th Birthday to everyone in the fabulous @folklorethursday.bsky.social community ❤️ Sorry, the cake's not quite big enough for 11 candles so there's only on thing to do.......get a bigger cake! #FolkloreThursday

I was so happy when #FolkloreThursday asked me to write about Midsummer folklore back in 2020! Thank you FT, I felt as though I had stepped through the mirror... folklorethursday.com/folklife/dar...

In Japan, if your cat lives too long it can transform into a kaibyo--a magic cat. This is not a good thing. There are several species of kaibyo. The nekomata is identified by its twin tails, and its proclivity of hunting and eating humans. amzn.to/44jGGnS #folklorethursday #catlore #Mizukishigeru

It is prudent to tickle a newborn's nose with pepper as soon as possible—for babies aren't safe from the fairies until after their first sneeze. #FolkloreThursday Art: Brian Froud

We are now LIVE at #TheCulturalFuturesHub — do join us, #FolkloreThursday -ers! Just click here: www.spatial.io/s/DeeDeeChai... You need to create an account and sign in if you would like to chat using your mic. Watch the YouTube video for instructions if needed: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMqB...

According to East Slavic superstitions, when a witch/wizard wants to shape-shift into a wolf or a bear, they do a forward roll over a symbolic border – a knife or a tree stump. If the border gets destroyed, they will stuck in their animal form forever. #foklorethursday #dailyspookloe #folklore

A piece of favourite folklore is that the Rollin’ Calf, one of the most frightening duppies in Jamaican folklore, can also appear in the form of a brindled cat. Something I remind my cat Millie of when she’s engaging in crimes against soft furnishings. #FolkloreThursday

You’d know her house by the drawn blinds – by the cormorants pitched on the boundary wall, the black crosses of their wings hung out to dry… —Robin Robertson, “At Roane Head” in the @lrb.co.uk, 14 Aug 2008 #poem #poetry #FolkloreThursday www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v3...

The Black Dog legends of Britain are wonderfully eerie because they blur the line between spirit and omen. These enormous spectral hounds appear on lonely roads, stormy coastlines, and crossroads, silently watching from the darkness. #FolkloreThursday Art: Sidney Paget

_This_ Damsel in Distress did not wait for a Knight in Shining Armor to help her against a group of brother-bandits, but took matters into her own hands. Head after head. #folklorethursday https://wiki.sunkencastles.com/wiki/The_Maid_of_Wildenloh

#FolkloreThursday For those with Second Sight, seeing a shroud on a living person was a kind of sliding scale of death: the higher the shroud on the body, the nearer the death. "When it is seen to ascend higher towards the head, death is concluded to be at hand within a few days, if not hours."

Burning lost teeth was encouraged in England from at least the 17th century. Why? If an animal inadvertently ate it, the new tooth would grow back as an animal one. Another belief across Europe was that witches could use an old tooth to gain power over someone. 🎨Katie Ponder #FolkloreThursday

You can now also watch mythcrafts.bsky.social 's talk about this on YouTube, #FolkloreThursday -ers! www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV4m...

A tale about pink Casanova dolphins with hats was a fun folktale to find and explore. #FolkloreThursday mythcrafts.com/2020/05/22/c...

The Ionian Sea is named after Io, who was transformed into a cow by Zeus to protect her from Hera’s wrath. Io swam across the sea that bears her name to escape Hera’s torment 🌊🐮 #FolkloreThursday #GreekMythology #ioniansea #greece #zeus

The legend of the Will-o'-the-Wisp fascinates me because it is so universal. Across continents and centuries, people have reported mysterious lights leading travelers away from safety and into marshes, forests, and places they never intended to go. #FolkloreThursday Art: Hermann Hendrich

Huge Happy Birthday love #FolkloreThursday One of my favourite bits of folklore surrounds St John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) or 'Chase the Devil'~wound healing anti depressant~said if found unsought to keep traveller's safe ~oozes purple 'blood of St John' when pressed~said to terrify demons...

A "Freikugel" is a projectile cast on liminal days like St John's Eve with lead from a cemetery crucifix or a church window frame and blood. If done in a cursed place, often alongside a pact with an unclean spirit, a Freikugel never misses its target. 🎨 C. A. Schwerdgeburth #FolkloreThursday

Happy 11th Birthday to @folklorethursday.bsky.social. Thank you for all the stories.

The Scottish Each-Uisge appears at first as a magnificent horse grazing beside a loch. But anyone foolish enough to climb onto its back finds themselves unable to dismount as the creature plunges into deep water to devour its rider. #FolkloreThursday Art: Clay Vermulm

I still haven't decided which book is my favourite, seas or forests? 🌊🌲🤔💜 #FolkloreThursday

Today we celebrate the 11th birthday of the wonderful @folklorethursday.bsky.social I love seeing folklore in modern contexts. This is the Wilder Mann from the Naila coat of arms here in Franconia, Germany, appearing in two different graffiti settings.

Good morning, #FolkloreThursday and HAPPY 11TH BIRTHDAY! How has it been so many years?! 😍💜👏

Happy 11th Birthday #FolkloreThursday! Post your favourite folklore to the hashtag and our fabulous hosts will share them at the following times BST: 9am-1pm 1.30-3pm 3.30-4.30pm 6.30-7.30pm Don't forget @culturalfutureshub.bsky.social grand finale 5.30-6.30pm! (Link in comments) Img: Will Clayton

Join us tomorrow for #FolkloreThursday 's 11th birthday, all day on Bluesky, and over at #TheCulturalFuturesHub at 5.30pm UK time! It will be the LAST Hub event EVER as the platform is closing, so don't miss out! Do join us to celebrate! More info here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-cultur...

Spatial recently announced it is closing its creator platform. This means that @culturalfutureshub.bsky.social will also close. Join us us to mark the end of an era, and reflect on building better cultural futures: Thurs 18 June 5:30-6:30pm BST FREE TICKETS: www.eventbrite.com/e/the-cultur...

Authors, please be aware that there's currently a #BookClub #scam! I've received two messages from two different 'book clubs' this week alone. Here's an article with more info: medium.com/@claude.whit...

So pleased that my local megalithic site here in Gozo, Ġgantija Archaeological Park in Xagħra, has just been digitised in 3D! Take a look here: 3dviewer.digiarc.mt/items/Ggantija And find out more here: 'Malta Digitises Ġgantija For Europe’s Digital Heritage Space' heritagemalta.mt/news/malta-d...

Huge thanks to @helenerwin.bsky.social for her fantastic deep-dive into Swedish forest folklore at @culturalfutureshub.bsky.social yesterday! And thank you so much to everyone who came along. What a fantastic afternoon! Such a shame that Bluesky was down for so much of #FolkloreThursday yesterday.

Look what arrived in the mail just in time for #FolkloreThursday Willow Winsham’s latest book! Curious Cats and Fantastical Felines Can’t wait to read it!

Archura is a shapeshifting forest spirit in Turkic myth that usually appears as a man with a tail, hooves, horns, and a grass beard. He guards forest creatures and tells them when to migrate. His idea of mischief: leading humans astray and tickling them to death. #FolkloreThursday

In the Sumerian legend The Epic of Gilgamesh, the Cedar Forest is the glorious realm of the gods, guarded by the demigod Humbaba. Early versions of the legend place this forest in the mountains of Iran, while Babylonian retellings place it in Lebanon. #FolkloreThursday

In some Nordic traditions Hulda is the “mother of the elves”. The elder is her sacred tree, its roots said to be a portal to her realm. Those that dared to bring wood of this “forbidden tree” into their homes reported feeling unseen hands tugging at their legs. #FolkloreThursday

In Slavic folklore, the Leshy is the keeper of the forest, a shape-shifting spirit who can grow as tall as the trees or shrink to the size of grass. Travelers who wander too carelessly may find themselves led in circles until they learn respect for the land. #FolkloreThursday Art: Public Domain

Yggdrasil, the World Tree. 1, 17th century, unknown 2, Lorenz Frølich 1885| 3, Norns Amalia Schoppe 1882 The three Norns sat by the well of wisdom by Yggdrasil's roots weaving fate into existence, drawing runes into her roots. #FolkloreThursday #Norse

Rå's home was the forest. She cared for it. The word rå means care. In some contexts it can also mean rule. Art Credit: Kaia Pieters #FolkloreThursday

#FolkloreThursday Some said Rå was actually a tree. In my book The Lure of Water and Wood, she sometimes takes on the spirit and look of an old tree to appear older. Art Credit: Meraylah Allwood

In Greek myth, the dryads are tree-bound spirits, their lives tied to the fate of the oak or ash they inhabit. To harm the tree is to harm the spirit, making the forest itself something sacred and alive. #FolkloreThursday Art: Josephine Wall

‘The Greeks figured Pan, the god of Nature, now terribly stamping his foot, so that armies were dispersed; now by the woodside on a summer noon trolling on his pipe until he charmed the hearts of upland ploughmen.’ — R.L. Stevenson, ‘The Pipes of Pan’ #FolkloreThursday 🎨Arthur Rackham

In Jamaican folklore duppies (spirits) are reputed to live among the roots of the mighty cotton tree (aka silk-cotton tree/cottonwood tree). They emerge between 7pm and 5am and again at midday. #FolkloreThursday

Ogre is a French word, linked to the Etruscan god Orcus. These legendary giants are famous for their unfortunate cannibalistic tendencies, foul body-odor, rotten teeth, and rancid halitosis. They dwell in deep forests and mucky swamps. #FolkloreThursday #BookologyThursday

#FolkloreThursday The skogsrå (Swedish) or hulder (Norwegian) is a seductive supernatural woman of the forest. She looks beautiful, but has a hollowed-out back and a cow's tail. If a man follows her, he will be taken into the mountain and lost forever, but if he hears church bells he will be saved.

In many European traditions, ancient oaks were seen as meeting points between worlds, their roots reaching into the underworld while their branches touched the sky. #FolkloreThursday Art: Ester J. Williams