“Rigorous enough for scholars, accessible enough for readers with no academic affiliation.” Thank you to Atmosfear Entertainment for this thoughtful review of The Green Issue. www.atmostfear-entertainment.com/literature/magazines/hellebore-15-gives-the-green-man-back-his-history

We cross the threshold of a stone circle and are engulfed by a sense of ongoing ritual. Engulfed by a sense of intimate lithic conversations, power dynamics unfolding across slow centuries. The Long Neolithic is palpable. The Long Neolithic is living. – Dr. K. Brophy #StandingStoneSunday

Stanton Drew, Somerset, July, 2023. #StandingStoneSunday

Watching The Quatermass Experiment. The opening shot is a landscape at dusk, live action and a matter painting, with the far hills dotted with…quite Samuel Palmer style trees. I’m now including Quatermass as part of Samuel Palmer’s unearthly England.

U, ‘Archenfield’ (2025). A lovely album, hard to describe. Ambient, folk, folkloric. Also includes a beautifully produced booklet exploring Herefordshire folk traditions and beliefs.

In Irish myth, the god Óengus takes Newgrange from Elcmar, who agrees to let him have it for ‘a day and a night.’ Óengus refuses to leave, claiming that time itself is made from day and night. His triumph is symbolized by the return of light to the tomb on the winter solstice. #BookWormSat

That collection of villages known as the Barrows – High Barrow, Stagden Barrow, Good Barrow and Greenfold Barrow – have other names among those with reason to visit them – the Silent Villages, the Sorrows. For they do not talk of their grievances and ghosts to outsiders. – #CLNolan

Fabulous folk: @sebbyb.bsky.social @stonelands.bsky.social @unlikelyworlds.bsky.social @pjrobichaud.bsky.social @angryrobotbooks.bsky.social @johnreppion.bsky.social @jwomack.bsky.social @chriswoodyard.bsky.social @archaeoborders.bsky.social @sardonicus.eu @0tralala.bsky.social #FF

A few magical books I picked up in the @yalebooks.bsky.social sale!

Henry and Rosie look like they’re planning something.

The last few weeks of my academic year are too busy for gardening, so it was good to finally get outside, put down some mulch, and see what’s growing out here!

Our first roses of the year (David Austin’s ‘Darcey Bussell’).

Looking pretty cool 🤩 www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Now listening: The Jesus and Mary Chain, ‘Some Candy Talking’ EP (1985; 2026 reissue). Includes some great acoustic recordings.

My small college literally has intercultural understanding as one of the assessable outcomes of our general education program.

Marlborough Mound is 19 m high, built in 2300BC. It's the 2nd biggest mound in Britain. Often referred to as Silbury Hill's little sister and is located within the grounds of Marlborough College. Legend has it, this was the final resting place of Merlin, and was once called Maerla’s Barrow. 🧙‍♀️

‘Down the long lanes and overgrown ridings of history, we catch odd glimpses of a lurking rustic god with a goat’s white lightning in his eyes.’ — D.H. Lawrence, ‘Pan in America’ (1924) 🎨Arnold Böcklin, ‘Idyll’ (1875)

It feels as though the days of an actually searchable internet may be coming to an end, but in the meantime let me recommend Ecosia, ‘the search engine that plants trees.’

My #UrbanPrehistory book, The Archaeology of Prehistory in the Contemporary World: Deep Time in Global Urban Spaces, is now available for pre-order in the UK, and I expect it to come out towards the end of 2026. I'm currently working on the proofs. www.bloomsbury.com/uk/archaeolo...

This is a scholarly and succinct account of archaeological and textual evidence for magic among Celtic-speaking peoples in the ancient world and Middle Ages. Ehrmantraut also surveys representations of magic in Celtic and Romantic literature. Two things struck me: 1/2

West Kennett Long Barrow, Wiltshire. Constructed c. 3650 BCE as a burial chamber, it contained almost 50 bodies before being sealed. #TombTuesday 📷Personal photo, July 2023.

Today is Victoria Day in Canada, honouring the birthday of Queen Victoria, who gave royal assent to the British North America Act in 1867, creating the Dominion of Canada. Today marks the unofficial start of summer for Canadians (with fireworks and a lot of beer). Happy Victoria Day! 🇨🇦

LIFE Magazine Cover (Cory Kilvert, 1923)

Some ancient stone heads spotted yesterday at Wiltshire Museum. The cheeky grin of that second one shows they're clearly aware of the curses they're ready to unleash, given the opportunity...

On the decline of the humanities: of over 200 undergraduates receiving degrees at my small former liberal arts college this morning, just 6 were in the humanities: 4 English, 1 Philosophy, and 1 Art. 84% graduated with Business degrees.

Even the dead of the Long Neolithic continue to live amongst us. Its portal tombs connect us to the mysteries of the afterlife that no century has solved. They provide its spirits with a lithic bridge into the landscape of now, into our imaginations. – Dr. K. Brophy #StandingStoneSunday

One from the vaults! David Attenborough's Fabulous Animals (1975) by Molly Cox was a spin-off books of a six part BBC TV series of the same name, presented by the great man himself, and explored all manner of legendary beasts and cryptozoological critters!

Mr Henry bids you good night. But not until he’s had his evening snack.

Received the programme for Nature and the Supernatural, the 2026 York Magic and Witchcraft Conference! I'll be presenting on 'Folklore, Witchcraft, and Prehistoric Sites.'

Exciting news if you're a fan of Lynette Roberts, a major modern poet whose work is finally getting the attention it deserves.

It is hard to capture a full view (except from the air) of the 12 rows of over 1,000 menhirs stretching for a kilometre at Menec in Carnac (Morbihan) on film. Even this panoramic card by Denot in Lorient c.1905 only manages to take in part of the site.

Leonora Carrington in her studio Kati Horna huxleyparlour.com/artists/kati...

Lilacs smell amazing as I walk out the front door this morning.

Ooh very excited to get a finished copy of the fantastic Stories of the Stones by @pjrobichaud.bsky.social ! In addition to being a brilliant read, it’s just beautiful…

Hellebore “remains the king of British folklore zines!” Thank you to Tim Barton at the Hastings Independent for such a lovely review of The Green Issue 💚 www.hastingsindependentpress.co.uk/articles/cul...

Been tracking a parcel this week that's taking longer to be delivered within London by Evri than my most recent Blackwell's order took to get from the UK to Connecticut.

Jury duty update: after several hours they sent me home, but I was ready to serve if called!

Currently reading. Though best known for her first novel ‘Lolly Willowes’ (1926), Townsend Warner is an incredible writer of short fiction.

The wise witch listens to the spirit of even the smallest brook. Its song carries the gossip of every tree it has passed, every shadow it has seen. Tributary tutelaries carve the ghost soil and sing the stories they found to our ears. – #EmilyCBanting, 1982 #WitchSky

I’m currently accepting proposals for non-fiction pieces for the next issue of HELLEBORE: Yuletide Hauntings. *Please do not pitch me via DM. Instructions below: 👉🏼 helleborezine.com/pages/submissions

Reported for jury service this morning.

In ‘Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth’ (2008), Pan tells Percy and Grover the Satyr that he has disappeared from the world because the wilderness has nearly vanished and that it is now up to them to help restore the wild to the world. #WyrdWednesday 🎨Robert Venditti

Final grades submitted — that’s it for another academic year. Won’t miss this one. 🍾

#ThickTrunkTuesday Pan amongst the Lilac trees. According to folklore, if you chop down a Lilac tree, the other trees in the vicinity refuse to flower the following year.

Another one of the many ancient megalithic monuments on the moor of Saint Just in Brittany for #TombTuesday. This covered passage tomb was constructed c. 2500 BC and is known as Le Four Sarrazin, or the Buckwheat Oven.

The passage tomb at Kercado, near Carnac in Brittany, which may have been constructed as early as 5,200 BCE. The tomb appears to be oriented so that light enters the passageway at sunrise at the Winter Solstice. #tombtuesday 📷Personal photos, June, 2023.

Athgreany: Some lovely artwork by Bladup. This circle has 14 stones (the dancers - but some of them look like sheep) and an outlier: the Piper.

11/5/26 - nocturn

Having received the draft programme, I think I can share that I'll be presenting on "Folklore, Witchcraft, and Prehistoric Sites" at the 2026 Magic and Witchcraft Conference in York! (Still working out if I'll be able to attend in person or if I'll be presenting online.)

Finishing up my final papers this year, and I noticed far fewer (very few, in fact) used AI -- you could hear their human voices on the page, errors and all. I wonder if students are getting fed up with it?