People are claiming Pancake Day wasn’t originally a pagan festival, when you only have to look at the name to know it was once a day when cakes were offered to Pan

May you have the energy of these fabulous Ice Age beasts as you enter the lunar New Year of the Horse! 🦣🐎

I’m a Canadian living in the US and have always relied on the BBC for reasonably objective reporting on international affairs; there has been a drastic decline in quality and objectivity in recent years, but now I can’t read any articles on the BBC website without a paid subscription!

Henry has no trouble relaxing.

Now listening: The Clientele, ‘I Am Not There Anymore’ (2023). Love this double album.

This electric clock has been running more or less continuously since the mid-1960s. The clock used to sit on my grandfather’s desk. It was manufactured by General Electric in Toronto, where he worked for 44 years.

Stanton Drew Stone Circles, Somerset, July 2023. #StandingStoneSunday

I’d trust these faeries waaaaay more than AI.

To all who celebrate! 🎨 @keepitcult

In the ancient world, Pan fighting Cupid symbolized the struggle between Love and Lust. There was also a hidden pun: Pan’s name sounded like the Greek word for ‘all,’ so Cupid’s defeat of Pan meant ‘Love Conquers All.’ 🎨 Gallo-Roman mosaic, 3rd century CE

Arrived today — the 4K UHD release of John Boorman’s ‘Excalibur’ (1981)! Includes lots of extras, book, and poster.

In his poem ‘Endymion’ (1818), John Keats praises the god Pan as ‘Dread opener of the mysterious doors / Leading to universal knowledge.’ 🎨 Keith Hutchings

Happy #FridaytheThirteenth ! The only official and accurate picture of the Friday Thirteenth Jinx. ( #PhantomsFriday for good measure.)

‘Stories of the Stones’ will be published eight weeks from today! #BookSky

Dion Fortune's novel 'The Goat-Foot God' (1936) culminates in an invocation of Pan, during which a young woman named Mona has a vision of 'Pan with his pipes' appearing 'shaggy and wild and kind.'

Lankum, ‘Ghost Town’ (single, 2025). An eerie cover of The Specials classic.

If you live in North America, you can purchase my book 'Pan: the Great God's Modern Return' and many other titles on sale in The Great Chicago Sale from @uchicagopress.bsky.social! Use the code SALE2026 at checkout.

The last Parliament of Bears in England was held in 490 AD. However, the date of the last Parliament of Ghost Bears is much contested and a sure way to start an argument in a tavern. - #CLNolan, BBC National Programme talk, 1934

Beautifully dramatic lighting effect in this altar depicting the god Sol found near Edinburgh. In the low light of the temple, worshippers would see Sol’s eyes, mouth and the rays of his solar crown glowing. www.independent.co.uk/news/science...

According to the 'Orkneyinga Saga' (c. 1200), a snowstorm forced Earl Harald Maddadsson and his men to spend a night in the Maeshowe chambered cairn on Orkney; we are not told what happened there, but when they emerged in the morning, two of the men had gone insane. #WyrdWednesday 📷 Sigurd Towie

Looking out from West Kennett Long Barrow, Wiltshire. #TombTuesday 📷 July, 2023

Report: Poisonings Of Domestic Partners Have Increased https://theonion.com/report-poisonings-of-domestic-partners-have-increased/

Tonight’s listening: ‘Your Community Hub’ by @warringtonruncorn.com

My new book, exploring folk tales in Lincolnshire, is now available for pre-order! Publication: April 2026. fiveleaves.co.uk/product/devi...

The Sun's Return Kenojuak Ashevak ~ Inuk 1993

I’ve heard it’s #SuperbOwlSunday.

'The Battle With The Welwa in the Copper Wood', a 1901 illustration by Henry Justice Ford. For one of Andrew Lang's 'Fairy Books', it shows the knight Petru scrapping with a monster: half-stag, half-dragon. #folktale #folklore #legend #fairytale #dragon #monster #fantasyart

The Merry Maidens #StandingStoneSunday

Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man, ‘Out of Season’ (2002)

When the Mass rock invocation goes wrong: "Isn't he actually, y'know, the Goat of Mendes himself?" "Er, that would be an ecumenical matter."

‘I seek the hidden grove Where Pan plays to the trees, The nymphs, the fauns, the breeze, And the sick satyr with his syren-song Makes the world ache with longing. I am strong.’ — Victor Neuberg, ‘The Triumph of Pan’ (1910)

Brightwell Barrow, from the Oxfordshire Series by Anna Dillon @annadillon.bsky.social This will also be a familiar viewpoint to Paul Nash fans, but I think Anna's version here is far better. More information and prints below; annadillon.com/brightwell.html

Enjoyed this contemporary ghost story set in Northern Ontario. Two British children sent to Canada during the War disappear mysteriously. Picked up a signed copy when I was back in Toronto last month.

🎨 Herbert Guschner, portrait of author Algernon Blackwood, 1938. Blackwood was briefly a member of the Order of the Golden Dawn, and the portrait’s imagery expresses his esoteric interests as well as his passion for mountaineering.

Finding notes in my handwriting in a novel I’m pretty sure I haven’t read before.

A Ghost Box classic this evening: Belbury Poly, ‘The Belbury Tales’ (2011)

Ghosts. The Worcestershire folklorist Jabez Allies (1787-1856) once asked a local whether he had ever seen a ghost, and received the reply, "No, but my horse has."

Accidentally referred to 19th century American poet Lydia Huntley Sigourney as ‘Lydia Sigourney Weaver’ on an assignment posted on my online course page.

Henry in his chair looking ridiculously comfortable.

The horse is placed so centrally in folklore because our relationship to it has always been a defining cultural feature. Its ghosts are many. They pull spectral corpse carts, are steeds in phantom battles. A network of invisible clip-clopping down a thousand lanes. – Dr. M. Benn #FolkloreThursday

Tonight’s listening: this very fine Ghost Box compilation album — ‘Intermisson’ (2020).

Very sad to read of the passing of folklorist and poet Neil Philip. He was fascinating to talk to, and always kind and supportive. When I interviewed him for issue 12, he quoted William Blake: “This world of Imagination is the world of Eternity”.

The 1974 Doctor Who serial ‘Invasion of the Dinosaurs’ featured a conspiracy to bring back dinosaurs and restore the Earth to a time before humans. To maximize suspense, the first episode was simply called ‘Invasion.’ #WyrdWednesday 🎨 Chris Achilleos

Carved stele inside the Table des Marchands, a Neolithic tomb at Locmariaquer, Brittany. The shapes may represent shepherds’ crooks, symbolizing the pastoral life of the tomb's builders. #TombTuesday 📷 June, 2023.

"Colonizers could only explain anti-patriarchal activism as devil worship and witchcraft, placing blame on the marginalized populations of the colony." - Adrian Deveau niche-canada.org/2023/10/03/c... #envhist #envhum #quebec #folklore

Pan was honoured with a shrine in a cave below the Acropolis after helping the Athenians win the Battle of Marathon. According to Herodotus, the god Pan had appeared to the runner Pheidippides and promised to assist the Athenians. #MythologyMonday 📷 The Sanctuary of Pan, Athens (Wikimapia)

In a state of winter undress, trees' true, unique shapes are revealed. This dancing wild Irish Atlantic rainforest sally (willow), for example.

Wishing everyone a wonderful Spring ahead for Imbolc. May all your wishes bloom and blossom. 🖼️ The Coming of Bride, John Duncan, 1917.

For the uninitiated, these are Irish Throwing Stars, an ancient weapon wielded by St. Brigid during the 1916 Rising, striking fear into the hearts of the British, and responsible for the eventual smiting of both Cromwell and Thatcher.

An Acadian tradition for La Chandeleur (Candlemas) was for young men to travel through their village bearing a pole with a carved rooster on top, collecting donations for the poor. The photo below shows the revived custom on Prince Edward Island in the early 1930s. #Folklore 📷 Margaret Richard/CBC