As the nights draw in and skies darken, it's a good time to remind myself of some associated fascinating folklore. Folklore: Stars & Skies by the fabulous @willowwinsham.bsky.social is the perfect companion. And those grey skies increasingly match the colour of my hair..... #FolkloreThursday

A double sighting of my books in the wild by @norwegianfolktales.bsky.social - Folklore of Stars and Skies, and The Story of Witches 💛

After nearly three weeks, I can finally read for more than ten minutes without feeling dizzy. Progress! Supervised, as always, by Hector and Jayfeather. #Caturday

I played "hunt the cat deities" during a recent visit to Manchester Museum and found Bastet, the Egyptian cat goddess. One of the many daughters of Ra the sun god, early depictions of Bastet show a woman with the head of a lioness, while later she is a cat or a woman with a cat's head. #Caturday

#FolkloreThursday was brought to you today by: @folkloretodmorden.bsky.social @willowwinsham.bsky.social @botanicafabula.bsky.social @mythcrafts.bsky.social @crystalponti.bsky.social @shanonsinn.bsky.social Huge thanks to everyone for a fabulous day, and we’ll see you next month! ⭐🌜🌈

That's the end of another #FolkloreThursday ✨🐉✨ Today's theme was the "Folklore of the Stars and Skies." This is @shanonsinn.bsky.social signing off - your last host today! Wishing you a happy full moon eclipse this weekend 🌝 1910 C. Wilhelm

In Norse mythology Sól/'Sun' & Mani/'Moon' ride through the skies on horse drawn chariots. Sol travels with Svalinn, a celestial shield that blocks rays from scorching the earth, giving warmth & light, not burning. Their journey is swift; they're pursued by the wolves Mockery& Hate #FolkloreThursday

Sailors once whispered that St. Elmo’s fire, the blue glow of plasma at a ship’s mast, was a star’s blessing. They believed it meant protection from storms, a guiding light sent from heaven when seas were rough and hope was thin. #FolkloreThursday Art: Lemmi Wizard

on July 7 in Japan, Tanabata, the Star Festival, celebrates the once-yearly meeting of lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi - the stars Vega and Altair - who are separated by the river of the Milky Way. Traditional decorations include colorful streamers. #FolkloreThursday

Many Tarot readers interpret The Star card as connecting to the universe, creation, and divine guidance. Stars also appear on The Chariot card, on The Empress’s crown, and in The Hermit’s lantern. As pentacles, they have their own suit #FolkloreThursday 1909 Pamela Coleman Smith (colour U.S. Games)

Hello everyone and happy #FolkloreThursday ✨🌛✨ Thank you to @crystalponti.bsky.social for hosting before the break! I'm @shanonsinn.bsky.social and I will be your folklore host for the next one hour. Today's theme is "The Folklore of the Stars and Skies" 1872 Eleanor Vere Boyle

Hi friends! I’m @crystalponti.bsky.social taking over the next hour of #FolkloreThursday. A huge thanks to @mythcrafts.bsky.social for their guiding light before the break. Our theme is stars and skies, so bring on your cosmic critters, moonlit mischief, and starlit stories. 🚀🌙✨ Art: Deb Enhams

According to a Flemish folktale, will-o'-the-wisps weren't ghost lights at all but stars that came out of the ground and floated between the trees. Apparently, they left behind a layer of magical foam on the ground. #FolkloreThursday

Perchta is a witch-like figure from Germanic folklore said to fly through the skies with her followers during the 12 days of Christmas. She leaves a silver coin for those who have been good, but slits the bellies of the bad and stuffs them with straw. #FolkloreThursday 🎨 Katie Ponder

This wiley youngest daughter of a king so poor that the queen abandons the princesses Hansel and Gretel-style not only gets them out of their plight, but kills two giants in the process! #AnotherCinderella #FolkloreThursday #folkyfriday #notdisneyprincess 🎨John Bauer

Fishermen in Hokkaido once kept scythes on their boats to defend themselves when the sky turned red, because that is a warning of the giant red octopus Akkorokamui, which can swallow a ship in a single gulp #folklorethursday art by @yokai.com

Persian myth describes the Simurgh, a giant bird whose wings stretched across the heavens. Some stories say the stars were sparks from its feathers as it flew between worlds, a guardian of fate and wisdom older than humankind. #FolkloreThursday Art: Exotic India Art

If a shower of rocks mysteriously falls from the sky, beware! It may be the work of tengu - especially if the rocks are invisible! If you're struck by the rocks you may fall ill, and just witnessing the phenomenon brings bad luck #folklorethursday yokai.com/tengutsubute/

Sacred to Apollo, the migratory swan pulled his chariot across the sky. It is said when the mute swan prepares for death, it sings its only song before perishing: this is known as their "swan song." #FolkloreThursday 🖼️: W. List

Nut (Nwt), the Egyptian sky goddess, is pictured stretched over the world as she forms the heavens above. Each morning she gives birth to the sun, a red disk that travels along the length of her body until it is swallowed whole each evening. #folklorethursday 🔗👇 mythcrafts.com/2017/09/28/n...

In Welsh mythology, the Milky Way is known as Caer Gwydion ("The fortress of Gwydion") or Llwybr Caer Gwydion ("the path to the Castle of Gwydion"), after the mythological figure Gwydion fab Dôn. #FolkloreThursday

In Japan, when rain falls from a clear sky, it's said that foxes are having a wedding #FolkloreThursday art by Mizuki Shigeru

According to a Flemish folktale, the Wagon from Hell was a group of stars pulled across the night sky by horses. In other tales, the wagon lived inside a giant star and flew through the night sky to terrify people. 🎨Franz von Stuck #FolkloreThursday

The National Trust's "Britain’s Folklore Year" is released on September 11th (released in US in December) Amazon UK link: amzn.to/41DrdhI #folklorethursday

The winged horse Pegasus who found immortality as a constellation of stars~was said to favour the fruit of the sea buckthorn~incidentally traditionally used to help altitude sickness~recently backed up by science🌿💫#folklorethursday 1878 img:Pegasus edited to accord the nymphs a degree of modesty🤣

The Onondaga story of the Pleiades revolves around dancing children and a mysterious elder, Bright Shining Old Man. 🔗👇 #folklorethursday mythcrafts.com/2020/05/01/t...

Thank you so much for all your beautiful lore of stars and sky for the last hour, this is @botanicafabula.bsky.social flying off to watch the clouds, handing over to moonlit @mythcrafts.bsky.social to share more of your #folklorethursday magic✨

The Toad in the Moon. According to folklore from China, the toad was originally a woman named Chang'e or Chang Er who steals the elixir of immortality from her scheming husband and floats away to the moon. She is sometimes said to be a moon goddess or the spirit of the moon itself. #FolkloreThursday

"Fiery Apparition In The Air, Seen In London, 1710." 11.5.1710 reprinted in The Illustrated London News 17.5.1879. #FolkloreThursday #1710s

This is a historic #FolkloreThursday! Our sister book/audiobook, HISTORIES OF BRITAIN has launched! Read on to learn more about bringing back to life Caesar, Gildas, Bede and others… jemroberts.com/2025/09/04/h... 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

We're organising an ongoing series of online talks to bring you a range of experts in different subjects during the winter and beyond, so join us and @icysedgwick.bsky.social on 13 Sep! www.facebook.com/share/19b7n5... Tickets just £5 bit.ly/spiritualism2025 #FolkloreThursday #Victorian #history

Huge thanks to @willowwinsham.bsky.social for a starry hour of fabulous sky-lore, this is @botanicafabula.bsky.social freefalling in from the dark sky zone to share your #FolkloreThursday stardust for the next hour🤩

The Man in the Moon - according to tales from Germany, he was banished to the moon for stealing cabbages or collecting sticks instead of going to church on a Sunday. #FolkloreThursday 🎨JoeMcLaren from Treasury of Folklore: Stars and Skies by Willow Winsham

"Mrs Haas is not the only person in the area who believes she has seen an extra terrestrial visitor. "It was like a cereal bowl turned upside down," she says, "with enormous lights all the way round." She had never seen anything like it before." #Bexhill Observer 14.1.1978. #FolkloreThursday #UFO

In Greek mythology, Iris is the daughter of the gods Thaumas and Electra, and the personification of the rainbow. She is a servant of the Olympian gods, both a messenger and someone to serve them nectar to drink. Iris is usually seen in the service of Queen Hera. 🎨Domenico Podestà #FolkloreThursday

In Lithuanian and Latvian folk tales, the Pleiades are often depicted as a sieve which gets stolen by the devil from the thunder god... #FolkloreThursday 📷Haocheng Li and Runwei Xu

A sick person seeing a shooting star will recover within a month. 'Signs, omens and superstitions' - Astra Cielo #FolkloreThursday Image by red-star-dreamy from Pixabay

In Finnish mythology, migrating birds travelled along the Milky Way to the edges of the Earth and "Lintukoto" where they lived during winter. They were guided by the goddess Lindu, queen of the birds and daughter of the sky... #FolkloreThursday 🎨Jan Brueghel the Elder

This fabulous cover by Joe McClaren for Treasury of Folklore: Stars and Skies is perfect for today's #FolkloreThursday theme! 😍

Here's a blog post I wrote for #FolkloreThursday about the origins of wishing on a star. folklorethursday.com/folklife/wis...

In Greek myth, Ladon was the serpent-dragon coiled around the tree of golden apples in the Garden of the Hesperides. Ever watchful, he guarded the fruit of immortality—until Heracles slew him in his eleventh labour. The gods set him among the stars as Draco. #FolkloreThursday

The Norse believed the shimmering northern lights were reflections from the shields of Valkyries riding across the sky to claim the fallen. The aurora was not just light, but destiny unfolding above. #FolkloreThursday Art: William T. Maud

Carpenters will carve a star into their scaffolding to ensure their safety. #FolkloreThursday Encyclopedia of superstitions, folklore, and the occult sciences of the world - Cora Linn Daniels and C. M. Stevans

Witches were often said to possess the power of flight, flying through the sky astride brooms, fence posts, goats, or even riding fellow witches to their meeting places. #FolkloreThursday 🎨 Katie Ponder, from The Story of Witches by Willow Winsham

'Essential reading for understanding our multi-folkloric present.' @deedeechainey.bsky.social 'Folklore: A journey through the past and present' by @odavies9.bsky.social & @cerihoulbrook.bsky.social, coming soon. #FolkloreThursday

"Schoolgirl Jean's star-gazing starts off a UFO mystery. The mystery deepened later when one of the girls spotted two smaller object which were moving towards the original object as if by "a pull from a magnet."" Bexhill Observer 24.9.1977. #FolkloreThursday #Bexhill #Sussex #UFO #History #1970s

In Chinese myth, Zhinü the weaver girl and Niulang the cowherd fell in forbidden love but were parted, placed on opposite sides of the Milky Way as the stars Vega & Altair. On Qixi, the 7th night of the 7th lunar month, magpies form a bridge so they may reunite. #FolkloreThursday

✨⚗️✨The Alchemist - by William Fettes Douglas #WyrdWednesday #LegendaryWednesday #FolkloreThursday

Hey @deedeechainey.bsky.social, @willowwinsham.bsky.social & @johnnymains.co.uk - we've made it to Tarrytown NY! We're sat on the shelves of the lovely Transom Books...! #HudsonValley #Booksky #Folklore

Looking forward to this one! Come and join us this Thursday! #FolkloreThursday