Fabulous Folklore with Icy

Welcome to Spooky Season! I'm talking to Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux from the Three Ravens podcast about ghost stories! We talk about the fascination we have for ghost stories, what ghost stories need to be creepy, what kinds of ghosts really need to make a comeback in ghostly fiction, and whether it even matters if a place is haunted, or we just think it is! Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux are...

Thunder and lightning offer one of nature's more cinematic spectacles, so it's unsurprising they would accrue a degree of folklore. The danger that lightning particularly poses sees a range of practices to ward off storms, while other traditions offer a way to predict events using storms. Thunder and lightning also work together, as the Met Office explains: "When the electrical current from a ligh...

The autumn equinox falls on 23 September in the UK in 2026. This marks the definite slide towards the winter solstice! In terms of folklore, there are many articles about the autumn equinox from a neopagan perspective. Yet the festival only gained the name 'Mabon' in the 1970s, named by American Aidan Kelly. He chose 'Mabon' from Mabon ap Modron, who appears in Welsh mythology, though there is lit...

In this episode of Fabulous Folklore Presents, I'm joined by writer Charlie Creed, to chat about his new book, The Faery Rules: Forgotten Folklore for Living in Harmony with the Fae . We talk about why people persist in thinking fairies are all lovely and light when folklore says otherwise, ways you can protect yourself from fairies, and some of the more unusual beliefs that abound when it comes t...

Much online discussion of the moon focuses on the new and full moons, especially when it comes to setting intentions and releasing things. I prefer to work on a more seasonal basis than monthly, but I'm also terrible at intention setting because I invariably forget what I intended. (No, I intend to remember my intentions doesn’t work). Yet examining the plethora of superstitions and beliefs about...

As we’re focusing on the Folklore of the Skies this month, it seemed only right to start with a celestial phenomenon that becomes a lot easier to see as the nights draw in. Yes, we’re looking at the northern lights, or aurora borealis. Annoyingly, I am yet to see the northern lights. The one time they were visible with the naked eye across the whole of the UK, I was in bed with a migraine. I know,...

Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum) is a member of the Apiaceae family—otherwise known as the Carrot family. It's also known as Beaver Poison, Devil's Porridge, Herb Bennet, Poison Parsley, Water Parsley, and Spotted Hemlock. The plants can grow to 2.5m, and they're commonly found in the British countryside. The whole plant is toxic. According to Mrs Burke's Language of Flowers dictionary, hemlock m...

Deadly Nightshade ( Atropa Belladonna ) is part of the Solanaceae family, which also contains peppers, aubergines, tomatoes and potatoes! This most famous of poisonous plants is also known as belladonna, banewort, deadly dwale, Devil’s cherries, or death’s herb. The deadly nature of belladonna was noted as far back as 1550 BC. It's not a particularly common plant in the wild, although it does pref...

<em>Aconitum</em>, referred to as ‘aconite’, is part of the Ranunculaceae family, or the buttercup family.  The Aconitum genus contains around 100 species, each of which is poisonous. Records of its use date back 3000 years.  The Anglo-Saxons apparently called it ‘thung’, which meant 'poison plant'. The plant also gained the nicknames 'helmet flower', 'friarscap', 'old wife's hood' and...

Foxgloves are one of the most enchanting wildflowers you might encounter in a shady woodland. With their deep pink flowers on spikes that can grow as tall as a person, they certainly arrest the attention. Even their name is evocative, with a smattering of legends to explain where ‘foxglove’ came from. Yet as pretty as the foxglove ( Digitalis purpurea ) is, the plant is also poisonous. It’s great...

When we talk about poisonous plants, your mind might leap to the celebrities, like foxglove, aconite, or belladonna. You may not immediately think of cuckoo pint (Arum maculatum). It’s native to the UK and surprisingly common. I’ve equally found it in botanic gardens and city centre flowerbeds. Poisoning caused by this plant is thankfully rare, and they do serve a purpose in the ecosystem. Their b...

We're finishing up Witches Month by switching gears a little to examine the genesis of a foundational text of modern Wicca - Arada: Or The Gospel of the Witches . To do so, I'm joined by Dr A. D. Manns to explore the life, work, and possible influence of Roma Lister, a longtime collaborator of Charles Godfrey Leland. We chat about Florence as a hotbed of occult activity in the late 19th century, R...

In this episode of Fabulous Folklore, I'm chatting to Marion Gibson about Helena Scheuberin and her witchcraft trial in 1485 in Innsbruck, how her clash with Inquisitor Heinrich Kramer led to the Malleus Maleficarum , and how that hateful book led to such widespread disaster across the centuries. Marion Gibson writes accurate, engaging books about witches and magic in history. She’s been intereste...

In this episode of Fabulous Folklore Presents, I chat to Dr Andrea Wright about the fairy tale film as a concept, Jim Henson's career in film and television, the influence of the Muppets on fairy tales on screen, and what Jareth would have made of Miss Piggy! Andrea Wright is a Senior Lecturer in Teaching and Learning Development at Edge Hill University. She leads the Professional Standards Framew...

In this episode, we're chatting about witchcraft in Shropshire, a specific 19th century witch named Ann Morgan, and what Ann's life - and death - can tell us about Shropshire, her century, and ourselves. Amy Boucher is a writer and folklorist, who focuses on her native Shropshire. Her emphasis is primarily on the interplay between folklore, history and the paranormal, and perceptions of the past t...

In this first episode of Fabulous Folklore's Witches theme for July, I'm chatting to Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack from the End Witch Hunts project about the Salem Witch Trials. We'll be discussing the context of the trials, possible causes that don't involve mouldy bread, the aftermath of the trials for those accused, and the ongoing witch hunts that result in very real harm around the world. Jo...

I’ve covered three British herbalists so far on this podcast, and each has made a notable contribution to the development of botany and apothecary practice in Britain. This week, we’re going to meet Maud Grieve, whose contribution took a different form. Yes, she wrote a lot about plants. She wrote A Modern Herbal , in fact. Yet she also contributed to the wartime efforts of the First World War in...

Last week, we met William Turner, who revolutionised English herbals in the 16th century by publishing the first one in English. This gave more people access to the herbal knowledge he felt people should have - although it's likely he intended for physicians and apothecaries to use it. This week, we're going to meet Nicholas Culpeper, who took on the medical establishment in the 17th century, and...

In this episode of Fabulous Folklore Presents, I'm talking to archaeologist Wayne Perkins, who worked as a field archaeologist before moving into Historic Building Surveys. He supervises urban excavations in the City of London, as well as overseeing rural excavations in surrounding Sussex, Surrey, and Kent. He has a new book coming out this month, A Consensus of Symbols: Patterns, and Ritual Build...

Herbalism has seen a boom of interest in recent years as people seek to find closer relationships with nature and create ways to supplement their wellbeing. The practice has a long history all over the world, with many cultures offering their own uses for the plants and trees that grew in their region. Having such a plethora of plant material available called for the introduction of the herbal; a...

If you’re interested in herbalism or plant lore, chances are that you’ve perused a herbal or two in your time. Culpeper's Complete Herbal: A Compendium of Herbs and Their Uses, Annotated for Modern Herbalists, Healers, and Witches is a particularly well-known title, even if the contents have been surpassed with scientific advancements. Yet did you know that one of the most well-regarded herbals of...

Storytelling is something we all do on a daily basis, whether we’re aware of it or not. Maybe we’re telling a funny anecdote about something that happened on the way to work. Perhaps we’re recounting how we first met the bride during a wedding speech. Or how about retelling our favourite folk tale to help soothe a child to sleep? Storytelling and folklore are not synonyms. Folklore is a body of kn...

Dr Steph Lay is a folk horror writer, psychologist and researcher, gathering and sharing local stories of the unexplained for a project investigating whether the new city of Milton Keynes might be more haunted than anyone realises. Behind the scenes, she works with Peter Laws on the popular YouTube channel Into the Fog, curating the true experiences sent in by viewers and creating atmospheric artw...

Visionary film director and stage magician Georges Méliès is perhaps the earliest filmmaker who saw the visual potential of folklore. Among others, mermaids, sirens, ghosts, devils, and sorcerers are plentiful in his films. True, many of these figures become important for their centrality to the ‘tricks’ his films became famous for. Meanwhile, his films became important for the fantasy genres that...

Musical instruments appear scattered throughout various folktales. A drum lies at the centre of the Tedworth Drummer story. Pipers and drummers try to follow underground tunnels, only to mysteriously vanish. But what of the instruments themselves? What folklore or stories swirl around the physical items?  A listener requested the folklore of musical instruments some time ago. Now we’re looking at...