Fabulous Folklore with Icy

Lemon balm, or Melissa officinalis , is a member of the Lamiaceae family, along with mint, rosemary, marjoram, sage, basil, and lavender. Its popular name comes from the fact the leaves smell of lemon when crushed. In contemporary witchcraft, balm makes a popular ingredient in incense used for healing, reducing grief, or boosting the memory. It's also a plant that appears in folk remedies and herb...

Poppy folklore isn't just full of Remembrance Sunday or sleep charms. It even has links to love and honouring the dead!  Let's find out more in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/poppy-folklore/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member o...

The iris is one of those instantly recognisable flowers, showy and bright with its voluminous petals, able to add a splash of colour to any garden. They've been beloved by humans for millennia, apparently favoured as far back as ancient Egypt as a decorative device. So how does the iris show up in folklore? Let's find out more in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and refere...

As we've seen with these European cities, ancient settlements often produce a range of ghosts and legends. It's unsurprising, with so many people living out their lives in close proximity across such a span of time. Milan's folkloric side includes traditional cuisine, dragons, ghostly women in black veils, and even a column defaced by the Devil - among other things.  Let's find out more in this we...

Althaea Sebastiani is a spiritworker and religious educator whose work focuses on helping people navigate the realities of deep spiritual practice. Their work is punctuated by strong emphasis on doing the work and encourages learning through direct experience. A spirit-led witch with nearly 30 years’ experience, their personal practice is land-based and devotional, focused on being responsive to t...

When it comes to plague outbreaks in Europe, your mind probably doesn't immediately jump to a so-called dancing plague. Yet that's precisely what seemed to grip Strasbourg, France in the summer of 1518. Townspeople started dancing, seemingly against their will, and couldn't stop for almost a month. Hundreds died of exhaustion, with contemporary commentators blaming the wrath of St Vitus. More rece...

As May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I'm pleased to introduce you to Kamuela Kaneshiro, who was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii and is host of the Legends from the Pacific podcast.  Legends from the Pacific utilises Kamu’s cultural knowledge, and television/film background to craft stories of people, beliefs, and traditions to help promote Pacific cultures. He is also...

Austrian capital Vienna has a long history, dating back to the 1st century CE Roman military camp of Vindobona. It's been home to some pretty big names over the centuries. Mozart, Beethoven, Sigmund Freud, Gustav Klimt, Hedy Lamarr, Marie Antoinette and Erwin Schrödinger, among many others, have all lived in the city. Yet it's also got a darker side. Its vast Central Cemetery is a testament to the...

Helsinki has a lengthy history, dating back to at least the Bronze Age. Parts of the city even stand on old cemeteries.  It's bound to have a few ghost stories and folklore, surely? Indeed it does! We're talking haunted theatres, headless ghosts, ghosts with habits, and Finnish epics. Let's find out more in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post:...

Robin Hood is perhaps the most recognisable figure in English folklore, darting through legend in Sherwood Forest.  Yet discussions in the past tried to claim Robin as an ancient god, recast as a literary outlaw, or as one of the Good Folk, whether a local sprite or Robin Goodfellow himself. How did these writers draw the conclusion that Robin Hood was anything other than a leading character in a...

The Queen of the Fairies is sometimes named Queen Mab, depending on the source material. She's also known as the Queen of Elfland, the Queen of Elphame, and Titania.  So who is Mab? Does she come from English folklore, or is Mab the name given by playwrights and poets to the Queen in folklore?  Let's find out in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog p...

For this month's episode of Fabulous Folklore Presents, I'm thrilled to bring you a chat with Rose Aurora! Rose is a fairy seer & sorceress, specializing in Faery, Elf, and Troll-related issues & spiritual needs. She is honoured to be part of a spiritual lineage of Celtic origin, but she is also trained in other spiritual traditions including Trolldom, of which she is a certified apprentic...

To some, Herne the Hunter is a ghost associated with Windsor Great Park. He haunts the tree where he died, rattling his chains and raging against...well...something. Elsewhere, Herne is portrayed as a demonic force tearing through the forest at speed, scooping up souls in the Wild Hunt. Some tales see him riding a coal-black horse with burning eyes. Others see him as a phantom stag that prefers to...

Few figures loom as large in British legend as King Arthur. Noble king, fair-minded monarch, mighty warrior - Arthur ends up taking on all of these roles at various points, and often a few more besides. How did ordinary people relate to him? How does he appear in folklore and the popular imagination outside of the world of the Arthurian stories? Let's find out how Arthur appears in folk traditions...

The hill figures of southern England are enigmatic artworks, standing out with their stark white lines against the green grass of their home slopes. They're mostly found on chalk hills, where the chalk provides the white outlines.  Countless figures have been lost. Yet four in particular remain famous even now, while a fifth is famous precisely since it no longer exists. Folklore naturally accrues...

Whether we're looking at barrows, cromlechs, or dolmens, ancient burial sites hold a certain fascination. They're linked with all manner of supernatural beings, from giants to fairies, gods and ghosts, and naturally, the Devil. Let's find out what kind of folklore is attached to these prehistoric grave sites in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore. Find the images and references on the blog po...

For this month's episode of Fabulous Folklore Presents, I'm thrilled to bring you a chat with Sian Ingham! Sian Ingham is a writer and editor, best known for writing We Don't Go Back: A Watcher's Guide to Folk Horror. Find their work at https://www.patreon.com/Room207Press , https://bsky.app/profile/parthenoid.bsky.social and https://www.room207press.com/ . In this interview, we're going to talk a...

Mention stone circles to many people, and they'll think of people gathering at Stonehenge to watch the sunrise. Or hulking megaliths looming out of the mist on a lonely moor, the sheep being careful to only graze outside the circle. They're certainly evocative, if nothing else. As with the standing stones that we covered last week, we know very little about them. We don't know why our ancestors bu...

There's something awesome yet eerie about encountering a standing stone in the landscape. Why is it there? Who put it there? And how did they put it there? The fact we can't often answer these questions helps add to their mystery. That absence of knowledge creates a vacuum that folklore is only too happy to fill. Speculation runs rife with these stones. Let's take a look at the folklore of some of...

Archaeological evidence reveals a close relationship between people and the spiritual world back to the Bronze Age, often enacted through water. Springs often reveal ritual deposits, such as those found at the head of the Seine. It’s unsurprising that humans would continue this water-based relationship via wells. For some scholars, wells had either a patron deity or a guardian spirit, which was la...

Forests are ambivalent places, both beautiful and tranquil, yet also dangerous to the unwary. They've always been a source of resources for people, which is either embraced or exploited. As a result, there is a whole class of folklore involving forest protectors, spirits who guard the woods and all the animals within. These protectors ensure that humans never take more than they should, and keep t...

Mushrooms have captured humanity's attention for thousands of years. But they still confuse us. Mushrooms spring up overnight, many of them are dangerous if you confuse them for their safer cousins, and they have an array of fantastical names. Witness the Destroying Angel, Spit Devil, Satan's Bolete, Witches' Butter, and Death Cap. Let's learn more about the folklore of fungi in this week's episod...

In this month's Valentine's Day-themed episode of Fabulous Folklore Presents, I'm thrilled to bring you a chat with Komal Salman! Komal Salman is a creative professional and Founder at Folkloristan, where technology meets storytelling to preserve oral Pakistani heritage. With a background in media studies, Komal is also the Content Strategist at Atom Camp, a tech ed platform. A writer and an illus...

Trees are some of humanity's best friends, providing oxygen, storing carbon, and even improving the soil where they grow. Some are flashy and famous in folklore, like the oak or the hawthorn. Others are perhaps less well-known, but that doesn't mean they're any less important to folklore!  Let's learn more about alder, birch, and blackthorn in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore. Find the ima...

Certain plants evoke particular areas, like grasslands, meadows, hedgerows, or gardens. Others are full of the mystery of the forest, splashing colour across the woodland floor. Bluebells are famous for turning ordinary woods into a stunning scene in late March until early May. So in this post, we're going to look at the folklore of woodland plants. Yes, some of them grow in other places, but they...