Fabulous Folklore with Icy

In this 12th episode of Fabulous Folklore Presents, I chat with Sacha Coward, a queer historian who has been working in museums for the past 15 years. He is currently writing his first book about the queer history of mythology and folklore called Queer As Folklore . In this interview, we chat about queer history, mermaids, and new ways to look at folklore! Find Sacha on Twitter here: https://twitt...

Most people at some point will have experienced the pain of a nettle sting. I once managed to fall hands-first from a fence into a whole patch of nettles. So it's hardly surprising that people consider them unwanted or unloved plants. The stinging nettle, or common nettle (Urtica dioica) is Europe's most common nettle. Other names for the plant include burning weed, fire weed, and burning nettle....

Plants often become unwanted plants when they're especially prolific. Celandine is one such plant, quickly spreading to fill an area with its glossy green leaves and dizzyingly bright yellow flowers. But celandine is also a confusing plant, since the two varieties with the same name are not related. The greater celandine Chelidonium majus is a member of the poppy family, while the lesser celandine...

Dandelions are cheerful little splashes of colour in lawns and borders. They flower longer than any other plant, providing food for early pollinators. Sadly, not everyone loves them as much as I do. They're often considered weeds, and are somewhat unwanted plants. But remember. Weeds are just flowers that grow where we don't necessarily want them to. Still, they've grown up alongside us here in th...

In this 11th episode of Fabulous Folklore Presents, I chat with Rachel, the part-time storyteller and food lover behind the Folklore, Food and Fairytales podcast. The Folklore, Food and Fairytales podcast features storytelling & folklore with connected recipes and food history and the importance of honouring the stories despite how tenuous the link to the recipes becomes. As well as the podcas...

According to the Venerable Bede, what we call February was called Sol-Monath by the ancient Britons. This translates to 'Month of Cakes' and the people gave cakes to the gods as offerings. I don't know about you, but that's a practice I could get behind. It's worth bearing in mind that what we think of as 'cake' is not what people of earlier centuries had in mind. Often, early 'cake' was more like...

The Widow's Son pub in Bromley-by-Bow is famous for its collection of hot cross buns above the bar. But why are they hanging there? Let's find out in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/hot-cross-buns/ Water, Water, Everywhere class for Miskatonic London: https://miskatonicinstitute.com/events/water-water-everywhere...

We're told to eat fruit as part of our '5 a day' but people of years gone by had a range of uses! Apples could predict your future lover, while pomegranates kept witches at bay.  Let's discover some of these alternative uses for fruit in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fruit-folklore/ Water, Water, Everywhere cl...

Bread is a kitchen staple now, but it was once used to make predictions, bring love into your life, and cure sickness!  Let's discover some of these new uses for bread in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/bread-folklore/ Sin Eaters episode: https://pod.co/fabulous-folklore-with-icy/inviting-sin-eaters-to-a-funeral...

Coats are used to keep us warm and safe from the elements, while underwear can provide warmth and protection from our other clothes. For such intimate items, it's hardly surprising that we've got love divinations, superstitions, and lore associated with such undergarments.  And how do people develop traditions around lucky underwear? Let's find out in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find...

In this 10th episode of Fabulous Folklore Presents, I chat with George Popov, the Bulgarian born writer-director behind the folk horror films, 'Hex' and 'The Droving', and the 'Sideworld' documentary series. These documentaries have seen George take on the role of narrator, guiding audiences through a trove of gothic ghost stories, folklore, mythology and lesser-known paranormal encounters.  In th...

Hats and gloves end up subject to lots of folklore around dropping them, or putting them in the wrong place. But what does it all mean?  Which is a sign of luck, or that you'll invite misfortune? Let's find out in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/hats-gloves-folklore/ Water, Water, Everywhere class for Miskatonic...

The folklore of clothes contains ways to use the contents of your wardrobe to attract luck, discover who you'll marry, and defeat the fairies!  But how? Let's discover some of these practices in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/folklore-of-clothes/ Centre for Folklore, Myth and Magic - https://www.folkloremythmag...

Footwear is surprisingly common in folklore, with boots, shoes and stockings used for protection, divination, and medicine. Burning shoes, pinning stockings, avoiding those who are barefoot—it's all in there. Let's discover some of these practices in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/footwear-folklore/ Water, Wate...

When you think of witchcraft in earlier centuries, you probably think of stereotypically wizened women, huddled around cauldrons or casting curses. You probably wouldn't immediately think of royal witches. Yet within the space of a single century, there were four women in England's royal family that fell prey to witchcraft accusations. Whether they actually practiced witchcraft is unknown, and qui...

Shapeshifting witches appear in various British tales, in which witches appear as cats, hares or even hedgehogs. In other stories, they can magically transform humans into horses, to carry them to their meetings. Let's look at shapeshifting witches in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! The Witch by Ronald Hutton - https://amzn.to/3ZE3483 Find the images and references on the blog post: http...

Shapeshifting is an ancient ability that appears in cultures around the world across a vast period of time. It appears in an array of 'types' of shapeshifting. Some creatures can simply shift their form due to a natural ability. Gods often change their form (hello, Zeus), but they can also change the form of others. Demonic activity, sorcery, and being cursed might also lead to a person shifting t...

Furniture tells us a lot about a period, people, or place. It's solid, so it can often be the only tangible artefact left. It often bears the impression of human activity through use, and they tell stories. Items of furniture also carry their own traditions through the ways in which we use the things that we inherit. Quilts, that cosiest of furnishings, carry so much energy from one generation to...

In this 9th episode of Fabulous Folklore Presents, I chat with Dr Delyth Badder, a Welsh folklorist and antiquarian book collector based in Pontypridd in the south Wales valleys with a special interest in Welsh death omens and apparitions!  In this interview, we chat about death omens in Welsh folklore, the problems with sharing folklore on social media, exploring some eerie Welsh ghost stories, a...

This episode isn't strictly a Fabulous Folklore episode...it's actually the Eerie Essex Christmas special, but I appeared on it, along with Jo from the Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast! So sit back with a mug of something warm, and enjoy ghost stories, tales of Christmas customs, and modern Santa encounters... Eerie Essex Podcast - https://www.buzzsprout.com/1827712 The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcas...

One of the plants that bears a festive name actually has nothing to do with the period - and that's the Christmas Rose. It's actually a black hellebore, part of the buttercup family. This is a plant accused of murdering Alexander the Great, believed to have cured insanity in ancient Greece, and used as a poison in warfare. So what's the folklore associated with the black hellebore? How does it app...

Few things are as synonymous with Christmas decorations than the tree itself. Pine, spruce and fir have all been used at some stage to form the centrepiece of the festive decorations. But what exactly is the folklore associated with conifers? How do they appear in protective practices? Can you use them in magic? And what is their link with Christmas? Let's find out in this week's episode of Fabulo...

Many plants are linked with Christmas, including ivy. What is the folklore of this climbing plant? How is it used in magic? Let's find out in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/folklore-of-ivy/ Weather folklore talk with Creswell Crags: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/red-sky-at-night-the-fascinating-world-of-weathe...

Treasure, stolen booty, graves, and other dark things lurk in the folklore of British caves. Let's go and explore a few legends in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/folklore-of-british-caves/ Weather folklore talk with Creswell Crags: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/red-sky-at-night-the-fascinating-world-of-weather...

Tunnels seem to accrue more folklore than most. Perhaps it's because we can't see where they go when we can only see the entrance. Or perhaps we've been so primed by fiction to believe tunnels must lead somewhere that we love the idea of a secret world beneath our feet. Some tunnel legends are common and appear all over the British Isles, with people attempting to explore them and vanishing during...