Much like Santa Claus, Perchta was believed to visit houses between Christmas and Epiphany in search of who had been good or bad. If you had been a good child--worked hard and behaved yourself--you might find a silver coin in your shoe. If you hadn't, well...
Category: #FolkloreThursday
#FolkloreThursday: Don’t Lick the Blue Star Tattoo
Looking back on this, it seems absurd, right? And it is. The inherent danger, though, is in the fact that law enforcement agencies were so quick to begin passing out warnings when they had no evidence that anyone had ever actually experienced this. Zero investigatory work was done and while Google may not have been possible back then, it can't have been that hard to try to get to the bottom of this. But they didn't.
#FolkloreThursday: Sing a Song of Sixpence…
Most of us are familiar with this nursery rhyme, right? It's one of those rhymes that you just seem to know, and maybe you wondered why there were birds in a pie but it didn't take up too much of your thought, right? Well, it should have been taking up your thoughts because depending on what source you look at, there are layers upon layers of suspected meaning here.
#FolkloreThursday: Headless Horsemen
The dominant spirit, however, that haunts this enchanted region, and seems to be commander-in-chief of all the powers of the air, is the apparition of a figure on horseback, without a head. It is said by some to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper, whose head had been carried away by a cannon-ball, in some nameless battle during the Revolutionary War...
#FolkloreThursday: Goatman’s Bridge
In the 1930s there was an Black goat farmer named Oscar Washburn who lived in the Denton, Texas area, near Old Alton Bridge. Washburn was an incredibly successful and popular farmer who was known for miles around for the quality of the meat, milk, cheese, and hides that his farm produced. Washburn became so well know, in fact, that he hung a sign near the bridge that said "This way to the Goatman," the better to direct people to his farm.
#FolkloreThursday: Hekate
It was Hekate and her torch that assisted Demeter in her search for Persephone, and it is Hekate who leads Persephone back and forth on her yearly journey between life and death. Hekate's transformation into the patron of witches arose out of this chthonic and nocturnal nature and she became heavily associated with herb-lore and the use of poisonous plants. It was written that Hekate was the patron of the witch Medea, which helped to further her reputation as the Goddess of Witches.
#FolkloreThursday: Lilith
There are reams of lore and academic texts and hypotheses and theories about who she was, where she came from, and what she became. But in studying the fragments, it's not hard to see how women would find a kindred spirit in her. All the stories seem to agree that Lilith was passionate and wanted to be independent.
#FolkloreThursday: The Ceasg
Stories of the ceasg tell that it is not uncommon for them to come to land and take a human lover. It is believed that they are able to shed their mermaid skin and become human while on land, which allows for these assignations. If any children should be born from these unions, the ceasg, even once she has returned to the water, will continue to watch over her her children and their descendants by protecting their boats from storms and guiding them to the best fishing areas.
#FolkloreThursday: Scarecrows and The Harvest
When the fields are full, they stand as protector to the crops. Once harvest comes, once the fields have been reaped, when everything is turning brown and decaying, the figure of the scarecrow stands in the fields alone, forever immobile (we hope!), watching over the land with hollow eyes, waiting for life to return.
#FolkloreThursday: The Wild Hunt
At its root, the hunt is believed to serve as a symbol of the wildness and chaos of nature. It reminds us of nature's inherent darkness and that we should remember to be afraid of the black night because dangers abound for those who are careless enough to be caught out when the riders come to call.
Bluestocking Writes... 