I am always grateful when Carol Borden of The Cultural Gutter tells me I should check something out. She knows my tastes pretty well and when she said I had to see Rabbit Trap, I knew I would need to do so (see her write up at the link). It hits a lot of my…
Tag: folklore
Hallucinations
I received an email requesting an essay I wrote in 2011. Not unusual: while publishers charge lots of money for academic journals, most of us are happy to give away copies for free of our own publications. Print journals used to give (maybe still do?) extra offset copies for precisely that purpose. What was odd,…
Dark Moon, Dark Goddess
As the dark moon is upon us this month and the winter solstice approaches, naturally thoughts turn to the Cailleach here in Scotland. The Crone of Winter some call her; she is the one who made the landscape as the old tales tell. She shoes up in the romantic poetry of the eighteenth century, such…
Sound & Vision: Cunning Folk Magazine
The new issue of Cunning Folk Magazine is out and includes a piece by me on medieval magic and sound as well as a wide range of fascinating work by other folks that will doubtless charm and inspire you. As usual: we are really in a golden age of beautiful little magazines that bring together…
Kantele in AMP
I’m delighted to be part of the latest issue of the American Museum of Paramusicology’s journal writing about the mythical harp of Finland, the kantele. I’m always happy to take any chance to talk about the beauty of this traditional lap harp and its legendary beginnings as the jawbone of a pike. But wait —…
The Rowan Tree
Poem by Lady Nairne (1766-1845), born Carolina Oliphant: THE ROWAN TREE Oh rowan tree, oh rowan tree, Thou’lt aye be dear to me, Entwined thou art wi mony ties, O’ hame and infancy. Thy leaves were aye the first o’ spring, Thy flow’rs the simmer’s pride; There was nae sic a bonny tree In a’…
#FolkloreThursday Review: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT (2021) Reppion & Penman No, I haven’t got around to the film. The blu-ray sits on a pile back in NY whilst I am idling in Michigan. So I was gratified to get an advance copy of the new comics version of this terrific medieval story AKA the only…
Upcoming Events
Who’s super busy? Me. Yes, I am saying no to things — mostly so I can say YES to things I am enthusiastic about (yes, it’s still a struggle not to overburden my time). Some of them quite fun. I have two conference presentations coming up next month and another in December. I have a…
Magickal Women & the Rock-n-Roll Witch
Join the authors, organisers and friends for the launch of Making Magic Happen, a glorious volume that collects many of the presentations from the first Magickal Women Conference in London. I spoke about the magic of Leonora Carrington, of course! There’s so much more–plenty to interest everyone of any esoteric stripe. Join us! On Monday…
#FolkHorror Remix featuring Higora
A new and exclusive Higora track is available as part of the Melmoth the Wanderer Folk Horror Revival Remix. Here’s the description of the set: The second Folk Horror Revival mix from Melmoth the Wanderer. All the tracks featured in this offering were submitted by members of the FHR Facebook group and woven together by…