FolkloreThursday

A 19th Century colour poster shows a man with an arm upraised surrounded by cats doing various tricks and performances, such as slimbing a rope, jumping across bottle tops, and walking a tight rope. A smaller circle of the portion shows a cat ripping through the paper. By this cat is says, Les Chats Savants, which means the clever cats.

That's the end of another #FolkloreThursday 🐉

Today's theme was the "Folklore of Games and Pastimes!" This is @shanonsinn.bsky.social signing off - your last host today! Wishing you a week full of fun and play 🤩

19th Century circus poster

A large gathering in a timbered barn depicting an Irish Wake from a couple of centuries ago. In one corner is a storyteller holding forth to their audience. In another a group of young girls are sitting close to the large open fire. In the foreground youths are playing a game.

Irish wake games were intended to remind the deceased they were a treasured part of society, to send them away happy, and hopefully prevent them from returning... #FolkloreThursday

🎨Nathanial Grogan

Hi Willow! Nice to see you too! I hope you are having a great Folklore Thursday 😊

Screenshot of a tarot spread by Polish Folk Witch on YouTube exploring her fear of the Bent-Neck Lady ghost seen on Haunting of Hill House season 2 (loosely based on Turn of the Screw by Henry James). The graphic is in black and red with a white title. There are spots for six cards to be laid out. A red snake can be seen behind the text list of questions whose numbers correspond with each card. Full video with audio at https://www.youtube.com/live/EO_OysYwi7c

A tarot spread uses cards in a pre-determined order to explore a question or theme. How the cards are laid out will give a reader their answers #FolkloreThursday

A clever spread by the Polish Folk Witch on YouTube exploring her fear of the Bent Neck-Lady ghost on The Haunting of Hill House.

Skittles, ancestor of modern bowling, was once played in churchyards before it was banned for “disorderly mirth.” Some said the sound of falling pins echoed like tiny thunderclaps calling rain. #FolkloreThursday

Art: Jan Steen

A young woman is resting her head on playing cards spread out across the table. Her eyes are closed. A lit lamp glows.

Take a pack of cards, cut them, choose a card - make your wish. Now shuffle the cards into three piles. If your card is in the first pile, the wish will come true. If in the second, the wish will take time. In the third? It will not come true at all... #FolkloreThursday

Two boys playing a game of battledore - poss late 14th or early 15th Century page-corner illustration from a medieval manuscript

-Battledore_-_Youthful_Sports 1804

William Beechey, Kenneth Dixon playing with a shuttlecock, c. 1790.

Battledore and shuttlecock or jeu de volant was an earlier version of badminton. Played with two rackets and a shuttlecock, the object was for the players to hit the shuttlecock towards each other without letting it fall to the ground. #FolkloreThursday

"Mrs. Jarley's Waxworks at 'Holmlea.'
Visitors Entertainment at a Bexhill Boarding Establishment."
Bexhill Chronicle 3.9.1910.
I am a bit disappointed to read that Mrs. Jarley wasn't turning her guests into waxworks...or was she?
#FolkloreThursday #Bexhill #Sussex #History #1910s

🎨'This Time For Sure,' Painting by Richard De Wolfe

#FolkloreThursday 🏒❄️🍁
Shinny Hockey is Canada's ultimate childhood favorite—raw pond hockey rooted in Mi'kmaq lore from 1600s Nova Scotia.
Their Tu'aqn ritual involved hurled balls and curved sticks on icy lakes, channeling ancestral spirits to guide the puck.
From sacred play to backyard legend.

The afterlives of anatomical bodies: what museum collections can teach us about our past ‘Up the close and doon the stair,/ Ben the hoose wi’ Burke and Hare/ Burke’s the butcher, Hare’s the thief,/ Knox the boy who buys the beef.’ This Scottish children’s rhyme has br…

Up the close an doon the stair
Ben the hoose wi Burke an Hare
Burke’s the butcher, Hare’s the thief
Knox the boy who buys the beef

—cheery wee 19th-century Edinburgh children’s skipping rhyme, about bodysnatching & murder
#FolkloreThursday #C19th
bodiesandacademia.wordpress.com/2017/09/11/t...

Boys from St Illtyd's School in Cardiff playing conkers by Getty images

#FolkloreThursday
Discover UK playground magic—Conkers! Originating on the Isle of Wight in 1848, kids threaded shiny horse chestnuts onto strings and swung to crack opponents’ conkers. A fierce, fun childhood battle—may the toughest nut win! #Conkers

A painting shows realistic figures, a man and a woman, sitting across from each other at a small table. There is nothing in the background though a large red circle acts as a frame. The woman has her head thrown back and the man stares intently at her with a smile on his face. Both of their hands are on a Ouija board.

Hello #FolkloreThursday 🐉

Thank you to Crystal @crystalponti.bsky.social for hosting before the break!

I'm @shanonsinn.bsky.social your last host today for the "Folklore of Games and Pastimes" event. 1 hour left 🃏🎲

To play, use the #folklorethursday hashtag in a themed post

1920 N. Rockwell

A whimsical painting of six dogs sitting around a green poker table, each holding playing cards in their paws. The dogs wear collars and pearls, appearing serious and focused on the game. Poker chips and cards are scattered on the table, and a portrait of another dog in regal attire hangs on the red wall behind them. A lamp with a patterned shade casts warm light over the cozy, human-like scene.

And that’s game over for me… @crystalponti.bsky.social signing off! Thanks for playing along during this hour of #FolkloreThursday! Up next, deal yourself in with the marvelous @shanonsinn.bsky.social hosting the final session at 6:30 GMT. Don’t fold early!

Art: Carol Lew

How interesting! Sounds like a game I would enjoy. Thanks for posting!

Ahl-kar (stick game) set with 36 alkáa (gambling) sticks in leather bag - photo from Princeton University Art Museum

The Tlingit game ahl-kar or stick game involved moving sticks around in piles while they were hidden and wrapped in cedar bark. The goal was to guess where a marked stick was located. The marked fish was called "naq" or which means "devil fish" and was used as bait when fishing.
#folklorethursday

The Silent Maiden - Island Folklore: Taiwanese Tales & Traditions The Sea Goddess is the protector of Taiwan. She was once a real person and this is her legend.

The #SeaGoddess is the protector of #Taiwan. She was once a real person and this is her legend.
#FolkloreThursday

Love this! Thanks for posting, Bevan!

An ancient set of the senet board game inscribed with the Horus name of Amenhotep III (r.  1391–1353 BCE).

When the Egyptian folk hero Setne broke into the tomb of Prince Naneferkaptah to steal a magic book, the prince's mummy challenged him to senet, an old Egyptian board game. The more Setne lost the game, the more the floor enveloped him. However, he used magic amulets to break free.
#FolkloreThursday

What a contest!

"Tackling 'yard of ale' at Sidley.
There were six contestants for the 'yard of ale' championship & they caused much amusement as they attempted the difficult task of drinking nearly a pint & a half of ale from a tube 36" long - without spilling a drop!"
#Bexhill Observer 21.4.1962. #FolkloreThursday

Creepy!

A man in chain mail kneels and kisses the hand of a richly dressed, crowned woman on a throne. She is clearly dead.

La Giorgia dons an especially gruesome disguise (hint: she buys it from a grave digger) & the palace geese let the prince know she’s more lively than she appears. #AnotherCinderella #fairytales #catskin #folkloreandfairytales #FolkloreThursday #folkyfriday #notdisneyprincess 🎨Pierre-Charles Comte

Beautiful! Thank you for sharing!

A group of people have gathered by the hillside. they are flying kites, one is shaped like a huge owl and the other like a dragon, smaller ones are flying in the skies too.

In Polynesian tradition, kites originated in the spirit world, a way of connecting heaven with earth and sending messages to the gods... #FolkloreThursday

A Page from the Libro de los juegos of Alfonso X of Castile and Leon - trans: Sonja Musser Golladay Commissioned: 1283

In 1283, Alphonso X of Castile commissioned the Libro de los Juegos (Book of Games); a treatise on the games of chess, dice and tables (early backgammon) based on Arabic works. Regarded as "the greatest source of information on board games ever compiled during the Middle Ages." #FolkloreThursday

I love this! I want to race on a donkey!

A crowd of people is watching 3 men race on donkeys while a smock is hoisted aloft on a cross-like stick.

#FolkloreThursday
Eccles Wakes: Racing for the Smock, Joseph Parry, 1808
Held on the 1st Sunday in September for 3 days, with "ancient and modern sports," and feasting on Eccles cakes, this painting shows men racing on donkeys to win the smock held aloft at the right.
artuk.org/discover/art...

An 18th-century painting shows three monkeys dressed in rich, human-style clothing gathered around a game of cards. Each monkey wears a feathered hat and elaborate robe, mimicking aristocrats at play. Coins, cards, and a jug rest on the table between them, and a fourth monkey watches from behind with a glass of wine nearby. The scene is comical and satirical, highlighting human folly through animal players.

Hello, #FolkloreThursday! @crystalponti.bsky.social here to host the next hour. Our theme is games & pastimes! Think bone dice, riddles by firelight, and the curious ways people have played through the ages. Thanks to @mythcrafts.bsky.social for hosting the last session!

Art: Abraham Teniers

Thank you #Folklorethursday friends for all your tweets. This is @mythcrafts.bsky.social signing off, but stick around as hosting will resume in 90 minutes from now with @crystalponti.bsky.social.
Img: Game of Senet from Tutankhamun's tomb

What an interesting origin story