MythCrafts

Lunar Lunacies and Blood Moons A blood moon is a foreboding sight. While technically it is just an eclipse caused by the Earth passing directly between the sun and moon, here the sunlight becomes refracted by the Earth’s a…

When a full moon turns the color of blood fearful lore arises…. 🩸🌕🩸

#bloodmoon 🔗👇

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What Lurks Beneath? Sewer Monsters throughout the Ages Many of us know the urban legend of albino alligators that live in the sewers beneath New York City, but records of sewer monsters can be seen as far back as 2CE.

Since the aqueducts of ancient civilizations, sewers have created dark labyrinthine worlds beneath our feet. It’s no surprise human imagination has filled them with monsters….

#BookologyThursday

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Waterfall Demon Princess: Raising the Bones of the Dead Imagine this: your father was a powerful Samurai, who led an unsuccessful revolt against the emperor. And so, in the (Western) year 939 C.E., the Emperor had him beheaded (this part of our tale is …

Gashadokuro are angry spirits that appear as giant skeletons, several times larger than your typical human. These monsters are assembled out of the bones of those who have died unnatural deaths.

#MythologyMonday

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The myth that women have teeth “down there” has been found in global myths all over the world.

Bite me is the first collection of these myths, providing understanding of the psychological, social and political motivations that has kept them alive and thriving.

#mythologymonday

Cotton Mather, Bridgette Bishop and the Witches of Salem: Give a God Man Power… Imagine this: the year is 1692 A.D., and you are a very spry 60 year old who goes by the name of Bridgette. Along with your third husband, Edward, you run a popular tavern (or two) that doesn&#8217…

Quarrelsome neighbors are nothing new, but this was the beginning of America’s first large-scale Satanic Panic, and is often the case, there was one individual near the center of it all. His name: the Reverend Cotton Mather…

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Thanks all 😍

Japanese carved brown wood image of a mermaid with sleeked back hair streaming behind her and a hand on her scaly tail.

#FolkloreThursday In Japanese folklore, eating the flesh of a ningyo, or mermaid, grants eternal life and youth. It was also said that Ningyo blood will cure any wound.

Boxwood ningyo netsuke, Tadayoshi, 19th century
collections.mfa.org/objects/19902

The Lure of the Lorelay The Upper Middle Rhine Valley in Germany is a protected UNESCO World heritage site. Dotted with ancient castles and fortresses which were largely abandoned by the 17th Century this area b…

Lore Lay stayed true to her lover and her suitors, despondent with rejection, hurled themselves into the Rhine like lemmings. But the townsfolk began to suspect Lore Lay and so she is hauled in front of the bishop facing charges of bewitchment.

#FolkloreThursday

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The Angry Queen of the Southern Sea Beware, attractive young men: an enchantress awaits you on the southern coastline of Java. She may appear as a mermaid, or she may appear as a beautiful Goddess, but regardless of her form, she har…

An enchantress awaits on the coastline of Java. She may appear as a mermaid, or she may appear as a beautiful Goddess, but regardless of her form, she harbors a grudge against men, and has been known to lure the unsuspecting to a watery grave…

#FolkloreThursday

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Who Mourns the Sirens? Sirens are often mistakenly thought of as a monstrous counterpart to the mermaid; evil temptresses lurking in the sea foam waiting to lure innocent sailors to their death with their songs. This was…

Sirens did not start out as sexy fish ladies.

#FolkloreThursday

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If you are in #Canberra we are doing another live #mythology show

Tickets smithsalternative.com/events/the-pow…

Egyptian Tales of Wonder The Westcar Papyrus, also known as The Fairytales of the Papyrus Westcar or Tales of Wonder is an ancient Egyptian text dating somewhere between 18-16th BCE, which is currently housed in the E…

The Fairytales of the Papyrus Westcar is an ancient Egyptian text dating somewhere between 18-16th BC

These tales are considered to be some of the first fairytales goven the themes invoke the magical in the miracles that are performed by priests and magicians within.

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Appreciate it 😀

He wrote 15 volumes on it…

😂😂😂 well played.

Pythagoras: Death by Beans Many of us in modern society remember Pythagoras from early high school geometry as we desperately tried to figure out the hypotenuse of right-angled triangles. However, in Ancient Greece Pythagora…

Pythagoras met his death at the hands of his enemies after stopping in his tracks and refusing to run through a field of beans. Yes, beans, and they weren’t even the magical ones…..

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Born from the Flames: Salamander Mythology Discover the intriguing world of salamanders, their regenerative powers, and the folklore intertwining magic and medicine throughout history.

Salamanders capacity for regeneration has been a focus of many modern medical studies. In the ancient world, salamanders were equally as intriguing; believed to have powerful mystical properties they were a key ingredients in many folk magic recipes.

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Tomorrow is St Lucy’s Day and her being a light in the darkness is celebrated in many European regions.

But on the eve of Lucy’s feast day, her dark counterpart Lussi rides through Sweden’s winter night with her demon retinue, the lussiferda.

Read of her in our 13th #Yulefolklore tale below!

I’m excited to show you my finished Krampus marionette/puppet in action. look at him go! 🌲

Thank you! You too 💜

El Caganer: Gifts That Keep On Giving. El Caganer (which roughly translates to “The Shitter”) is one of the top billed customs on those “Craziest Christmas Traditions Around the World” lists that circulate through social media each year…

El Caganer (which roughly translates to “The Shitter”) is a figurine that is crouched down, pants around its ankles and visibly defecating. A unique addition to the traditional Nativity scene in Catalonia.

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#bookologythursday

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Greeting from Krampus! For every Yin, there is a Yang. Every time the Beatles sang that they ‘want(ed) to hold your hand’, there was a Mick Jagger swaggering on a different stage, snickering just exactly wher…

Krampus’ name is probably from the German kramp/krampen, which means claw (though another possible etymology comes from the Bavarian word krampn, which means dead or rotten)

#folklorethursday

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The Rounder the Belly, the Harder it is to Slit! Beware Frau Perchta Frau Perchta is a folkloric figure from the Alpine region, one that rewards the good and punishes the bad around Winter festival time. Like most folkloric figures, every locality has a slightly dif…

Most accounts of Perchta concur on the major themes: she was associated with spinning, she traveled with a litany of others, and she loved slitting open the bellies of naughty children and stuffing them with straw or garbage.

#folklorethursday

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Thank you, hope you have a marvelous festive season @botanicafabula.bsky.social

Santa and the Pickled Children It’s no secret that Santa Claus is a fictional evolution of the Christian Saint Nicholas, a man born in 280 AD who became the Bishop of Myra, a region located in modern day Turkey. Accounts of Sain…

Who knew Santa was a necromancer!!
🎅

#LegendaryWednesday

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In the Dead of Winter, Come the Kallikantzaros: The Tree Will Stand This post deals with the Kallikantzaros, mythical creatures who are determined to cut down the Tree of Life, and harass humans for 12 long Winter days and nights.

From deep underground, the Kallikantzaroi spend their days sawing away at the roots of the Tree of Life hoping to destroy the world.

And when the Winter Solstice breaks, they claw their way up to create chaos on the surface.

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#WyrdWednesday

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Heroines and Heroes: Ovid’s Heroides It goes without question that the Roman poet Ovid’s greatest contribution to our understanding of classical mythology is his Metamorphosis. Born in 43 BCE, and dying between 17/18 of the comm…

The Heroides are 15 poems, all written by Ovid. They are presented as love letters, sent from women who have been mistreated, neglected, or abandoned by classical Greek ‘heroes’.

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#mythologymonday

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Greco-Roman Weasels: Magic, Midwives, and Vengeful Brides Protecting food and grain stores was a vital element of survival in ancient times, so while ancient Egyptians were busy breeding domesticated cats to keep mice and rats at bay, the ancient Greeks p…

Weasel myths warn against the wiles of women, especially outspoken women. They attempt to devalue women who refused to be domesticated and tamed by their male masters.

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Guidebook to the Underworld: Egyptian Funerary Texts The texts from which we gather knowledge of the Egyptian Underworld (Duat) include the various funerary texts which also served as guides to the underworld.

The Duat is the realm of the Dead in Egyptian Mythology. Ruled by Osiris it is not so much a realm of punishment, but a land of trials and tribulations…

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