Michelle Cunningham ⛤

Just another Friday night studying the geologies and geomyths of the Inner Hebrides.

Oh that’s shocking, I’m sorry 😞

If the pins remained in the wick after the candle had burnt away around them, their lover would swiftly appear. If they fell out, their lover would be disloyal.

A few variations are recorded in Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders (1866).

Black ink image of an extinguished candle stuck through with a large pin, standing upright on a small wooden base. Surrounding the candle are folded pieces of paper featuring magical sigils and text. This drawing is part of the collection at the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Boscastle, Cornwall (object number R/6/848).

Candles and pins are common features in folk magic. A damsel desirous of seeing her lover would pierce a candle with two pins, taking care that they crossed through the wick, whilst reciting:

“It is not this candle alone I wish to stick, but my love’s heart I mean to prick”

#folkyfriday #witchsky

YouTube video by Degenerate Art by Andrea Pitzer A Tiny Revolution | Humor as a weapon in oppressive states | Next Comes What | Andrea Pitzer | Ep. 4

Humour as a form of resistance. Worth the full watch, this is excellent.

@andreapitzer.bsky.social
#witchsky #queersky

Merry meet! Yes of course feel free to use it… would be a lovely thing if it caught on!

I’m fascinated by the folklore of objects from antiquity. Legend has that the spectre of a Druid at Rillaton offered travellers refreshment from his perpetually filled cup. One man grew angry at his inability to drain it and threw the cup, only to be met with his demise on the slopes of the tor.

Also to add:
@yaburrow.bsky.social
@vvitchtoria.bsky.social
@soritadeste.bsky.social
@morgandaimler.bsky.social
@morpheusravenna.bsky.social
@tiffanylazic.bsky.social
@irisanyamoon.bsky.social
@lilithdorsey.bsky.social
@panmankey.bsky.social
@aidanwachter.bsky.social

Also recommend adding:
@danielleblackwood.bsky.social
@ynysafallon.bsky.social
@ltzwitch.bsky.social
@mossmatthey.bsky.social
@devinhunter.bsky.social

I’m a pagan writer, I’d love to be considered 🖤

This is fully my niche, thank you @hookland.bsky.social

#liminalgeology #witchofstones

Madcap clabbernapper! 🤣

A meme instructing to tag yourself in a 1800s list of supernatural entities from the British Isles. Below is a list of a few hundred creatures, including: boggleboes, puckles, nymphs, kitty-witches, pucks, knockers, gyre-carlings, and thrummy-caps.

Definitely a kitty-witch. Possibly a gallytrot. #folkyfriday

These are delightful!

Absolutely. Frankly I’m so tired (bored?) of the perfected aesthetic. There was so much hidden in plain sight in the past. Regular objects, farming implements, etc, were important for their symbolic / functional essence. Use what you have on hand is really a cornerstone of practice!

Really looking forward to diving into it. Also, Underland is one of my favourites! Robert Macfarlane is brilliant, of course.

What is common knowledge in your field but shocks outsiders?

The Burning Times myth was largely perpetuated by second-wave feminism. In English speaking countries, those executed for witchcraft were hanged or strangled, not burned. The Old Religion referred to Catholicism, not a surviving Paganism.

A navy blue and white linocut print of a horse skull beneath a crescent moon, drinking from a calm expanse of water that holds a slightly distorted reflection. Flowers above are reflected as starfish below, and a seal swims playfully beneath the surface.

Bonehorse Rising, by Maria Strutz @mariastrutz.bsky.social

Absolutely!

So wish I could have attended. Congrats!

Bookish Checkpoint!

✦ Last book read: The Charmer’s Root (Roger J. Horne)
✦ Current read: The Witch in History (Diane Purkiss)
✦ Top of TBR pile: Ecstasies (Carlo Ginzburg)
✦ Next anticipated read: Serpents of Circe (Various) & Witches Among Us (Thorn Mooney)

#witchbooks #occultsky #pagansky

Very different things seem to be happening in Bald’s Leechbook and the Lacnunga, however. Distinctly northern magic that doesn’t appear to perpetuate Pliny…

He’s (almost) always there!!

Yes! Pliny is so pervasive, isn’t he. Such a lasting influence on folk remedies / folk charms.

I’ve only been here a few days but already it feels like a place of joy, magic, and resilience. A collective breath of fresh air. A community. It’s really lovely.

How lovely we are so close! *waves from the Sunshine Coast*

Canadian apatropaia!

Tense narratives #StandingStoneSunday

There was so much in the zeitgeist at that time. Fascinating!

Absolutely that kind, thank you!