WillowWinsham

So glad you enjoyed it, thank you! My kids made a good point later - surely salt water plus snails isn't a good combo, so I rather fear for poor old Jeffery sent to do harm to ships....!

I grew up in Liss/Steep Marsh, so this is a trip down memory lane!

So lovely to see you again! ❤️

Willow Winsham and Tracey Norman at the UK Ghost Story Festival (day1) at QUAD Derby.

@willowwinsham.bsky.social and I before the #GhostStoryFestival at #QUADDerby. Buy her #books - they are all wonderful. #WitchSky #witchcraft #folklore #witch #skystorians

Fabulous time giving my talk on Unfamiliar Familiars at the @ghoststoryfest.bsky.social this afternoon. There's a whole host of brilliant spooky talks and panels taking place over the weekend, so if you're in Derby definitely drop by the QUAD and take a look!

I forgot to have hot chocolate! Better than forgetting to do my talk though! 😂

A top-hatted and green cloaked figure is poised on a rock as mist rises up around the rock. On the rock is a thin plant with waving leaves and a bird sits quietly. The landscape around is deserted except for more rocks and more mist.

Old Boneless is a coastal fairy made of clinging fog and mist haunting the seashores of Down and Antrim, obscuring the rocks from unwary mariners. Over the centuries, it has drifted towards the towns where it sustains itself on the smoke from chimneys... #FolkloreThursday 🎨Sedlacek

A wooden church bench, whose end is carved with a worn image of a mermaid. She had long flowing hair and is clutching a round mirror and a comb.

In Zennor, #Cornwall, a mermaid sometimes attended church services & is said to have one day lured a handsome chorister to her home beneath the waves. This bench end was carved with her image, to warn other men about these dangerous creatures. #FolkloreThursday #folklore #mythology

Hi Shanon! Great to see you!

Greetings #FolkloreThursday 🐉

That was Crystal at @crystalponti.bsky.social sharing your posts before the break! I'm @shanonsinn.bsky.social your final host today (for the next hour).

Today's theme is Water Spirits & Shape-Shifters: Creatures of Lakes, Rivers and Seas 🧜‍♀️

1928 Ivan Billibin

Once a Selkie finds its skin again, neither chains of steel nor chains of love can keep her from the sea.

~Rosalie K. Fry
art by Tristan Elwell
#FolkloreThursday #BookologyThursday

Arthur Rackham’s illustration: A water nymph with flowing hair and a dress of swirling waves kneels beside a curious child, while fish leap around her in a moonlit, misty riverscape.

“…while in the seas, rivers, and streams live the widespread race of water-spirits”

(de la Motte-Foqué “Undine”)

German Romantics had a certain fondness for elemental beings, with, being German, the ideological superstructure from Paracelsus et al.

🎨 Rackham

#folklorethursday #bookologythursday

Guardians of the Forest: Spirits, Deities and Creatures of the Woods Join us online for a talk from Helen Lundström Erwin exploring Rå, a captivating creature from Scandinavian forest folklore.

Do join us for the next Event in April!
www.eventbrite.com/e/guardians-...

The Foremothers Café - Helen Lundström Erwin Women's History Museum and Cultural Center in Virtual Reality, Set in Lund, Sweden in 1918.

And you can find out more about The Foremothers Cafe on the website:
theforemotherscafe.com

DeeDeeChainey's Cultural Futures Hub | Spatial Cultural community hub and gallery space. Join us on Facebook for upcoming events info: culturalfutureshub. #legends #culture #community #community-center #community-event #folklore #mythology

You can visit the Näcken exhibition online anytime at The Cultural Futures Hub by clicking here:
www.spatial.io/s/DeeDeeChai...

Helen sitting on stage in front of a large screen showing a water folklore poster, surrounded by people sitting in a digital lecture hall.

A group of digital avatars in front of a historic image of Nacken.

Thank you so much to everyone who came along to the #FolkloreThursday x @theforemotherscafe.bsky.social x @culturalfutureshub.bsky.social LIVE online event today!

And huge thank you to @helenerwin.bsky.social for such a fascinating deep-dive into historical accounts of Näcken!

Hi Crystal, great to see you! And yes, what a fab session it was!

A colorful, expressive painting shows a person in profile blowing gently from their hand, their breath transforming into a flowing wave that becomes a white bird in flight. The scene blends water, motion, and light, creating a dreamlike, symbolic feeling of transformation.  

Hi, friends! I’m @crystalponti.bsky.social here to host the next hour of #FolkloreThursday. The theme is water spirits and shape-shifters. A huge thanks to @culturalfutureshub.bsky.social for hosting today's event and for guiding such a wonderful last session. Dive in with us!

Art: Melani Pyke

Thank you! Fab choice, both folklorically and also because we love manatees here!

Thanks so much Amanda!

A New Charm for an Ancient Tradition — Botanica Fabula A New Charm for an Ancient Tradition

Every year the stones given by StFillan to the Old Mill at Killin are washed in the falls on the river Dochart and rebedded in river wrack, shaped like body parts they are said to have the power to heal, you can find out more on my website www.botanicafabula.co.uk/heritage-arc... #folklorethursday

Hello! Hope you have a fab one!

Hello #FolkloreThursday and thank you to @botanicafabula.bsky.social for hosting the last hour of watery folklore- this is @mythcrafts.bsky.social here for the next hour fishing for your tasty folklore tidbits!
Img: Siren statuette from The Met

A small stream flows between two green grassy banks, with raised sides and trees on the top.

The Irish alp-luachra - Joint Eater - preys on weary travellers sleeping beside streams or rivers. This newt-like fairy spirit slips down the throat and settles in the stomach, eating any food that enters while the unsuspecting host slowly wastes away. #FolkloreThursday (Image: John Horner)

Painting. A dark lake framed by green foliage and flowering plants fills the canvas. To the right, towards the bottom of the painting, the head and shoulders of a naiad is visible.

🍃A Lake with Naiads for #FolkloreThursday
by Georges Clairin, 1900.

A moonlit forest scene by Oswald Achenbach (1851): A pale, ethereal woman with flowing hair sits atop a rocky outcrop over a pond, glowing in the moonlight, while a hunter, hound by his side, approaches awed through gnarled trees.

“You know me well—from lofty stone
My castle gazes deep into the Rhine alone.
It grows late, the air turns cold,
You’ll never leave this forest old!”

(Eichendorff)

🎨 Achenbach (1851)

In Eichendorff's 1815 poem, Lorelei is still more witch than river siren.

#folklorethursday #bookologythursday

Hello! Lovely to see you, and huge apologies again about the time mixup! 😂🫣

Hello #folklorethursday friends~huge thanks @willowwinsham.bsky.social 🌊
This is @botanicafabula.bsky.social here to host til 12~stepping in from the banks of Loch Tay~named after Scottish river deity Tatha the silent one, the Loch created by the feet of An Cailleach as she strode across the land💫

One for the #FolkloreThursday crowd!

A horse with glowing eyes is rising from a watery pool amid the reeds.

In Scotland and Ireland beware strange horses. They may be the each-uisge. If you can saddle it and ride inland, you will have a fine horse, until it gets a whiff of sea-air. Then it gallops seaward, devouring you but leaving your liver to float upon the surface of the water... #FolkloreThursday