Love them or loathe them, cats are fascinating creatures. And there are plenty of cats in folklore and myth. The ancient Egyptians revered them so much that killing a cat became a punishable offence. The cat deity, Bastet, defended the pharoah, cats, and children. Cats in folklore occupy many roles. Whether they’re stealing souls for […]
#FolkloreThursday
Who or what is the Vampire Rabbit of Newcastle upon Tyne?
Newcastle sometimes gets a raw deal here in the UK. Nearly all talk of the so-called ‘Northern Powerhouse’ forgets there’s still a whole swathe of England north of Manchester. People form their opinion of its inhabitants based on photos of scantily-clad clubbers tottering through the snow in 6-inch heels. It completely ignores our Roman history, […]
Time Slips: Urban Legend, Ghost Story, or Utter Nonsense?
Time slips may feel like a product of science fiction. But they bear similarities with folklore. A person journeys to a strange place, sees odd things, and is not always believed upon their return. Sounds a lot like the tale of Thomas the Rhymer and his trip to Fairyland. Time slips also have things in […]
Who is the Phantom Hitchhiker that haunts the Blackwall Tunnel?
Many stretches of lonely road feature a tale or two about a phantom hitchhiker. They’re always eerily similar in structure. A driver stops to pick up a stranger, often a young woman. During the journey, she vanishes from the back of the car. Sometimes, the driver goes to the address she gave him to investigate. Did […]
Psychogeography and Folklore: Walking the City’s Legends
A few weeks ago, we headed to Manchester to explore a story related to Dr John Dee. In that post, I mentioned a tale involving a group of psychogeographers and their attempts to contact the good doctor’s spirit. I asked if anyone wanted a post about psychogeography as a practice. People said yes, so here […]
What is alchemy and did it ever work?
Mention alchemy to most people and they’ll either think of the philosopher’s stone. Or they’ll think about turning lead into gold. Alchemy was actually a worldview, according to the oldest texts written in Greek. They came to Europe via the Middle East after being translated into Arabic. Robert Allen Bartlett makes the claim that alchemy […]
