New Year’s Day is perhaps one of the longest-running days to be celebrated since we’ve had a calendar. Marking the end of one year and the beginning of another, it offers a secular reason for people to celebrate together. It’s been a time associated with gift-giving, visiting friends, and attempting to predict the fortunes of […]
superstitions
Seagulls and Storms: Seafaring Superstitions and Legends
It’s hardly surprising that mariners would have a host of seafaring superstitions and folklore about sailing. In earlier centuries, bad weather, poor communications with land, and disease could bring havoc to any journey. Folklore both preserves ideas about what sailors feared and provides protections to keep dangers at bay. What sounds like superstition to us […]
Money Folklore: Coins, Wishes, and Fairy Gold
Love, health, and money are perhaps three of the most common topics for divination and magic. Despite the fact that practising magic to find treasure or money was a crime under England’s 1542 Witchcraft Act (McDowall 2013: 254). But it’s not surprising that money folklore would focus on how to use money for luck—or to […]
Autumn Superstitions: Conkers, Roses, and Falling Leaves
Here in the northern hemisphere, autumn is certainly one of the most stunning seasons. We watch the trees discard their summer finery while the world prepares for the slumber of winter. In 1819, John Keats considered it to be the season of “mists and mellow fruitfulness”, and waxed lyrical about the ripe fruit, and the […]
How are reflections important in western folklore?
Mirrors form a huge part of popular culture, and films like Snow White or Mirror, Mirror play on their magical properties. While it’s beyond the scope of this post, mirrors also play a part in scrying. Here, a practitioner gazes into a dark mirror (often a slice of obsidian). They don’t look for reflections, but rather […]
Weather Lore: A Tale of Portents and Omens
Is there a difference between lore and superstitions when it comes to the weather? Surprisingly, yes, there is. Superstitions are widely defined as being irrational beliefs. But weather lore? Jacqueline Simpson and Steve Roud explain that “[l]ore about the weather consisted mainly of practical information and advice, based on observation of nature, and transmitted orally” […]
