There’s a difference between folklore out here in the prairies of the United States, than say, the folklore of Britain. When people starting collecting the unwritten tales of small rural communities across Britain and Europe in the 19th century, our ancestors were just getting here, bringing their folklore with them. There was no folklore to […]
Pagan Holidays: Walpurgis Night and how a British lady went from Catholic saint, to Germanic goddess, to witch and gave us a second Halloween
“Walpurgis Night was when, according to the belief of millions of people, the devil was abroad—when the graves were opened and the dead came forth and walked. When all evil things of earth and air and water held revel.” Bram Stoker, “Dracula’s Guest” “There is a mountain very high and bare…whereon it is given out that […]
Deadly Nightshade: From Witch’s flying potions, to the beauty of the women of Venice, to death from the sweet berries of Atropa Belladonna
Deadly Nightshade … will you die for love? Will you die for beauty? Will you die for powers beyond your wildest imagination. That’s the allure of Belladonna, one of the most famous of all the plants in the witch’s garden. In Italian a beautiful lady; in English a deadly poison. A striking example of the […]
Hiking Rockefeller State Park Preserve: Looking for Spook Rock, Hulda the witch and the non-headless horseman origins of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow
At last she came to a little house, and an old woman was peeping out of it, but she had such great teeth that the girl was terrified and about to run away, only the old woman called her back. “What are you afraid of, my dear child? Come and live with me, and if you do […]
Were witch’s gardens used by witches and herbalists in the middle ages?
To answer that question, you first have to answer the question “what is a witch?” If your concept of a witch is Miss Almira Gulch and her alter ego The Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz, the answer is no. Besides, witches would have ridden their broomsticks naked and greased up.Witch […]
The Bell Witch Cave and Cabin: An American haunting in the hills of Tennessee turns up tales of Kate, Betsy and old John Bell
“When we were kids, Jerry used to make fun of Doug Bell, making different names up based on Bell. Mainly Buggy Dell, along with hell’s bells. Dougie’s belly, shit like that. Anyway, one day here comes Doug and his dad, who informs us that Doug is going to kick our asses for making fun of […]
