Fabulous Folklore with Icy

Icy Sedgwick

Fabulous Folklore will give you your weekly fix of fabulous folklore in fifteen minutes (or less)!

Hosted by fantasy and Gothic horror writer, Icy Sedgwick, the podcast explores folklore, legends, superstitions, mythology, and all things weird, occult and unusual.

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20 episodes
Updated Saturday

Episodes20

Newest first

Saturday · 16 min
Cuckoo Pint or Lords-and-Ladies: The Folklore of Arum Maculatum
When we talk about poisonous plants, your mind might leap to the celebrities, like foxglove, aconite, or belladonna. You may not immediately think of cuckoo pint (Arum maculatum). It’s native to the UK and surprisingly common. I’ve equally found it in botanic gardens and city centre flowerbeds. Poisoning caused by this plant is thankfully rare, and they do serve a purpose in the ecosystem. Their berries feed birds and they’ll grow in conditions other plants don’t enjoy. Arum maculatum is in the araceae family. But how did people use arum for both mundane and magical purposes? Let’s find out in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and sources used on the associated blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/cuckoo-pint/ Buy Bring Me Love: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12992/9781786789747 Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: https://icysedgwick.com/start-here
July 25 · 47 min
Roma Lister: Witch, Medium, and Influence on Aradia with Dr A.D. Manns
We're finishing up Witches Month by switching gears a little to examine the genesis of a foundational text of modern Wicca - Arada: Or The Gospel of the Witches. To do so, I'm joined by Dr A. D. Manns to explore the life, work, and possible influence of Roma Lister, a longtime collaborator of Charles Godfrey Leland. We chat about Florence as a hotbed of occult activity in the late 19th century, Roma's work collecting folklore from Italian witches, and how she may have had a hand in the creation of Aradia. Dr A. D. Manns is a historian and writer who has long maintained a deep interest in folklore, comparative religion, dissident politics, and mystical literature. He graduated from the Warburg Institute in 2019 with a study on the religio-political storytelling of the 17th-century English propagandist and parliamentarian William Prynne. In 2025, Hexen Press published his first monograph, Aradia's Hidden Hand: The Untold Life of Roma Lister. Visit Drew's website: https://thethinkersgarden.com/ Buy Aradia's Hidden Hand: https://www.hexen.fr/books-prints/aradia-s-hidden-hand-ad-manns Find Drew on Instagram: https://instagram.com/druidauvergne Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: https://icysedgwick.com/start-here
July 18 · 57 min
A Surprising 1485 Witch Trial with Marion Gibson
In this episode of Fabulous Folklore, I'm chatting to Marion Gibson about Helena Scheuberin and her witchcraft trial in 1485 in Innsbruck, how her clash with Inquisitor Heinrich Kramer led to the Malleus Maleficarum, and how that hateful book led to such widespread disaster across the centuries. Marion Gibson writes accurate, engaging books about witches and magic in history. She’s been interested in witches for over thirty years, since she read the words of women accused of witchcraft in Elizabethan England. Why were they accused of crimes they didn’t commit? And why did they confess? Marion’s books tell the stories of these women and the men accused alongside them, and she explores the wider history of witch trials, folklore, magical and pagan beliefs and things that go bump in the night. Buy Witchland: A Tale of Witch Hunting and War in Seventeenth Century Britain: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12992/9781398545144 Find Marion online: https://mariongibson.co.uk/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: https://icysedgwick.com/start-here
July 16 · 59 min
Jim Henson and the Fairy Tale Film with Dr Andrea Wright
In this episode of Fabulous Folklore Presents, I chat to Dr Andrea Wright about the fairy tale film as a concept, Jim Henson's career in film and television, the influence of the Muppets on fairy tales on screen, and what Jareth would have made of Miss Piggy! Andrea Wright is a Senior Lecturer in Teaching and Learning Development at Edge Hill University. She leads the Professional Standards Framework CPD Scheme, teaches on the PGCert Teaching in Higher Education and is involved in staff development across the University. Her discipline expertise is in screen studies and fantasy/fairy tales, New Zealand cinema, and British television costume dramas are central to her research interests. She has written on production design, landscape, gender representation, and national identity. Recent publications include chapters on the New Zealand short films Possum and Nature’s Way for the collection Haunted Soundtracks, and The Frankenstein Chronicles and The Alienist for the collection Diagnosing History: Medicine in Television Costume Dramas. Andrea is also the author of the monograph The Fairy Tales of Jim Henson: Keeping the Best Place by the Fire. Buy a copy of The Fairy Tales of Jim Henson: Keeping the best place by the fire here, using the code EVENT30 to get a discount: https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526166111/ Contact Andrea at wrighta@edgehill.ac.uk Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: https://icysedgwick.com/start-here
July 11 · 1 hr 5 min
Ann Morgan: A 19th Century Shropshire Witch with Amy Boucher
In this episode, we're chatting about witchcraft in Shropshire, a specific 19th century witch named Ann Morgan, and what Ann's life - and death - can tell us about Shropshire, her century, and ourselves. Amy Boucher is a writer and folklorist, who focuses on her native Shropshire. Her emphasis is primarily on the interplay between folklore, history and the paranormal, and perceptions of the past through the lens of folk customs and belief. Find Amy online at: https://nearlyknowledgeable.co.uk/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: http://icysedgwick.com/start-here
July 4 · 57 min
Salem Witch Trials with Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack
In this first episode of Fabulous Folklore's Witches theme for July, I'm chatting to Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack from the End Witch Hunts project about the Salem Witch Trials. We'll be discussing the context of the trials, possible causes that don't involve mouldy bread, the aftermath of the trials for those accused, and the ongoing witch hunts that result in very real harm around the world. Josh Hutchinson is a descendant of people accused of witchcraft and of people who accused others of witchcraft. Sarah Jack is a documented descendant of victims of witch trials held in Salem, Boston, and Hartford, including Rebecca Nurse, Mary Easty, Mary Hale, and Winifred Benham. They co-host three history podcasts: The Thing About Witch Hunts, The Thing About the Salem Witch Trials, and Salem Witch Trials Daily. They are also co-founders of the Connecticut Witch Trial Exoneration Project and End Witch Hunts, America’s only nonprofit organisation dedicated to raising awareness of the continuation of violence related to witchcraft accusations. Let’s explore the Salem Witch Trials in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find Sarah and Josh online: https://endwitchhunts.org Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: http://icysedgwick.com/start-here
June 27 · 19 min
Maud Grieve: A Herbalist in War Time
I’ve covered three British herbalists so far on this podcast, and each has made a notable contribution to the development of botany and apothecary practice in Britain. This week, we’re going to meet Maud Grieve, whose contribution took a different form. Yes, she wrote a lot about plants. She wrote A Modern Herbal, in fact. Yet she also contributed to the wartime efforts of the First World War in the realm of medicinal plants. She’s perhaps not as well-known as the other three herbal writers I’ve featured: Elizabeth Blackwell, William Turner, and Nicholas Culpeper. She didn’t illustrate her herbal, like Blackwell. Nor did she translate Latin texts into English, like Turner or Culpeper. But she did get people growing–and using–their own herbs. Let’s go to meet her in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the blog post with all the images and references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/maud-grieve/ Become a member of Herbaria here: https://school.rowanandsage.com/courses/herbaria?affcode=437598_3qokpyep Magical Legends of the North East Talk: https://ko-fi.com/s/7f42dec282 Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: http://icysedgwick.com/start-here
June 20 · 22 min
Nicholas Culpeper: Apothecary to the Masses
Last week, we met William Turner, who revolutionised English herbals in the 16th century by publishing the first one in English. This gave more people access to the herbal knowledge he felt people should have - although it's likely he intended for physicians and apothecaries to use it. This week, we're going to meet Nicholas Culpeper, who took on the medical establishment in the 17th century, and did so using a herbal. Let’s go to meet him in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the blog post with all the images and references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/nicholas-culpeper/ Buy Seasonal Herbcraft here: https://school.rowanandsage.com/courses/seasonal-herbcraft1?affcode=437598_3qokpyep Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: http://icysedgwick.com/start-here
June 17 · 1 hr 3 min
Ritual Building Protection with Wayne Perkins
In this episode of Fabulous Folklore Presents, I'm talking to archaeologist Wayne Perkins, who worked as a field archaeologist before moving into Historic Building Surveys. He supervises urban excavations in the City of London, as well as overseeing rural excavations in surrounding Sussex, Surrey, and Kent. He has a new book coming out this month, A Consensus of Symbols: Patterns, and Ritual Building Protection, so I thought I'd get him on to talk about apotropaic measures, deposited objects like boots or shoes, mummified cats, and yes, you guessed it, witch marks! Buy A Consensus of Symbols: Patterns in Ritual Building Protection - https://amzn.to/4uFd3Z4 Find Wayne online: https://ritualprotectionmarks.com/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: https://www.icysedgwick.com/start-here
June 13 · 19 min
William Turner: Meet the Father of British Botany
Herbalism has seen a boom of interest in recent years as people seek to find closer relationships with nature and create ways to supplement their wellbeing. The practice has a long history all over the world, with many cultures offering their own uses for the plants and trees that grew in their region. Having such a plethora of plant material available called for the introduction of the herbal; a book collecting plants and their uses into one place. Yet books require one simple thing - the ability to read. India, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China all kept records about the use of plants. In Europe, many early herbals were written in Latin, putting them beyond the reach of ordinary people. Until William Turner came along and changed the game by writing one in English. Let’s go to meet him in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the blog post with all the images and references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/william-turner/ Buy Vitalist Herbcraft here: https://school.rowanandsage.com/courses/vitalistherbcraft?affcode=437598_3qokpyep Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: http://icysedgwick.com/start-here
June 6 · 19 min
Elizabeth Blackwell: Pioneering Herbalist and Botanical Illustrator
If you’re interested in herbalism or plant lore, chances are that you’ve perused a herbal or two in your time. Culpeper's Complete Herbal: A Compendium of Herbs and Their Uses, Annotated for Modern Herbalists, Healers, and Witches is a particularly well-known title, even if the contents have been surpassed with scientific advancements. Yet did you know that one of the most well-regarded herbals of the 18th century was created, and marketed, by a woman? And that she even got endorsements from the Royal College of Physicians for the book, used by apothecaries for decades? Let’s go and meet Elizabeth Blackwell in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the blog post with all the images and references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/elizabeth-blackwell/ Join Herbaria here: https://school.rowanandsage.com/courses/herbaria?affcode=437598_3qokpyep From St Cuthbert to the Wizard of the North: The Magical Legends of the North East talk: https://www.newcastlecastle.co.uk/events-activities Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: http://icysedgwick.com/start-here
May 30 · 51 min
Folklore and Storytelling: A Narrative Match Made in Heaven
Storytelling is something we all do on a daily basis, whether we’re aware of it or not. Maybe we’re telling a funny anecdote about something that happened on the way to work. Perhaps we’re recounting how we first met the bride during a wedding speech. Or how about retelling our favourite folk tale to help soothe a child to sleep? Storytelling and folklore are not synonyms. Folklore is a body of knowledge created primarily by the people for transmission between themselves. Folk tales are the stories told by these same people, though the definition of a folk tale varies. Yet storytelling can be the bridge between the two, enabling the ongoing transmission of folklore from a teller to a group of avid listeners. The English and Welsh storytelling revival began in the early 1980s, and we can thank its success for the plethora of storytelling events, books, and podcasts now available. So let’s look at how storytelling links with folklore in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! See the episode contributors here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/episode-contributors/ Find the blog post with all the images and references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/folklore-and-storytelling/ Check out Dawn Nelson's Little History of Storytelling: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12992/9781803996745 Amanda's talk at the Folklore Centre: https://www.folkloremythmagic.com/product-page/amanda-edmiston-traveller-tales-and-healing-herbs-talk Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: http://icysedgwick.com/start-here
May 27 · 59 min
Revenants on the Redway with Dr Steph Lay
Dr Steph Lay is a folk horror writer, psychologist and researcher, gathering and sharing local stories of the unexplained for a project investigating whether the new city of Milton Keynes might be more haunted than anyone realises. Behind the scenes, she works with Peter Laws on the popular YouTube channel Into the Fog, curating the true experiences sent in by viewers and creating atmospheric artwork to bring the stories to life. Overall, her work brings together stories, psychology and the paranormal, exploring not only why strange experiences unsettle us, but why they matter. In this chat, we talk about Steph's Revenants on the Redway project, the beauty of collecting supernatural experiences, why places don't need to be old to be haunted, and the attraction of parapsychology. Find Steph's blog: https://cityofsecrets.blog/ Check out Dr Ciarán O'Keeffe's parapsychology school: https://theschoolofparapsychology.company.site/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: http://icysedgwick.com/start-here
May 23 · 26 min
Folklore and Cinema: The Trick Films of Georges Méliès
Visionary film director and stage magician Georges Méliès is perhaps the earliest filmmaker who saw the visual potential of folklore. Among others, mermaids, sirens, ghosts, devils, and sorcerers are plentiful in his films. True, many of these figures become important for their centrality to the ‘tricks’ his films became famous for. Meanwhile, his films became important for the fantasy genres that would include later depictions of such folkloric beings! So how did Méliès include elements from folklore in his trick films? Let’s find out in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the blog post with all the images and references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/georges-melies/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
May 16 · 21 min
The Folklore of Stringed Musical Instruments: The Viola, Irish Harp, Violin, and Guitar
Musical instruments appear scattered throughout various folktales. A drum lies at the centre of the Tedworth Drummer story. Pipers and drummers try to follow underground tunnels, only to mysteriously vanish. But what of the instruments themselves? What folklore or stories swirl around the physical items? A listener requested the folklore of musical instruments some time ago. Now we’re looking at Folklore and the Arts, it seemed like the ideal time to go looking! Let's explore some folk tales and legends featuring a handful of stringed musical instruments in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Listen to Jon O'Sullivan talk about the harp of An Dagda: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-J4OuYyjw4 Find the blog post with all the images and references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/stringed-musical-instruments/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
May 9 · 48 min
Theatre Superstitions: Whistling, the Ghost Light, and Macbeth
Going to the theatre can often feel like a magical experience. You sit in the dark, watching a story unfold in front of you, with your imagination filling in the gaps between the sets. It’s unsurprising that theatre superstitions would be so plentiful. Intended to bring good luck or ward off bad luck, some of these superstitions have made their way into life outside the theatre. Look at how many people know it’s bad luck to name Macbeth. I’ve grouped these theatre superstitions according to which part of the theatre or performance they refer to. I'm thrilled to also have a special guest for this theatre-based episode, so a big welcome to actor, musician and folklore writer, and contender for one of the loveliest people I know, Mateo Oxley! Let's explore the strange world of theatre superstitions in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find Mateo Oxley on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mateooxley/ Find the blog post with all the images and references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/theatre-superstitions/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
May 2 · 20 min
Cursed Artworks: Three Haunted Paintings and their Superstitions
Folklore and the arts are almost natural bedfellows. As we saw with the work of Newcastle-based painter Ralph Hedley, artists can capture local traditions for posterity. The Pre-Raphaelites created some of the most enduring depictions of myth and legend. Even creating art becomes a part of folk life, with various arts and crafts part of enduring traditions. As we saw with the humble proggy mat, making items can be a way to engage with history and heritage in a very tangible way. So it seemed only natural that when I had three art-related episode requests, I would dedicate a month to Folklore and the Arts. The requests were for: superstitions connected to artworks; haunted portraits; and stories about the creation of certain artworks. Unfortunately, in the case of the last request, there was no indication of which artworks they wanted to know about, but hopefully, I've included them here anyway! In this article, we’ll explore a supposedly cursed painting, an apparently haunted portrait, and a painting at the heart of a weird urban legend in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the blog post with all the images and references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/cursed-artworks/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
April 25 · 16 min
Divination Using Clouds, Flames, Ashes, and Dreams
Studying the shapes of things is a popular means of divination, relying on human pattern recognition abilities. Look at reading tea leaves and coffee grounds, or tasseography, which rely on spotting symbols in the cup. The symbols often hold near-universal meanings (like a ring for marriage), but they can also be deeply personal to the diviner. And let’s be honest, we live in an often chaotic and unpredictable universe. Divination using pattern recognition methods offers a way to make sense of seemingly senseless things. Perhaps you believe the brain loves connecting patterns between unrelated information to find a meaning. Known as pareidolia, it explains why people see faces of dead celebrities in the burned parts of their toast. Or perhaps you think we see shapes in smoke because a spirit or a god is manipulating form to pass on a message. Either way, there is a whole range of methods involving pattern recognition. There’s an entire chapter about them in the book, so let’s focus on finding symbols in the air, in fire, and in dreams in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the blog post with all the images and references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/dreams-divination/ Buy Fate or Fortune: The Art and Folklore of Divination: https://amzn.to/41SkWOF Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
April 18 · 17 min
Random Chance Divination: Casting Lots and Throwing Dice
Divination is a beautifully varied practice, with a plethora of tools and practices designed to give insight into situations. Practices like reading tea leaves or tarot cards already appear on this podcast. But what about those forms of divination that rely on ‘randomness’ in order to work? You might cast lots, throw dice, or interpret the connections between items that fall where they may. To what extent you believe the result is 'random' depends on your belief system. For some, the message comes from deities or spirits, and the tool is their communication method of choice. For others, the results come from the universe itself. Other diviners don’t accept ‘random’ as a concept, and their meanings come from the statistical results of divination. For others, the result might be truly random, but the diviner creates meaning by seeing associations between apparently disparate items. But how it works is not our issue here. Instead, we’re going to explore the folklore of casting lots, casting stones, and throwing dice in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the blog post with all the images and references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/random-chance-divination/ Buy Fate or Fortune: The Art and Folklore of Divination: https://amzn.to/41SkWOF Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
April 11 · 19 min
Pendulum Dowsing: From the Sieve and Shears to Looking for Love
Last week, we looked at the use of dowsing to find treasure or criminals. Like water dowsing, this method requires the use of a rod that twitches in the hands when the target is close. But the other method of dowsing involves a pendulum. That is, an item suspended from a chain, cord, or hair, that swings in one direction or another to give you an answer. For example, people suspended keys over the Bible as a form of bibliomancy. They asked a question, let the key swing, and checked the verse the key indicated. This form of pendulum dowsing appears in a range of folklore, from the famous ‘sieve and shears’ practised by cunning folk, to wedding ring-based love divination! Let’s explore them further in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the blog post with all the images and references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/pendulum-dowsing/ Buy Fate or Fortune: The Art and Folklore of Divination: https://www.crossedcrowbooks.com/shop-crossed-crow-books/p/fate-or-fortune-the-art-and-folklore-of-divination Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/