The Grotter & the Strange History of Shell Grottos

Shell grottos have a certain murky ambiguity to their history and folklore. This for me made them all the more enticing to use as the basis for a ghost story in my tale, ‘The Grotter’ in Nyctophobias. Especially with my roots as a Whitstable native in Kent, where grottos are still primarily lit once a year as part of the Oyster Festival celebrations. These grottos are usually stacked in a ‘beehive’ style pyramid, held together with wet sand and illuminated by a short candle.

Riddles, Heroes, and Folktales Come True: Folklore in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings

Folklore is central in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings: not only “external” folklore, the folklore of the “real” world, but also “internal” folklore.

Whither Shall I Wander? Reflections on Mother Goose: Past, Present, and Once Upon a Time

hither shall I wander? This question can be a delightful start to considering the history of the inestimable Mother Goose, illustrious ancestor of the Mother Goose of The Mother Goose Letters (at Bay Press, 2019). As her correspondence in the book reveals, Mother Goose is also a character of longevity and considerable force. At one […]

Exploring Folktales: Achieving Improved Ego Identity and Recovery from Trauma

This piece will present and focus on the benefits of two specific psychotherapeutic tools — archetypal genograms and mythological based art — via which mythology as spirituality can be used as an outlet to help the healing process of people with abuse and other trauma related emotional difficulties.

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