Until the 20th century, the inadequacies of orthodox medical services left a large proportion of the population dependent upon traditional folk medicine – essentially a mixture of common sense remedies based on the accumulated experience of nursing and midwifery, combined with inherited lore about the healing properties of plants.
In Cork, on May morning before sunrise, a person went out and brought back a branch of hazel, holly and mountain ash and returned to the house singing the above verse to ‘bring in the summer’. In Ireland, as in many parts of Western Europe, May marked the beginning of summer…
Make sure you crush up your eggshells after eating an egg, otherwise witches will use them as boats and cause great harm!
Nearly everyone has a lucky number. It may well be seven but all the numbers associated with luck – and bad – have many different origins. Despite this, very many people will choose seven as the number they associate most with good fortune and choose 13 as their most unlucky digit.
Although their origins lie in Japanese folk traditions, omamori are still a popular sight throughout Japan. The word itself, 御守り, doesn’t have a direct translation into English, but they are protection charms – usually for sale within both Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines – which are said to contain spirits.
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