May Folklore: May Day, Maypoles and May Queens in Britain
May Day is a traditional spring celebration in many cultures, linked with Gaelic Beltane, and is now also the date of Labour Day.
Top 5 Winter Solstice Celebrations Around the World
The winter solstice has been celebrated in some form all around the world for centuries. Individual human cultures often mixed magic with religion in acknowledgement and celebration of this important astronomical event. Here we briefly look at five of these festivities from around the world, before discussing why they were so important to our ancestors and concluding with what science has to say today.
Luke Stephenson & Helen Champion: The Clown Egg Register
For over 70 years, the oldest established clowning organization has been painting the faces of clowns on eggs. Each is a record of a clown’s unique identity
The Victorian Language of Flowers: Hiding Secret Messages in Plain Sight
If a bouquet of flowers arrives at our door, we’re more interested in who sent them. The Victorians were more concerned with what it meant.The Victorian language of flowers, also known as floriography, was a way to send messages using specific plants and flowers. Combining different flowers allowed them to send more complex or sophisticated messages.Let’s look at how this language developed and how to use it.
A Treasury of British Folklore: Maypoles, Mandrakes and Mistletoe
I began writing ‘Maypoles, Mandrakes and Mistletoe: A Treasury of British Folklore’ back in April last year.