Dark Side of the Sun: A Brief Guide to Midsummer Lore in Britain & Ireland

Each morning the sun rolls across the sky. In Estonia it was the hatched egg of the enchanted swallow bird, an emu’s egg bursting into flames in Australia, and a golden piece of bacon for the Nama people of South Africa. In the evening, it descends into the sea, as a bridegroom or warrior, golden rays transformed into spears or robes of light, hissing with heat as the waters close over it, before swimming back to the east. Sometimes in gloom-shrouded nights, we may imagine it will never return and we will be plunged into unyielding darkness, but still it rises and always will, at least for the next five billion years or so!

Anasyrma: President Trump & the Power of the Pussyhat

nasyrma, or the lifting of one’s skirts to expose genitalia, has been used throughout history and mythology as a method to ward off evil and shame men for their actions. Arguably, the viral Pussyhat™ from the 2017 Women’s March that was worn by thousands of women around the globe can be seen a resurfacing of […]

Dark and Intriguing: The Challenges of Ashmolean’s Spellbound Exhibition

The exhibition “Spellbound: Magic, Ritual & Witchcraft” at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford examines the history of magic over eight centuries, and shows how our ancestors used magical thinking to cope with the unpredictable world around them. Nick Swarbrick reviews the exhibition and the subjects which it explores.

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