Folklore is often seen as something other people do like the antler-wearing men of Abbotts Bromley, or some curiosity from the past like wart charming. To some it’s just flim flam, a way to lull a child to sleep, twist a plot, or milk revenue from a fandom. Others dabble with Christmas Trees, birthday cards, or spreading jam before cream on their scones. And then there are those who don’t think about folklore at all. But folklore is all around us; the rituals, traditions and customs that remind us how to live our lives even down to making a brew[1]. Between St Distaff’s Day 2020 and Twelfth Night 2021, I practiced ritual year folklore every day[2], my experiences becoming Everyday Folklore: An Almanac for the ritual year, a practical guide on how to engage with folklore all year round. Since you’re reading this article on the Folklore Thursday website, I will assume you have, at the very least, a passing interest in folklore. But should you also be someone who only engages with folklore from the side lines, please consider the following five points your call to action. Because I believe everyone should consciously incorporate a little bit of folklore into their life. Or, in other words, feel the folklore fear and do it anyway…
1. You might just find folklore slows everything down a little.
While folklore can’t stop time (although I’m sure there’s a charm for that), observing the ritual year can help you be more present. It’s easy to let days slide into weeks, slip into months and before you know it, the daffs are dead, the nights encroaching, and you’re tutting about how fast the year has gone. By taking part in practices that are tied to the date, month or season you’re better able to appreciate the passage of the year. If you wassail in January, you have a stake in how the apple harvest turns out. If you count the fogs in August, you can have fun predicting how many snowfalls in winter. You can experiment with lunar plantings or just watch how the hedgerows turn from barren to budding to full and fecund and then back to being sparse again. The more you take time out of your day to observe what’s going on around you, the slower your pace becomes, and the slower your pace becomes the more you allow yourself to be open to possibility and wonder.
2. You get to celebrate more!
As well as the birthdays, anniversaries, religious festivals and secular events already in your diary, there are days for just about anything in the ritual year. Want to celebrate trees? There are several days for that. Belly buttons? Whole festivals are dedicated to innies and outies over June and July. Want to raise a glass to wine, gin and rum, then slap 19 August, the second Saturday of June, and 31 July respectively into your schedule. There is a Back to the Future day, a Star Trek day, a Star Wars day (May the fourth be with you). There are days where you can celebrate something not happening like when it doesn’t rain on St Swithin’s Day. Or get giddy on the days when you complete a folklore task like counting seven stars on seven consecutive nights and having your wish granted. The ritual year has an endless capacity for marking the passage of time with excuses for joy.
3. Indulging in folklore is an excellent way to stave off boredom and ennui.
Leftover Christmas cake? Why not do like the good people of Manitou Springs, Colorado, and stage your own Great Fruitcake Toss in January? Challenge yourself to recreate ritual year recipes like Heg Peg Dumps, Harvest shot, knotting-sowins, or just bake a big batch of scones for National Cream Tea Day (from personal experience, I’d avoid plum duffs, especially if tempted to use vegetarian suet and your favourite tea towel). If you’re partial to a costume, how about becoming the King for a weekend at the Porthcawl Elvis Festival in September, or a badger to celebrate St Piran’s Day in March? And if you fancy yourself as a bit of a daredevil, there’s always Cooper’s Hill to run down after a wheel of cheese in May, or a spot of spouse lugging over an obstacle course at the Dorking Wife Carrying Race in March. As I found during my year of living folklorishly, there is always something to do even if it’s just conducting an exorcism at midnight by spitting black beans and walking backwards.
4. You might win a pub quiz or two.
Folklore is chock full of weird and wonderful stuff. For example, did you know that spiders prefer classical music to techno?[3] So should you see an uptick of spiders in your home around March, you might want to change your playlist depending on how you feel about these eight-legged legends (and keep an umbrella handy as indoor spiders in March augurs rain). Or that since the early 1970s, the day before their space missions, Baikonur cosmonauts have traditionally watched The White Sun of the Desert, a 1970 Russian Civil War comedy for luck? [4] Or that bats not only have the reputation for being the Devil’s messenger, but they’re also one of the main pollinators of agave plants[5] and therefore without these winged wonders, you’d be swapping your Margaritas for Manhattans. Once you go down the folklore rabbit hole, who knows what pub quiz nuggets you’ll turn up.
5. You’ll get some tales to tell.
Let’s face it, some folklore is just bonkers (that’s not to invalidate people’s beliefs, and let’s be clear, if on 1 June you’re stalking a churchyard in Leicestershire to see if St Wistan’s hair sprouts amongst the headstones, you’re my kind of people). So the more folklore you get involved with, the more unusual stories you may acquire. For example, take the time you thought you caught a whiff of demonic sulphur in the woods while a-nutting in September. Or how you swear the boil on your neck decreased with the application of a cabbage leaf. Or when you had that vision of your one true love after slipping a sprig of rosemary and a crooked sixpence under your pillow on St Luke’s Eve (in my case, Mark Hamill. He’s not rung though). However, a word to the wise, while you may find it impressive you failed to detect any vampire activity in your gardening implements[6], you might want to save this kind of anecdote for the second date.
In short, make it your New Year’s resolution to consciously add a bit of folklore into your life. Be more curious, try new things, make new traditions, challenge yourself. However, do be advised 19 January is the day it’s said people are most likely give up their resolutions. But then again, given the ritual year has a multitude of New Year’s Days throughout, I shouldn’t worry too much as there’ll be plenty of opportunities for a do over should you need one.
Everyday Folklore: An almanac for the ritual year is out now.
[1] Warshaver, G. E. (1991) On Postmodern Folklore. Western Folklore, 50(3), 219–229. https://doi.org/10.2307/1499876
[2] Frank, L. (2021) The Everyday Lore Project. https://liza-frank.com/the-everyday-lore-project/
[3] Frings, H. and Frings, M. (1966) Reactions of Orb-Weaving Spiders (Argiopidae) to Airborne Sounds. Ecology, 47, 578-588. https://doi.org/10.2307/1933935
[4] Hollingham, R. (2014) The strangest space launch rituals. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20140610-the-strange-rituals-of-cosmonauts
[5] Menchaca, A., Arteaga, M.C., Medellin, R.A., Jones, G. (2020) Conservation units and historical matrilineal structure in the tequila bat (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae). Global Ecology and Conservation, Volume 23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01164
[6] Vukanovic, T. P. (1958) The Vampire. Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, 37(1), 21-31. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/vampire/docview/1299021299/se-2
