https://ritualdust.com/tags/folklore/ Recent content in folklore on Ritual dust Hugo -- gohugo.io en-ca Wed, 27 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://ritualdust.com/folklore/the-ghost-is-part-of-the-earth-now/ Wed, 17 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://ritualdust.com/folklore/the-ghost-is-part-of-the-earth-now/ I no more feel like a ghost, i feel like the earth, the soil with it’s deep and complex network of roots and mycelium, with a whole ecosystem of bugs and living things crawling around. I can feel the cover of dead leaves and rotting fruit accumulated on top of me, not hindering my feelings but comforting like a blanket, protecting the bulbs and the nuts that fell on the ground at the turn of the seasons, allowing them to slowly get ready to bloom in the spring, feeding on this bed of decomposing remnants from the past. https://ritualdust.com/folklore/witches-flying-ointment/ Wed, 27 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://ritualdust.com/folklore/witches-flying-ointment/ Flying ointment or salve is a potentially hallucinogenic and highly toxic blend of plants in a fatty base that appears in folklore, fiction and books relating to witch hunting dating back to the middle ages. There’s still quite a bit of debate amongst folklorists and researchers on whether such ointments actually existed, if they actually contained the toxic and hallucinogenic plants often associated with them and whether they are one of the sources of the myth of the witch flying on a broom (the theory being that witches would craft mind-altering flying ointment, apply it on a broom stick and “ride” it in order to “fly”, in a combination of sexual stimulation, trance state and possibly vivid dreams and visions of flying). https://ritualdust.com/folklore/folk-horror/ Fri, 25 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://ritualdust.com/folklore/folk-horror/ The sun symbol from the titles of the Wicker Man movie Table of contents Introduction Movies and television Literature Music Links Folk Horror refers to a mode of story-telling, a set of themes and to some extent an aesthetic movement fascinated by exploring the ways in which old rites, traditions and folklore can embed itself in the land and places, it digs for the ways in which humans over thousands of generations have imprinted the landscape and also how the landscape leave impressions on the human psyche. https://ritualdust.com/works/illustration/wassail/ Sat, 22 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://ritualdust.com/works/illustration/wassail/ Illustration for a small game made by James Chip inspired by the folk tradition of wassailing. Cover illustration showing a tree, apples, and a playing card Page frame with trees Small detail illustration showing a ribbon connecting a tree, a mug of hot drink, a playing card and the setting sun https://ritualdust.com/works/illustration/the-witches-of-alicudi/ Sun, 14 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://ritualdust.com/works/illustration/the-witches-of-alicudi/ Illustration inspired by the folklore of the flying witches of Alicudi made for cvstomer service zine, a folk-horror zine, you can get the zine here: https://cvstomerservice.bigcartel.com/products The flying witches of Alicudi, transforming into animals over a grain mill and some infected wheat Detail of the grain mill https://ritualdust.com/works/illustration/dark-folklore-for-disturbia/ Fri, 22 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://ritualdust.com/works/illustration/dark-folklore-for-disturbia/ Pencil and ink digital illustrations and lettering pieces around themes of folklore and magic made for the brand Disturbia . First flash sheet containing mushrooms, standing stones and a witch bottle Second flash sheet with a corn dolly, ritual dagger, green man and frog in a coffin Last flash sheet containing a hand of glory and the head of a mari lwyd https://ritualdust.com/works/illustration/folktober-2021/ Mon, 04 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://ritualdust.com/works/illustration/folktober-2021/ The green man Jenny Greenteeth Green childen of Woolpit Drawing of standing stones in a forest clearing Photo of the standing stones drawing resting on a large stone First page of the Jabberwocky poem with the head of the creature poking out Second page of the Jabberwocky poem with the vorpal sword A human horse hybrid demon from scotland, the Nucklavee The Wyvern, a bipedal dragon on a shield https://ritualdust.com/folklore/weird-walking/summer-solstice-2021/ Sun, 20 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://ritualdust.com/folklore/weird-walking/summer-solstice-2021/ Pausing and listening to the rhythm of the earth while the burning wheel tumbles down the hill. A single leaf on the ground May the sun shine warm upon your face Ripples in the water A dead branch floating in water, on it's cycle to fee new life A spire poking through the trees Playing the irish bones to the rhythm of the earth https://ritualdust.com/works/illustration/trans-cerne-giant/ Wed, 31 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://ritualdust.com/works/illustration/trans-cerne-giant/ https://ritualdust.com/folklore/weird-walking/year-walk-2020/ Thu, 24 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://ritualdust.com/folklore/weird-walking/year-walk-2020/ Walking on the longest night, looking inside for what’s to come. I put on my ritual leaf crown, grabbed a lantern and ventured out in the cold empty streets and alleyways of Montreal. This was a walk I had to do alone. It was a moment I gave myself to thread new paths, going down the darkest routes without any map, open to what I could find around and inside of me. https://ritualdust.com/folklore/iceland/ Wed, 22 Mar 2017 00:00:00 +0000 https://ritualdust.com/folklore/iceland/ Barren landscapes, black sand and fish bones. A journey through the harsh Icelandic winter, discovering it’s rich cultural and historical past, simple way of life and complex language. Table of contents The city The nature The flea market The food The statue garden The history The fish drying racks Since music and the arts are running so deep in Icelandic culture (it is said jokingly by the locals that most people are at least in a band), here’s some local music to listen to while reading this travel log: