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Helen presenting a VR exhibition, with Dee Dee and attendees watching in The Cultural Futures Hub.

Helen giving a talk with attendees watching in The Cultural Futures Hub.

Helen presenting in The Cultural Futures Hub, with Dee Dee watching.

Huge thanks to @helenerwin.bsky.social for her fantastic deep-dive into Swedish forest folklore at @culturalfutureshub.bsky.social yesterday!
And thank you so much to everyone who came along. What a fantastic afternoon!

Such a shame that Bluesky was down for so much of #FolkloreThursday yesterday.

Look what arrived in the mail just in time for #FolkloreThursday

Willow Winsham’s latest book!

Curious Cats and Fantastical Felines

Can’t wait to read it!

Archura is a shapeshifting forest spirit in Turkic myth that usually appears as a man with a tail, hooves, horns, and a grass beard. He guards forest creatures and tells them when to migrate. His idea of mischief: leading humans astray and tickling them to death. #FolkloreThursday

In the Sumerian legend The Epic of Gilgamesh, the Cedar Forest is the glorious realm of the gods, guarded by the demigod Humbaba. Early versions of the legend place this forest in the mountains of Iran, while Babylonian retellings place it in Lebanon. #FolkloreThursday

Collage of elder (Sambucus nigra): left, a detailed botanical illustration showing leaves, flowers and berries; right, photographs of creamy elderflower umbels and clusters of glossy black elderberries on red stems against green foliage. Illustration from Köhler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen (c.1887).

In some Nordic traditions Hulda is the “mother of the elves”. The elder is her sacred tree, its roots said to be a portal to her realm. Those that dared to bring wood of this “forbidden tree” into their homes reported feeling unseen hands tugging at their legs. #FolkloreThursday

In Slavic folklore, the Leshy is the keeper of the forest, a shape-shifting spirit who can grow as tall as the trees or shrink to the size of grass. Travelers who wander too carelessly may find themselves led in circles until they learn respect for the land. #FolkloreThursday

Art: Public Domain

Yggdrasil, the World Tree.
1, 17th century, unknown
2, Lorenz Frølich 1885|
3, Norns Amalia Schoppe 1882

The three Norns sat by the well of wisdom by Yggdrasil's roots weaving fate into existence, drawing runes into her roots.

#FolkloreThursday
#Norse

Rå's home was the forest. She cared for it. The word rå means care. In some contexts it can also mean rule.
Art Credit: Kaia Pieters
#FolkloreThursday

#FolkloreThursday Some said Rå was actually a tree.
In my book The Lure of Water and Wood, she sometimes takes on the spirit and look of an old tree to appear older.

Art Credit: Meraylah Allwood

In Greek myth, the dryads are tree-bound spirits, their lives tied to the fate of the oak or ash they inhabit. To harm the tree is to harm the spirit, making the forest itself something sacred and alive. #FolkloreThursday

Art: Josephine Wall

Pan (the Piper at the Gates of Dawn) holding his pipes and staring intently at the viewer.

‘The Greeks figured Pan, the god of Nature, now terribly stamping his foot, so that armies were dispersed; now by the woodside on a summer noon trolling on his pipe until he charmed the hearts of upland ploughmen.’
— R.L. Stevenson, ‘The Pipes of Pan’ #FolkloreThursday

🎨Arthur Rackham

photo of ceiba tree roots in Ghana

In Jamaican folklore duppies (spirits) are reputed to live among the roots of the mighty cotton tree (aka silk-cotton tree/cottonwood tree). They emerge between 7pm and 5am and again at midday.
#FolkloreThursday

Ogre is a French word, linked to the Etruscan god Orcus. These legendary giants are famous for their unfortunate cannibalistic tendencies, foul body-odor, rotten teeth, and rancid halitosis. They dwell in deep forests and mucky swamps.

#FolkloreThursday #BookologyThursday

In a forest landscape--a tree, a lake, and a pile of cut trees are in the background--a man in a hat, striped sleeves, and an apron, holds an ax while he speaks with a woman in a long dress, with a white apron, kerchief, and headscarf. She holds her hands behind her back to disguise her cow's tail - she is a huldre or troll-woman.

#FolkloreThursday The skogsrå (Swedish) or hulder (Norwegian) is a seductive supernatural woman of the forest. She looks beautiful, but has a hollowed-out back and a cow's tail. If a man follows her, he will be taken into the mountain and lost forever, but if he hears church bells he will be saved.

In many European traditions, ancient oaks were seen as meeting points between worlds, their roots reaching into the underworld while their branches touched the sky. #FolkloreThursday

Art: Ester J. Williams

n case you failed to appease Askafroa, the ash wife, on Ash Wednesday with a sacrifice, at least do not break branches from the ash tree or grave illness will follow.

🎨 Johan Egerkrans

#FolkloreThursday

a sketch of the jersey devil surrounded by explorer's instruments

Given this week's #FolkloreThursday theme of "Spirits, Deities & Creatures of the Woods” I thought I'd mention that my new book "A Catalog of Curious Creatures" covers 80 fearsome critters of old logger lore, cryptids and mythological creatures from woods, mountains, swamps, and more.

A Wood Woman Mourns Her Husband

Every time you twist a tree, a wood spirit will die.

#FolkloreThursday
wiki.sunkencastles.com/wiki/A_Wood_Woman_Mourns...

an angry looking mouse that is about to explode!

Kodama-nezumi live in the mountain forests of Tohoku in Japan. If you anger the mountain gods, these spherical mouse yokai will inflate like a balloon until they explode with a noise louder than gunshot and splatter their innards everywhere! #folklorethursday
art by our own @lilichin.bsky.social

An illustration of a Sasquatch-like figure standing with a painted forest behind him or her. Their mouth is open revealing sharp fangs. Their hands are up as if they are about to grab the viewer. Their eyes look fierce.

Since time immemorial, Indigenous people in BC have had stories of humanlike giants & little people covered in fur

Many are called Sasquatch now, a Salish name that includes modern accounts of a forest being some believe is real

My depiction of an 1887 report where 2 people died #FolkloreThursday

A heads-up if you use Amazon - Curious Cats and Fantastical Felines is currently 25% off! bit.ly/4tP8oDW

Illustration of the forest guardian Leshy. A giant-like figure with pine cones and greenery in his hair and a long beard emerges from behind the trunk of a tree.

#FolkloreThursday THIS WEEK! Join us 16th April for our Guardians of the Forest: Spirits, Deities, and Creatures of the Woods themed hosted #FolkloreThursday

@helenerwin.bsky.social exhibition is now open!
Come see amazing art featuring Rå from her historical fantasy, The Lure of Water and Wood.

I didn't notice you taking this! 😂 Brilliant! 💫
It looks amazing in the headset, and the music from the video is so atmospheric! Thank you again!

Getting ready for @helenerwin.bsky.social talk at @culturalfutureshub.bsky.social Spatial with @deedeechainey.bsky.social Setting up the gallery.

Swedish folklore exhibition on Spatial.io — now open! From Helen Lundström Erwin, #FolkloreThursday and The Cultural Futures Hub.

Immerse yourself in Swedish folklore and discover the forest spirit Rå in this virtual exhibition from @helenerwin.bsky.social, @folklorethursday.bsky.social and @culturalfutureshub.bsky.social.

Visit online now, for free:
www.spatial.io/s/DeeDeeChai...

#FolkloreThursday

1/2 On Thursday April 16 I'll be talking about this alluring lady with @folklorethursday.bsky.social If you are joining us it might be interesting to read my book first. See second post for link. But first, something to entice you 😁
#SwedishFolklore
@deedeechainey.bsky.social

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