a ghostly dandelion seed-ball trapped within a transparent glass sphere

Iconic photo of Stonehenge by Bill Brandt.

Winter Solstice.
Photograph by Bill Brandt.

Medieval deaf communication Communicating with hand signs has a long history. Researcher Jude Seal examines the evidence for signing in Medieval Europe among both deaf and hearing communities.

My latest post for the @wellcomecollection.bsky.social on #deafness, #communication, and sign language in the Middle Ages
wellcomecollection.org/stories/medi...
#medievalsky #skystorians

miniatured "Q" with detailed tree inside, black ink on paper. Some of the writing is readable.

Lovely miniature from an early XV c. #inventorybook ... #staytuned because soon there will be... an #homicide with #inventory from 1380s!

@artandinequality.bsky.social
goes beyond testaments!
@uofglasgow.bsky.social

#medievalsky

Event title card

Women in folk tales…

Just a couple of hours to go. Still time to grab a ticket for this online talk, plus recording

Just £5 from
bit.ly/flaevents

All income supports the charity

Thomas Light was a conjurer who lived in the early 19th century at High Ercall. He consulted the stars, summoned spirits, and satisfied the needs of locals with both curses and cures. He was often heard wrestling with supernatural beings and even the Devil at night. 🌙

#Folklore #Shropshire #Satan

A man standing in front of a mirror

In “The Haunted Mirror”, from Dead of Night (1945), an antique mirror reflects the subject in a room from the past, and it is as a retainer of a tragedy soon to be reenacted. The segment was based on a tale by E F Benson that explored ideas popular among 19th-century psychic researchers.

Why might Blind Lane, Ansty, be called so? Well I found out (from my new haul of folklorish stuff) that it is because the spring there was thought, in days gone by, to cure blindness in babies.
I went to find the spring on Blind Lane. I think this is it!

Have you ever experienced that strange feeling that you’ve encountered this moment or event before?

An autumnal Oak tree set before a bright blue November sky.

November

A photograph of a television, upon which is shown the great Vincent Price, here portraying the lead in the 1959 movie “House On Haunted Hill”. In the foreground can be seen a small table upon which burn three candles of various sizes, all gently illuminating a darkened room.

Happy Halloween, one & all

Several small mushrooms surrounded by bright green mosses and a scattering of fallen autumn leaves.

One of my most favourite places. Hope you’re enjoying it!

HOORAY I'm back in London on 25th November! Did you know that a magician used to ply his trade where The Gherkin now stands? Come join me for more weird facts that will make you see England's history differently 🌟

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/english-magic-witchcraft-tickets-1743090002119

A hill carved with mysterious figures and an eccentric old man who follows the old ways.

An island steeped in legend and a stranger who claims to be its next king.

A church on the marshes and a struggling artist who glimpses its demons.

TALES OF OCCULT BRITAIN
👉🏼 helleborezine.com

Folk explanations of place name derivations. Just finished revising a short study of them. Some were serious & others humorous. A favourite:

The Shropshire village of Selattyn on the Welsh border was thought to derive from a local schoolmaster who advertised "I sell Latin".

Coming soon to British Online Archives — Witchcraft and Magic in England, c. 1400–1920.
Featuring rare records from The National Archives, British Library, UCL, and The Folklore Society.
Register your interest: buff.ly/YBeFCF1

Dried

Japanese storyteller: the image shows a man dressed in white sitting on a mat on a brightly lit stage; image via Wikimedia Commons

Thurs 23 October, 10:00-17:00 BST: 'Folklore & Anthropology in Conversation: Revisiting Oral Narrative'--joint symposium of @folkloresociety.bsky.social and The RAI.
Tickets are free. In-person attendance is fully booked but places still available to attend online: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Linden, linden, linden tree
Thou art so gracious o’er me

Whose shade exalts
such gentle rest
Afore eve’s sun
bids last to west

T’wards tides & shingle
pulled & swell
T’is there that I shall
dream to dwell

I'm doing a talk about Bonfire Night folklore on 3 November so I'm curious... What traditions do you follow, if any, for the day? If you don't follow them now, what did you do to mark the day when you did 'celebrate'?

Elithyr - The Fae Cursed Dolls' House — Albyon Absey's Geographical Almanac Elithyr, luring unsuspecting victims to the fire ravaged toy-shop window of Chestnut & Sons, in this Strange & Fantastical Location for your Fantasy Roleplaying Games. Enhance your Dungeons and Dragon...

A terrifyingly fitting classic location - suitably strange & fantastical - all ready to drag & drop into your #fantasy #ttrpg this #October month

www.albyonabsey.com/locations/el...

I was browsing via my phone, Daniel.

I tried a few different counties to check, and all behaved as described above, unfortunately.

Apologies, Daniel, but clicking on the county just seems to refresh the same page for me!

West Sussex : CGC Emporium (Chichester & Worthing) and The Game Room (Chichester) are both excellent sources of TTRPGs and tabletop resources, as well as in-person games with lively communities.

Mummers where humans dressed up as animals and fantastical creatures to entertain 🎉
Bodleian Library MS. Bodl. 264, fol 21 V.
Five Mummers, 1338-44 MS Bodl. 264.
#medievalsky #medievalart #medieval #mummers #marginalia #medievalmanuscript

TTRPG Rising Tide Discord?

📣 Kemble Lecture 2025 #TOEBI #medievalsky
📜‘Myths and Monsters: Beowulf and the Etymologists’
🗣️Prof. Richard Dance, University of Cambridge
📅Thursday, 13 November 2025, 5pm
🏫Neill Lecture Theatre, Trinity Long Room Hub, Trinity College Dublin
💻Register for Zoom: tcd-ie.zoom.us/meeting/regi...