The Newcastle Castle occupies a strange position in the city centre. So strange that some people can’t believe we have a castle in town at all! Buildings have stood on the site for centuries, dating back to the Romans and their Pons Aelius fort. But the Newcastle Castle was originally founded in 1080 by Robert […]
Need healing? You Need Aesculapius, Roman God of Medicine
It’s easy to sometimes take modern medicine for granted. We don’t have to visit an oracle or priest to diagnose an illness. Popping to a pharmacy is less messy than sacrificing a chicken to read its innards. In the UK, we currently have the NHS. Yet the ancient Greeks and Romans had Aesculapius. But who […]
The Boy Who Lost His Shadow: Shadow People, Doubles, and Peter Pan
Shadows occupy a somewhat privileged position in regards to the human. Long before we saw our reflections in water (and, later, glass), we saw our shadows cast across the ground. They show the existence of a thing, “for what casts a shadow must be real” (Gombrich 1995: 17). Only an object with mass can obstruct […]
Numbers in folklore: Why are 3, 7 and 9 important?
When you think of fairy tales, you’ll often notice patterns in the numbers that appear. Think of the three bears, the seven dwarves, or seven-league boots. Numbers in folklore become an important way to navigate the stories. Many of these tales derive from much older versions. And it seems ancient people loved numbers. In the […]
How are reflections important in western folklore?
Mirrors form a huge part of popular culture, and films like Snow White or Mirror, Mirror play on their magical properties. While it’s beyond the scope of this post, mirrors also play a part in scrying. Here, a practitioner gazes into a dark mirror (often a slice of obsidian). They don’t look for reflections, but rather […]
Spells & Scrying: Mirrors in Magic, Mythology & Folklore
“Mirror, mirror, on the wall”… along with “Hubble, bubble, toil, and trouble”, they’re some of the most famous words associated with magic in popular culture. Mirrors play a huge part in many superstitions. Linked to ideas around the double, mirrors can be downright creepy. Look at the age-old practice of covering mirrors in a home […]
