#BookofDeer

[paulinecordiner]

What a fantastic and busy weekend!

On Saturday I was telling stories and doing some living history up at Aden Country Park in Mintlaw for the The Book of Deer Project. This was then followed up by some ghost stories for the grown ups with Derek Jennings.

And on Sunday I was telling stories at the Stonehaven Tolbooth Museum which linked very neatly into some of the items in the museum - of course I was too busy and didn't get any photos, but had some fantastic audiences!

[pagehaunter]

Anecdotes of Hecate

Hecate (Hekate) is a goddess of Greek mythology who was capable of both good and evil. She was especially associated with witchcraft, magic, the Moon, doorways, and creatures of the night such as hell-hounds and ghosts.

From the 5th century BCE, the goddess is associated with the darker side of the human experience, that is death, witchcraft, magic, the Moon, dreams, fierce hounds and creatures which roam the darkness of night. As the Oxford Classical Dictionary phrases it,

"…outlandish in her infernal aspects, she is more at home on the fringes than in the centre of Greek polytheism. Intrinsically ambivalent and polymorphous, she straddles conventional boundaries and eludes definition." (649)

Hesiod describes her as the goddess supports warriors, athletes, hunters, horsemen, herdsmen, shepherds, fishermen, and children. Her companions are the Furies (Erinyes), the winged creatures who punished wrong-doing, and her children are the Empusae, female demons partial to seducing travelers.

The goddess had unusual rituals performed in her honor, which include the offerings of food - given at crossroads, road junctions, and any other sort of boundary or threshold - known as 'the supper of Hecate'. These took the form of small cakes of eggs, cheese, bread, and dog meat, which were lit with miniature torches or, alternatively, a dish of red mullet, which was usually prohibited from offerings to the other gods.

— “Hecate” by Mark Cartwright, featured on Ancient History Encyclopedia

Citations:

“Hecate” by Mark Cartwright // article

Bagnall, R.S. The Encyclopedia of Ancient History. Wiley-Blackwell, 2012

Photo Credits:

“Skull” by Mitja Juraja // photo

“Anonymous Woman” by Khoa Vo // photo

“Photo of a Woman” by Bruno Thethe // photo

“Arched Door and Passage” by Julia Volk // photo

“Waxing Gibbous Moon” by Matthias P.R. Reding // photo

“Boats Near Pier” by Sami Anas // photo

All of these photos are from the stock image site, Pexels.

Collage was made by me! <3

[taliscollection]

What's your favourite #weekendwear the 'letter print wool blend knit top' and the 'Grizzly Bear Embroidered Skater Skirt' by @bookofdeer are both last piece. Get them now while our 15% plastic free july sale is still on. ⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ #taliscollection⠀ #bookofdeer ⠀ #fashionblogger #fashiondaily #fashioninsta #fashionforall #fashionstatement #fashionaddict⠀ #getthelook⠀ #instadaily #instafashion⠀ #lookoftheday⠀ #minimalist #minimalstyle⠀ #ootd #outfitfromabove ⠀ #photooftheday⠀ #mypersonalstyle #weekendvibes ⠀ #streetstyle #styleblogger #weekendstyle ⠀ #thatsdarling⠀ #wearitloveit #wiw #sale #weheartit⠀ #购物 #购物狂

[morganeca-blog]

La robe à motifs parfaite pour manger de la confiture directement dans le pot ! This @bookofdeer dress is the perfect summer dress to eat jam straight from the jar 🍓🍒🍑 #illustration #ootd (at La Madeleine, Nord-Pas-De-Calais, France)

[paulinecordiner]

The car is all packed for tomorrow's storytelling and living history at Aden Country Park!

Butter Making, grinding flour using a real medieval quern stone, making clay pots and exploring dye - cannae wait!

Some tickets still available, only £2.67! Tickets for 2pm session – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stories-and-hands-on-activities-for-families-tickets-252087549647?aff=ebdsoporgprofile Tickets for 3.30pm session - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stories-and-hands-on-activities-for-families-tickets-252089445317?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

[paulinecordiner]

For those of you who haven't seen it, here's a link to the full programme of events relating to the Book of Deer's return to the North East of Scotland. It'll be displayed at Aberdeen Art Gallery from the 2nd July to the 2nd of October 2022, but there are events happening all over the North East - including, of course, our storytelling and living history events this coming Saturday and the 14th July https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/AAGM/whats-aberdeen-art-galleries-and-museums/book-deer

[paulinecordiner]

Coming up on the 11th June - Join storyteller Pauline Cordiner inside the Mansion House at Aden Country Park for some hands-on living history activities for all the family! Learn about the lives of the Picts, the early Celtic monks and the Vikings who invaded the North East - Hear the story of Aidan and then try your hand at milling flour (using a real medieval quern stone), making butter, dyeing cloth and making clay pots. 11th June 2-3pm https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stories-and-hands-on-activities-for-families-tickets-252087549647?aff=erelexpmlt

11th June 3.30-4.30pm https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stories-and-hands-on-activities-for-families-tickets-252089445317?aff=erelexpmlt

[paulinecordiner]

Evening Storytelling - The Book of Deer Project Spooky Tales with Pauline Cordiner and Derek Jennings

The Book of Deer, possibly Scotland’s oldest surviving manuscript – is returning to the North East of Scotland for the first time in over 1000 years. The book itself will be exhibited at Aberdeen Art Gallery but the Book of Deer Project, who have been campaigning for many years to have the illuminated manuscript visit the area, have many events running in the North East this year - many focussing around Aden Country Park and Deer Abbey where an archaeological dig will be carried out. I'm chuffed to be doing a total of 6 sessions (3 on the 7th April and 3 on the 11th June) for families incorporating storytelling and living history - but I'm also going to be doing two adults only evening storytelling sessions with Derek Jennings from the Book of Deer Project. You can get your tickets for the first evening session on Eventbrite (details below) "Join Derek Jennings and Pauline Cordiner for an adults-only evening of scary stories from Aden and the North East of Scotland. Expect ghostly tales of the Monks of Aden, the cursed families of Buchan and the canny chiel who summoned Auld Nick himself!"

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-book-of-deer-evening-story-telling-tickets-252060759517

[paulinecordiner]

That’s me back to it after the New Year and I am strutting around like these Medieval Beasties – the reason being that it’s time to start working on a few new projects for 2022! It is Scotland’s Year of Stories and I just love a bit of research. So for the next couple of weeks I’m going to be researching – The Book of Deer which is coming home to the North East for a visit after a millennium – it has been at Cambridge University since 1715 and may have been stolen from the North East during the Scottish Wars of Independence. I’m looking forward to telling stories with the Book of Deer Project at Aden Country Park. – Crime stories for bairns at Granite Noire, Aberdeen’s Crime Writing Festival – Aberdeen’s Festival of Light, SPECTRA which returns just in time for my birthday!

Oh yes and there will be a fair amount of fisher folk stuff, Medieval stuff, Pictish stuff, Viking stuff, science/climate change stuff and I’m really hoping we’ll get away for our usual festivals this summer. Plenty of reasons to strut about like a Book of Deer Beastie!