#birch folklore

[midwestbramble]

Birch Folklore

Betula alleghaniensis

Ruled by ♀

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Contents:

Overview

Folklore

Uses in Witchcraft

Safety Notes

Conclusion

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Overview

A fast-growing deciduous hardwood that reaches 65 feet or more at maturity. Grows near lakes and streams and throughout urban landscapes. The bark of yellow birch is a pale yellow-bronze or gold color and is scored horizontally with lenticels (the bits that make it look like it has eyes). The outer layers often peel into thin, papery strips giving the trunk a shaggy appearance. In older trees the bark is gray and can develop ragged strips that curl or loosen along the edges.

The leaves are ovate and serrated, usually around 2 1/2 to 5 inches long. They are arranged alternately on the branches. Flowers (catkins) grow on both male and female trees and form in late winter before the leaves open. Male catkins are pendulous, and female catkins are erect.

The tree has a distinct winter green scent and flavor of tender new branches and leaves. Almond flavor tends to be a cherry tree which also has shiny bark with lenticels.

Also a good host for the chaga mushroom.

Bark and twigs should be taken from smaller saplings or from fallen branches. These should be taken in early spring when sap is flowing and wintergreen flavor is prominent. Use pruning shears or clippers to snip off tender spring growth, leaf buds, and leaves, and then dry. Store in airtight containers to preserve flavor (volatile oils are prone to evaporation).

Tap mature trees and harvest the tips of branches in moderation. Sap should be collected in late winter at the same time as maple. Seek out stands and select trees that are at least 6-8 inces in diameter. Need 20 gallons more sap for birch than maple to make 1 gallon of birch syrup.

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Folklore

-Evoking Leshii or Lieschi-

A Russian ritual calls for using birch to summon the Lieschi, a slavic tutelary forest spirit. Peasants would cut down very young birch trees, arranging them in a circle for protection before calling upon the spirit.

-Baba Yaga-

This Slavic witch of legend was said to make her home in a birch forest, surrounded by a fence made of birch posts topped with enchanted human skulls. It was also said she used a birch broom to sweep away her tracks while traveling in her mortar and pestle. In the story of "Vasilisa the Beautiful", Baba Yaga even instructs the birch tree not to harm the young girl, which tries to lash her and put out her eyes. When Vasilisa escaped the birch let her leave since she cared for it while staying with Baba Yaga.

-The Wife of Usher's Well-

In this old Scottish ballad describes three sons who have died returning to their mother in spirit wearing a birch hat. The ballad also describes the gates of Paradise being guarded by birch trees.

-The Lady in White-

A Czech tale tells of a young woman who dances in a birch forest with a lady in white. The lady in white gives the young woman a bunch of yellow birch leaves which turn to gold once she leaves the forest. Incidentally, the young woman had been spinning wool the first two times she danced with the lady in white, and upon the second time the lady had spun the finest thread for her in thanks.

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Uses in Witchcraft

Birch is a wonderful spirit to call on for protection. When treated right she will bestow upon you gifts and protect you from those who would harm you. Not to just be used as a shield, birch is a spirit that has no qualms about fighting back and thus may aid in curses aimed at those who have harmed you. But be warned, if treated without respect, she may turn on you.

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Safety Notes

No known safety issues.

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Conclusion

The birch is a wonderful guardian. Even before learning all the lore, there was a birch tree in a park near a town I used to live in that I worked with as a protector. She didn't put up with disrespect either. So remember to treat your birch tree with care. This isn't even all the lore out there, so much of it is little beliefs about how to work with her. What have your experiences with birch been?

References:

Midwest Foraging by Lisa M. Rose

Midwest Medicinal Plants by Lisa M. Rose

Vasalisa the Beautiful

The Wife of Usher's Well

The Lady in White

Images:

Title image made on Canva, birch photo from Nathan Anderson on Unsplash

An Illustration, 1906

Vasilisa at the Hut of Baba Yaga by Ivan Bilibin

The Wife of Usher's Well (found in the Allen Ginsberg Project)

From "Favorite Fairy Tales Told in Czechoslovakia" illustrated by Trina S. Hyman

[deyeryrey]

𝙷𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚂𝚎𝚎𝚔

[alexidoesart]

Many folktales throughout different cultures feature a heroine being given the impossible task of sorting through grains/seeds-- whether that be picking them from the ashes, from between each other, or from their rotting counterparts.

In this task, she often does as much as she can before submitting to a higher power, whether that power recognizes her virtue or she directly asks for help varies based on the culture and tale.

Featured are eight such tales, most of which can be categorized into “Snake Bride” (ATU 425) type tales or “Cinderella” (Both often ATU 510 in the folklore index-- Cinderellas are specifically ATU 510A)

The circle puts them in no particular order, as “origins”  and lineages are muddied, and many of the current incarnations have been influenced by each other, though Ye Xian is the oldest known “complete” version of Cinderella.

Snake Brides:

Psyche, Eros and Psyche (Greco-Roman)

Sukkia, The Snake’s Bride (India)

Donan Sampakang Tale about Gansaļangi and Donan Sampakang (Indonesian)

Cinderellas:

Aschenputtel (German)

Tam, Tấm and Cám (Vietnam)

Unnamed Heroine The Wonderful Birch (Finish & Slavic)

Ye Xian (Chinese)

Neither (ATU 480B-- Stepmother and Stepdaughter)

Vasilisa, Vasilisa the Wise (or Beautiful) (Slavic)

[alrauna]

Natalia Noszczyńska illustration (@natalia.noszczynska.illu)

[inkyami]

Song

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[ternovye]

[witchwriting-hpfanfic]

every belligerent slytherin needs a looming mythical undead irish hero for a best friend

[dendro80]

A walk looking a bit closer at the wetlands in Brunnbäck. The yellow flower is called kabbeleka and it have just started blooming.

As a child I was fascinated by it, picked it in the streams and brought home.

Folktales tell us that you can get warts from the flower, but it was probably created to scare children away from the water where the plant lives. The plant is also poisonous, causing stomach aches and vomiting.

May 2023

Brunnbäck, Avesta, Dalarna, Avesta

[robster2016]

Frau Pertcha

Frau Perchta, also known as Perchta or Berchta, is a figure rooted in the folklore of Germanic and Alpine traditions, particularly in Austria, Bavaria, and parts of Switzerland. She is often associated with the pre-Christian pagan traditions of the region, and her legend has evolved over centuries, blending elements of mythology, religion, and local customs. Frau Pertcha Origins and…

[ty-loves]

Briarwood Mortuary🕊️🪦

The Briarwood Mortuary is owned & operated by the Briar Family of Brindleton Bay. This longstanding mortuary & cemetery is the resting place of many of Brindleton Bay's most coveted citizens. This lot can be used to lay your sims to rest peacefully, host a funeral service, or even have a wedding in the cemetery.  

Gallery ID: ty_loves415 (✅include custom content to find builds)

Information: 

30x30 lot

$319,543

 Functions as: Generic, Wedding Venue, or Museum lot

CC Used:

Asabinsims | Real Trees for build mode (1) 

Alf-si | Birch Trees (1),

Magnoliidae | Leafy Ground Cover plant recolor (1)

TheJim07 | Gravestone & Mortuary ts3 (1), Mater Dolorosa (1), Winged Victory of Samothrace (1)

Felixandre | Estate (2), (1), (3), Paris (2), (1), Chateau (2), (5), (6), Berlin (2), (1), London (1), Gothic Revival (2), (1), Grove (4), Fayun (2), (1), Florence (2), (1), Soho (1)

Pinkbox AnYe | Venice (1), Summer Garden (1), (2), Bayfront Powder room (1),  Miranda (1), Cozy Corner (1), Magnolia (1), Ashwood Dining (1)

SYB | Ratatouille Kitchen (1), Hotel (1), Piano (1)

Valia | Mediterranean columns (1)

Lilis Palace | Folklore Skanzen (5), Intarsia Enfilade (1)

Plush Pixels | Parisian Apartment (1), Summer in the Hamptons (2)

Max20 | Garden at Home (1)

Pierisim | Domaine du Clos (2), (1), Auntie Vera’s Bathroom Toilet (1), Winter Garden (1), Woodland Ranch Old Rug (1)

Harrie | Coastal (2), (8), Copenhagen (1), Brutalist Bathroom Tiles (1)

PsychicPeanutKitty | Ghost w/ a Lantern (1)

KHD | Noor Set (1), Ghibli (2), Liberty (1), Countess Desk & Chair (1)

Severinka | Halloween 2018 (1)

Sims4Luxury | Fall 2023 Pumpkins (1)

Myshunosun | Herbalist Clutter (1)

Natalia-Auditore | Baron Samedi Coffins (1)

CWB | Anapolis Wall Light (1), October 2022 (1)

HYDRA | Heart Vanity (1)

Sooky88 | Vertical Oil Paintings (1)

PandoraSimBox | Get to Church Stuff Pack Pulpit (1) LittleDica | Countryside Cabin Roof Trim (1)

*Packs Used: Lovestruck (benches), Cottage Living, City Living, Get Together, Jungle Adventure GP, Romantic Garden Stuff, Paranormal Stuff Extras & TOU: 

Please do not reupload or claim my build as your own

Please do feel free to tag me if you use this build <3

Always use bb.moveobjects when placing

Reshade by YoursTrulySims

Leave a comment here if you have any issues

Thank you all cc creators <3

All trees used in this build are CC, not defaults.  

@asabinsims @felixandresims @pinkbox-anye @alf-si @sooky88 @pierisim @lilis-palace @myshunosun @kerriganhouse @harrie-cc @sims4luxury @psychicpeanutkitty @valiasims @maxsus @littledica @hydrangeachainsaw @nataliaauditore-blog @syboubou @thejim07 @magnoliidae @plushpixelssims

[likeadevils]

Midnights Timeline

This is a very long post that puts all the songs on Midnights in order of Taylor creating them. I’ve also included a few other songs she worked on while writing Midnights and quotes from Taylor and her collaborators talking about her process.

If you don't want to read all that, check out this playlist of the album in order, or this playlist of her entire discography. WARNING: there is a very large chunk on the playlists that I have no information on (Maroon-Dear Reader).

I’ve also added this color coded scale of how sure I am of the date: 

Confirmed: There is some type of official source for the date

Inferring: Nobody has officially said “This is when we wrote it,” but all available evidence points to that date

Speculation: This date is based off pure vibes and guesswork and is highly likely to change.

Unknown: All that is known is the year (from the US Copyright Offices

Renegade: March 7-15, 2021 (Confirmed)

Aaron: “I wrote the music [for Renegade] at some point after we finished [evermore], and sent it to her, because she was inspired by a llot of the Big Red Machine stuff we were working on. And she had already sung on Birch, a song that hasn't come out yet but is one of the major ones on the record. And I think she wanted to write a song for Big Red Machine. She very much feels like part of this community to me. So I wrote Renegade, the music, and sent it to her. And not unlike a lot of the things we've done together, one day I woke up to a voice memo from her and she had written this incredible song about how anxiety and fear get in the way of loving or being loved. And she was clearly thinking about Big Red Machine. And then we recorded her vocals and everything the week of the Grammys, when I was there in LA, and it was really nice to have something to think about that wasn't related to the Grammys - just to make music because you feel like making it." (transcript from jaimie)

High Infidelity and Would've Could've Should've: March 7-15, 2021 (Confirmed)

Aaron: [Would've Could've Should've], we wrote that song together, and recorded it while we were together in LA for the folklore Grammys. It goes back that far. And the same with High Infidelity. Those songs, we actually recorded in her house, the vocals, we recorded them then. And I just kept making music, and it was kind, after we had made folklore and evermore, I started to have ideas which I would share. And eventually, she obviously made most of Midnights with Jack, and it became something different. But High Infidelity, and Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve, and The Great War, and we made Hits Different with Jack and Taylor and I also, and it was great to be part of that record in that way. (transcript from @cages-boxes-hunters-foxes)

The Great War and Hits Different: between April-October 2021 (Speculation)

In the above quote talking about his songs on Midnights, Aaron says "Eventually, she obviously made most of Midnights with Jack, and it became something different," implying his stuff was written before the bulk of midnights in fall. He also says High Infidelity and Would've Could've Should've "[go] back that far," which implies they were some of the earliest stuff on Midnights, so it's safe to assume TGW and Hits Different come sometime afterwards.

Summer 2021: Jack has a session with Sounwave, Sam Dew, and Zoe Kravitz, where the instrumentals for Lavender Haze and likely Glitch are written

Rolling Stone interview with Sounwave: Before Antonoff began to work on Swift’s tenth album, he was cooking up tracks with Spears, Dew, and Zoë Kravitz [...] During a brainstorming session, the quartet put together a track that would eventually become “Lavender Haze.”

November 3 2021: It was announced that Joe has been cast in Stars at Noon, alongside Margaret Qualley, Jack Antonoff's then girlfriend now wife. Since Joe was parachuted into the film last minute, filming had already started, making it likely he left as soon as possible.

Taylor: We’d been toying with ideas and had written a few things we loved, but Midnights actually really coalesced and flowed out of us when our partners (both actors) did a film together in Panama. Jack and I found ourselves back in New York, alone, recording every night, staying up late and exploring old memories and midnights past.

November 8: Jack gets back from touring with Bleachers. Let the games begin.

Vigilante Shit: November 2021 (Speculation)

Vigilante Shit is the sole solo writing credit on the album, which implies it was written before her and Jack were holed up together 24/7. Also Scooter and his wife divorced in July. Beyond that there's no evidence this is early in the process, besides it making sense that Taylor wrote this alone, brought it to Jack, and then fell into a creative inferno.

Maroon, Anti-Hero, You're on Your Own Kid, Midnight Rain, Bejeweled, Labyrinth, Mastermind, Paris, and Dear Reader: November/December 2021 (Inferring)

I don't have enough info on the making of any of these songs to give them each their own little blurb, but if anything pops up I will update this post and reblog it letting y’all know.

Question..?: After November 21, 2021 (Inferring)

We know Rachel Antonoff, Dylan O'Brien, and Austin Swift were there the day they recorded it thanks to this behind the scenes footage of them recording the cheering vocals. Dylan was filming The Vanishings at Caddo Lake in Louisiana sometime between October 5 and November 20. I don't know exactly which dates he was filming-- he was in New York for All Too Well filming in late October and to attend the premiere on November 12, but since we know for sure he was in Louisiana on the 20th, I'm just gonna Occam's Razor it and say Question was written sometime after he got back from that.

You're Losing Me: December 5, 2021 (Confirmed)

December 17, 2021: Filming wraps on Stars at Noon, and with it the bulk of recording for Midnights.

Lavender Haze: Early 2022 (Speculation)

Lavender Haze, Snow on the Beach, and Karma are the only songs to have Henson Recording Studios credited (I can't find studio credits for the 3am tracks so there is possibly more on there). This could point to them all being recorded around the same time time, or it could be in reference to Jack and Sounwave's original recording sessions taking place at Hensen. I lean towards the former, since 1) it seems like the Winter 2021 sessions were mostly between Taylor and Jack, and the spring sessions have other collaborators, and 2) the tabloid rumors about Taylor and Joe getting engaged really started heating up in February 2022. On the other hand, Sounwave implies that there was a notable stretch of time between Lavender Haze and Karma, so I totally understand if you want to put it with the rest of the Winter 2021 sessions. Rolling Stone interview with Sounwave: A few months [after Jack and Sounwave wrote the instrumentals], Antonoff reached out to Spears, Dew, and Kravitz to see if he could pitch [Lavender Haze] to Swift, who loved it immediately. She wrote lyrics inspired by a Mad Men scene, numerous tabloid rumors and online gossip about her relationship status, and “1950s expectations.” “When Jack brought us in the hear for the first time, all our mouths dropped. She took it to a whole new world and made it her own. She created different pockets we did not hear.”

Glitch: Early 2022 (Speculation)

Rolling Stone interview with Sounwave: "Glitch,” one of the bonus songs on the Midnights (3am) edition, was born from the same studio session as “Lavender Haze.” I don't know if this means the instrumentals to Lavender Haze and Glitch were done in the same session, Taylor wrote the lyrics in the same session, or both. For the same reason as Lavender Haze, I lean towards this coming later in the process, as well as Glitch mentioning being together for six years, and in November 2021 Taylor and Joe had been together for a little over 5 years. That being said, Taylor could've assume the album was going to come out in 2022, and that she would stay with Joe until then, and bump up that date a bit. It's still very up in the air.

February 5, 2022: Taylor is photographed leaving Jack's house holding a keyboard.

Sweet Nothing: Spring 2022 (Inferring)

Joe is a co-write on this, meaning they likely wrote it after he got back from filming. It also mentions their trip to Ireland in 2021 and refers to it as "last July", implying it was written in 2022. While I was writing this timeline Taylor liked this post on twitter, implying that at least the second verse is in reference to Paul and Linda McCartney. The quote is from his poem Blessed, which you can read in this interview (TWs for death and cancer)

Bigger Than The Whole Sky: March 2022 (Inferring)

Claire Winter, a close friend of Taylor's, posts on Instagram that she miscarried. (I toyed with whether or not to add this, but seeing as Claire Winter made the information public herself, I decided to put it in. If she ever takes that Instagram post down, let me know and I'll delete this part.)

Snow on the Beach: April 1, 2022 (Inferring)

On April 1, Lana Del Rey posts a video on Instagram of Jack in the studio with an unidentified female voice in the background. Two days later she posts this photo, which Taylor and Jack both include in posts about Midnights/Snow on the Beach. Lana: Well, first of all, I had no idea I was the only feature [on that song]. Had I known, I would have sung the entire second verse like she wanted. My job as a feature on a big artist’s album is to make sure I help add to the production of the song, so I was more focused on the production. She was very adamant that she wanted me to be on the album, and I really liked that song. I thought it was nice to be able to bridge that world, since Jack [Antonoff] and I work together and so do Jack and Taylor. Taylor: And with Snow On The Beach, which features the genius Lana Del Rey, very lucky to have collaborated with her on that. And Dylan [O’Brien] was actually in the studio with me and Jack, because a lot of the time we record at his place, and Dylan was just hanging out, drinking wine with us, and listening to stuff, and he was just trying out the drum kit there. He wasn't serious. But we were drinking wine, and we were sort of like, 'We haven't recorded the drums for this one yet! See if you want to...' and he played the drums on the song. Sometimes it just happens like that. (transcript once again from jaimie)

Karma: Spring 2022 (Speculation)

Rolling Stone interview with Sounwave: The bubbly “Karma” came later [than Lavender Haze and Glitch], when Antonoff reached out to Spears for any other ideas he may have to contribute to the album and its synth-pop vision. “‘Karma’ was just a last-minute Hail Mary,” Spears says. “I remembered I was working with my guy Keanu [Beats] and had something that was too perfect not to send to her. As soon as I sent it, Jack was instantly like ‘This is the one. Playing it for Taylor now. We’re going in on it.’ The next day, I heard the final product with her vocals on it.”

April 19, 2022: Elle's interview with the Conversations with Friends cast is released, and when Joe is "asked if he hopes to continue writing songs, Alwyn simply says, “It’s not a plan of mine, no.”" It's possible this means Sweet Nothing was yet to be written, but I think it's more likely Joe was just denying in order to not create hype around a song that wasn't officially announced yet.

May 2022: Taylor teases Labyrinth lyrics in her NYU Commencement Speech and says m i d n i g h t very prominently on this instagram post, meaning by early summer she was likely confident in the album's name and which songs would make the tracklist.

And that's all for this timeline! Check out my others:

TIMELINES: debut • fearless • speak now • red • 1989 • rep • lover • folklore • evermore • midnights PLAYLISTS: debut • fearless • speak now • red • 1989 • rep • lover • folklore • evermore • midnights • entire discography GENERAL: tag

[kosmichippieccfinds]

👑 MEDIEVAL MODS + CC | The Sims 4

I am currently playing Morbid's ULTIMATE Decades Challenge over on YouTube. Below is a list of all of the Mods + CC I am using in my game to create the ultimate MEDIEVAL experience 👑

I'll be updating this list as I add new mods and cc to my game.

📺 Watch on YouTube

👑 MODS:

Medieval Windenburg

MC Command Center

MC Woohoo

More Traits in CAS

Royalty Mod

Medieval Interactions

Ye Olde Cookbook + Stoves

Home Region by Kuttoe

Fashion Authority 2 by Lot51

Functional Broom

Functional Loom

Functional Pottery Wheel

Archery Skill

Blacksmithing Skill

Honey Production Mod + Mead Brewer

Children/Toddlers Can Die of Anything

Playable Harp + Lute

Functional Horses & Carriages, No Helmet

Create Campfire Bonfire Anywhere

Arranged Marriages

Custom Farm Animals

Purchase Custom Animals

Zero's Historical Mods (pickpocket, disease, etc.)

Phone to Notebook Replacement

Sippy Cup + Toys Default Replacements

Stuff for Pets

Harvestable Wheat Grain

Natural Knitting Stuff

Live in Business (LittleMsSam)

More Buyable Venues (LittleMsSam)

Force to Leave (LittleMsSam)

👑 CC:

Build:

TSR Ye Medieval - Ligna Windows Set

TSR Ye Medieval - Timber Frame Walls

TSR Ye Medieval - Framework Walls

TSR - Broken Wood Door

TSR Ye Medieval - Soil Terrain

TSR Ye Medieval - Hay Ground Terrain

Birch Tree (2048x2048)

Objects:

Lili's Palace - Folklore Set No. 1

Linzlu's Frontier Items

TSR Ye Medieval - Peasant Homelife 1

TSR Ye Medieval - Peasant Homelife 2

TSR Ye Medieval - Peasant Homelife 3

TSR Ye Medieval - Peasant Homelife 4

TRS Ye Medieval - Tristan Bathroom

TSR Ye Medieval - Tavern Part 1

TSR Ye Medieval - Candle Holder

TSR - Skara Stool

TSR - The Old Garden Boat

TSR - The Old Garden Quay

Fish Market Decor

Fish Rack

Fish Crate V1

Fish Crate V2

Bohrium Vegetables I

Old Rustic Well ("Eco Living" version)

Stable Set by Moriel

Rustic Animal Shed

Rustic Chicken Coop

Rustic Bee Box

Bassinet + Infant Crib

CAS:

TheSimsResource (Ye Medieval)

TheSimsResource (Sifix)

Simverses (most of my peasant CC)

Anora's Hair (Princess Leia's Kenobi Hair by Buzzard)

Rosceline's Hair (Lusine by simstrouble)

Kenric's Hair (Henry Hair by JohnnySims)

Mira's Hair (Padme's Mustafar Hair by Buzzard)

Papa Cedrick's Hair (Wearwolves Game Pack)

Roseline's Peasant Dress

👑 LOTS:

Caspian's Seaside Hut (Lot + CC List) (20x20)

Caspian's Lakeside Cottage (Lot + CC List) (20x20)

TSR Ye Medieval Avelyn Castle (64x64)

TSR Ye Medieval Galbury Tavern (30x20)

TSR Ye Medieval Tyrada Tavern (30x20)

TSR Ye Medieval Herbalist Hut (40x30)

👑 SAVE FILE:

Srsly's Blank Save

Map Replacement Medieval Windenburg

[lailoken]

No too long ago, I was able to visit the small lake town my mother grew up in for the first time. It was a really lovely trip that included a number of particularly special experiences, which included locating the burial plot for the ancestral line I most directly associate with my hereditary magical practices.

Beyond the awe of being with these beloved dead so presently for the first time, I was also really amazed and humbled to see the botanical company they kept. Along with Lily of the Valley growing amidst their graves, the Family Stone was directly beneath a gigantic old Maple Tree with a perfect hollow for leaving offerings.

What's more, however, the grave plot was directly triangulated by three very special trees.

At one "point" of the triangle resides one of the most massive Birch trees I've ever encountered. I genuinely didn't even think they got this big as singular trunks (I've included a picture of my very tall and broad husband standing next to it for reference). Birch is also my mother's Patron Tree, and so it has always had a special place in my heart.

At another "point" of the triangle is an absolutely enormous Copper Beech Tree. If the sheer majesty and beauty of this tree wasn't already enough, there's also the fact that Beech trees have taken up a role of greater importance in my practice, due to syncretic ties I have built with Saint Joan of Arc in my Faerie Physic work over the last year.

At the final "point" of the triangle, I was most blown away to discover a "Flying Rowan" growing from the crevice of an old Maple. In traditional anglo-celtic folklore, a Rowan tree that has managed to take root and grow successfully without actually being in the ground—such as a sapling that grows from the face of a boulder or the nook of an established tree—is often called a Flying Rowan. I learned, growing up, that said Rowan trees are potent sources of magic, as well as marking areas that are sacred to the Fae. As such, finding one so close to my ancestral burial plot felt extremely meaningful and auspicious. I was even lucky enough to find a couple handfuls of fallen berries that I took back home with me.

Being able to visit and propitiate the graves of my progenitors and their loved ones was a deeply sacred act for me, and I feel blessed that I can bear witness to the beauty and peace of their resting place.

[ourstaturestouchtheskies]

art history moodboard – folklore by taylor swift

Meadow – Anna Billing // Conversation on a Path Close to the Lake – Firmin Salabert // Children Playing in the Garden – Auguste Viande // The Seamstress – Joseph DeCamp // Kindred Spirits – Lionel Percy Smythe // The Pic-Nic – Thomas Cole // Children Playing – Eduard Ameseder // Meadow – Anna Billing // Wooded Landscape with Little Birches – Lajos Csordák

[mythologyolympics]

Mythology Olympics tournament round 1

Propaganda!

The Krampus is a horned anthropomorphic figure who, in the Central and Eastern Alpine folkloric tradition, is said to accompany Saint Nicholas on visits to children during the night of 5 December, immediately before the Feast of St. Nicholas on 6 December. In this tradition, Saint Nicholas rewards well-behaved children with small gifts, while Krampus punishes badly behaved ones with birch rods. The origin of the figure is unclear; some folklorists and anthropologists have postulated that it may have pre-Christian origins. In traditional parades and in such events as the Krampuslauf ("Krampus run"), young men dressed as Krampus attempt to scare the audience with their antics.

Saturn (Latin: Sāturnus) was a god in ancient Roman religion, and a character in Roman mythology. He was described as a god of time, generation, dissolution, abundance, wealth, agriculture, periodic renewal and liberation. Saturn's mythological reign was depicted as a Golden Age of abundance and peace. After the Roman conquest of Greece, he was conflated with the Greek Titan Cronus. Saturn's consort was his sister Ops, with whom he fathered Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, Juno, Ceres and Vesta.

[outofangband]

Mammals of Hithlum

Flora, fauna, geography and environment of Arda Masterlist

Hithlum (Sindarin: Mist Shadow) is a land North of Beleriand. The Southern and Eastern borders were lined by the Ered Wethrin or Mountains of Shadow which were near impossible to cross and the Northwest border was lined by the Ered Lómin or Echoing Mountains. Though Hithlum was not on the ocean, sea mists from beyond Nevrast often reached its lands, hence the name. Hithlum held two important regions in the First Age, Mithrim where the hosts of Fingolfin lived for some time ruled and Dor-lómin, which Fingolfin gave to the House of Hador. 

As always I included world building notes at the end!

Fields and mountain steppes: striped field mouse, brown hare, mountain hare, free tailed bat, argali (rare), tarmin red deer, common bison (similar to the Asiatic Or European one), common rabbit, northern bat, alpine chamois

Montane forests: red squirrel, garden dormouse, brown bear (rare), northern birch mouse, bank vole, wood lemming, lynx, wild boar (rare), grey wolf, common hedgehog 🦔 (also found in fields), common wildcat (rare), forest dormouse

By rivers, streams and lakes: water vole, field vole, red fox, common shrews, least weasel, river otter (rare)

World building notes:

Most domestic animals in Hithlum are not native. Horses there primarily originate from those brought from Valinor and those brought from Eastern Beleriand, namely Himlad and Estolad. The latter are smaller and stockier.

Domesticated cattle came to Mithrim through trade and cream and butter became not uncommon ingredients among the Noldor there and among parts of the Sindar, especially those in southern Mithrim. (I actually have lots of thoughts about cheese making among the elves but that’s a different topic..)

Much of Hadorian life revolves around horses. A significant number of the humans of Dor-lómin are semi nomadic, traveling with their horses at least part of the year. Many festivals, traditions and ceremonies revolve around horses and horsemanship. Unfortunately many of these were lost during the occupation when access to horses was restricted and often forbidden. (This is only a brief summary as I’ve gone into this on many posts but it’s one of my favorite topics!)

The Hadorians also keep sheep, cow, hounds and bison. Also obligatory mention of this but I headcanon that although goats are not usually raised by the Hadorians, the Drúedain do keep them and Aerin as a teenager adopted one from a group of Drúedain who were staying with her father over a winter storm.

The Sindar of the mountains Mithrim have domesticated some mountain goats. Their horns are used as tools and as part of grave markers. (Note: many animals called mountain goats are not in the genus that includes domestic goats)

Field mice appear as a motif in Hadorian embroidery though they’re also widely disliked for their tendency to infest grain and hay.

Lynxes are a rare sight in populated areas of Hithlum but they are common in the area’s folklore, both Sindar and Noldor.