Dandelion, in Scots dialects is 'wild william' and 'witch-gowan'. The floating seeds are called 'fairies' and it's lucky to catch one.
art: Hannah Charig
According to Scandinavian folklore, trolls and other supernatural creatures are especially active on Midsummer's Eve.
They roam around at night looking for trouble and wreaking havoc, but bonfires will keep them at bay.
🎨 John Bauer (1882-1918)
In Irish folklore it was believed that as the sun set on Midsummer's Eve (June 23rd) that the elusive Fern seed could be found 🌞
This precious, and elusive, item would grant the finder the power of invisibility allowing them to plunder treasure and commit all manner of misdeeds unseen.
Yet the search for the fern seed is fraught with unimaginable terror, for every phantom and demon imaginable will also have joined the hunt 👹 👻
They will howl, scream and force a person to endure terrifying visions to the point that even those who succeed never truly recover from the experience...
"WHEN LIFE CLOSES A DOOR MAKE A NEW ONE" So sad to hear of the passing of actor #AnthonyHead, Giles, the Watcher & mentor to #Buffy. He was known for helping Buffy reflect on the challenges of coping with loss and responsibility: "The big moments are gonna come. You can't help that. It's what you do afterwards that counts."(The Gift).
At first glance an Elder tree's creamy-white blossoms look like a single flower 🌳💮
But each Elderflower head is actually made up of hundreds of tiny individual flowers arranged in broad, flat clusters known as umbels. This wonderful structure creates a landing platform for a wide variety of pollinators, from hoverflies and beetles to bees and butterflies 🐝🦋
For wildlife, Elder provides an abundant source of nectar and pollen in early summer, while later in the year its dark berries become an important food source for birds.
We too have long valued Elder the fragrant flowers which are used to make cordials, wines and teas, whilst also being used medicinally to treat colds and fevers 🍷
This wonderful tree nourishes both people and wildlife with every passing season 🌼🍂
Ents were the most ancient living creatures surviving in Tolkien's Middle-earth in the Third Age, and similar to the Tree Guardians of lore such as Oak Man and Apple Man
art: Apple Man by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law
One of Britain and Ireland's most dangerous plants...Hemlock Water Dropwort ☠️🌿
So toxic that it literally shaped the folklore surrounding entirely different plants. Cow Parsley, a pleasant edible, gained the grim folk name “Mother Die” in some as a warning to children not to mistake it for Hemlock as one wrong identification could be fatal.
The entire plant is poisonous and the swollen white roots which resemble parsnips came to be known as “Dead Man’s Fingers” ⚰️
Even small amounts can trigger violent convulsions yet despite its lethality to humans it still plays its part in the ecology of wetlands and damp meadows, with its umbrella-like flowers feeding hoverflies, beetles and countless pollinators each Summer 🦋🤍
"In 1407, Scottish mariner James Egelinus, was wrecked on the Norwegian coast. There he saw 'Giant Wildmen' and was told by the locals that they would attack human households and make a meal of their inhabitants"
~ Ronan Coghlan
art: Ida Adsbøl Christensen
For the ancient Romans the threshold between worlds was guarded by the Goddess Cardea 🚪✨
As Goddess of the hinge and doorway, she governed what may open and what must remain shut...protecting the home from demons and wandering Otherworldly things 👻
It was believed that the Hawthorn tree greatly assisted Cardea in her work by enhancing her power and branches of Hawthorn were once hung around cradles, doorways and windows were children slept 🌳
Cardea was also a Goddess of health and there could not be a more perfect tree than the Hawthorn for her to be associated with as it feeds and protects the wildlife around it throughout the year.
In spring its blossom feeds countless pollinating insects, whilst its deep red berries sustain birds such as thrushes and blackbirds through the colder months 🪶
And throughout the year it's thorny branches protect nesting birds and sheltering mammals from predators just as it assists Cardea in protecting children from the supernatural forces that would seek to harm them ✨👻
Aibheaeg, the Fire Goddess of Irish mythology, venerated at the Well of Fire whose water cured toothache if a white quartz stone was left as an offering. At the advent of Christianity in Ireland, she was demoted to the Fairy Queen of Donegal
art: Kinuko Y Craft #FairytaleTuesday
In Slavic mythology, the Island of Buyan is a magical, paradise-like world.
It serves as the cosmic center of the universe, and features the magical Alatyr stone and a world-connecting oak tree.
The island shifts with the ocean tides. It is the origin point of all global weather created by Perun, and holds the hidden soul of the immortal villain Koschei.
🎨“Temple of the Sun God on the Island of Buyan” by Vsevolod Ivanov.
In Scotland, Dandelions were once associated with Saint Brigid and it was believed that the milky sap of the stem nourished new born lambs just as Brigid cared for and watched over them 🌼🐏
The Dandelion is of course very nutritious for livestock, wildlife and ourselves and gets it's name from the Latin Dens Leonis which means "Lions tooth" 🦁
In Ireland, the Hooded Crow has long been linked with war, death and even the sorrow of grief ⚔️🐦⬛
Still wearing her ragged, grey shawl, the Hooded Crow is believed in parts of Ireland to be the form taken by the Banshee “the woman of the fairy mounds” 🪨🐦⬛
The cry of a Hooded Crow circling above a home is believed to foretell a coming loss as the Banshee crosses into the mortal world to mourn the passing of someone from one of Ireland’s great families.
However, setting aside the stories of sadness, the Hooded Crow is fantastically intelligent and helps to nurture and clean the landscape by scavenging decaying bodies and dispersing the seeds of plants and trees such as the Oak and Hazel allowing the growth of new forests and the regeneration of the old 🌰🌳