Joanna Tarnawska is an animist, folkloric witch, and psychologist residing in the mountains of Lower Silesia, Poland. Her practice intertwines animism, bioregional traditions, and lore, drawing inspiration from the early modern period of Polish witch trials and Slavic folklore. With a strong foundation in anthropology and ethnography, Joanna's work explores the deep connections between pre- and post-Christian folklore and witchcraft traditions. She contributes articles to Femme Occulte magazine and runs "Polish Folk Witch," a platform where she shares her knowledge through courses and group studies on Polish folk magic, animism, and traditional witchcraft.

In this chat, we talk about folk magic compared to witchcraft, the presence of Christian elements within Polish folk magic, spring rituals within Polish practice, and just how accessible and practical folk magic can be.

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Find Joanna online: https://polishfolkwitch.pl/

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Back in November 2020, I explored the folklore of the yew tree; specifically, the common yew, or English yew (Taxus baccata).

Yes, it's a poisonous tree. Yes, it's linked with death. And yes, people like to say they pre-date the churchyards in which we find them.

But in the intervening six years, my library of sources has grown, so I wanted to see if there was anything more I could learn about them. They're my favourite tree, and I always love spotting them in parks and cemeteries. There's something deeply restful and reassuring about a yew tree.

My fascination with trees within ecosystems has also grown, so I wanted to explore the yew outside of folklore. How and why are these trees so cool and so different from other trees?

So let's explore their dendrology, their uses to humans, and yes, their links with death, before we meet some more famous yews in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore!

Find the blog post with all the images and references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/yew-trees/

Listen to the earlier yew episode: https://www.icysedgwick.com/yew/

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Periodically, I choose a plant, tree or fungus to explore, only to find there is very little folklore about them. Invariably, there are two reasons for this. First, the plant, tree or fungus has little use to humans, so no one bothered much with it in the past. This sometimes applies to toxic specimens, too. You don't need to preserve knowledge about something you know to avoid, so there's no lore to pass on.

Second, the plant, tree or fungus only arrived in the UK (or Europe) within the last couple of centuries. Again, this often results in sparse lore about them, much as we see with the horse chestnut or sycamore.

I ran into this exact problem with the London Plane tree. I'd seen one featured in a 3-part documentary about trees, narrated by Michael Palin, on Cheapside in London. Having gone to meet it myself on a trip to the capital, I announced I'd be starting this month's Tree theme with the London Plane.

And then I discovered how little folklore there actually is about them. Still, how they came about proves to be an interesting story on its own. The tale of the Cheapside Plane is worth exploring too. So while we've got less folklore than usual, there are still stories to tell. 

Let's go to meet the London Plane in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore!

Find the blog post with all the images and references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/london-plane/

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

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In January, I asked people if they wanted to share any children’s folklore as part of my February theme. As a branch of study, this largely refers to folklore created, shared, and maintained by children. Adults are not involved in its generation. So, contributors could share folklore they remembered from their childhood. Or they could share what they’d heard from children in their lives now.

Most responses came from those sharing memories of childhood folklore, and broadly fell into three categories. We’ve already covered urban legends and children’s beliefs. 

This time, we're going to focus on games. So what did my listeners play as children, both in the schoolyard and at home?

Find the blog post with all the images and references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/childhood-games/

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

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Najah Lightfoot is the multi award-winning author and regular contributor to the Llewellyn annuals. Najah’s magickal staff is on display and part of the permanent collection of the Buckland Museum of Witchcraft. She is an in-demand speaker and presenter for conferences, events, and workshops. Najah lives in Denver, Colorado, where the blue skies and the power of the Rocky Mountains uplift and fill her soul.

In this episode, we talk about her new book, The Spiritual Magic of Dolls, haunted dolls, how to know if you're a 'doll person', and how to start collecting dolls!

Buy The Spiritual Magic of Dolls: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12992/9781578638857

Find Najah online: https://www.craftandconjure.com/

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In January, I asked people if they wanted to share any children’s folklore as part of my February theme. As a branch of study, this largely refers to folklore created, shared, and maintained by children. Adults are not involved in its generation. So, contributors could share folklore they remembered from their childhood. Or they could share what they’d heard from children in their lives now.

Most responses came from those sharing memories of childhood folklore, and broadly fell into three categories. As a result, this episode and the two that follow will use those categories.

Urban Legends refers to the stories or urban legends that people shared. Games and Practices refers to things that people did. Monsters and Beliefs refer to (surprise, surprise) things people believed!

In this episode, we’ll explore some of the beliefs people heard and spread in their childhood, including supernatural beings like witches, love divination, and superstitions!

Find the blog post with all the images and references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/childrens-beliefs/

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595

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Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7

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In January, I asked people if they wanted to share any children’s folklore as part of my February theme. As a branch of study, this largely refers to folklore created, shared, and maintained by children. Adults are not involved in its generation. So, contributors could share folklore they remembered from their childhood. Or they could share what they’d heard from children in their lives now.

Most responses came from those sharing memories of childhood folklore, and broadly fell into three categories. As a result, this episode and the two that follow will use those categories.

Urban Legends refers to the stories or urban legends that people shared. Games and Practices refers to things that people did. Monsters and Beliefs refer to (surprise, surprise) things people believed!

In this episode, we’ll explore some of the urban legends people heard and spread in their childhood. We'll also examine how they dovetail with wider patterns of such legends, where applicable!

Find the blog post with all the images and references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/childrens-urban-legends/

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

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Some toy trends make sense, like the fascination with Lego or even Barbie-mania, which naturally enjoyed the boost from the 2023 film. The fad for trolls, however, doesn't immediately make sense. These strange plastic figures with staring eyes and wild hair don't really do much…but that has never stopped people wanting them.

This month is going to be all about children's folklore, and that led me onto thinking about toys. While the folklore of toys might have seemed more obvious, troll dolls give us the chance to explore toys related to folklore.

So let's explore where troll dolls came from, and how trolls themselves appear in Scandinavian myth and folklore in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore.

Find the blog post with all the images and references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/trolls-in-folklore/

Check out my new book about love magic in folklore, Bring Me Love: https://www.icysedgwick.com/book/bring-me-love/

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The arts remain one of the best ways to preserve culture in a way that people can interact with. Literature, folk music, and art, among others, allow us to experience culture, even secondhand, using tangible sources. Even better, we can create our own responses to this culture using our chosen cultural medium.

Painter Ralph Hedley captured ordinary, working-class life around Tyneside and Northumberland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. We’ll explore how he captured scenes of ritual, tradition, and custom in his beautiful paintings, and investigate what they can tell us about the way folklore shows up, primarily in cities. 

But we're also focusing on his work as an example of how much community rituals mattered in the past as a way of bringing people together. We need that now, more than ever.

Let’s go and explore the work of Ralph Hedley in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore.

Find the blog post with all the images and references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/ralph-hedley/

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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!

Various buildings have stood on the site for centuries, dating back to the Romans and their Pons Aelius fort. Robert Curthose, the eldest son of William the Conqueror, originally founded Newcastle Castle in 1080.

This early castle was made from wood, and builders rebuilt the castle in stone between 1168 and 1178. It has been a castle, a prison, a beer cellar and Civil War stronghold. Now, it’s a visitor attraction, and one that I highly recommend seeing if you can.

But as with any English castle, stories both sad and strange abound within Newcastle Castle. Let’s examine three of its legends as part of our exploration of folklore found within cities in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore.

Find the blog post with all the images and references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/newcastle-castle/

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Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595

Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/

Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick

Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore

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Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7

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