As summer wanes and the nights grow long, we turn to tales of witches, curses, and the old ways that never truly died. For centuries, harvest time has carried its own magic: charms for fields, blessings for homes, and darker stories of those who bent nature to their will.

At harvest’s edge, European folklore treats the final sheaf as a living vessel of the corn spirit—captured in plaited “corn dollies,” chased as a wolf or hare, or celebrated with the West Country’s eerie “Crying the Neck.” This episode traces how communities honoured, contained, or expelled that presence—and how darker echoes of sacrifice lingered beneath the feasting.

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Research Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_dolly

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Bough

https://sacred-texts.com/pag/frazer/

https://cornwallforever.co.uk/story/crying-the-neck

https://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/crying_neck.htm

https://hauntedpalaceblog.com/2019/09/28/corn-dollies-from-the-old-crone-to-the-maiden/

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Corn-Mother

https://www.tota.world/article/harvest-customs-of-wales/

Sarah and Tobie xx

"Spacial Winds," Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

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