GHOULS and ghosts and long-legged beasts are just few of the mythical creatures crawling all over Twitter today.
Forget #TBT, the new trending hashtag #FolkloreThursday is throwing it back centuries to uncover the stories behind our long-held superstitions – and teaching people how to live by rules of old.
There are thousands of Brits who still panic at the sight of a black cat crossing their path, check under their beds for monsters at night and avoid anything dangerous on Friday 13th.
But have you ever wondered if the tooth fairy looks the same in other countries? Or what day it’s best to get your hair cut? And why you should never meet your left-handed friends on a Tuesday?
Twitter may seem like an odd place to discuss myths and legends of times gone by – but the site has become a wonderland wormhole of mythical beasts and gruesome tales.
Here, folklore enthusiasts are sharing recipes for the berry drink that heals heartbreak, the elderflower brew that brings on childbirth and the fairy-made hawthorn tea – which helps with heart problems – as well as conjuring up images of mythical creatures like giants and pixies that they say live in the woods and rivers around us.
The Twitter page and hashtag, first set up by three friends in 2015, is now a thriving online community and has a cult following of over 23,000, with a thirst for all things magical and grisly.
Here, we look at some of the most weird and wonderful tips and tales out there.
The berry cocktail that fixes heartbreak
You may be familiar with the chants of Macbeth’s witches brewing the eye of a newt and the toe of a frog, but folklore is steeped in the healing powers of natural ingredients – and more and more modern people are taking up old-fashioned habits.
In Celtic folklore, the native haw berries are thought to be able to mend a broken heart.
This is because they scientifically lower blood pressure – which normally increases dramatically due to stress following a break up.
Now, Twitter users are encouraging their folklore-loving followers to take half a teaspoon of crushed berries – found in UK woodland – and drink it in water to treat a broken heart.
“The Haws are were deep red on the Faerie tree this morning…and the Rosehips were looking really luscious so we picked a bagful …the two entwine their ways through stories of broken hearts mended and lost loves,” user @herbalstorytell tweeted.
Brewed Elderbark is another folklore recipe coming back in fashion, and is thought to sooth a mother after childbirth – the legend being that the ‘Elder Mother’ spirit lives in the trunk and could provide support to new mums.
The elder has been thought of as a protective tree for centuries and is believed to keep evil spirits from entering the house if grown outside the door.
Medieval herbalists used the bark to hasten labour and the berries to soothe piles.
#FolkloreThursday
According to Celtic lore, haw berries make a tremendous remedy for a broken heart.Find out more about foraging haw berries: https://t.co/Oixiwl9lHQ
Getty pic.twitter.com/gysXbo1ZtZ
— BBC Wildlife (@WildlifeMag) September 6, 2018
But not all the folklore myths spoken about on #folklorethursday are able to recreated in 2018.
One post uncovers the 1722 lore of the Hand of Glory – the practice of cutting off a dead man’s hand, and either drying and pickling it with salt and pepper for 15 days, or melting the fat from his dead fingers into a candle to ward off burglars – something that would now get you arrested.
Not only fairies are active in the weird business of collecting teeth
#FolkloreThursday #ThursdayThoughts
European Tooth fairies https://t.co/m2uLWq8D21 pic.twitter.com/QbzYKI42VX— Yoda Analytics (@AnalyticsYoda) September 6, 2018
Terrifying tooth fairies
Although you may not want to preserve a murderer’s pickled hand with your ketchup in the cupboards, studies show that 1 in 3 Britons do still believe in ghosts and the supernatural.
A huge 44 per cent of Brits also claim to have seen fairies – and folklore Thursday folk often speak about the magical tooth fairy and how it’s represented differently across the globe.
In Turkey, parents bury a child’s tooth in a place they’d like them to work – like a football pitch or a hospital – where as in France and Spain, the fairy is actually a mouse called Perez.
In the Philippines, the tooth fairy is a rat who takes baby teeth from a windowsill – running from house to house and stuffing its cheeks.
In Denmark, a tooth troll comes to drill ugly holes in the teeth of children if they’re not brushed away with toothpaste before bed.
And when night falls, monsters more sinister than the boogie monster are found on the folklore Thursday page.
A post by @41strange reads: “In Scandinavian folklore, Mylings are the ghosts of unbaptised children. At night, they jump on the backs of travellers, demanding to be taken to a graveyard so they can be buried properly.
“If the travellers are unable to finish the task, the Mylings kill them out of rage.”
Elsewhere in Icelandic folklore, people speak of a giant named Gryla who emerges from her cave at Christmas time to eat the children who have misbehaved throughout the year.
‘Bloody Bones’ is a furred-creature who finds children who have misbehaved or sworn and eats them whole before sleeping on their bones, and the Leicester-originating Black Annis is a blue-faced hag who claws children to death with her iron talons.
The belief of demons eating children also stems from the first 15th century depiction of a witch as an old hag who had snakes for hair and ate babies out of envy for other women.
Why you should never cut your hair on a Sunday
Elsewhere in folklore, there are more practical tips for those who follow superstitions – such as not to leave a key on the table for fear of bad luck, or to salute at solo magpies to avoid sorrow.
Irish folklore dictates that the day you cut your hair could be an indicator of luck to come. Don’t go for a trim on a Tuesday, Friday or Saturday, or you’ll never be rich, and going for the chop on a Sunday also brings bad luck.
Cut your hair at the waxing moon if you want it to grow back quickly, or on the waning moon to keep it short.
Don't trim on Tuesday, Friday, Saturday or you'll never be rich! Sunday brings bad luck.
Cutting your hair at sea will raise a dangerous storm!#FolkloreThursday pic.twitter.com/OtmzrPB8Qj— P J Richards (@P_J_Richards) August 30, 2018
If you ever find yourself needing to cut your hair at sea, stop. The lore says this will raise a dangerous storm.
If you’re booking an appointment, you can always ask your cat the forecast first.
It is lucky to meet a left-handed person on any day except Tuesday – then it's an ill omen.
A superstition from areas of England that were ruled by the Danelaw, because the day is named for Norse God Týr who sacrificed his right hand to bind the Fenris Wolf.#FolkloreThursday pic.twitter.com/wD7nr1JtcC— P J Richards (@P_J_Richards) August 30, 2018
In Wales, it’s believed that if your cat turns her face towards the fire, it’s a sign of frost or snow. If she becomes frisky, bad weather is near, and if a cat washes her face and ears, rain is sure to come.
When organising social arrangements, folklore also advises not to meet any left-handed friends on a Tuesdays – any other day is lucky.
And while going back to a more simple life may have it’s health benefits, we think living by all this folklore might be a little too much.
Linkhttps://textbacklinkexchanges.com/ghosts-berry-recipes-tooth-fairies-and-giants-why-everyone-is-going-mad-for-folklorethursday/
News Pictures Ghosts, berry recipes, tooth fairies and giants: why everyone is going mad for #FolkloreThursday
You don’t have to pack away your bikini just because you’re the wrong side of 20. These body-beautiful stars reveal their secrets to staying in shape and prove you can smoulder in a two-piece, whatever your age. Read on and be bikini inspired!
TEENS
Hayden Panettiere
Size: 8
Age: 18
Height: 5ft 1in
Weight: 8st
To achieve her kick-ass figure, Hayden – who plays cheerleader Claire Bennet in Heroes – follows the ‘quartering’ rule. She eats only a quarter of the food on her plate, then waits 20 minutes before deciding whether she needs to eat again.
Hayden says: “I don’t have a model’s body, but I’m not one of those crazy girls who thinks that they’re fat. I’m OK with what I have.”
Nicollette says: “I don’t like diets – I see it, I eat it! I believe in eating healthily with lots of protein, vegetables and carbs to give you energy.”
kim cattrall
Size: 10-12
Age: 52
Height: 5ft 8in
Weight: 9st 4lb
SATC star Kim swears by gym sessions with Russian kettle bells (traditional cast-iron weights) and the South Beach Diet to give her the body she wants. To avoid overeating, Kim has a radical diet trick – squirting lemon juice on her leftovers – so she won’t carry on picking.
Kim says: “I am no super-thin Hollywood actress. I am built for men who like women to look like women.”
https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/NINTCHDBPICT000401773428.jpg?strip=all&w=720
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