Posted April 25th, 2008 by Murray @ ulblog
Filed under: Folklore, Mythology, Superstitions
Tags: food, fruit
I was leaning against the counter in my kitchen the other day, chomping away at an apple [1], and I got to thinking about apples in folklore and belief.
It may not look like it on the surface, but at its core [2] this is a very big topic. If you think about it, apples have featured in one way or another in a vast body of religion, mythology, superstition, fables and folk wisdom.
I won’t try to tackle all of this in one post, that would be madness. However, over the next little while I hope to put a few articles up on ulblog exploring the interesting world of the apple.
But for now, let’s start with one of the stories that takes place at the beginning of everything.
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Footnotes:| 1. | It was a Pink Lady, in case you’re interested. Pink Ladies have a very tart flavour and are one of my favourite apple varieties. |
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| 2. | Aha ahahahah, bad apple pun intended! …Sorry. |
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Posted April 19th, 2008 by Murray @ ulblog
Filed under: Folklore
Tags: backronyms, folk beliefs, language
So, okay, maybe you can’t really win a gazillion dollars with this bet, but it might be interesting to try with your friends, family and coworkers all the same.
Among other things, it demonstrates how language and folk beliefs develop and intermingle, and also introduces us to a reasonably common culprit in language-related folk beliefs: the backronym.
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Posted April 12th, 2008 by Murray @ ulblog
Filed under: False, Folklore, Ghost Stories, Urban Rituals
Tags: horror, scarelore, supernatural
I’ve just discovered a charming version of the Bloody Mary story over on the American Folklore web site.
In this rendition, Bloody Mary is a witch who lives in a forest and who lures children from a nearby village to use them in black magic that will give her back her youth.
…Then the little girls in the village began to disappear, one by one. No one could find out where they had gone. Grief-stricken families searched the woods, the local buildings, and all the houses and barns, but there was no sign of the missing girls. A few brave souls even went to Bloody Mary’s home in the woods to see if the witch had taken the girls, but she denied any knowledge of the disappearances.
Predictably, things don’t go well at all for the wicked witch once the villagers discover that she has been lying, and she is burned alive for murdering their children.
Before she dies, however, Bloody Mary curses the village, and to this very day anyone who chants her name three times in front of a darkened mirror will summon her vengeful spirit from the grave.
You can read the tale in full over at: Bloody Mary: A Scary Urban Legend from Pennsylvania Folklore
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Posted February 1st, 2006 by Murray @ ulblog
Filed under: False, Folklore, Superstitions, Urban Legends
Tags: human behaviour, insanity, popular beliefs
The moon has fascinated humanity since we first looked up in wonder at its pale, glowing face, and has featured in our religions, folklore and popular beliefs ever since.
But our relationship with the moon hasn’t always been positive. Join me out in the still of the night, while we spend a little time gazing at our closest celestial neighbor and think a little about the topic of madness and moonbeams.
The Goddess Dances By Moonlight
Imagine, for a moment, what it would have been like for the first sentient humans to look up at the night sky and to see the moon charting its way across the heavens. It must have been one of the great mysteries of existence, worthy of secrets and rituals, and later to become an object of worship and suspicion.
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