Something clicked for me yesterday. I read about #RFKJr 's latest claim that #Tylenol causes #autism when used during #pregnancy , and I thought:

"Hey, I have read something very similar in a German #folklore text!"

And here you have it:

"If a mother uses a spell in order to ease her birth, then the Evil Enemy tries to lure these children in particular. Thanks to this magical influence, such children - if female - are born with the drive to trude. But male children are driven to theft (the 'Bilwez Cut!')."

"Truding" in this context means becoming a "night hag"-type spirit while sleeping who torments and squeezes other spirits (the "sleep paralysis" phenomenon) while the "Bilwez Cut" is the ability to magically cut down the ripe grain fields of others and steal the grain without spotting you. You can read the entire text at the link - though beware, it's full of ableist nonsense.

But now I am intrigued - both in JFKJr's modern claims (and presumably his fellow conspiracy fantasists, although I haven't followed them too closely) and this bit of folklore from 19th century southeastern Bavaria, the basic message is:

"Women must suffer through the full pain of childbirth, and if they try to alleviate this pain, their children will come out wrong somehow!"

Both qualify as folklore, not facts - but I wonder how widespread this piece of folklore was and is, today and in past centuries, and in which countries and cultures. Does anyone have further examples?

#ableism
https://wiki.sunkencastles.com/wiki/Witches_and_Trudes

Something clicked for me yesterday. I read about #RFKJr 's latest claim that #Tylenol causes #autism when used during #pregnancy , and I thought:

"Hey, I have read something very similar in a German #folklore text!"

And here you have it:

"If a mother uses a spell in order to ease her birth, then the Evil Enemy tries to lure these children in particular. Thanks to this magical influence, such children - if female - are born with the drive to trude. But male children are driven to theft (the 'Bilwez Cut!')."

"Truding" in this context means becoming a "night hag"-type spirit while sleeping who torments and squeezes other spirits (the "sleep paralysis" phenomenon) while the "Bilwez Cut" is the ability to magically cut down the ripe grain fields of others and steal the grain without spotting you. You can read the entire text at the link - though beware, it's full of ableist nonsense.

But now I am intrigued - both in JFKJr's modern claims (and presumably his fellow conspiracy fantasists, although I haven't followed them too closely) and this bit of folklore from 19th century southeastern Bavaria, the basic message is:

"Women must suffer through the full pain of childbirth, and if they try to alleviate this pain, their children will come out wrong somehow!"

Both qualify as folklore, not facts - but I wonder how widespread this piece of folklore was and is, today and in past centuries, and in which countries and cultures. Does anyone have further examples?

#ableism
https://wiki.sunkencastles.com/wiki/Witches_and_Trudes

A thought on #DnD - style #ttrpg where the player characters can be classified as "professional treasure hunters" either deliberately (they go into dungeons in order to seek treasure) or accidentally (they find treasure while they go into the dungeon for other reasons).

The absurd amount of valuables the player character find has ample precedent in European #folklore (click on the link for a few examples), and indeed, the whole concept of treasure hunting has precedent in the "Magical Treasure Hunting" craze of Early Modern Europe.

However, folk tales are almost always "one-shots" - the person who finds the treasure either gets rich and lives heavily ever after, or they feel regret for the rest of their lives because they missed their one big shot at riches.

In contrast, TTRPG usually feature ongoing campaigns, and thus the PCs will usually delve into "dungeons" and similar treasure-laden sites again and again. So the question the GM - and indeed, anyone who does #worldbuilding for such settings - needs to answer is:

"Why would the player characters continue to risk life and limb even after finding riches?"

What are your thoughts on this?

https://wiki.sunkencastles.com/wiki/Category:Treasure

A thought on #DnD - style #ttrpg where the player characters can be classified as "professional treasure hunters" either deliberately (they go into dungeons in order to seek treasure) or accidentally (they find treasure while they go into the dungeon for other reasons).

The absurd amount of valuables the player character find has ample precedent in European #folklore (click on the link for a few examples), and indeed, the whole concept of treasure hunting has precedent in the "Magical Treasure Hunting" craze of Early Modern Europe.

However, folk tales are almost always "one-shots" - the person who finds the treasure either gets rich and lives heavily ever after, or they feel regret for the rest of their lives because they missed their one big shot at riches.

In contrast, TTRPG usually feature ongoing campaigns, and thus the PCs will usually delve into "dungeons" and similar treasure-laden sites again and again. So the question the GM - and indeed, anyone who does #worldbuilding for such settings - needs to answer is:

"Why would the player characters continue to risk life and limb even after finding riches?"

What are your thoughts on this?

https://wiki.sunkencastles.com/wiki/Category:Treasure

Is it just me or do tarpits that trap #LLM crawlers and feed them useless data sound like something straight out of #folklore, like complex patterns that would distract evil spirits until dawn?

Is it just me or do tarpits that trap #LLM crawlers and feed them useless data sound like something straight out of #folklore, like complex patterns that would distract evil spirits until dawn?

Lithuania's Romuva community celebrating earth goddess Žemyna during the Žolinės holiday yesterday

#Romuva#Pagan #pagans #Baltic #Lithuania #folklore #mythology #baltics #witch #spirituality #singing

New instance, so posting a new intro!

I've made it to my 40-something years old era and consider it a privilege.

I'm into slow fashion, human rights, crafting, cats, music, and cult horror and sci-fi movies. My latest obsession is with snails.

A few more of my interests:
#knitting #crochet#python#SlowFashion #folklore #snail #cats #sewing #candles #CozyGames #privacy #nature #introduction#NewHere

The cover of Black Sabbath's 1970 debut album was shot at Mapledurham Watermill, Oxfordshire. To get the right light, the shoot was conducted at 4.00 am. Contrary to popular belief, the hooded figure is not Ozzy Osbourne, but an 18-year-old female model. The model was chosen for her short stature, to make her look overwhelmed by the eerie landscape. To enhance the photo's uncanny feel, a smoke machine was used and the shot was taken with film used for aerial photographs, which gave the photo its pinkish light. The film was also boiled then frozen to make the image grainier. Props included a stuffed crow - named Yorick - who appears on the back cover and, apparently, a live black cat. The photographer swears the model is holding the cat though the model says she has no recollection of this. #music #metal #gothic #weird #history #folklore #art #photography #psychogeography

The cover of Black Sabbath's 1970 debut album was shot at Mapledurham Watermill, Oxfordshire. To get the right light, the shoot was conducted at 4.00 am. Contrary to popular belief, the hooded figure is not Ozzy Osbourne, but an 18-year-old female model. The model was chosen for her short stature, to make her look overwhelmed by the eerie landscape. To enhance the photo's uncanny feel, a smoke machine was used and the shot was taken with film used for aerial photographs, which gave the photo its pinkish light. The film was also boiled then frozen to make the image grainier. Props included a stuffed crow - named Yorick - who appears on the back cover and, apparently, a live black cat. The photographer swears the model is holding the cat though the model says she has no recollection of this. #music #metal #gothic #weird #history #folklore #art #photography #psychogeography

Lithuania's Romuva community celebrating earth goddess Žemyna during the Žolinės holiday yesterday

#Romuva#Pagan #pagans #Baltic #Lithuania #folklore #mythology #baltics #witch #spirituality #singing

Folktale motif of the day:

"B292.6.1. Thief lives alone with 20 cats that help him keep intruders away"

#folktales #folklore#FolktaleMoment #storytelling #cats

Folktale motif of the day:

"B292.6.1. Thief lives alone with 20 cats that help him keep intruders away"

#folktales #folklore#FolktaleMoment #storytelling #cats

Since sharing screenshots of my translated German folk tales is not great for #accessibility reasons, I have decided to slowly put by backlog on a wiki and simply link them from here.

I've installed the wiki and come up with a basic structure for how to organize and present the tales. And I would like to hear your thoughts on the structure so far - it is easier to fix things when the wiki only has 5 tales instead of 500.

#folklore
https://wiki.sunkencastles.com/wiki/Main_Page

Silk embroidered fox by Helen Richman, professional embroiderer, UK #WomensArt The fox appears in the folklore of many cultures and is associated with cunning, playfulness and tricks or as a familiar animal possessed of magic powers #Folklore

Silk embroidered fox by Helen Richman, professional embroiderer, UK #WomensArt The fox appears in the folklore of many cultures and is associated with cunning, playfulness and tricks or as a familiar animal possessed of magic powers #Folklore

Digging into the "Gift of the Little People" folktale type (ATU 503), where someone joins the singing of fairies and gets rewarded for it. The human usually adds a few days to the song of "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday!", delighting the fairies.

Hungarian versions, once again, have to be extra about it.

Instead of singing fairies, we have singing skeletons. And they get angry when someone adds "Monday" to their song.

Highly relatable.

#FolktaleMoment #folklore #storytelling #mood

This month's free translations from German #folklore : Miners' tales collected by the Brothers Grimm.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/grimm-tidings-1-125996055