Fire, Fertility & Folklore

Leaping over bonfires.

Weaving flower crowns.

Floating wreaths down rivers to call in love…

These aren’t just pretty traditions—they’re ancient Summer Solstice rituals tied to protection, fertility, and magic.

Dive into global folklore—from the Celts to the Slavs—in my new blog post ➡️ https://tasarlaromaney.wordpress.com/2025/06/20/the-folklore-of-the-summer-solstice-myths-magic-meaning/

#SolsticeRituals #Midsommar #SeasonalFolklore #LithaMagic #SunWorship #SacredTraditions

Santa, St. Nick, Christkindl- no matter what name you know Jolly Ole' Nick by, our gracious present giver always seems to be followed by a crueler counterpart. It could be Krampus or Hans Trapp!

Today, let's look at Hans Trapp. Dressed as a scarecrow, he roams around, punishing bad children. Some say, when he captured one boy long ago, he cut the lad into tiny pieces and then ate him. Others say that he just a boogeyman based on the Knight, Hans von Trotha, from the 1400s.

Who are the Christmas monsters from your region of the world?

#GothicAdvent #Christmas #monsters #folklore #legends #yule #seasonalfolklore #winter

🖼️ John Kenn Mortensen

One of my favourite #GothicAdvent and #seasonalfolklore tales is of Frau Holle. A classic two sisters story, the kind and hard-working sister goes down a well after she bloodies her spool. She ends up in a magical land where she assists an old woman with her household chores including making the bed nice and fluffy to help make it snow. After a while, she grew homesick and asked to return home. As she left through the doorway, she was showered in gold by her smiling companion.

Back in the real world, the idle-sister decided to copy her golden-sister and bloodied a spool before jumping in after it. She was also transported to the magical world but refused to do any work on the way to the Old Woman's house. When she met the old woman, she pretended to work hard at first but soon grew lazy and idle when she wasn't immediately rewarded.

Frau Holle grew tired of her and led her to the doorway, except instead of gold, she was showered in black pitch that never came off.

Art: Georg Albert Stroedel, Thekla Brauer and Rie Cramer.