Steph (crisis version)

I would consider myself a sensible skeptic, in that I do not believe in the supernatural, but if I saw something that looked like a demonic possession or a hostile ghost or whatever I would immediately LEAVE.

Like, I can tell myself it was a hallucination AFTERWARDS. I'm not risking my shit on that 0.1% chance I'm wrong about demons.

Mar 21 at 11:45pmWeb
Show threadSteph (crisis version)Mar 21
I've consumed far too much horror media where the skeptic refuses to believe the evidence in front of them and ends up microwaved by a demonic head laser or whatever. Couldn't be me.
Show threadSteph (crisis version)Mar 21
I think this is a characteristically Irish POV. Faeries aren't real. But also, you don't fuck with the faeries.
Show threadcognitively accessible mathMar 22
@astronomerritt It's a practical one.
For wahtever reason stories have been told about this kind of phenomenon, we should respect whatever the actual reality *is* and seek safety.
On the other hand, when listening to the song 'shut de do' keep out de devil," I realized that if I were a parent and it were dangerous outside because oh, the invading people, I might make up something extremely scary just to keep my kid inside.
Show threadSteph (crisis version)Mar 22

@geonz Oh sure. A lot of seemingly paranormal stories have rational explanations or have played a useful role in society, and I think that's really interesting.

And also, I am not going to disturb a fairy ring.

Show threadcognitively accessible mathMar 22
@astronomerritt Nor I. Nor speak dismissively thereof.
Show threadCorvid CroneMar 23

@astronomerritt @geonz this reminds me of a Japanese folktale account a spirit who guides children who are out at night into bodies of water only for the kids to drown and never be seen again.

It's specifically to deter children from going into bodies of water at night where they can easily drown without supervision or get parasites.

Show threadcognitively accessible mathMar 23
@CorvidCrone @astronomerritt Oh, cool.
This storytelling also teaches "think about your impulses!"
Show threadAlan BucknamMar 22
@astronomerritt I’m reading a book of Irish folktales rn and about a third of them are about two guys: one who said “hey don’t mess with that tree it’s full of faeries” and another who cut down the tree to make a wagon to get his stolen sheep to market or something and the faeries turned him into one of the sheep/made him poor/got his wife pregnant/all three
Show threadSteph (crisis version)Mar 22
@bucknam Yeah, that sounds about right. You don't mess with a fairy tree.
Show threadDec [{()}]Mar 23
@astronomerritt @bucknam
Definitely don't plant potatoes in a fairy field.
https://apocalypticwitchcraft.bandcamp.com/track/an-seancha-feat-eddie-lenihen
(potato story starts 4:49 in)
#FromTheBogsOfAughiska
An Seanchaí (feat. Eddie Lenihen), by From The Bogs Of Aughiska

from the album Roots of This Earth Within My Blood - 10 Year Anniversary

Apocalyptic Witchcraft Recordings
Show thread Kale Mar 23
@bucknam @astronomerritt his wife was a poor, pregnant sheep by the end?
Show threadSimon BrookeMar 22

@astronomerritt Don't fuck with the faerie, aye; but dinnae mess with the Mórrigan.

Bad things happen.

Show threadSteph (crisis version)Mar 22
@simon_brooke I didn't know you had An Morrígan in Scotland! Though of course she may go wherever she likes.
Show threadCarl B. LatroMar 22
@astronomerritt
Well, the Little People are real and you can see them after you fix the limitations of your eyes with the correct medication...
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260121-the-mysterious-mushroom-that-makes-you-see-tiny-people
So why not faeries as well?
'They saw them on their dishes when eating': The mushroom making people hallucinate dozens of tiny humans

Only recently described by science, the mysterious mushrooms are found in different parts of the world, but they give people the same exact visions.

BBC
Show threadSteph (crisis version)Mar 22

@BLatro But did the researcher eat them??? I want to know if he saw the little people and if it says it in the article I missed it 😭

Fascinating read, thank you!

Show threadCarl B. LatroMar 23

@astronomerritt
They were told at a restaurant "Don't eat it until the timer goes off or you might see little people." But they didn't explicitly say whether they ate it before the timer went off! They tested it on mice, but the mice didn't say what they saw.

This is the guy...
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Colin-Domnauer
He seems very interested in "Artificial Swarm Intelligence".

Anyway, it'd need to be a double-blind experiment with people who'd never heard of the mushroom induced little people.

Show threadCarl B. LatroMar 23
@astronomerritt
Speaking of shrooms...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qsg9GbPyEI
All the Broken People (Looking for Alaska) @Tunes in the Shrooms

YouTube
Show threadthomas yager-maddenMar 22
@astronomerritt My friends and I had a tour guide in Iceland who, when the subject of the huldufólk came up, said that “I wouldn’t say that Icelandic people are superstitious, but we are stitious”
Show threadSteph (crisis version)Mar 22

@tym Ha! Oh, I like that. I might take that on myself.

I think there's an aspect to it of simply respecting your culture's old and entrenched folklore. By not cutting down a fairy tree, you're taking part in something people have been doing (or not-doing) on this island for hundreds of years. I bet it's similar for the Icelandic.

Show threadthomas yager-maddenMar 22
@astronomerritt Yeah I think you put that very well. There’s all kinds of stories of like road construction projects in Iceland being re-routed after someone reports that a particular boulder houses a church for the elves or something like that. One thing I love about the Icelandic elves is the whole mythology is like a textbook example of unfalsifiable claims: the elves live inside the rocks, and it’s up to them whether they let themselves be seen by humans, and they rarely do. You can choose to believe it or just to play along, without it intersecting with your participation in the world of facts much at all
Show threadSteph (crisis version)Mar 22
@tym Yes! Exactly. And honestly, sometimes it's just fun and fulfilling to play along, because the world of facts can be bleak and disappointing, and it's nice to think that the fae/elves/etc are still out there in their trees and their rocks, where this hard cold world can't reach them, and we're doing our bit to preserve that.
Show threadJulesMar 22
@astronomerritt The Irish Pascal's Wager!
Show threadSteph (crisis version)Mar 22

@quidcumque Exactly!

My partner actually added that while they do not believe in God, neither would they ever disrespect a Christian site or object, for much the same reason. You just don't invite that sort of attention from anywhere. Even if you don't believe it exists.

(Also, basic respect, obviously.)

Show threadJulesMar 22
@astronomerritt Christian *leaders*, on the other hand, should be disrespected as much as possible if necessary (and it's very often very necessary)!
Show threadSteph (crisis version)Mar 22
@quidcumque Were my partner awake, they would want to high-five you for this 😆
Show threadniallorMar 22
@quidcumque @astronomerritt Occasionally , a Christian leader actually merits respect: https://washingtonian.com/2025/04/01/dcs-episcopal-bishop-mariann-budde-on-trump-kindness-and-respect/.
Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde on Trump, Kindness, and Respect

Are there limits to loving one’s neighbor?

Washingtonian - The website that Washington lives by.
Show threadJulesMar 23

@niallor of course there are! I even know some personally!

@astronomerritt

Show threadBranwen74Mar 22
@astronomerritt Hello! And goodmorning (you are the first person I talk to this day) I'm a Dutch, sceptic thinking person. Do not believe in gods or any supernatural stuffs and I would totally not hassle the faeries. You know, just to be on the safe side. Also do not mess with the Witte Wieven when you are here. They will steal your cattle if you do. Now, I don't own any cattle at the moment but again, to avoid risk I'll just leave the wise women alone.
Show threadSteph (crisis version)Mar 22
@Branwen74 Good morning! Pleased and unsurprised to yet again find a kindred spirit in the Dutch. May you and your non-existent cattle remain safe.
Show threadJuho MäntysaloMar 22

@astronomerritt

I think it was Terry Pratchett who wrote that after Blaise "Wager" Pascal¹ died, he had a welcoming committee armed with farm equipment waiting², with someone shouting "this is what we think of wise guys" before the scene bled to black.

Tbs, I would think it's untenable position to live while believing everything, and I'm sure the list of of beings who can detect lip service is rather long as well.
_
¹ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal's_wager
² Welcome to the Pitchfork Emporium, etc.

Pascal's wager - Wikipedia

Show threadSteph (crisis version)Mar 22
@iju I mean, that isn't really what I'm talking about. I'm very clear that I do not believe in the supernatural.
Show threadJuho MäntysaloMar 22

@astronomerritt

None of what I wrote above should be taken as a critique of your beliefs, or lack thereof.

Just felt like that the sensible "belts and suspenders" -policy of yours is close enough to the Wager (which has been seriously been proposed to me) that it felt like a good idea to write it down in case someone would find it useful.

Show threadGrant Me StrengthMar 22
@astronomerritt I have a similar theory involving all the Child of Prague statues causing multiple weather fronts across Ireland as all the mammies try to control the weather causing the typical chaotic conditions.
Show threadSteph (crisis version)Mar 22
@GrantMeStrength Ha! Wonder if there's a correlation between chaotic weather conditions in Ireland and number of upcoming weddings?
Show threadSarah E BourneMar 22
@astronomerritt That's how we feel about the ghost in our house. 3 have seen her: my mother (let me tell you about my mother…nevermind…there's not enough time), a worker when we had the house renovated (she told him he was cooking his lunch wrong), and our cat, Kona. But we know there's no such things as ghosts.
Show threadRobot Diver 🌊🌬️🍃🌿🌸🌱🌱🌱Mar 22

@sbourne @astronomerritt

I definitely saw one walk through my house, but I also firmly believe it could have been a hallucination from sewer gas or black mold. Gotta keep your options open.

Show threadSteph (crisis version)Mar 22
@RobotDiver Sensible. You can know you saw a thing without coming to any hard conclusions as to what the thing was and whether it was real. What did it look like?
Show threadRobot Diver 🌊🌬️🍃🌿🌸🌱🌱🌱Mar 22
@astronomerritt Like an old b&w tv broadcast. A man in an old style coat and hat walked through my desk and then through a wall that apparently used to be a hallway. It was weird though. I didn't freak out, it felt very calm. I was vacuuming the hallway at the time.
Show threadSteph (crisis version)Mar 22
@RobotDiver That's really interesting, thanks for sharing. I've heard other people say they felt very calm during similar experienced.
Show threadSteph (crisis version)Mar 22
@sbourne I love that your ghost has strong opinions about how lunch should be cooked. The ghost in my partner's childhood home, which of course they do not believe in, really didn't like it when the TV was left on.
Show threadRobot Diver 🌊🌬️🍃🌿🌸🌱🌱🌱Mar 22

@astronomerritt

100% Irish POV. "That stuff is bullshit, but also don't mess with it when it inevitably shows up." Lol. Sounds like my grandad

Show threadLulu Helle Mar 22
@astronomerritt I was raised to give the wee folk respect and even to give them treats. Might be a Celtic thing
Show threadSteph (crisis version)Mar 22
@LuluHelle Almost certainly. Though I was told giving them treats only encourages them. Mind you, my grandmother had a funny sense of humour.
Show threadLulu Helle Mar 23
@astronomerritt my mum had a wee bag strung above the door. Inside that was shiny treats she found near her home, which she gave as offerings to the wee folk. She said if stuff went missing a lot in the house, it was because the wee folk were upset. The bag above the door would then get a shiny added and the lost objects would return. So i guess i was taught to barter with them
Show threadSteph (crisis version)Mar 23
@LuluHelle That’s absolutely lovely. I’ve never quite heard of anything like it.
Show threadLulu Helle Mar 23
@astronomerritt I picked up the same habit and also have a wee bag above my door. I also leave shiny things in the base of my plants for them to play with.
Show threadDavid CohenMar 23
@astronomerritt I have seen enough horror movies to know that the scoffing sceptics are unlikely to survive until the third act, so you don’t want to be one of those
Show threadSteph (crisis version)Mar 23
@davidbcohen Precisely. I'm gonna live.
Show threadAnꞇóin Ó B.Mar 23

@astronomerritt

How people you don't know would treat faerie forts is a valuable indicator of whether they'd go looking for trouble.

The best Rorscach tests don't even look like inkblots.

Show threadcwicseolforMar 22
@astronomerritt Slightly off-topic but I feel like I know exactly which one you’re referring to.
Show threadSteph (crisis version)Mar 22
@cwicseolfor If it’s Late Night With The Devil then yes, if it isn’t then I’m surprised it’s happened twice!
Show threadcwicseolforMar 23
@astronomerritt I actually had the short film the Viewing in mind, from Cabinet of Curiosities - released a year earlier but ALSO set in the late 70s, so I suppose it was in the water.
Show threadRoknrol like the slurMar 21
@astronomerritt Not me. Investigate the shit out of anything supernaturally...that's the only way to know for sure.
Show threadSteph (crisis version)Mar 21
@roknrol This is why you die in the horror movie and I live 😉
Show threadRoknrol like the slurMar 22
@astronomerritt The Mystery of the Gurgling Radiator
Show threadSteph (crisis version)Mar 22
@roknrol I mean, I'm more talking about "levitating little girl talking in the voice of legion", not "pipework making funny sounds" 😆
Show threadAbhijit Menon-SenMar 22

@astronomerritt Speaking of supernatural encounters, I hope "sniff for the Stinky Ghost Risen from the Sewers" is on your house-hunting checklist. ;-)

@roknrol

Show threadSteph (crisis version)Mar 22
@amenonsen @roknrol You better believe I'm sniffing every drain I see! Though knowing my luck, the stinky drain ghost will follow us.
Show threadMx. Eddie RMar 22
@astronomerritt
Right? Get safe, then handwave it as "sometimes brains just do that".
Show threadGeorge BMar 22

@astronomerritt

"Told you ghosts aren't real, it was just carbon monoxide"