2. By the pricking of my thumb, something wicked this way comes!

Aicha’s story is chockfull of tropes and pieces from other folklore categories. The most obvious one is the pricking of the bone transferring a curse which is a staple of the Sleeping Beauty archetype (Aarne-Thompson-Uther type 410) but also of ‘The Maiden Seeks her Brothers’ (ATU type 451).

You may be familiar with these variants of stories such as the Wild Swans or the Twelve Brothers from European folktales. However, throughout Northern Africa, these stories are slightly different. For example, in the Moroccan tale, Udea and Her Seven Brothers, and the Algerian story, ‘The Girl who Banished Seven Brothers.’

After the sister finds her brothers, her cat puts out the fire in their kitchen. She unknowingly visits a ghoul, and it follows her, but before it can eat her, her brothers return to slay it. As with the story of Aicha, the ghoul’s finger bone pricks her, but instead of making her restless, it makes her fall into a death-like state. If this sounds familiar, then great you are thinking of Snow White!

There are so many references in this one story that it is hard to map all of them, but Aicha is a testament to the evolution of storytelling.

Image from the book, The Wild Swan by Susan Jeffers (2008) which is based on the story by Hans Christian Andersen. #folklore #fairytales #tropes #dailyfolklore #myth #books

At the end of each episode we have our Five Fantastic Finds! Here are the 5 from the Aicha: The Demon Slayer episode!

1. Ghouls!
Aisha’s neighbour was a ghoul, and he cursed our heroine with restlessness. But what is a ghoul? Like trolls, ghouls are loosely defined monsters, so they change from story to story. Traditionally, they are associated with graveyards and cannibalism, which means ghouls become easy canon fodder in video games and tabletop role-playing games. Their descriptions will vary and can be easily modified slightly to give players new challenges while reusing the basics of a ghoul.

Sometimes ghouls were not always born monsters but started as humans. These mutant types become a zombie-like horde or cannibals. In rare instances, becoming a ghoul is like gaining superpowers, like in Tokyo Ghoul. The drawback being you are still a monster that must feast on human flesh.

Ghouls and their various hybrids/variants from around the world include many other monster types. These include Rakshasa (India), Jikininki (Japan), Aswang (Philippines), Wendigo (First Nations), and Eurynomos (Greece).

Image from our website show notes: https://talesfromtheenchantedforest.com/2023/04/13/aicha-the-demon-slayer/

#myth #monsters #folklore #dailyfolklore #podcast #Scooby-doo #anime

In Japanese mythology the god Susanoo was banished from the heavens for bad behaviour, then redeemed himself by slaying an eight-headed serpent and saving the maiden Kushinadahime. He then married her, they had many children and became a symbol of happy marriage. You can read more on my website here:
https://www.curiousordinary.com/2021/05/susanoo.html
#JapaneseFolklore #mythology #folklore #DailyFolklore #JapaneseArt #ukiyoe
🎨Toyohara Chikanobu

#Celtic #Folklore: `Human witches were thought to disguise themselves as hares in order to be about their nefarious deeds. If a suspected witch were found with a bad wound in her thigh the morning after a night-roving hare was shot in its back leg, it was clear to all that the hare had been the shape-shifted witch.`
Source: P. Monaghan `Encyclopedia of #Celtic #Mythology and #Folklore`
---
RT @Loreofbooks
Hares are often thought to be witches in disguise so it is considered very unlucky to bring a live hare inside a house. #dailyfolklore
https://twitter.com/Loreofbooks/status/1628691383925055490

Hikeshi baba is a yokai that appears as a scary old woman with white hair. She wanders from house to house late at night blowing out lanterns. While not dangerous herself, she creates dark and gloomy conditions which are suitable for other yokai to get up to all sorts of mischief.
#JapaneseFolklore #yokai #DailyFolklore
🎨Mizuki Shigeru.

In China the pine, bamboo and plum are known as 'the three friends of winter' because they are evergreen and do not wither as the days get colder like many other plants. By extension they became associated with perseverance and resilience.
#folklore #DailyFolklore #plantlore #ChineseFolklore #ChineseArt
🎨'The Three Friends of Winter' - Zhao Mengjian, Song dynasty.

Bamboo is one of the most important plants in China both practically and in folklore. It symbolizes longevity and steadfastness. As an evergreen it's considered one of the three friends of winter along with pines and plums.
#DailyFolklore #folklore #bamboo #ukiyoe #JapaneseArt #japodon @folklore
🎨'Bamboo in Early Summer' - Kasamatsu Shiro, 1954.

A 16th C Japanese medical text explains how diseases were caused by tiny bugs that entered the body and were known as creepy germs or mushi. One of these was known as kosho, an odd, bearded, snake-like, sake-drinking creature whose hat protects it from medicine.
#folklore #JapaneseFolklore #yokai #DailyFolklore #japan

For a country that loves cats as much as Japan it's interesting that in #JapaneseFolklore there are so many terrifying #yokai cats. These supernatural felines (kaibyo) are usually accomplished shapeshifters and demonstrate a range of strange behaviours including taking on their owner's form and living in their place, having wild nighttime parties, and body snatching. I've written more here:
https://www.curiousordinary.com/2021/06/kaibyo.html
#MythologyMonday #folklore #cats #ukiyoe #DailyFolklore
🎨Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Welcome back everyone! I'm your host @independentpen and our topic this week is #CATS. Share a story from world mythology in the body of your toot, tag it #MythologyMonday, and I'll boost in Pacific time!

@mythology @folklore #dailyfolklore #folklore #folktale #stories #mythology #legends #catstodon

Happy Valentine's Day Week! As shops start moving Valentine's candy away in favour of Easter candy, let us line your timeline with some myth, folklore and fairytale inspired cards! First up, we have Aphrodite. As the Goddess of beauty and love, Aphrodite was indeed the fairest of them all- most of the time.

According to Apuleius in his Metamorphoses, Aphrodite (Venus) became enraged when Princess Psyche was considered to be as beautiful as the Goddess herself. She sent her son, Eros, to make her fall in love with the most deplorable man he could find but instead he fell in love with her.

To hear a version of the myth, check out our episode and notes on "East of the Sun, West of the Moon," and our Five Fantastic Finds on Eros and Psyche: https://talesfromtheenchantedforest.com/2022/02/24/east-of-the-sun-part-1/

#valentines #mythology #mythologymonday #goddess #valentinesday #dailyfolklore #classics

“In carrying out their unhallowed cantrips, witches assumed various shapes…

The shape was not always well chosen for the object to be attained, a hare, for instance, being but ill-formed for sucking cows, or a cat for drinking wine…”

(from Witchcraft & Second Sight in the Highlands & Islands of Scotland: Tales and Traditions Collected Entirely from Oral Sources by John Gregorson Campbell)

#folklore #folkhorror #dailyfolklore
Photo: Guinevere von Sneeden

RT @Loreofbooks
In Scotland it was said that until a newborn baby first sneezes it is under the spell of the fairies. #dailyfolklore

Known your seal-folk 🌊🦭🌊

The roanes — the seal-folk from the Scottish Highlands
The selkies — the seal-folk from the Shetlands and Orkney
Kópakonur — the Faroese sea-maidens
Marmennlar — the Icelandic seal-folk

#Folklore #folkloredaily #dailyfolklore

Illustration: Tijana Lukovic

In the Urals, madness is connected with the Devil.

“Oshutet” (to lose your mind, to get crazy) literally means “to become a jester”.
And “jester” there is another name for the devil — back in the days, jesters used to be seen as “empty” (soulless, damned) and therefore, they were associated with the unholy forces.

#mythologymonday #folkloredaily
#dailyfolklore #folklore

Illustration: Claude Harrison

In #JapaneseFolklore wani are sea dragons who rule the oceans. These gods of the sea live in coral palaces on the ocean floor. The most well-known dragon king in Japan is Ryujin who controls the tides using two magical jewels. Wani can also shapeshift into humans. In one tale Toyotama hime (daughter of the Dragon King Owatatsumi) married Hoori (grandson of Amaterasu). Their grandson was Jimmu, who became the first emperor of Japan.
#folklore #dragons #DailyFolklore #yokai #ukiyoe #JapaneseArt

In #JapaneseFolklore Izanagi & his sister/wife Izanami were the creators of Japan. Izanagi was known as sky father and he & Izanami produced many more gods, including the sun goddess Amaterasu. After Izanami died she went to yomi, land of the dead. Izanagi tried to retrieve her but was unsuccessful as she'd eaten the food of the dead. When Izanagi saw her in the form of a rotting corpse she was furious so he fled, trapping her there forever.
#DailyFolklore #folklore #mythology
🎨Hiroshige, 1850

@TarkabarkaHolgy @AimeeMaroux @natalja_stgermain @independentpen And I've been using #DailyFolklore, but I'm the only one. 😂

Susanoo is the Japanese god of the sea, and brother to the sun goddess Amaterasu. Like the ocean, Susanoo was known for his wild & unpredictable behaviour. Eventually the other gods banished him from the heavens after he upset his sister. Susanoo then redeemed himself by killing an eight headed dragon & saving his future wife. From the dragon's tail he pulled a magical sword that he gifted to Amaterasu, which later became part of Japan’s sacred regalia.
#JapaneseFolklore #folklore #DailyFolklore

In #JapaneseFolklore there is a #yokai known as ame onna that appears as a haggard old woman, dripping wet and licking rainwater off her arms and hands. While they are believed to bring sometimes much-needed rain, they also have another more sinister motive. Ame onna are actually seeking young children to steal away, and by creating dark rainy nights they have the perfect opportunity to find them.
#folklore #MythologyMonday #DailyFolklore @folklore
🎨1. Utagawa Yoshiiku
2. Matthew Meyer