fletchpj @fletchpj@qoto.org

#GothicAdvent Day 8:

On Sundays (Sunnandæg [ ᛋᚢᚾᚾᚪᚾᛞᚫᚷ ] ) the #Goddess of the Sun can feel very far away at this time of year, especially when the mysterious Swaailen (a thick sea fog that appears on the #IsleOfWight ) rolls in.

People would close their shutters tight, ensure that mistletoe was hung over all doorways and that the fires in the harth were stoked and cared for.

The Swaailen was known to creep its way down the chimney, through he cracks and even up the floorboards. Each icy tendril having a will of its own and that will could snatch away an unprepared bystander.

So the people would say the charms and pray the prayers to keep them safe as the fog and the darkness encroached. The one thing they would never do though, is let themselves be out in the winter's cold and darkness, when the Swaailen came a-visiting.

#Folklore #Sunday #Sunnandæg #Magic #Pagan #Advent #Fog #Winter #WinterIsHere #FolkHorror

@folklore

Thought I'd better introduce my photography side on here! Geology got me into photography when I found myself getting distracted when supposed to be taking field outcrop photos. I love how it helps me educate and enthuse about geology! This one is of the limestone reef out at Castlepoint, North Island, NZ. These were connected once but sea erosion has separated them. I brought them back together.
#geology #photography #rocks #science #LandscapePhotograhy #sedimentary #limestone #erosion #nz

I posted this some time ago, but for those who didn’t see it: the Galactic Core region of the Milky Way over Stoke Pero Church, #ExmoorNationalPark #exmoor #photography #landscapephotography #astrophotography #MilkyWay #GalacticCore #stokepero #stokepeeochurch #graveyard

The Ordovician-Silurian mass extinctions events occurred between 450-440 million yrs ago. It is the earliest, & the 2nd-most severe. About 85% of marine animal species went extinct over two close spikes of extinction.

One family of trilobites, the Trinucleids (pictured), flourished in the Ordovician but became a victim of the end Ordovician extinction. They lived in deeper water, and all share an easily recognisable wide pitted fringe on their headshields.
#extinction #trilobite #fossil

It's customary to 'Tell The Bees' of a death in Shropshire.

In 1961 the Bee's of Sam Rogers from Myddle (totalling 14 hives) were told of his death as custom dictates. Having heard of his passing, they turned up at his service and settled on the flowers at his grave 💚

#Folklore #Folktales #Bee's #Shropshire #FolkloreNerd #FolkloreThursday #Beekeeper #Storytelling

As an ant biologist, I think the discovery of “ant milk” might be the single biggest research finding during my lifetime.

Across ants, maturing pupae make a nutritional exudate for their nestmates:

#science #ants #biology

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-04186-2

Just a small printed "s" waiting to become an illuminated initial in this 1503 print. The small "s" indicates: please include a colored big "S" after the print run. Early printed books kept this illuminating tradition from the manuscript age.

The page with the left space for the to be illuminated initial is part of the "Epistolarum D. Francisci philelphi equitis aurati..." Have a look: https://sammlungen.ulb.uni-muenster.de/hd/content/titleinfo/6526468

#BookHistory #histodons

I promise I will post half sensible, half intelligent things, eventually.

But my present concern, today, is the current lack of quolls on this platform (well… this seems on par with their virtual extinction on the Australian mainland.)

An under-appreciated and critically threatened animal.

#quolls #marsupialpost #endangered #spottedquoll #Dasyurus #easternquoll #tigerquoll

Chimimoryo is a Japanese term referring collectively to all the evil spirits of the rivers, mountains, forests, swamps & other parts of nature. These #yokai have bestial bodies with a human-ish face. They trick humans who walk through the woods or swamplands, causing them to lose their way. Chimimoryo then attack & kill their victims & feed on their corpse. They are also known to bring disease & misfortune.
#JapaneseFolklore #folklore #japodon @folklore #DailyFolklore
🎨Matthew Meyer

大阪にある提灯通り。Lantern street in Osaka. #cyberpunk #streetphotography #photography

#otd 1016 Edmund Ironside, King of the English, died. According to Henry of Huntingdon, he was murdered on the lavatory - from below. #MedievalDeath #medieval @histodons Ms.: Matthew Paris, Life of St Edward the Confessor, MS Ee.3.59, Cambridge University Library, fol. 5r

I feel like we need to bring back #Victorian Christmas cards, like this one.

There's a whiff of #StarWars to this one. 😂

#History #Histodons #Weird #WeirdHistory #FollowBack #historian

Wait. There’s #tombtuesday?! I love this place. #catacombs #paris

Another gargoyle from my trip to Wherwell over the summer for #TombTuesday. Such an unassuming little mausoleum in a tiny village and yet it had all these funny little faces on it. Must do some digging into it and find out why! #grave #graveyard #gargoyle #tomb #uk #spooky #creepy #mementomori

A decade ago, this image went mega-viral on Google+. In the ensuing years, it has been adapted and reused thousands of times.

@cra1g created this instantly viral image and tells the story of its evolution here:
https://medium.com/@CRA1G/the-evolution-of-an-accidental-meme-ddc4e139e0e4
@sociology @politicalscience