folk art
Oct 11, 2026
Candles for the Forefathers
A look at Dziady, the Slavic rite of laying food, drink, and candlelight for the ancestral dead, and its place among the old year's turn toward winter.
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Oct 4, 2026
The Turnip's Watchful Scowl
Long before the pumpkin, Scots and Irish guisers carved grim faces into turnips to light their way and keep the Samhain dead at bay. This is the lantern that became the jack-o'-lantern.
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Oct 3, 2026
Whichever Way the Cat Turns
A look at the British and European belief that a black cat crossing your path is an omen, and why the same animal means ruin in one county and fortune in the next.
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Sep 30, 2026
Nian and the Red Door
A record of Nian, the beast of Chinese New Year folklore, and the customs of red paper, fire and noise still said to keep it from the door.
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Sep 13, 2026
The Guardian Cat of Bubastis
A visit to the ruined temple town of Bubastis, seat of the cat goddess Bastet, and a look at how a working household animal became a ward against unseen harm.
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Sep 9, 2026
The Lantern That Walks Itself
A survey of the tanuki, Japan's shapeshifting raccoon dog, and the strange lantern-lights said to follow lonely mountain roads at dusk.
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Aug 22, 2026
The Fox Who Outwitted the Court
A journal entry tracing Reynard the Fox through the medieval beast-epics of France, Flanders and Germany, and asking why a liar became the most beloved animal in European letters.
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Aug 4, 2026
The Crane That Carries Souls
In the snow-fields of Hokkaido, the red-crowned crane is read as more than a bird: a creature of thousand-year age, marital constancy, and passage between the living and the dead.
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