Folklore - Blog Posts
The home country has some good Easter candle lore! In the maritimes, fishermen would keep fragments of the easter candle on their boats! Guess I’ll do a post soon!
The protective magic of Easter candles. [French Folks Traditions.]
The fragments of Easter candles and other wax seals distributed by the priest constitute powerful protective amulets, whose power seems superior to that of Candlemas candles. In the Vosges, they attract money, and a person who suddenly makes a fortune is said to have "robbed a church on Easter Day." Elsewhere, on Easter Monday, a fragment of a candle is hung behind the front door of the house for protection; this Easter wax is also used to ward off lightning. In the Alps, a few drops of wax are dripped into water, which take on the appearance of flowers, then thrown into the fireplace during a storm.
The Easter candle also has a particularly effective effect against witches. It is slipped into the sockets of cows' horns so that they cannot be milked from a distance ; or into a child's shoe or cradle to protect them from evil spells. It also happens that several buttons of Easter candle wax are glued onto or into the butt of a rifle, so as to be effective against werewolves.
[Excerpt from M.C. Delmas, in the Dictionary of Mysterious France.]
Antonine Maillet (May 10 1929- 17 February 2025)
A great voice in Acadian letters passed away overnight. Thank you for your tireless dedication to writing our people and our folk tales, and taking us on a myriad adventure from Pélagie to la Voie St. Jean. You pushed the carts of Acadie into the light, and we will be eternally grateful. I loved your crack-whip humor and your musical turns of phrases, but your published works will always be there for us to cherish.
My Current Inventory of Magic Tools
Here's a list of tools I use in my spiritual practice that can inspire others that are on this path! While some are heritage pieces that cost a lot of money up-front due to craftsmanship, the every-day tools are pretty inexpensive. For example, most candles can be found at the dollar store, and incense can be personalized to your taste. For my practice, I use cedar incense, since it is known as a cleansing plant in the Christian tradition, and many Acadian and Québécois households used cedar on Palm Sunday before palms became widely available.
Most of the heritage pieces, for anyone wanting to participate, I strongly encourage investing a few extra dollars to get good quality items! It will last you years of magical practice, and you can use them with pride.
La ceinture fléchée - the woven sash
A symbol of identity to the Métis living on the Canadian plains, the historical Huron-Wendat people, and historically worn by French voyageurs and fur traders and their indigenous partners in trade, these sashes were strapped around the waist. These were mostly useful in keeping the woollen coats closed, store belted tools, help with the strain of carrying heavy pelts, and prevent hernias and back strain on long canoe expeditions. The long strands on the end could also be used as impromptu sewing thread. These sashes would reach about 15cm to 25cm and its length easily passes 2 metres. These sashes were traded among indigenous groups for furs, and later, by the Hudson's Bay Company in the 19th century. It became a part of the traditional Québecois peasant clothing at least since 1776. As the sash travelled upriver to the plains and beyond, Métis groups adopted the sashes, elaborated on its craftsmanship, and truly made it one of their most recognized symbols. Depending on where the sash is woven, the colours can change. For example, for Québec, they preferred a blue colour scheme, for Montréal, red, and for those woven in between Ottawa and the Red River, black was more prominent. Hand-woven sashes can take up to 500 hours to complete. (1)
The one pictured above I bought from Etchiboy, a Métis artisan. The sash I bought was inspired from the Assomption sash motif, one of the oldest known woven patterns from the 18th century. I wear it on my woodland wanderings, for rituals, and cultural days. I especially wear it in winter to keep my coat closed. I chose to adopt the sash into my practice after lots of research. It is an item of rich history between the French and their indigenous allies, and a consequence of the fur trade in our country. I encourage anyone who's interested to buy from artisans who hand-weave them! There are machine-woven ones nowadays that might be less expensive, but nothing beats the quality of good wool and good weaving. With the richness of variety in the weaving patterns depending on the region they're from, why not have a sash that harkens back to the history of your region?
The walking stick or 'le gourdin'
In Québécois folktales, the stick, known as 'the gourdin', was most seen as a gift from a woodland fairy (like a guardian of all trees, or a mistress of the birds) to the intrepid hero Ti-Jean. This magical stick could thwack all his adversaries with the simple command of "tappe, gourdin!" (slap, stick!), among other fabulous deeds (2) This stick was a tool of protection on long journeys fraught with peril. So, what better companion to the Canadien witch than a walking stick? I use mine for every excursion, and have added to it some talismans of a wolf, owl and skull to keep evil spirits at bay. There's also a portable rosary around the stick, and the Ste. Anne of Beaupré religious medal. Historically, she was often a saint prayed to by voyageurs before they undertook the long and perilous journey to the fur trading posts, usually near present-day Montreal. (3)
The pocket knife
The pocket knife is a multi-talented tool of our trade! It can carve folksy figurines, cut wooden branches for weaving, harvest plants, cut curses, and keep les feux-follets (willow-the-wisps) at bay. Folklore has it that if you're out camping in the woods, fold you knife so that it creates a 90-degree angle, and stick it into the bark of a tree bordering your campsite. In the morning, if the blade is bloody, chances are it was the feux follet being intrigued by the space between the blade and the tree, and cutting its throat, thereby being free from its doomed roaming. (4) It is also a well-known tool in case you need to free a loup-garou (werewolf) from its curse by cutting it on its white spot on the forehead where he previously received communion as a kid. (5) By extension, it is a vital tool to break curses. Of course, don't make anyone bleed with the knife. That goes without saying. Treat the knife well, keep it sharp.
The rosary
Yes, my path has Catholic tools in it. Of course! Quebecois and Acadians of my ancestry were Catholic people primarily. It is a versatile tool in my practice, used for spellwork as well as meditative prayer. For those who are interested in praying the Rosary traditionally, I'll create a separate post. For spellwork purposes, I usually say a round of "Hail Mary" ten times before starting a spell for the ultimate protective shield. There is also known folk uses for the rosary in Acadian and Québécois communities. For example, to fidget with the rosary without intent or purpose brings about the Devil. (6) The rosary can also be used as a tool to find lost items. Simply toss the rosary over your shoulder, and the crucifix will point in the direction of the lost item. If you want good weather on your wedding day, hang up your rosary on your laundry cord the day before. (7). Rosaries nowadays even come in decade forms as portable rings for your pocket, and some are actual rings you can wear on your finger. I got a few rosaries myself. One for special rituals (I never toss that one over my shoulder!), and cheaper, more portable options for the tossing spell.
Holy medals
I amassed quite a collection of holy medals for individual saints. Other notable ones are those for the souls in Purgatory (worn on All Souls Day), the Holy Spirit at (worn on Pentecost or when I do divination), Jesus the Shepherd (it's comforting), Stella Maris (patron saint of Acadians). I have a few of the same for more frequented purposes, for example, I keep a Saint Luke medal on my artist's pencil case, since he is the patron saint of artists. Traditionally in Acadian communities, it was known that when your day was going awfully, and your bread dough just wouldn't rise, you just needed to boil some holy medals in water to turn your luck around (8). They are quite inexpensive, so it's fast and easy to grow a collection in a short period of time. Many catholic retailers sell them.
Divination tools : the playing cards, dice and coin
My divination tools can be found in anyone's cupboard and drawers. The trusty playing cards deck nowadays comes in such amazing variety of art, the one I picked for myself was the Bicycle Aviary Playing Cards. It has such a lovely folk art vibe to them! The way to divine them comes from sources of card-playing and superstitions from history and folktales from folklorist Marius Barbeau, and people over centuries carrying around the cards for entertainment and perhaps a glimpse into their futures. One guide on reading the cards: Fifty-Four Devils: The Art & Folklore of Fortune-Telling with Playing Cards by Cory Thomas Hutcheson. Dice can also be used in the same manner if you're doing a numerology-based divination. The coin can be used as a simple yes or no divination by playing 'heads or tails'. The coin can be a beautiful commemorative coin like mine, or a simple 'cenne noire' (blackened penny), or whatever currency you have on hand.
The sewing kit and fibre arts
I wanted to add this iconic cookie tin into the folk witch's repertoire, because we all had grandmothers who had this tin lying around with their tools to mend and sew anything. In my practice, and in my hobbies, I make clothing and I embroider. I can use this tin to house my relevant supplies to have some sacred time darning old socks, creating spiritual garments by hand, or embroidering pretty things. You can also draw sigils on the rim's inner side for blessing your items inside! There's also other uses for some of these tools in your home! For example, my great-great grandmother used to use her thimble to create the holes in her croxignoles, these woven doughnut style rings from the Magdalen Islands.
Musical spoons
Musical spoons, sometimes made of wood to be used for musical purposes, as shown here, or made from every-day metal spoons held together for the same effect, are an iconic instrument in French-Canadian folk music. I would recommend learning how to play them rhythmically and to use that as a grounding tool. I just find these way more authentic than a drum. Not to mention rhythmic foot tapping and step dances are frequently used in our folk music to set up a beat.
Woven Cloths
These beautiful cloths or 'serviettes' were woven by my mother on a giant hand-loom, often employed by local farmer's guilds in Québec. Les Cercles des Fermières du Québec sometimes has craft fairs where they sell these among other hand-crafted items. In folklore, the cloth was present when Ti-Jean needed to create a magical feast on the fly, create a magical tent for shelter, or carry around all his tools for his journey. These cloths however were almost always given by a fay creature, so best be cautious in eating food from it. Nowadays, it can be used as altar cloths, protective shields for your tools, or to apply healing energy to an ailment you carry. (9) I use mine to do my card readings, wrap special items. If you are lucky enough to find a 'catalogne', which is a heavy blanket woven on those big looms from scraps of old t-shirts, cottons and the like, that's like, a massive cloth you can have over your bed and its folkloric properties can be used for protection and good dreams. It is also the best weighted blanket for anxiety, tried and tested by me! Mine was woven by my grandmother.
Cited sources
Wikipedia "Ceinture Fléchée" consulted on Jan 21 2025/ 2. Barbeau 1st series/ 3. Podruchny / 4. Butler/ 5. Maillet / 6. Dupont 83. / 7. Dupont 122. / 8. Dupont 83. / 9. Barbeau 2nd series
Bibliography
Barbeau, Marius, « Contes populaires canadiens », The Journal of American Folkore, vol. 29, no 111, janvier-mars 1916, 154 p.
Barbeau, C.-Marius. “Contes Populaire Canadiens. Seconde Série.” The journal of American Folklore 30, no. 115 (Jan-Mar., 1917): 27-36. http://www.jstor.org/stable/534454.
Butler, Gary R. Histoire et traditions orales des Franco-Acadiens de Terre-Neuve. Québec 1995. p. 156
Dupont, Jean-Claude. Heritage d’Acadie. Collection Connaissance, éditions Lemeac. 1977.
Maillet, Antonine. Rabelais et les traditions populaires en Acadie. Les presses de l’université Laval, Quebec. 1980.
Podruchny, Carolyn. Making the Voyageur World: Traveler’s and Traders in the North American Fur Trade. University of Toronto Press. 2006.
Sketchbook pt. 5
this little rat has been plaguing my mind yeah I've had him for over a year now and if anything happened to him id kill everyone in this room and then myself but every few months or so from the corners of my mind he emerges and takes over my sketchbook for a solid week also sorry the scans are bad my printer is literally from the cenozoic era
You can read the opening of my shortlisted novel Hunt the Hare here! If anyone is thinking of going for Discoveries 2023 when entries open later this month, just do it!
Brigid of the Forge | Culture Night 2021
Brigid of the Forge | Draíocht
A blogpost I wrote last year on such an underrated Irish writer!
So shocked and unbelievably delighted to be shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction's Discoveries 2022 Award!!!
I plan on posting my top 5 from each tay album but whats yalls top 5 taylor songs in general?? I'm kinda nosy...
Story from my other account
The fae run free
A shiver ran along the ground, leaves shaking themselves free from the trees. Something was awakening. Villagers clutched their cloaks closer about them as a rumbling shook the forest.
It was the one night that the fae could be free, peculiar beings they were. An ancient spell from a mage long ago had imprisoned them, locked them far away from the world and one another. But this one precious day a year they were set free to dwell, to feel real, once again.
Keep reading
I think what I love most about mythology is that the “Trickster God/Spirit” is an archetypical character found in almost every body of folklore. It’s like “Oh, here’s our God of the Sun, our God of the Sea, our God of Fertility, and our God of Being A Wretched Little Gremlin Who Causes Problems On Purpose”
If you step carefully, the woods will still chatter and whisper about your presence. A maple may brush your hair with a long, skinny arm. Dry yarrow stalks will claw at your clothes; you may need a sewing kit.
acrylic on stretched canvas, 2023
Full post on my Instagram @ yvepaints
There is poison in the water 💔
YALL. Holly Black has a list of resources she's used for writing her books on the fair folk. I'm OBSESSED. I love her work and world building. it's so true to the heart of faeries
Would ye be interested in a digital grimoire about trees? Irish folklore, actual properties, how I use them in magic?
Taylor Swift Eras Tour Wallpaper
Like or reblog if you save
Do not re edit, repost, nor claim as your own
Forever in my Folklore era 🍂🍃
✨ Best day of my life ✨
i js want u to know that the folklore love triangle is actually jartylus
barty - augustine
regulus - james
james - betty
maybe its js me tho?
feeling like her a lot lately
secret gardens in my mind
“I Hate It Here” collage part 2
the only important question you should ask yourself every morning is whether it's a "take me to the lakes" or "take me to church" kinda day and plan it based on the answer
love this pic of Taylor that I took bc she’s just like 🧍🏼♀️
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While I bathe in cliffside pools
With my calamitous love and insurmountable grief
Take me to the lakes where all the poets went to die
I don't belong, and my beloved, neither do you
— Taylor Swift, the lakes
(Photos by Mark Atkinson, Cristian Benavides, lil artsy, eberhard grossgasteiger)
i can change everything about me to fit in