Crystal Ponti
@crystalponti.bsky.social
A freelance writer exploring the intersection of history and folklore. Bylines: The History Channel, The New York Times, BBC, etc. Also @HistoriumU (Historium Unearthia); Grieving mom of Adam.
muckrack.com/crystal-ponti
muckrack.com/crystal-ponti
Skittles, ancestor of modern bowling, was once played in churchyards before it was banned for “disorderly mirth.” Some said the sound of falling pins echoed like tiny thunderclaps calling rain. #FolkloreThursday
Art: Jan Steen
Art: Jan Steen
November 13, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Skittles, ancestor of modern bowling, was once played in churchyards before it was banned for “disorderly mirth.” Some said the sound of falling pins echoed like tiny thunderclaps calling rain. #FolkloreThursday
Art: Jan Steen
Art: Jan Steen
Story circles were once an evening pastime, where each person had to add a line to a growing tale. The point wasn’t to win, but to weave something bigger than yourself. #FolkloreThursday
Art: Unknown (?)
Art: Unknown (?)
November 13, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Story circles were once an evening pastime, where each person had to add a line to a growing tale. The point wasn’t to win, but to weave something bigger than yourself. #FolkloreThursday
Art: Unknown (?)
Art: Unknown (?)
In medieval taverns, dice were cast with whispered charms to keep trickster spirits from leaning on fortune’s hand. Many dice were carved from real bone, relics of old chance, and gamblers carried them as both tool and talisman. #FolkloreThursday
Art: Unknown (?)
Art: Unknown (?)
November 13, 2025 at 11:33 AM
In medieval taverns, dice were cast with whispered charms to keep trickster spirits from leaning on fortune’s hand. Many dice were carved from real bone, relics of old chance, and gamblers carried them as both tool and talisman. #FolkloreThursday
Art: Unknown (?)
Art: Unknown (?)
Conkers, played with horse chestnuts on strings, was once believed to protect children from evil spirits. The winner wasn’t just lucky. They were blessed by the tree. #FolkloreThursday
Image: Kevin Doncaster
Image: Kevin Doncaster
November 13, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Conkers, played with horse chestnuts on strings, was once believed to protect children from evil spirits. The winner wasn’t just lucky. They were blessed by the tree. #FolkloreThursday
Image: Kevin Doncaster
Image: Kevin Doncaster
Blind man’s buff began as a courtly game in Tudor England. Being caught by touch, not sight, was part of its mischief, and a reminder that fate often grabs us blind. #FolkloreThursday
Art: Pierre Sala Partie
Art: Pierre Sala Partie
November 13, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Blind man’s buff began as a courtly game in Tudor England. Being caught by touch, not sight, was part of its mischief, and a reminder that fate often grabs us blind. #FolkloreThursday
Art: Pierre Sala Partie
Art: Pierre Sala Partie
In Germany, children once believed marzipan pigs brought luck for the coming year. Breaking one’s ear off first was said to double the blessing. #LegendaryWednesday
November 12, 2025 at 6:33 PM
In Germany, children once believed marzipan pigs brought luck for the coming year. Breaking one’s ear off first was said to double the blessing. #LegendaryWednesday
In Arthurian myth, kingship was not granted by birth but by worth. Whoever could draw the sword from the stone proved divine favor, but folklore warns that every miracle demands repayment. #WyrdWednesday
November 12, 2025 at 5:33 PM
In Arthurian myth, kingship was not granted by birth but by worth. Whoever could draw the sword from the stone proved divine favor, but folklore warns that every miracle demands repayment. #WyrdWednesday
Reposted by Crystal Ponti
Join us for our folklore of Games and Pastimes themed #FolkloreThursday this Thursday!
Our hosts will share your posts to the hashtag at the following times GMT:
9am-1pm
3.30-4.30pm
6.30-7.30pm
(🎨The Card Players, Theodoor Rombouts)
Our hosts will share your posts to the hashtag at the following times GMT:
9am-1pm
3.30-4.30pm
6.30-7.30pm
(🎨The Card Players, Theodoor Rombouts)
November 9, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Join us for our folklore of Games and Pastimes themed #FolkloreThursday this Thursday!
Our hosts will share your posts to the hashtag at the following times GMT:
9am-1pm
3.30-4.30pm
6.30-7.30pm
(🎨The Card Players, Theodoor Rombouts)
Our hosts will share your posts to the hashtag at the following times GMT:
9am-1pm
3.30-4.30pm
6.30-7.30pm
(🎨The Card Players, Theodoor Rombouts)
In Italy, panettone rose from legend, a lovesick baker’s creation for his master’s daughter. It’s said he burned the bread, folded in candied fruit to hide the error, and invented Christmas romance. #LegendaryWednesday
November 12, 2025 at 4:33 PM
In Italy, panettone rose from legend, a lovesick baker’s creation for his master’s daughter. It’s said he burned the bread, folded in candied fruit to hide the error, and invented Christmas romance. #LegendaryWednesday
Medieval coronations mixed magic and politics. Holy oil, relics, and relic smoke made monarchs half-divine. For one day, everyone pretended the crown gleamed with heaven’s consent. #WyrdWednesday
November 12, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Medieval coronations mixed magic and politics. Holy oil, relics, and relic smoke made monarchs half-divine. For one day, everyone pretended the crown gleamed with heaven’s consent. #WyrdWednesday
In folklore, sugar was thought to attract spirits, both good and mischievous. That’s why cookies left out for Santa may have older roots, meant for the unseen guests who came before him. #LegendaryWednesday
November 12, 2025 at 2:33 PM
In folklore, sugar was thought to attract spirits, both good and mischievous. That’s why cookies left out for Santa may have older roots, meant for the unseen guests who came before him. #LegendaryWednesday
Richard the Lionheart was said to have tamed a lion with his gaze. His brother John couldn’t tame his own shadow. The legends wrote themselves. #WyrdWednesday
Art: Dan Craig
Art: Dan Craig
November 12, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Richard the Lionheart was said to have tamed a lion with his gaze. His brother John couldn’t tame his own shadow. The legends wrote themselves. #WyrdWednesday
Art: Dan Craig
Art: Dan Craig
Honey itself was once sacred. Bees were messengers between worlds, and their golden gift was believed to carry divine wisdom. A honeycake was a sermon in sugar. #LegendaryWednesday
November 12, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Honey itself was once sacred. Bees were messengers between worlds, and their golden gift was believed to carry divine wisdom. A honeycake was a sermon in sugar. #LegendaryWednesday
In old ballads, queens were shapeshifters. They walked as swans, serpents, or stags, ruling from behind the veil of legend long before history learned their names. #WyrdWednesday
Art: Viktor Vasnetsov
Art: Viktor Vasnetsov
November 12, 2025 at 11:33 AM
In old ballads, queens were shapeshifters. They walked as swans, serpents, or stags, ruling from behind the veil of legend long before history learned their names. #WyrdWednesday
Art: Viktor Vasnetsov
Art: Viktor Vasnetsov
Gingerbread men were first shaped by royal hands. Queen Elizabeth I had them crafted to resemble her favorite courtiers, a courtly gesture with spicy undertones. #LegendaryWednesday
Art: Darren Gygi Home Collection
Art: Darren Gygi Home Collection
November 12, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Gingerbread men were first shaped by royal hands. Queen Elizabeth I had them crafted to resemble her favorite courtiers, a courtly gesture with spicy undertones. #LegendaryWednesday
Art: Darren Gygi Home Collection
Art: Darren Gygi Home Collection
Perrault’s Little Red Riding Hood borrowed from older wolf-tales in which the girl is devoured without rescue. It took later storytellers to give her a chance. Sometimes folklore’s evolution is an act of mercy. #FairyTaleTuesday
Art: Carl Larsson
Art: Carl Larsson
November 11, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Perrault’s Little Red Riding Hood borrowed from older wolf-tales in which the girl is devoured without rescue. It took later storytellers to give her a chance. Sometimes folklore’s evolution is an act of mercy. #FairyTaleTuesday
Art: Carl Larsson
Art: Carl Larsson
Perrault’s Puss in Boots drew from old Italian trickster-cat stories, but he made the feline cleverer, meaner, and more stylish. Today every mischievous talking animal owes him a whisker or two. #FairyTaleTuesday
November 11, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Perrault’s Puss in Boots drew from old Italian trickster-cat stories, but he made the feline cleverer, meaner, and more stylish. Today every mischievous talking animal owes him a whisker or two. #FairyTaleTuesday
Andersen wrote heroines who suffer but also endure. The Little Match Girl, The Girl Who Trod on the Loaf, Thumbelina — all feature storytellers who survive by imagination. These tales shaped how children’s literature portrays resilience. #FairyTaleTuesday
Art: English School
Art: English School
November 11, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Andersen wrote heroines who suffer but also endure. The Little Match Girl, The Girl Who Trod on the Loaf, Thumbelina — all feature storytellers who survive by imagination. These tales shaped how children’s literature portrays resilience. #FairyTaleTuesday
Art: English School
Art: English School
Hans Christian Andersen borrowed the bones of old Danish and German folktales, but he filled them with heartbreak. The Little Mermaid echoes older selkie legends, yet Andersen made her longing so human even modern retellings still chase her sorrow. #FairyTaleTuesday (Lisa Keene)
November 11, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Hans Christian Andersen borrowed the bones of old Danish and German folktales, but he filled them with heartbreak. The Little Mermaid echoes older selkie legends, yet Andersen made her longing so human even modern retellings still chase her sorrow. #FairyTaleTuesday (Lisa Keene)
Medieval superstitions warned that cutting hair during the waning moon weakened the spirit. Cutting it during the waxing moon invited growth, vitality, and sharper dreams. #MythologyMonday
Art: Warwick Goble
Art: Warwick Goble
November 10, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Medieval superstitions warned that cutting hair during the waning moon weakened the spirit. Cutting it during the waxing moon invited growth, vitality, and sharper dreams. #MythologyMonday
Art: Warwick Goble
Art: Warwick Goble
The long-haired Valkyries were said to cause the northern lights with their flying locks. Their hair shimmered across the sky as they galloped between worlds. #MythologyMonday
November 10, 2025 at 7:33 PM
The long-haired Valkyries were said to cause the northern lights with their flying locks. Their hair shimmered across the sky as they galloped between worlds. #MythologyMonday
Some Lithuanian legends claim that forest spirits were covered in mossy hair, blending seamlessly with the bark. Travelers said you could mistake them for tree stumps, until the hair moved. #MythologyMonday
Art: vintageglamcannibal
Art: vintageglamcannibal
November 10, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Some Lithuanian legends claim that forest spirits were covered in mossy hair, blending seamlessly with the bark. Travelers said you could mistake them for tree stumps, until the hair moved. #MythologyMonday
Art: vintageglamcannibal
Art: vintageglamcannibal
Medieval Europe believed that a man who shaved during a time of crisis might bring bad luck to the household. Hair was seen as protective, a natural amulet formed by the body itself. #MythologyMonday
November 10, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Medieval Europe believed that a man who shaved during a time of crisis might bring bad luck to the household. Hair was seen as protective, a natural amulet formed by the body itself. #MythologyMonday
Japanese folklore says long uncut hair on a ghost shows unresolved emotion. Rage creates wild tangles. Sorrow smooths the length. A spirit with immaculate hair is the most dangerous of all. #MythologyMonday
November 10, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Japanese folklore says long uncut hair on a ghost shows unresolved emotion. Rage creates wild tangles. Sorrow smooths the length. A spirit with immaculate hair is the most dangerous of all. #MythologyMonday
The Norse gods treated beards like battle banners. Thor’s beard was said to spark like embers when he grew angry, and dwarves judged a craftsman’s worth partly by the thickness of his whiskers. Beard envy was practically a sacred rivalry. #MythologyMonday
Art: David Schaefer
Art: David Schaefer
November 10, 2025 at 11:33 AM
The Norse gods treated beards like battle banners. Thor’s beard was said to spark like embers when he grew angry, and dwarves judged a craftsman’s worth partly by the thickness of his whiskers. Beard envy was practically a sacred rivalry. #MythologyMonday
Art: David Schaefer
Art: David Schaefer