WillowWinsham
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willowwinsham.bsky.social
WillowWinsham
@willowwinsham.bsky.social
1.4K followers 570 following 510 posts
Author and historian, specialising in witchcraft, folklore and cats. Co-founder of #FolkloreThursday

The Story of Witches - Out Now
https://bit.ly/3PNy8yC

willowwinsham.com
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willowwinsham.bsky.social
It hasn't been the best start to the year on several fronts, so I'm taking finding the perfect sweatshirt from @soverybritish.bsky.social as a big win this week. 💜
Navy blue sweatshirt with "getting there" in light blue text across the front.
January 22, 2026 at 1:09 PM
willowwinsham.bsky.social
Stirring from the post-Christmas/pre-New Year pit to share good news for US readers - there's 25% off pre-orders of Curious Cats and Fantastical Felines at Barnes & Noble from today until 1st January 2026!

Enter code PREORDER25 at checkout to claim your discount.
www.barnesandnoble.com
Cover of Curious Cats and Fantastical Felines by Willow Winsham. Four cats are entwined around the title words, on an orange background. Behind the book there is a large cat sat on a wooden post in the midst of a forest.
December 30, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Reposted by WillowWinsham
folklorethursday.bsky.social
That's the end another epic #FolkloreThursday ✨🐿️☃️🥂

Today's theme was "Winter and Festive Folklore” This is @shanonsinn.bsky.social signing off - your last host of 2025! Wishing you a wonderful Winter Solstice and a happy holiday season ❄️🎄🌟

1880 circa English Card
A 19th Century illustration of two robins making tea. It is snowy outside and there is snow on branches and on the ground. Three robins are on a branch huddled together in the background—probably chics. One of the birds is putting a teabag into a kettle and another is putting a twig onto a fire with a fire kettle in it. The bottom has text that says, “May the New Year Bring You Many Comforts.”
December 11, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Reposted by WillowWinsham
oliviaarmstrong.bsky.social
At midnight on Christmas Eve all animals are endowed with the gifts of speech and prophecy. Apparently, those born on a Sunday can speak with them... #FolkloreThursday
🎨Brueghal the Elder
Green paradise, all the animals together including cheetahs, lions, a unicorn, a camel, a pair of ostriches, a monkey climbing a tree, some human figures sit at a distance and a man is walking behind the camel.
December 11, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Reposted by WillowWinsham
oliviaarmstrong.bsky.social
A fly in the house at Christmas is considered a sign of good luck in British folklore... #FolkloreThursday
Large black fly on cracked white surface of a painting.
December 11, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Reposted by WillowWinsham
folklorethursday.bsky.social
Feliz Navidad #FolkloreThursday ❄️✨🎄❄️

That was Crystal @crystalponti.bsky.social being merry and bright before the break! I'm @shanonsinn.bsky.social your elven host for the next one hour ⭐

Today's theme is "Winter and Festive Folklore”

1900s early German postcard
An illustration showing a small boy opening a door to Santa Claus. It is dark outside. Santa is dressed in read and has a sack over his shoulder and is leaning on a cane. On his belt is a large pouch partially open with dolls inside of it. There are two more dolls clipped to his belt.
December 11, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Reposted by WillowWinsham
folklorethursday.bsky.social
Hello, friends! I’m @crystalponti.bsky.social hosting this hour of #FolkloreThursday as we celebrate Winter & Festive lore. BIG thanks to @mythcrafts.bsky.social for hosting before the break. Now, let’s make this thread sparkle with midwinter magic and holiday fun. Post away!

Art: Mary Stubberfield
A whimsical winter illustration shows two cats sitting in the snow, facing a decorated Christmas tree in the distance. One cat is gray with white markings, and the other is orange with a white chest. Snow is gently falling around them. Bare trees and evergreens, some adorned with lights, frame the scene. Birds fly across the teal sky, where a crescent moon hangs overhead. Colorful berries and winter plants surround the cats in the foreground, adding pops of red, blue, and pink to the snowy landscape.
December 11, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Reposted by WillowWinsham
warksfolklore.bsky.social
In parts of rural Warwickshire c. late 19th/early 20th C, a giant cooked marrow filed with stuffing graced the Christmas Day dining table. Prior to the feast, the marrow was hung in the parlour.
#FolkloreThursday
a large green marrow
December 11, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Reposted by WillowWinsham
oliviaarmstrong.bsky.social
In Scottish folklore, those born on Christmas day have the ability to see ghosts... #FolkloreThursday
A ghost pointing at some French Windows in a Victorian trick photograph or is it? The ghost is the classic white sheet which is transparent.
December 11, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Reposted by WillowWinsham
yokaiparade.bsky.social
the Tsurara Onna, Icicle Woman, is created by the longing of a lonely man gazing at an icicle in the winter. He falls in love with his beautiful visitor and lives happily till spring comes when the snow and icicles melt and she disappears, leaving him heartbroken #FolkloreThursday art @yokai.com
art by Matthew Meyer of a woman in traditional Japanese dress holding an umbrella with icicles hanging from it in a snowstorm
December 11, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Reposted by WillowWinsham
folklorethursday.bsky.social
Thank you #FolkloreThursday!
This is @mythcrafts.bsky.social signing off, but @crystalponti.bsky.social will be back for more after the break. Have a wonderful festive season
Img:London Ballet performing the nutcracker
December 11, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Reposted by WillowWinsham
essaeem.bsky.social
Fjøsnissen are small house spirits from Norwegian folklore who live in barns and do work around the farm. It's traditional for farmers to leave their fjøsnissen a bowl of rice porridge on Christmas Eve, and not doing so may result in him carrying out mischievous or malicious acts. #FolkloreThursday
Christmas cars illustration of a Fjøsnissen
December 11, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Reposted by WillowWinsham
mythcrafts.bsky.social
Most accounts of Perchta concur on the major themes: she was associated with spinning, she traveled with a litany of others, and she loved slitting open the bellies of naughty children and stuffing them with straw or garbage.

#folklorethursday

🔗👇

mythcrafts.com/2024/12/12/t...
The Rounder the Belly, the Harder it is to Slit! Beware Frau Perchta
Frau Perchta is a folkloric figure from the Alpine region, one that rewards the good and punishes the bad around Winter festival time. Like most folkloric figures, every locality has a slightly dif…
mythcrafts.com
December 11, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Reposted by WillowWinsham
mythcrafts.bsky.social
Krampus’ name is probably from the German kramp/krampen, which means claw (though another possible etymology comes from the Bavarian word krampn, which means dead or rotten)

#folklorethursday

🔗👇

mythcrafts.com/2024/12/05/g...
Greeting from Krampus!
For every Yin, there is a Yang. Every time the Beatles sang that they ‘want(ed) to hold your hand’, there was a Mick Jagger swaggering on a different stage, snickering just exactly wher…
mythcrafts.com
December 11, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Reposted by WillowWinsham
folklorethursday.bsky.social
Huge thanks to everyone for an enchanting hour of seasonal festive #folklorethursday stories~This is @botanicafabula.bsky.social off to tell a Yule tale or two~handing over to the wonderful @mythcrafts.bsky.social who will be your next host🌲Pic: The book of Christmas Hervey, Thomas Kibble 1799-1859
December 11, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Reposted by WillowWinsham
folklorethursday.bsky.social
Hello #FolkloreThursday! Thank you to @botanicafabula.bsky.social for hosting the last hour. This is @mythcrafts.bsky.social for some festive cheer!
Img from Wikipedia: Sinterklaas, the evolutionary link between St Nick and Santa
December 11, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Reposted by WillowWinsham
yokaiparade.bsky.social
Have you ever noticed how snow seems to melt faster right around a tree? That's the work of a yokai called Yukinbo, a one-legged child who hops in circles around tree trunks after it snows. #folklorethursday
art by @samkalensky.com
a one legged snow yokai in traditional straw clothing
December 11, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Reposted by WillowWinsham
oliviaarmstrong.bsky.social
My first book tells a folktale of how robin got its redbreast. Robins are traditionally fire-bringers and robin fans the fire in the stable where Jesus is born, keeping the child warm and alive. A spark of fire burns robin's feathers - this red colour now a mark of its kindness... #FolkloreThursday
A feathery robin puffing out with pride on the book cover beneath the title The Birds of Christmas. Underneath written by Olivia Armstrong, illustrated by Mira Miroslavova.
December 11, 2025 at 12:15 PM
willowwinsham.bsky.social
Perchta from Germanic folklore visits houses during the 12 Days of Christmas. She leaves silver coins for those who have been good, and slits the bellies of those who have not, stuffing them with straw. #FolkloreThursday
Illustration from The Story of Witches by Willow Winsham. Art by Katie Ponder. Showing Perchta, a hooded hag-like figure with long hair and hooked nose. She is holding a sword-like knife and dropping a coin into a shoe. There is a border of candles, stars and snowflakes.
December 11, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Reposted by WillowWinsham
botanicafabula.bsky.social
One of my favourite festive stories to tell #folklorethursday friends is the tale of how the pine tree came to be covered in stars~I share it in my book The Time Traveller’s Herbal~it all begins in the heart of a forest on longest night…

www.botanicafabula.co.uk/time-travell...
December 11, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Reposted by WillowWinsham
crystalponti.bsky.social
Many Alpine villages believed the wind at year’s end carried whispers from the dead. Doors were cracked open just a moment so loved ones could slip inside and warm themselves. #FolkloreThursday

Art: Art Rave
December 11, 2025 at 11:33 AM
willowwinsham.bsky.social
Anyone else thinking "But I'd have put it in a "safe place" and then not be able to find it the next year"? 😂
wunderkammertales.bsky.social Dirk Puehl @wunderkammertales.bsky.social · Dec 11
“The old custom was to light the Yule log with a fragment of its predecessor, which had been kept throughout the year for the purpose; where it was so kept, the fiend could do no mischief.”
 
(Frazer “Golden Bough”)
 
🎨 H.M.Paget
 
#Folklorethursday
December 11, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Reposted by WillowWinsham
bevanthomas.bsky.social
Boreas is the Greek god of the cold north wind, storms, and winter. He is brother to the other winds, and son of Eos, the dawn. Boreas is very strong, with a violent temper, and his most well-known myth is his abduction of the Athenian princess Oreithyia.
🎨Stefano della Bella
#FolkloreThursday
Boreas abducts Oreithyia. An engraving by Stefano della Bella.
December 11, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Reposted by WillowWinsham
madeleinedeste.bsky.social
A piece of Christmas folklore which I always follow... is taking down your decorations by Twelfth Night otherwise you'll have bad luck.
The way to avert the bad luck is keep the tinsel up all year.
#FolkloreThursday
Image by Paul Nicholson from Pixabay Tabby cat in a Christmas tree adorned with gold tinsel and beads
December 11, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Reposted by WillowWinsham
folklorethursday.bsky.social
Good morning! This is @folkloretodmorden.bsky.social kicking off today’s seasonal #FolkloreThursday. ☃️
Share your #Winter, #Christmas, #Seasonal #folklore with us!
A more modern tradition- who’s still in the game, and who is in Whamhalla?
🎅🎄🎅
December 11, 2025 at 9:00 AM