Claire. Feral folklorist, museum worker, DHeritage researcher
@uniofherts
exploring Pagan interactions with historic sacred sites. She/they. All views my own.
I've had a few new followers recently who have some horrible racist views so this a note that yeah my account probably isn't for you. If you are down for inclusive, intersectional Paganism, magic and folklore then we are all good but I'm team Folklore Against Facism forever.
Now my team and board at work know, I suppose I can share with you all that I will be starting a new job on the 14th of September. I'll be taking on the role of Heritage Officer at Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park and it is basically my goth girl history nerd dream job. Wish me luck!
Another stunning day of fieldwork celebrating the upcoming Winter Solstice with some of the most welcoming humans (and puppies) out there. A day of mistletoe, mead and yet more instances of following the druids to the pub.
When I was 9 my dream was to become an archaeologist but 1 unsupportive history teacher meant that I gave up on history by 13. I'm now doing a history related MA and would love to get more involved in archeology. Any projects out there need an enthusiastic yet unqualified helper?
Apparently it is 5 years since I sent a very nervous email to
@CeriHoulbrook
asking if she might consider having me on the MA Folklore Studies despite only having a BA in Music Journalism under my belt and zero academic experience. Damn I've come a long way in 5 years.
How to describe a Glastonbury Beltane as a researcher...I've been hugged, blessed, face painted and fed mead made with water from the White Spring whilst having the most incredible conversations with people from around the world. It's gonna be a lot to write up
@FolkloreSociety
!
#PaganTwitter
I need your help! I need another 240 responses to my survey on Pagan sacred spaces in 24 days & every single share/like/signal boost/email to friends will help me get 1 step closer to that doctorate 💜
#Pagan
#Paganism
#AcademicTwitter
Anyone got a spare £55k for a (probably) haunted fixer upper in west Wales?
"Inside the spooky derelict and dangerous house that comes with a chapel, hall and graveyard for just £55k"
I'm on a bit of a weird research block (mid-PhD crisis maybe?) Anyone got any interesting articles that might spark my excitement whilst I plow through fieldwork write ups. Themes of landscape, spirituality, Paganism, heritage, ritual and material culture especially appreciated.
To all my fellow postgrads and academics out there - will there ever come a day where I don't have to Google the meaning of ontological with a feeling of stupidity looming over me? Does every researcher have one "I feel like an idiot" word or is it universal? 😅
A
#StandingStoneSunday
with some possibly exciting research news from Coldrum Long Barrow coming soon. I'll be spending some solid time in Kent very soon...
So I promised a map on my research after seeing
@Robin_C_Douglas
's wonderful census work this week so here is my first shot at mapping my data on natural and cultural heritage sites across Britain that are sacred to British Pagans in the 2020s. (reposted)
2 years ago today I submitted my application to join the MA Folklore Studies course at
@UHertshistory
and yesterday I finally finished the last edits of my dissertation. Might have been the best decision I ever made 💜
Call for Papers: 'Cursed Objects in Museum Shops',
3d July. Deadline for abstracts: 8th April.
In partnership with
@CursedObjectsUK
we are running a symposium on the kitsch, questionable and complex things you find in museum shops.
For more details:
PhD life isn't always the most glamorous life, but spending an hour on a conference abstract in a cosy cafe bar after a wonderful day chatting folklore has to be one of the tiny joys.
When discussing hauntings in Essex it is impossible to forget the Cage at St Osyth. Used to hold accused witches in the 16th Century, the old prison is now plagued with orbs, taps turning on and off, items going missing and blood dripping down the walls
#hauntedhappening
This week has been the start of a totally new life for me and I'm taking a while to adjust but I'm absolutely head over heels in love with my new place of work. Excited for future things.
In Japan, an object that survives for a 100 years can become a ghost, one being the karakasa, or kasa-obake. The karakasa is the ghost of an umbrella and has one eye, a long tongue and a single leg where the handle should be. They are not known to be violent.
#hauntedhappening
One whole year since my last trip to Stonehenge when I imagined what it would be like to live nearby as me and
@LadyLiminal1
chatted on a train. Now I live just on the other side of the Plains and spend my days working amongst stones, barrows and ancient woodlands. Life is weird
In our family, if you go through a kissing gate with a loved one you have to pay the kiss tax or you aren't allowed through. Stuck forever on the other side of the path.
#FolkloreThursday
Anyone else not a crystal witch by any stretch but just has a box of miscellaneous pretty gems they like to touch when they are anxious? My emotional support rocks as my partner calls them. They might get a special mention in my thesis thank yous at this rate 🤣
"What are those rocks doing there" says a random tourist wandering past me as I spend another day bothering the stones at Avebury to clear my very busy mind.
Shout out for interviewees! I am looking to speak to British Pagans who have conducted any kind of ritual or magical/spiritual practice at
Coldrum Long Barrow in Kent. If you might be interested in taking part in my doctoral research please get in touch on cs19aby
@herts
.ac.uk.
Whilst I spent a lot of time at Colchester Castle playing dress up, I also took some time in the gaol for quiet reflection. So many people lost their lives in these dark rooms after being accused of witchcraft and the deep feeling of sadness there was almost overwhelming.
One thing I'm seeing a lot in my research is the idea that Pagan Studies is somehow less scientific because of the number people involved who are Pagans. Does this argument crop up in the study of Christianity too? Surely there must be a similar ratio in all faith studies right?
Alright lovely
#PagansofTwitter
! I need your help as I launch the first survey of my doctorate research on Pagan sacred spaces in Britain. If you identify as Pagan, live in/were born in Britain and are over 18 head to and share your thoughts. Thank you!
Sigyn was a Norse goddess who was married to the god Loki. When Loki was bound with a snake above him, she held the bowl that stopped the venom reaching him. If a drop fell as she emptied the bowl Loki would writhe in pain causing earthquakes across Midgard
#FolkloreThursday
I really do have quite a talented father. Elm harvested many, many years ago from Ogden Water where I spent many years of my childhood and some oak he had lying around his workshop have made quite a beautiful throne ❤️
When I was very young we lived in an old gamekeepers cottage in the middle of North Dean woods in Yorkshire (how on brand I know). I have very vivid memories of a man who lingered in the corridor to the bathroom that brought with him a sense of complete terror
#hauntedhappening
Alternatively can I just teach you all to make wooden spoons and nettle cordage for a living and tell you weird facts about plants and mushrooms? Basically forest school for grown ups is my back up hustle at this point
I love working in the heritage sector but as I edge closer to the end of my current contract the panic about the precarity of work sure does set in. In other news, please hit me up with landscape and engagement jobs in the next 3-6 months, Essex, London or South West considered!
Is it my 32nd birthday today? Yes. Did I also spend it with my partner doing ridiculous childish things on the sea front like bowling, eating sweets and winning Tigger on the claw machines at the amusement arcade? Absolutely.
I'm deep in religious studies research for my MA dissertation on contemporary witchcraft and I'm revelling in the fact that my year 7 RE teacher failed me for talking about Paganism in class. Take that mean teacher! 🤣
Happy second anniversary to unexpectedly finding an apple under my garden table when I had no apple trees in the vicinity. May whatever bizarre fae creature deposited this also grant you unexpected gifts this Lammas (yes I ate it)
It might be a small thing in the big wide world of academia but I've just booked my room and travel for my first whole week of fieldwork and I'm just a wee bit excited to spend Beltane on top of the Tor. Huge (continuous) thanks to
@FolkloreSociety
for helping to make it happen.
An old man's face reveals itself if you look closely at this magnificent tree found at Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park. It's no wonder we have so many stories of green men and woodland Fae when you can almost see the trees telling you their tales.
#FolkloreThursday
Absolutely thrilled to have my paper on Scarelore and the Eerie on Foulness Island included in this fab, online symposium. I look forward to watching the other presentations over the course of the week!
#HauntedShores2021
Sat on the bus home having a good old think about my first ever week as a folklorist in the field. It's been incredible but I think my biggest takes from this week are always pack a spare pair of boots, waterproof notebooks are the best and always follow the druids to the pub.
Totally sweaty after a day out in 30 something degree heat but I just got my official unconditional offer letter for my doctorate in Heritage, I got to hang out with
@skullsnsheets
and I'm spending the evening lying under the Tolkien trees in Avebury so life is pretty great.
Can someone find me a full time job that just involves wandering around ruins telling people stories about the people who lived there? That must be a job right?
Showing my bestie around my new town included a pit stop to the museum to play in the prehistory gallery like reasonable grown ups. The joy in this picture 💚
Sometimes during cemetery research you flip over a gravestone that's face down in the dirt and have to take a moment to compose yourself. A sad story and a beautiful poem almost broke me 😭
Can I just vaguely throw it out there that I'd love to do a PhD once my MA is over and would love to study folklore, cemeteries, horror, witchcraft, nature or things that go bump in the night? I can't fund it or anything but if I put it out there it's bound to happen right? 😅
Got my grade back for my dissertation tonight and it turns out I do know what I'm talking about and I'm so pleased I might cry. Cannot thank
@odavies9
and
@CeriHoulbrook
enough for keeping me sane throughout. Research summer school for my doctorate starts tomorrow! 🥳🥳🥳
Borley Rectory is a house with an infamous reputation. It is said to be the most haunted house in England. The house no longer exists but ghost hunters still flock to the site desperate to catch a glimpse of ghostly nuns, mysterious voices and vicious entities.
#hauntedhappening