Claire Slack Profile Banner
Claire Slack Profile
Claire Slack

@mossgoblingrrl

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Claire. Feral folklorist, museum worker, DHeritage researcher @uniofherts exploring Pagan interactions with historic sacred sites. She/they. All views my own.

Devizes, England
Joined November 2012
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
2 years
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.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
3 years
Never has a meme appealed to me more
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
8 months
Public opinion poll: should I buy the cursed owl tea cosy?
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
4 years
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!
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
10 months
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.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
2 years
I really want to get lost in a hauntingly beautiful horror novel for a bit. Any recommendations? Less gore more ghosts, spooks and creepiness please
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
8 months
This goat has had a sugar lump on his nose for over 100 years just in case your feed needs some joy today.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
5 years
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?
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
9 months
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.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
3 years
Alright it took me 9 years after finishing my BA in journalism but being featured in an actual shiny print magazine is kind of exciting isn't it? 🥳
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
1 year
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 !
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
3 years
#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
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
2 years
Happy bread day witches 🪄🍞🥖
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
1 year
It's a glamorous life being a folklorist
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
2 years
Alright who wants to go in on a folklore commune in Wales? Only *minor* refurbs needed.
@reviewwales
Mark Rees
2 years
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"
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
8 months
This felt like quite a special moment, my first little dance with bells on even if it is just in practice
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
3 years
That's Claire Slack, Master of Folklore thank you very much 🎓🎓🎓
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
8 months
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.
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Claire Slack
2 years
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? 😅
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
2 years
Found an onion in the middle of Glyderau. Its origins are a mystery.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
1 year
Just over here, living for finding ghost doors in old churches
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
1 year
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...
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
10 months
A wassail, some tree toast and a first dance out with Devizes Jubilee Morris.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
2 years
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)
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
4 years
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 💜
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
8 months
I've never wanted to attend a conference more
@MuseumsBirkbeck
Centre for Museum Cultures at Birkbeck
8 months
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:
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
1 year
I don't know how my birthday celebrations have descended into "drink if you draw Ronald Hutton" but here we are 😅
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
3 years
You folks seem to love this moss related content. Highly recommend joining Wild Green Memes for Ecological Fiends on Facebook for more of this joy 😂
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
11 months
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.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
4 years
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
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
1 year
A rare glimpse of a folklorist in their natural environment
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
3 years
Yeah ok I'm incapable of not looking for graves on my holidays. Mary Anning was a good one.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
11 months
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.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
4 years
Show me your Christmas books! #JoinIn
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
11 months
Staring up at the moon after my first public attempt at morris dancing and my first pint in my local pub. I could get used to village life.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
4 years
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
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
3 years
Christmas Eve eve is made for trawling eBay for old Avebury guidebooks and watching Ghost Stories for Christmas right?
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
9 months
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
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
4 years
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
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
10 months
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 🤣
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
1 year
Happy 33rd birthday to me 🥳
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
3 years
A little "congratulations you passed your masters degree with a distinction" present to myself. Forever marked with apotropaic symbols (just in case).
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
1 year
Spent the day wandering through yew pathways in the rain and mists to the sound of church bells. Avebury felt very Milbury today.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
8 months
Perfect night for a cheeky little ghost walk to get to know my new town 👻
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
2 years
The Essex coast feels very edge of the world sometimes. Nothing but marshes for miles and miles and miles.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
3 years
Today I submitted my application and proposal for a Doctorate in Heritage and now I need you all to cross your fingers for me please.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
3 years
Less people sit near you on the tube if you have bugs all over your mask. Be the weird bug lady to ensure social distancing 😅
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
2 years
I have never been more happy to be judged by a giant frog whilst working. @EH_Stonehenge you've really outdone yourself with the gift shop this year.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
10 months
Oh to be a little worry doll, nestled in an indent of a long barrow stone
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
1 year
Bit misty up on the Tor today! You wouldn't think it was 301 steps above Glastonbury with the mists oozing in like they were earlier.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
8 months
"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.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
1 year
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.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
2 years
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.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
4 years
Caught him reading books on black magic again 😅
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
4 years
Spring has appeared since I was last in the office!
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
3 years
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?
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
2 years
A few minor detours before disappearing into the Welsh countryside
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
3 years
It's my 31st birthday so I drank some cider and danced in the Stanton Drew stone circles. Met some good cows too. 🎂
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
3 years
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!
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
2 years
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
5 years
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
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
2 years
Please don't ask how I got to the haunted objects section of eBay but I have so many questions 😂
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
1 year
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 ❤️
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
3 years
When the light hits just right 💜
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
4 years
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
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
4 years
Had a dream that I was charity shopping and found the dream haul of folklore books for 50p each. I've never been so disappointed to wake up 😅
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
3 years
Other people: getting promotions and doctorates and things Me:
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
3 years
If most of these were second hand I don't need to feel guilty about spending the money right?
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
3 years
Really missing running around Northumberland heritage sites pretending to be Gandalf.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
1 year
Can't drive through without a quick stop to touch some damp stones. Two weeks until I'm just a twenty minute drive away!
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
4 years
I'm currently working on an assignment about Polish customs and traditions and now I'm obsessed with Baroque sea monster pulpits.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
3 years
The nerves have kicked in unexpectedly. Please send luck and positivity for my very exciting interview this afternoon.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
2 years
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
@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
2 years
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!
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
3 years
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
2 years
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.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
4 years
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! 🤣
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
4 years
It's that time of year again.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
2 years
I've been sick for days and have nothing exciting to share other than these beans that have been looking after me. Please enjoy the beans.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
1 year
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)
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
3 years
I haven't done anything interesting in days but please accept my Twitter offering of some exceptional headstone moss.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
2 years
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.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
2 years
*I'm in this picture and I don't like it*
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
4 years
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
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
4 years
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
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
1 year
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.
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Claire Slack
3 years
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.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
4 years
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?
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
9 months
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 💚
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
4 years
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 😭
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
2 years
Some beautiful frosty graves, plants and mushrooms for your appreciation this morning ❄️❄️❄️
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Claire Slack
2 years
Stuffed my face with Greek food to celebrate this one 🥳🥳🥳
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
2 years
It really is an absolute pleasure being part of the folklore community on this here bird app isn't it? You are all the best 💜
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
4 years
Alright who's been out fae catching on the shores of @HooklandGuide again?
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
1 year
A Beltane crown lays discarded by an apple tree under the shadow of Glastonbury Tor. I wonder what happened to the reveller who wore it.
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
2 years
Just a girl, jiggling some jelly ears in the cemetery
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
4 years
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? 😅
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Claire Slack
3 years
Getting overly excited about tiny lightning today ⚡⚡⚡
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
3 years
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! 🥳🥳🥳
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
4 years
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
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@mossgoblingrrl
Claire Slack
1 year
Celebrating my imminent move to Wiltshire by binge watching Children of the Stones
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