Faith · Books · Ethnography · Humour
A book of Welsh folklore from 1888 tells of a Welsh woman accused of selling a "bewitched pig" at market. Having noticed that something was amiss from certain outward signs and from the piglet's behaviour, the buyer insisted that the seller lift the curse by passing
Faith · Museums · Ethnography
In the exhibition of the Bishop's Chambers at the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve, one can see a women's monastic conical hat of the 1910s, made of dark blue velvet and cotton fabric. This article employs an interesting device that contemporary couturiers would do well to note:
Observations · Mores · Ethnography · Humour
If, like the rest of us, you believe in everything under the sun, do take note of the instructions of a jocular English superstition on the colour of wedding dresses, which by various threats and manipulations compels the choice of white, and white alone. To marry in yellow is to
Science · Ethnography
Why vareniki, syrniki and blini are a symbol of the Moon is described at length in, for example, this interesting article, available on Academia. As for the claim that blini are a solar symbol, it too turns up very often in the literature, and has its champions and its opponents.
Faith · Books · Ethnography
Maslenitsa is bound up with the cult of the dead and the cult of ancestors, as, indeed, are almost all East Slavic festivals. One can observe this, for instance, in the symbolism of the blin, the lunar disc, or in the custom of the first blin, which was left on
Museums · Mores · Ethnography
The woollen caps of Dutch whalers of the 17th and 18th centuries look much alike, yet each has a colourway all its own. An original pattern was a practical necessity for identifying the sailors. Otherwise men wrapped up entirely against the cold simply could not be told apart. The Rijksmuseum
Aristocracy · London · Monarchies · Mores · Ethnography
During Alexander I's visit to London in 1814, the looks and attire of the Russian aristocrats, and indeed the Tsar himself, made a great impression on English society. Russian dress came into fashion once more, and Englishwomen arrayed themselves in sarafans. The sarafan became one of Princess Charlotte&
Cinema · Pop Culture · Ethnography
Particular attention is drawn to Dumbledore's final expedition with Harry Potter to a cave on a rocky seashore, which turned out in the end to be a quest for a false Horcrux. The most interesting details emerge when one recalls that at that moment Dumbledore already knew of
NB! · Cinema · Books · Observations · Pop Culture · Ethnography
Faith · Monarchies · Observations · Ethnography · Humour
The hongi is the traditional Maori greeting, based on the belief that the nose is the centre of the body and that the divine breath passes through it, so that touching the tips of noses makes people close: they have shared one divine breath and are, as it were, united
Archive · Faith · People · Ethnography
The founder of the World Zionist Organization, Theodor Herzl, is shown alongside the biblical figures of Moses and Aaron on a flag printed in Warsaw for the celebration of Simchat Torah in 1902. Imagine Herzl's glory at that moment, when his face found itself between a biblical prophet
Cinema · Mores · Ethnography
The scene of a braid given as a gesture of love is played out in the fantasy series Carnival Row, when the fairy Vignette, played by Cara Delevingne, gives her braid to her beloved Inspector Philo, played by Orlando Bloom. The link between hair and the symbolism of love, however,