The Folklore Podcast

The Ancient Ways: A Year of Folklore, Traditions and Rituals to Reconnect with Nature is a debut book from second generation new-age traveller and hedgewitch Seren Hawley-Plows. In the book Seren explores how, in the past, humans' lives centred around the rhythms of the natural world and how doing the same can help you to lead a more connected and fulfilled life. The Ancient Ways is structured around the seasons and pagan festivals and aims to be an empowering guide to reconnecting with the natural world through its mythology, folklore and ancient tradition.Seren is hugely popular on social media and in this exclusive publication day interview with the Folklore Podcast's host, Mark Norman, she discusses the book and her practical work and lifestyle behind the words.Follow Seren on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/hedgerow_healingThe Ancient Ways is published by Bluebird, an imprint of Pan Macmillan. Buy a copy online at:Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ancient-Ways-Folklore-Traditions-Reconnect/dp/1035065991/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.SZ-ziQ-GpA2jE8rc_KeNUw.26qOeLXCtcE9yzo73bozXYTYGrgErYTFrx3d02JW3GA&dib_tag=se&keywords=9781035065998&qid=1786366387&sr=8-1Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-ancient-ways/seren-hawley-plows/9781035065998Bookshop.org: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-ancient-ways-a-year-of-folklore-traditions-and-rituals-to-reconnect-with-nature-seren-hawley-plows/88809a335744a35c?ean=9781035065998&affiliate=73Support The Folklore Podcast on Patreon, either for free or with a small monthly donation, at www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast and access exclusive extra content.This episode of The Folklore Podcast is sponsored by Bluebird, part of Pan Macmillan.

The British ritual year is full of fascinating public events, sports, games, processions and festivals. Whether long-running or modern, revival or continuous, there is something for everyone and a rich background of folklore and tradition behind them all.A new 6-part documentary series, "Gatherings", shines a light on some of these, but in an unusual way. No presenter. No celebrity. No narrative. Gatherings presents the events as the onlookers would see them, along with interviews with organisers, participants and visitors.In this episode of the podcast, I meet with the director Dave Brewis to learn more about how the series came about, the ethos behind it and, of course, the events themselves.You can learn more about Gatherings, and find out how to watch, at https://gatherings.tv/Support the Folklore Podcast and get extra content, as either a free member or on a supporter's tier, at https://www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcastThe Folklore Podcast is an independent podcast. Please help to spread the word by sharing episodes and other content.

While there are many famous names associated with the ghost story, some are less commonly linked, and even fewer are women. In the episode of the podcast we focus on one of those in particular, Edith Nesbit.Best known as a children's writer under the name E. Nesbit, Edith wrote some effective spooky tales for adults. Many of these have not seen much light of day.A new one-woman theatre show - HAUNTED SHADOWS - performed by Claire Louise Amias and directed by Jonathan Rigby shines a light on Edith and her gothic stories. I meet Claire to discuss Edith Nesbit's work, and of course her new show.Haunted Shadows is a production of A Monkey With Cymbals theatre company. Find out more on their website at https://www.amonkeywithcymbals.co.uk/haunted-shadowsFollow them on social media:Instagram: @AMonkeyWithCymbalsFacebook: @AMonkeyWithCymbalsX: @MonkeywithcymbBluesky: @ClaireLouiseAmias.bsky.socialTo support the work of The Folklore Podcast in creating free folklore content for everyone, please join our Patreon page at www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast - you can also join the free member community there too.

Folklore Podcast creator Mark Norman once again meets up with children's author Claire Barker, this time to discuss the final version of her new book 'Hettie Nettle's Handbook for Hedgewitches'.Described in the episode as a groundbreaking book, and not without good reason, Hettie Nettle introduces children to the subjects of solitary witchcraft, seasonal workings, our relationship with nature and much more in a safe and meticulously researched way.In this episode, we chat about the ethos of the book, the ways in which it deals with folklore and how it fuses real-world practice with fiction.Support the work of The Folklore Podcast on Patreon and get extra rewards, either as a free member or from just £1 a month for bonus content. Visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast for more details.

In this episode of the podcast, host Mark Norman takes an in-depth look at the White Witch of Exeter. Most times, when we speak of 'white witches' we are talking about a particular person, but in the case of the Devon city of Exeter, the White Witch was something a little different.Mark discusses the history of this character from the mid-nineteenth century onwards, and looks and some of their practices and cures.The content of this episode is drawn from the book DEVON'S FORGOTTEN WITCHES, 1860-1910 written by Tracey and Mark Norman and published by The History Press. Order a copy from the Folklore Podcast website or wherever books are sold.To support the Folklore Podcast please join the Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast for free or on a paid support tier and get extra content.