antiquity Archives - Bone and Sickle

The Unknown Carnival

April 21, 2025 boneandsickle A Season of Madness, antiquity, books, Carnival, EPISODE, folk customs, folk horror, folklore, history, holidays, Middle Ages, pagan, paganism

Mr. Ridenour introduces his new book “A Season of Madness: Fools, Monsters, and Marvels of the Old-World Carnival,” explaining how[…]

Myth and Magic of the Smith

January 24, 2022 boneandsickle antiquity, black magic, blacksmith, Devil, EPISODE, fairy tales, folk customs, folk magic, folklore, Greek gods, Greek myth, history, legends, mythology, Norse religion, occultism, pagan, paganism, saints, Satan, The Blacksmith and the Devil, Wicca, witchcraft, witches

Folklore of the blacksmith portrays him as a semi-magical figure, a wily opponent of the Devil, a mythic creator in classical and[…]

Bird-Women of Greece and Russia

September 18, 2021 boneandsickle Aeolus, Alkonost, antiquity, bestiaries, Bird-Women, classical music, folk tales, folklore, Gamayun, Greece, Greek myth, harpies, legends, mermaids, monsters, opera, pagan, paganism, Russian, seduction, sirens, Sirin

Bird-women hybrids of Greek legend and Russian folklore are uniquely ambivalent, sometimes bringing death and destruction and at others, prophetic wisdom[…]