Amanda Edmiston, Botanica Fabula
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botanicafabula.bsky.social
Amanda Edmiston, Botanica Fabula
@botanicafabula.bsky.social
190 followers 98 following 77 posts
Herbal storyteller, folklorist, creative practitioner, writer. The Time Traveller’s Herbal published by David and Charles. Botanica Fabula school of herbal storytelling 💚🌲🌱💫 #botanicafabula #timetravellersherbal
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Reposted by Amanda Edmiston, Botanica Fabula
folklorethursday.bsky.social
And that's a wrap! The last #FolkloreThursday of 2025 was brought to you by:
@folkloretodmorden.bsky.social
@willowwinsham.bsky.social
@botanicafabula.bsky.social
@mythcrafts.bsky.social
@crystalponti.bsky.social
@shanonsinn.bsky.social
Thanks for a fabulous day, we'll see you in 2026!
Vintage postcard showing Santa flying through the air in a flying balloon with presents in a sack next to him in the balloon basket.
December 11, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Reposted by Amanda Edmiston, Botanica Fabula
folkloretwitcher.bsky.social
☃️ADVENT-DAY 11 Twelfth Night Cake 🎄

This was a rich fruit cake served on Twelfth Night, the last of three sumptuous feasts celebrated over Christmas in medieval and Tudor times. The cake was richly decorated and mixed in were three essential ingredients – a bean, a pea and a clove 1/2.
Twelfth Night Cake - a circular shaped cake, richly decorated with pink icing and a filigree of white icing in the shapes of princely feathers, thistles, ribbon bows and topped with two golden crowns A painting - artist unknown - of a group of people celebrating Twelfth Night - the centre figure is an older man chosen as King of the Bean, wearing a white paper crown. He is surrounded by men and women and a dog and baby who is sitting on the lap of young mother. Most are seated around a table full of food and wine. Everyone is smiling and laughing.
December 10, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Reposted by Amanda Edmiston, Botanica Fabula
folklorethursday.bsky.social
Hello #FolkloreThursday! Thank you to @botanicafabula.bsky.social for hosting the last hour. This is @mythcrafts.bsky.social for some festive cheer!
Img from Wikipedia: Sinterklaas, the evolutionary link between St Nick and Santa
December 11, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Reposted by Amanda Edmiston, Botanica Fabula
willowwinsham.bsky.social
Perchta from Germanic folklore visits houses during the 12 Days of Christmas. She leaves silver coins for those who have been good, and slits the bellies of those who have not, stuffing them with straw. #FolkloreThursday
Illustration from The Story of Witches by Willow Winsham. Art by Katie Ponder. Showing Perchta, a hooded hag-like figure with long hair and hooked nose. She is holding a sword-like knife and dropping a coin into a shoe. There is a border of candles, stars and snowflakes.
December 11, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Reposted by Amanda Edmiston, Botanica Fabula
folklorethursday.bsky.social
Huge thanks to everyone for an enchanting hour of seasonal festive #folklorethursday stories~This is @botanicafabula.bsky.social off to tell a Yule tale or two~handing over to the wonderful @mythcrafts.bsky.social who will be your next host🌲Pic: The book of Christmas Hervey, Thomas Kibble 1799-1859
December 11, 2025 at 12:02 PM
botanicafabula.bsky.social
Sankta Lucia is this coming Saturday, I love that it celebrates light…and a fearsome witch who leads a procession of supernatural beings~we were also overjoyed to have been able to take in the full magic of Edinburgh Luciakör at Hexham Abbey this week…SO beautiful ✨ #folklorethursday ✨
December 11, 2025 at 11:46 AM
botanicafabula.bsky.social
One of my favourite festive stories to tell #folklorethursday friends is the tale of how the pine tree came to be covered in stars~I share it in my book The Time Traveller’s Herbal~it all begins in the heart of a forest on longest night…

www.botanicafabula.co.uk/time-travell...
December 11, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Reposted by Amanda Edmiston, Botanica Fabula
folklorethursday.bsky.social
The wreath is on the door~Holly offering the fae a safe place to rest~Ivy to prevent too much drunkeness~Pine promising long life~Huge thanks to @willowwinsham.bsky.social for the last festive hour of #folklorethursday this is @botanicafabula.bsky.social here to share your seasonal lore 🌲✨'til 12💫
December 11, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Reposted by Amanda Edmiston, Botanica Fabula
folklorethursday.bsky.social
Thanks for all the fabulous festive lore! @willowwinsham.bsky.social handing over to @botanicafabula.bsky.social now for more winter and festive themed #FolkloreThursday!
Victorian Christmas postcard showing a group of young children pulling the yule log along the ground on a wheeled trolley. Some are sitting on it and some are pulling with ropes.
December 11, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Reposted by Amanda Edmiston, Botanica Fabula
folklorethursday.bsky.social
Thank you @folkloretodmorden.bsky.social ! @willowwinsham.bsky.social here for the next hour of festive-themed #FolkloreThursday!
Black and white picture showing a cat standing on its hind legs dressed in a long dress with fur trim at the bottom. The cat is wearing a hat and has a muff on its front paws. It is pulling a sledge with presents and a wreath on top.
December 11, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Reposted by Amanda Edmiston, Botanica Fabula
folklorethursday.bsky.social
Join us this Thursday (11th December) for the final #FolkloreThursday of the year! Our hosts will share your winter and festive themed folklore at the following times (GMT):
9am-1pm
3.30-4.30pm
6.30-7.30pm
Don't forget to include the hashtag! 🎄☃️🎁❄️
Vintage Christmas postcard showing a Santa-like figure dressed in red robes holding a young boy dressed in blue and with blond hair above an open sack. The boy is shouting. The text Merry Christmas is at the top and there is a background of pine trees and snow.
December 8, 2025 at 5:10 PM
botanicafabula.bsky.social
Dilston Physic Garden is such a magical place+their herbal research even finds its way into my next book~so I’m thrilled to be sharing this special afternoon in the garden in December www.botanicafabula.co.uk/shop-botanic... we will be making tiny nettle paper books and sipping elderberry tea😊💫🌲💚
November 15, 2025 at 8:31 PM
botanicafabula.bsky.social
Really looking forward to this workshop at Dilston Physic Garden in December, ticket price includes free entry into this beautiful unique garden, herbal tisanes and treats 💚🌲💫🍂 www.botanicafabula.co.uk/shop-botanic...
Amanda Edmiston, Botanica Fabula at Dilston Physic Garden, seasonal herbal folklore. — Botanica Fabula
Join herbal storyteller: Amanda Edmiston, Botanica Fabula for an afternoon of herbal infusions, folklore, seasonal stories and a look at the world of The Time Traveller's Herbal.
www.botanicafabula.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Reposted by Amanda Edmiston, Botanica Fabula
folklorethursday.bsky.social
That's the end of another #FolkloreThursday 🐉

Today's theme was the "Folklore of Games and Pastimes!" This is @shanonsinn.bsky.social signing off - your last host today! Wishing you a week full of fun and play 🤩

19th Century circus poster
A 19th Century colour poster shows a man with an arm upraised surrounded by cats doing various tricks and performances, such as slimbing a rope, jumping across bottle tops, and walking a tight rope. A smaller circle of the portion shows a cat ripping through the paper. By this cat is says, Les Chats Savants, which means the clever cats.
November 13, 2025 at 7:32 PM
botanicafabula.bsky.social
Love the innate horror of this…a terrifying rhyme that found its way in #collectedcuriosities my next book …picking up where The Time Traveller’s Herbal drifts off #folklorethursday
November 13, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Reposted by Amanda Edmiston, Botanica Fabula
folklorethursday.bsky.social
Hello #FolkloreThursday and thank you to @botanicafabula.bsky.social for the last hour of Folklore fun. This is @mythcrafts.bsky.social hoping you'll come play with us for the next hour
Img Ring Around the Rosie by Edward Potthast
November 13, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Reposted by Amanda Edmiston, Botanica Fabula
folklorethursday.bsky.social
Peevers? Hopscotch? I wonder how many other names there are for that classic schoolyard game? What do other #folklorethursday fans call it?
November 13, 2025 at 11:22 AM
botanicafabula.bsky.social
Folklore shifts organically-but it’s also lovely to capture treasured moments+traditions~that was one of the aims of the Killin school heritage project I cocreated earlier this year~gathering memories+ games from school days of the 1960’s www.botanicafabula.co.uk/heritage-arc... #folklorethursday
Killin Primary School Heritage Project — Botanica Fabula
ABOUT THE OLD MILL AND KAT The Old Mill is a flagship project for KAT and Killin. The Old Mill itself is a 1840s b-listed building with a working waterwheel, which sits next to the Falls of Dochar...
www.botanicafabula.co.uk
November 13, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Reposted by Amanda Edmiston, Botanica Fabula
folklorethursday.bsky.social
Good morning lovely #folklorethursday friends, huge thanks to @willowwinsham.bsky.social for the last playful hour and for tagging me next! This is @botanicafabula.bsky.social now IT having come in from hunting for a four leaf clover, ready for the next hour of lore around games and pastimes!
November 13, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Reposted by Amanda Edmiston, Botanica Fabula
folklorethursday.bsky.social
Thanks for the fabulous folklore, keep it coming! @willowwinsham.bsky.social handing over to the wonderful @botanicafabula.bsky.social now for more games and pastimes #FolkloreThursday! (Image: Die Schachspiele,
Moritz Retzsch)
Painting showing two figures seated either side of a chess board. An angel stands behind them, watching the game.
November 13, 2025 at 10:59 AM
botanicafabula.bsky.social
Before anyone starts telling you turnips are to hard to carve…

#teamneep #halloween #botanicafabula
October 24, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Reposted by Amanda Edmiston, Botanica Fabula
asls.org.uk
16 Oct is #WorldFoodDay, & THE BOTTLE IMP invites you to an all-you-can-eat literary feast of Scottish literature – from medieval health food to vegetarianism in contemporary fiction, via gender, folklore, oysters, cocktails & more!

May contain nuts.
1/6
www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2024/11/cook...
Cooking the Books - The Bottle Imp
From oats and barley grew the Land o Cakes, a deceptively sweet and fluffy moniker for a place of rough terrain and lashing rain. A thrifty lot, the early Pictish settlers mastered the art of making h...
www.thebottleimp.org.uk
October 16, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Reposted by Amanda Edmiston, Botanica Fabula
asls.org.uk
… @botanicafabula.bsky.social entices us into The Scots Kitchen to explore the legacy of Florence Marian McNeill’s classic cookbook in “Dreaming Bread and Flourishing Folklore” …
4/6
#folklore
www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2024/11/drea...
Dreaming Bread and Flourishing Folklore - The Bottle Imp
‘I’ll do it,’ she said. ‘I’m very happy to have shortbread broken over my head… I can think of worse things.’ The shortbread – dreaming bread – round, encrusted with almonds, fresh out of the tin, bak...
www.thebottleimp.org.uk
October 16, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Reposted by Amanda Edmiston, Botanica Fabula
folklorethursday.bsky.social
That's the end of another #FolkloreThursday 🔥🎃🌙

Today's theme was folklore of Ghosts, Monsters, and All Things Spooky! This is @shanonsinn.bsky.social signing off - your last host today! Wishing you the best Spooktober ever 🍁

1883 Bernard Gillam - Gambling with death
A detail from a colour magazine or newspaper illustration. A man in a top hat is smoking a cigar while seated at a table. A skeletal ghost-like figure in white robes is rolling dice from a cup and standing over the man while pointing to the table, which is shaped like a coffin.
October 2, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Reposted by Amanda Edmiston, Botanica Fabula
folklorethursday.bsky.social
Hello #FolkloreThursday and thank you to @botanicafabula.bsky.social for hosting the last session! This is @mythcrafts.bsky.social for the next hour of spooky folklore. Let's see if you can scare us!!!
Img: Caspar David Friedrich: The Abbey in the Oakwood
October 2, 2025 at 11:03 AM