Crystal Ponti
@crystalponti.bsky.social
A freelance writer exploring the intersection of history and folklore. Bylines: The History Channel, The New York Times, BBC, etc. Also @HistoriumU (Historium Unearthia); Grieving mom of Adam.
muckrack.com/crystal-ponti
muckrack.com/crystal-ponti
The Russian Snow Maiden, Snegurochka, is born of frost and longing. She shines in winter light but melts at the first touch of true love. Some crowns are made to vanish. #FolkyFriday
November 28, 2025 at 2:10 PM
The Russian Snow Maiden, Snegurochka, is born of frost and longing. She shines in winter light but melts at the first touch of true love. Some crowns are made to vanish. #FolkyFriday
Skadi, the Norse goddess of winter and the hunt, chose her husband by his feet alone and claimed the mountains as her kingdom. Ice queens in myth rarely need permission. They take the cold and make it sovereign. #FolkyFriday
Art: Studio Yasja
Art: Studio Yasja
November 28, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Skadi, the Norse goddess of winter and the hunt, chose her husband by his feet alone and claimed the mountains as her kingdom. Ice queens in myth rarely need permission. They take the cold and make it sovereign. #FolkyFriday
Art: Studio Yasja
Art: Studio Yasja
In English superstition, if a bird enters a house through the door and leaves through the window, news will follow. What kind of news depends on the bird. #LegendaryWednesday
November 26, 2025 at 10:33 PM
In English superstition, if a bird enters a house through the door and leaves through the window, news will follow. What kind of news depends on the bird. #LegendaryWednesday
Feathers were once sewn into clothing not for beauty but for power. Each carried the spirit of flight, speed, vigilance, or protection. #LegendaryWednesday
Art: Marcia Baldwin
Art: Marcia Baldwin
November 26, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Feathers were once sewn into clothing not for beauty but for power. Each carried the spirit of flight, speed, vigilance, or protection. #LegendaryWednesday
Art: Marcia Baldwin
Art: Marcia Baldwin
Bird watching was ritual long before hobby. People once rose before dawn to greet the first singer of the day and judge the mood of the world by its song. #LegendaryWednesday
Art: Ditz
Art: Ditz
November 26, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Bird watching was ritual long before hobby. People once rose before dawn to greet the first singer of the day and judge the mood of the world by its song. #LegendaryWednesday
Art: Ditz
Art: Ditz
In Slavic lore, villagers left bread and milk at forest shrines so the Leshy would not steal their children. Every offering was a bargaining chip with terror. #WyrdWednesday
November 26, 2025 at 5:33 PM
In Slavic lore, villagers left bread and milk at forest shrines so the Leshy would not steal their children. Every offering was a bargaining chip with terror. #WyrdWednesday
Crows remember faces for lifetimes and carry those memories through generations. Folklore called them messengers of fate. Science now quietly agrees. #LegendaryWednesday
Art: Ralph Macdonald
Art: Ralph Macdonald
November 26, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Crows remember faces for lifetimes and carry those memories through generations. Folklore called them messengers of fate. Science now quietly agrees. #LegendaryWednesday
Art: Ralph Macdonald
Art: Ralph Macdonald
Firefighters entering collapsing towers on September 11 knew they were unlikely to return. Modern sacrifice still walks into flame without myth to soften it. #WyrdWednesday
Art: O'Neill Art Gallery
Art: O'Neill Art Gallery
November 26, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Firefighters entering collapsing towers on September 11 knew they were unlikely to return. Modern sacrifice still walks into flame without myth to soften it. #WyrdWednesday
Art: O'Neill Art Gallery
Art: O'Neill Art Gallery
Owls have been blamed and blessed in equal measure. To the Greeks they were wisdom perched in silence. To medieval villages they were death’s courier on soft wings. Same bird, different fear. #LegendaryWednesday
Art: The Colorful Art Studio
Art: The Colorful Art Studio
November 26, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Owls have been blamed and blessed in equal measure. To the Greeks they were wisdom perched in silence. To medieval villages they were death’s courier on soft wings. Same bird, different fear. #LegendaryWednesday
Art: The Colorful Art Studio
Art: The Colorful Art Studio
In ancient Greece, Iphigenia stood at the altar so the winds might rise and carry her people to war. Myth asks the hardest question again and again. Who must be given so others may go on? #WyrdWednesday
November 26, 2025 at 1:33 PM
In ancient Greece, Iphigenia stood at the altar so the winds might rise and carry her people to war. Myth asks the hardest question again and again. Who must be given so others may go on? #WyrdWednesday
The rooster has crowed at more than dawn. In folklore, its call drives away ghosts, witches, and wandering spirits who cannot survive the sound of morning truth. #LegendaryWednesday
Art: Dottie Dracos
Art: Dottie Dracos
November 26, 2025 at 12:45 PM
The rooster has crowed at more than dawn. In folklore, its call drives away ghosts, witches, and wandering spirits who cannot survive the sound of morning truth. #LegendaryWednesday
Art: Dottie Dracos
Art: Dottie Dracos
Spiced pears were a Victorian Thanksgiving favorite, simmered in wine, sugar, and cloves until the fruit shone ruby red. Folklore said red pears kept mischief away from the feast. #FairyTaleTuesday
November 25, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Spiced pears were a Victorian Thanksgiving favorite, simmered in wine, sugar, and cloves until the fruit shone ruby red. Folklore said red pears kept mischief away from the feast. #FairyTaleTuesday
Old Pennsylvania Dutch families baked shoofly pie for Thanksgiving breakfast. Sweet molasses crumble meant the day began with luck and ended with full bellies. #FairyTaleTuesday
November 25, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Old Pennsylvania Dutch families baked shoofly pie for Thanksgiving breakfast. Sweet molasses crumble meant the day began with luck and ended with full bellies. #FairyTaleTuesday
Thanksgiving feasts in old cookbooks included oyster stuffing, suet puddings, mulled cider, and “snow pudding"... a dessert so delicate it dissolved like fairy breath on the tongue. #FairyTaleTuesday
November 25, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Thanksgiving feasts in old cookbooks included oyster stuffing, suet puddings, mulled cider, and “snow pudding"... a dessert so delicate it dissolved like fairy breath on the tongue. #FairyTaleTuesday
Vintage pumpkin pies were often topped with pastry leaves, curls, and initials. Bakers treated dessert like heraldry, each pie a family crest of butter and spice. #FairyTaleTuesday
November 25, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Vintage pumpkin pies were often topped with pastry leaves, curls, and initials. Bakers treated dessert like heraldry, each pie a family crest of butter and spice. #FairyTaleTuesday
Early 1900s postcards often showed turkeys marching proudly into town… completely unaware they were the guest of honor and the entrée. A bold bird is a bird that never read the menu. #FairyTaleTuesday
November 25, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Early 1900s postcards often showed turkeys marching proudly into town… completely unaware they were the guest of honor and the entrée. A bold bird is a bird that never read the menu. #FairyTaleTuesday
Vintage Thanksgiving postcards were wild. Turkeys drove cars, pumpkins wore hats, and children rode giant wishbones like steeds. Victorian illustrators clearly believed holiday magic needed zero explanation. #FairyTaleTuesday
November 25, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Vintage Thanksgiving postcards were wild. Turkeys drove cars, pumpkins wore hats, and children rode giant wishbones like steeds. Victorian illustrators clearly believed holiday magic needed zero explanation. #FairyTaleTuesday
In many old tales, fire was a stolen gift, too bright, too sacred to be handed over freely. Prometheus stole it. Maui snatched it. Humans survived because someone broke the rules. Some warmth is worth the trouble. #MythologyMonday
November 24, 2025 at 1:46 PM
In many old tales, fire was a stolen gift, too bright, too sacred to be handed over freely. Prometheus stole it. Maui snatched it. Humans survived because someone broke the rules. Some warmth is worth the trouble. #MythologyMonday
Witches in Scottish legend gained their power from winter winds. They gathered storms in their aprons, released tempests with a twist of the wrist, and rode the ragged edge of November’s first frost. #FolkloreSunday
November 23, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Witches in Scottish legend gained their power from winter winds. They gathered storms in their aprons, released tempests with a twist of the wrist, and rode the ragged edge of November’s first frost. #FolkloreSunday
In old Celtic lore, the dark half of the year belonged to the fairies; not the delicate kind, but the ones who walked in mist and stole voices, memories, and travelers who strayed too close to the path between dusk and night. #FolkloreSunday
Art: Mon Jones
Art: Mon Jones
November 23, 2025 at 12:16 PM
In old Celtic lore, the dark half of the year belonged to the fairies; not the delicate kind, but the ones who walked in mist and stole voices, memories, and travelers who strayed too close to the path between dusk and night. #FolkloreSunday
Art: Mon Jones
Art: Mon Jones
The best rural writing understands that the land keeps score. Storms, droughts, and harvests all leave marks on families, shaping identity in ways city skylines never do. #BookWormSat
Art: Elaine Plesser
Art: Elaine Plesser
November 22, 2025 at 10:22 PM
The best rural writing understands that the land keeps score. Storms, droughts, and harvests all leave marks on families, shaping identity in ways city skylines never do. #BookWormSat
Art: Elaine Plesser
Art: Elaine Plesser
Rural mysteries thrive on isolation. When everyone knows everyone, secrets must hide in plain sight... in barns, in abandoned schoolhouses, in the woods behind someone’s childhood home. #BookWormSat
Art: Joni Monroe
Art: Joni Monroe
November 22, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Rural mysteries thrive on isolation. When everyone knows everyone, secrets must hide in plain sight... in barns, in abandoned schoolhouses, in the woods behind someone’s childhood home. #BookWormSat
Art: Joni Monroe
Art: Joni Monroe
In poetry, rural imagery becomes spiritual shorthand. A single hayfield at dawn can speak more truth than an entire city block. #BookWormSat
Art: Marti Bailey
Art: Marti Bailey
November 22, 2025 at 6:33 PM
In poetry, rural imagery becomes spiritual shorthand. A single hayfield at dawn can speak more truth than an entire city block. #BookWormSat
Art: Marti Bailey
Art: Marti Bailey
In children’s literature, the countryside is often a doorway to wonder. Think of Anne of Green Gables, where meadows become imagination’s playground and every tree has a personality. #BookWormSat
Art: David Lloyd Glover
Art: David Lloyd Glover
November 22, 2025 at 4:33 PM
In children’s literature, the countryside is often a doorway to wonder. Think of Anne of Green Gables, where meadows become imagination’s playground and every tree has a personality. #BookWormSat
Art: David Lloyd Glover
Art: David Lloyd Glover
Rural stories remind readers that communities survive by interdependence. You learn who brings soup when someone falls ill, who plows the road after a storm, and who shows up even when you don’t ask. #BookWormSat
Art: Buffalo Games
Art: Buffalo Games
November 22, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Rural stories remind readers that communities survive by interdependence. You learn who brings soup when someone falls ill, who plows the road after a storm, and who shows up even when you don’t ask. #BookWormSat
Art: Buffalo Games
Art: Buffalo Games