Sarah Nour
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sarahnour.bsky.social
Sarah Nour
@sarahnour.bsky.social
🇱🇧 It's pronounced SAHR-uh (she/her)
🧠 AuDHD ✍ writer 🖌occasional painter 📷 amateur wildlife photographer 🐱 cat mama 🌺 vegan
🔗 http://www.sarahnourwriter.com/
In Japanese folklore, Yuki-Onna (meaning "snow woman") are the inhumanly beautiful spirits of women who froze to death in winter. They create blizzards and lead winter travelers astray to their deaths. Sometimes they seduce men and kill them with kisses that freeze them solid. #FolkyFriday
November 28, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Scottish goddess Beira, Queen of Winter, appears as a blue-skinned crone carrying a magical staff that freezes the ground and a hammer for shaping hills and valleys. Her seasonal reign begins at Samhain and ends at Beltane, when she drinks from the Well of Youth to become young again. #FolkyFriday
November 28, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Skadi, the Norse winter goddess associated with skiing and bowhunting, lives in the coldest mountain regions where the snow never melts. Her brief marriage to the sea god Njord ends in divorce, as he wishes to remain near the sea and she refuses to leave the snowy mountains. #FolkyFriday
November 28, 2025 at 2:55 PM
"At one time most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them... Though I've grown old, the bell still rings for me as it does for all who truly believe."

—The Polar Express, Chris Van Allsburg

#BookologyThursday
November 27, 2025 at 2:24 AM
"[There] was no time now for Grandmother to tell how the trees kneel at Christmas. The family was too busy trimming the tree... They put on plastic camels. Grandmother liked those; they reminded her of Lebanon."

—The Trees Kneel at Christmas, Maud Hart Lovelace

#BookologyThursday
November 27, 2025 at 2:23 AM
"Years passed by, and the Fairy Ernestine did not return. The count continued to grieve. Every Christmas Eve he set up a lighted tree in the room where he had first met the Fairy, hoping in vain that she would return to him."

—The Christmas Fairy of Strasburg, Frances Olcott

#BookologyThursday
November 27, 2025 at 2:22 AM
Vucub-Caquix—meaning Seven Macaw—is a bird demon in Kʼicheʼ Mayan myth, described as wearing metal ornaments in his wings and false teeth made out of gemstones. He's defeated by the Hero Twins, who remove his ornaments and replace his gemstone teeth with white corn. #LegendaryWednesday
November 26, 2025 at 3:32 AM
In the Portuguese legend "The Rooster of Barcelos," a falsely accused man is brought before a judge during a banquet. Seeing a roasted rooster, the man says, "It's as certain I'm innocent as that rooster will crow." The rooster comes alive and crows, so the man's life is spared. #LegendaryWednesday
November 26, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Albatrosses are large seabirds believed to carry the souls of dead sailors. Seafarers once saw them as good omens and benevolent guides through voyages. Killing an albatross is akin to killing a fellow sailor, and results in bad luck for the crew and ship. #LegendaryWednesday
November 26, 2025 at 3:28 AM
In the Kwanzaa tale "The Collared Crow," a poor, childless couple is approached by a white-collared crow, who persuades them to give away their last seeds to a hungry flock of birds. The couple is rewarded for their generosity with eight children. #WyrdWednesday
November 26, 2025 at 3:25 AM
The Hawaiian volcano goddess Pele tests the generosity of humans by shapeshifting into an old beggar woman or a beautiful young hitchhiker. Those kind enough to help a stranger are rewarded, while those who aren't get their homes or possessions destroyed. #WyrdWednesday
November 26, 2025 at 3:24 AM
"The Wooden Shoes of Little Wolff" (1880) by François Coppée is about a boy deprived of warm clothes by his abusive aunt. On Christmas Eve, he gives one of his shoes to a homeless child, and wakes up the next morning to find toys, riches, and sugar plums left for him. #WyrdWednesday
November 26, 2025 at 3:24 AM
In the Syrian tale "The Woodcutter's Wealthy Sister," a poor woodcutter is tricked by a rich woman who claims she's his long-lost sister. She lures him into her luxurious home with a feast of lamb, then reveals herself as a ghoul and devours him. #FairyTaleTuesday
November 25, 2025 at 4:23 AM
Hans Christian Anderson's tale "The Little Match Girl" is about a poor girl trying to sell matches on the streets on New Year's Eve. Huddled in an alley, she lights the matches to keep warm and sees images in the fire of a warm home, a feast, and a Christmas tree. #FairyTaleTuesday
November 25, 2025 at 4:22 AM
In the Lebanese tale "Seven Cauldrons Bubbling," a man murders two wives for disapproving of his stingy lifestyle. His third wife pretends to be content, then defies him by preparing an extravagant feast. He sees seven cauldrons bubbling in the kitchen and dies of a heart attack. #FairyTaleTuesday
November 25, 2025 at 4:21 AM
Zabib, the Canaanite fire goddess, is an enemy of Ba'al, the storm god, as he nourishes the earth while she causes drought. Though the name Zabib means flame, in Ugaritic it's spelled Zebub, which means fly, a creature symbolic of a warrior's tenacity. #MythologyMonday
November 24, 2025 at 3:21 AM
Ishat the Fiery, the Bitch of the Gods, is the Phoenician goddess of fire, daughter of El, and servant of Mot, the god of death. She represents the burning heat of summer that causes crops to wither and die. She's slain by the goddess Anat in The Epic of Ba'al. #MythologyMonday
November 24, 2025 at 3:18 AM
In the Ba'al Cycle, Anat—West Semitic goddess of love and war—reduces Mot, god of death, to ash.

"With a sword She cleaves Him,
With a pitchfork She winnows Him,
With a fire She burns Him,
In the millstones She grinds Him,
In the fields She plants Him..."

#MythologyMonday
November 24, 2025 at 3:17 AM
November 21, 2025 at 11:54 PM
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November 21, 2025 at 11:51 PM
As a HubPages writer, I am FURIOUS 🤬
November 14, 2025 at 1:26 AM
According to legend, a French merchant stole the Hope Diamond from a Hindu idol and sold it to King Louis XIV in 1669. Now in a museum, the diamond is believed to be cursed, as past owners have died by murder, suicide, torture, lynching, or decapitation. #WyrdWednesday
November 12, 2025 at 5:41 PM