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theasraidance.bsky.social
Rivka
@theasraidance.bsky.social
1.1K followers 690 following 320 posts
Arts and Magic. Folklore and Fairy Tales. Poetry and Prose. History and Nature. Music and Film. The cosy and the uncanny. The weird and the whimsical.
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theasraidance.bsky.social
'Fruit the Fairies steal away,
Never comes again.'

by Florence Harrison
From 'Elfin Song' 1912
#BookWormSat
Illustration depicting winged fairies carrying away stolen apples from a walled orchard.
November 15, 2025 at 8:01 PM
theasraidance.bsky.social
'Afar from our lawn and our levee,
O sister of sorrowful gaze!
Where the roses in scarlet are heavy
And dream of the end of their days,
You move in another dominion
And hang o'er the historied stone:
Unpruned in your beautiful pinion
Who wander and whisper alone.'
~W.B.Yeats

#BookWormSat
A blue-winged fairy with long, golden hair adorned with a flower crown stands at the edge of a lily pond, her head bowed as she gazes down into the water. She holds a stem of bluebells. In the background, a full moon is seen through tall, thin trees.
November 15, 2025 at 6:09 PM
theasraidance.bsky.social
‘All Souls’ Day’
by Witold Pruszkowski
Painting depicting the ghost of a girl in a graveyard, dressed in white. A small candle flickers beside her. She seems afraid as she looks straight at us, and a light mist swirls around her. Painted in 1888.
November 2, 2025 at 5:35 PM
theasraidance.bsky.social
The Stroll
by Gertrude Abercrombie
#Caturday
Oil painting in the Surrealist style. A woman with long dark hair, wearing black clothes and a black hat, is walking along a path under a full moon. She has just passed by a single tree. She is accompanied by a black cat.
November 1, 2025 at 5:00 PM
theasraidance.bsky.social
🍂November
by Theodore Robinson
Painting of a figure standing in a wood, near a brook. It's autumn, there is a carpet of fallen leaves on the ground. The figure is wearing a long light green cloak, under which the hem of a long dress or skirt is visible.
November 1, 2025 at 2:22 PM
theasraidance.bsky.social
'There is a willow grows aslant a brook,
That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream;
There with fantastic garlands did she come
Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples'
~William Shakespeare

🎨'Ophelia' by Friedrich Heyser
#BookWormSat
Painting depicting the death of Ophelia, a character in Shakespeare's play Hamlet. She is floating on the water in a long white dress, among flowers and foliage.
November 1, 2025 at 1:11 PM
theasraidance.bsky.social
'The Lady Ghost'
by Adelaide Claxton

#PhantomsFriday
Painting depicting a child in a long nightgown, approaching a melancholy lady ghost sitting on a chair. Another child watches from the bed.
October 31, 2025 at 6:52 PM
theasraidance.bsky.social
'The Witch'
by Ida Rentoul Outhwaite
Illustration from 'Fairyland'
Illustration to accompany the verse 'The Witch' by Annie R Rentoul. A witch on a broomstick is poised at the edge of a cliff, ready to fly. There are red toadstools at her feet, their colour matching her shoes and cloak. Bats circle in the sky, and in the background there are more cliffs and a glimpse of the sea.
October 30, 2025 at 6:15 PM
theasraidance.bsky.social
An illustration by Hilda Boswell
for #Caturday
Illustration from 'The Witch's Cat', circa 1955, depicting a witch on a broomstick with her cat among the rooftops. In the background, there is another witch and some flying cats. From a window in one of the houses, someone is watching them.
October 25, 2025 at 6:20 PM
theasraidance.bsky.social
'I am but a shadow, come from the meadow
Where many lie, but no tree can stand.'

From Christina Rossetti's 'The Ghost's Petition'
Illustration by Florence Harrison
#BookWormSat
Illustration from 1910, depicting a Pre-Raphaelite styled woman with red hair. She is sitting on a chair in a wood panelled room. Standing before her is a ghostly figure.
October 25, 2025 at 5:15 PM
theasraidance.bsky.social
Ceridwen
by Christopher Williams
#LegendaryWednesday
Painting of a woman with long dark hair, wearing a dark red dress. Her feet are bare. She sits with her chin resting against her hand and looks straight ahead, as though her eyes are fixed on us.
October 22, 2025 at 5:40 PM
theasraidance.bsky.social
'The Green Masque' by Oswald Birley
A portrait of his wife Rhoda in costume for the Venice Carnival, 1922.

#WyrdWednesday
'The Green Masque' is a 1922 painting by Oswald Birley depicting a young woman in fine, flamboyant Venetian carnival attire, standing against a dark background, holding a green mask in her right hand.
October 22, 2025 at 1:26 PM
theasraidance.bsky.social
'Listen…
With faint dry sound,
Like steps of passing ghosts,
The leaves, frost-crisp’d, break from the trees
And fall.'
~Adelaide Crapsey

🎨Sulamith Wülfing
#BookwormSat
Delicate illustration of an ethereal, ghostly figure watching an autumn leaf fall. There are also three trees, two either side and one in the background.
October 18, 2025 at 3:15 PM
theasraidance.bsky.social
🍂Autumn
by Stanislaus S. Longley
Watercolour depicting a woman dressed in classical style, flowing green robes, accompanied by two young deer. A single leaf flutters down from an autumnal tree, some leaves have already fallen to the ground. A blue sky, with clouds, fills much of the background.
October 8, 2025 at 6:40 PM
theasraidance.bsky.social
Psyche and Cerberus
by Edmund Dulac
#WyrdWednesday
Illustration depicting Psyche encountering Cerberus, the guardian of the underworld, a three headed dog with fiery eyes and snakes on his back. Psyche is clutching the honey cakes that she has brought to throw to Cerberus as a distraction.
October 8, 2025 at 3:32 PM
theasraidance.bsky.social
"There are no ordinary cats."
~Colette

🎨Auguste Danse
#BookWormSat
#Caturday
19th century etching/engraving depicting a woman with long dark hair, wearing a long, sleeveless dress. She is seated, and a black cat sits on her shoulder.
October 4, 2025 at 5:35 PM
theasraidance.bsky.social
🦋 Queen Mab for #WyrdWednesday

'Her Chariot ready straight is made'
Illustration by Thomas Maybank (1906)
Frontispiece, 'Nymphidia, the Court of Faerie'
by Michael Drayton, first published in 1627.
Painting of a dark forest under a full moon. A fairy queen all in white approaches her carriage, accompanied by fairy creatures and insects.
September 17, 2025 at 11:10 AM
theasraidance.bsky.social
Illustrator Adelaide Claxton is best known for her artwork depicting ghosts and dreams, but she was also an inventor. During the 1890s, she registered several patents under her married name, Adelaide Sophia Turner, including the 'Armpit-Crutch for Bed-Rests and Chair-Backs'.
#WyrdWednesday
'The Lady Ghost' by Adelaide Claxton. Painting depicting a child in a long nightgown, approaching a melancholy lady ghost sitting on a chair. Another child watches from the bed. Sepia portrait of Adelaide Claxton in profile. John & Charles Watkins studios, 1860.
September 3, 2025 at 12:30 PM
theasraidance.bsky.social
Allegory of the month of September
by Gaspar Camps
Art Nouveau artwork depicting a woman in a pink flowing gown, seated amid vines that appear to adorn her clothing and hair. She is smiling and holding a goblet. There is a border decorated with vine leaves, and 'Septiembre' is written at the top right in decorative letters.
September 1, 2025 at 4:15 PM
theasraidance.bsky.social
The Queen
by Gertrude Abercrombie
for #OwlishMonday
An example of the surreal, enigmatic, dreamlike art of Gertrude Abercrombie. 'The Queen' depicts a woman with long dark hair, wearing a blue gown with a long train, and a crown. She carries a sceptre/wand. She is standing in a bare room with a dark red floor, her gaze turned towards us. Perched on a ledge behind her is an owl, who holds up the end of the train in its beak.
August 25, 2025 at 1:45 PM
theasraidance.bsky.social
🌙'By thy pale beams I solitary rove,
To thee my tender grief confide;
Serenely sweet you gild the silent grove,
My friend, my goddess, and my guide.'
~Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

🎨 The Fairy of the Moon
by Hermann Kaulbach
#bookologythursday
Late 19th century painting depicting an elegant figure sitting on a crescent moon. She has long dark hair and wears a thin golden headdress with a single star-like sparkle at the front. She is draped in flowing, shimmering robes that trail sparkling stardust. Painted circa 1891.
August 7, 2025 at 4:30 PM
theasraidance.bsky.social
Fairy
Illustration by C.E.Brock
#OwlishMonday
Illustration depicting a winged fairy in a long gown, sitting on a ledge in what looks to be a mountainous landscape. An owl perches on a ledge just above her. The fairy seems to be calling out, with her hands cupping her mouth.
August 4, 2025 at 1:15 PM
theasraidance.bsky.social
Resting in the Woods (Girl under a Tree)
by John George Brown
Painting of a girl sitting under a tree with dappled sunlight filtering through its leaves. She is wearing a dark pink dress and a ribbon in her hair, and her straw hat is beside her on the ground. Painted in 1866.
August 1, 2025 at 5:36 PM
theasraidance.bsky.social
'Down she came and found a boat
Beneath a willow left afloat,
And round about the prow she wrote
The Lady of Shalott'
~Tennyson

🎨John William Waterhouse
#LegendaryWednesday
Painting in the Pre-Raphaelite style, depicting the lady of Shalott sitting in her boat, at the start of her journey to Camelot. Painted in 1888.
July 30, 2025 at 12:16 PM
theasraidance.bsky.social
"There will come a time when it isn't 'They're spying on me through my phone' anymore. Eventually, it will be 'My phone is spying on me'."
~Philip K. Dick

🎨Gerrit A. Beneker
#WyrdWednesday
Half length portrait of a 1920s telephone operator, a serious, dark haired young woman in a light coloured dress, wearing a vintage headset and mouthpiece. Painted in 1921.
July 30, 2025 at 10:40 AM