Okay so for context I developed “runner’s toe” (look it up at your own risk) in both my big toes in January, and ever since then I’ve had an absolutely TERRIBLE string of bad luck. I’m talking breaking my hand, losing my job, experiencing my most devastating heartbreak to date, an overwhelming feeling of depression, family conflicts, and lots of illness. I can’t help but feel it’s tied to my toenails, particularly since now that my nails have begun fully growing back, the bad luck is seeming to subside. But I also get hit in the face every time I think that this year, so I’m staying vigilant.

I'm making a game where characters using elemental magic can take on forms of monsters tied to those magics, as well as their regions of origin.

So far, I have a Wulvur for the northern Scottish representative character, who, aside from using pyrokinensis, has heightened instincts and combat prowess. The other things i'm looking for are as follows

Mexico(specifically historically Aztec controlled regions), florakinesis

Northern Greece, Water and/or Ice

Egypt, earth and metal

Scotland, illusions/fear manipulation

Scotland, music and sound

Japan, Lightning

Japan, Wind

I'll probably come up with other characters later, but these are what i'm trying to find suggestions for.

Disclosure: I worked on the digital side of a film about this, so I have a stake.

Wanted to talk about bokshi belief itself, because it's more interesting than most Western witch traditions and gets very little discussion here.

A bokshi (बोक्सी) in Nepali folk belief isn't a hag in a forest - she's your neighbour. The accusation is the thing. Illness in a family, a child who doesn't thrive, livestock dying: someone nearby is named, almost always a woman, often widowed, poor, or without male relatives to speak for her. A dhami-jhankri is frequently the one who confirms it. The supernatural claim and the social mechanism are inseparable.

And it isn't a closed historical chapter. Witch accusations still lead to real violence against women in Nepal and across the border - documented, prosecuted, present-day. The folklore sits in an uncomfortable place: a living belief with living victims, not a safely dead story.

The part I actually want to share with this sub:

Rather than making a website about the film, we made the object the folklore describes.

cultofbokshi.com opens on a red book lying in the dark. You tap it and it opens - actual pages, the real handmade paper and the real ink drawings, scanned. Before it lets you go further it warns you, in the scholar's own hand: "Read at your own peril." You have to choose to continue. You can also refuse, and it closes.

That threshold is the whole point, and it's borrowed straight from the tradition rather than invented. The recurring rule in this kind of belief is that the harm requires your participation - you have to open it, say it, look at it, invite it in. Curiosity is the mechanism. So the site refuses to show you anything you haven't deliberately asked for.

Somewhere in there is a manuscript that isn't linked from any menu: an illustrated account written as the field notes of a scholar who went into a forest people don't enter, found stones with symbols nobody living remembers, and started dreaming things he then drew. It's presented as a recovered document, not as marketing - no logo, no release date, no call to action. Pure found-object.

I'm genuinely more interested in what this sub makes of that approach than in the film's box office. Two questions:

1. When a living belief still harms real people, does horror storytelling clarify it or launder it? Any adaptations of *active* folk traditions you'd point to as done responsibly?

2. Is the "found manuscript" framing still legible to people, or has the internet exhausted it? Blair Witch and House of Leaves worked because the artifact could pass as real. I'm not sure a website can ever do that now.

Film context, since it'll be asked: Bokshi, dir. Bhargav Saikia, shot in Sikkim, in cinemas 9 October.

Trailer, if useful for context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU4hlB0ZdOE

🐺🐺🐺 cross posting for visibility! Thank you!

*Edit: open to broader books on the subject of mythology that include werewolves too!

Anyone grow up near Rock Creek Park in Washington, DC in the 70s and 80s and know about any entity called “The Storyteller”? Mentioned in this Washington Post article, it no details.

I am talking about books only about the monsters and their stories, not all the mythology

Bit of a random one, but I thought this would probably be one of the best places to ask.

I’m currently making an indie game heavily inspired by medieval Wales, Welsh history and folklore, and I’ve been trying to add real stories/people into the world rather than just making everything generic medieval fantasy.

For example, I’ve got an area inspired by the story of Gelert and Beddgelert, including Gelert’s grave and Prince Llywelyn, and I’ve recently been looking at William Morgan, who produced the first complete translation of the Bible into Welsh. I’m thinking of having his story represented through an abandoned farmhouse, notes/books and NPC dialogue rather than making it some massive quest.

There’s quite a lot of this kind of stuff I’d like scattered around the world – little stories, ruins, graves, characters, local legends etc that you might completely miss if you’re just playing through normally.

The problem is there’s obviously a ridiculous amount of Welsh history and folklore, and I’m sure there are loads of stories I’ve never even heard of.

So I thought I’d ask here – is there anything from Welsh history, mythology or local folklore you think would be really cool to come across in a game?

Could be absolutely anything really. People, battles, creepy stories, myths, abandoned places, local legends, creatures, weird bits of history that hardly anyone talks about etc.

I’m especially interested in the lesser-known local stuff rather than just the really obvious ones like Owain Glyndŵr.

The game is still in development, but if anyone wants to see what I’m actually making, I’ll leave the Steam page here:

Beyond The Gate on Steam

Would genuinely love to hear some suggestions because I’ll probably end up going down a massive Wikipedia rabbit hole from the replies 😂

Diolch!

Ive been trying to educate myself on the rich culture and history of the Māori but I worry about the source for what is available online. Please correct me if this is wrong, but as I understand it mākutu is like magic? Certain ceremonies and rituals can be performed to enhance or call upon one's mana to manifest positive (or sometimes negative) results into the world?

As i tried to learn more I read that when colonizers heard about mākutu they put a typical whitewash lens over it and disrespectfully simplified it as being "witchcraft". As 'Ive tried looking more into stories and anecdotes describing tohunga and the customs and practices they perform I stumbled on a story that I found very interesting about Kiki and Tāmure.

This is where I start to have questions on the legitimacy of sources online. The references I've found to these two individuals refer to them as "wizards" or "sorcerers" and other similar terms.

Is this story about Kiki and Tāmure an authentic legend? Were these two people considered tohunga? I'm keen to be able to learn Māori tales and beliefs but want to make sure I'm not getting bastardised versions of what I read.

I apologize in advance for any ignorance on what I've written above, and my lack of ubderstanding is what brought me here with my questions. If there are any reliable sources that someone could point me to, I woukd be grateful.

Hi everyone, strange question. Has anyone heard other versions of the story of a dead mother who tries to find milk for her baby (mistakenly buried alive with her)? We told an Appalachian version of it but it feels like one of those tales that came from elsewhere. We're about to post a similar story and I'd like to mention some sources. Let me know if you know!

I've been trying to do some research into the older, pagan/polytheistic roots of Saint Lucy's Day before it became associated with the Saint and Christianity. I've found a connection with a wight known as Lussi, that the original celebration stemmed from appeasing her then morphed into Saint Lucy's Day. The main source for this claim I can find: https://www.norwegianamerican.com/on-the-darkest-day-a-tale-of-two-lucys/ is from 2015.

Does any one know of any other stories of this "Lussi"?

just need some knowledge about how some of the tales go, preferably a summary

What do you think of the tales of Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, the famous German folklorists who preserved much of German folklore? It’s tales of the forest surely but it’s more than that. As compared to other European folkore like King Arthur, Perrault etc it seems oddly Democratic. Like the main characters are poor people: tailors, abused animals, young women struggling to avoid horrible arranged

I'm undergoing some research into how the industry of flax has impacted communities and culture. Does anyone know of any stories, songs, poems etc realted to flax? It could mention the plant, the seed (linseed) the growing of the plant, processing through retting, combing or spinning, linen, or other many uses of flax.

TIA

Hi reddit,

this is a repost since I'm trying to see which communities can help me ^^

I'm working on an art book that features different mythical creatures from different parts of the world in an LGBTQ+ interpretation, and I of course fell in love with the Sarangay. Since I'm trying to use region/period accurate clothing for the characters, I was thinking of depicting the human lover of the Sarangay wearing a Barong Tagalog, but I'm stumped for the Sarangay itself. It makes sense for me to depict it with some form of traditional tribal clothing since he would still live in a more natural habitat, but I wouldn't know which region of the Philippine would make more sense to take inspo from?

I'm open to all comments and thoughts, thank you so much in advance!

Please join me in exploring my latest painting....