Belief in magic and particularly the power of witchcraft was once a deep and enduring presence in popular culture; people created and concealed many objects to protect themselves from harmful magic. Brian Hoggard's book, Magical House Protection examines the principal forms of protection in Britain and beyond from the fourteenth century to the present day. Witch-bottles, dried cats, horse skulls, written charms, protection marks and concealed shoes were all used widely as methods of repelling, diverting or trapping negative energies. Many of these practices and symbols can be found around the globe, demonstrating the universal nature of efforts by people to protect themselves from witchcraft.In this episode of The Folklore Podcast, Brian discusses at length both the contents of the book and his extensive research project which has accumulated over 2,000 examples since it started in 1999.
Episode 93: BERNIE'S MITTENS
BOOK CLUB 04: A Natural History of Ghosts
Episode 92: OLD NORSE MUSIC
BOOK CLUB 03: Medieval Folk Tales for Children
Episode 91: CURSED BRITAIN
BOOK CLUB 02: Lanny
Episode 90: YEAR WALK
Episode 89: FOLK SONG (AND BAGPUSS TOO!)
BOOK CLUB 01: Forest Folk Tales for Children
Episode 88: THE OXENHAM OMEN
Episode 87: Working & Writing with Japanese Folklore
Bonus Episode: The Diary of Mr Poynter
Episode 86: JOANNE HARRIS: ORFEIA
Episode 85: THE MAB
Episode 84: THE LOST SOUL ATLAS
Episode 83: ALL ABOUT UFOs
Episode 82: GHOST DAYS
Episode 81: FOLK-A-PA-LORE-ZA PART 2
Episode 80: FOLK-A-PA-LORE-ZA Part 1
Episode 79: THE HARP IN FOLKLORE
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