Joanna Tarnawska is an animist, folkloric witch, and psychologist residing in the mountains of Lower Silesia, Poland. Her practice intertwines animism, bioregional traditions, and lore, drawing inspiration from the early modern period of Polish witch trials and Slavic folklore. With a strong foundation in anthropology and ethnography, Joanna's work explores the deep connections between pre- and post-Christian folklore and witchcraft traditions. She contributes articles to Femme Occulte magazine and runs "Polish Folk Witch," a platform where she shares her knowledge through courses and group studies on Polish folk magic, animism, and traditional witchcraft.

In this chat, we talk about folk magic compared to witchcraft, the presence of Christian elements within Polish folk magic, spring rituals within Polish practice, and just how accessible and practical folk magic can be.

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Find Joanna online: https://polishfolkwitch.pl/

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Back in November 2020, I explored the folklore of the yew tree; specifically, the common yew, or English yew (Taxus baccata).

Yes, it's a poisonous tree. Yes, it's linked with death. And yes, people like to say they pre-date the churchyards in which we find them.

But in the intervening six years, my library of sources has grown, so I wanted to see if there was anything more I could learn about them. They're my favourite tree, and I always love spotting them in parks and cemeteries. There's something deeply restful and reassuring about a yew tree.

My fascination with trees within ecosystems has also grown, so I wanted to explore the yew outside of folklore. How and why are these trees so cool and so different from other trees?

So let's explore their dendrology, their uses to humans, and yes, their links with death, before we meet some more famous yews in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore!

Find the blog post with all the images and references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/yew-trees/

Listen to the earlier yew episode: https://www.icysedgwick.com/yew/

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595

Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/

Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick

Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore

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Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7

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Periodically, I choose a plant, tree or fungus to explore, only to find there is very little folklore about them. Invariably, there are two reasons for this. First, the plant, tree or fungus has little use to humans, so no one bothered much with it in the past. This sometimes applies to toxic specimens, too. You don't need to preserve knowledge about something you know to avoid, so there's no lore to pass on.

Second, the plant, tree or fungus only arrived in the UK (or Europe) within the last couple of centuries. Again, this often results in sparse lore about them, much as we see with the horse chestnut or sycamore.

I ran into this exact problem with the London Plane tree. I'd seen one featured in a 3-part documentary about trees, narrated by Michael Palin, on Cheapside in London. Having gone to meet it myself on a trip to the capital, I announced I'd be starting this month's Tree theme with the London Plane.

And then I discovered how little folklore there actually is about them. Still, how they came about proves to be an interesting story on its own. The tale of the Cheapside Plane is worth exploring too. So while we've got less folklore than usual, there are still stories to tell.

Let's go to meet the London Plane in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore!

Find the blog post with all the images and references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/london-plane/

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595

Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/

Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick

Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore

Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop

Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7

Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick

Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social

'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/