uNCOMMONOLOGY bLOG cATEGORY
Human beings have always found ways to explain uncertainty, invite good fortune and keep unwanted things at bay. This category explores the customs, charms, rituals, omens and inherited beliefs that have travelled through communities and across generations.
Some were taken completely seriously; others survived simply because nobody quite wanted to risk ignoring them. From concealed objects and protective plants to lucky signs and peculiar traditions, this is where belief becomes part of everyday life.
At the end of harvest, the final handful of grain was once anything but ordinary. In parts of Britain it was cut ceremonially, decorated, carried home, hung indoors and sometimes kept until Christmas. The last sheaf had a surprisingly long life after leaving the field.
For centuries, people wore fossilised fish teeth in rings because they believed the stones had grown inside the heads of toads. Known as toadstones, these peculiar jewels were credited with detecting poison, curing bites and protecting their owners from an alarming variety of illnesses.
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