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blueheartbooks · 4 months

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"Enchanting Shadows: A Deep Dive into Washington Irving's 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'"

Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a timeless masterpiece that transcends the boundaries of time, haunting readers with its eerie charm and lingering suspense. Set in the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town, this short story weaves a captivating tapestry of folklore, romance, and the supernatural.

Irving's narrative introduces us to the lanky and superstitious schoolteacher, Ichabod Crane, whose arrival in Sleepy Hollow marks the beginning of a series of strange and unexplainable events. As Ichabod becomes enamored with Katrina Van Tassel, the beautiful daughter of a wealthy farmer, he also becomes entangled with the ghostly legend of the Headless Horseman.

The author's prose is a delightful dance between wit and suspense, creating an atmosphere that immerses readers in the mysterious allure of Sleepy Hollow. The vivid descriptions of the haunting landscape, the looming trees, and the foreboding bridge serve as a backdrop to the unfolding drama. Irving masterfully crafts an ambiance that lingers long after the last page is turned.

One of the story's triumphs lies in its rich characterization. Ichabod Crane is not just a schoolteacher; he embodies the universal fear of the unknown. His skepticism clashes with the villagers' deep-rooted beliefs, reflecting the tension between reason and superstition. The enigmatic Katrina Van Tassel adds an element of romantic intrigue, her allure casting a spell over both Ichabod and the reader.

At the heart of the tale is the infamous Headless Horseman, a specter that has become an iconic figure in American literature. Irving expertly blurs the lines between reality and folklore, leaving readers questioning the very fabric of the story. The suspense builds gradually, culminating in the unforgettable midnight chase through the shadowy woods.

Irving's exploration of the supernatural is not just a mere ghost story; it is a reflection of the human psyche and the collective fears that lurk in the corners of our imagination. The tale serves as a mirror to society, exposing the vulnerability of reason when confronted with the inexplicable.

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" has left an indelible mark on literature and popular culture. Its influence can be seen in countless adaptations, from films to television series. The enduring appeal lies in its ability to tap into the primal fear of the unknown, the allure of forbidden romance, and the delicate dance between reality and imagination.

In conclusion, Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a literary gem that continues to enchant readers of all ages. Its timeless narrative, rich characterizations, and exploration of the supernatural make it a must-read for those who appreciate the magic woven into the fabric of classic American literature. As the shadows of Sleepy Hollow linger, so does the allure of Irving's haunting tale, forever etched in the annals of literary legend.

Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is available in Amazon in paperback 10.99$ and hardcover 17.99$ editions.

Number of pages: 75

Language: English

Rating: 10/10

Link of the book!

Review By: King's Cat

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blueheartbookclub · 4 months

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"Enchanting Shadows: A Deep Dive into Washington Irving's 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'"

Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is available in Amazon in paperback 10.99$ and hardcover 17.99$ editions.

Number of pages: 75

Language: English

Rating: 10/10

Link of the book!

Review By: King's Cat

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big-gay-bird · 2 years

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Reapers (and psychopomps generally) as a concept never fail to make me tear up when I think about them.

Like they truly are the most kind and caring supernatural and spiritual beings. They stay with you during the scariest moment and guide you without judgement. Their only job is comfort and support.

I think we owe them a big “thank you” as humanity.

#halloween #grim reaper #reapers #psychopomp #supernatural #spiritual #folk beliefs #Yes this is because that twilight zone episode with Robert Redford shaped my morality #in deep and lasting ways #spirits

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arcane-offerings · 1 year

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Corinne Boyer. Under the Bramble Arch: A Folk Grimoire of Wayside Plant Lore and Practicum. London: Troy Books, 2019. Special Edition. 257 pages. Bound in dark green cloth. Limited to 250 hand-numbered copies (#178/250).

Shop link in bio.

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#occult books #esoterica #plants #plantlore #cunning folk #folk beliefs #folk magic #herbalism #wayside #plant magic #witchcraft #Instagram

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freyjaofthenorth · 1 year

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it sometimes feels like many of the people who scream the loudest about Real Folk Traditions™ are people who do not, in fact, even understand what a folk tradition is

"NO that belief of unspecified origin which is spread among ordinary people as plain old fact is NOT a REAL folk belief because it is not identical with this version of it i read about being held in this specific area in 1746!!! it even has foreign influence!!! IMPURE!!!"

#guess what? that version from 1746 wasn't identical to the version from 1258 or 894 either #almost as if folk beliefs change over time #folk beliefs

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unprncbl · 8 years

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documentary: Amazing Marriage Customs, China Anthropology 101, English narration w/ Chinese subs

#youtube #China #marriage #wedding #traditional #folk #folk beliefs #documentary

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bristolchurch · 1 year

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Unmasking the "Dragon" in the Pew: Addressing Unchristian Traditions in Chinese Christianity

Introduction: Chinese Christianity is a vibrant and growing community, deeply rooted in a rich cultural heritage that spans centuries. However, as with any religion’s interaction with culture, there are instances where unchristian practices have infiltrated Chinese Christianity. In this blog, we will shed light on specific instances where these practices have emerged, explore their origins, and…

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hagoftheholler · 8 months

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Something I feel like people getting into folk magic need to understand, for many people of many backgrounds, is folk magic started as a means of survival. It was struggle magic, and it is still struggle magic.

Where I'm living now and where I'm from, people planted by the signs to ensure their crops wouldn't go bad before harvesting. People used ocean water to soothe joint and muscle pains when they got old. People studied the native plants for medicine and were mindful to only take what was needed. People did little rituals and minded their grannies' words to keep their good luck. If they didn't know how to do something (or couldn't), they went to people who did.

Learning folk magic to reconnect with ancestral traditions from before your time is valid. Learning folk magic to connect with and work with the land is valid. There are many valid reasons to take up folk magic. Still, understand that folk magic is survival, and folk magic is community.

#witchblr #folk magic #folk witch #folk belief

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thecorpselight · 2 years

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Every act of the Irish peasant’s life has always been connected with the belief in unseen spiritual agencies. The people live in an atmosphere of the supernatural, and nothing would induce them to slight an ancient form or break through a traditional usage. They believe that the result would be something awful; too terrible to be spoken of save in a whisper, should the customs of their forefathers be lightly interfered with. In the Western Islands especially, the old superstitions that have come down from the ancient times are observed with the most solemn reverence, and the people in fact, as to their habits and ideas, remain much the same as St. Patrick left them fourteen hundred years ago. The swift currents of thought that stir the great centers of civilization and impel the human intellect on its path of progress, have never reached them; all the waves of the centuries drift by their shores and leave them unchanged. Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland. Lady Wilde.

#folklore #superstition #folk beliefs

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mamaangiwine · 1 year

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Native American spirituality isn't your jumping off point for New Age. It's not your resource for New Age talking points. Our myths are not your's to mine for "proof" for your conspiracies or to change for your "prophecies". Our spirituality has nothing to do with "vibrations", negative of otherwise.

Stop trying to swallow Native American spirituality. Stop using it to justify your surface level spirituality.

Most of all, stop acting like New Age is the natural successor to Native Spirituality- we're the natural successors, because we're still here.

#i will bite you #New Age is not 'evolved' Native beliefs just because you appropriated smudging #magic #folk magic #spirituality #magic practitioners #witchblr #folklore #ndn #native spiritualites #native spirituality #native americans

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viperwhispered · 2 months

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Too Hard

Woop part 2 of the trip inside Jamil's head. Part 1 here.

The next time Jamil caught sight of you on campus, his first instinct was to turn around on his heel.

What a stupid thought to have because of you.

Besides, that would only make him more conspicuous, not less.

So, when your eyes met his, Jamil gave you a short nod in greeting. He would’ve left it at that and kept on his way, had you not walked up to him.

“Hi Jamil! How’s it going?” you said with that impossibly disarming smile of yours.

Why was it so difficult to look at you like he normally would? You had no right to make him feel so stiff, so unnatural.

On autopilot, Jamil exchanged a few pleasantries with you - those lessons from his parents had been instilled too deep in him for him to falter too badly in a simple exchange such as this. Still, Jamil quickly excused himself by telling you he still had to find Kalim before his next class.

Jamil didn’t miss the way your smile faltered. Had you hoped to get something out of him?

“Oh, okay. I’ll see you two later, then.”

Something about that irked him, though Jamil did not allow himself to dwell on it further.

His heart really had no business still racing as it did when he walked away, unaware of the frown on his face.

Just act normal. That’s all he needed to do.

After all, he had no time for dwelling in silly fancies.

If Jamil had been acutely aware of you before, it only seemed to worsen now that he was making a conscious effort to not act any differently with you. In fact, the harder he tried to keep you out, the more you invaded his thoughts, unsettling him.

The most innocuous words from you looped in his mind, and even the simplest actions caught his eye. For goodness's sake, he’d found himself staring at you while you were queueing up in the cafeteria the other day, not even doing anything other than standing around and looking bored!

For once, Jamil found himself grateful for all his duties. At least they provided him with something else to occupy himself with.

After all, if he was busy enough, it was difficult to think about those bright eyes of yours, your sweet laugh, or the way you bit your lip while thinking.

Still, sometimes it felt like no matter which way he turned, you were there, ready to throw him off-kilter. Not like it was his fault that often the most convenient route to class intersected with your daily routines. Or that your face seemed to jump out from any crowd, catching his attention.

Which certainly did not help his basketball performance. Jamil certainly did not recall you having such an interest in sports before, yet suddenly you were always there, distracting him. What had changed?

Could you possibly-

Jamil scoffed to himself, forcing his thoughts back on track for the nth time that day.

He picked up the tray of food and started taking it to Kalim. After dinner, he’d need to help Kalim with his homework, there were some housewarden tasks that would need dealing with, not to mention the preparations for the next-

Jamil froze in his tracks.

The voice he heard was quiet, but it was unmistakably you.

Really, it should not have come as such a surprise to him. You had become a rather frequent visitor to Scarabia, and Kalim often invited you to stay for meals. In fact, Jamil had started planning the dorm’s meal prep with your tastes and dietary restrictions in mind, just in case.

Jamil rounded the corner with strange exhilaration, his heart fluttering needlessly.

Yet, his mood evaporated when he saw you.

Why did you stop talking and look so guilty as soon as you caught sight of Jamil?

Jamil knew that look you gave to Kalim, had used it himself a thousand times. The one telling Kalim to keep quiet about something.

What could there possibly be that you would be comfortable sharing with Kalim, but not with him? That would give Kalim reason to sit so close to you, a comforting hand on your shoulder?

Jamil's mind raced with possibilities, yet could not settle for any single explanation.

He’d have to ask Kalim about it later.

Jamil gave you a short, polite greeting, his eyes lingering on you in an attempt to read what you were hiding.

“If I’d known you were coming over, I would’ve prepared something for you to eat as well,” Jamil said, already thinking about which parts of the dorm’s dinner to spruce up for you.

“Oh, no need, just figured I’d pop by. I’ll get out of your hair soon enough,” you said, something sheepish about your expression.

As expected, Kalim asked you to stay and dine with them, and with just a bit more persuasion you agreed - though not before telling Jamil that he should join you too and have himself a breather.

And since Kalim agreed with you, Jamil soon found himself sharing a meal with you and Kalim. Yet, even as he sat down with the food, his mind raced.

Had you been getting particularly close to Kalim lately? But surely Jamil would’ve noticed such a thing. Maybe someone from the dorm had been giving you trouble? But if that was the case, then surely you could let Jamil know about it, too. Unless for some reason you did not want to? But if it was something that concerned Kalim, then sooner or later it was bound to concern Jamil, too.

All the while, Kalim was talking to you about this and that, the latest topic being the animals kept on the Asim estate.

“I’ve got some pictures, let me show you!” Kalim said with an excited grin.

Only, a thorough patting of his pockets and a look around confirmed that Kalim’s phone was nowhere to be seen.

Jamil pinched the bridge of his nose. Where had Kalim left it this time?

Before Jamil even had the chance to say that he would handle it, Kalim sprinted off. Jamil hesitated for a moment, automatically halfway up from his seat, before he decided that leaving a guest unattended would be a worse offense than not helping out his master.

Jamil slumped back down with a sigh, mentally tracing the path Kalim took today, trying to recall the last time he saw Kalim handle his phone.

“Breathe. He’ll manage,” you said. There was the faintest of smiles on your lips, and Jamil could not decide if it was knowing or amused. Perhaps both.

Somehow, despite his frustration, Jamil’s own lips wanted to curl up too.

“Hmm. Maybe he will.”

Sure, Jamil could’ve called Kalim’s phone, to make it easier to find, but it was not that urgent, was it?

Jamil took another bite of his food, keeping an eye on you from the corner of his eye.

How was his mind so empty and so buzzing at the same time?

“You know-”

“So-”

You looked at each other, both just as surprised that the other had spoken up at the same time.

Even your surprised look was so-

“You first,” Jamil said. The way you bit your lip... Jamil had to raise a cup to his lips, slowly sipping his drink.

“Just… Feels like it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen you be still, you know. Or exchanged more than two words with you,” you said. You were attempting a light, joking tone, yet it was quite clear there was more to it.

“You say that like it would be unusual for me to be busy.”

He was not prepared for the way your soft sigh tugged at his heartstrings.

“No. It is not.”

You were both quiet after, poking at your meals. Normally, Jamil would’ve cherished such a moment of peace, yet this particular silence between you two was decidedly awkward.

Where was your usual chatter? Why weren’t you looking at him like you usually did?

“If you’re worried about me, don’t. I’m fine,” Jamil said, some softness creeping into his tone despite his best intentions.

“That's what Kalim said too,” you said. Yet the way you looked at Jamil made it clear you were still skeptical.

Wait.

Had you clammed up earlier because it had been Jamil you had been talking about with Kalim? That Kalim had comforted you about?

The thought twisted his stomach into knots.

Eta: you can find part 3 here, part 4 here, and finally part 5 here. Hasdhfsdf the way I fought with that last scene I swear. I don't even want to know how many versions I went through, trying to figure out how to say what I wanted without rubbing it into your face or making it too veiled. The joys of trying to convey things through a limited pov. Hopefully it came out reasonably balanced in the end. Rip to all those sentences that were lovely on their own but didn’t work for the whole. Hopefully I can rehome y’all one day. I do have thoughts for part 3 and part x (might be some chapters between those two as well, who knows at this point), so maybe we'll see those at some point, too. Tag list: @colliope @crystallizsch @diodellet @jamilsimpno69 @jamilvapologist @twstgo If you'd like to be tagged for future works, let me know! (Just be aware that sometimes I do also write nsfw, though you can certainly ask to be tagged only for particular kinds of works.)

#twisted wonderland #jamil viper #twisted wonderland x reader #jamil viper x reader #ner writes #jamil definitely knows how to deal with his feels #also writing this is making me wonder how aware jamil is of his inner versus outer life #like he’s very aware of how he comes across because that’s what he’s been told to watch out for #but how well has he truly learned to understand himself and his own feelings wants etc?#(I mean as you can tell I’m assuming not very well)#originally this went to more of a “jamil hears just the wrong part of the conversation” route but #a) I kinda hate that trope especially when it’s dragged on beyond belief and #b) Kalim maybe doesn’t want to spill anyone’s secrets but he really is such an open book especially with Jamil so #also it’s not like jamil needs the extra help to catastrophize he already does that well enough on his own 🙃#tho then I went a little too far in the other direction and had to pull back #but let's just hope I didn't edit this to death by now #also also: since I seem to have a bit of a naming theme going on for this series #if I were to be the sort to go for the angst route what part would definitely be titled Too Late or something along those lines #also x3 but loved folks commenting on that part about reader being inoffensive in the first part #I certainly had fun writing that line #(and in general extra love to everyone who leaves comments on tags replies wherever always great to read those)#(and in general chat with y'all)

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