When I started writing this, it was World Folklore day, way back on 28 August 2025. Obviously I did not post it then, but I want to write about folklore and this still feels like a really good place to start. 

I really enjoy how folklore has become something we are all more aware of, rather than something we just unknowingly participate in. I will admit I wasn’t fully aware of what folklore was until more recent years, even though I have been interested in the stories of the folk for a long time. There has been a recent rise in the folk horror genre (both movies and books), #folklorethursday has been around since 2015, and folk zines are becoming increasingly popular world wide. I am incredibly excited for a new US based folk horror zine called The Crossroads that has a projected March 2026 release date. Back in September of 2024, they had a call for submissions, and I wanted to find something to contribute. I don’t know why, but I really wanted to submit a written piece for this edition (the theme is 1970’s) instead of creating an art piece for it. With my background in Anthropology, I was thinking maybe an anthropological look into horror media of the 1970’s, but that felt really broad and I wasn’t sure where to start. And I know I would have expected my piece to be intelligent, and thought provoking (even though I don’t feel very intelligent, or thought provoking). I ended up not submitting anything, mostly because I let my fear win out. Remember when I said I was really good at letting that happen! I WILL be submitting something for a future edition – I am not letting my fear win again. I really want success for this zine, and hopefully they will have plenty of submissions! I am excited for future editions and to have an opportunity to become a part of a community I would really like to join and contribute to. 

Speaking of Folklore communities, I stumbled upon a new group – The Folk Union. They are a cooperative standard for contemporary folk revival projects. A group committed to upholding values that folk is open to all, stands against racism and exclusion, protect cultural commons, encouraging fairness and ethical practices, and care for the land and environment, These are all standards I value and want to bring into my own folklore/anthropological practice so I signed up to join! I am very excited to get to know the others in the union and create and contribute to this beautiful community. If you are interested in checking them out or joining, you can find them at http://www.thefolkunion.com

I’ve also started to think a lot about “my” folklore (of course I don’t own the lore, just thinking about the beliefs of my folk). Folklore is very much tied to land, and how the people interact with that land. There is ancestral folklore that I now hold close, but only recently learned about and connected with. I don’t have many stories that I grew up with. I feel like when most of my family came to the United States, they wanted to immerse themselves as Americans, so many traditions and folktales didn’t make it down the generations. I’ve been researching what could be ancestral traditions and folk beliefs, but I have to guess/intuit if they feel like ours. 

I also haven’t had much of an opportunity throughout my life to really connect with any specific land. I want to note, I do recognize that this land that I was born onto, and have lived on, is stolen land. I have no claim to this land. It is my intention to connect, and to offer my respect and service to the land and well as learn from it.

I moved around a lot in my younger years, and have lived in Minnesota the longest. I didn’t understand the benefit or knew any ways to connect with the land when I was younger, and so I haven’t really started that practice until more recently when I moved to Wisconsin. In digging into my ancestry, I also learned that part of my family has actually been in Wisconsin for quite a few generations. So while I made fun of Wisconsin a lot in my college days (they were a rival of ours in hockey, and I am a Vikings fan), it seems I have more of a connection than I realized. I’ve recently started to listen to some Wisconsin specific folklore podcasts, and Indigenous folklore podcasts, and that has helped me find more local stories to connect with. I’ve been enjoying Nightmares of the Americas – Indigenous Tales by Joseph and Gabriel Behill, and Wisconsin Legends Podcast by Mike Huberty and Jeff Finup. Exploring the folklore of what is now known as the upper midwest is something I am interested in. I also have also been really connecting with Scottish folklore. It was a big surprise when I took a DNA test and part of our Ancestry came back as Scottish. I had felt a connection with Scotland early on in my life, and didn’t really understand why – maybe some part of me knew it was once home? Maybe just a synchronicity? Either way, I’ve been diving more into the folklore and have really been loving the stories I found. I really love the story of the selkie, and the Cailleach – as seen in my art! 

So while I begin this journey into focusing more on art, anthropology, and folklore, I have a few ideas of “projects”, but I really don’t know what any of them look like in the end. Or even what the process of research will look like. But I’m ready to begin, and to document what I find. I imagine things will read pretty rough at first as I find my voice and writing style. But it is all a process and I have to start somewhere!