Also from my IG:

A twig called a "heksekost" (or "marekost", sometimes also "huldrekost") translated to witch's broom (mare's broom - The Hulder is a Norwegian mythical creature).

- Huldra - a seductive forest creature with a cow's tail, hidden under a long skirt or dress -

The fungus Taphrina Betulina cause the broom looking twigs and they have a long tradition in Norwegian witchcraft. The broom was hung over the bed or in the barn to protect people and animals from the mare

The twig is so attractive that the mare will spend the night riding the broom instead of giving everyone nightmares.

My broom is ritualized with protective and psychoactive herbs and resins.

Another Norwegian protection against the mare is a sigil called the marekors, also known as the marerose.

It is a popular knitting pattern and was traditionally embroidered onto linen or carved over the door or into household products .

The marekors could also have the shape of a pentagram. The mare can only count to 3 and sigils should be as intricate as possible to confuse the mare and keep her busy all night long 🌙

- Sigil found under Norwegian wooden bowl -

- The mare -

Hope you enjoy, I will try to continue the series of Norwegian folklore and witchcraft whenever I find some spare time. Many of these entries are research from my childhood black books. I spent a lot of time in local libraries and talking to older people about folklore and craft, the result is several svartebøker, black books in Norwegian, that I have kept all these years. The first I started at about 7 or 8 years old. It is a tiny home made book that I colored black on the covers. It is barely holding it together these days.