Elves Made Me Do It

05/07/2022

This is a tribute to Peter Brook. ❤️🎭
In many ways my journey began with him and he was an -even if not ever-present - yet constant companion on my way.
He wrote theatre history. A master of two centuries.

“"I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across this empty space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act of theatre to be engaged"
- and with that it all began…

24/04/2022

There is something worse than be dead, it is being an undead. What happens if after death you are not allowed to enter the realm of the dead? Have you ever wondered what would become of you?

Well, folklore came up with some ideas. In my new post, I present some of the undead creatures around the world and give you some tips on how to defend yourself.

Stay safe, when you walk at night on a lonely road.

Find out more at http://elvesmademedoit.com/2022/03/06/my-little-travelers-guide-of-the-undead/

05/01/2022

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28/12/2021

The Wild Hunt

Can you hear them? The screams, the moaning, the ghostly cheers and thundering hoofbeats - the Wild Hunt is out and roaming the lands.

During the Twelve Nights, when the veil between worlds is the thinnest, the Wild Hunters are riding the night sky in a wild chase.
A host of dogs, horses and on them supernatural riders, men, women and children that died early violent deaths. Sometimes valkyries and fairies are seen riding with the Hunt as well.

Wherever they go, they are harbingers of war, catastrophes, famine, disease and death. The unlucky person chancing upon them is said to die, or to be torn with them and bound to ride in their midst.
In other regions, the unwitting witness may however safe themselves by throwing themselves flat on the ground, running home and locking the door or by staying precisely in the middle of the road.

So, apart from best not straying far these nights, you may also want to make sure to not wash your clothes or even take your laundry lines in. The Hunters could get caught in them and then their owner. If they catch someone’s white linen, they will use this as that person’s burial shroud before the year is up.

Also, did you know, that the riders of La Chasse-Galerie, a Canadian version of the more European Wild Hunt, travel the sky in a canoe instead of on horseback?

23/12/2021

The Twelve Nights

At least since the beginning of the carolling season, everyone in the Christmas-celebrating parts of the world won’t be able to escape them, the Twelve Days of Christmas . But what ARE these twelve days of Christmas exactly?

☀️🌙Originating in Europe, they refer to a period of 3 to 12 days, depending on the region where they are observed, in the area between the winter solstice and Epiphany. One probable background may be the difference of length between the lunar year (354 days) and the solar year (365 days) - resulting in 11 days and 12 nights of difference, the so-called ‘dead days’. Links to the ancient Yule celebrations are assumed as well.

🕸️It was commonly believed that in this time the laws of nature were suspended and barriers between the worlds would fall.

🐃On some nights, at midnight, animals were believed to speak the human tongue, to foretell the future but whoever heard them would die immediately thereafter.
In Wales, Scotland and Brittany unmarried women would go to crossroads or other magical places at midnight to see their future husband pass by. However, they were not allowed to stop, address or even look after them, otherwise, they too, were dead-bound.

🔥It was a time people locked themselves inside after sunset and held their souls tight, wary of the spirits and demons passing through the veil between the worlds…
Of course, this was also the time the Wild Hunt roamed. But this shall be a story for another time..

Note: It was also commonly assumed that the weather observed on these 12 days would mirror the weather during the 12 months of the coming year, so pay attention to sneak a peek at next years forecast.

10/12/2021

Start the weekend right

Workshop for Move(meant) Journey, Cracow Poland.Choreography: Christin OlesenMusic: Sweet dreams (are made of this) by BowLand

09/12/2021

History tea-merged

06/12/2021

Im Sturz durch Raum und Zeit Richtung Unendlichkeit

22/11/2021

Sometimes theatre is not what you look at but how you look at it

01/11/2021

https://www.eisateaco.co.uk/post/tea-and-deities

Were you also always curious who brought this heavenly brew called "tea" to us lowly mortals?
Then check out this beautiful article by EISA Tea Co., an amazing Welsh tea company sourcing their products ethically and sustainably. Plus, co-founded by two students from the Elves alma mater, somewhere in this dale shrouded in legend where they rise at the third crow of the gull and where Morgên y Dylwythen Deg's footsteps can still be heard on your autumn hike..

There is something mystical and profound in every single cup of tea - starting with the deities of tea.

21/10/2021

"Be not astonished, for I am a spirit. When the devil, in times gone by, made war in heaven, he, with all his armies, was driven into outer darkness. Those who turned their eyes to look after him as he fell were also driven out of heaven; but those who were neither for nor against him were sent to the earth and commanded to dwell there in the rocks and mountains. These are called elves and hidden people. They can live in company with none but their own race. They do either good or evil, which they will, but what they do they do thoroughly. They have no bodies as you other mortals, but can take a human form and be seen of men when they wish. I am one of these fallen spirits, and so you can ever hope to embrace me."

- The Genesis of the Hidden People (Iceland), collected by Arnason

23/09/2021

I just started giving Karl Kraus' 'The Last Days of Humanity', the longest theatre play in history. Flipping through the thin paper pages with the tiny print, it vaguely resembles the Bible, only with blood, distruction, and the loss of humanity at its centre following WW1. And only a few scenes in, the shocking resemblance to some current structures and events is shaking to the core. Inspired by the recent over 7h long and still far from full staging performed in Berlin and Vienna. Did anyone chance to see it?

"Die Aufführung des Dramas, dessen Umfang nach irdischem Zeitmaß etwas zehn Abende umfassen würde, ist einem Marstheater zugedacht. Theatergänger dieser Welt vermöchten ihm nicht standzuhalten. Denn es ist Blut von ihrem Blute ... "