S9 Ep 5 Ancient Vines: The Superstitions & Folklore of Ivy

Welcome to this week's episode of the My Slice of Life podcast. From ancient Greek gods to bringing good fortune to a church’s congregation, the ivy has a wide, varied and often contradictory place in folklore and magic. Find out whether this wondrous plant really does bring trees down and why you should ONLY ever bring it into your house at Christmas! Really want to support me? Then buy me a coffee or plant!: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mysliceoflife check out the blog: https://myslicemyblog.co.uk youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@myslicechannel Get in touch: [email protected] A big thank you to Budget Seeds for supporting this channel! Get your seeds here: https://budgetseeds.co.uk and use my code: SONEIL10 to get 10% off. Wanna start a podcast? Click the link and get one month free with Podbean with either your new individual or business podcast! Individual podcast: https://www.podbean.com/mysliceoflife Business podcast: https://www.podbean.com/pro/mysliceoflife Wanna advertise through Podbean? Use my code and get $100 free advertising! https://sponsorship.podbean.com/mysliceoflife (Full disclosure: I will get small commission from affiliate codes so thank you for supporting the show!) Further Information: Ruth Binney book 'Plant Lore and Legend': https://amzn.to/4i7uxYD Margaret Baker book ‘Discovering The Folklore of Plants’: https://amzn.to/4c8v4Yh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysus https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/plants/wild-flowers/ivy/ https://owlcation.com/social-sciences/English-Ivy-Symbolism-Traditions-and-Mythology https://druidry.org/druid-way/teaching-and-practice/druid-tree-lore/english-ivy https://www.eldrumherbs.co.uk/content/content_files/profiles_ivy_hedera-helix_state-1.html https://www.icysedgwick.com/folklore-of-ivy/ https://khkeeler.blogspot.com/2021/10/plant-story-folklore-of-english-ivy.html https://www.youtube.com/@TheStoryCrow Frazer, J. (1890). The Golden Bough. Macmillan. Guiley, R. E. (2008). The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft, and Wicca. Facts on File. Culpeper, N. (1653). The Complete Herbal. Intro music: Exciting news by Diamond_tunes - used with thanks All images/video: © Sharon O’Neil 2025