Help with dissertation - Are you afraid of the dark?

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mikem

Well-known member
2 or 300 years ago, people would often put ritual protection marks beside passages that had cool draughts emanating from them, as they didn't know where the air was coming from.
 
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Liza Frank

New member
Thank you so much for both completing the questionnaire and for those brilliant stories! It's amazing what our imaginations will fill in in the absence of light... (and what our siblings will do to mess with our heads!)

And yes about Sheffield, it has a great library and I believe one of our external moderators is affiliated with all things folklore there. Another good library is at The Folklore Society (https://folklore-society.com/about/the-folklore-society-library/) so if you ever fancy doing some research you should check them out. I love corn dollies, I actually tried (and failed) to make several during the harvest season last year - my big, fat fingers couldn't cope with the weaving though (https://liza-frank.com/20-september-2020-corn-dolly/). I'm not planning on doing any more work with them for now, but it's really kind of you to offer, thank you. 

yrammy said:
completed your questionnaire - rather interesting. Want to add to the question about when you were afraid of the dark. Was playing in a hall with a friend as a kid. We had drawn the blackout curtains so it was very very dark. We were just crawling about on the floor have a laugh. Then I decided it was time to turn the lights on. I crawled to the wall and worked my way around to find the door and then to the light switch which I knew was there. As I put my hand on the switch....there was  a hand already on it!  Freaked me right out! My bloody sister had just sneaked in and waited .

Down Daren Cilau in Wales ( a long trip in a big cave)  we had got as far as we intended - the bonsai streamway. We two friend decided to go a little further so I waited in the stream. I switch off my light  - so this was them total blackness. The odd thing was that I get thinking I could hear people  - but it was just a trick of the water. But I switched my light back on as it was rather disconcerting.

BTW did you know that  Sheffield Uni has (or had) a folk library? I did an piece of work on corn dollies when I was there in 2005. If that interests you I can send you a copy of my work. I was looking at  The Role Of Corn Dollies In Modern British Society
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Liza Frank

New member
Thank you! It's a great article!

ZombieCake said:
There were two long letters in Descent 111, April 1993, pages 30-31 under the title of 'The Porth Phenomenon'.  One was by Jim Eyre, and the other by Tony Knibbs.  Both mainly about the large numbers of fatalities in the Porth Yr Ogof cave in South Wales, however, the folklore and paranormal aspects were also touched on, particularly in the Tony Knibbs letter.  I'll forward details.
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Liza Frank

New member
Thank you for sharing, but that sounded terrifying! If there was a yikes emoji, I'd be posting it!

PeteHall said:
I've just had a memory, of the only time I've felt 'scared' underground. More 'uneasy' than 'scared, but I definitely didn't feel happy...

I was out walking in Swaledale and, as was my habit at the time, wearing sandals that were comfortable for walking and also fine for getting wet. While these aren't the best underground footwear, it saved weight carrying wellies and you soon got used to the feeling of mud between your toes. I entered a mine I'd not been in before, but had spotted across the valley on a previous outing. The water was probably about waist deep and as I moved along the tunnel, I got the feeling that someone, or something, was following me. I stopped and the something stopped. I carried on and the something started following me again :doubt:

Logically, I knew the sounds were my own echoes, or the water that I was wading through and disturbing, but the sensation was pretty overpowering. I kept on nonetheless, telling myself not to be so stupid, but I've never been so glad to come to a complete collapse. I didn't even stop to probe it for a possible dig, I just turned straight around and hurried back out.

I often cave alone and I'm familiar with the sounds of echoes and water underground, but that day, something really upset me and I have no idea why...
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Liza Frank

New member
An abandoned ouija board? I wouldn't have stayed around either!!

Tomferry said:
My only bad experience underground was in a mine so I?ll throw it into this subject .

I was in my usual iron mine I had been around many many times never with any issues and new it like the back of my hand , a friend was visiting and asked me to take him on a trip down their I said no as I felt ill , then it ended up two friends came to visit at my house they eventually convinced me ,  I braved it up got of the sofa as I only see them once a year so I thought I?ll make most of it and man up from the man flu !  I had been checking this survey of the mine and had done around 90% of it I thought i would drag them around the last 10% , some reason I had never been in this section I went in feeling absolutely terrible and then spotted a very old ouija board I don?t believe in this stuff but gosh that day I left,  never to return again ! I don?t no why  I believe just feeling ill and also finding that was horrible !

Tom
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Liza Frank

New member
I'm just reading an article about ritual protection marks! Thanks!

mikem said:
2 or 300 years ago, people would often put ritual protection marks beside passages that had cool draughts emanating from them, as they didn't know where the air was coming from.
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Robert Scott

Robert Scott

Member
Liza Frank said:
Another good library is at The Folklore Society (https://folklore-society.com/about/the-folklore-society-library/) so if you ever fancy doing some research you should check them out.
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When I was at UCL, the Folklore Society Library was in a building on Malet Place next to the Egyptology collection. Some lunchtimes if I wanted a break from other undergrads and the course, I'd go there. I usually read about lycanthropy.  Oddly there was never anybody else there not even a librarian and it always seemed dark even at midday. Creaking floorboards in the old building added to its overall ambiance.
 
M

mikem

Well-known member
There are some articles about on paraspeleology, such as:
https://caves.org/pub/speleodigest/1996.shtml

& I remember one about Mendip, but can't remember which publication.
 
F

Fulk

Well-known member
An abandoned ouija board? I wouldn't have stayed around either!!
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Sorry, I just don't 'get it'; what's the big deal about a bit of junk abandoned underground (apart from the fact that junk shouldn't be abandoned underground)?
 
M

mikem

Well-known member
Modern media is a recent phenomenon in comparison - some people believe in all sorts of stuff that others consider to be complete bollocks (as proved by numerous discussions on this forum)
 
ZombieCake

ZombieCake

Well-known member
Another thought, although it might be a bit late in the day.  The lyrics of the Iron Maiden song 'Fear of the Dark' sum up quite well the fear and phobias and anxieties of the dark, and adding two and two to make 5 with the monsters lurking under the bed....

https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/5935023/Iron+Maiden/Fear+of+the+Dark+%5BLive+at+Rock+in+Rio%5D

Me being me, obviously had to link to a video.  Here's the lyric version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjmnot3hSUg

 
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Liza Frank

New member
Not too late at all! Thanks for this. It's been a long time since I heard it!

ZombieCake said:
Another thought, although it might be a bit late in the day.  The lyrics of the Iron Maiden song 'Fear of the Dark' sum up quite well the fear and phobias and anxieties of the dark, and adding two and two to make 5 with the monsters lurking under the bed....

https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/5935023/Iron+Maiden/Fear+of+the+Dark+%5BLive+at+Rock+in+Rio%5D

Me being me, obviously had to link to a video.  Here's the lyric version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjmnot3hSUg
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tinytriplet

tinytriplet

New member
Hi Liza,

I'm also working on my dissertation, which is about the history of caving for my undergraduate history degree, and was hoping that you could point me towards some of your favourite collections of folklore about caves? I have some stuff, but it's always useful to look at more! I'm only doing preliminary reading at the moment so anything at all related would be interesting.

Many thanks,
Eve
Liza Frank said:
Hello!

I?m wondering if you might be able to help me.

I?m currently studying for a Masters in Folklore Studies at University of Hertfordshire and I?m working on my dissertation, Are You Afraid of the Dark? How folklore impacts our relationship with dark spaces. As the name implies, I?m researching how people relate to the dark and what effect folklore, stories, beliefs etc have on their reaction to dark spaces (even if they're not afraid). And, given the enormous amount of stories, folklore, beliefs and rituals attached to caves, I'm really interested in getting the perspective of people who work and spend their leisure time underground.

I?ve created a short questionnaire as part of my research, if you have 15 minutes to spare, would you mind filling it in, please? The survey is anonymous, confidential, participants must be 18 or over, and it's open until 18 August 2021. My webpage (https://liza-frank.com/are-you-afraid-of-the-dark/) says a little more about the research, and a direct link to the questionnaire (also included on the webpage) is: https://herts.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/are-you-afraid-of-the-dark 

Many thanks in advance, and feel free to ask me any questions about the dissertation
Liza Frank
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