Crystal Ponti
@crystalponti.bsky.social
A freelance writer exploring the intersection of history and folklore. Bylines: The History Channel, The New York Times, BBC, etc. Also @HistoriumU (Historium Unearthia); Grieving mom of Adam.
muckrack.com/crystal-ponti
muckrack.com/crystal-ponti
Thanksgiving feasts in old cookbooks included oyster stuffing, suet puddings, mulled cider, and “snow pudding"... a dessert so delicate it dissolved like fairy breath on the tongue. #FairyTaleTuesday
November 25, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Thanksgiving feasts in old cookbooks included oyster stuffing, suet puddings, mulled cider, and “snow pudding"... a dessert so delicate it dissolved like fairy breath on the tongue. #FairyTaleTuesday
Vintage pumpkin pies were often topped with pastry leaves, curls, and initials. Bakers treated dessert like heraldry, each pie a family crest of butter and spice. #FairyTaleTuesday
November 25, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Vintage pumpkin pies were often topped with pastry leaves, curls, and initials. Bakers treated dessert like heraldry, each pie a family crest of butter and spice. #FairyTaleTuesday
Early 1900s postcards often showed turkeys marching proudly into town… completely unaware they were the guest of honor and the entrée. A bold bird is a bird that never read the menu. #FairyTaleTuesday
November 25, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Early 1900s postcards often showed turkeys marching proudly into town… completely unaware they were the guest of honor and the entrée. A bold bird is a bird that never read the menu. #FairyTaleTuesday
Vintage Thanksgiving postcards were wild. Turkeys drove cars, pumpkins wore hats, and children rode giant wishbones like steeds. Victorian illustrators clearly believed holiday magic needed zero explanation. #FairyTaleTuesday
November 25, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Vintage Thanksgiving postcards were wild. Turkeys drove cars, pumpkins wore hats, and children rode giant wishbones like steeds. Victorian illustrators clearly believed holiday magic needed zero explanation. #FairyTaleTuesday
In many old tales, fire was a stolen gift, too bright, too sacred to be handed over freely. Prometheus stole it. Maui snatched it. Humans survived because someone broke the rules. Some warmth is worth the trouble. #MythologyMonday
November 24, 2025 at 1:46 PM
In many old tales, fire was a stolen gift, too bright, too sacred to be handed over freely. Prometheus stole it. Maui snatched it. Humans survived because someone broke the rules. Some warmth is worth the trouble. #MythologyMonday
Witches in Scottish legend gained their power from winter winds. They gathered storms in their aprons, released tempests with a twist of the wrist, and rode the ragged edge of November’s first frost. #FolkloreSunday
November 23, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Witches in Scottish legend gained their power from winter winds. They gathered storms in their aprons, released tempests with a twist of the wrist, and rode the ragged edge of November’s first frost. #FolkloreSunday
In old Celtic lore, the dark half of the year belonged to the fairies; not the delicate kind, but the ones who walked in mist and stole voices, memories, and travelers who strayed too close to the path between dusk and night. #FolkloreSunday
Art: Mon Jones
Art: Mon Jones
November 23, 2025 at 12:16 PM
In old Celtic lore, the dark half of the year belonged to the fairies; not the delicate kind, but the ones who walked in mist and stole voices, memories, and travelers who strayed too close to the path between dusk and night. #FolkloreSunday
Art: Mon Jones
Art: Mon Jones
The best rural writing understands that the land keeps score. Storms, droughts, and harvests all leave marks on families, shaping identity in ways city skylines never do. #BookWormSat
Art: Elaine Plesser
Art: Elaine Plesser
November 22, 2025 at 10:22 PM
The best rural writing understands that the land keeps score. Storms, droughts, and harvests all leave marks on families, shaping identity in ways city skylines never do. #BookWormSat
Art: Elaine Plesser
Art: Elaine Plesser
Rural mysteries thrive on isolation. When everyone knows everyone, secrets must hide in plain sight... in barns, in abandoned schoolhouses, in the woods behind someone’s childhood home. #BookWormSat
Art: Joni Monroe
Art: Joni Monroe
November 22, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Rural mysteries thrive on isolation. When everyone knows everyone, secrets must hide in plain sight... in barns, in abandoned schoolhouses, in the woods behind someone’s childhood home. #BookWormSat
Art: Joni Monroe
Art: Joni Monroe
In poetry, rural imagery becomes spiritual shorthand. A single hayfield at dawn can speak more truth than an entire city block. #BookWormSat
Art: Marti Bailey
Art: Marti Bailey
November 22, 2025 at 6:33 PM
In poetry, rural imagery becomes spiritual shorthand. A single hayfield at dawn can speak more truth than an entire city block. #BookWormSat
Art: Marti Bailey
Art: Marti Bailey
In children’s literature, the countryside is often a doorway to wonder. Think of Anne of Green Gables, where meadows become imagination’s playground and every tree has a personality. #BookWormSat
Art: David Lloyd Glover
Art: David Lloyd Glover
November 22, 2025 at 4:33 PM
In children’s literature, the countryside is often a doorway to wonder. Think of Anne of Green Gables, where meadows become imagination’s playground and every tree has a personality. #BookWormSat
Art: David Lloyd Glover
Art: David Lloyd Glover
Rural stories remind readers that communities survive by interdependence. You learn who brings soup when someone falls ill, who plows the road after a storm, and who shows up even when you don’t ask. #BookWormSat
Art: Buffalo Games
Art: Buffalo Games
November 22, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Rural stories remind readers that communities survive by interdependence. You learn who brings soup when someone falls ill, who plows the road after a storm, and who shows up even when you don’t ask. #BookWormSat
Art: Buffalo Games
Art: Buffalo Games
The countryside in literature often mirrors the human heart. Fields lie fallow and bloom again. Seasons carry grief out and bring new life in. The land understands cycles better than any narrator. #BookWormSat
Art: Robbie Cook
Art: Robbie Cook
November 22, 2025 at 12:22 PM
The countryside in literature often mirrors the human heart. Fields lie fallow and bloom again. Seasons carry grief out and bring new life in. The land understands cycles better than any narrator. #BookWormSat
Art: Robbie Cook
Art: Robbie Cook
Rural literature knows that silence is never empty. It holds wind through grass, a screen door slamming, the creak of a barn settling into dusk. Writers like Willa Cather and Kent Haruf turn quiet into a whole language. #BookWormSat
Art: OutdoorPainter
Art: OutdoorPainter
November 22, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Rural literature knows that silence is never empty. It holds wind through grass, a screen door slamming, the creak of a barn settling into dusk. Writers like Willa Cather and Kent Haruf turn quiet into a whole language. #BookWormSat
Art: OutdoorPainter
Art: OutdoorPainter
African folktales give us Anansi the Spider, master of wit and trickery. His verbal games always end with a lesson. Puzzle-lovers might enjoy Cartographers or Patchwork, where cleverness matters more than force. #FolkyFriday
Art: Janice Skivington
Art: Janice Skivington
November 21, 2025 at 10:33 PM
African folktales give us Anansi the Spider, master of wit and trickery. His verbal games always end with a lesson. Puzzle-lovers might enjoy Cartographers or Patchwork, where cleverness matters more than force. #FolkyFriday
Art: Janice Skivington
Art: Janice Skivington
In Celtic lore, bards tested each other with riddles at lamplight. The challenger’s pride was the wager. Modern storytellers might find echoes of this in Dixit, where imagination wins. #FolkyFriday
November 21, 2025 at 8:33 PM
In Celtic lore, bards tested each other with riddles at lamplight. The challenger’s pride was the wager. Modern storytellers might find echoes of this in Dixit, where imagination wins. #FolkyFriday
In medieval Europe, peasants played Nine Men’s Morris, scratching boards into church benches or stone slabs. You can still find boards carved centuries ago. Today, Hive offers a modern abstract challenge with a folkloric feel. #FolkyFriday
November 21, 2025 at 6:33 PM
In medieval Europe, peasants played Nine Men’s Morris, scratching boards into church benches or stone slabs. You can still find boards carved centuries ago. Today, Hive offers a modern abstract challenge with a folkloric feel. #FolkyFriday
Sometimes the greatest riddle isn’t a question at all. it’s what we see when stories, symbols, and games reveal how ancient play always carried deeper meaning. #FolkyFriday
November 21, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Sometimes the greatest riddle isn’t a question at all. it’s what we see when stories, symbols, and games reveal how ancient play always carried deeper meaning. #FolkyFriday
Irish selkies answered riddles only when in human form. Fail, and they returned to the sea. For wave-tossed storytelling, try Tidal Blades. #FolkyFriday
Art: Nataša Ilinčić
Art: Nataša Ilinčić
November 21, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Irish selkies answered riddles only when in human form. Fail, and they returned to the sea. For wave-tossed storytelling, try Tidal Blades. #FolkyFriday
Art: Nataša Ilinčić
Art: Nataša Ilinčić
Norse sagas feature riddle duels where wisdom, not strength, won battles. Odin himself answered questions disguised as a traveler. If brainy contests appeal, Trivial Pursuit scratches that ancient itch. #FolkyFriday
November 21, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Norse sagas feature riddle duels where wisdom, not strength, won battles. Odin himself answered questions disguised as a traveler. If brainy contests appeal, Trivial Pursuit scratches that ancient itch. #FolkyFriday
The Royal Game of Ur is the oldest board game ever found, played 4,500 years ago in Mesopotamia. Its moves were believed to reveal a player’s destiny. Today’s equivalent might be Azul or Sagrada, where patterns feel almost ceremonial. #FolkyFriday
November 21, 2025 at 10:42 AM
The Royal Game of Ur is the oldest board game ever found, played 4,500 years ago in Mesopotamia. Its moves were believed to reveal a player’s destiny. Today’s equivalent might be Azul or Sagrada, where patterns feel almost ceremonial. #FolkyFriday
In Japanese folklore, moon-viewing festivals feature rice dumplings called dango. They honor the rabbit said to live in the moon, pounding rice for eternity. It's proof that food can carry myth across centuries. #BookologyThursday
November 20, 2025 at 10:33 PM
In Japanese folklore, moon-viewing festivals feature rice dumplings called dango. They honor the rabbit said to live in the moon, pounding rice for eternity. It's proof that food can carry myth across centuries. #BookologyThursday
Shakespeare’s plays are full of symbolic eating... poisoned banquets, enchanted potions, feasts celebrating peace or heralding doom. The table becomes a stage where fate is tasted before it is spoken. #BookologyThursday
November 20, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Shakespeare’s plays are full of symbolic eating... poisoned banquets, enchanted potions, feasts celebrating peace or heralding doom. The table becomes a stage where fate is tasted before it is spoken. #BookologyThursday
Great feasts in literature remind readers of an ancient truth. Food is memory. Food is magic. Food is the story before the story. #BookologyThursday
Art: Brescian Antonio Rasio
Art: Brescian Antonio Rasio
November 20, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Great feasts in literature remind readers of an ancient truth. Food is memory. Food is magic. Food is the story before the story. #BookologyThursday
Art: Brescian Antonio Rasio
Art: Brescian Antonio Rasio
Medieval literature treated feasting as a moral test. Knights in Arthurian tales were judged by how they shared bread and wine long before they proved themselves by sword. Hospitality was the first chivalry. #BookologyThursday
November 20, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Medieval literature treated feasting as a moral test. Knights in Arthurian tales were judged by how they shared bread and wine long before they proved themselves by sword. Hospitality was the first chivalry. #BookologyThursday