CreativeMornings - March's theme is...

March 2022

March’s Theme is Folklore

The universe is vast and full of mysteries. Humankind spin stories to answer these mysteries without answers. As these stories are passed down and among a people, they become folklore. Who placed the stars up there? When a pot breaks, who might have been the unseen culprit? How do we celebrate the successes we can’t take credit for? Folklore exercises our mythic imagination, our way of seeing beyond the tangible to make sense of the enigmatic and the unfathomable.

A song about the origin of the world, a pot of simmering stew that draws the community to the table, a knot of ribbon in your hand. All of these moments and rituals bind us to our ancestors, our past to our future. Our collective and ancient wisdom is contained in folklore, we must simply look there.

CreativeMornings/Guatemala City chose March’s exploration of Folklore and Sara Ortega created the illustration.

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The hashtags of the month are #CMFolklore | #CreativeMornings

🤲 Collected Folklore
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Folklore a beautifully global subject with highly local implications. So we turned it over to you: what comes to mind when you think of folklore? What folkways do you practice in your life? Read our blog to explore what you shared:

This free resource provides education on cultural uses of plants and animals from Guatemala. - Camila Morales

One of the most touching folklore rituals in Bulgaria is The Day of Forgiveness. On this day a family gathers around the table and the eldest person holds a thread, about 30 cm. long, attached to a peeled boiled egg or a lump of halva. They swings the thread in front of each one’s mouth until they manage to bite it. The ritual looks funny, but after that everyone asks the other to forgive him any misbehavior, intentional or unintentional. It makes the family feel closer and warmer. - Lilyana Angelova Angelova

Patrigian Mi Tiri is a Jewish-Greek eggplant recipe that made its way to Jamaica and beyond. It reflects my mother, her mother, and our heritage. - Dr. Annette B. Fromm

The Folklore Advocacy Toolkit is a guide to promoting and sustaining folklore work in the U.S. I’m sharing the toolkit because I believe in the power of storytelling and saving our collective history. - Jennifer Keil

I’m sharing a collection of different types of bread made of corn, yam starch, and cheese. These types of bread are typical of Boyacá and Cundinamarca in Colombia, South America. The recipes are not written anywhere: they have been passed down to women in my family for generations now. - Carolina Segura Ruiz

For more community folklore, read the rest on our blog. If you feel inspired to share your own, fill out the form.

Graphic of Kate Greenaway's 1887 preparatory design for Robert Browning’s “The Pied Piper of Hamelin” with text: "Playlist | Folklore"

DJ Jim Q's Playlist: Folklore
Once upon a time there was a playlist replete with tall tales, fables, and legends beyond imagination. These musical myths will take you through Tolkien worlds, to realms of Greek gods and to the charming adventures of some of our favorite folk heroes of yore. So gather round the fire, and lean in close — we have a story to tell.

Meet Our Illustrator: Sara Ortega
Sara Ortega is a graphic designer based in Guatemala focused on branding and illustration. She has adopted weaving and embroidery as both analog techniques and personal therapy. Ortega's personal inspiration comes from music and nature. She loves to learn something new everyday and in every place she's ever been. Explore more works by Sara Ortega.

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