Lincolnshire folklore · Folclore de Lincolnshire
What happens when the light that guides everyone else needs help herself? In The Buried Moon / La luna enterrada, the Moon steps down into the marshes and cannot find her way back alone. This eerie, tender tale gives us a memorable image for a household blessing: uncover the light, and make a place where care can return.
The Moon among the marshes
In Joseph Jacobs’s telling, the Moon visits the bogs beneath a dark cloak. Trapped by a snag, she uncovers her shining hair to guide a lost man to safety. The marsh creatures then bury her under a stone. When moonlight fails to return, the people seek a wise woman’s help. The man’s remembered encounter points them toward the place, and they release the Moon together.[1]
Jacobs’s 1894 More English Fairy Tales credits Marie Clothilde Balfour’s “Legends of the Lincolnshire Cars,” published in Folk-Lore in 1891. His note says he shortened the account and removed its dialect.[2] The Moon here is a personified character in a particular story; we do not identify her automatically with another culture’s lunar deity.
The Lincolnshire Folk Tales Project locates the tradition in the northern county’s Carrs and discusses uncertainty about Balfour’s shaping of what she heard. Researcher Maureen James argues for the collection’s roots in local oral tradition, drawing on dialect, narrative structure, and tellers. These discussions give the tale a documented history without making it a proven survival of an ancient moon ritual.[3] [4]
A light returned through shared care
We draw our working from the rescue’s reciprocity: the Moon helps a traveler, and people later help her. At home, that image can bless a corner that has become neglected or a shared room ready to feel welcoming again. The practice is small enough for one person, though willing household members may each add a paper window.
| Motif or choice | Meaning and attribution |
|---|---|
| Cloak and shining hair | Jacobs’s images of the Moon concealed and revealed. |
| The community’s rescue | A narrative motif of people returning help. |
| Uncovered paper window | Touch of Magick Shop’s original symbol for renewed welcome. |
| Pale gold and dark blue | Optional shop-selected colors for light and evening; no historical ritual correspondence is claimed. |
An original returning-light blessing
This is Touch of Magick Shop’s original household spell, inspired by the story rather than copied from its wise woman’s instructions. Choose a room you have permission to arrange. The intention is welcome and shared care, never control over the people who live there.
Materials: a sheet of paper, a pale pencil or crayon, one small dark paper square, and a pencil for writing. An ordinary desk lamp may remain on for comfortable working light; no ritual flame is needed.
- Prepare a clear place. Tidy one small surface or return three misplaced objects to their proper places. Ask before moving anyone else’s belongings. Let the care begin before the spoken blessing.
- Give the house a window. Draw a simple house and color one broad window pale gold or white. Write beside it one quality you want to contribute: patience, hospitality, or ease.
- Cover gently. Lay the dark square over the window without fastening it. Rest your hands on the table and remember that even those who offer care may need to receive it.
- Reveal the light. Lift the square and say our original blessing: “Light remembered, light returned; may this home be gently warmed by willing hands and freely offered care. Let room for kindness open here.” Leave the window uncovered.
- Complete the welcome. Place the drawing on your own shelf. Offer one concrete kindness suited to the room: make a chair available, clear a shared workspace, or ask a housemate what would help. Keep the picture for a week, then reuse or recycle it.
Stay indoors on firm, dry ground. Do not copy the tale’s stone-in-the-mouth instruction, enter marshes at night, move heavy stones, or leave offerings outdoors. Keep paper clear of lamps and other heat sources. The blessing makes no promise of supernatural protection or changes in anyone else’s mood.
Journal prompt
Who brings light into my daily life, and what freely offered care could I return?
Sources & further reading
- Joseph Jacobs, “The Buried Moon,” More English Fairy Tales (1894)Primary narrative consulted.
- Jacobs, source notes, “66. The Buried Moon”Acknowledgment of Balfour and editorial changes.
- Rory Waterman, “The Dead Moon,” Lincolnshire Folk Tales Project (2024)University-led research project’s account of the story’s location and transmission.
- Maureen James, “From ‘Tiddy Mun’ to ‘Sam’l’s Ghost’,” RevenantResearch on Balfour’s collection, tellers, dialect, and provenance.
Continue through the Book of Shadows
Moon Phases / Fases de la Luna · Hekate / Hécate · Full library