Thursday 22 December 2016

Pagan Eye: Robin at Kew Gardens


Here is a photo of a robin to brighten your day if you are out and about in the cold. I took the picture at Kew Gardens, which I visited this autumn.

Robins are nowadays a symbol of the festive season, but like many modern Christmas traditions, this is said to have started in the Victorian era. Postmen at the time wore red uniforms and were called robin redbreasts, so people associated getting Christmas cards with robins.

However, the little birds are such a lovely sight - with their red breasts, puffed up feathers to keep out the cold and chirpy singing to declare their territory - that I would be very much surprised if our ancient ancestors didn't welcome the cheery robin on a frosty morning just as much as we do.

Back in the early days of my blog I wrote a longer post about folklore related to robins, and you can read that here: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/12/who-killed-cock-robin.html

My Pagan Eye posts show photos that I find interesting - seasonal images, pagan sites, events, or just pretty pictures. If you want to send me a photo for a Pagan Eye post, please email it to badwitch1234@gmail.com. Let me know what the photo shows and whether you want your name mentioned or not. For copyright reasons, the photo must be one you have taken yourself.

Links and previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/09/occult-london-temple-of-aeolus-at-kew.html
http://www.kew.org/
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/12/who-killed-cock-robin.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2011/12/bluebirds-dreams-and-spirit-animals.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/07/pagan-eye-raven-at-stonehenge.html

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