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Reposted by Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read

Lighthouse - Edinburgh's Radical Bookshop @lighthousebks.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

We've been so looking forward to our Book Fringe event with @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social and it's finally TOMORROW! If you're into ecology, history, spirituality and want to view it through a Scottish folk magic lens, this book is for you. Join us in the garden at noon for a magical hour!

Mairi stands outside the shop holding a copy of Mill Dust and Dreaming Bread on top of a wee pile of the book.

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Reposted by Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read

Lighthouse - Edinburgh's Radical Bookshop @lighthousebks.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Join us at noon on Mon 17th August in the company of the many magical creatures and stories that inhabit Scottish lore and legend with @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social! Scott's Milldust & Dreaming Bread offers a transformative perspective on the significance of Scottish Folklore today. See you then!

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

This Friday evening @eileenbudd and I are having a wee celebration. There’s still time to come along if you fancy a bit of Scottish folklore craic and shenanigans :)

Eileen and Scott portraits surround mill dust and dreaming bread book cover inviting people to come along to a celebration and book launch - it will be good craic and the building is accessible

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

Filing under things I wish people remember on the daily “Debates are not adversarial opportunities to make your ouponent look like an idiot. They are opportunities in which we can all become better, and grow.”

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

We had rain - the first in 6 weeks I’m so happy about this !

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

Returning to writing after authoring a book is the weirdest feeling - I am happy to be back in the idea soup but I think I’ve forgotten a bit how to slurp it up like before.

media.tenor.com

tails from sonic the hedgehog is sitting at a table eating a bowl of food .

ALT: tails from sonic the hedgehog is sitting at a table eating a bowl of food .

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

Had a great chat with Dareagh on his spirit box podcast - was an absolute pleasure to chat to as a long time listener first time caller - check it out ! (Try not to laugh too hard at the autogenerated chapter titles haha open.spotify.com/episode/5GA4...

AI gets gaelic so wrong ! Maybe gaelic is the only language to save us from the AI overlords ?

Spirit box image tile with a spooky figure shining red with white text over the top saying Spirit Box

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Thanks to Brooke and Laura and the amazing team at Black Moon Botanica the book launch has sold out. If you wanted to come along and have a blether there will be other opportunities, @eileenbudd and I are planning one on the evening of the 27th June in Edinburgh - all welcome!

Image a a man looking down at the floor in the woods with a cheeky smile and a cover of a book called Mill Dust and Dreaming Bread. The background Is black and there is a large red “sold out” stamp over the image.

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

A huge thank you to all the brilliant indie bookshops and indie shops who have chosen to stock Mill Dust and Dreaming Bread on #indiebookstoreday. @wedale-bookshop.bsky.social @brambleandbone.bsky.social @blackmoonbotanica.bsky.social

A small pile of Mill Dust and Dreaming Bread Books on an office desk

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

I didn’t have using up the water in both my rain barrels watering my garden in April was on the cards but here we are … I’m not sure what this means for summer crops and the ecosystem.

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

This is the first quote I’ve seen pulled from my new book. When I wrote this over the course of the last ten years I didn’t realise it would be published with everything going on in the world today. Seems a bit uncanny. Thanks for loving the writing @tehlorkay.bsky.social

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

So nice to see these books out in the wild ! Thanks to everyone who supported the Kickstarter or has preordered !

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

By the time I have gotten to the end of the book signings and hand written thank you notes I will have scrawled abooout 13000 -17000 words. Thank you all for the support, I have loved reading your comments and thoughts but my wrist will be requiring a break soon!

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

As part of the Kickstarter for Mill Dust and Dreaming Bread, I had the pleasure of commissioning a stunning piece of art from garth.laidlaw. Here it is on my writing desk in the rare March sun. Garth brought something truly special to life. An image of Scotland’s oldest known animist shrine.

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

Today is #worldbookday and I’m over the moon to be spending the day parceling up and posting the first edition copies of my new book Mill Dust and Dreaming Bread - Exploring Scottish Folk Belief and Folk Magic to early Kickstarter backers.

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

My house smells like books and hyacinths and I’m not mad about it at all.

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

I was reminded of this quote by Katherine Briggs in Fairies in Tradition and Literature. Some folk try to shape the fairy faith into a single dogmatic narrative but that is not the way it has ever worked. Scotland is a melting pot and that pot has been stirred by countless hands over the years.

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

Special edition Mill Dust and Dreaming Bread - Out May - (other editions out late summer)

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Just signed up to Bluesky flashes - I’m loving these alternative spaces and SO happy there’s a image app to connect via as I’m not a very effective tweeter short form writer haha

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

Luminescent moss green sound recording day. I ponder how moss might sound … If silence sang, it would be this; the tender press of rain’s cool kiss, the sigh of roots, the hush of shade, a song of time the wind unmade. #scottishfolklore #soundrecording

Tascam sound recorder against a mossy stone grave

Moss glowing bright green against a the deep red of a cedar tree. The lights catches it right to left as if in a moment of sunrise.

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

The stories we carry are as vital as the bread we bake and the songs we sing. Mill Dust and Dreaming Bread is a book about memory, land, and the quiet resilience of everyday folk. A love letter to Scotland’s past, woven from lived experience and deep research. Pre-order now.

Front cover of mill dust and dreaming bread

DISCOVER THE HIDDEN WISDOM OF SCOTLAND'S
FOLK TRADITIONS
MILL DUST & DREAMING BREAD TAKES READERS ON A CAPTIVATING JOURNEY IHPOUGH SCOTLAND'S LANDSCAPES, LEGENDS, AND LORE.
THIS BOOK EXPLORES THE RICH TAPESTRY OF FOLK BELIEF AND FOLK MAGIC AND UNCOVERS THE ENDURING CONNECTIONS BETWEEN LAND, COMMUNITY, AND SPIRIT ROOTED IN SCOTLAND'S ANCESTRAL TRADITIONS. FROM ANIMISTIC PRACTICES AND SEASONAL CELEBRATIONS TO THE STRUGGLES OF RESILIENCE AGAINST SUPPRESSION, IT RECLAIMS A MARGINALISED CULTURAL HERITAGE AND INVITES READERS TO REDISCOVER ITS RELEVANCE IN THE MODERN WORLD.
BLENDING DEEP ARCHIVAL RESEARCH, PERSONAL STORYTELLING, AND VIBRANT EXPLORATIONS OF ECOLOGY, HISTORY, AND SPIRITUALITY, THIS WORK IS AN EVOCATIVE HOMAGE TO SCOTLAND'S PAST AND A POWERFUL CALL TO EMBRACE ITS ENDURING WISDOM. WHETHER DELVING INTO THE FAIRY FAITH, UNCOVERING THE RITUALS OF ANCIENT FESTIVALS, OR EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF SOCIETAL UPHEAVAL, MILL DUST & DREAMING BREAD OFFERS A TRANSFORMATIVE PERSPECTIVE ON OUR SHARED HERITAGE AND A VISION OF HOW IT CAN INSPIRE US TODAY.
THIS BOOK IS FOR SEEKERS, STORYTELLERS, AND ALL WHO YEARN TO CONNECT WITH THE ECHOES OF AN ANCIENT LAND.
PRE ORDER AT CAILLEACHS-HERBARIUM.COM

A silver ogham circle on a charred wood background

ADVANCED PRAISE FOR THE BOOK
MEANINGFUL, MAGICAL AND MARVELLOUS. WEAVING OVER A DECADE OF RESEARCH AND CENTURIES OF HISTORY TOGETHER, THIS BOOK IS A FASCINATING INSIGHT INTO SCOTLAND'S FOLK BELIEFS, PRACTICES AND FORGOTTEN HISTORY. ESSENTIAL AND LONG OVERDUE READING FOR ANYONE WITH AN INTEREST IN DISCOVERING SCOTLAND'S NATIVE TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS AND MAGIC.
EILEEN B., STORYTELLER

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

Gathered a few good folks to start a folklore and folk magic starter list for folks! Hope it’s useful to find folks to follow go.bsky.app/8WusE1u

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

The hush of winter lingers but Candle flames flicker like the first whispers of spring, banishing winter’s hush. Milk, white, rich, and sacred, flows in tribute to life stirring beneath the frost. Birch, the tree of beginnings, stands watch at the threshold of change. #scottishfolkmagic

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

Is there ever a good time to reintroduce yourself? With all the social media activity, I thought now would be a good time to say hi and tell you a little about myself. I’m Scott Richardson-Read, a working-class writer, folklorist, social worker, counsellor, and cultural historian ... 1/

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

When the 1st sliver of light ‘adharc nan ùir, the horn of the new moon’ pierces the darkness, this is the true mark of the start of our festival days like Là Fhéill Bríde. Not the dark of the moon, not absence, but return. However you mark the passing of time, I wish you a bright Là Fhéill Brìde.

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Before the new moons crescent emerged, the moon lay in the ‘deed dark’, an old Scots phrase for the few days when it was invisible, lost in the black of the sky. The echo of midwinter, the deid o’ the year, when the land itself holds its breath, waiting. Even now, traces of these customs linger.

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Cailleach’s Herbarium / Scott Richardson-Read @scottishfolkmagic.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

In Scottish Gaelic and some Scots traditions, time once flowed by the rhythm of the moon rather than the sun. Festivals like Imbolc, or Là Fhéill Brìde, were not fixed to modern calendar dates but moved with the waxing of the gealach ùr - the new moon or the more poetic name solas ur new light/lamp

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