It’s that time of year again when my thoughts return to the hot cross bun lurking in the corner of my kitchen. The last Good Friday but one, in pursuit of The Everyday Lore Project, I strung it up and quite frankly, given my appalling baking track record, I absolutely expected it to fall apart and crumble all over the aloe vera plant below. But it hasn’t.
It’s said that ‘if you hang a freshly-baked-on-the-day hot cross bun, it will never go stale and will become imbued with magical healing properties’ (just quoting myself for kicks here). However, while it hasn’t disintegrated, I haven’t quite had the courage to take a nibble or grate it into a wound (especially given the ever present lacing of dusty cobwebs), so I’m not entirely sure that it’s folklore for the win just yet. Maybe I’ll try it on the fifth aniversary. Maybe.
And also still going strong is the parsley I planted to snub the Devil. I think I can confidently say, seeing as it’s still alive, I have proven that indeed I am a baddun as ‘only a witch or a rogue can germinate parsley’ (quoting myself again, so narcissistic, so parsley), but obviously given the state of it, I am no gardener.
So enjoy all the ritual year folklore that wafts around this weekend. And if you haven’t already checked out my new project Folklore Agony – solving problems the folklore way, you can read the latest dilemma here (Tom Cruise and sex get a mention…). Happy Easter! And chag Pesach samech!
Well done on keeping the bun alive for so long! Could you send me a piece in the post, please? I might grate it onto my knob as, alas, I am still afflicted 🙁
I’ll see what I can do… 😉