Spring: Thresholds and Reawakening

Every spring, someone lights a fire, walks a boundary, ties a thread to a blossoming tree, or scrubs a doorstep until the stone shows white. The folklore of the season is richer, stranger, and more physically demanding than its reputation suggests. From painted eggs in Eastern Europe to hobby horse processions in Cornwall, from Walpurgis Night bonfires in Sweden to the candlelit search for bread c...