SigneMaene

It was a dark, cloudy day when I was chatting with one of my dearest friends and very talented artist Cate Zeederberg. We were talking about how unfair this world is and it was raining sentences like ‘eat the rich’ and ‘à la lanterne.’ Oh, how nice it would be if we could shapeshift into toads and fly away on our brooms! We have tried (more than once) but unfortunately that’s still a work in progress as the exact ingredients for that particular potion have yet to be found. We promise to keep you updated once we have figured it out.

The following day was yet another cloudy day and Cate asked me to draw a toad. So, with my dyspraxic hands I drew a toad and Cate’s magical hands turned this little creature into a true anarchist. That’s how the winged toads were born and perhaps one day we won’t need a broom anymore since these toads can fly and therefore make excellent familiars! Although it’s far more likely that we mere mortals will end up being their familiars. :-) 

Toads and I go a long time back. I started calling myself a toad when I was a child because I was often called ugly. Toads and their beautiful warts are after all by many considered to be ugly. It was much later when I developed a passion for amphibians that I started to view toads in a different way. They’re beautiful because they’re so different. 

I research and write stories inspired by Flemish folklore and there’s a quote from one of my sources about a West-Flemish folktale I would love to share. It tells the story of a witch who chooses to shapeshift into a toad instead of the more common animals witches prefer like cats and hares.  

‘I do not know any other instance in which the witch assumes this loathsome shape…’

-William Henderson, Notes on the folk-lore of the northern counties of England and the borders, 1879.

Personally, I think there is no prettier shape to appear in than that of a toad! So, on that note, let’s be loathsome toads who do not obey gods and masters together! :-)