Our Stance

We at Blackthorn Ritualistic Folk have never fully blacked our faces and will never fully black our faces!

We will not dance along side or work with any group that continues to use this form of “disguise”.

We are named after the Blackthorn tree so our faces are painted dark blue and black which represents the colours of the ripe sloe berries found on the tree, you will also see drawn thorns coming from our eyes which represent the thorns of the blackthorn. As of February 2024 all members now only wear half painted faces (masks) rather than some who painted their faces fully, we have done this so there is no misunderstandings when being photographed in black & white or low light photography.

In ritualistic dance groups around the world you will find that they often paint or smudge their faces, we are no acceptation. Painting faces or body parts for ritualistic performances have been performed for centuries and we try to uphold this tradition, there are a number of reasons why ritualistic groups do this from connecting with the spirits or gods that they worship to denoting a status in the group as well as many other reasons. Blackthorn Ritualistic Folk are a dark folk side with our theme being nature and dark folklore, we paint our faces for disguise to add mystery to who we are, we paint our faces to connect with the tree we are named after and finally we paint our faces to act as a means to ward off evil spirits, much like the ritual of wassailing an orchard.

You will also find our hats and head garlands adorned with animal symbols (pins, badges, feathers etc) and also plant materials (blackthorn thorns, leaves, twigs, seeds pods etc) which symbolise each of our fauna & flora emblems that represent natures biodiversity of our planet and to highlight their importance.

Thank you for taking the time to read our stance on this subject.