The 4th of January marks the peak of the Quadrantids meteor shower in the Norther hemisphere. Coincident with this is the curious appearance of ‘star jelly’ in the fields and pastures surrounding Horsingdon Hill. These gelid lumps of white ooze - also known as ‘star-slime’, ‘star-slough’, and ‘the rot of the stars’ - have long been prized by the region’s cunning folk for their alleged occult properties. Further to this, the substance has played an important part in Horsingdon’s witchlore, wherein it is said to constitute the principle ingredient of the vinum sabbati - a libation whose consumption by celebrants formed the central sacrament of the Witches Sabbath. Even today, in the early hours of the morning of the 5th of January, curious figures can sometimes be spied in the fields and furrows at the base of Horsingdon Hill, engaged in a strange harvest.
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