Chthonia

Here is Part 2 of the podcast I did on Hecate in 2019. This episode focused more on Hekate Soteria, the Middle Platonic Hekate that was connected to the Moon and considered an intermediary for souls. It was also this version of Hekate that was "separated" from the Queen of Ghosts and Witches, who was called Physis by the philosophers, and associated with the world under the Earth. 

This was an audio cleanup and still has the original theme music and ending. For current information on Chthonia, visit https://chthonia.net.

Website: https://chthonia.net
Podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/chthonia--4909143
Patreon: https://patreon.com/chthonia
Merch: https://chthoniapodcast.creator-spring.com/
School: https://instituteforfemininemyth.org

This week we look at Pope Joan, who is alleged to have served as the only female Pope either in the 9th century or the 11th century. We look at the facts, how scholars think her legend started, inconsistencies in the legend, and the Church's reaction to the idea of a Papess. If Joan existed, she was much smarter than her male contemporaries, secular and religious. So was her legend started as an anti-Pope narrative, is it supposed to be a critique of the various "Pope Johns" of the medieval period, or could there be some truth to the story?

Here is the original 2019 episode on Persephone, Queen of the Underworld with cleaned up sound editing. The original theme music and original infomation from 2019 still remain in this episode; current information about the podcast and Chthonia in general is at https://chthonia.net

Website: https://chthonia.net
Patreon: https://patreon.com/chthonia
Merch: https://chthoniapodcast.creator-spring.com/
School: https://instituteforfemininemyth.org

Happy new year! Our first podcast of 2025 looks at Joan of Arc, also known as Jeanne D'Arc, and La Pucelle (the Maid). We discuss Joan's short life, having been burned at the stake at the age of 19 after being victorious in pushing the English out of France in the Hundred Years' War, and installing Charles VII on the throne. We focus on three things: her visions of Michael the Archangel, St. Margaret of Antioch and St. Catherine of Alexandria; the heresy charges leveled against her for wearing male attire; and finally the question that plagued me as I recorded this--who exactly WAS Joan that she would be sought out for this mission?

Website: https://chthonia.net
Patreon: https://patreon.com/chthonia
Merch: https://chthoniapodcast.creator-spring.com/
School: https://instituteforfemininemyth.org

The last podcast of 2024 focuses on the grandmotherly figure of La Befana, a witch who appears on Epiphany Eve to bring gifts (or coal) and to sweep the house. Children may not look at her without suffering consequences. The origins of La Befana may lie in an Etruscan/Sabine goddess, and the paradoxical nature and perception of this witch figure may tell us something about the uneasy relationship of a patriarchal world with Nature.

Website: https://chthonia.net
Patreon: https://patreon.com/chthonia
Merch: https://chthoniapodcast.creator-spring.com/
School: https://instituteforfemininemyth.org

This week we look at the Loireag, a "plaintative" tiny fairy associated with the traditional process of spinning and weaving cloth. The Loireag is considered to be a water spirit in the folklore of the Hebrides, as well as a spinster, making her full of apparent paradoxes when it comes to her associations as a feminine force. We look at the folklore that exists surrounding the Loireag, which also deals with singing, and the mythology of weaving and what it might represent. 

This week’s subject is Tlazolteotl, the Aztec goddess of filth, lust, and patroness of adulterers. Tlazolteotl is both the disease and the cure, being a goddess of debauchery, but also the one who can purify you from debauchery. We look at the idea of “Holy S**t”, how excrement was viewed as a divine and healing substance, and how this idea compares in other cultures. We also discuss how “filth” ends up being connected with the Feminine, and how this can affect our ideas abuot sex and sensual pleasure.

Website: https://chthonia.net
Patreon: https://patreon.com/chthonia
Merch: https://chthoniapodcast.creator-spring.com/
School: https://instituteforfemininemyth.org

In this week's episode we look at the seal women of fairy lore, the Selkies. Selkies are beautiful fairies who take off their sealskin to dance by the water. In the stories, a fisherman will see them and steal their sealskin so that they cannot return home. The Selkie is then compelled to be the wife of the fisherman, until she is able to find out where her sealskin is hidden, at which point she retrieves it and returns home again. This story is reflective of the traditional male relationship to the Anima, and how he can never truly possess her by conquering her.

Website: https://chthonia.net
 Patreon: https://patreon.com/chthonia
Merch: https://chthoniapodcast.creator-spring.com/
School: https://instituteforfemininemyth.org

Fans of the 2019 episodes--I am slowly, slowly working my way through re-editing these episodes. In this episode we look at the origins of Hecate from an academic standpoint, including Hesiod's lavish praise of her in the Theogony, and her role as keeper of the keys and a protective gatekeeper.

Website: https://chthonia.net
Patreon: https://patreon.com/chthonia
Merch: https://chthoniapodcast.creator-spring.com/
ISFM: https://instituteforfemininemyth.org

This week's episode looks at the folkloric storm hags of Ireland, Scotland, and Lake Erie in the United States. While hag and witch figures often represent forces of nature, the Storm Hag represents a unique danger that comes at the end of winter--the fragile state of birth and rebirth.