Lady death mowing down a victim with her scythe. A demon of the harvest fields in the shape of a mourning widow. Is it any wonder that folklore symbolically conflates death and the harvest in such potent images when the harvest was the very heart and pulse of the agricultural communities of the ‘folk’? We will encounter these beings whose very nature combines life-giving harvest and death-giving exhaustion from labour - we will encounter harvest demons in the golden wheat fields and the life-stripping heat of the noonday sun in Poland, Russia and Slovenia. We will also meet the wolf-shepherd, an unusual patron to Croatian cattle farmers and their gentle field dwelling bovines.
All music by Co-Ag Music (available on Youtube)

S02 Episode 3: Harvest Demon & Wolf Shepherd

This podcast is a storytelling journey through world-folklore. With brief context and analysis in the introductions, the main focus is the retelling of stories themselves. 
From saucer-eyed spectral dogs to pond-scum haunting child-eating witches - experience the darker side of Britain's folklore in Series 1. Then journey to central and eastern Europe to the world of Slavic folklore, home of Baba Yaga and lurking nature spirits (Series 2). From there, step into the vast world of Nordic Folklore, where creatures abound in the woodlands, mountains and fjords of beautiful northern climes. Look out a series called 'Earth Lore' this autumn/winter to celebrate the natural world and a series on Japanese and Korean folklore next spring.

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Here is the Russian tale of Ivan Bears-Son. With origins in a cave and what seems to be a fated encounter with darkness and then an underworld teeming with light and life, this story has all the mythic elements that permeate the winter solstice and the journey to the vernal equinox. Story Sources: Russian Wonder Tales by George Post Wheeler; A Branch from the Lightening Tree by Martin Shaw; The Book of Symbols edited by Ami Ronnberg and Kathleen MartinAs always, a huge thank you to Co-Ag Music, a constant source of quality copyright free music.

Earth Lore: The Underworld

It is a strange thing to think of death as nutritious, that death can make living things into the elemental stuff of life. But as summer’s verdant life begins to succumb to an inevitable end, as death transforms the landscape, the strangeness of that thought recedes, becoming something full of sense and meaning.This is especially true as I walk through a local woodland and beneath my feet are the remains of arboreal death - humus, that dark organic matter that forms in soil when plant and animal matter decays. When leaf litter and animals remains decompose, they break down into their most basic chemical elements…elements that are nutritious to life.This breaking down of living things, particularly as autumn transitions into winter on my Northern island, inspired this episode of Mythos, which will focus on primordial giant stories - myths in which a giant is sacrificed in order to become the building blocks of creation.The first is a Norse Myth, details of which can be found in the Prose and Poetic Eddas. The Prose Edda was written in 13th century Iceland and is considered the fullest and most detailed source of Norse Mythology. Drawing upon a variety of sources, the Prose Edda also references an older source - a collection of poems known as the Poetic Edda.The second story is from the Rigveda, an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit Hymns, one of the four sacred Hindu texts known as the vedas.Music:https://www.youtube.com/@ebanisteria.musicalehttps://www.youtube.com/@GeethanjaliClassicalMusichttps://www.youtube.com/@Nordicvibrations7979

Earth Lore: In the Beginning, Part 2

Eggs are an ancient symbol. The magical properties, burial rites and folk beliefs surrounding eggs are many.In this first episode of Earth Lore, a Mythos series that retells ancient myth and traditional folklore surrounding the cosmos, earth, flora, fauna and natural phenomena, we will look at cosmic origin myths that feature magical primordial eggs. With a brief introduction, there will then be two retellings of myths from Finland and China.Music courtesy of Co-Ag music (copyright free music can be found on Youtube)﻿

Earth Lore: In the Beginning, Part 1

In Baltic folklore, birds are mediators of heaven and earth, between the living and the dead. Their music is heraldic and their song a prophetic chanting. Birds inhabit and embody the dynamic force of space, soaring through the invisible ether of the atmosphere. In this story, we will journey to the thrice-three realm, to the garden of a Baltic King, where, amidst bone white birches and tall meadow grasses, there dwells a bird only accessible to the truly wiseMusic (Youtube)This Fascinating World, Co-Ag Music Siidisulis linnukene' (Silken Feathered Bird), Maarja NuutTraditional kokle music variation 1, Laima Jansone Abandoned 1, Co-Ag MusicMuutuja, Maarja Nuut & Ruum Edge of Silence, Co-Ag Music

S04 Episode 8: Tales from the Amber Sea Part 2 - The Magic Bird

October, in much lore, is a spiritually potent time and the oft stated idea that the veil between worlds is thin at this time holds true in traditional Latvian practice. The living would prepare their homes for a visit from deceased ancestors, with the house cleaned and table laden with food for the occasion. To open this feast, an elder of the home would call the names of all the ancestral dead in living memory, inviting them to eat with the living.In this story, we follow a young man into a Latvian forest, where he follows yet another tradition - retrieving the ancestors from the forest cemetery in a horse drawn cart. Please head to www.mythospodcast.com and sign up for the email list for weekly stories and research content, for both creative inspiration and the solace of story. Also consider becoming a Patron: a library of episode transcript e-books and some special patrons-only episodes for top two tiers. And I welcome support for 	upcoming series on Japanese and Korean Folklore - and the Earth Lore series exploring the folklore of the natural world around the globe.Thank you to Co-Ag Music for the excellent soundscapes of this episode.

S02 Episode 3: Harvest Demon & Wolf Shepherd

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