The Wild Goddess

January often arrives heavy with expectation, urging us to move faster, decide more, become something new.

But winter has never worked that way.

In this opening episode of 2026, I begin not with resolutions or reflection prompts, but with an old folktale.

The Twelve Months is a traditional Eastern European winter story, retold from The Telling of the Seasons, in which a young girl is sent into the frozen forest on an impossible task. There, she encounters the twelve months of the year gathered around a fire, led by Old Mother January, keeper of winter’s law and time’s turning.

What follows is a story about humility, patience, seasonal wisdom, and the quiet power of asking, rather than demanding, life to unfold.

After the story, I reflect on what this tale teaches us about January, modern life, and the pressure to rush growth before its time. This episode is an invitation to move gently into the new year, to trust your winter pace, and to remember that rest, waiting, and listening are not failures — they are sacred practices.

This is an episode for anyone who feels out of step with “new year, new you” culture, and longs for a slower, more honest beginning.

Light the fire.
 Winter knows what it’s doing.

Telling the Seasons book by Martin Maudsley

 🌿 Discover my books on folklore, small enchantment and daily noticing's here

✨  The Snug is my free community, a cosy corner where I share stories, nature musings, folklore and seasonal living. Come and join us, there's always a seat by the fire. Click here to find out more.

 📖 Prefer to read? My writings also live over on my Substack, The Wild Noticings.
 

🕯️ Experience story through scent.
 Explore my Wild Goddess candles, each with its own story.

✨ Love the podcast?
 Follow, share, or leave a review, it means more than you know.

📲 Find me on Instagram
 @the.wildgoddess

2025 didn’t turn out how I planned it.
Not in my work, not in my life. not in my heart.

In this episode, I’m reflecting on a year shaped by grief, intuition, and a quieter kind of courage. A year where I didn’t plan to be making candles, didn’t expect to be pouring so much of myself into The Enchantment membership… and didn’t know how deeply losing my Grandad would change me.

I share honestly about grief and how it reshapes us, the unexpected wisdom I’ve learned from my Nan, and why trusting your intuition, even when it takes you wildly off-plan, can be the most life-giving thing you ever do.

This is an episode about finding magic again when life cracks you open.
 About enchantment not as escapism, but as survival.
 And about learning to trust the quieter voice that knows where you’re meant to go next.

If your year didn’t look like you thought it would… this one’s for you.

 🌿 Discover my books on folklore, small enchantment and daily noticing's here

✨  The Snug is my free community, a cosy corner where I share stories, nature musings, folklore and seasonal living. Come and join us, there's always a seat by the fire. Click here to find out more.

 📖 Prefer to read? My writings also live over on my Substack, The Wild Noticings.
 

🕯️ Experience story through scent.
 Explore my Wild Goddess candles, each with its own story.

✨ Love the podcast?
 Follow, share, or leave a review, it means more than you know.

📲 Find me on Instagram
 @the.wildgoddess

Step with me into the old magic of winter.

In this special episode, we wander from November into December through a folklore-infused charm-walk filled with robins, hobgoblins, mistletoe, the Holly King, and the ancient Cailleach herself.
 This isn’t a story, it’s an immersive winter enchantment, a pocket spell woven with old lore, atmospheric imagery, and gentle seasonal wisdom.

Together, we'll find:
 ✨ The robin’s blessing
 ✨ The Holly King in deep winter
 ✨ Hobgoblin mischief and hearth magic
 ✨ The ancient protective lore of winter mistletoe
 ✨ The quiet welcome of the Cailleach’s winter cottage
 ✨ A sense of slowing, softening, and embracing the wintering season

This episode is perfect for anyone craving:
 • cosy festive magic
 • winter spirituality
 • Celtic and British folklore
 • gentle seasonal rituals
 • a grounding December meditation
 • a moment of calm and wonder at the turning of the wheel

Curl up somewhere warm, light a candle if you wish, and let this spell invite you gently into December’s softer, deeper magic.

 🌿 Discover my books on folklore, small enchantment and daily noticing's here

✨  The Snug is my free community, a cosy corner where I share stories, nature musings, folklore and seasonal living. Come and join us, there's always a seat by the fire. Click here to find out more.

 📖 Prefer to read? My writings also live over on my Substack, The Wild Noticings.
 

🕯️ Experience story through scent.
 Explore my Wild Goddess candles, each with its own story.

✨ Love the podcast?
 Follow, share, or leave a review, it means more than you know.

📲 Find me on Instagram
 @the.wildgoddess

Step into a haunting, atmospheric November tale rooted in British folklore, witchcraft history, and the old magic of the land.

 In this original Wild Goddess story, we follow the voice of an ancient elm tree, once used as a gallows, as it remembers Aldith, a wise-woman condemned in the cold dark of winter.

This is a story of injustice, transformation, and the enduring spirit of the women the world tried to silence.
 A tale woven with tree lore, old charms, and the bone-deep wisdom of the season.

If you love dark folklore, witch stories, ancestral remembrance, mythic storytelling, or the quiet magic of winter’s edge, this episode will speak to your soul.

Content Note:
This fictional tale draws inspiration from historical witch trials and includes references to persecution and execution (nothing graphic).

Light a candle, wrap yourself in something warm, and let the old tree tell its truth.

 🌿 Discover my books on folklore, small enchantment and daily noticing's here

✨  The Snug is my free community, a cosy corner where I share stories, nature musings, folklore and seasonal living. Come and join us, there's always a seat by the fire. Click here to find out more.

 📖 Prefer to read? My writings also live over on my Substack, The Wild Noticings.
 

🕯️ Experience story through scent.
 Explore my Wild Goddess candles, each with its own story.

✨ Love the podcast?
 Follow, share, or leave a review, it means more than you know.

📲 Find me on Instagram
 @the.wildgoddess

In this episode, I’m sharing an original folklore inspired tale I’ve written called “The Keeper of the Dust and the Ground-Bound Fae.”

This story follows Mason, a young fae born without wings, and the brave journey he takes into the Elderwood to seek out a mysterious old woman known as The Keeper of the Dust. Along the way, he meets hedge sprites, faces ancient woodland tests, and discovers the deeper truth of what courage and wholeness really mean.

This tale is woven with everything I love —
 ✨ a nod to British folklore
 ✨ enchanted forests and wild fae magic
 ✨ cosy, atmospheric storytelling
 ✨ the quiet courage of becoming yourself
 ✨ magical old women, threshold places, and woodland wisdom

If you’re someone who’s drawn to myth, story, and the kind of magic that feels rooted in the land, then you’ll love this one. It’s soulful, shadowy, and full of heart.

Settle in, light a candle, and come walk the Elderwood with me.

 🌿 Discover my books on folklore, small enchantment and daily noticing's here

✨  The Snug is my free community, a cosy corner where I share stories, nature musings, folklore and seasonal living. Come and join us, there's always a seat by the fire. Click here to find out more.

 📖 Prefer to read? My writings also live over on my Substack, The Wild Noticings.
 

🕯️ Experience story through scent.
 Explore my Wild Goddess candles, each with its own story.

✨ Love the podcast?
 Follow, share, or leave a review, it means more than you know.

📲 Find me on Instagram
 @the.wildgoddess

What happens to the human soul when we lose our sense of magic?

 In this episode of The Wild Goddess Podcast I'm exploring the deep wound left by the loss of enchantment in our modern world, a wound that has quietly numbed our creativity, spirituality, and connection to nature.

Through folklore, mythology, and old-world wisdom, I'm inviting you to remember what it means to live in an enchanted world, where wells still whisper wishes, trees still hum with spirit, and fairy tales hold hidden truths.

Join this rich, soulful journey through story and wonder as we reclaim our innate magic, reawaken curiosity, and find beauty in the everyday once more.

 🌿 Discover my books on folklore, small enchantment and daily noticing's here

✨  The Snug is my free community, a cosy corner where I share stories, nature musings, folklore and seasonal living. Come and join us, there's always a seat by the fire. Click here to find out more.

 📖 Prefer to read? My writings also live over on my Substack, The Wild Noticings.
 

🕯️ Experience story through scent.
 Explore my Wild Goddess candles, each with its own story.

✨ Love the podcast?
 Follow, share, or leave a review, it means more than you know.

📲 Find me on Instagram
 @the.wildgoddess

In this deeply personal and folkloric episode, I'm sharing another original story, The Old Woman of the Wind, a mythic Irish-inspired tale about the power of change, the wisdom of the winds, and the quiet strength found in surrender.

Inspired by my wonderful Irish Nan from Ballina, County Mayo, this episode weaves together folklore, intuition and change, reminding us that the winds of change are not here to destroy, but to guide us back to ourselves.

You’ll be transported into a world of mountain caves, whispering air spirits, and wild November skies and invited to reflect on what the wind might be trying to tell you.

🕯️ In this episode, you’ll explore:

• The symbolism of wind as transformation in Irish folklore
• The spiritual meaning of change and surrender
• How to embrace life’s inevitable shifts with grace and courage

🌬️ Reflective Journal Prompts:

1. Where in my life am I resisting change, and what might I be afraid to lose if I let it happen?
2. What has the wind carried away from me this year — and what has it quietly delivered in its place?
3. How would it feel to trust that every ending in my life is simply the wind clearing space for something new?

This episode is a balm for the soul, a story for anyone standing on the edge of change, ready to breathe deeper and trust the unseen forces that move through our lives.

✨ Listen now and let the Old Woman of the Wind remind you: you cannot ask the wind to be still and still wish to fly.

 🌿 Discover my books on folklore, small enchantment and daily noticing's here

✨  The Snug is my free community, a cosy corner where I share stories, nature musings, folklore and seasonal living. Come and join us, there's always a seat by the fire. Click here to find out more.

 📖 Prefer to read? My writings also live over on my Substack, The Wild Noticings.
 

🕯️ Experience story through scent.
 Explore my Wild Goddess candles, each with its own story.

✨ Love the podcast?
 Follow, share, or leave a review, it means more than you know.

📲 Find me on Instagram
 @the.wildgoddess

Step into the magic of Samhain, the season of endings, ancestors, and enchantment, with this hauntingly beautiful folklore tale, The Lantern Keeper. ✨

In this special Samhain episode of The Wild Goddess Podcast, I'm inviting you into a world between worlds, where a woman named Elara ventures into the dark forest to rekindle her light. Guided by the Crone of the Cauldron, she discovers that true illumination isn’t borrowed or begged... it’s fed by honesty, courage, and the willingness to face our shadows.

This original Wild Goddess story blends Celtic folklore, witchcraft, and feminine wisdom, capturing the spirit of Samhain through vivid storytelling and sacred symbolism - the crow, the cauldron, the flame. 🌒

After the tale, stay for a Samhain reflection and candle ritual to help you release what no longer serves and tend your own sacred flame through the dark half of the year.

Perfect for those who love Samhain rituals, witchy folklore, dark goddess magic, spiritual storytelling, and ancestral connection.

🔥 Inside this episode:
– Samhain wisdom and the meaning of this sacred turning
– The Lantern Keeper, an original Wild Goddess folklore story
– Reflection prompts and a simple lantern ritual

🖤 Written and narrated by me, Kayleigh Priest, founder of The Wild Goddess and creator of The Enchantment, a space for women to reawaken to wonder, truth, and wild beauty.

 🌿 Discover my books on folklore, small enchantment and daily noticing's here

✨  The Snug is my free community, a cosy corner where I share stories, nature musings, folklore and seasonal living. Come and join us, there's always a seat by the fire. Click here to find out more.

 📖 Prefer to read? My writings also live over on my Substack, The Wild Noticings.
 

🕯️ Experience story through scent.
 Explore my Wild Goddess candles, each with its own story.

✨ Love the podcast?
 Follow, share, or leave a review, it means more than you know.

📲 Find me on Instagram
 @the.wildgoddess

In this episode of The Wild Goddess Podcast, I'm sitting down with Kalie, founder of Soul Sister Society—a women’s self-development book club turned community hub for real growth. We talk about turning pages into practice (hello reading journals, accountability, and taking action), why self-development can feel lonely, and how sisterhood, rituals and reflection make the work actually stick.

Kalie shares how her book club evolved into a wider spiritual space with chapter-by-chapter podcast summaries, journal prompts, affirmations, meditations, and new/full moon rituals—plus her upcoming membership, Sisterhood Rising (launching 1 January 2026). We explore manifestation beyond money, seasonal living, goddess wisdom, and the confidence that comes from community.

If you’ve ever thought “I’ve read the books—so why hasn’t my life changed?”, this one’s your sign. Come for the cosy reading vibes, stay for the practical tools and the reminder that you don’t need perfection to begin—just one honest step.

• Follow Kalie on IG: @soul_sister_society

 • Join the book club on Patreon: search Soul Sister Society Book Club

 • Offer for listeners: code Goddess for 50% off your first month (you also get access to the full back catalogue)
• Sisterhood Rising waitlist: doors open 1 Jan 2026

 🌿 Discover my books on folklore, small enchantment and daily noticing's here

✨  The Snug is my free community, a cosy corner where I share stories, nature musings, folklore and seasonal living. Come and join us, there's always a seat by the fire. Click here to find out more.

 📖 Prefer to read? My writings also live over on my Substack, The Wild Noticings.
 

🕯️ Experience story through scent.
 Explore my Wild Goddess candles, each with its own story.

✨ Love the podcast?
 Follow, share, or leave a review, it means more than you know.

📲 Find me on Instagram
 @the.wildgoddess

In this episode of The Wild Goddess Podcast, I am sharing an original folkloric tale—The Story of Tulip and Her Wild Garden.  A magical story woven with wisdom for our modern lives.

Tulip’s dream was to build the most beautiful flower garden the village had ever seen. But in her pursuit of perfection, she lost sight of herself, her friends, and the very magic she longed to share.

This enchanting story carries a timeless message: the importance of balance between doing and being, masculine and feminine, work and rest. It’s a lesson for anyone who has ever felt the pull of burnout, obsession, or the pressure to prove themselves through constant striving.

I'm unpacking the wisdom behind Tulip’s tale, exploring what folklore can teach us about our own lives, and how we can reclaim joy, balance, and connection while still tending to our dreams.

🌿 If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed, overworked, or caught in the trap of “more, more, more,” this episode is a gentle invitation to pause, breathe, and remember—you are not your productivity. Magic lies in balance.

 🌿 Discover my books on folklore, small enchantment and daily noticing's here

✨  The Snug is my free community, a cosy corner where I share stories, nature musings, folklore and seasonal living. Come and join us, there's always a seat by the fire. Click here to find out more.

 📖 Prefer to read? My writings also live over on my Substack, The Wild Noticings.
 

🕯️ Experience story through scent.
 Explore my Wild Goddess candles, each with its own story.

✨ Love the podcast?
 Follow, share, or leave a review, it means more than you know.

📲 Find me on Instagram
 @the.wildgoddess