Wise Crone Cottage Podcast

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In this episode, the storyteller, Kathy Shimpock, explores La Befana, a crone character from Italian folklore.  Befana appears on January 5th to give gifts to children.  I'll share with you my story that consolidates many of the tales surrounding her.  Finally, we'll look at how La Befana compares to some other legendary figures (who also appear during the season of Epiphany). Remember,  Befana shows us that it's never too late to go on a true adventure! 

Story:  Traditional interpretation by Kathy Shimpock.
Cover illustration:   CC0 Dominio publico.
Music:  The Snow Queen Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 
Copyright 2022 Kathy Shimpock.   

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In this episode, the storyteller, Kathy Shimpock explores  the crone's role as the midwife in Irish and European folktales.  The story she will share with you is called "Midwife to the Fairies." In this story, we'll learn more about the crone and even more about those disagreeable fairies.  Finally, we'll ponder medieval midwifery, and in doing so perhaps uncover some healing wisdom for today.

Story: Anna Eliza Bray, "Midwife to the Fairies," in Traditions, Legends, Superstitions, and Sketches of Devonshire on the Borders of the Tamar and the Tavy,  vol. 1 (London: John Murray, 1838), pp. 183-88.
Cover illustration:  "A midwife presents St Anne, naked except for a white cap, with the baby Mary." Ranworth Antiphoner, fol 257. 
Music:  The Snow Queen Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 
Copyright 2021 Kathy Shimpock.  

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For more crone tales, visit the "Wise Crone Cottage in the Woods" (http://www.wisecronecottage.com).

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In this episode, the storyteller, Kathy Shimpock explores  Norwegian folktales surrounding the Black Death. She shares a story that incorporates many of the motifs and elements found in these tales.  It's the story of two very different old women.  One is the wise crone and the other is Pesta! Perhaps we'll uncover some plague wisdom we can use today!

Story:  a creative compilation based on Andreas Faye’s Norske Folke-Sagn (Norwegian Folk Legends, 1844) .
Cover illustration by  Theodor Kittelsen's Pesta series (1894–1914) .
Music:  The Snow Queen Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 
Copyright 2021 Kathy Shimpock. 

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For more crone tales, visit the "Wise Crone Cottage in the Woods" (http://www.wisecronecottage.com).

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Greek mythology has a full pantheon of gods and goddesses.  Each deity has a story line with the past and present clearly defined.  There are stories of triumph and petty jealousies. There are stories of conflict.  Their relationships with humans and other gods are often tempestuous. Rarely do we see these gods and goddesses as exemplars.  More often than not, they teach the audience what not to do and who not to be. In this episode, the storyteller, Kathy Shimpock, shares stories of the Greek goddesses - Hera, Athena, and Demeter. When does the crone make an appearance in their stories?  What does it have to show us about the power of the crone in our lives today?

Cover illustration:   Photograph of Greek vase, "Weavers." Attributed to the Amasis Painter.
Date  | ca. 550 - 530 B.C..
Music:  The Snow Queen Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 
Copyright 2021 Kathy Shimpock.    All rights reserved. 

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For more crone tales, visit the "Wise Crone Cottage in the Woods" (http://www.wisecronecottage.com).

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In this episode, the storyteller, Kathy Shimpock, will explore the power of story. What is it?  How can a simple tale impact our lives so deeply?   The story I will tell (as the wise crone) provides one answer. “The Story that Grew in My Heart” was crafted from a book written by Walter Hackett entitled The Swans of BalleyCastle. It contains clear references to Irish mythology and folklore. Finally, we’ll examine the role of the storyteller in sharing these stories.

Stories:

• The Swans of Ballycastle  by Walter Hackett. (NewYork: Ariel Books, 1954).
• "The Children of Lir," (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Lir).
• "Oisin and Niamh in Tir no nOg," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niamh_(mythology).  
• More on Peg Sayers (https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/sayers-peig-1873-1958).

Cover illustration:   Photograph by Pixabay.
Music:  The Snow Queen Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 
Copyright 2021 Kathy Shimpock.    All rights reserved. 

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For more crone tales, visit the "Wise Crone Cottage in the Woods" (http://www.wisecronecottage.com).

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In this episode, the storyteller Kathy Shimpock, will read you the Grimm tale, "The Goose-Girl at the Well." It's a tale within a tale - a story of a young girl's initiation into womanhood and the guiding hand and protection of the wise crone.  First discussed in an earlier podcast (S1, #4), this story just won't go away!  It is categorized as Aarne-Thompson tale type 923 ('Love Like Salt'). But even more importantly, the old woman in this story is a study of delightful contrasts.  Both young and old, trickster and crone, she has much to say about being the elder!

Story: "Goose-Girl at the Well" (no. 179) recorded by the Brothers Grimm. Grimm's Household Tales, trans. by Margaret Hunt (London: George Bell & Sons, 1884).
Cover illustration by  Arthur Rackham in Grimm's Fairy Tales ( 1901).
Music:  The Snow Queen Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 
Copyright 2021 Kathy Shimpock.

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For more crone tales, visit the "Wise Crone Cottage in the Woods" (http://www.wisecronecottage.com).

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In this episode, we'll explore the magic of spring.  I'll share two stories: one from Europe and one from China in which the beauty of the natural world is both honored and rewarded.  It's a message we all need to be reminded of after a long cold winter and an even longer pandemic.  In these stories we see the creation and protection of the flower-elves who bring forth pure pleasure and joy.

Stories:

• "Goldenrod and Aster," in Phyllis' Field Friends: Flower stories, by Lenore Elizabeth Mulets  ( Boston, MA: L.C. Page & Co., 1903).
• "The Flower Elves,"  in The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by Dr. R. Wilhelm (New York: Frederick A. Stokes, Co., 1921).

 Cover illustration:   Vogue Magazine cover, 1913.
Music:  The Snow Queen Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 
Copyright 2021 Kathy Shimpock.    All rights reserved. 

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For more crone tales, visit the "Wise Crone Cottage in the Woods" (http://www.wisecronecottage.com).

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 In this episode, the storyteller, Kathy Shimpock, will share the story of "The Crone vs. the Cyclops: A Confrontation in  the Forest."  It’s a fun story filled with motifs from both folklore and mythology that she wrote long ago.  These elements fill fantasy literature today and can be an excellent way to get the imagination going. Finally, we’ll explore how these stories can be analyzed for psychological and cultural insights.  In many ways, they become dreams made real with wisdom we can take into our daily lives.

Story: "The Crone vs. the Cyclops: A Confrontation in  the Forest," by Kathy Shimpock.
Information on fairy tale analysis:  "Fairytale Therapy Today: Determining its Boundaries and Content," Igor V. Vachkov (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042816313969).
Cover illustration:   Illustration of Hansel and Gretel, a well-known German folktale from the Brothers Grimm, by Arthur Rackham, 1909.  A first century AD head of a Cyclops from the Roman Colosseum .
Music:  The Snow Queen Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 
Copyright 2021 Kathy Shimpock.    All rights reserved. 

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For more crone tales, visit the "Wise Crone Cottage in the Woods" (http://www.wisecronecottage.com).

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In the wake of insurgents overtaking the U.S. capital in pursuit of a “big lie,” this episode explores the truth that is found in stories.  The storyteller, Kathy Shimpock, will start by reading a Spanish tale entitled “Falsehood and Truth.” Next, we’ll look at those folktales that provide a context to current events.  Finally, she will tell you a more positive counterpoint to the first tale.  It’s the Yiddish folktale of “Truth and Story.” 

Stories: 

• Édouard de Laboulaye , "Falsehood and Truth," in Last Fairy Tales, trans. Mary L. Booth  (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1884), 331-337.
• LynnAnn Wojciechowicz, "Truth and Story," in The Oral Tradition Today,  by Liz Warren (Pearson Learning Solutions, 2009), 12.
• Hans Christian Andersen, "The Emperor's New Clothes" ("Keiserens nye Klaeder"),  in  Eventyr, fortalte  for Born, trans. Maria Tatar (Copenhagen: C.A.. Reitzel, 1837).
•  Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm,  "The Children of Hameln" ("Die Kinder zu Hameln"), Deutsche Sagen, herausgegeben von den Brüdern Grimm (Berlin: In der Nicolaischen Buchhandlung, 1816), no. 244, pp. 330-33. In following editions this legend is numbered 245. 

Cover illustration:   Image of old woman, Pixabay.com.
Music:  The Snow Queen Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 
Copyright 2021 Kathy Shimpock.    All rights reserved. 

Support the show

For more crone tales, visit the "Wise Crone Cottage in the Woods" (http://www.wisecronecottage.com).

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In this episode, the storyteller, Kathy Shimpock, will share the story of "The Little Match Girl" by Hans Christian Andersen.  It is a tragic, Danish, literary tale written in 1845.  The subject has similarities to Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" written two years earlier in  Victorian England.  Both tales focus on the fate of the poor when the world is divided into "haves" and "have nots."  We'll also explore the character of the grandmother as a figure of hope and rescue.

Story: "The Little Match Girl" by Hans Christian Andersen. Anonymous translation.  At Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.net/).
Information on Victorian England from "What was it like to live in Charles Dickens' London" (https://www.charlesdickenspage.com/charles-dickens-longon.html).
Cover illustration:   Arthur Rackham, illustrator, from Fairy Tales (1932).
Music:  The Snow Queen Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 
Copyright 2021 Kathy Shimpock.    All rights reserved. 

Support the show

For more crone tales, visit the "Wise Crone Cottage in the Woods" (http://www.wisecronecottage.com).