Fair Folk Podcast – Détails, épisodes et analyse

In this episode I share about September as harvest month in folklore, Old English names for the month and season, spirits of the grain, the meaning of the equinox in tradition, the upcoming lunar eclipse, and Michaelmas! Sign up for the Cave of Dreams workshop series: https://www.houseoflegends.me/cave-of-dreams Find me on Substack: https://enthusiastica.substack.com/ September Almanac playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0gajsHJ86ljT3f1TuFtLFI?si=ce9b72a3701d4b77 Music in this episode: Opening theme: "Forest March" by Sylvia Woods Buy Sylvia Woods’ music: www.harpcenter.com/category/harp-cds “Ripest of Apples” by Anna and Elizabeth Buy Anna and Elizabeth’s music: https://annaandelizabeth.bandcamp.com/ “Band of Shearers” by Carla Sciaky Buy Carla Sciaky’s music: https://carlasciaky.com/index.html#store “My Son David” by the Brothers Gillespie Brothers Gillespie tour and music: https://thebrothersgillespie.com/shows “Apples and Potatoes” by June Tabor June Tabor tour: https://www.bandsintown.com/a/112582-june-tabor Instrumental tracks: “Apples in Winter” by Peter Acty Buy this track: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/apples-in-winter/1617403163?i=1617403387 “Harvest Home” by Willie Clancy Buy the album: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/willie-clancy-the-gold-ring/458399572 Image: Theodor von Hörmann - Mondaufgang nach der Ernte

Subscribe to my Substack newsletter: https://enthusiastica.substack.com/ Join the Cave of Dreams workshop series: https://www.houseoflegends.me/cave-of-dreams In this episode, Daniel Allison tells the story of the god Lugh (after whom Lughnasadh is named) at the hall of the king Nuada, leading us into a discussion of how we might approach Lughnasadh folklore and mythology now. Then we share what each of us has been up to lately, especially emphasizing the role of pagan devotion in each of our work, and diving into the role of “permission” to embody sacred traditional culture.

This almanac episode dives into the folklore of February through the lens of the Ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia on February 15th, tracing the themes of birth, milk, wolves, wildness, purification, death, twilight, and thunder through the month’s other pagan holidays, including St. Brigid’s day on February 1st, Candlemas / Gromnica / Perkunas Day on February 2nd, and Scandinavian St. Peter Hotstone on February 22nd. This month’s episode asks what the notion of purification might mean in a pagan context, and suggests it may mean facing the shadow parts of ourselves that we tend to project onto animals (and women) so we can ritually integrate them, clarifying and owning our role as powerfully in-between creatures in a powerfully in-between world. Important dates: February 1: Brigid’s Day / Bride (Ireland / Scotland) February 2: Candlemas (Christian) / Gromnica (Slavic) / Perkunas day (Lithuania) / Perun’s Day (Belarus) February 14: St. Valentine’s day February 15: Lupercalia February 21: Mardi Gras / end of Carnivale / Start of Lent February 22: St. Peter Hot-stone Listen to the February Almanac playlist on Tidal: https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/4c148b82-bfe5-46cf-ba26-63b7bc2a7acd Listen to the February Almanac playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2QSKLQ8WeAq9v26NWfpTtX?si=33e31c5e2fe74971 Music in this episode: “Lupercalia” by Faun Buy Faun’s music: https://shop.faun-music.com/ “Värgsangen” by Jonna Jinton More Jonna Jinton music: https://www.youtube.com/user/jonnajinton Buy Jonna Jinton’s art: https://jonnajintonsweden.com/ “Ulvetimme” (The Hour of the Wolf) Maria Franz and Christopher Juul Buy Heilung’s (Maria Franz and Christopher Juul) music: https://heilung.bandcamp.com/ “Mary’s Keen” by Noirin Ni Riain Buy this track: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/marys-keen/992023961?i=992023970 Buy Noirin Ni Riain’s music: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/stor-amhran/41446103 “Grá” by Wardruna Buy Wardruna music and merch: https://wardrunashop.com/collections/music Buy Wardruna digital tracks: https://wardruna.bandcamp.com/music Opening theme: "Forest March" by Sylvia Woods Buy Sylvia Woods’ music: www.harpcenter.com/category/harp-cds Sources for this episode: Watch Ronja Robbersdaughter: https://fsharetv.io/watch/ronja-robbersdaughter-episode-1-tt0088015 Watch Wolf Walkers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_Z_tybgPgg Emperors of Rome Podcast, Lupercalia episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/episode-cxxxv-lupercalia/id850148806?i=1000465237605 History and Folklore Podcast: Medieval Wolves episode: https://historyandfolklorepodcast.libsyn.com/medieval-wolves Medieval Folklore: A Guide to Myths, Legends, Tales, Beliefs, and Customs edited by Carl Lindahl, John McNamara, and John Lindow: entry: “Wolf [Canis Lupus] and Werewolf” The Nordic Animist Year (book) by Rune Rasmussen Candlelight Tales Podcast: Brigid episode: https://soundcloud.com/candlelittales/episode-7-brigid Transcript: Welcome to the podcast. This is the February Almanac episode  of Fair Folk called Wolf Milk. In these Almanac episodes, I comb through European calendar custom. that is folklore relating to the cycle of the year, typically with a focus on Northern Europe. And I share what I find with you to help you orient the month ahead. Equipped with knowledge of nourishing traditions that can help reconnect you to the natural cycles of the year to land and the life in the plants, animals, our bodies, and ourselves. Seasonal folklore and festivals call us back into community with all beings on the earth in its regular spinning wheel of life and death. And they help us to tend through ritual, our ties to our kin of all species, both our ancestral kin and our future kin to come. The recovery of European traditional cultures, the ones that privilege relationality, interconnection and respect for all beings, which you might call indigenous cultures, is so early in its stages.

In this January almanac episode, I share about how English Plough Sunday and Plough Monday rituals dovetail with pagan midwinter worship of Odin to present a quandary as rich today as ever: How do we hold sacred the human capacity to employ technologies that multiply our power, while dancing on the delicate balance between service and domination? How do we bless the hard work of human hands where it meets the life of the world? This episode delves into traditions of chasing out the spirits of Yule, as well as blessing of apple trees, ploughs, and ultimately ploughboys as representatives of the overflow of human passion and physical power. Sign up for UNEARTHED, my course on the roots of imperialism in the Christian Middle Ages: https://rustic-waterfall-641.myflodesk.com Listen to the January Almanac playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2lcgJz369QMIDmN8J4LEAq?si=96bd3fac66c8482f Contact me by email fairfolkcast [at] gmail.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danica.boyce/ Music in this episode: January Man by Lau & Karine Polwart Buy it: https://lau-music.bandcamp.com/track/january-man Apple Tree Wassail by Jon Boden Buy his albums https://hudsonrecords.co.uk/shopfront/jon-boden Ploughboy’s Dream by Janice Burns and Jon Doran Buy it: https://bandcamp.com/download?cart_id=97060025&sig=7770feb4eddf1844063928c397bc5b88&from=checkout Ploughboy’s Glory by Lisa Knapp Buy it: https://lisaknapp.bandcamp.com/track/ploughboys-glory Instrumental track: St. Agnes’ Eve by Carol Wood Buy it: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/st-agnes-eve/130331483?i=130332115 Opening theme: Forest March by Sylvia Woods Buy Sylvia Woods’ music: www.harpcenter.com/category/harp-cds Sources and Resources for this episode: Rune Hjarno Rasmussen’s St Knut / Odin parallels video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l99YoPiPLrg The Nordic Animist Year (book) by Rune Hjarno Rasmussen: https://shop.nordicanimism.com/shop/9-books-and-calendars/9-the-nordic-animist-year/ The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain by Ronald Hutton (book) “The Winter Goddess: Percht, Holda, and Related Figures” By Lotte Motz dokumen.tips/documents/motz-lot…s-1985.html?page=5 “Perchta the Belly-Slitter and Her Kin: A View of Some Traditional Threatening Figures, Threats and Punishments” by John B. Smith www.scribd.com/doc/17325747/Perc…itter-and-Her-Kin Lyrics to folk song "Ploughboy’s Glory" http://www.joe-offer.com/folkinfo/songs/362.html Episode Image: by John Bauer from story "The Ring," by Helena Nyblom, 1914 Transcript: This is the January Almanac episode of Fair Folk in which I will be discussing the folklore and pagan roots of January celebrations with an emphasis on nourishing traditions we can bring forward and apply to our modern lives, to help us connect to land and to history in productive and empowering ways. This month I'll be focusing on the new cycle of years changing over the end of the Yule season and our relationship to labour and technology, which was a focus that arose for me while I was researching this January episode. That hasn't arisen for me before, but it definitely is an emphasis of English and Nordic tradition, and it'll explain more as we go ahead. Other themes that arise in January folklore are the continued divination and predictive quality for the year ahead that we've may have already seen in December. Folklore also the supernatural and the feminine visiting from the wilds beyond, because it is still winter and these forces still rule. There's often a theme in January songs especially of weather, bad weather, loneliness, cold and love, longing as metaphorically associated with those sensations of coldness and isolation in the wintertime. And of course, the slow return of the sun is being observed across European folklore, which is what I always focus on.

This episode explores folklore and pagan origins of the 12 days of Christmas, with a focus on the feminine winter figures of Perchta, Holle, and Grýla, featuring a conversation with Jenn Campus, author of A Guide to Celebrating the 12 Days of Yule. Unearthed: medieval imperialism course: https://rustic-waterfall-641.myflodesk.com Buy Jenn Campus’ book, A Guide to Celebrating the 12 days of Yule for $5: https://jenncampusauthor.com/product/a-guide-to-celebrating-the-12-days-of-yule/ Emilia Blom, who shared the solstice wishes ritual with me: https://www.instagram.com/vildmedicin/ My Big Fat Solstice playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2LFjxSUsJYrJE2S0nuYWdB?si=a743490a69a6459c Gnome for Christmas Fair Folk episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ysFM2qushhgWVuEx5kLq1?si=6172f7663bc0479f Join my mailing list: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/62d72c01da642d55a9868141 Resources & references for this episode: The Stations of the Sun: the ritual year in Britain by Ronald Hutton "'He met his own funeral procession': The Year walk-ritual in Swedish folk tradition” Tommy Kuusela: https://www.academia.edu/9403910 The Icelandic Yule Lads poem in English https://ingebretsens-blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/The-Yule-Lads-Poem.pdf “The Winter Goddess: Percht, Holda, and Related Figures” By Lotte Motz https://dokumen.tips/documents/motz-lotte-the-winter-goddess-percht-holda-and-related-figures-1985.html?page=5 “Perchta the Belly-Slitter and Her Kin: A View of Some Traditional Threatening Figures, Threats and Punishments” by John B. Smith https://www.scribd.com/doc/17325747/Perchta-the-Belly-slitter-and-Her-Kin ‘Grýla, Grýlur, Grøleks and Skeklers: Medieval Disguise Traditions in the North Atlantic?” by Terry Gunnell https://notendur.hi.is/~terry/articles/TerryGunnell-2001_Gryla,Grylur,Groleks_and_Skeklers.pdf Music in this episode: Opening theme: Forest March by Sylvia Woods Buy Sylvia Woods’ music: www.harpcenter.com/category/harp-cds Malpas Wassail by the Watersons Buy it: https://www.amazon.co.uk/music/player/albums/B09WJGTF52?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1483616862&sr=1-1 Spinn, Spinn, Spinnerinn by Herbergsuche Gruppe Buy it: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/spinn-spinn-spinnerin/318155276?i=318155791 Grýlukvaeði by Thrju a Palli Buy it: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/gr%C3%BDlukv%C3%A6%C3%B0i/1621787315?i=1621787688 Instrumental track: The Wanderer by Juniper and the Wolf Buy Juniper and the Wolf’s music: https://juniperandthewolf.bandcamp.com/

This episode surveys the folklore of the first half of December, including St. Nicholas' Day on Dec 6th, St. Lucia's day on Dec. 13th, and the solstice. As we approach the darkest point of winter, I ask the listener to follow the rhythm of nature and turn your gaze to the small, the domestic and the precious. Join my mailing list: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/62d72c01da642d55a9868141 Music in this episode: St. Nicholas by Anúna Buy this track: https://anuna.bandcamp.com/track/st-nicholas-2 Luciavisa by Lisa (singer Emma Härdelin) Buy this track: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/luciavisa/204432292?i=204434789 There is no Rose by the King’s Singers Buy this track: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/there-is-no-rose/79623724?i=79623213 Orientis Partibus by Trouvere Medieval Minstrels Buy music by Trouvere Medieval Minstrels here: https://www.medievalminstrels.com/ Kąlėdų rytų saulė pražydo (The Sun Blossomed on Christmas Morning) by Sedula Buy this track: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/kal%C4%97d%C5%B3-ryt%C4%85-saul%C4%97-pra%C5%BEydo/1427982403?i=1427982982 Rex Tua Nolo Munera by Trouvere Medieval Minstrels Buy music by Trouvere Medieval Minstrels here: https://www.medievalminstrels.com/ Sources for this episode: Lyrics to The Sun Blossomed on Christmas Morning by Sedula: https://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=5162 Some more information about medieval animal carols: http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/friendly_beasts.htm More information about medieval carols: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology-south-east/news/2020/dec/evolution-medieval-christmas-carols The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen: https://americanliterature.com/author/hans-christian-andersen/short-story/the-snow-queen

This is a conversation with Scottish folk-magic blogger and social worker Scott Richardson Read about the Gaelic folklore figure called the Cailleach: the old woman known as Scotland’s midwife; landscape shaper, storm-bringer, sovereignty figure, ancestral being, resurrected once and again, and present all through the folk calendar of the year. The Cailleach has been popularly associated with wintertime, which is why I feature her on Fair Folk now, at the beginning of winter. Transcript of this episode: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12oDeT-0u-0fnnascirU_k5izVU4kQHACj2zqTFI2wGA/ Resources referenced in this episode: Cailleach’s Herbarium blog, Cailleach article #1 https://cailleachs-herbarium.com/2015/08/the-cailleach-a-tale-of-balance-between-darkness-and-light/ Cailleach’s Herbarium blog, Cailleach article #2 https://cailleachs-herbarium.com/2015/08/the-cailleach-a-tale-of-balance-between-darkness-and-light-part-two/ Cailleach’s Herbarium blog entry on an animist shrine dedicated to the Cailleach: https://cailleachs-herbarium.com/2018/01/the-cailleach-scotlands-midwife-tigh-na-bodach/ Article: The Cailleach in Place-names and Place-lore by Alasdair C. Whyte: https://clog.glasgow.ac.uk/ojs/index.php/JSNS/article/view/58/107 Mckenzie’s Wonder Tale, Beira, Queen of Winter: https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tsm/tsm04.htm 9th century poem about the Cailleach, “The Old Woman of Beare” Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65CWjdVcBmg Text: https://www.ronnowpoetry.com/contents/anonymous/OldWomanBeare.html Songs in this episode: Opening theme: “Forest March” by Sylvia Woods Buy Sylvia Woods’ music: www.harpcenter.com/category/harp-cds “The Old Woman of the Mill Dust / Cailleach An Dudain” by Alison Kinnair & Christine Primrose Buy Alison Kinnair & Christine Primrose’s music: https://guysegers1.bandcamp.com/track/cailleach-an-dudain-the-old-woman-of-the-mill-dust-alison-kinnaird-christine-primrose (album) https://music.apple.com/ca/album/cailleach-an-dudain-the-old-woman-of-the-mill-dust/294080419?i=294080481

This episode asks how we can take the natural themes of the month and separate them from the contexts that have framed and sometimes twisted them, so we can use them to empower all beings – especially, this month, foxes and geese. It surveys November droving and pannage traditions, Guy Fawkes Day on November 5th, fox hunting and its complex legacy, St. Martins day on November 11 and its entanglement with goose lore, and St. Catherine’s day on November 25th, which opens the season of the Germanic winter goddesses, whose later folklore connects spinning and wheels, snow, wild animals, flying, geese, and children. Join the Mailing List: view.flodesk.com/pages/62d72c01da642d55a9868141 Listen to the November Almanac playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/094rCk7NZWNOSLmoHHPqc2?si=83d27558f563416b Fair Folk’s Patreon: www.patreon.com/fairfolkcast Songs featured in this episode: “The Fox” by Laura Viers Buy Laura Viers’ music on Bandcamp: https://lauraveirs.bandcamp.com/track/the-fox “Kadrilaul” by Collage / Choir of Tallin University of Technology Buy Collage’s music: https://music.apple.com/gb/album/kadriko/1100185926 “Martinmas Time” by James Yorkston Buy James Yorkston’s music digitally: https://jamesyorkston.bandcamp.com/ Buy James Yorkston’s records: https://www.jamesyorkston.co.uk/shop/ “Goose and Common” by the Askew Sisters Buy the Askew Sisters’ music: http://www.askewsisters.co.uk/ Opening theme: Forest March by Sylvia Woods Buy Sylvia Woods’ music: www.harpcenter.com/category/harp-cds Some sources for this episode: The Year in Ireland by Kevin Danaher, 1972. Folk-Lore and Folk-Stories of Wales by Marie Trevelyan, 1909. https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book//lookupid?key=olbp54204 Article: “The Winter Goddess: Percht, Holda, and Related Figures” by Lotte Motz https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HDXoKGBG3PojPXDJrJXZ3Ae2A7HQCCA7/view?usp=sharing Article: "Perchta the Belly-Slitter and Her Kin: A View of Some Traditional Threatening Figures, Threats and Punishments" by John B. Smith https://drive.google.com/file/d/1280qQAcXA-p0bbrF3_zujAbB0tJMr0Bo/view?usp=sharing Frau Holle in the Grimm's Fairy Tales: https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm024.html An article about enclosure: https://medium.com/@daveuwakwe/what-a-poem-about-a-goose-teaches-us-about-property-3dfe6f7972ec St. Martin Lore from County Kerry ℅ the National Folklore Collection of Ireland: https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4666609/4666442 (Search the vast collection for more!)

Fair Folk is back in operation after a year's break! This episode shares some of the folkloric themes of October: it's the pagan start of winter, and features spooky post-harvest customs of feeding the dead, love longing, rekindling the community fire, and a cute dose of shoe folklore. Call for key collaborators in the Pagan Monastery Project: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jq9XCt29MqQXEaRNtnoUj4n_5LObtqmWf-F-g8fGdto/edit?usp=sharing Listen to the Pagan Monastery Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/pagan-monastery-podcast-with-danica-boyce/id1610505250 Listen to the Pagan Monastery Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xFdHUx1nJqge8Oq9Bs1GY?si=53d91206134049e8 Join the Mailing List: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/62d72c01da642d55a9868141 Listen to the October Almanac playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6vxucYP0zGjsH2AxfwlayL?si=d5ae8d42bbbe473f Fair Folk’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fairfolkcast Listen to Our Supernatural Landlords: folklorist Terry Gunnell on northern European winter guising traditions: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/fair-folk-podcast/id1177770160?i=1000501474652 Songs featured in this episode: Tam Lin by Anais Mitchell and Jefferson Hamer Buy Anais Mitchell and Jefferson Hamer’s album: https://anaismitchell.ochre.store/release/250476-anas-mitchell-jefferson-hamer-child-ballads Cheshire Souling Song by Cantorion CynWrig Singers Buy the Cantorion CynWrig Singers’ music: https://music.apple.com/ca/artist/cantorion-cynwrig/156043718 Holland Handkerchief by Chris Foster Buy Chris Foster’s music: https://chrisfoster1.bandcamp.com/music Who’s Gonna Shoe my Pretty Little Foot by Barbara Dane Buy Barbara Dane’s music: https://barbaradane.bandcamp.com/ “Old Jacky Frost” by the Wildness Yet Buy the Wilderness Yet’s music: https://www.thewildernessyet.com/shop.html The Wilderness Yet on Bandcamp (digital): https://thewildernessyet.bandcamp.com/ Opening theme: Forest March by Sylvia Woods Buy Sylvia Woods’ music: https://www.harpcenter.com/category/harp-cds Some sources for this episode: Andreas Nordberg “Ritual Time and Time Reckoning.” The Pre-Christian Religions of the North: History and Structures, Volume ii, 725 On Shoes in walls: https://ztevetevans.wordpress.com/2020/08/12/strange-folklore-the-mystery-of-concealed-footwear/ For more info on boots and shoes and Hedwig: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9781315166940-13/boots-saint-hedwig-jacqueline-jung Recipe for Hedwigsohlen (Hedwig's soles pastries): https://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/2014/10/soles-of-st-hedwig.html British Calendar Customs: England (1942) Polish Customs, Traditions and Folklore. 1996. Kevin Danaher. The Year in Ireland. 1972.

This episode announces that I will not be producing Fair Folk Podcast for the forseeable future. I am deeply grateful for all of the support you have all given me as I have grown this podcast, and I hope you will continue to connect with me in one of the following ways: My mailing list: https://mailchi.mp/53d8b01c469b/newsletter My Youtube channel with my partner Quinn: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw5BgVgYLuRWmEs66AHx38A Instagram: www.instagram.com/danica.boyce Patreon: patreon.com/fairfolkcast If you stay subscribed to this podcast, you will receive updates on any further Fair Folk activity, and I'll let you know if I start another audio venture in the future! All my love, Danica