Tag: folklore

Episode 73 Sources: A Not-So-Pagan Christmas Story

A lot of you have probably come across social media posts and even news articles that the holiday we know as Christmas is just ripoff of Pagan mythology and traditions. Meagan is joined by Substitute Sister Tyson Kemp to discuss and debunk many of these claims. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, iHeartRadio, and more.

You can find Tyson telling wonderful, well-researched spooky and skeptical stories @tysonunkempt on TikTok and Instagram!

To read more about debunking the Pagan origins of Christmas, we recommend you check out blog posts by Spencer McDaniel (https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2019/12/08/just-how-pagan-is-christmas-really/) and Dr. Peter Gainsford (https://kiwihellenist.blogspot.com/2018/12/concerning-yule.html).

Want to listen without the ads? Check out our Patreon, where you can get ad-free episodes & more! https://www.patreon.com/spookyscipod

Here are our sources:

  1. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna50284202
  2. https://bigthink.com/the-past/no-christmas-not-stolen-pagan-festival/
  3. https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2022/december/who-waged-the-very-first–war-on-christmas–.html#:~:text=In%20fact%2C%20the%20Christian%20celebration,longer%20after%20the%20winter%20solstice.
  4. https://www.thedailybeast.com/did-christians-really-steal-christmas-from-the-pagans
  5. https://unherd.com/2020/12/the-myth-of-pagan-christmas/
  6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_syncretism
  7. https://psmag.com/social-justice/a-brief-history-of-the-christmas-controversy-pagan-roots-secularization-97073
  8. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/calendar/invictus.html
  9. https://historyforatheists.com/2020/12/pagan-christmas/
  10. https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2019/12/08/just-how-pagan-is-christmas-really/
  11. https://kiwihellenist.blogspot.com/2018/12/concerning-yule.html
  12. https://kiwihellenist.blogspot.com/2017/12/christmas-reminder-2017.html
  13. https://kiwihellenist.blogspot.com/2015/12/christmas-and-its-supposed-pagan-links.html

Episode 66 Sources: The End of the World

Several times throughout human history, people have experienced extreme events that made them believe their world might be coming to end. In this episode, we discuss two of these terrifying times, the Late Antique Little Ice Age that began around 536 CE, and the Dust Bowl that plagued American and Canadian prairies from 1930-1936. We then journey further back in time to discuss the mass extinction events that have occurred several times across Earth’s history, and take a look forward at what might ultimately destroy the planet we call home. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, iHeartRadio, and more.

Want to listen without the ads? Check out our Patreon, where you can get ad-free episodes & more! https://www.patreon.com/spookyscipod

Here are our sources:

536 CE “The Worst Year to be Alive”

  1. https://www.science.org/content/article/why-536-was-worst-year-be-alive
  2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379122005674
  3. https://sciencenorway.no/archaeology-climate-cultural-history/the-long-harsh-fimbul-winter-is-not-a-myth/1613223
  4. https://radiolab.org/podcast/worst-year-ever
  5. https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/five-apocalypses-humanity-has-survived

Dust Bowl:

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_Bowl
  2. https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/dust-bowl
  3. https://benjaminleebison.com/pages/the-dust-bowl
  4. https://drought.unl.edu/dustbowl/
  5. https://www.weather.gov/media/oun/newsletter/spring2010.pdf

Mass Extinction:

  1. https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/dinosaurs-ancient-fossils/extinction/mass-extinction
  2. https://kottke.org/18/06/the-dinosaur-killing-asteroid-that-struck-earth-was-unbelievably-huge-and-fast
  3. https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/mass-extinctions
  4. https://www.livescience.com/mass-extinction-events-that-shaped-Earth.html
  5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event 
  6. https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/if-humans-dont-finish-it-when-will-the-world-actually-end/

Episode 64 Sources: Harry Caray’s Very Scary Fairies

Join us for a discussion on all things fairies (AKA faeries, fae, fay, Little People, Wee Folk, Fair Folk, etc. etc., etc.). Turns out, when it comes to Celtic and western European fairy lore, pretty much EVERYTHING comes down to the fae, and they are not having it with our human sh*t. From changelings, to banshees, to boggarts, to brownies – Holy Cow – it’s all fairies! Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, iHeartRadio, and more.

Want to listen without the ads? Check out our newly launched Patreon, where you can get ad-free episodes & more! https://www.patreon.com/spookyscipod

Here are our sources:

  1. https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/britchange.html
  2. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2022/12/19/are-fairies-real-origin/8121470001/
  3. https://www.livescience.com/25413-fairies.html
  4. https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/The-Origins-of-Fairies/
  5. https://www.wildernessireland.com/blog/irish-folklore-fairies/
  6. https://www.irishstar.com/culture/nostalgia/not-friendly-fairies-irish-folklore-29298408
  7. https://irishpagan.school/sidhe-irish-fairy-folklore/
  8. https://thegallerist.art/the-origins-of-fairies-myths-and-folklore/
  9. https://theconversation.com/fairies-werent-always-cute-they-used-to-drink-human-blood-and-kidnap-children-170305
  10. https://owlcation.com/humanities/Faerie-lore-of-the-British-Isles
  11. https://public.oed.com/blog/december-2013-update-release-notes/
  12. https://claireryanauthor.com/blog/2017/2/22/2644-the-origins-of-fairies/
  13. https://www.buzzfeed.com/watch/video/127552
  14. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26844486
  15. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-archaeological-journal/article/bewitched-by-an-elf-dart-fairy-archaeology-folk-magic-and-traditional-medicine-in-ireland/7EF2D9BD63A34CAA405A42E120C4D421
  16. https://ericwedwards.wordpress.com/2015/08/14/the-origin-and-lore-of-fairies-and-fairy-land/
  17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classifications_of_fairies 
  18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy

Episode 62 Sources: Appalachian Folklore – Attack of the Barnes & Noble Witches

In this episode, Meagan is joined by Substitute Sisters Tyson Kemp and Jeremy Foster, both residents of Appalachia, to talk about the internet phenomenon that is Appalachian folklore. We discuss the history of the region, America’s long-standing fascination with its folklore, and how stereotypes about Appalachia and its people have developed and evolved over the past 300 years.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, iHeartRadio, and more.

Tyson can be found on Instagram @tysonunkempt. Jeremy can be found on TikTok @the_twilight_emporium.

Want to listen without the ads? Check out our newly launched Patreon, where you can get ad-free episodes & more! https://www.patreon.com/spookyscipod

Here are our sources:

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachia
  2. https://blueridgemountainstravelguide.com/appalachian-folklore-and-superstitions/
  3. Appalachian Folklore Scholarship by W. K. MC NEIL; Source: Appalachian Journal , Autumn 1977, Vol. 5, No. 1, A Guide to Appalachian Studies (Autumn 1977), pp. 55-64 
  4. https://www.neh.gov/divisions/preservation/featured-project/keeping-tradition-alive-taking-steps-preserve-appalachian-folk-culture
  5. https://www.brown.edu/news/2016-11-21/appalachians https://www.e-education.psu.edu/earth109/node/973

Episode 56 Sources: Make Christmas Spooky Again

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Good Yule, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy Holidays! We’re glad you’re here with us on the other side of the Long Night (i.e., the Winter Solstice). For this year’s Christmas episode, we’re talking about spooky, or just plain quirky, Christmas traditions primarily from across the pond. Listen to hear about the origins of Krampus, the villainization of Frau Perchta, the terrifying Gryla the Giantess and her mischievous sons, and, finally, an oddly adorable pooping log from Spain.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, or iHeartRadio.

Here are our sources from this episode:

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Companions_of_Saint_Nicholas
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_gift-bringer
  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_deity
  4. https://www.pagankids.org/post/historyofyule
  5. https://nerdist.com/article/yule-curious-past-and-present-day-importance/
  6. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/winter-solstice-pagan-yule_n_585970abe4b03904470af4c5
  7. https://spookylittlehalloween.com/2022/11/29/spooky-christmas-traditions/
  8. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/krampus-could-come-you-holiday-season-180957438/
  9. https://www.livescience.com/who-is-krampus
  10. https://news.usc.edu/90213/have-you-been-naughty-then-beware-krampus-is-coming/
  11. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/12/22/572569325/caga-ti-a-catalan-log-that-poops-nougats-at-christmas
  12. https://guidetoiceland.is/history-culture/the-icelandic-yule-lads-and-gryla
  13. https://www.vice.com/en/article/43989p/perchta-christmas-goddess-demon-woman
  14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perchta

Episode 52 Sources: Modern Not-Folklore with Tyson Kemp

A new contender for giggliest episode enters the ring! In this episode, we’re talking internet urban legends, from the O.G. “Ted the Caver” to the “Not Deer” craze on Appalachian TikTok. Our guest this episode is the delightful Tyson Kemp! Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, or iHeartRadio.

You can find Tyson telling wonderful, well-researched spooky and skeptical stories @tysonunkempt on TikTok and Instagram!

Here are links to the TikToks we watched during this episode:

While you’re here, we’d love it if you could subscribe to our YouTube channel! There you’ll find extra video content related to the podcast, and Meagan will be going live from time to time to play spooky games or just hang out with listeners! Additionally, if you are interested in any books we’ve discussed on the podcast, you can find them in our new Amazon storefront. We also have recommendations for other books and products we love.

Here are our sources for this episode:

  1. https://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/internet-folklore.htm
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creepypasta
  3. https://thegeekanthropologist.com/2014/10/03/contemporary-folklore-in-the-digital-age/
  4. https://www.dictionary.com/e/fictional-characters/the-rake/
  5. https://u.osu.edu/vanzandt/2019/04/09/slender-man/
  6. https://creepypasta.fandom.com/wiki/The_Rake
  7. https://www.ranker.com/list/rake-creepypasta/megan-summers
  8. https://esiculture.com/blog/2018/8/27
  9. https://www.polygon.com/videos/2018/7/12/17562402/fiendzone-negative-nostalgia-petscop-creepypasta
  10. https://ihorror.com/ted-caver-horror-hoax/
  11. https://www.angelfire.com/trek/caver/page1.html

Episode 51 Sources: The Missing Lighthouse Keepers of Eilean Mor

It’s December 1900, and three men go missing while working as keepers at the Eilean Mor Lighthouse. To this day, their disappearance is an unsolved mystery. Stories of what happened span everything from a rogue wave to a murder-suicide to mystical bird transformations. In this episode, we discuss the days leading up to the disappearance, the investigation, and what (we think) really happened.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, or iHeartRadio.

While you’re here, we’d love it if you could subscribe to our YouTube channel! There you’ll find extra video content related to the podcast, and Meagan will be going live from time to time to play spooky games or just hang out with listeners! Additionally, if you are interested in any books we’ve discussed on the podcast, you can find them in our new Amazon storefront. We also have recommendations for other books and products we love.

Here are our sources for this episode:

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flannan_Isles_Lighthouse
  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWeZJfD42Lg
  3. https://www.history101.com/eilean-more/
  4. https://www.ancient-origins.net/unexplained-phenomena/curious-disappearance-eilean-mor-lighthouse-keepers-scottish-mystery-004820
  5. https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/eerie-disappearance-eilean-mor-lighthouse-keepers-1480049
  6. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/roguewaves
  7. https://interestingengineering.com/science/rogue-waves
  8. https://news.sky.com/story/most-extreme-rogue-wave-on-record-confirmed-in-north-pacific-ocean-12541824
  9. https://www.historicalblindness.com/blogandpodcast//blind-spot-three-men-gone-from-eilean-mor-the-missing-keepers-of-the-flannan-isles-light
  10. https://www.strangeoutdoors.com/historical-strangeness/tag/captain+james+harvey+eilean+mor

Bonus Episode Sources: Surprise! Spooky Caves with Sara Head

Surprise! We’re talking all things spooky caves in this bonus episode we recorded last fall with the incomparable Sara Head of the Archaeological Fantasies podcast. Listen to hear us discuss the use and mythology about caves from prehistory to current-day TikTok conspiracies. This episode is a bit less polished than our regular ones, but we hope you enjoy this deep dive into the creepy world of caves! Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, or iHeartRadio.

You can find Sara on Twitter @ArchyFantasies, or on these podcasts: Archaeological Fantasies, Paranormal Archaeology, and Digging to the Other Side.

View the Missing 411 maps here: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/missing-persons-cave-maps/

Photos of the Crystal Maiden skeleton in the Cave of the Crystal Sepulchre: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-crystal-maiden-of-the-actun-tunichil-muknal-cave-belize

Here are our sources:

  1. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna26208873
  2. https://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Midwest/04/28/cave.deaths/index.html
  3. https://www.archaeology.org/issues/96-1307/trenches/962-greece-portals-underworld-neolithic
  4. https://magazine.mayaluxe.com/articles//cenotes-of-yucatan-sacred-portals-to-the-maya-paradise
  5. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/11-hidden-spots-to-enter-the-underworld
  6. https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2014-5-september-october/green-life/spelunkers-beware-these-are-5-spookiest-caves-america
  7. https://www.ladbible.com/community/weird-conspiracy-theorist-says-people-are-going-missing-in-cannibal-caves-20210525
  8. https://www.thesmokies.com/dennis-martin-feral-humans/
  9. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/02/getting-lost-cave-labyrinth-brain/582865/
  10. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/journey-oldest-cave-paintings-world-180957685/
  11. https://www.science101.com/why-the-catacombs-in-paris-are-dubbed-the-gate-to-hell/
  12. https://drivinvibin.com/2021/05/04/national-parks-home-to-feral-people/
  13. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12520-018-0599-5
  14. https://nypost.com/2018/02/20/theres-a-good-reason-why-people-suddenly-died-near-roman-portal-to-hell/
  15. https://www.cometoparis.com/paris-guide/paris-monuments/the-catacombs-of-paris-s955
  16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catacombs_of_Paris
  17. https://blogs.egu.eu/divisions/ts/2018/02/02/paris-from-quarry-to-catacombs/

Episode 48 Sources: Spooky True Crime Vol. 4 – Oops, All Witches

In our fourth Spooky True Crime episode, we’re taking you back to Pennsylvania Dutch country in 1928 for the story of the Hex Hollow murder. Listen to hear about the traditional medicine and folk magic traditions of Brauche or Powwow, and what happens when we succumb to fear and suspicion to try to remedy a string of bad luck.

Link with pictures from a tour of the Hex Hollow House: https://housecrazysarah.life/the-house-at-hex-hollow/

You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, or iHeartRadio.

Here are our sources:

  1. Supernatural with Ashley Flowers, Episode 62
  2. Lore podcast, Episode 62: Desperate Measures
  3. Morbid podcast, Episode 153
  4. https://the-line-up.com/hex-hollow-nelson-rehmeyer
  5. https://www.ydr.com/story/news/history/blogs/york-town-square/2017/10/14/murder-and-witchcraft-incredible-story-york-countys-hex-murder/764018001/
  6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rehmeyer%27s_Hollow
  7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_tripping
  8. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/rehmeyers-hollow
  9. https://occult-world.com/blymire-john/
  10. https://www.glencairnmuseum.org/newsletter/2017/3/2/powwowing-in-pennsylvania
  11. https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/ny-metro-justice-story-rehmeyer-20181121-story.html
  12. https://www.ydr.com/story/news/history/blogs/york-town-square/2009/12/06/hex-murder-rehmayer/31681709/
  13. https://www.wgal.com/article/tales-of-witchcraft-spells-murder-surround-rehmeyer-s-hollow/6239526

Episode 44 Sources: The Short & The Spooky – Tokyo Drift

For this installment of Short & Spooky, we’re bringing you four stories that have about as much connection to one-another as The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift has to the rest of the franchise its associated with. That is to say, almost none. Join us as we learn about creepy dolls, glowing Civil War wounds, strange trees, and baby dragons.

You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, or iHeartRadio.

Here are our sources:

  1. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/history-creepy-dolls-180955916/
  2. https://www.prevention.com/health/mental-health/a23737943/fear-of-dolls/
  3. https://www.discovery.com/exploration/the-mystery-of-the-crooked-forest
  4. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/travel/destinations/interesting-facts-about-udaipur-that-every-traveller-should-know/photostory/82304814.cms
  5. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/science/crooked-forest-poland-theories.html
  6. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/blind-aquatic-salamander-may-have-sat-mostly-still-seven-years
  7. https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/angels-glow-why-did-some-civil-war-soldiers-glow-as-they-lay-dying/?fbclid=IwAR0nTmWhdolMRbKU3OGRf8cHX0cCAGIkz7PCDC_auZAevqXyzw0GDRgUSBg
  8. https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2001/students-may-have-answer-for-faster-healing-civil-war-wounds-that-glowed/ 
  9. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4450468
  10. https://www.livescience.com/32651-what-causes-bioluminescence-.html
  11. https://www.whoi.edu/know-your-ocean/did-you-know/how-does-bioluminescence-work/
  12. https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/fish/bioluminescence#:~:text=Bioluminescence%20occurs%20through%20a%20chemical,reacts%20with%20oxygen%2C%20produces%20light.&text=Many%20organisms%20also%20produce%20the,to%20speed%20up%20the%20reaction.
  13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioluminescent_bacteria#:~:text=Purpose%20of%20bio%2Dluminescence,-The%20wide%2Dranged&text=In%20the%20case%20of%20bioluminescent,as%20a%20form%20of%20dispersal.&text=The%20bio%2Dluminescence%20of%20bacteria,enter%20and%20inhabit%20other%20organisms.
  14. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2017.01142/full
  15. https://ano-patel.medium.com/slovenias-dragons-from-myth-to-reality-2a22a3f3dfc#:~:text=Postojna%20and%20Skocjan%20caves%20in,14%20years%20without%20any%20food
  16. https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/whats-behind-slovenias-love-affair-with-a-salamander