Hidden Folk

Folklore from around the world contains the stories of household gods, fairies, sprites, and other spirits who protect a house’s inhabitants or a given family. These spirits can be mischievous at times but are often downright helpful. Of course, that all depends on how they’re treated. From baku to brownies, this episode brings you the stories of some helpful household spirits from around the world.  Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben, with original music by Purple Planet.  Episode sources  Support the showEnchantedPodcast.netFacebook/enchantedpodcastInstagram/enchantedpodcastTumblr/enchantedpodcast

The experience of falling asleep only to be awakened by terror, realizing you cannot move and feeling something pressing on your chest, is surprisingly common in human experience, though the entity that one sees—or not—often depends on cultural expectations. Night-hag, demon, or invisible assailant, in this special Halloween episode and season four finale, I bring you the story of the “Night-Mare.”Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben, with original music by Purple Planet.Episode sources For more on Lilith, check out The Serpent.For more on witchcraft in early Scandinavia, check out Runes and Songs. Support the showEnchantedPodcast.netFacebook/enchantedpodcastInstagram/enchantedpodcastTumblr/enchantedpodcast

The haunting of Ann Haltridge of Knowehead House, Islandmagee, began in September 1710. It ended with her death less than six months later. In this episode, I bring you the story of a haunting, a death, and the last witch trial in Ireland: the case of the Islandmagee witches. How does one girl's affliction shape a community's fear?  Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben, with original music by Purple Planet. Episode sources  The Islandmagee Project For more on the first witch trial in Ireland, check out The Lovelorn Lady. For more on the witches of Warboys, check out Warboys. Support the showEnchantedPodcast.netFacebook/enchantedpodcastInstagram/enchantedpodcastTumblr/enchantedpodcast

In 1575 inquisitors in northern Italy discovered the benandanti, a band of self-professed spiritual warriors who claimed to send their spirits forth in their sleep to engage in ritual night battles to defend the season's harvest from witches. In this episode, I bring you the stories of two men prosecuted by the Inquisition for their witch-fighting ways. When records obscure reality, who can find the truth?Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben, with original music by Purple Planet.Episode sourcesFor more on the Malleus Maleficarum and witch hunting on the European continent, check out The Hammer.Give to the Italian Red Cross to help victims of the Emilia-Romagna floods: English: https://dona.cri.it/sostienici/~my-donation Italiano: https://dona.cri.it/alluvione-emiliaromagna/~mia-donazione Support the showEnchantedPodcast.netFacebook/enchantedpodcastInstagram/enchantedpodcastTumblr/enchantedpodcast

Corinne is in Italy for the summer and has brought some of the sounds and stories of the Tuscan city of Lucca to Enchanted. In this episode, we explore the legends of saints and devils, the portal to Hell in one of Lucca's churches, and Lucida Mansi, Lucca's most famous ghost. In a city that's existed since the third century BCE, aren't there bound to be a few mysteries? Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben, with original music by Purple Planet. Episode sources Give to the Italian Red Cross to help victims of the Emilia-Romagna floods:  English: https://dona.cri.it/sostienici/~my-donation  Italiano: https://dona.cri.it/alluvione-emiliaromagna/~mia-donazione  Listen to Enchanted's season two episode, "A Desirable Disaster, " for more stories from medieval Lucca. Support the showEnchantedPodcast.netFacebook/enchantedpodcastInstagram/enchantedpodcastTumblr/enchantedpodcast

Over the centuries, stories of the Pythia have been collected in texts devoted to myth, poetry, philosophy, history, and political science. In this episode, we explore the story of the Oracle of Delphi, her prophecies, and attempts by modern researchers to explain the oracle’s gift. Who was this priestess, and what power did she hold over the ancient Mediterranean world? Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben, with original music by Purple Planet.   Episode sources  Support the showEnchantedPodcast.netFacebook/enchantedpodcastInstagram/enchantedpodcastTumblr/enchantedpodcast

In an era shaken to its core by dramatic political and social change, a nation wracked by war and looming economic disaster looked for a villain to blame. In Russia, on the eve of the October Revolution, that villain was the charismatic holy man who had seemingly bewitched the tsar and the royal family. In this episode, we explore the life and the many deaths of Grigori Rasputin. Was he a spiritual guide, a faith healer, or a wielder of occult forces?  Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben, with original music by Purple Planet.   Episode sources  Support the showEnchantedPodcast.netFacebook/enchantedpodcastInstagram/enchantedpodcastTumblr/enchantedpodcast

Before Salem came Windsor, Wethersfield, and Hartford. Thirty years before the famous witch trials of 1692, Connecticut became the first colony in New England to execute a convicted witch. In this episode, we explore the stories of New England's earliest convicted witches and the modern legislation that seeks to exonerate them. When injustice is clear, what do we owe the past?  Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben, with the voice talents of Jack Krause and Lenny Scovel and original music by Purple Planet.    Episode sources  Support the showEnchantedPodcast.netFacebook/enchantedpodcastInstagram/enchantedpodcastTumblr/enchantedpodcast

In Renaissance Italy, a young widow must hold herself, her family, and her lands together to survive. The answers may lie in alchemy. In this episode, we explore the life and experiments of Caterina Sforza, the Tigress of Forlì.    Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben with original music by Purple Planet.  To hear more about the history of alchemy, check out Enchanted's "Philosopher's Stone Trilogy": A Flower of the Fire, The Fisher King, and Beyond Expression Bright.  Episode sources  Support the showEnchantedPodcast.netFacebook/enchantedpodcastInstagram/enchantedpodcastTumblr/enchantedpodcast

In the era of Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers, the real-life Cardinal Richelieu must solve a bizarre mystery: the demonic possessions of the Ursuline nuns of Loudun, who have accused the parish priest of sorcery. In this episode, we explore the trial of Urbain Grandier and the possessions at Loudun. What happens when desire becomes obsession?  Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben with original music by Purple Planet.  For more on the Loudun affair, check out Michel de Certeau's The Possession at Loudun.  To hear more on religious tensions in early modern France, check out Episode 23: The Edges of Civilization.  Episode sources  Support the showEnchantedPodcast.netFacebook/enchantedpodcastInstagram/enchantedpodcastTumblr/enchantedpodcast