The Podcast About Everything

27/06/2024

Amazing!

30/05/2024

I interview three regional authors and artists about the children's books they recently published and about the process of creation and publication. PLease consider purchasing these books for the children in your life. THE LICKIEST DOG: https://www.amazon.com/Lickiest-Dog-Matthew-Stich/dp/B0C6W2C14F...

05/05/2024

An essay looking at the career of Anthony Comstock, the Gilded Age law which bears his name, and the reactionaries who wish to use it in their war on modern society.

15/03/2024

25/02/2024

Meanwhile, in the world of goats... (Salisbury Post 1975, via Newspapers.com)

22/02/2024

It's a Leap Year !

31/01/2024

During Carnival, villagers wearing wooden masks and dressing like fearsome “tschäggättä” terrorize the streets

30/01/2024

I for one would pay good money to see this. (San Francisco Call 1895, via Newspapers.com)

28/01/2024

Good morning!

23/01/2024

14/01/2024

This is alarming. (Atlanta Constitution 1892, via Newspapers.com)

06/01/2024

Life gets complicated. (Clarksburg Daily Telegram 1907, via Newspapers.com)

12/12/2023

https://anchor.fm/studioefx/episodes/Talking-Tarot-with-Nancy-Antenucci-e2d5ml1

on this podcast we discuss the history and practice of Tarot with long time practitioner Nancy Antenucci. For those interested in learning more, here are the links Nancy recommended: website;www.betweenworlds.us Blog/Emailer on Substack - Between The Worlds FB - Between The Worlds Instagram betweenw...

03/12/2023

02/12/2023

Frau Perchta, the Terrifying Christmas Witch. Frau Perchta isn’t as well known as Krampus these days, which is a shame, because this Christmas-time goddess/witch/all-around-terrifying-gal deserves a lot more press. She’s a staple in the Alpine regions of southern Germany and Austria, but relatively under-the-radar in North America.

Frau Perchta was also known as Berchta, or Bertha, and has also been called “Spinnstubenfrau” or “Spinning Room Lady.” She is often depicted with a beaked nose made of iron, dressed in rags, perhaps carrying a cane, and generally resembles a decrepit old crone. But this old crone packs a mighty wallop…. and carries a long knife hidden under her skirt.

She also bears a resemblance to the Scandinavian goddess Fr**ga, and both of them share one obsession in common: spinning, specifically, and domestic neatness generally. Frankly, she’s pretty judge-y about the state of your home for a woman who dresses all in rags. Legend has it that you’d better get all your flax spun by Twelfth Night (January 6th), “for when the Christmas season was over, it would be time to set up the big upright loom, at which time you must have enough thread to warp it and start your weaving.” And what’s Frau Perchta’s punishment for those lazy ladies who haven’t finished all their weaving? “In Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, there were numerous tales of Frau Perchta trampling and even settling fire to the half-spun fibers.” And if should you really irritate her? Like, say, not only is your flax not spun, but your house is a total mess (this domestic goddess/witch hates a messy house) and you’ve even failed to leave out a traditional bowl of porridge for her? Well, then her rampaging will extend far beyond your slovenly spinning room. She’ll do nothing less than steal into your bedroom, disembowel you and replace your guts with rocks and straw.

But Perchta does more than just check up on your spinning. Other legends equate Frau Perchta with the legend of the Wild Hunt, and say that she flies through the night sky attended by an army of lost souls, including the demonic-looking Perchten, her army of servants who are visually nearly indistinguishable from Krampus. The only way to know for sure is context; Krampus rides abroad at St. Nicholas Eve while the Perchten tend more toward Epiphany, and the last three Thursdays before Christmas, also known as Berchtl nights or Knocking nights. Also among her army of the night are the souls of unbaptized children. Legend has it if you hear the wind and thunder roaring and rumbling through the mountains on the Berchtl nights, you’re really hearing the sounds of Perchta leading the Wild Hunt.

Another one of Frau Perchta’s names is Holle, a winter goddess who’s name means “shining” or “bright” — hence her association with Epiphany, the “Shining Night” on which the star of Bethlehem shone down. Her dual nature is expressed in the fact that there are both “Evil” or “Ugly” Perchten and “Pretty” Perchten, both of whom you might find in a typical “Perchtenlauf” or Perchten run in the Alpine regions of Europe. The Pretty Perchten are all well and good, but honestly, I’m a bigger fan of the Evil Perchta, and she’s the one I love to fear in these days leading up to Christmas. With every passing moment my anxiety mounts as I try to finish, if not all my spinning, all my housework and cleaning in time for the Christmas season. As I sweep and mop and clean and dust, I visualize the old crone sneaking into my kitchen late at night, running her withered, clawlike fingers over the baseboards and tops of the cupboards checking for dust. She creeps through the house like a mad Martha Stewart crossed with the Grinch Who Stole Christmas… and if I should fail in my housekeeping…. well!
Let’s just say it really motivates me to pick up around the house.

So this January 6th, instead of bemoaning the fact that Christmas is over, why not celebrate “Perchtentag” by telling your kids they’d better clean up their rooms or Frau Perchta will come and disembowel them in the night. Kids love that sort of thing.

Happy holidays! May Frau Perchta smile upon you!

02/12/2023

Many of the ancient pagan observances during midwinter have been transformed or forgotten by our modern society. If you look into the origins of traditions...

02/12/2023

UNLEASH THE KILLER CHRISTMAS BUTTERFLIES.

01/12/2023

30/11/2023

30/11/2023

29/11/2023

Ah, that beloved holiday tradition of murdering Santa and hiding his body in the woods.

05/12/2022

How a Netflix series about the hunt for the lost city of Atlantis became yet another front in the culture war—and the latest example of elite conservatives going weird.