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. Pagan Ritual Song course: https://f77d9f-2.myshopify.com/products/pagan-ritual-song-course-jan-feb-2024 Buy Jenn Campus’ book, A Guide to Celebrating the 12 days of Yule: jenncampusauthor.com/product/a-guid…-days-of-yule/ Emilia Blom, who shared the solstice wishes ritual with me: www.instagram.com/vildmedicin/ My Big Fat Solstice playlist on Spotify: open.spotify.com/playlist/2LFjxSU…a743490a69a6459c Gnome for Christmas Fair Folk episode: open.spotify.com/episode/5ysFM2qu…6172f7663bc0479f Join my mailing list: 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: www.academia.edu/9403910 The Icelandic Yule Lads poem in English
ingebretsens-blog.com/wp-content/upl…-Lads-Poem.pdf “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 ‘Grýla, Grýlur, Grøleks and Skeklers: Medieval Disguise Traditions in the North Atlantic?” by Terry Gunnell
notendur.hi.is/~terry/articles/T…_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: www.amazon.co.uk/music/player/alb…483616862&sr=1-1 Spinn, Spinn, Spinnerinn by Herbergsuche Gruppe
Buy it: music.apple.com/ca/album/spinn-sp…55276?i=318155791 Grýlukvaeði by Thrju a Palli
Buy it:
music.apple.com/ca/album/gr%C3%BD…7315?i=1621787688 Instrumental track: The Wanderer by Juniper and the Wolf
Buy Juniper and the Wolf’s music: 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 you to follow the rhythm of nature and turn your gaze to the small, the domestic and the precious. Sign up for the ONLINE Pagan Carols Singalong!: https://winter-lion-59052.myflodesk.com/sgn5zaflv8/ Sign up for the IN-PERSON Pagan Carols Singalong in Victoria BC: https://winter-lion-59052.myflodesk.com/yl53dvqx1w Join my mailing list: view.flodesk.com/pages/62d72c01da642d55a9868141 Music in this episode: St. Nicholas by Anúna Buy this track: 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: 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: www.medievalminstrels.com/ Sources for this episode: Lyrics to The Sun Blossomed on Christmas Morning by Sedula: 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

In this episode I gently interrogate what we mean when we say "the veil is thin" at Halloween, and offer a vision of the whole of winter as a season of hospitality between humans and the otherworld(s) through fire, story, music, and rituals of generosity. Listen to past Fair Folk episode "All Hallows' Folk Tradition at the Gates of Winter" https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/all-hallows-folk-tradition-at-the-gates-of-winter/id1177770160?i=1000452872493 Get love letters from me: https://winter-lion-59052.myflodesk.com/pijrgnu11x Join my Patreon for as little as $2 a month!: https://www.patreon.com/fairfolkcast Where to find Kirsten Milliken, the storyteller: instagram.com/kirstinmillikenstoryteller facebook.com/com/kirstinmillikenstoryteller www.kirstenmilliken.co.uk Music in this episode: Opening theme: "Forest March" by Sylvia Woods Buy Sylvia Woods’ music: www.harpcenter.com/category/harp-cds "Réidh Chnoc Mná Duibhe" by Diarmuid Ó Súilleabháin Buy the song: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/re-idh-chnoc-mna-duibhe/1653578592?i=1653581085 Image is Fairy Tale of Kings by Lithuanian painter Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis

We have reached the energetic peak of the year. The main ancient and folkloric themes of June ritualise the human relationship to two of our primary life-givers, the sun and water. Our romance with these elements (and one another) reach a peak as the year completes its in-breath around the summer solstice. This episode outlines a faint thematic arc in historical Whitsun practices at the start of June, and Midsummer at the end, focusing especially on the folk rituals and folksong of the Baltic countries, Eastern Europe and Ireland. Purchase my new Gathering the Gods course on Thor, Odin, & Freya: fantastic-hall-390.myflodesk.com/ My excellent Midsummer Solstice / June Almanac playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0gG8z6O83kpkjflUqaSMZc?si=a7a6693c091046ef The Midsummer Solstice episode of Fair Folk podcast from 2018: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1QZliHXdfHHmSVy0ySfpbv?si=fe6608a7395c4a5e “Rusalki: Anthropology of time, death, and sexuality in Slavic folklore” by Jiří Dynda https://www.academia.edu/34620531/Rusalki_Anthropology_of_time_death_and_sexuality_in_Slavic_folklore “The Mythic Sun: An Aerial Perspective” by Thomas Dubois: https://chs.harvard.edu/chapter/thomas-a-dubois-the-mythic-sun-an-areal-perspective/ “Migration of Song Genres: Two Typical Lithuanian Cases” by Rytis Ambrazevičius https://bop.unibe.ch/EJM/article/view/8335 “The Midsummer Solstice As It Was, Or Was Not, Observed in Pagan Germany, Scandinavia and Anglo-Saxon England” by Sandra Billington https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hX0NJJHjoicOq-5VH3kPfsQAX3NTbAtj/view?usp=sharing Music in this episode: Opening theme: "Forest March" by Sylvia Woods Buy Sylvia Woods’ music: www.harpcenter.com/category/harp-cds “O Na Ivana Na Kupala” by Olexa Kabanov - Buy it: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/oh-na-ivana-na-kupala/919387915?i=919387973 “Švinta Jona Vakaralia” by Nalšia - Learn more and buy it (scroll down for English): http://www.lnkc.lt/go.php/lit/Kupole-roze-sekminiu-joniniu-dainuojamoji-tautosaka/110946 Ozolini, Ozolini by Vilkači - Buy it: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/j%C4%81nis/1201942701

This episode, a bonus introductory unit to my upcoming Gathering the Gods course, introduces Old Norse culture and language, and describes the status of gods in the Old Norse religion and cosmology. This course will give an overview of the surviving historical texts and traces of the gods Thor, Odin, and Freya. Gathering the Gods begins May 7th! Sign up here: https://fantastic-hall-390.myflodesk.com/ Access the reading and materials for this intro unit: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1GPjFkblda1E7NlXrpMCHRa0Q5WWk_JJO?usp=sharing

This episode outlines the key themes of May folklore embodied in the celebrations of May 1st, aka May Day or Beltane: bonfires for purification and protection, veneration of plants and trees, the leading of animals to green pastures, erotic expressions of pleasure, and the blooming promise of earth's abundance. Join the Gathering the Gods course on Thor, Odin, & Freya: https://fantastic-hall-390.myflodesk.com/ Listen to the Big Beltane Spotify playlist (newly updated): https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6UVpAwkdX39Bk5mY1Kd2Xc?si=0f91f96826544081 Big Beltane: May Day Song and Custom episode from 2019: https://open.spotify.com/episode/62jeozEUNP0FFrKKSafLEJ?si=4de8b4c66c284d5b Music in this episode: "Don't you Go a Rushing" by Lisa Knapp https://lisaknapp.bandcamp.com/album/till-april-is-dead-a-garland-of-may "Robin Hood and the Tanner" by Jesse Ferguson Buy it: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/folk-favourites/1238844872 "Äggavisan" by Folk och Rachare Buy it: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/%C3%A4ggavisan/1462963060?i=1462963069 Opening theme: "Forest March" by Sylvia Woods Buy Sylvia Woods’ music: www.harpcenter.com/category/harp-cds

This episode my guest is Olle Möllervärn, Swedish folklore and paganism researcher and bear nerd! In this episode we discuss animism and how it brings us into more ethical relationship with animals, the connection between human fertility and bears, including human-bear romance, as well as the reason bears are connected with St. Tiburtius' day, April 14th. Join my mailing list for a discount on my upcoming course on Old Norse polytheism, Gathering the Gods: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/62d72c01da642d55a9868141 (Registration opens April 17th) Olle Möllervärn on Academia.edu: https://miun.academia.edu/OlleM%C3%B6llerv%C3%A4rn Norwegian bear dance - skip to 18:00: https://tv.nrk.no/program/FOLA69009669 Opening theme: Forest March by Sylvia Woods Purchase Sylvia Woods' music: https://www.harpcenter.com/category/harp-cds

This episode outlines the folklore of April in northern Europe: April Fool's day, Palm Sunday, Easter, St. George's day, and the history of gathering greenery for ritual and soups, rising at the dawn to worship a goddess, cuckoo folklore, dragon lore, and lovely spring ritual songs to set the mood! This month's April Almanac Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2AJtQbVqaNJKhwbSNpRqxc?si=4d2dafd206f74a15 Join the mailing list: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/62d72c01da642d55a9868141 Goddess of the Dawn episode of Fair Folk: https://soundcloud.com/fairfolkcast/goddess-of-the-dawn Goddess of the Dawn Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37OdQr0zs03bygse4ULS47?si=1dcb8ccce828438e Resources: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, chapter: In the Footsteps of Nanabozho: Becoming Indigenous to Place. A quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7192815-our-immigrant-plant-teachers-offer-a-lot-of-different-models Mimisbrunnr entry on the Nine Herbs Charm (Nigon Wyrta Galdor): https://www.mimisbrunnr.info/nigon-wyrta-galdor A nice German nine-herb soup recipe: https://www.kitchenproject.com/german/recipes/Suppe/Grundonnerstagsuppe/index.htm Music in this episode: Opening theme: "Forest March" by Sylvia Woods Buy Sylvia Woods’ music: www.harpcenter.com/category/harp-cds Kuku Kaki Kultarinta by Honeypaw Purchase: https://honeypawband.bandcamp.com/track/kuku-kaki-kultarinta Edi Beo Thu Hevene Quene by Helena Ek and Goran Mansson Purchase: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/edi-beo-thu-hevene-queene/1625877870?i=1625879088 Now the Green Blade Riseth by Caedmon Purchase: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/now-the-green-blade-riseth/1491931796?i=1491932896 St. George by Waterson: Carthy Purchase: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/st-george/1280110185?i=1280110191 Instrumental track at 54:29: A Madre De Jhesu Cristo by Trouvere Medieval Minstrels Purchase: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/a-madre-de-jhesu-cristo/1346857580?i=1346857906 Bright morning stars are rising by Tony Saletan and Irene Saletan Purchase: https://folkways.si.edu/tony-and-irene-saletan/folk-songs-and-ballads

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/