Spirits: Mythology, Legends, & Folklore

The family that listens to Spirits together, stays together. Or that’s what we’re guessing after this follow up email we got! Also, are you up to the task of cleaning haunted hospitals at night? Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of violence against women, death, pregnancy, miscarriage, illness, drowning, child death, infidelity, and animal death.  Housekee...

Get your tickets NOW at https://spiritspodcast.com/live !!    Don’t miss out: come see Spirits and Join the Party LIVE in Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago, Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, and Washington DC later this month.   Not in these seven cities? Tell your friends who are! And stay tuned for a brand new episode next week <3 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy No...

Have you ever woken up from a nightmare and wondered: What’s that all about? You’re not alone! We dive in deep to the various monsters and spirits that people have been blaming their bad dreams on since the dawn of time! Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of drug use, violence, death, broken bones, blood, animal death/injury, defecation, suffocation, abusive rel...

The gods (and astrophysicist-folklorist Dr. McTier) are back to channel divine inspiration for YOUR questions. We cover it all, from jobs to housekeeping to dealing with sibling estrangement.  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of misogyny, birth, family estrangement, capitalism, irregular eating, and depression. Guest Dr. Moiya McTier is an astrophysicist...

We’re a mythology podcast, so why are we talking to historian Fayge Horesh about a historical figure? Well, first off she’s not real. But secondly? She’s such a cool example of a hoax becoming a myth! Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of pregnancy, misogyny, anti semitism, colonization, abortion, cultural appropriation, and enslavement.  Guest Fayge Horesh...

Welcome back to our Ancient Egyptian series, where we’re starting our deity focused episodes with Ra - the sun, the creator, the god king himself. We talk underworld outfit choices, god-aging, and a slamming Poetry Corner. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of colonialism, ageism, death, blood, animal attacks/bites, poisoning, bodily fluids, and political violen...

Haunted architecture, haunted museums, haunted bosses? Man, everything’s haunted nowadays. Guess it’s time to quit your job, listen to this new episode of Spirits, and consider becoming a ghost hunter for your new profession. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of law enforcement, home invasion, homophobia, death, misogyny, gender violence, exorcism, accidental d...

The Chinese New Year is nearly upon us, and it’s the Year of the Dragon! But where do the animals of the zodiac come from? And are there legends surrounding the celebrations? You bet there are! Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of child endangerment, birth, pregnancy, animal death/endangerment, death, and illness.  Housekeeping - TOUR: Get tickets for our...

Spirits is coming to 7 cities in the U.S. this March with the Rolling Bones Tour! Your two favorite podcasts, Spirits and Join the Party, will be playing games, rolling dice, making monsters, and a whole lot more. Get your tickets now to see us perform LIVE in: Seattle 3/21 at the Here After Minneapolis 3/22 at Grenada Chicago 3/24 at Reggie’s Boston 3/25 at Rockwell NYC 3/26 at Littlefield Philad...

What do Victorians, kids of the 90s, and Renaissance Christians have in common? They were all SUPER into unicorns. We talk about unicorn stories from across the globe and from ancient times to now, to see how the unicorn has evolved over the years.  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of racism, colonialism, animal death, animal attacks, Christopher Columbus...

Haunted houses are cool, but when your family all AGREES that your house is haunted? We love to see it. Follow ups, wholesome hauntings, and haunted radiators? We want to hear them all! Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of blood, bugs, and home invasions.  Housekeeping - Recommendation: This week, Amanda recommends Everybody Loves Communism - Books: Check...

It’s 2024. We’re digging into Ancient Egyptian mythology, FINALLY! But before we really get into it, Julia’s laying out a 101 class to get us all prepped, including history, cosmology, and of course, the Book of the Dead (it’s not what you think!) Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of colonialism and imperialism, death, childbirth, apocalypse, elitism, and murde...

We get a lot of interesting words from Greek mythology - some more surprising than others. But what if we made up some words of our own, inspired by Greek mythology. We hope they catch on. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of death, cannibalism, infanticide, warfare, sex, mental illness, drowning, murder, domestic violence, animal death, imprisonment, sexual as...

From haunted doors to haunted castles, this urban legends episode is sure to have SOMETHING that would scare a child version of yourself (or an adult version, who are we to judge!). Also ghost sharks, dub-step hating ghosts, and spooky text message alerts. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of death, vomiting, violence, creepy dolls, accidental death, and sharks...

A time loop Hallmark Hanukkah movie? Do we really need to say more? We do, we say more for like an hour, joined by senior Jewish correspondent Eric Silver to discuss the new movie, Round & Round! Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of anti-semitism, house fires, war, animal sacrifice, religious persecution, sex, ableism, and racism. Guest Eric Silver is the H...

Since 1973’s The Exorcist, demonic possession and exorcism have dominated horror pop culture. But what are the origins of exorcism within the Catholic Church and how has it changed over the centuries?  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of religious trauma, death, persecution, possession, ableism, medical malpractice, forced marriage, institutionalizing, me...

Forget everything you think you know about rainbows! (Unless you’re a meteorologist or something) Amanda channels her inner oracle as we discuss rainbow serpents, rainbows and weapons, and the pot of gold that’s found at the end of rainbows!  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of pregnancy, pregnancy loss, death, drought, animal attacks, environmental destr...

Sometimes you buy a haunted painting and have to tell your friends. And sometimes you have to tell your guest a bunch of haunted theatre stories once they get back from tour. Thankfully we have writer and podcaster Jeffrey Cranor on to discuss all of those things! Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of traffic accidents, death, child death, vomiting, fire, manneq...

Once upon a midnight dreary, we recorded an episode about ravens! There’s so many stories featuring ravens from across the world, from the raven’s feast to creating the world and everything in between. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of death, war, heteronormativity, fire, defecation, decapitation, and animal death.  Housekeeping - Recommendation: This w...

There’s monsters that our parents warned us about, mostly because if they just told us to do something, we wouldn’t listen: Boogeymen! We go through some of the original boogeymen, where they came from, and how they’ve transformed over the years. And don’t worry, we make up some original boogeymen that you can pass down to future generations!  Content Warning: This episode contains conversati...

Did you know that Shakespeare was really into astrology? We sure didn’t, which is why we’re joined by Kelly Downes, who gives us a great discussion to bookend our Supernatural Shakespeare series!  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of death, assassination, religious persecution, suicide, sex, fire, poisoning, war and battle.  Guest Kelly Downes (she/he...

October might be newly over, but we’re keeping the spooky vibes going by talking about black cats! We talk about cat worship, how cats went from lucky to unlucky, and how Pope Gregory and some guy named Conrad are to blame!  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of animal death, colonialism, death, misogyny, mourning, religious persecution, plague/illness, tor...

Halloween is just around the corner, so naturally it’s time to hear some urban legends! We demand more answers, we respect the survival instincts of Australian teens, and we talk about the worst things to hear a sleep-talker say. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of abduction, car accidents, death, and break-ins.  Housekeeping - Recommendation: This week,...

Traveling bards, days of performances, and a 10 year war - we’re talking about Homer and The Iliad with scholar and podcaster, Lexie Henning!  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of warfare, death, enslavement, drowning, and plague/disease.  Guest Lexie Henning is the Programs & Administration Coordinator for the Pourdavoud Center for the Study of t...

Alas, poor Hamlet! We haven’t talked about him yet, Horatio. We’re getting close to wrapping up our Supernatural Shakespeare series, but of course we have to talk about Horatio, ghosts, “madness”, and grief with Hamlet. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of death, suicide, murder, psychosis and ‘madness’, grief, and poisoning.  Housekeeping - Recommendation...