Tag: mythology

This week we look at the Norse goddess Hel, the daughter of the trickster god Loki, and ruler of the regions under the earth, where most humans went after death. As you might imagine, her name is the root of the modern word Hell, and the connection bet …

This episode looks at the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet, who is considered to be an aspect of the goddess Hathor, and sometimes also the goddess Bast. She is the “eye of Ra”, and represents the destructive wrath of the “noonday sun” that burns up everything …

As one of the 12 Olympian gods, we don’t tend to think of Artemis as chthonic. However, her original pre-Greek role and some of her attributes relating to violent death in children and wild animals connect her to the realm of death and the liminal.

The sorceress Circe, daughter of the sun god Helios, is known for her dangerous magic, turning men into animals. But there is more than meets the eye–Circe is the perfect Jungian Anima figure.

I talk with Dr. Joanna Madloch about the Slavic witch Baba Yaga. Joanna grew up in Poland with traditional Slavic folklore, and we discuss the common motifs and meanings of the old witch who lives in the forest, in a house that moves, and is only found …

This week’s episode continues our discussion from last week on the goddess of witchcraft, ghosts, crossroads, and magic. In this episode we look at the chthonic Hecate, as well as the “Hekate Soteria” of the Middle Platonists, looking at the circumstan …

Hecate is the quintessential chthonic deity, as queen of ghosts and witches. But Hecate’s origins and associations are complex; part 1 of a 2-part podcast deals with what we know about her origins as a beneficent goddess associated with protection and …

Persephone is Queen of the Greek Underworld, and the story of her abduction by Hades and the search for her by her mother Demeter is an important story in Greek mythology–and a myth often pointed to for its portrayal of rape in myth. But there’s more …

Medusa is well-known in literature, art, and film as the snaky-haired woman who turns anyone who looks at her to stone. But Medusa, like similar monstrous ancient female beings, represents two different things to the ancient Greeks and Romans.

The Erinyes are often viewed as ladies of punishment, or manifestations of guilt, with their snaky hair and monstrous appearance. But the Erinyes were not originally monsters, and have a beneficent side as well.

This episode explores the origins of the term “nightmare” and its connection to the feminine “demonic”, and the phenomenon of sleep paralysis (also called Night Hag Syndrome) from a mythological and psychoanalytical point of view.

Explores the folklore behind the alleged first wife of Adam, who is associated with seduction, temptation, and producing demons with unsuspecting men on one hand, and is a symbol of feminine autonomy on the other.

We look at Babylonian, Akkadian and Sumerian goddesses of love, war, and the underworld, with a particular look at the ancient story of the Descent of Inanna.

We think of mother goddesses as being gentle and loving, but ancient mother goddess worship had a dark side. This first episode looks at ancient mother goddesses of the Near East.