Shows
Our Numinous NatureAVEBURY: STONE CIRCLES, BURIAL MOUNDS & PSYCHEDELIC VISIONS | Mythologist | Oliver LaveryOliver Lavery is an English mythologist, folklorist, traveling professional storyteller, and host of The Story Crow YouTube channel from Wiltshire County, England, the home of Stonehenge. For this summer solstice special, our return guest describes our recent trip to Avebury, Britain's largest Neolithic complex with its stone circles, village-sized henge [ditch], passage graves and giant manmade mound. First we've got to know, who built these mysterious megaliths & ancient earthworks; and for what purpose? Oliver shares a psychedelic vision he had during the annual solstice festivities that correlates with recent metaphysical theories that the stone circles assist the spirits of...
2025-06-191h 47Our Numinous NatureBLACK COWBOYS, JUGS & RHYTHM BONES | Songster | Dom FlemonsDom Flemons, aka The American Songster, is a Grammy-award winning, founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, as well as a solo Piedmont blues, folk, and old-time musician and historian/scholar of American music residing in Chicago, Illinois. After a reading from the memoir of a 19th-century black cowboy, we begin by hearing how folk music, with a focus on the African American contribution, transformed as it migrated with the people from the rural south to the northern cities. From there we dissect three folk instruments: the rhythm bones, stone mason jugs, and washboards with musical examples of each...
2025-06-052h 09Our Numinous NatureDIARY OF ABANDONMENT: DILAPIDATED HOUSES & A DIVINE CALLING | Photographer | Laura StottsLaura Stotts is a North Carolina photographer, genealogist, and writer known as Diary of Abandonment, dedicated to the lost histories of abandoned houses. We begin with her recent preservation work, a field day chinking a cabin at the world's largest collection of log structures. Then we're in the deep end as Laura shares her moving life story, from her trials of addiction & hopelessness to finding a divine calling & a meaningful connection to God, a journey of healing paved with synchronicities that involved abandoned places, saving the life of an elderly veteran and the funeral of a Tuskegee Airman lost...
2025-05-011h 55Our Numinous NatureUNSEEN WORLDS, ELEMENTALS & BIODYNAMIC FARMING | Esotericist | Donna La PréDonna La Pré is an esotericist and biodynamic farmer who under the name Tender Flower creates potent perfumes and natural skincare products in her home workshop in Rappahannock County, Virginia. On this highly esoteric exploration of unseen worlds through an Anthroposophic lens, Donna begins by introducing the 19th-century Austrian clairvoyant, Rudolf Steiner & his wisdom path known as Anthroposophy. We deep dive into topics such as: primitive clairvoyance; Christ as the living power of love; the physical, astral, and etheric bodies; reincarnation; and natural rhythms as an antidote to the negative effects of our hyper-technological world. Artificial Intelligence and the c...
2025-04-172h 36Our Numinous NatureAN ALCHEMICAL APOTHECARY & THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE | Alchemist | Phoenix AureliusPhoenix Aurelius is a modern day alchemist & founder of the Phoenix Aurelius Research Center [specializing in spagyric medicine] tucked away in the mountains of Webster County, West Virginia. On this esoteric excursion into the mind of an alchemist, we open on the four dimensions of our multi-dimensional reality: the physical, the astral, the causal, and the spiritual. From there we delve into the history and teachings of Paracelsus, the 16th-century alchemist & physician, exploring topics such as: fire-water-air-earth; sulfur-mercury-salt as the soul-spirit-body of any material; life-death-rebirth and reaching immortality in the laboratory; the difference between herbalism & spagyria; and the historical...
2025-04-032h 45Our Numinous NatureGOD + SNAKE HANDLING CHURCHES OF APPALACHIA | Religious Scholar | Dan WellsDan Wells Ph.D. is a scholar of American religious history, consulting faculty at Duke Divinity School, Methodist pastor, and hunter outdoorsman in Muskingum County, Ohio. On this episode focused on the Christian God & wild snake handling churches of Appalachia, we begin with a haunting story about Dan's ancestors' old home-place. Back-&-forth we share experiences about our Christian upbringings, early skepticisms on the likes of hypocrisy and the problem of evil, followed by Dan's religious calling as an intellectual pursuit. From there we're into the serpents with Dan describing his first-hand experiences at a Kentucky snake church, diving i...
2025-03-212h 28
Freelancer Training on How to Find Direct Clients🔒 Ep 85. 🎙️ AI Meets Translation: The Future of CAT Tools with Philippe Mercier, CEO of WordscopeSubscriber-only episodeSend us a textIn this week’s episode of Freelancer Training, I sit down with Philippe Mercier, CEO of Wordscope—a pioneering entrepreneur at the forefront of AI-integrated CAT tools.As artificial intelligence continues to reshape the translation industry, Philippe shares his forward-thinking vision for the future, the real-world challenges of integrating AI into translator workflows, and how Wordscope is redefining the translation tech landscape with built-in access to leading AI engines.🔍 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:✅ How
2025-02-2536 minOur Numinous NatureTHE JUNGIAN HUNTER: ALCHEMY, UNICORNS & THE ST.HUBERT STAG | Jungian | WH MartinWilliam Hess-Martin of Venatic Opus is a writer, hunter, artist and Jungian in Southern Quebec, Canada. On this Jungian walkabout, we explore a handful of the ideas of Swiss psychoanalyst, Carl Jung, as they relate to hunting. After Jungian readings about hunting taboos & ritual in native cultures, we begin with musings on Canada, America, Europe, Catholicism and Protestantism all leading to St. Hubert [the patron saint of hunters] for a discussion about the symbology, history and legend of the saint's conversion before the divine stag. From Hubert's stag to William's buck, we hear the story of William's first whitetail...
2025-02-212h 20Our Numinous NatureWILLIAM FAULKNER'S BEAR, BIG WOODS & OLD SOUTH | English Professor | Scott YarbroughDr. Scott Yarbrough, PhD is a professor of English at Charleston Southern University, as well as the host of two literary podcasts, Reading McCarthy & Great American Novel out of Charleston, South Carolina. This episode is dedicated to the hunting novella "The Bear" by America's 20th-century literary master, William Faulkner. After a reading, we begin with Faulkner's biography as Scott describes the major themes within his writing: the southern gothic push back to the over-romanticization of the old south; race & the aftermath of slavery; time & history; and the tension between loving & hating where one comes from. Then we turn to...
2025-02-062h 01Our Numinous NatureTHE GREEN KNIGHT OF CHRISTMAS + CERNUNNOS + A BAPTISM OF BEES | Mythologist | Oliver LaveryOliver Lavery is an English mythologist, folklorist, traveling professional storyteller, and host of The Story Crow YouTube channel from Wiltshire County, England. For this Christmas special we focus in on one of the most mysterious Yuletide tales, the anonymous medieval poem of Sir Gawain & The Green Knight. After a reading about a royal deer hunt, Oliver opens on where he lives, amongst countryside & stone circles in south-western England. Giving us a summary of the The Green Knight legend, Oliver inspires conversations on the mythological & psychological: integrating the wild man within; hunting & ferreting; the Celtic roots behind the Arthurian legends...
2024-12-191h 59Our Numinous NatureGHOST DOGS OF BRITAIN + THE WILD HUNT & WASSAILING | Folklore Researcher | Mark NormanMark Norman is an English folklore researcher, author, lecturer and host of The Folklore Podcast in Devon, England. We begin with comparative readings about spectral road dogs in Virginia and in England. Mark tells us a bit about his county, of ship scuttlers & Wistman's Wood. Looking for the oldest written account of ghostly black dogs in the United Kingdom, we hear of The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and a wild hunt of demonic hunters. From there we focus in on the lore: the Black Shuck event at Bungay & Blythburgh churches in 1577; black dog sightings as omens of death; and protective spirit...
2024-11-261h 40Our Numinous NatureARTEMIS: GODDESS OF THE HUNT + VISIONS FROM HER TEMPLES | Ancient Historian | Carla IonescuDr. Carla Ionescu, PhD is an ancient historian, author, traveling lecturer, Canadian university professor, founder of The Artemis Research Centre and host of The Goddess Project podcast. With hunting seasons upon us, we begin this odyssey into the Greek goddess of the hunt, Artemis, with the famous myth of the forlorn houndsman, Actaeon. Carla officially introduces Artemis/Diana & explains how Grecian hunters gave her offerings before the hunt, including sweets, animal sacrifices and large communal festivities. We hear of the goddess' symbols in art history & mythology: deer, dogs, bows & arrows, bee eggs, leopard pelts, bears, etc. What was life...
2024-11-122h 26Our Numinous NatureSCOTTISH FOLK: SAMHAIN & THE CAILLEACH, CANNIBALS & POACHERS | Storyteller | Eileen BuddEileen Budd is a professional Scottish storyteller, the host of the Scottish Folk podcast, and an artist & author in Angus, Scotland. After a Halloween reading about skull broth, Eileen describes where she lives in Scotland and the floods they experienced in last year's Storm Babet. Talk of weather and storms brings up the Gaelic mother goddess, the Cailleach. From these ancestral stories comes a conversation about the diaspora of Scottish people to America aboard "coffin ships" and the suppression of their culture. Turning to the macabre mood of Halloween, we hear of folkloric and historic cannibals, Sawney Bean & the 15t...
2024-10-311h 42Our Numinous NatureSIGNS, CURES & WITCHERY; GERMAN FOLK MAGIC & MUSIC OF WEST VIRGINIA | Folklorist | Gerald MilnesGerald Milnes is a folklorist, fiddler, author, documentary filmmaker, ethnomusicologist, amateur anthropologist and the former Folk Arts Coordinator at the Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, WV. He is the book author & documentary filmmaker of Signs, Cures & Witchery: German Appalachian Folklore. After an intro about milk witchery, Gerald talks about his passion-driven life as a self-taught folklorist. From there he lays out the history of the 18th-century migration of German settlers from the Old World to Pennsylvania and finally into the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia. Living in the region, Gerald befriended & interviewed many of the old timers who revealed t...
2024-09-262h 36Our Numinous NatureFERAL PEOPLE OF APPALACHIA + BLACK MOUNTAIN HAUNTINGS | Paranormal Investigator | Brian JeffreyBrian Jeffrey is a paranormal investigator in Farragut, Tennessee, who's served in the US Army and as a former Park Ranger. After historical readings about wild men & feral children, we open on Knoxville's urban sprawl. From there we get to the topic at hand, feral people of Appalachia, more specifically, within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park: from Brian's adventures searching them out & finding tracks; to rumors of cannibalism; strange tunnels; accounts from an attacked ginseng digger & a homesteader who claims she shot one. Interwoven is the mysterious local story of a boy named Dennis Martin who vanished in 1969...
2024-09-111h 50Our Numinous NatureTHE BELL WITCH OF TENNESSEE, BLACK DOGS & SPIRITUAL WARFARE | Pastor | Tyler EstepTyler Estep is a local historian, former tobacco farmer & Baptist pastor at the oldest church west of Appalachia, in Adams, Tennessee; home of the infamous Bell Witch! After a reading from a 1904 newspaper that summarizes the Bell Witch mystery, we open on the region's tobacco farming culture. Then we turn to the topic at hand, the Bell Witch. We explore various explanations for the 19th-century hauntings: John Bell & an eccentric neighbor, Kate Batts; The Great Awakening & the demonic; ventriloquism & murder; an Indian curse & land-based hauntings; and lastly, a slave overseer's ghost. Throughout, Tyler openly shares his own strange encounters...
2024-08-272h 04Our Numinous NatureCORMAC MCCARTHY'S KNOXVILLE & THE SOUTHERN GOTHIC | English Professor | Bill HardwigBill Hardwig is a Cormacian scholar & associate professor of English at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. This episode is devoted to the early Appalachian Tennessee novels of the late, great, literary master, Cormac McCarthy [best known for No Country for Old Men, All The Pretty Horses, & The Road]. We begin by defining and discussing the literary genre: the southern gothic. From there we lay out the synopsis & inspiration behind three of Cormac's outstanding southern gothic novels: Child of God about a depraved serial killer roaming the Tennessee hills; Outer Dark about an incestuous brother & sister & their baby...
2024-08-122h 17Our Numinous NatureGROUNDHOG-OLOGY, 'POSSUM BREEDERS & FOLKWAYS | Naturalist & Storyteller | Doug ElliottDoug Elliott is a naturalist, herbalist, storyteller, musician, author, illustrator and something of a living legend in Rutherford County, western North Carolina. After a story about deciphering the secret language of trout, we open on Doug's early career as a 1970's traveling forager. Now, no Doug Elliott conversation would be right without a 101 on groundhog-ology ranging from how to make groundhog shoelaces to understanding the medicinal properties of groundhog grease. The natural next step from groundhogs is opossums, Doug recounts the time he befriended an eccentric Alabama mayor who happened to be the president of the Possum Growers & Breeders...
2024-07-301h 38Our Numinous NatureGINSENG DIGGERS: A HISTORY OF ROOT GATHERING IN APPALACHIA | History Professor | Luke MangetLuke Manget is an author, historian, and assistant professor of history at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. After a reading from an 1870’s newspaper about a strange race of beings known as “saugers,” we dive straight into the significance of ginseng on the American frontier [1780’s], specifically in southern Appalachia: Va, WV, NC. We get into such topics as: the commons vs private property; old world mandrake folklore; & deterring poachers with traps. Luke then describes the ginseng digger stereotype as perpetuated & mythologized by newspapers of the late 19th-century, opening a discussion about class in Appalachian society. For the last...
2024-07-161h 50Our Numinous NatureTIMELINE JOURNEYING: PAST & FUTURE LIVES, DREAMS & CREATIVITY | Past Life Practitioner | Bobby BBobby Baranowski is a past life practitioner, author & former professional musician residing in Asheville, North Carolina. We begin this metaphysical trek in the mountains of "Sedona East" with its many vortexes; then dive headlong into Bobby's Asheville Past Lives Project in which he practices a non-hypnotic past life regression method called The Awareness Techniques. He walks us through the steps and speaks to one's emotional responses as the key to validate the imagery. Bobby shares his own visionary experiences with his "time awakening" and past and future lives, as a 29th-century south-westerner, an ancient monk, a cruel rich man...
2024-07-022h 28Our Numinous NatureANCESTOR'S CALL & THE SLAVE NARRATIVE OF MOSES GRANDY | Family Historian | Eric SheppardEric "Mubita" Sheppard is a U.S. Air Force veteran, family historian, and the visionary founder of Mubita LLC in Williamsburg, Virginia. We open on Eric's early life in Baltimore and the events that led up to his spiritual genealogy quest, one in which he was guided to the slave narrative of an ancestor unbeknownst to him, Moses Grandy. Born into slavery in North Carolina, we hear of Moses' life [1786-1843]: working the canals in The Great Dismal Swamp; the nightmarish death of his brother; cruelties of slavery; and finally, buying his freedom. Eric tells of guiding trips to...
2024-06-061h 57Our Numinous NatureCAPTAIN JOHN SMITH & THE JAMESTOWN EXPEDITION | Living Historian | Willie BaldersonWilliam Balderson is the Director of Living History & Historic Trades at Jamestown Rediscovery [Historic Jamestowne] in Virginia. After readings from John Smith's accounts about Pocahontas, the local fauna & corn planting, our guest describes his singular life path as a career living historian. From there Willie illustrates the events leading up to the Jamestown expedition including the infamous Roanoke Lost Colony. On this deep dive, we learn of John Smith's life as a mercenary & slave prior to Jamestown; the Pocahontas legend; John White the 16th-century watercolorist of indigenous life in the Carolinas; Powhatan's eagerness for the technological advantages of trading...
2024-05-091h 43Our Numinous NatureDIGGING UP JAMESTOWN; FROM REDISCOVERY TO THE STARVING TIME | Archaeologist | David GivensDavid Givens is the Director of Archaeology at Jamestown Rediscovery [Historic Jamestowne] on the James River in the Tidewater region of Virginia. After a nightmarish reading of the trials of the early Jamestown colonists, we start at the beginning of an archaeological quest to find the lost 1607 fort; the first permanent English settlement in America, where the worlds of the English Empire & Powhatan Confederacy clashed, and the legends of John Smith & Pocahontas were born. After describing the rediscovery project, we head over land and water to Chief Powhatan's village, Werowocomoco, to hear of the indigenous preservation efforts underway. Then...
2024-04-252h 10Our Numinous NatureMUSIC OF THE SUMMER MOUNTAIN FARM: BUKKEHORNS, MILKMAIDS & HULDRE-FOLK | Musician | Sissel M. GullordSissel Morken Gullord is a Scandinavian musician and singer living on a farm in Biri, Norway. We begin this enchanting musical episode by heading up to the saeter - the summer mountain farm - to hear the instruments, songs, and herding calls of the bygone milkmaids and shepherds, starting with the bukkehorn [goat horn]. Sissel describes how they're made and how livestock reacts to both the horn and a whimsical style of calling called kulning [or hujing in Norwegian]. We hear the blasting of a lur, a long wooden horn and followed by her commission by Disney. Opening up...
2024-03-211h 38Our Numinous NatureDROOP MOUNTAIN ARTIFACTS, GHOSTS & FOSSILS + A TURTLE PARTY | Park Superintendent | Mike SmithMike Smith is the former superintendent of Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park, as well as an artifact & fossil enthusiast and traditional bow hunter, in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. We begin with his time at Droop Mountain, metal detecting under old oak trees and recounting the regional Civil War history. He tells of park visitors' many ghost experiences and significant archeological finds, such as three boys stumbling upon a Confederate rifle in the steep woods. We turn the pages of time back to arrowheads of the Shawnee and earlier native peoples; then even further back to 300-million-year-old fossils. Half way...
2024-03-072h 15Our Numinous NatureOLD TIME BEE HUNTERS, COON HUNTERS & A WORK HEARSE | Beekeeper | Kevin MalcombKevin Malcomb is a beekeeper, former coon-hunter, welder, and mechanic in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. After a reading about the old frontier profession of the bee hunter, Kevin describes both his own & old time methods of Appalachian beekeeping: traditional "bee gum" hives; keeping ants out; catching feral swarms with a shotgun; how to hunt for wild bee trees from water sources; bee trapping; hive threats such as warm winters, mites, hornets, insecticides, & wax moths. We move on to his unconventional mechanic business run from a used-hearse which opens up musings and intuitions on potential past lives. For the last...
2024-02-191h 56Our Numinous NaturePOE PART II: THE BLACK CAT & OTHER TALES OF MYSTERY & THE MACABRE | Curator | Chris SemtnerChris Semtner is an artist, author, lecturer & curator at The Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia. In Part II of our Edgar Allan Poe podcast, we begin with an archival recording of "The Black Cat." Then we pick back up where we left off, with "the imp of the perverse” and exploring the psychology of the criminal mind through his villainous characters. After describing a prophetic scene about shipwreck & cannibalism from Poe's only novel, Chris explains the literary genres beyond horror that Poe founded or advanced: the detective story, science-fiction, and perhaps the southern gothic. We then turn back to th...
2024-02-011h 40Our Numinous NaturePOE PART I: VIRGINIA'S RAGGED MOUNTAINS & EDGAR ALLAN'S UPBRINGING | Curator | Chris SemtnerChris Semtner is an artist, author, lecturer & curator at The Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia. After a reading of Edgar Allan Poe's "A Tale of The Ragged Mountains," we hear part I of Chris' interview on Poe's life, opening on the most poetic topic in the world, the death of a beautiful woman. From there, we get biographical with Poe's upbringing: The Great Dismal Swamp; boyhood on the James River; Charlottesville's Ragged Mountains; the museum's courtyard garden; his wealthy foster family in Richmond; and southern dueling culture. Chris describes Poe's aspirations as a poet & the tension this caused with...
2024-01-181h 40Our Numinous NatureAN ENGLISH CHRISTMAS FEAST: PLUM PUDDING, HOLLY & THE GREEN KNIGHTFor this holiday special we begin with a traditional English Christmas feast as described by a family friend, highlighting a strange historical black dessert called a plum pudding or simply a Christmas pudding. Being topped with a holly sprig, we then learn the origins of some ancient plant-lore. But the meat of this sumptuous episode is a reading from a deeply mysterious and haunting, 14th-century Arthurian legend that takes place at a Christmas feast; one rudely interrupted by an axe-wielding Green Knight who demands a volunteer to join him in a deadly game. Merry Christmas! Reading excerpts...
2023-12-2256 minOur Numinous NatureBJÖRNJÄGARE; A SWEDISH BEAR HUNTER | Professional Hunter | Rasmus BoströmRasmus Boström is a professional hunter & outdoor gear ambassador in Älvdalen, Sweden. After readings about Scandinavian bear hunting folklore & shape-shifting in the Old Norse sagas, we learn about a regional language & the area's hunting culture. From there it's hunting history with wolf-posse laws & bear spears. Rasmus then describes the Swedish brown bear & taking part in scat-gathering studies. After some background information about the modern bear hunt with hounds, he tells a harrowing story about tracking a wounded bear. For the last third we switch to a handful of other outdoorsman topics: bird hunting from skis; Ullr the Norse hu...
2023-12-081h 47Our Numinous NatureVIKING METALWORK: DWARVES, BOG IRON & THOR'S HAMMER | Blacksmith | Philip LufolkPhilip Lufolk is a blacksmith in Storvik, Sweden inspired by the archeology & mythology of Scandinavia. We begin on the role of the Viking blacksmith & how bog iron was processed. Philip describes objects & jewelry that he forges based on historical artifacts: the seeress' völva staff; a charm known as a Thor's hammer; a landowner's Viking key; and oath rings inscribed with law. We switch to mythology with the tale of Mjölnir [Thor's hammer] & the rest of the gods' treasures, fashioned by the industrious & highly-skilled dwarves. Then there's the vengeful blacksmith, Völund. We discuss burial mounds & rock art: pict...
2023-11-271h 29Our Numinous NatureICELANDIC FOLKLORE, SORCERERS & A SACRIFICIAL STONE | Museum Manager | Anna BjörgAnna Björg Þórarinsdóttir is the manager of The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft in The Westfjords region of Iceland. We begin on the country's origins as a Viking settlement, followed by life in the traditional turf houses. From there we learn that belief in elves is still relevant today and how spirits in the land have shaped not only Icelandic legends, but the ethos. We hear of a nearby farm built over a heathen temple where an ominous Viking-era stone was discovered. In story form, Anna tells the rich history of the island's 16th-to-17th-century sorcerers: the relig...
2023-11-091h 45Our Numinous NatureTHE VEILED MIRROR: VICTORIAN MOURNING, SECRET SOCIETIES & ABANDONED BUILDINGS | Antiquarians | Kath & OliviaKathryn Parker & Olivia Lloyd are owners of The Veiled Mirror, an online store of antique jewelry & curiosities with a penchant for the romantic, dark and macabre based out of Richmond, Virginia. To start this tour of Victorian culture [1837-1901], we begin with a crafting fad, ornate floral wreaths made of human hair. From there we touch on mourning etiquette; the comical paraphernalia of secret society initiations; The Aesthetic Movement; showing off with a pineapple; & the accessories of women's fashion as eccentric as live insects. Switching to the personal, the ladies share a handful of haunting anecdotes; one about researching...
2023-08-311h 58Our Numinous NatureTHE BESTIARY: A MEDIEVAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ANIMALS REAL & FANTASTIC | Curator of Manuscripts | Beth MorrisonElizabeth "Beth" Morrison is a specialist in secular manuscript illumination & a senior curator of manuscripts at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California. On this long distance episode we begin with how medieval people made & illuminated manuscripts from the animal hides to the bone black ink. From there we focus in on a medieval genre of book called a Bestiary, an encyclopedia of animals real and fantastic. We discuss their strange, sometimes shocking, often moralistic Christian ideas about the likes of beavers & elephants, lions & crocodiles, unicorns & dragons, including tidbits on how to hunt a unicorn or the origin of th...
2023-08-171h 44Our Numinous NatureTHE LOST ART OF THE DOG COLLAR + THE ST. BERNARD BARREL | Museum Curator | Claudia PfeifferClaudia Pfeiffer is the Deputy Director & Head Curator of the National Sporting Library & Museum in Middleburg, Virginia. We begin on their recent exhibition about the art of the dog collar: a haunting cast from the eruption of Vesuvius; an ancient "Beware of Dog" mosaic; spiked collars & regal collars. Claudia describes some of the most striking paintings from the exhibition: a theatrical Amsterdam dog market; a mastiff baying a poacher; a lion hunt; & an allegory about the father of cynicism. From there we switch from dogs to horses and hear about their anatomy & movement as captured by art, including Muybridge's f...
2023-08-031h 41Our Numinous NatureREST IN PIECES; MACABRE ADVENTURES OF A CURIOSITIES COLLECTOR | Oddity Shopkeeper | Justin ToroneJustin Torone is a curiosities collector & the co-owner of Rest In Pieces oddity shop in Richmond, Virginia. After a reading about the historical significance of cabinets of curiosity, Justin begins with lore from the cemetery across the street for his shop. Then we get deep into methods for preserving animal bones: dermestid beetles; articulation; degreasing, maceration, boiling, & later, wet specimens. We find out who the shop's audience is and how they acquire their vintage taxidermy & specimens. From there we leave the animal kingdom & turn to the human as Justin describes the most audacious highlights from his collection: folk art m...
2023-07-201h 50Our Numinous NaturePAST LIFE REGRESSION & CONVERSATIONS WITH A HUNGRY GHOST | Medium | Carole LouieCarole Louie is a medium, past life regressionist, hypnotist, author, & director of THE CENTER-RVA in Richmond, Virginia. To ground this nearly psychedelic, often dark, most definitely mystical episode, we begin with the past-life research undertaken at the University of Virginia. From there Carole describes her own disturbing past-life memories which surfaced organically as flashbacks and became more fully realized through regression therapy. We muse on themes like earth school; inter-life visions; how we choose our life; soul groups; movies as past-life triggers; and even...incarnation as off-world entities. For her story Carole tells of her profound initiation into mediumship...
2023-07-062h 22Our Numinous NatureSHARP'S COUNTRY STORE: PIONEERS, BEE GUMS, & THE ORPHAN AT CLOVER LICK | Antique Dealer | Tom ShipleyTom Shipley is an antique dealer operating out of his family's 19th-century Sharp's Country Store in Slatyfork, West Virginia. Descending from one of the county's earliest pioneer families, we hear of the lives of Tom's ancestors & their many rich folkways: a Presbyterian boy orphaned by an Indian raid; beekeeping in "bee gums;" a bear trap; furs & ginseng; maple syrup camp; and making apple butter. Then Tom gets into the origin of the 1884 store, describing the wares of its day. A plethora of stories are evoked from the eccentric taxidermy still hanging from the walls including one about a visit...
2023-06-161h 36Our Numinous NatureCOLONIAL-ERA WOOL PRODUCTION + BUCKSKINS & HOG SLAUGHTERS | Museum Educator | Mary Kate ClaytorMary Kate Claytor is the Associate Director of Interpretation at the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton, Virginia. After a bit of background about this unique living history museum, Mary Kate describes in detail wool production for a yeoman farmer in the 1600-1800's: starting with sheep shearing, wool washing, stale urine and lanolin, through to carding & combing, drop spindles & spinning wheels, historical & natural dyes, and finally ending on a fabric called linsey-woolsey. From there we move on to another category of historical clothing, buckskins. Mary Kate recounts learning how to hide tan while working at Natural Bridge's Monacan village...
2023-06-011h 34Our Numinous NatureWEST VIRGINIA MINE WARS: COAL CAMPS, BLOODSHED & THE REDNECK ARMY | Museum Director | Mackenzie New-WalkerMackenzie New-Walker is the Executive Director of the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum in Matewan, West Virginia. Having descended from a long line of miners, Mackenzie describes what life was like for the men, women & children in the oppressive coal company towns of the early 1900's: from how they recruiting their immigrant labor force to paying miners in substitute money called scrip; the private company guards aka "gun thugs" known as the Baldwin-Felts agents; to child labor and laundry day. From there we hear of 1921's Battle of Blair Mountain [the largest labor uprising in US history] where the...
2023-05-181h 45Our Numinous NatureLIFE OF AN APPALACHIAN COAL MINER + SANG, MOONSHINE & THE BIBLE | Miner | Matt FrameMatt Frame is a coal miner, avid outdoorsman, & son of a Baptist preacher in Nicholas County, West Virginia. After a folkloric intro about mine-rats, we get into what life is like for both miners today & in Matt's grandfather's time: the machines; depression from the darkness; dogs hauling coal; the quiet killers "black damp" & "black lung;" losing three fingers & narrowly missing a ceiling collapse; the job-site latrine; finding fossils as large as trees; & a miner's soul. For the last third of the conversation, we surface from the coal pit to the light of day guided by folkways & The Bible. First...
2023-04-271h 46Our Numinous NatureUNDER THE WITCHING TREE + SPIRITS OF PLACE + ILL-OMNED LIGHTNING | Folk Herbalist | Corinne BoyerCorinne Boyer of Washington is a folk herbalist, teacher, and author of five books on traditional plant-lore & folk magic. While modern herbalism focuses on the healing & benevolent properties of plants, in this episode we explore the darker, more mysterious aspects that Corinne has found through tales of old. We begin on feeling & discerning spirits of place: in the woods, water, & rock quarries; their potentially malevolent nature; offerings to appease them; and trusting intuition & an enchanted worldview. Then we move on to spirits of the human dead: communicating with ancestors, synchronicities, and a formative childhood experience with her great-grandfather's ghost. F...
2023-04-131h 53Our Numinous NatureTRAPPING TODAY: MAINE MUSTELIDS & ALASKAN SILENCE | Trapper | Jeremiah WoodJeremiah Wood of Northern Maine is a state fisheries biologist, cattle farmer, trapper, author, & host of the Trapping Today podcast. We open on Jeremiah describing where he lives: the North Maine Woods; his desire to work the land & raise cattle; changes in the region's economy; and thoughts on growing up in such a rural area. From there we begin a focused conversation on the often vilified topic of trapping where we explore what it's all about & why to some, it's their lifestyle; from ethics & misconceptions, regulations & populations, to fur, history, & nostalgia for the past. While laying out the many f...
2023-03-302h 13Our Numinous NatureTHE CELTS: TALES OF GODS, DRUIDS & THE OTHERWORLD | Author of Ancient Studies | Philip FreemanPhilip Freeman is a Professor of Humanities at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. With a Ph.D. from Harvard University in Classical Philology and Celtic Languages & Literatures, he has authored over a dozen New York Times reviewed books on ancient & medieval studies. For this episode we stick to the Celtic world, starting at ancient Gaul [Celtic western Europe 2,000+ years-ago]: farming, warriors, head trophies, druids, sacred oak groves, human sacrifice, belief in reincarnation & what little is known about the old gods. From there we travel to Ireland & Wales, where Celtic language & mythology survived the passage of conquests & time. Freeman describes...
2023-03-091h 38Our Numinous NatureNORSE WOLF & VIKING PITS + MAINE MUSHING & ICE TALES | Musher | Bear SiragusaBarry "Bear" Siragusa is a former musher, a vet-tech & the host of The Hunting Hound podcast residing with his Norwegian wife, kids, & dogs in the snowy mountains of eastern Norway. On this long-distance correspondence we hear descriptions of the land, archeology & mythology of Norway: the Sámi people; moose, bears & wolves; Fenrir & the berserkers; a troll-like feeling in the woods; stave churches; & hunting over ancient Viking moose pits. Then we switch topics & head back to Bear's childhood in rural Maine where he stumbled into a lifelong passion of mushing & working dogs. From Alaskan trappers to the Iditarod, Bear tells s...
2023-02-232h 28Our Numinous NatureTHE ILLEGAL TURTLE TRADE + HELLBENDERS & SALAMANDER LORE | Herpetologist | JD KleopferJD Kleopfer is the state herpetologist at Virginia's Department of Wildlife Resources. We begin this herpetological extravaganza on the illegal turtle trade between the US & China, then move on to reptile & amphibian natural history: turtle eggs & their predators, hibernation [properly called brumation], Appalachia's legendary hellbenders, salamander folklore, poisonous newts, vernal pools, & how-to make good herp habitat in your yard. For his stories, JD tells of finding a state-endangered tiger salamander site & another about his formative years as a young herper. We close on today's conservationist youths, The Great Dismal Swamp & canebrake rattlesnakes. Join Virginia's Herpetological Society & check ou...
2023-02-091h 48Our Numinous NatureRUSSIAN WOODS: WWII, THE MANSI, TIGERS & ABORIGINAL DOGS | Biologist | Vladimir BeregovoyVladimir Beregovoy is a retired wildlife biologist, author, & breeder of aboriginal Laika hunting dogs, currently living in Buchanan, Virginia. We begin at the beginning, his childhood memories of WWII in the Russian countryside & his early love of the natural world which destined his career as a biologist, both in communist Russia & eventually, after emigrating, here in the United States. From there Vladimir gives an in-depth description about the time he spent with a family of native Mansi hunters in Western Siberia: their dogs; sable furs; their woodsman etiquette; how they hunt moose & bear; dog mittens; reindeer skins; housekeeping; & a...
2023-01-261h 57Our Numinous NatureMY HEART'S IN THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS: STAGS, BOGS, & CROFTING | Deer Stalker | Megan RowlandMegan Rowland of Wayfaring Hind is a deer stalker, land manager, & crofter in the legendary Scottish Highlands. On this long-distance correspondence, we get a taste of Highland tradition, history, flora & fauna, such as: crofting, salt panning, the Picts, black pudding & haggis, peat bogs, working for an estate, red & roe deer, the last wolves & foraging. For her story, Megan describes how a Highland hunt would play out, a first-timer blood ritual, & her own experience from life-long vegetarian to deer stalker. We end on hunting as meditation, tweed, ferreting, & preserving culture. Check out Megan's Wayfaring Hind & follow along on I...
2023-01-121h 48Our Numinous Nature19TH-CENTURY MEDICAL ODDITIES, GRAVE ROBBERS & A CHARRED VENUS | Curator | Dr. Jamie DayDr. Jamie Day is a physics professor & the curator of the Monroe Moosnick Medical & Science Museum [a collection of 19th-century medical oddities & science equipment] at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. This morbid tour through the old cabinets leads us into trepanning, electrified corpses, syphilis, phrenology, grave robbing students, a mummified child, country doctors, folk medicine hairballs & much, much more. For his personal story, Jamie describes an unnerving find in the university's storage, that of a charred, 200-year-old wax model known as an Anatomical Venus. In closing, we hear of some of the collection's wildest oddities we nearly forgot about...
2022-12-302h 03Our Numinous NatureFROM THE DEEP DARK HILLS: MURDER BALLADS, WITCHES, HAINTS & DEVIL DOGS | Folk Artist | Mike OusleyMike Ousley is an Appalachian folk artist & a natural storyteller from the deep, dark hills of Eastern Kentucky. We begin on country music, murder ballads, southern gothic literature & folk art. From there Ousley rattles off wild local lore: an exorcism, a resurrected witch, sitting up with the dead, the haint under Ol' Man Chester's house, "Burn 'em out" [a neighborly-feud phrase], coal towns, & black walnut necromancy. For story time Ousley recounts his own experiences with devil dogs & a mysterious high-beamed light, way back in the mountains. We end this folklore bonanza on regional folkways, folk magic, and mountain eccentrics.
2022-12-152h 05Our Numinous NatureCAVE RESCUE & JOURNEYS INTO THE UNDERWORLD | Caver | Earl SuitorEarl Suitor, formerly a firefighter & EMT, is an avid caver & the current Eastern Region National Cave Rescue Commission Deputy Resource Section Chief in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. We begin with why Appalachia's geology makes for good caving, then ruminate on the inherent mystery of caves, hear about the historical mining of bat guano, learn about fossils & ancient cat scratches, & the reasons behind secrecy in the caving community. In story form, Earl describes how a cave rescue plays out with examples from finding a lost couple in West Virginia to a shocking tragedy in Utah & the famous cave flood in Thailand...
2022-12-012h 14Our Numinous NatureHORSES & HOUNDS + ST.HUBERT & ROYAL HUNTS | Master of Foxhounds | Dr. Rita Mae BrownRita Mae Brown is a prolific New York Times bestselling author, and a master of foxhounds & huntsman with the Oak Ridge Fox Hunt Club in Afton, Virginia. We open on St. Hubert [patron saint of hunters & hounds], the old world occupation of royal huntsman, & get into modern - no kill - equestrian fox hunting. We hear examples of the fox's witty participation, learn some hound history, get insight into the formal wardrobe etiquette, and paint a picture of a day in the field. In the last section, Rita Mae explains her deep animal friendships starting from her orphaned childhood...
2022-11-032h 00Our Numinous NatureYOUR LORE: SPOOKED HUNTERS & HAUNTED HOUSES | Tales From The ListenersOn this Halloween bonus episode, we are trying something new! Instead of a guest, I read eerie stories submitted by podcast listeners. Your all's folklore! We've got a dozen tales from the likes of outdoorsmen, hunters, herbalists, and homesteaders on three dark & mysterious themes: supernatural events, ghosts & spirits, and haunted houses. You'll hear about unexplainable roars in the George Washington National Forest, whispers in Hell's Hollow, & an accidental suicide that not only haunts a family's home, but their dreams... Support Our Numinous Nature on Patreon.Follow Our Numinous Nature & my naturalist illustrations on Instagram
2022-10-3059 minOur Numinous NatureABANDONED LUNATIC ASYLUMS + A MIDWIFE'S APPARITION | Paranormal Investigator | Marty SeibelMike Seibel is a Shenandoah Valley ghost-tour guide, history buff & founder of Black Raven Paranormal in Staunton, Virginia. This Halloween special begins on abandoned lunatic asylums from the 1800-1900's: what they were like in their time, dark ideas of American eugenics, the local DeJarnette Sanitarium, and a story about Marty's paranormal investigation of the notoriously haunted Pennhurst Asylum. Then we get into more of his traveling investigations: a grisly axe-murder house, the apparition of a Gettysburg midwife, a cursed doll named Robert, and a demonic country bar. We end on paranormal etiquette, his overall grounded approach, & insight from w...
2022-10-202h 06Our Numinous NatureSTRANGE ENCOUNTERS IN THE MOUNTAIN STATE + THE WITCH'S GRAVE | Cryptid Correspondent | Les O'DellLes O'Dell of Marion County, West Virginia is a paranormal investigator, cryptid enthusiast, & collector of strange stories from across his home state. For his second appearance on the podcast, we start lightheartedly on the the annual Mothman Festival then get into the famous regional cryptids & mysterious happenings we missed last time: The Flatwoods Monster, the awful Vegetable Man, Missing 411, calling to Big Foot in Pocahontas County, Dolly Sods UFO sightings, & even feral people. For his stories, Les shares one about a ghost girl & another about his paranormal research of a witch's grave in a back holler. No doubt, this o...
2022-10-062h 24Our Numinous NatureGINSENG SEASON + HARD DRUGS IN SMALL TOWNS | Forest Farmer | Ed DanielsEd Daniels of Shady Grove Botanicals is a ginseng forest farmer, root buyer, and herbal medicine maker in Randolph County, West Virginia. Ed gives us a glimpse into the intriguing international ginseng industry: the WV digging license, old timer ethics, meth-addict poachers, what the Asian market is looking for, farmed ginseng vs wild simulated. We hear of its cultural & medicinal value through anecdotes about a Korean preacher & locals who struggle with pharmaceutical opioid addiction, followed by Ed treating his own cancer diagnosis with wild mushrooms. From there we touch on the Appalachian Outlaws TV show, how to find ginseng...
2022-09-222h 05Our Numinous NatureRURAL MAN-TRACKING + THE 45 & THE HOLY GHOST | Tactical Tracking Instructor | Mike HullMike Hull is a retired game warden, outdoorsman, special deputy, & the founder of Hull's Tracking School where he teaches man-tracking to law enforcement, search & rescue, & military organizations from his home in Nelson County, Virginia. Mike illustrates how to man-track by describing a handful of cases: the armed robbery of a rural post office; a questionable camper in The Shenandoah National Park; a serial burglar; followed by an encounter from his game warden days with backwoods moonshiners. For his story, we hear about a profound period of soul searching while Mike worked at a maximum security prison, culminating in a...
2022-09-081h 58Our Numinous NatureFULL OF THE DEVIL: HATFIELDS & MCCOYS + A PENTECOSTAL EXORCISM | Museum Director | Jack HatfieldJack Hatfield is the great-great-great-grandson of "Devil Anse" of the legendary Hatfield & McCoy feud, as well as the president & director of the Hatfield McCoy Foundation & Museum in Sarah Ann, West Virginia. We start in old Europe then hear of the feud's Civil War origins, The Logan Wildcats, the Hatfield timber company & mansion, an Appalachian Romeo & Juliette story, & of course, the notable murders through to the final slaughter. Then Jack talks about his calling to start the family museum followed by a story from his Pentecostal upbringing, spirits in the house & presences helping the fledgling museum. "Love thy neighbor as...
2022-08-251h 54Our Numinous NatureHELL OR HIGH WATER IN EASTERN KENTUCKY: FLOOD, FOLKLORE & GOD | Outdoorsman | Stevie HolbrookStevie Holbrook is an outdoorsman, backyard homesteader, painter, & deep-rooted Appalachian living amongst the aftermath of recent devastating floods in Letcher County, Kentucky. We begin with Stevie describing what the flood has been like for him & around his community, then expand into the plight of Appalachia as a whole. From there we transition into God, folkways, & folklore: superstitions around the dog days of summer & faith healing; haints & boogers; turtle buggin' & frog giggin'. Stevie then tells a paranormal story of a whistling creature in the woods, followed by his great-grandparents' encounter while coon hunting. We end on a lil' local history...
2022-08-112h 10Our Numinous NatureREINCARNATION: A PAST LIFE WITCH BURNING + A COMA LIFE REVIEW | Herbalist | Lorri BuraLorri Bura of Herb Mamma is an herbalist, organic medicinal herb farmer, nature whisperer & dare I say, something of a mystic tucked in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina. We begin with how to raise one's vibrations, homeopathy, usnea, USDA organic poison ivy & St.John's wort in a sock. Then things starkly turn to the numinous with Lorri detailing her harrowing meditations on past-lives from an owl incarnation to a witch burning to WWII Poland. We then hear about her mystic insights on the Lord of the Forest, the 5th dimension, & the earth's purpose. For her second...
2022-08-011h 50Our Numinous NatureOLD MAGIC + A MYSTICAL ABBESS + INTERDIMENSIONAL TRAVELERS | Occult Author | Rebecca BeyerRebecca Beyer, aka "Blood & Spicebush," is a tattoo artist, hedgecraft practitioner, & occult author on witchcraft & folk magic, currently wild tending in the southern Appalachians of North Carolina. In this fun, sample platter episode we hear about broadleaf plantain folkways; ancestral roots; the ancient Gauls & the Celtic cult of the head; long hair; water witching; John Dee; witchcraft's beginnings; sympathy for the devil; and the life of a 12th-century German mystic & abbess named St. Hildegard von Bingen. For her story, Rebecca shares a deeply unnerving paranormal encounter with what she was told were interdimensional travelers... We end on sassafras folk...
2022-07-141h 42Our Numinous NatureIN THE LAND OF THE CHEROKEE + THE WARRIOR DANCE | Cultural Ambassador | Sonny LedfordSonny Ledford is a bird-clan Cherokee, cultural ambassador, artisan, & Warrior of AniKituhwah hailing from the Qualla Boundary surrounding Cherokee, North Carolina. Instantly engrossing, Sonny describes his ancestral land, The Trail of Tears, guerrilla warfare & war paint. For his first story, we hear of a numinous performance of The Warrior Dance at Colonial Williamsburg. From there it's an immersion into the old ways: Sequoyah [inventor of the Cherokee syllabary]; fish & bear traps; blowguns; hunting with wolves; ear gauges; pipes; clan mothers; a strict amorous taboo; & praying to The Creator. For Sonny's second story, he tells of a community encounter with...
2022-06-302h 24Our Numinous NatureTHE BLACK POTTER + AN UGLY JUG NAMED SLAVE | Outsider Artist | Jim McDowellJim McDowell, aka "The Black Potter," is a gallery-level, outsider artist in Weaverville, North Carolina working in the ceramic tradition of face jugs inspired by his enslaved African ancestors. In this passionate & electric episode we learn about what pottery was like in colonial & slave times: the spiritual side of African & voodoo pottery; utilitarian vessels on the plantation; digging clay & building kilns; face jugs [aka ugly jugs]; & a renowned, literate slave potter named David Drake. Jim then tells a horripilating story about the making of an emotionally torturous jug he titled, "Slave." This opens powerful conversations about getting one's demons...
2022-06-161h 55Our Numinous NatureMETAPHYSICAL COUNTRY STORE + THE HORNED GOD, PAN | Folk Herbalist | Anh StanleyAnh Stanley is a folk herbalist, magick practitioner, & owner of PYRAMID: Appalachian Magick + Remedies in Waynesboro, Virginia. This spiritual smorgasbord of an episode begins with an exploration of the Greek god, Pan. Then it's off to the occult races as Anh speaks about the simplicity of rural folk magic, a brush with suicide, Buddhist wisdom, Jungian psychology, the tarot, the fae, prophetic dreams, & the horned god, Pan. Story time goes paranormal, as Anh shares strange encounters with a deer-deity & the regional man in black. For the final segment we tour the shelves of the metaphysical country store, learning about...
2022-06-022h 26Our Numinous NatureOLD TIME SUGAR HOUSE & THE SHERIFF OF HIGHLAND COUNTY | Maple Syrup Producer | Tim DuffTim Duff is a maple syrup producer, farmer, flintlock gunsmith, powder horn-maker, & former sheriff in Highland County, Virginia [the southernmost commercial syrup producing region in America]. At his charming Fair Lawn Farms, Tim does everything the old way! In this episode he describes tapping trees & boiling syrup like it's the mid-1800's: wooden spiles, fire, cast iron kettles; a highlight being how the Native Americans produced their maple sugar. For story time, Tim tells a ghost story about refurbishing their 1887 farm house followed by his reflections on being the sheriff of a very rural & very traditional community. In closing...
2022-05-191h 55Our Numinous NatureONE PATH THROUGH TIME: WW2, ETHIOPIAN SNIPE & A DRUNKEN WOODPECKER | Outdoorsman | Alex ter WeeleAlexander ter Weele is a Dutch-American outdoorsman, author, poet, & uncle to me, your podcast host. Born in Holland & having traveled to over 100 countries, the theme of this episode seems to be communication between vastly differing cultures: from hunting snipe with an Ethiopian village to sharing a meal with a Greek shepherd, all culminating in a harrowing childhood encounter at a Nazi checkpoint. In the second half of the podcast Alex shares two stories about the natural world, one about leaving no trace in the Allagash wilderness; the second about inebriated critters around the farm. We culminate in reflections about...
2022-05-051h 50Our Numinous NatureSHENANDOAH: AN ANCIENT EFFIGY, ROWDY BOATMEN & THE FLOOD OF 1870 | River Outfitter | John GibsonJohn Gibson is a world-traveled river outfitter on Virginia's bucolic Shenandoah River where thousands come to tube each summer. While her waters are shallow, her history runs deep. Between readings of the valley as a frontier, the great flood of 1870, & a legend of the river’s origin, John tells the Shenandoah’s journey through human habitation. He begins chronologically with a 10,000-year-old Paleo-indian site, followed by the commerce of rowdy 18th-century boatmen on unique flat bottomed "gondolas," through to the devastating industrial pollution of the mid-1900's. We then hear entertaining examples of things found today in its waters, some...
2022-04-211h 24Our Numinous NatureTHE INVESTIGATION OF GHOSTS & THE ROUTING OF DEMONS | Paranormal Investigator | Linda CassadaLinda Cassada is a paranormal investigator with VAPI: Virginia Paranormal Investigations out of Hampton, VA on the Chesapeake Bay. With her grounded & unique Christian approach, we get straight to the brass tacks of residential paranormal investigation: fake ghost reality-TV; the equipment; folks reaching out for help; theories for what ghosts are; & how 90% of cases have natural & mundane explanations. It's the remaining 10% that enters the dark waters of infinite mystery, Linda describes cases with ghost communication, activity around mirrors, & most unnerving of all when the haunting is no traditional ghost, but a malevolent entity that wreaks havoc on people & their...
2021-10-202h 15Our Numinous NatureMOTHMAN & CRYPTIDS OF WEST VIRGINIA + A FAMILY CURSE | Curator of Strange Encounters | Les O'DellLes O'Dell is a West Virginia paranormal investigator & curator of all things strange with a focus on Mountain State cryptids: an animal or creature that is claimed to exist, but never proven. We get right into hearing both popular legends & locals' accounts from Les' interviews about the likes of: The Wampus Cat; Snarly Yow the devil dog; Mothman; Ogua the giant-snapping turtle; The Grafton Monster; a truck driver's experience with a pre-historic hyena; Not Deer; & a bloody dog-man. Of course, one can't talk cryptids without talking bigfoot, or as the ol' mountain folks call it, The Old Man in...
2021-09-292h 11Our Numinous NatureLEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW, THE LEATHERMAN & HUDSON HIGHLAND LORE | Master Storyteller | Jonathan KrukJonathan Kruk is a Hudson River Valley author, folklorist & master storyteller best known for his solo performances of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in the historic, 17th-century church that inspired Washington Irving's Halloween classic. In his whimsical & hypnotic style, our guest bard recounts a slew of history & regional lore: a Native American Hudson River creation myth; a waterfall's tragic love story between a native maiden & her captive; a paranormal parable to prideful sailors as they pass Thunder Mountain; the Revolutionary War history behind Mother Hulda the witch & the mythic Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow. Jonathan then shares an uncanny p...
2021-09-151h 50Our Numinous NatureHUDSON RIVER SCHOOL: PAINTING THE AMERICAN WILDERNESS | Documentarian | Vin TaboneVin Tabone is the New York film producer of a PBS-aired, two-part documentary on The Hudson River School: a genre of dramatic, mid-19th century landscape paintings depicting the grandeur & the divine in America's wildernesses. We learn about: the main artists in the movement starting with founder Thomas Cole; the reception from New York City critics; their adventuresome travels to jungles, icebergs, Europe & the Wild West; their use of reoccurring symbols such as storm clouds & tree stumps; and the moral & religious messages they strived to convey. Vin shares fond memories of his childhood on the Hudson, seeing the paintings...
2021-09-011h 58Our Numinous NaturePOWHATAN & THE PEOPLE OF THE TIDEWATER + MARSH LIGHTS | Prehistoric Technologist | Daniel Firehawk AbbottDaniel "Firehawk" Abbott of the Eastern Shore's Nanticoke tribe is a prehistoric technologist & the Native American interpreter for Historic Jamestowne. In this extensive & endlessly engaging episode, Daniel paints a picture of what Chesapeake Bay life would have been like, pre-&-early European contact . We hear of: virgin forests; Nanticoke merchants & trade items; agriculture & the migration of crops; building a traditional longhouse; a muskrat origin story; & the inner workings of the Powhatan chiefdom from taxes to raiding. When story time rolls around, Daniel recounts an incredibly mysterious duck hunt in which his father, uncle & grandfather interacted with sentient marsh lights. N...
2021-08-182h 50Our Numinous NatureHARRIET TUBMAN, GREENBRIAR SWAMP, & THE LEGEND OF BIG LIZ | History Enthusiast | Jay MeredithJay Meredith of Maryland's Eastern shore is the owner & tour guide of the historic Bucktown general store, as well as the founder of Blackwater Adventures kayak & bicycle rentals. Living within the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park, and with his own American roots dating back to 1668, Jay has become something of an unofficial local historian & folklorist. First we hear about the significance of the general store - bought & restored by Jay - where Harriet Tubman was hit in the head by an irate slave overseer, a fateful injury that opened Tubman to divine guidance. We learn about her...
2021-08-041h 27Our Numinous NatureSHIPWRECKED IN THE CHOPTANK RIVER + OYSTER DRUDGIN’ | Waterman | Capt. Wade MurphyCaptain Wade H. Murphy, Jr is a 5th-generation Tilghman Islander who oyster dredges from a national historic landmark, a skipjack named the Rebecca T. Ruark built in 1886. Being America's oldest commercial sailboat in operation & hearing from her ol' time waterman captain, makes this episode a slice of Chesapeake Bay living history. We begin with family - his grandfather having fallen overboard in 1914 - and hear about the rough bygone crews, skipjacks, the Oyster Wars, and how exactly "arster drudgin'" works. For story time, Capt. Wade recounts his harrowing experience of going down with his ship during an unparalleled November s...
2021-07-211h 30Our Numinous NatureTHE EEL EXODUS, DROWNING ISLANDS, & A MONARCH MIGRATION | Nature Writer | Tom HortonTom Horton is an environmental columnist, nature writer, documentary filmmaker, and teacher of writing & environmental studies at Salisbury University on Maryland's Eastern Shore. With the soul of an early 20th-century poet & a lifetime spent on the Chesapeake Bay, Tom gets right to covering a handful of its many wonders & predicaments: the primordial horseshoe crab spawn; the beneficial effects of beavers on the watershed; tundra swan migrations; and the plight of drowning islands due to rising sea levels. For story time, Tom reads one of his essays about his observations while kayaking in the midst of the monarch migration. His...
2021-07-072h 20Our Numinous Nature1YR. ANNIVERSARY: A BEAR SKIN, FOLK TREASURE, ELDER WITCHES & THE HEREAFTER | Your ONN Host | PhilippeThe podcast is one year old! In this anniversary bonus episode we go over some highlights from the past year while reflecting on lessons learned and forecast a list of topics to cover in the following year. Then it's reading time, I relate various texts to themes brought up throughout the 24 episodes of the podcast: regarding hunting & pelts, a 17th-century fable about selling a bear skin; regarding my current interest in the Chesapeake Bay, a brief analysis of treasure folklore and a Virginia pirate legend; regarding herbalism, plant-lore, and witchery, historical uses & magical beliefs surrounding the elder tree; and...
2021-06-261h 04Our Numinous NatureHELL AT THE CLAM HOUSE: TRANSCENDING SUFFERING THROUGH ART | Visionary Folk Artist | Danny DoughtyDanny Doughty is a visionary folk artist in Onancock, Virginia on the Eastern Shore. The son of a waterman & a teenage bride, Danny grew up in abject poverty on Willis Wharf creek where he found himself in a dark, isolated, & brutal world of extreme dysfunction & abuse. We hear about where the imagery of his paintings comes from; the peace he feels when consumed in his art; and how the African American women his father peddled fish to showed him a profound spirituality that freed him from his hellish life. For his story, Danny paints us a...
2021-06-231h 54Our Numinous NaturePIRATES OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY + THE PUNGO WITCH & OTHER HAUNTINGS | Living Historian | Alpheus ChewningAlpheus Chewning is a Virginia Beach author, folklorist, ghost-walk guide, and living historian with a focus on Chesapeake Bay pirates, the Civil War, & regional hauntings. In this episode we get a taste of what it would have been like aboard a pirate ship during the Golden Age of Piracy [1680 - 1730]. We learn about their egalitarian ethics, ship contracts & recruitment; what they ate; how they slept; using the bathroom; their clothing; flag pictograms & symbolism; superstitions & common phrases; the dividing of treasure; and of course, their brutal yet creative guerrilla battle tactics. When it comes to story time, Al recounts the...
2021-06-091h 54Our Numinous NatureSHARK TOOTH SEA WARRIOR + THE GHOSTS OF DEAD HORSE HOLLOW | Fossil Hunter | Paul MurdochPaul Murdoch is an amateur paleontologist, fossil hunting guide, ghost hunter, and certified Chesapeake Bay Storyteller operating out of Calvert County, Maryland on the bay's western shore. A highly engaging educator, Paul teaches us about the comet impact that formed the bay [35 million years ago] and why the Calvert Cliffs region is renowned for fossils of the Miocene epoch [8-22 million years ago] . We learn about long extinct, ancient whales, dolphins, sharks, and mollusks while getting some tips on how to read a fossil's story & fossil hunting etiquette. In the first of Paul's stories, he recounts his most significant...
2021-05-262h 03Our Numinous NatureDOWN TO THE RIVER TO PRAY: WILD YAM, MARSHMALLOW, & THE RED CLOVER FAIRY | Herbalist | Teresa BoardwineTeresa Boardwine is a registered herbalist with the American Herbalist Guild, as well as a teacher and the founder of Green Comfort School of Herbal Medicine in Washington, Virginia. In this fluid & truly magical episode we take a metaphorical [& metaphysical] walk down to the river behind Teresa's home for a glimpse into wild medicinal plants, history, and spirit. We learn about wild yam & its connection to birth control; bloodroot's use in Listerine, marshmallow root for acid reflux; outdoor sacred spaces; Rudolf Steiner's childrearing philosophy; and much more. For story time, Teresa tells of crossing the witch-hazel threshold on the...
2021-05-062h 12Our Numinous NatureA BOY’S GRAVEYARD ESCAPADES + THE HEART OF A DOGMAN | Hunting Dog Expert | Ron BoehmeRon Boehme is a sporting dog enthusiast, breeder, wingshooter, & host of the popular The Hunting Dog Podcast. While a resident of Michigan, Ron has a 2nd-home in the Shenandoah Valley where I was able to catch him passing through for a fascinating & passionate episode about the bond between hunter and dog. We begin with a rundown on hounds, pointers, and retrievers - the three categories of hunting canines - and hear how they're imbued with a rich history, culture, and most amazingly, a symbiotic bond with their human masters that dates back at least 10,000 years. If you have a...
2021-04-081h 51Our Numinous NatureHERPETOLOGICAL SPRING: PEEPERS, SALAMANDERS, & A SNAKE GIRL | Wildlife Educator | Caroline SeitzCaroline Seitz - aka Cobra Caroline - is a Northern Virginia wildlife educator specializing in reptiles & amphibians. While her vocation is to teach kids to love nature, this fun & educational & infectiously joyous episode is for all ages. We begin by covering the timely news on "herpetological spring": salamander migrations, spring peepers, vernal pools, gorging snakes, regional salamander biodiversity & population threats, gelatinous egg masses, and how-to locate some amphibian action near you in the remaining weeks. Having owned & cared for dozens of rescue animals, Caroline shares her personal, ethical journey evolving beyond live shows to a more creative new venture. O...
2021-03-171h 35Our Numinous NatureINTRO TO CAVING + A COAL MINER'S SON | Caver | Greg McCoyGreg McCoy is a Virginia caver specializing in vertical caving [similar to rock-climbing rappelling but into a black hole...]. In this educational episode we get an introduction to all things caving: the difference between a spelunker & a caver; horizontal & vertical caving; white nose syndrome [a fungus devastating to bats]; pouring dye into cave streams to test ground water; what sorts of cave critters one might see; and the extreme nature of cave rescue. We hear exciting anecdotes about regional discoveries ranging from ancient bones to burial sites and artifacts. Greg describes two of his caving trips, one about descending a...
2021-03-031h 32Our Numinous NatureA PATAGONIAN MAN-EATER + MENTORS OF THE WILD | Outdoorsman | Frank EscalonaFrank Escalona is a Chilean-born avid outdoorsman - backpacker, fisherman, hunter, adventurer - whose outdoor life has stretched from Patagonia, to Washington's Cascade Range, and now Virginia's Blue Ridge. The themes of this episode are adventure, mentorship, and facing dangerous megafauna. Pre-interview I read a lesson from a 19th-century mentor to his mentee: a shikari's [an Indian hunter] story about ignoring bad omens that led to a violent run in with a tiger. Our interview begins with Frank's "sumptuous" childhood in Valparaíso [a port city on Chile’s coast] and his emigration to Seattle [at the time a lumb...
2021-02-102h 02Our Numinous NatureMESSAGE FROM AYAHUASCA + A MYTHIC SNAKE + GINSENG TRADE | Plant Advocate | Susan Leopold, PhDSusan Leopold, PhD of Linden, Virginia is an ethnobotanist, plant advocate, and the executive director of United Plant Savers [a non-profit focused on the conservation of medicinal plants]. The theme of this episode is history: a post-civil war connection to Susan's property, her Patawomeck ancestry [including the Pocahontas controversy], and the centuries-old ginseng trade which is currently linked to a shadowy herbal black market. She teaches us about plant conservation, the at-risk tool, sandalwood, osha, and related botanical issues. When it comes to story time, Susan shares her personal experience living in the Amazon jungle where she received a...
2021-01-012h 14Our Numinous NatureSERMONS & FEASTS: SPIRIT DOGS, TURTLE MEDICINE, OTTER PELTS, & WOLF WOMEN | Your ONN Host | PhilippeHaving no guest for this episode, we spend a rainy, snowy early winter morning reading stories by the fire. First we start locally, with two short folk tales from my mountains about spirit dogs and 'jack-ma-lanterns' read from Virginia Folk Legends edited by Thomas E. Barden. Next, I find the answer to my question about otter edibility in Norse mythology through a misadventure of Odin & Loki who must fill a magician's otter pelt with gold, read from The Norse Myths retold by Kevin Crossley-Holland. Then we visit the words of a great oracle, Clarissa Pinkola Estés to hear about...
2020-12-181h 13Our Numinous NatureMAGIC GARDEN: GNOMES, FAYS, & DEARIE THE DEER | Plant Medicine Artist | Donna La PréDonna La Pré of Washington, Virginia is a Biodynamic gardener, artist, herbalist, small-batch skin care producer, natural dyer, and perfumer - all under the umbrella of her home business, Tender Flower. Seated outside the charming potting shed in her autumnal garden, we begin by hearing about Donna's ancestry followed by how the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner [anthroposophy] clicked on a deep level, inspiring her spiritual path & Biodynamic gardening in which she grows 85% of the herbs and flowers used in her products. Skimming over her many vocations, we settle into a thought-provoking discussion on aromatherapy, perfumery, and incense. As the i...
2020-12-022h 26Our Numinous NaturePEACEABLE KINGDOM: AN ABANDONED HOUSE, 3 COONS & THE ARMCHAIR PIG | Restaurateur | Katie CrutchfieldKatie McMillan Crutchfield is the chef & owner of The Dancing Bear Cafe: a renovated chicken hatchery nestled in the corn fields of Corder, Missouri amongst her old farm house, 2 AirBnB rentals, 13 peacocks, 5 horses, 5 cats, 7 dogs, a multitude of chickens & ducks, one pig & a pony. And then there’s the wildlife…orphaned raccoons, killer foxes, and leaderless coyotes. In this fun and kooky episode we hear what life is like at Katie’s plant & animal oasis; a peaceable kingdom surrounded by never-ending ag fields where crop dusting planes roar overhead & cancer is commonplace. When it comes to story time it might...
2020-11-181h 38Our Numinous NatureCHURCH OF THE CRETACEOUS + THE PTERANODON SKULL | Fossil Hunter | Chuck BonnerChuck Bonner is a family-taught paleontologist & artist hailing from the chalk beds of Western Kansas: once an ancient ocean teaming with large swimming & flying reptiles, fish, sharks, and turtles. He and his wife live off-the-grid in an old chalk church they've renovated into a fossil gallery a few miles down the road from Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park. We begin by learning why this landscape makes for such good Cretaceous fossil hunting & get a glimpse of what a hunt in the chalk beds is like. Chuck shares two memorable "fossil fishing" stories: the first about a pteranodon skull found...
2020-11-041h 21Our Numinous NatureAPPALACHIAN WITCHES + THE EXPLODING ROSE | Folklorist | Tyler Chadwell-EnglishTyler Chadwell-English - a charismatic librarian & folklorist with a masters in folklore & museum studies from George Mason University - lights our imagination with all-things Appalachian witchlore! We begin with me sharing my own personal story of Brooklyn witches & a possession experience that left me white as a ghost. Once the interview commences, Tyler teaches us about the three types of Appalachian witchcraft: white witchery, black witchery, and witch doctoring; followed by the various sub-genres of witches: the water witch, shapeshifter, bloodstopper, and granny woman. We hear four local folktales about: troublesome cats in a mill, a widower’s haunted lil...
2020-10-212h 07Our Numinous NatureYARB WOMAN + A LAKOTA HORSE SONG | Community Herbalist | Joanne BaumanJoanne Bauman of Topeka, Kansas is a yarb woman and the host of Mother Earth News' "Heirlooms & Herbals" podcast. Coming from a long line of plant people - Appalachians, an Oglala Lakota medicine woman & a pharmacist father - Joanne encourages us to foster a relationship with the land. She instructs us on how we might give an offering of herbs or our hair to the plants and animals we aim to forage and hunt. We hear about mullein torches, elderberry folklore, herbs specific to the prairie, and 'the doctrine of signatures': an ancient tool for determining a plant's medicinal...
2020-10-071h 43Our Numinous NatureOZARKS SHERIFF + QUIT STARING AT THE COTTONMOUTH | Fur Buyer | Deputy Stan WhiteDeputy Stan White is a deputy sheriff, trapper, & fur buyer in Barry County in the Missouri Ozarks. As a darkening storm swirls in the background, Deputy White speaks to his county’s rising drug-use, homelessness, & domestic violence as well as the changing collective feeling amongst the locals. He tells us a little bit about the fur market: from beaver castors to mink farming, 70's coons to western bobcats. We hear about growing up trapping with his father and uncle, and how setting his first trapline was an exercise in facing fear and possibly a rite towards manhood. Approaching story-time, our...
2020-09-231h 19Our Numinous NatureKAMIKAZE HAWK, A MESSAGE FROM THE DEAD | Community Herbalist | Victoria FillmoreVictoria Fillmore of Cedar Hill Homestead is a community herbalist in the wooded hills of central Tennessee where she homesteads with her husband, son, chickens, goats & herbs. We start our convo hearing about a rat snake in the chicken coop, the Foxfire books, poke sallet, experimenting with poisonous plants and capturing wild yeast. Then there's a massive shift from light plant talk to deep wisdom: Tori shares the story of her deceased mentor [a Lakota elder named Hawk] and his lesson-learned-too-late about dissipating others' negative energy. From there we are in the realm of animism, cleansing practices, and messages...
2020-09-091h 21Our Numinous NatureLIGHTNING BUG LADY: BLUE GHOSTS + BROTHER MOTH | Citizen Scientist | Lynn FaustLynn Faust - The Lightning Bug Lady - is a Tennessean naturalist and citizen scientist who has written the first ever North American guidebook on lightning bugs: Fireflies, Glow-worms, and Lightning Bugs. She has consulted in-the-field on numerous nature documentaries including BBC's new Seven Worlds, One Planet and their 2015 Life That Glows as well as Netflix's Night on Earth. This super folky episode is much more than Lynn's lightning bug 101; we hear about sailing the world, Appalachian packrats, firefly folklore, working with David Attenborough, glowing mushrooms, digging mayapple, and stolen sang. Quite the raconteur, Lynn shares multiple stories, the...
2020-08-262h 04Our Numinous NatureLIONS & SKUNKS & WEASELS, OH MY! | Furbearer Biologist | Michael FiesMichael Fies is a wildlife biologist & the furbearer project leader at Virginia's Department of Wildlife Resources [formerly known as Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries]. Furbearers are defined as animals with commercial fur value ranging from the tiny least weasel, the mighty beaver, and mischievous raccoon, to the elusive bobcat and trickster coyote. Mike shares how his grandfather's love of the outdoors & their rabbit beagle led to his 37-year career in wildlife. This is an educational episode where we discuss a wide range of topics: the little known squirrel-sized spotted skunk; fox-sized weasels [fishers] making their way from West...
2020-08-091h 53Our Numinous NatureA FAMILY FARM + DEADLY STINGS | Farmsteaders | Krista & Rob RahmForrest Green Farm in Louisa, Virginia is the no-spray, beyond-organic family farm of Krista & Rob Rahm. They pasture raise cows, pigs, and chickens, and grow heirloom veggies and an impressive array of medicinal herbs. The theme of this episode is family. We talk with Krista about finding their run down farm house and how her son's learning disability led to herbalism & homeschooling. She shares what it's like to raise kids on a farm and her feelings about abandoning a career-oriented life for self-sufficiency and nature. From her husband Rob, we hear about slingshot hunting as a kid, fox trapping...
2020-07-261h 54Our Numinous NatureWILDLIFE HOSPITAL + THE PEREGRINE MYSTERY | Wildlife Advocate | Edward Clark, Jr.Edward Clark, Jr. is the president & founder of The Wildlife Center of Virginia, a world-renowned wildlife hospital in Waynesboro, Virginia. Ed - a passionate & gregarious wildlife advocate and a real character - tells us about their 19 orphaned bear cub patients, a brutal case of mange, an ornery bobcat's thrill ride, & how hunting in his youth sparked his love for nature. We hear a handful of potent PSAs: dos & don'ts when handling our wild animal neighbors and the potential of loving an animal to death... Between our fascinating convo Ed recounts two tales: the first about a poisoned bald eagle...
2020-07-111h 44Our Numinous NatureGNARLY ROOTS + THE HERBAL PATH | Community Herbalist | Lupo PasseroLupo Passero is a community herbalist, flower essence practitioner and the founder & director of Twin Star Apothecary in historic New Milford, Connecticut. In this free flowing conversation we talk about dreams, the bears and cats that haunt them, elderberry, bear perfume, the spiritual side of herbalism, forming plant relationships, the importance of talking to poison ivy, transplanting lady slippers, dandelion pesto, and much more. Lupo shares the wisdom that she’s gleaned from the gnarled roots of black cohosh: an Appalachian medicinal plant prized for its many uses for women’s health. We end with the story of how her...
2020-06-271h 21Our Numinous NatureHAUNTED HOMESTEAD TROUT + AN UNCANNY CANINE | Fly Fisherman | Roger FlinchumRoger Flinchum is a fly fisherman, hunter, woodworker and retired English teacher with a deep history & love of rural life here in Virginia. We talk about charming bear encounters, ol’ time ways, & his lessons learned from the woods & rivers. Based on his experiences of solitude in nature, Roger reads us two of his…dare I say…paranormal…non-fiction fishing stories. Quite the honor since he’s never published them before! The second, “Homestead Trout,” is so good my smile stretched from ear to ear. Check out one of Roger’s fly fishing classes [Postponed due to Covid-19]Fol...
2020-06-261h 17Our Numinous NatureORIGIN STORY + THE RACCOON TRAP | Your ONN Host | PhilippeDeeply moved by The Sacred Art of Hunting by James A. Swan, your host - Philippe - shares why this book inspired the podcast. We read the personal account of a waterfowl biologist's religious experience hunting snow geese, followed by a stirring tale of trauma healed on a moose hunt. While future episodes will focus on our guests, in this first episode, Philippe shares his story of escaping New York City to become a man & a hunter in the Blue Ridge Mountains. His story culminates with his first winter attempting to fur trap & the harrowing first encounter with a...
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