Chthonia

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 between the female goddess and the later-named place […]

Discover the intriguing tale of the Egyptian goddess Isis, who embodies love, resilience, and the quest for resurrection. Delve into her powerful role in reviving Osiris, the intricacies of motherhood, and the rivalry between Horus and Seth. Uncover ancient Egyptian beliefs about death and the afterlife through key texts and transformative myths. Explore Isis's interactions with the sun god Ra, her healing abilities, and her deep connections to knowledge and duality, portraying her as a captivating symbol of power and protection.

Just in time for Easter, this second podcast on Dionysus looks at the Orphic concept of the god as successor to Zeus, and as the archetype for the divine savior, later embodied in the mythology of Jesus. Source used in video: The God Who Comes: Dionysian Mysteries Revealed by Rosemarie Taylor-Perry. Algora Publishing, 2003 Music: […]

Welcome to the 50th episode of Chthonia! This week we look at the mysterious figure of Dionysus, in the first of a two part podcast. Dionysus is the god of wine, an egalitarian deity who can be directly experienced through drinking wine. In this episode we look at the Homeric Dionysus, the one portrayed in the Homeric Hymns, and we will look at his connection to the Divine Feminine.

This week we talk about Hawaii's volatile volcano goddess and her role in shaping and protecting the islands, as well as her explosive relationship with her sister and her friends. She represents the dual nature of fire, in both its creative and destructive aspects. Music: Adpated from "Secret Door" by Anastasia Vronski, [CC 4.0] URL: […]

This week's podcast is about Erzulie, a family of Voodoo loas connected to water, and to the Feminine in its various forms. We look at two of the loas in particular; Erzulie Freda, associated with love and sex, and Erzulie Dantor, a fierce protector figure often associated with the Black Madonna. Music: Intro adapted from […]

Oya is the powerful Yorùbá Orisha of the winds and tempests. She is considered either the sister of the Orisha of storms Shango, or one of His three wives, with Oshun and Oba. She is a fierce protector of women who uses her machete to clear the dead wood path and make way for the new. We […]

This week we look at Pomba Gira, sometimes a single term for a powerful female spirit, at other times the title of a group of spirits. A spirit with many avatars, most notably Maria Molambo (Maria of the Trash), Pomba Gira is a highly sexualized and sometimes dangerous female figure in the Afro-Brazilian rituals of […]

The first podcast of 2021 focuses on the loa Maman Brigitte, a hard drinking, sensual spirit that protects the unrepresented dead, and has a very direct relationship to the Irish goddess (and saint) Brigid. Music: Adapted from "Secret Door" by Anastasia Vronski, [CC 4.0] URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Anastasia_Vronski/Estrangements_volume_2/09_-_Secret_DoorComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Copyright: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

In this last podcast for 2020, we look at the Hans Christian Andersen tale of the Snow Queen, the very loose basis for the film "Frozen", and like many fairy tales, loaded with symbolism–in this case, about the struggle for love and connection in a cold, analytical world.