Chthonia

In honor of Valentine's Day this past week, this podcast takes a look at 4 goddesses of love and desire: Aphrodite, Ishtar, Freya, and Rati. Love goddesses are often war goddesses as well, or at least have strong connections to war--why is that the case? We look at different ideas about love, marriage, and relationship, and examine how the rati-yuddha (love battle) is just as much a part of romantic relationships as the more pleasant associations.

Dive into the fascinating world of the goddess Brigid, a fiery symbol of poetry, smithcraft, and healing. Explore her transformation from a revered Celtic deity to a Christian saint, especially during the vibrant festival of Imbolc. Discover how ancient weather lore intertwines with modern traditions like Groundhog's Day. Uncover the powerful legacy of Brigid and her connections to the goddess Morrigan, highlighting the cultural significance of fire and bravery in Celtic mythology.

This week we continue our series on Christian female mystics with a look at St. Catherine of Siena. St. Catherine is an incredibly complex figure, who at once represents the Christian feminine ideal of the Virgin, while also defining her mystical "marriage" in rather shockingly embodied terms. We also look at the way in which she uses fasting as a way of maintaining her own personal sovereignty, and the surprising political and religious power that she wielded as a member of the religious laity.

Happy 2024! We start off the new year with the first podcast in the Female Christian Mystics series by looking at St. Teresa of Jesus, better known as Teresa of Avila. Teresa died in 1582 and was canonized a saint in 1622; she was made a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI in 1970. Teresa was a celibate nun, but had a deep erotic current that ran through her external and internal life, making her unintentionally a kind of Tantric saint. She is particularly remembered for a mystical event known as the transverberation, immortalized in art by Bernini as "the Ecstasy of St. Teresa." We look at Teresa's very unconventional life, the threatening combination of mystical experience and poverty, and that experience discussed in the Fourth Dwelling of her book The Interior Castle known as "The Prayer of Quiet."

We end 2023 with a look at Despoina, an obscure Arcadian goddess associated with this title which means "Mistress". Often connected to Kore/Persephone, Artemis and Hecate, this child of Demeter and Poseidon holds a powerful secret and a name that would only be revealed to initiates of her Mysteries. The only surviving image connected to Despoina is her veil, and the only account of her shrine in Arcadia comes from a description by the Roman writer Pausanias. Still, the little information that we have tells us a lot about this goddess and her cohorts.

Just in time for Santa Lucia's Day (13 December) we look at Lussi, the sorceress who rides with her ghoulish brood at the Solstice, bringing destruction to homes unprepared for the coming winter, carrying off naughty children, and those who mistreated their animals during the year. Lussi leads a version of the brood known as the Wild Hunt, and bears a lot of similarity to other European winter hags like Frau Holle and Frau Perchta.

As we head into the winter season, we round out the last few podcasts of the year with a discussion of the Japanese "snow woman" Yuki-onna. Like many of our Dark Feminine figures, she has both gentle and terrifying aspects; she can fall in love and marry, she can bring treasure, but she also freezes people to death and in some instances cannibalizes them. As a snow woman she is a deep embodiment of the yin principle, which we will explore with respect to her stories and attributes.

Jinn are spirits created from fire that are part of Arabic and Islamic folklore. A full discussion of the Jinn would take many episodes, so in this podcast I discuss what Jinn are and what is known about their origins, their place in Islamic cosmogony, and the different types of Jinn, particularly the Ghula and Si'lat, who often appear in feminine form to seduce men. Jinn have free will and be considered good or evil; thus these female Jinn may fall in love with a man and marry him, or may lure him to his death and cannibalize him. I will compare these Jinn to similar creatures in other cultures, and explain how they manifest the negative character of the Mother Archetype.

This week we are talking about Eisheth Zenunim, "queen of harlots" who is considered the personification of sin in the Zohar, and one of the 4 wives of Samael. We discuss Eisheth's relationship to the serpent in the Garden of Eden as well as to Babalon, and her Kabbalistic association with the Qlippoth, the flip side of the Tree of Life consisting of the "husks" of the dead and considered the embodiment of evil. But is she a temptation to sin for the spiritual aspirant, or a neglected part of the fullness of "creation"?

This week we look at Echidna, the mother of monsters in Greek mythology. Echnidna is said to be the mother of the Sphinx, the Chimera, the Lernean Hydra, and Cerberus among others. She is identified with Python, the dragon slain by Apollo at what would later be his oracle site at Delphi. As a monster associated with rot and decay, she represents terrors of physical death and depression, but is also an alchemical force for transformation.