Chthonia

Poludnica, also known as Lady Midday and the Noonwraith, is a demon of the harvest who punishes those who do not rest at noontime. She has various names throughout Eastern Europe, and is represented as a woman in a white dress, sometimes with a skeletal face, who carries a scythe, shears, or a whip. In this podcast we take a deep dive into the "dark" side of the peak hour of the day, what it means to be "in the middle," and the relationship of the Noonwraith to Saturn or Kronos.

This week's podcast talks about the succubus, a female demon that is said to have sex with men while they sleep, and her male counterpart, the incubus. There is some version of the succubus in almost every culture; we will look at the medieval view of these creatures, its likely origins in ancient beliefs about immortality, and how these narratives affect things like the reproductive rights of women. One correction: at some point I talk about pre-Christian ideas of the succubus, but I'm actually talking about the succubus as it appears in other religions, in addition to pre-Christian ideas.

I have talked about the Gorgon Medusa on this podcast in the past; today's episode looks at all three Gorgons, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa. This is a deep dive into the psychological meaning of the Gorgons and other similar daimons, and their relationship to goddesses such as Athena and Artemis. When we move from archaic Greek literature to Roman literature of the early common era, we see a curious shift in the representation of Gorgons, from horrible women with hissing hair, boar tusks, and lolling tongues to "beautiful maidens". What does this mean?

We finally have a new Chthonia Conversation, and Joanna Madloch is back! We dive into Slavic theogony (creation mythology) and conceptions of the afterlife in the stories of Perun, Veles, and their offspring. Joanna sent me a few names in chat, that you can reference; these are in order within the conversation:SwarógDadźbógChorsKsiężycMokoszStrzybógRodRodzaniceNav, NawiaWyrajDolaJagaWiedźma

In the first part of the 2000s, there were paranormal TV shows and movies made about the Dybbuk (or Dibbuk), an evil spirit from Judaic folklore that can possess a person. The idea of the "Dybbuk Box" that cursed its owners gained urban folktale status. However, these evil spirits are not demons, they are the restless male dead, and were not really a concept until the rise of medieval Kabbalistic Judaism, and in particular from sixteenth century stories from the city of Safed. We look at what dybbuks are, the afterlife theology surrounding them, and different scholarly ideas about dybbuk possession, especially in women. Are these evil spirits preying on the sinful, another misunderstanding of mental illness, or in the case of women, an authentic voice that has been repressed and attributed to a negative male force?

This episode looks at the Babylonian goddess Lamashtu, who may be one of the earliest examples of a vampiric goddess who hunts humans and feeds on flesh, particularly that of unborn children. While we may expect such a goddess to be classed as a demon, Lamashtu is the daughter of the sky god Anu, and has celestial origins. Her ill effects on pregnant mothers and others cannot be exorcised, only appeased. We look at the iconography of Lamashtu, her role, and how she topples ideas about female deities and about masculine/feminine categories in general.

This week's episode is about the Valkyries, the "choosers of the slain" who bring warriors to Odin's Valhalla, to fight at the "twilight of the gods," Ragnarok. We look at the original role of the Valkyries as "demonic" feasters on the dead flesh of fallen warriors, and their transformation into beautiful shieldmaidens serving warriors in Valhalla. In particular we look at the theme of "domestication" of terrifying feminine forces, and how much that comes into play with complex female warrior/lover figures from the Otherworld.

This episode explores the Latawica, female spirits of the aborted or stillborn in Slavic mythology. The term Latawica is also used in connection with "loose" women, as these spirits that appear as half bird and half human can also shapeshift into seductive forms. As we see in many of these stories, the original version takes on a very different tone once the myth is Christianized, and this is no exception. We discuss beliefs about children who die before they are born, and the implications of connecting these spirits to a kind of succubi, and then to promiscuous women.

This week's podcast is a long one--I talk about the Murrain Maiden, also called the Plague Maiden, or Morowa Dziewica. When she enters a town waving her red handkerchief, the residents are doomed. This podcast gets into the imagery of the Murrain Maiden folktale, and the way in which the idea of plague and illness connects to demon lore and to the dark Feminine.

This month's conversation is with esoteric artist Orryelle Defenestrate Bascule. Our discussion centers around Orryelle's art, music, and ritual theatre performance, including his film "Solve et Coagula." We talk about the idea of embodiment, including the embodiment of sound in language, the kundalini force, and quite a bit about the goddess Hekate.This conversation includes a reading from Orryelle's new book entitled "Esezezus," and some tracks from the album that accompanies the book. The video version of this conversation on YouTube (Chthonia channel) also includes the trailer and some clips from the film Solve et Coagula. You can order Orryelle's new book here: https://www.miskatonicbooks.com/product/esezezus-by-orryelle-defenestrate-bascule-limited-edition-hardcover-with-cd-and-map-of-hermes/Take a look at Orryelle's art and film projects at his website:http://www.esoterotica.art/Information about the Solve et Coagula film:http://www.crossroads.wild.net.au/solveetcoagula.htmIf you are in Europe or the UK, here are the links to Orryelle's book launch events next month (via Facebook):https://www.facebook.com/events/214572107891817 (London, 12 May 2023)https://www.facebook.com/events/3415048145384534 (Brussels, 25 May 2023)All images and clips used with permission.