Chthonia

Explore the intriguing duality of Astarte, the ancient goddess of love and war. Delve into her significance in Canaanite religion and connections to early Judaic beliefs. Discover her dynamic role within the Ugaritic pantheon and how femininity manifests through strength and complexity. Examine the tension between divine and mortal realms, and how cultural narratives shape perceptions of female power. Discuss the nuanced portrayal of love goddesses as both nurturers and warriors, capturing their transformative potential.

This week we look at the Ancient Egyptian chimeric demoness called Ammit. Having the head of a crocodile, the hindquarters of a hippopotamus, and the forequarters of a lion, Ammit stands beside Anubis waiting to devour the hearts and souls of the unjust dead. In this episode we look at the background of afterlife beliefs in ancient Egypt and some of their near neighbors, and Ammit as a representation of the Devouring Mother as serving justice.

This week we look at the "Dancing Demon" of Talmudic and Kabbalistic literature, one of the 4 wives of archangel Samael, and an "angel of sacred prostitution". Lilith is viewed as her competitor, and sometimes as her mother and grandmother, though her name means "Agrat daughter of Mahlat," herself a daughter of Ishmael and a wife of Esau. We look at the Biblical and angelic backdrop for this Queen of Demons, and the significance of her chariot drawn by 18 legions of demons, who dances on rooftops on Wednesdays, and when the Sabbath begins on Fridays. I mention the ESOTERICA YouTube channel and the excellent episode on the origins of Yahweh, which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdKst8zeh-U

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.