As June 24, the feast of St. John the Baptist approaches, the folklore of decapitation suggested itself as an appropriate theme for this episode. We begin by way of an old English children’s rhyme and game, “Oranges and Lemons” based on melody played by the bells of St. Clemens church in London. The rhyme ends …
Episodes 6-7 are in the works. Stay tuned! June 18: EPISODE 6 “Lost Heads” Folklore of the decapitated. Celtic head-hunting. Magic heads. July 2: EPISODE 7 “It is 100 Years Since Our Children Left” A historical mystery. Dancing to death. A wicked bishop.
We follow our previous episode on the god Pan with a second this week, delving even deeper into the creative and bizarre ways the figure has been embraced after his much publicized “death.” Our first several minutes are devoted to literary explorations of Pan in the decades around World War I. Naturally we examine …
Just finished next Monday’s episode (6/4) in which we continue the discussion of Pan — along the way covering a bit about the origin of werewolf mythology, a classic horror novel in the Lovecraftian mode, a 1970s nature spirit cult, possible Pan worship in 18th-century England, and a fellow known to talk to Pan in …
The devilish appearance of the Greek god Pan has fascinated artists, occultists, and others straying from the path for centuries. This episode begins with some tales of Pan in his natural habitat of Arcadia, how the Greeks, and later Romans, saw him, and some of his central myths — what tragedy resulted in the …
An interesting visitor! Pan? Satan? Meet him in the next episode of “Bone and Sickle” uploading Monday, 5/21. (Painting by Jakob Jordaens, 1620)
May 21: “Crowley in Neverland” June 4: “The Great God Pan” June 18: “Lost Heads” Available right here, or on Apple Podcasts (aka iTunes), Stitcher, or Android apps. Normally, episodes come out every 2 weeks on Mondays. The first episode was officially scheduled for April 30, which might have you looking for a May 14 …
After two episodes meandering about in the nocturnal folklore of Walpurgisnacht witches sabbaths, we’re inviting our Bone and Sickle friends out in the daylight for a celebrate the arrival of Spring. Not to worry, there’s still human sacrifice in the air, as we begin the show looking at that pre-emininent example of the folk-horor genre, and …
Become a Patron! In our second episode on the grim folklore of Walpurgisnacht — that is May Eve or April 30, St. Walburga’s day — we meet Walburga, the saint whose name was attached to what was likely a pre-existing pagan holiday. While the saint’s bones for centuries have been said to be the source of a miraculously …
Become a Patron! Episode One of BONE & SICKLE is the first half of a two-parter about May Eve, Beltane, or as the Germans call it, Walpurgisnacht (“Walpurgis night“) the night of St. Walburga, that and oh so much more! It’s also about St. George’s Eve, and the conflation of the two in Bram Stoker’s Dracula …