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Bunyip & Samodiva
72 Plays8 months ago
This week, it's a couple of mysterious creatures from the swamp and the forest!
First up, Lauren goes on the hunt for the Bunyip - a Cryptid creature from the Indigenous Aboriginal mythology of southeastern Australia dating back to as early as 1812. The Bunyip has been described as an amphibious creature that lurks in local swamps, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes, but the other characteristics vary widely. Most of the sightings say they resemble seals or swimming dogs, but others claim to have seen long-necked creatures with small heads. Listen to hear more wild sightings of the man-eating monster!
Next, Felicia tells the tale of the Samodiva - woodland fairies or nymphs found in South and West Slavic folklore and folk songs. These ethereal maidens are typically depicted with long, loose hair, and sometimes wings and are commonly seen riding deer or winged horses using snakes as the reins. Metal! A Samondiva can either be kind to humans or lethal depending on how she feels about you. And in some versions, their power comes from a magical gown or veil and if they lose the clothing, they have to reclaim it to get their power back. Listen to learn more about this witchy, free-spirited creature!
PS: If you have requests for future episodes or just want to hang out, follow us on Instagram @sinistersisterspodcast
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Transcript
Introduction and Personal Updates
00:00:12
Speaker
Welcome to the Sinister Sisters podcast. I'm Lauren. I'm Felicia. We're best friends. And we like spooky stuff. And we were just chatting about our bachelorette parties. It's very exciting. Lauren found some cool spooky bachelorette decor that I thought was pretty sick.
00:00:41
Speaker
Yeah. I love it. I was going to say too, we should say sorry that we are releasing this a little later than normally. I know we missed last week. I've been so busy with work and Felicia took pity on me as a kind friend. No, it's fine. I love when things get canceled. It's my favorite thing. Whenever someone's like, ah, so sorry, is there any way we could not do this? I'm like, thank you, Lord. I love to not do things.
00:01:10
Speaker
It really, it feels like a weird gift. It's such a relief. It is a gift. It is a gift. And I never, I always feel funny. I didn't know I had. Yes. And I always feel funny because I'm like, I'm always like, not nervous, but like, there's always like a moment where I'm like, oh, I feel bad, like letting Felicia down. And then whenever you're like, yes, it's the best response.
Podcast Topic Challenges
00:01:31
Speaker
I mean, the truth is, don't ever picture me sitting at my computer furiously doing research and then getting disappointed.
00:01:39
Speaker
Don't picture that because what it is is no research has been done. A topic has not been picked. And I'm like, well, thank God. Well, thank God. A miracle today. A miracle.
00:01:51
Speaker
Also, I've been feeling a lack of inspiration for Sinister Sister's topics. I feel like I don't know what that is. Me too. Today, it was so hard for me to find something. I was like, oh my God, I feel like I've done everything. People, we need recommendations because we're getting lost in the sauce here. We're getting a little sleepy time. I'm wondering if maybe we should go back to you and I are both like, let's do a
00:02:16
Speaker
Whatever this week because maybe it would help then I'm like, what do you think of what that whatever is? like let's both do you know women folklore creatures or Like a true crime story or someone disappearing or like a freaky location Or something that could be useful. So yeah, okay
00:02:39
Speaker
Yeah, that could be good, actually. Maybe let's do that. Like a topic. It feels easy. Right? It feels easier if I'm like, all right, this week we're going to pick a spooky location. And then I'm like, oh, that's better. Versus like this e-book list of the internet could be anything. A million things. I know. Well, so I was going to say, I actually am so excited. I'm just going to go into recommendations if that's okay. Hit it.
Documentary and Film Discussions
00:03:03
Speaker
I like my number one documentary that I love watching is cult stuff. Oh, yeah. And so I finally watch. Have you watched the cult of Mother God on HBO yet?
00:03:14
Speaker
No, but I think I've heard of it. It is wild. I'm sure you've like seen like the image of the documentary is like a very like blonde like looks like kind of like a business woman in the picture they have. I have not seen this. It's crazy. It's like basically I kind of we talked about it like James and I talked about it after we watched it where I was like
00:03:37
Speaker
I can't decide if the woman really like if the cult leader woman like really believes it or not but basically she's claiming that she is God like brought to earth in a human body. Yes and so you know she always talks about like at some point she will like move on into
00:03:57
Speaker
her heavenly form. And so it's like always kind of like, you know, it's leading to her dying or like, you know, it's kind of like the way that the cults going. But it's like basically, I don't know. It's just it feels like to me, like all these cults that are like a male leader who's basically like, I'm going to take all these wives and like everyone do what I say. And like, these are the things it's basically like that, except it's just a woman. So I was sort of like kind of amazing. You're sort of on her side in this weird way or you're just like, it's like whatever women do, I'm like, you know what?
00:04:30
Speaker
Yeah, you've been told you're the less than gender your entire life. Like honestly, yeah, it's like she's got multiple lovers and like all these people like just like bowing down to her and like brushing her hair and like washing her and like carrying her. And I'm like kind of love it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. OK, I'll check it out for sure. Oh, you know what we're going to watch tonight? This is like this is so like really want because on HBO, right?
00:04:52
Speaker
You go do your thing.
00:04:59
Speaker
Yeah. Okay, cool. So Travis was like, oh, Willy Wonka's on HBO. And I was like, it is. And he was like, do you want to watch it tonight? And I was like, more than anything. So tonight, we're going to watch the Willy Wonka movie so I can watch Timothy do his silly little thing and silly little dance.
00:05:20
Speaker
I mean, did I tell you my experience? I'm sure I talked about it in the podcast, but I was grouchy. I was mad to be watching it. I was like, I can't even remember. I was just in a bad mood and kind of anxious. I just remember James handed me a piece of candy and my instinct was to smack it out of his hand. I was like, smack it out of his hand.
00:05:43
Speaker
I was like, not in a good place. And then it started, and I was like, wow, delightful. Like, why was that so catchy? Joy. What is joy? Yeah, so I'm pretty stoked about it, honestly. I can't even decide if it's a good movie. But I was just like, how can you? I don't really care. I don't really care. There's some movies where I'm just like, it's not about that. Exactly. What is it about? I don't know, a vibe.
00:06:08
Speaker
Um, a vibe. Yeah. Oh, I also, my other story from this week, we did show Willow labyrinth and she loved it. It was everything that I dreamed. That's so great. That's so great. Yeah. It was really funny as a kid. I didn't really see it until I was an adult.
00:06:26
Speaker
Yeah, I think it really hits, obviously. She was totally blown away by the puppets. How did they do this? She was like, none of this is CGI? I was like, I know. I know. It's crazy. That's great. That's awesome. I love that. Then we did show her Dark Crystal, which is like the other. I don't even think I made you watch that. Did you ever watch that? I've seen clips of the puppets and that.
00:06:56
Speaker
Yeah, it was so funny because I was trying to prep her. I was like, this to me is not as good. Then when the movie was over, she was like, I just felt like we needed David Bowie. I was like, exactly. The child gets it. The child gets it. That's so great. Anyway, I think those are mine this week. Did you have anything else you watched?
00:07:18
Speaker
Yeah, I watched this like a couple of weeks ago, but did you I think you recommend this to me at some point when evil lurks the Spanish movie. Oh, yeah. Wait, yes. Did you like it? What did you think? Yeah, I did like it. But man, it was brutal. Like I have not watched a movie that brutal in a while that has that much violence. The dog with the kids. Children. Yes.
00:07:47
Speaker
It's so crazy. So adorable little girl. I know just getting swung around by the neck. It's so freaking crazy. And what's funny is, so when I went to Baltimore a few weeks ago, my brother and his wife and I, we sat down to watch it, they turned it on. Of course, I passed out in the first five minutes.
00:08:08
Speaker
And then Andrea's, my brother, I guess fell asleep at some point and then like his wife Kira was the only one like awake watching this horrifying movie that she didn't even ask to watch. And I was like, well, the next day I was like, how was it?
00:08:26
Speaker
And he was like, it was brutal. And I was like, okay. But he said it was like interesting. Like it was definitely an interesting film. Like it was just super brutal. And so then I guess last week or something, I was like, okay, I'm going to try again and watch it. And yeah, like it was pretty epic for sure. I'm not sure it's a perfect film or anything, but it was nice to see filmmakers go that hard, you know?
00:08:54
Speaker
That's how I felt. I think, I think, I don't know, there are some movies where I'm just like, good for them. Like, try me on. I'm sure I said that so wrong.
00:09:06
Speaker
the director. James hated it. I know I said it last time, but he hated it. I was just like, I honestly, I don't know. Sometimes I like to be contrarian just to fight the opposite opinion, but I really felt like I was just good for that. What did he hate about it? Do you think it was violence? I know he had.
00:09:31
Speaker
No, he had like good points. Like he felt like it was just like, not well. Like he was like, the shots don't make sense. Like the acting's not very good. And I was just like, I liked it. I don't really notice that stuff. I don't really notice. Not when there's little kids getting thrown around. Well, and it's all subtitled, right? So I think I like, I don't know if I'm as good at like judging acting with subtitles. In other language. I kind of what you mean. I don't know.
00:10:00
Speaker
Like I was like, I thought they were really giving it their all. Did you ever watch that movie Piggy?
00:10:06
Speaker
No, but I want to. It's on my list. OK. Yeah, I was going to watch it last night and I started and I guess I and I was like, this movie is so freaking weird. What's wrong with this thing? And then I realized I had the English dub on. I didn't realize it was a Spanish movie. And I didn't know that either. I was I was like watching it and I was like, something is wrong. Like what's wrong with this movie? And I was like, oh, my God, I have the dubs on. Like it was it's not in English.
00:10:33
Speaker
That's really funny. And then I got distracted, but I'm going to, I'm going to watch it. I think it's probably going to be kind of brutal as well. I looked, I looked intense. I remember being like, Oof, that's going to be one.
00:10:46
Speaker
Yeah. Have you seen anything about stop motion? That's the next on my list. But anyway, oh, yeah, no, I just saw I didn't see much. I saw like a little video that looked I was kidding. Yeah. So maybe next week or soon we'll talk about Frankenstein. Yes, I loved it. Great. I haven't gone yet. Every weekend I'm like, I'm going to go on that. I don't.
00:11:11
Speaker
Yeah, I just wait at this point. I mean, yeah, I don't know that it's one that you really need to see in theaters necessarily. Yeah, it's fun. It's already on like Fandango at home and Amazon, but it's like, yeah, like 20 bucks. So it'll probably come to something.
00:11:27
Speaker
I felt sad because I saw a lot of bad reviews and I was like, did I just like it? Never forget Jennifer's Body's reviews. Sometimes people are just fucking stupid. I think that's what it was again. Even in the theater, we went to a theater opening weekend, I think, or pretty soon after on a Saturday night. I really still felt like I was only one of the few people laughing. I was like, what's happening?
00:11:54
Speaker
Nobody with me? Nobody with me? Nobody liking this? I think I also, I don't know if you're in this way too. I honestly think there have been very few movies I've seen in movie theaters that I'm disappointed by because I just love the experience. I love the experience. I'm the same exact way. Except for Dune, I will say that was- Couldn't do it. I was like, what is this?
00:12:20
Speaker
Did you see the first one? That's the only one I saw. Travis and I went and we walked out. And Travis was like, it's so funny. I was kind of like, that was so whatever to me. That meant nothing to me. Agreed. Travis was like, Agreed. That was terrible. How dare they make us sit through that?
00:12:39
Speaker
He's like, nothing happened. I couldn't tell which way Travis would go. Okay, okay. He really hated it. He's like, nothing happened. So I guess you're not going to Dune too. Nah, I'm good. I'm good on it. You'll watch Wong-Gai and get enough timothy. Yeah, I'll get enough timothy. For sure, but yeah. Oh my gosh, he's so funny. I really, I couldn't have predicted Travis's take on Dune, but I feel the same as you. I was kind of like, I don't know. I was like, maybe I should read the book.
00:13:10
Speaker
Yeah. No. Truly, my older brother is like obsessed. Like he read the books. He's like all into it. And I'm just like, I just.
00:13:18
Speaker
I can't. If I don't know the lore or whatever, the world, the creature, the races, all of them, it's so much complicated. It felt so much less accessible to me than Lord of the Rings or something like that. When I was watching, I was like, this feels inaccessible if you don't know what's going on already. Literally, no clue. I felt the same way where I ended the movie and I was like, so what was the plot?
00:13:49
Speaker
What was the plot? Literally no clue. We're all trying to wrangle sandworms and become the leader. I don't know. I still couldn't tell you. I don't remember anything that happened. It's so funny. This is now going to be just called We Don't Like Dune, the podcast. The podcast, yeah. I was trying to think of my watching thing else, but not really. Oh, you know what I started watching last night, which was just
00:14:14
Speaker
A bunch of people had recommended it to me. It's a Cartoon Network show called Over the Garden Wall. Have you watched that? No. I don't think so. It's sort of like Adventure Time but just like Cottagecore. Oh. And it's really cute. Like when I saw the poster, I thought it was an old show. Like it looks like it'd be like something really old.
00:14:34
Speaker
like from the 80s or something, but it's a new show. Yeah, I think so. And it's just like this nice little show, but it's like kind of spooky, kind of like in your time meets Kurt. Oh, but it's 2014. Oh, maybe it's not as new as I thought, but it's not from the 80s. I mean, it's still like, yeah, it's not like an old show. Yeah. But I started watching that and I did like it. I did like that. Well, maybe I'll add that because I feel like we actually were just talking about how we need like a new
00:15:04
Speaker
Like kind of like fluff show. Do you watch? Travis and I just watched it and it's old. So, or at least few years old. That Nickelodeon documentary.
00:15:13
Speaker
the orange ears or whatever. Actually, I never watch it. But I always it was one of those things I was like, Oh, I should see it. We watched it and had the best time highly recommend. Oh, the bus were just like, yeah. Like we're so happy, like so excited. And it was just like so nostalgic for like, I mean, we ended the movie, and we were both just like, and he said it first, but I was like, I agree. He's like, we're just so we grew up in the best time to be a kid.
00:15:39
Speaker
like everything is like for us but also sort of by us um in this way and I was like I just feel so lucky for when like when social media hit when the internet really hit like it's not like we had trouble like researching for projects like we I don't know we had it so easy I feel like where it was like
00:16:00
Speaker
everything was easy and accessible, but I wasn't getting cyberbullied. Yes, I can't handle it. I can't actually think about what our kids are going to... Their experience
Parenting and Screen Time
00:16:11
Speaker
of all that. I know. We talked about that a little bit about just like, even if our kids hate us for it, there's going to be screen time limits because it's just...
00:16:21
Speaker
not scary healthy and you don't know what's going on in there like it's not like your kids coming home with a black eye it's like they're coming home with a punched soul i know i don't know like it's just so i don't know it's scary it's so different i know i don't know if i've ever talked this is now i'm just digressing but like
00:16:42
Speaker
My older brother had no screens for their daughter until she was two, and I'm like, I kind of loved it. It was like it required our whole family to be much more present because people couldn't even really be on their phones because she would come grab it and Andrew would be like, put your phone away. It was kind of intense, but it was kind of cool. Yeah.
00:17:05
Speaker
and not having the TV on in the background. It's so sweet. He lets her watch one movie on Saturday mornings and she is psyched for her one movie on Saturday morning. She's seen every Disney movie now because she watches just one Disney movie each weekend. That's amazing. That's wild. Let's do this. Let's hit it. Let's do it. Let's do it.
Exploration of the Bunyip Mythology
00:17:35
Speaker
So I'm covering the Bunyip today. And so I should say that I watched one of James's like movie screenings that he did. There was this movie called Frog Dreaming and it has the little kid from ET and now all of Mike Flanagan stuff. But the Frog Dreaming movie is like it's set in Australia and they like talk about the Bunyip, which is like kind of like a swamp creature from Australian like Aboriginal mythology.
00:18:04
Speaker
And so the name has been translated to devil or evil spirit. And the Bunyip first appeared in the Sydney Gazette in 1812. And it was used by Jave's eyes to describe what he called a large black animal, like a seal with a terrible voice. So a seal with a terrible voice. I'm like picturing like a cute little seal. He's just tone deaf. He just can't sing.
00:18:35
Speaker
Sorry. I love it. It was described as amphibious, almost fully aquatic, and it really hasn't been sited on land. It's mostly in lakes, rivers, swamps, lagoons, waterholes, all these things. Physical descriptions, like some other folklore creatures we have covered, vary widely. Before 1847, George French Angus
00:19:05
Speaker
basically talk to indigenous people. This was a group of people called the Morundi people of the Murray River, and they had difficulty describing it, and that its most usual form is said to be that of an enormous starfish. Wow, nice. Wildly, widely different versions of this creature. Eugenie, I think is how you say her name.
00:19:32
Speaker
Eugenie Louise McNeil recalled from a childhood memory in the 1890s that the Bun Yips supposedly had a snout like an owl and was probably a nocturnal creature. So as I was doing more research, basically it's like the Bun Yips are either
00:19:50
Speaker
seal swimming dog sort of territory. That's like 60%, I feel like, of what you see. And then like 20% are more like long-necked creatures, kind of more like Loch Ness Monster territory, like small heads, long necks. And the seal dog variety is most often described as four to six feet long with shaggy black or brown coat. And then
00:20:18
Speaker
In those reports, it's more like round head like it says, or the research I found was like, it resembles a bulldog with prominent ears, no tail and whiskers like a seal or otter. And then the long necked kind is always bigger. It's like five to 15 feet long.
00:20:37
Speaker
It said still to have the black or brown fur, large ears, small tusks, a head like a horse or emu, which I'm like, those are very different. I'm like, imagine like a long neck of an emu with like a long head of a horse maybe. That would be so heavy. No. Really heavy. Really heavy head.
00:21:01
Speaker
I'll definitely put pictures up too of different depictions of it. In this version, the neck is three feet long, there's many folds of skin on it. Either way, it's these, I feel like we're in swamp creature territory.
00:21:20
Speaker
So bunyips, according to mythology, can swim with fins or flippers. They have a loud, roaring call, as we kind of talked about, and fed on crayfish, although some stories paint them as just straight up human killers who eat women and children. So again, kind of a range of how scary they are. And indigenous people claim that the bunyip uses, I like this,
00:21:47
Speaker
uses its long arms and legs to kill its prey by hugging it to death. So I'm like sort of like snake, you know, like squeezing it to death. That's how I like to kill ex-boyfriends too. Just kidding. So one legend says that a man named Bunyip
00:22:09
Speaker
So how did it become a bunya? One of the legends is that a man named bunya broke the rainbow serpent's greatest law by eating his totem animal. And then he was banished by a good spirit and the man became an evil spirit that lured tribesmen and their livestock into the water so he could eat all of them.
00:22:30
Speaker
And that's kind of the only version of how the Bunyip was born that I found. But there have been a couple, and this, again, I'm going to do a very short version of all the different sightings because there's a lot. And we're going to get into this more, too. But it also is a pretty big tourist creature. It's in a lot of pop culture. It's in TVs, shows, and movies.
00:22:59
Speaker
pretty famous. But some of the sightings, so in January 1846, a strange skull was taken by a settler and this was near New South Wales. And initial reports suggested that they hadn't seen anything like this in science and the person who found it said that all the indigenous people to whom it was shown called it a bun yet. But by July 1847,
00:23:27
Speaker
several experts had now identified it as the deformed fetal skull of a cow or a horse. Yeah, kind of gross. But at the same time, while they were like, I don't think this is real, the skull was actually put on display in the Australian Museum for two days. And people came and talked about, checked it out. I had some sightings themselves. Yeah, checked it out. And I was like, only for two days? But anyway.
00:23:55
Speaker
People came and saw it, and then they were like, oh, this is not actually a bunyip and took it down. Also in 1847, the Sydney Morning Herald, which is a newspaper, reported an eyewitness encounter between a herdsman and the bunyip, and the man said it was as big as a calf with large ears, which it pricked up when it perceived him.
00:24:17
Speaker
had a thick mane of hair from the head down the neck and two large tusks. He turned to run away and this creature equally alarmed ran off too with an awkward, this is all a quote, shambling gallop, which I just like that imagery. There's more sightings that I could talk about. Maybe I'll do one more. So in 1852, William Buckley, who was an escaped convict, wrote in his biography,
00:24:45
Speaker
this is a long quote that I'll read. So in Lake Mudwari, I think is how you say that, as well as in most of the others inland is a very extraordinary amphibious animal, which the natives call Bunyet. Buckley's account
00:25:00
Speaker
suggests that he saw this creature more than once, but he said, I could never see any part except the back which appeared to be covered with feathers of a dusky gray color. It seemed to be about the size of a full grown calf. I could never learn from any of the natives that they had seen either the head or tail.
00:25:21
Speaker
So this I think is interesting because it's really our first time hearing feathers. But that was again like the only version of that that I could see that it was that there were feathers on it at all. All of the other ones are mostly that brown or black fur that we kind of that I mentioned earlier. That with this many different versions of it, they just weren't naming these different creatures like but for some reason they're all seen as the bun you up is really interesting.
00:25:49
Speaker
And literally just like, Oh, that's the bun yet still. Yeah. Yeah. It's like, what is all this? Interesting. I don't know. I don't know how, if it's just like things getting lost and probably sort of telethon time. Yeah.
00:26:03
Speaker
I also think it's cool that in the 1850s, Banyep was starting to be used as colloquial term for imposter or pretender or humbug. Interesting. It became like slang. People would call each other that. Then just to mention some of the
00:26:27
Speaker
you know, some of its star turns. So it's appeared in children's books, a live action TV series, there's a statue and the statues actually, okay, so the statue was commissioned by the ACT government for
00:26:42
Speaker
Gungolins Town Park and it was installed in front of the Gungolin Library in 2011. That's cool and I'll include a picture of the Bunyip statue. There's also a ragtime musical comedy called Bunyip that was created in 1916. Then there is a coin-operated Bunyip
00:27:08
Speaker
that you can ride on. It's at Stewart Reserve on the town's riverfront. And then, as I mentioned, the 1986 film Frog Dreaming centers around the search for a bunyip.
00:27:23
Speaker
And what else? There's an independent film called The Red Billabong that was released in 2016 that talks about the Bunyip. So definitely more movies, books, stories, TV shows, artwork. I obviously learned about it from frog dreaming, but there is a lot out there and a lot of different kind of sightings. I didn't want to get into too many because I feel like it's similar to other folklore creatures we've covered where it's like, I saw a black
00:27:53
Speaker
you know, dark creature in the water. It's feels kind of like that, but you can definitely do your own research if you're interested. And I do think Australia is like sort of unexplored for us in some ways. So I'm like, I kind of want to look into more of their stuff because at least for crime, like I feel like some of their true crime is so crazy. So I'm like, I bet they've got
00:28:16
Speaker
crazy creatures too. I mean, they're real creatures are crazy. They're like giant bugs and snakes. That's true. I just was looking at the frog dreaming. It looks like the Goonies. Yes, it's totally that feeling. It's very cute and it's the kid from ET. Yeah, very nice. But that's the bun yep.
Unveiling the Samadiva Legend
00:28:40
Speaker
That's the bun yep. Very good, very good, very good.
00:28:57
Speaker
Okay, cool. I'm doing also a creature this week. And I have found this creature that made me want to aspire to be this creature. It's the Samadiva.
00:29:14
Speaker
So, Samodiva is a Bulgarian, like, woodland, fairy, nymph, gorgeous woman. And she's so beautiful. So, she's basically, and also I love that Diva is at the end of her name, Samo Diva. Like, what is that? Yeah. I just like it.
00:29:41
Speaker
Who's to say? But so she's kind of this ethereal woman with long, gorgeous hair and has is always just in this like white feathered free flowing gown.
00:29:56
Speaker
Ooh. Like, right? Like, it's like, I want to be her. That's what I want. Yeah. Samadivas typically have blonde or red hair. They're tall and, like, slender and pale. And they have these, like, glowing eyes. And they're, like, sirens. You know, they're just these beautiful creatures. Incredible.
00:30:15
Speaker
Yeah, they're depicted typically in like forests. Sometimes they're seen riding deer with snakes as reins, which I think is like once again, I want that to be me. Did I ever tell you? Imagine you coming in for your wedding. That's me riding in on a deer. One time
00:30:41
Speaker
My friend Rosie did this meditation with me to find my spirit animal. Did I ever tell you this? Did I ever tell you this? No. My spirit animal.
00:30:50
Speaker
was a reindeer, which I was like, what? But I had this whole experience leading around and walking with this reindeer. And it was amazing. So I don't know. I love that. I feel connected to the Samadivam. Yeah. So in Bulgarian folklore, they can live in trees, shacks, caves, via rivers and ponds, sometimes in the mountains, just anywhere that's very naturey it seems.
00:31:20
Speaker
And they can be good and they can be bad. So I am gonna read like a tale, like a...
00:31:28
Speaker
It's the Samadiva and the Shepherd. And I will read that. But it's interesting that, and I feel like there's some creatures that we've covered in the past where it's like, depending on the human, they will either be like cool with them and like help them if they're lost or just something like that. Or if it's a man that bothers them, they'll just freaking destroy them.
00:31:53
Speaker
So they like for example, okay, so I'm on the this warriors of myth fandom website and It says in some cases. They've been known to visit children at birth and bestow upon them Unfortunate gifts or even curses is like the negative version. They may claw the eye They claw out the eyes of young maidens and a fit of jealousy. Oh my gosh
00:32:21
Speaker
Samadiv is also dance. So this is like, sorry, she said this earlier, but they're known for their dancing. And so they like dance under the moonlights and like their groups of women, like all of them dance together under the moonlight. And it's like very joyful, free-spirited dance.
00:32:41
Speaker
And if you interrupt that dancing, they will attack you because it is like their ritual. I love it. They might they might even be had you, which would be wild. Exciting. Yeah. But all of their power, it seems, lies and this is in one version, so it might change across versions, seems to lie in their veil or their dress.
00:33:06
Speaker
is actually where their power is. And if they lose that item of clothing, they can lose their powers. So that's a bummer. In terms of, and this is their abilities. So there's some different things on here than there are on like kind of the general pages I've seen, but I'll read them anyway. So their magical abilities according to this page says,
00:33:32
Speaker
They can communicate with animals. They can cause a stroke in someone, like they can like, and like cause a stroke. They can take away someone's sight or hearing. They can fly, which once again is like due to their dresses. They can heal a body from injury or illness. So if like you're nice to them and you need help, they might heal you. They can- That's a very kind.
00:33:58
Speaker
Yeah, it's like they're either kind or lethal. It's like this kind of like, they can't, I haven't seen much about this. This says they can shape shift. I haven't seen much about that on other websites. They can bring about rain or storm. I've seen that kind of across a bunch. And yeah, and their big weakness is like basically being seen naked. Like if they lose their gown, they lose their power.
00:34:24
Speaker
which is like sort of, I don't know, metaphor for something dark. But yeah, I want to read you this tale. So this is off some website, because this is like a tale that's been told a thousand bajillion times. The version I'm reading is off this like, truly transcript bulletin, where people just submit things. Like it doesn't even say who wrote this, but I'm just going to read it to you anyway.
00:34:50
Speaker
Okay. Once upon a time, in the small town of Dobinist, near the pure mountains of Bulgaria, there lived a shepherd named Avilo. All of his life, Avilo had heard tales of the Semediva, the creatures only some had seen, but Ivalo had heard them singing, and he longed to see whoever made such captivating music.
00:35:19
Speaker
People said the Samodiva were beautiful beyond imagining. They were always dressed in white gowns with belts of rainbow colors. They were said to ride upon the backs of deers using twisted snakes as reins.
00:35:32
Speaker
Whenever a hunter accidentally killed a Sambodiva's deer, she cast a spell on him soon, and soon after he died. The Sambodiva lived in the deepest parts of the forest, always near water, but in the winter time, they were said to move to Zemkovo at the edge of the world to live among other mythical creatures. But one autumn night, Avelo heard the Sambodiva, and he decided he must find them all.
00:36:01
Speaker
People said they wash their clothes in the river at dusk. If any man stole a semediva's clothes, she had to become his wife. So Avello followed the sounds of their voices.
00:36:15
Speaker
and before long he came upon them dancing. He hid behind the trees to watch, and he fell in love. They were more graceful than any woman he had ever seen. But he was careful. People said sometimes the Samadiva invited a young man to dance with them. As soon as the sun rose, they disappeared and the man died from exhaustion. They also said the Samadiva loved the shepherd's pipe
00:36:43
Speaker
and a vylo was one of the finest players of the pipes. He watched the women as they held hands and danced in a circle around an ancient walnut tree. Blue lake glowed from the roots of the tree and wreaths of beautiful yellow flowers crowned the golden hair of each Samediva. Their gowns fluttered, shining in the moonlight.
00:37:05
Speaker
He could hear the sound of a flute's eerie notes that seemed to draw the woman in. As the tempo grew faster, the women kept pace, dancing through the grass, twisting and twirling. They seemed to go on for hours. Suddenly, a shrill note sang into the night, and the women let go of one another's hands and raised them to the sky. Their belts loosened, their gowns slipped off, and Avelo feared they might hear his gasp as the woman ran towards the river.
00:37:34
Speaker
Avilo quickly ran forward and grabbed one of the gowns. And when the Samadiva returned, there was one left alone, one without the power to vanish. Her eyes looked panicked, and Avilo's heart went out to her. I'm here, he said. I love you, I wish to marry you.
00:37:53
Speaker
That is how Avilo and Marika the Samediva came to marry. When they returned to Avilo's house, he hid the gown away, and from that day on, he and his wife lived happily. Avilo forgot all about his caution and fears.
00:38:09
Speaker
and three years passed. One autumn day, three years after that day in the forest, Marika gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. The couple chose Saint John to be the child's godfather, and they held a grand feast to celebrate the birth. At the feast, Saint John asked Marika to dance.
00:38:28
Speaker
Avilo was overjoyed with the idea of seeing his wife dance again, so he began to play upon his flute. Marika began to dance, but St. John shook his head. You're not dancing like the beautiful Samadiva, he said. What's wrong? Marika frowned. I cannot dance without my gown, she explained. St. John looked at Avilo. Give her the gown, he said, so that she may dance with joy.
00:38:55
Speaker
Certain that Marika would never leave him and their child, Avila pulled the gown from its hiding place and gave it to his wife. The moment she put it on, she twirled in a pirouette such that no one had ever seen. With that, she turned to Avila and said, I told you, a house does not suit a Samadiva. Goodbye. She disappeared forever, returning to the world of her sisters, the Samadivas.
00:39:25
Speaker
The end. So good. Yeah. And I like that. I mean, that last line of like, I told you a house couldn't hold me. And it's like, this wasn't for me. You stole me. And like, there's something very powerful about that. It's amazing. Yeah. Yeah.
00:39:45
Speaker
And there's really beautiful artwork around the Samadiva because they're obviously just these like beautiful, gorgeous, woodsy mother nature women. But we'll post some of that. But yeah, that's the Samadiva from Bulgaria. I love it. Very like witch vibes, dancing in the fullest, of course. Absolutely. Absolutely. Amazing. And now our inspiration.
00:40:16
Speaker
And now our inspiration for our whole existence. Same adiva. Well, thank you all for listening. Yes, we hope you have some sweet, sweet nightmares. Bye.