Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
199: Mabon Fests + Feasts
59 Plays6 days ago
Sorry for the late evening episode, it's been a long week here at C+C HQ!
We're kicking off the spookiest season with some witchy, pagan style celebrations and we couldn't be more excited! Or hungry, by the end of the recording. Applesauce and pork and root veggies, hell yeah!
So once we go over some of the sausage and symbols of the autumn fest, Kelsey gives us some other ways to get your Mabon on. Yes, there is lots of red, orange and gold so the fall vibes are strong with this one!
Then we dive into some origin stories like the Welsh fable from which it gets its name. It's full of unpronouncable names like Culhwch, sage old Salmon, the questing beast, and even a name drop of King Arthur! He's low-key like that's my cuz, man. So grab a snack, say Son-of-a-mother! and tune in to Mabon Fests and Feasts!
Darkcast Promo of the Week: Scottish Murders! All about crimes in Scotland and involving Scots. Such a good show!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'Castles and Cryptids'
00:00:01
Speaker
Darkcast Network. Indie pods with a dark side.
00:00:27
Speaker
You are listening to Castles and Cryptids, where the castles are haunted and the cryptids are cryptic as fuck. And I'm your host, Alanna. And I'm Kelsey. And we are back for an autumnal episode today. Yeah.
00:00:44
Speaker
Hopefully, wherever you are, you're at just the right temperature, because this time of year, it's all about that perfect balance, you know? Yeah.
00:00:56
Speaker
Yeah. It's like brisk, kind of cooler in the morning and then sometimes way hot in the afternoon.
00:01:08
Speaker
i know. I listened to all the American podcasters being like, I can't wait for sweater season. It's so hot here. And just, you know, especially if they're in like the southern states and you're like, you're like, yeah, it's a briefer window here where you're like, oh, this is nice. And then Oh, that wind felt a little cold and, you know. Yeah.
00:01:31
Speaker
Can I see my breath right now? Yeah. You never know what day it's going to turn on you. Yeah. We've been having a nice September so far here. So.
00:01:43
Speaker
Yeah. Not too bad. My purple dahlias are blooming. i have like four blooming right now. I'll have to see them.
00:01:55
Speaker
I know, I planted them so late, but oh well. We just have to take them in after the, or before the first frost, or something like that.
00:02:08
Speaker
i I'll check their little info pack. Yeah. yeah Yeah, they worked quite well, so like I was thinking maybe I'll put them in the front next year. Since they don't mind planters.
00:02:21
Speaker
Yeah. And then maybe I won't plant the calla lilies somewhere where they're sort of underneath the bird feeder. Because the birds and the squirrels, they ruck that thing all around. and then there's and ah Or they're like the magpies and different birds will go in there and just start using their beaks to root around and find what they want. And they're just like, they're chucking the seeds out by the handful. Damn.
00:02:47
Speaker
No, they're savage sometimes. And then they go out after they're done eating. And then it's weird. I see them like, it looks like they're like wiping their beaks on the, like they'll be on the the railing or whatever.
00:02:59
Speaker
and sometimes it looks like they wipe their beaks. I um observe a lot with these ah birds just outside my window. Yeah. I have birds that go in the trees outside my bedroom window, but it's so...
00:03:15
Speaker
like full that you don't really like get get to see them i hear them sometimes if my window's open or anything i'll hear them especially in the morning oh yeah i was like to go and hide in our trees too yeah when my yard eventually when the back gets all set up i i want to put out a nice bird feeder and all that yeah
00:03:41
Speaker
oh nice They basically use the water the dog's water dishes. They're feeding dish too. But we want a drink. I saw that and the squirrel, he actually was was leaning down drinking the water out of the dog's dish one day too. Because it wasn't all that full. It's just like this big old...
00:04:02
Speaker
plastic bowl really it's just like tom cruise mission impossible like lowering himself down to get a drink we're just like what are you doing that's weird just a free-for-all yeah we had to fill it up today because it was pretty bare yeah that's okay we like watching them sometimes we get a blue jay so Yeah.
00:04:31
Speaker
Very cute. Yeah.
00:04:36
Speaker
Anywho, hope everybody's having fun watching their wildlife wherever they are.
00:04:43
Speaker
And all that good stuff. But, um,
Autumn Festivals Overview
00:04:50
Speaker
I don't know. We're just goingnna talk about some, some autumn themed festivals today. So it should be pretty on point.
00:04:58
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. We caught this like topic right on time for when this episode's going to come out. Come out just a few days before.
00:05:08
Speaker
Exactly. um And yeah.
Mabon and Modern Adaptations
00:05:14
Speaker
It's all about Mabon. Basically the autumnal equinox celebration. Yeah.
00:05:24
Speaker
Yeah, we're totally experts. No, but we looked at, it's fun to look into these things because it's like... i like looking at the ah festivals and things that different communities and like groups celebrate.
00:05:38
Speaker
um Kind of like the modern witchy people are into. Like it'll be, you know, purported and taken over by like Wiccans that celebrate different stuff like this. And like, but it comes from different ancient cultures, which is really kind of cool though.
00:05:54
Speaker
Yeah. We've adapted a lot of these like ah holidays and stuff.
00:06:00
Speaker
At least, and at least we're not like, like sometimes they're like definitely pagan and then the Christians just adopt them all and they're like, it's a Christian holiday now, you know? like Yeah. Yule was that? Now we have Christmas.
00:06:14
Speaker
ah Just saying. and Like, at least sometimes we're like, no, this is, this was just always something kind of to celebrate the harvest or to celebrate this time of year it always had to do with the earth and nature it not a specific like god or goddessness yeah
00:06:36
Speaker
um but Yeah, should be fun. one I just have kind of more general like, overview and then some of the symbols or things associated with it that might be familiar to a lot of people. that'll be cool.
00:06:55
Speaker
And then I'll have some sort of origins and some of that kind of stuff. Yeah, there's definitely more if people want to look up like specific or talking about like there's different activities and crafts and um ways you celebrate and things you can do which i didn't really get into because i'm sure there's like a bunch um yeah i think have recipes and stuff in my little hearth witch book too there's like different breads you can bake for different times of year and stuff like okay
00:07:32
Speaker
Yeah, I just kind of have more like the general things that are associated with it.
00:07:39
Speaker
Nice. Yeah. um
00:07:44
Speaker
Pretty much all of my information was from the website called thebusypagan.com. Oh, I think I ran across that one too.
00:07:55
Speaker
ah yeah I just liked how they had everything kind of broken down. was nice. considering i didn't really know that much before. know and the sources are all quite varied sometimes.
00:08:11
Speaker
Yeah, it can be really contradictory when you're trying to research something. You're looking like, the top sources sometimes are including, like, more personal blog-type websites, which can be interesting.
00:08:28
Speaker
and But, um yeah, you can still find a lot of good content and material in there, that's for sure. Yeah. I learned that the name Mabon, I guess, was first introduced to the Wheel of the Year in the 1970s.
00:08:44
Speaker
I didn't realize it was for that recent. I know, that's so modern when you think about it.
Symbolism of Mabon
00:08:51
Speaker
yeah I didn't expect that. By somebody named Aidan Kelly, and they were co-founder of the new reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn as part of a systematic approach to revive and balance the modern pagan wheel of the year.
00:09:09
Speaker
So... Okay. So the, yeah, the term Maimon is more recent then.
00:09:20
Speaker
Yeah. I thought it would have been older. It sounds like. Or I guess, like, yeah, or it's not the term, but like having it used as like, this is this holiday on the wheel of the year. Yeah. yeah Or it's the Sabbath or whatever they call those things.
00:09:37
Speaker
Yeah. We'll get into it a bit. Yeah. um So the newer designation, the name connects the Sabbath to the mythological tale of Mavon and um which I think you're going to cover.
00:09:52
Speaker
but Yeah, I got a bit. Yeah, it like focuses on the time of year for like liberation and triumphing over darkness that kind of mirrors the equinox's balance of light and shadow. Right.
00:10:08
Speaker
Yeah, we were kind of talking about like even the weather. it's kind of a balance of cold in the mornings and then hot in the afternoon and then cools off again in the evenings.
00:10:20
Speaker
Yeah, a real, you can really enjoy the outdoors still here at this particular time of year.
00:10:29
Speaker
Although some people love the cold weather, so don't get don't get me wrong. People are like, snowboarding season and stuff like that. i
00:10:40
Speaker
I don't mind the fall. Like spring and summer are my favorite. Fall is probably third, and then winter i could do without it. i
00:10:53
Speaker
We could live somewhere near the equator. Yeah. But yeah, it is nice to have the four seasons because then you do really appreciate like, yeah, the spring, summer and fall and and all the differences and stuff. I just wish our winters weren't quite so long.
00:11:07
Speaker
No, and they're harsh. Like having lived in other parts of Canada, even though we don't live in the, you know, most northern harshest part of Canada. It's like,
00:11:19
Speaker
we might not be up in the same latitude as Alaska and the Yukon and all that shit, but holy fuck, it does get cold here in the winter. And I have never really gotten used to that, to be honest. No, I've lived here my whole life and every year I'm like why? i Yeah, why don't I live on the coast? Because it is so much milder.
00:11:41
Speaker
Well, you know, people talk about Vancouver and stuff, but like even New Brunswick and that, we didn't get 40 below you know we got a lot of snow lot of wet snow you know but god that i hate too that's so heavy ah yeah that's true can't win so on that website they did have cool breakdown of some of the colors some of the crystals scents herbs plants flowers and c symbols of Mabel that I'll go through
00:12:17
Speaker
All of the things associated. With each element holding a special significance this time of year help signify the magic and abundance of this harvest season.
00:12:34
Speaker
Nice, nice. If you planted something, which this year we only planted flowers very late. Yeah, i didn't I haven't planted anything outside in years.
00:12:45
Speaker
My dad has this whole cute garden he did with my niece, and they're starting to get some of the vegetables. They've got, like, carrots and some tomatoes coming up. Nice.
00:12:58
Speaker
He did some bell peppers. Oh, okay, yeah. Yeah.
00:13:06
Speaker
I was going to say, yeah, I know when my brother's usually got a community garden that's One of those plots where like a bunch of people can go and have their own little spots and stuff. Yeah. That would be nice. cool I would like that.
00:13:21
Speaker
yeah It's, mean, especially if you're a place where you don't have a like yard space as well. It's, they're really nice to have. We had some yellow watermelon there last year.
00:13:33
Speaker
Weird. Yeah. Was it on ah Parks and Recreation where they do a community garden and somebody starts growing pot? Oh, probably.
00:13:45
Speaker
i'm pretty sure they have an episode because they're just asking. Shit, what's his name?
00:13:56
Speaker
What, Adam's costume? Zari's character. Can't remember his character's
00:14:03
Speaker
No, I just ran in my head. Not Donna, the other one. yeah The other tree is there. um Yeah.
00:14:14
Speaker
Yeah. And they're like asking him, well, what's this one called? What's this one called? And he's like, I'm just giving them the names of rappers. know. That always got me. I thought that was so funny.
00:14:26
Speaker
Oh yeah, he's like just naming new strains of pot or whatever. Yeah. this is like This one's Chance the Rapper. Yeah. So funny.
00:14:38
Speaker
ah Yeah. um So for colors, of course there's orange. That might be at the most popular, like orange, brown.
00:14:52
Speaker
Which makes sense. Yeah, so orange represents the harvest, warmth, and abundance.
00:15:01
Speaker
Fire. Yeah. ah Brown symbolizes the earth, grounding, and connection with nature.
00:15:13
Speaker
Red is also really popular. It's associated with the waning energy of the the sun and the changing leaves. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. We get some nice reds out east. We sure do.
00:15:29
Speaker
Gold represents the balance of light and dark and the sun's power. And yellow symbolizes the remaining warmth and light of the season.
00:15:44
Speaker
I'm like, did they just go, okay, here's all the fall colors that you need to make like a turkey and all the other. Yeah, right. Here's some construction paper, make your hand turkey. yeah yeah And they're like, okay, now we got to think of all the different meanings. Well, orange and red and yellow are all warmth. Yeah. It's like, totally.
00:16:07
Speaker
Love it though. It's a cool aesthetic, you know? i love yeah warm fall colors, like golds and stuff especially. that That's cool. Yeah, I really like the red and I think red, yellow, and orange just look pretty good together.
00:16:25
Speaker
yeah I don't have a lot of like fall decor, you know? we were going through like Well, of course, different stores have it, but we were at, like, the dollar store. They always have that, like, holiday aisle. We're just, like, Walmart has their little section.
00:16:41
Speaker
im like, oh my gosh, that fall stuff. You never see that before. It's just, like, two seconds of Halloween stuff and then, of course, six months of Christmas in your seasonal department. I don't think I have any fall decor.
00:16:56
Speaker
Fall and New Year's are probably my only two holidays that today like... have absolutely no decor for like full christmas and halloween stuff that's technically fall you're in the fall so you don't need like yeah i don't know i'm not martha stewart i don't have a different dish towel for every freaking seasonal you know No.
00:17:23
Speaker
You've seen my house. We just bought new dishcloths where ours were like turning into rags. That's why we were at the dollar store. We're like, don't we just buy some?
00:17:34
Speaker
The other ones are like, holy, holy, holy, like Swiss cheese, you know? Yeah. Fair
00:17:45
Speaker
enough. crystals, there's amber. course. connected to warmth, the light, and the energy of the sun,
00:17:58
Speaker
yeah citrine associated with ah abundance, prosperity, and self-confidence. Which I feel like that one's yellowish, too.
00:18:10
Speaker
Yeah. Not that I know it that well, but just even based on the name. Yeah. Yeah. Citrine. And then Jasper, which symbolizes grounding, stability, and connection to the earth.
00:18:23
Speaker
And I like this one, Obsidian, which is like really, really dark brown, almost black. Yeah, isn't it? It represents protection and the release of negative energy.
00:18:36
Speaker
okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think I have an Obsidian necklace or something that's supposed to be positive vibes only. Yeah. Yeah.
00:18:46
Speaker
Which isn't Obsidian the one that like um
00:18:54
Speaker
they did. It's like really sharp. Isn't that Obsidian? Sharp. I don't know. Yeah.
00:19:08
Speaker
It like how it um
00:19:15
Speaker
yeah
00:19:20
Speaker
The only one I know that shears off easily, this mineral, is like slate rock. I don't know anything else by heart like that. um yeah in city or Yeah, obsidian is actually sharper than steel.
00:19:38
Speaker
on oh Yeah, which I guess like, because we had it in high school, we did in my anthropology class, we made like spearheads out of Obsidian.
00:19:50
Speaker
So I have obsidian in my house that's like really sharp and I didn't realize the day we were doing all the spearheads and everything. I actually ah cut my hands probably 50 times and didn't even feel it They weren't even bleeding. And it was, like, later that i went to either put on hand sanitizer and, like, wash my hands with soap. And all of a sudden, my hands turned beet red because there were so many cuts all over them that it had been so sharp you didn't feel it.
00:20:21
Speaker
um Oh, wow. Yeah. And they used to use it for, like... um like cutting tubules and it's known to be like sharper than like even a scalpel when they're doing surgery and stuff like it's crazy just how yeah so weird um like how sometimes I just think about how diamonds are like a super tough material i think that's weird because we make them look really pretty too yeah yeah and then definitely the
00:20:56
Speaker
like chemical compounds the way they make some of them look like little cubes and stuff almost it's the weirdest shape you'll ever find in nature I feel like because you're like well that stuff where you don't find right lines in nature but yeah because everything's rounded through like erosion normally yeah yeah damn yeah pretty cool For scents, which is probably what I associate most with fall.
Fall Scents and Spices
00:21:33
Speaker
Pumpkin spice. um Even though I don't like pumpkin spice, which is ironic.
00:21:40
Speaker
No, but those spices in it are... Oh, yeah. Apple cider. oh I love apple cider, though. Yeah, I guess. Apple cider. Give me...
00:21:55
Speaker
Mulled wine? Oh, yes. Oh, now we're talking. Absolutely.
00:22:07
Speaker
Is it still... Oh, shit. Sorry. and knocked my earbud out. Oh.
00:22:17
Speaker
Anyway, sorry. Go on. ah You have cinnamon. Cinnamon. So popular, which represents warmth, protection and abundance.
00:22:29
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. Smells good. Yeah. Uh, clove, which is associated also with protection and the banishment of negativity.
00:22:42
Speaker
okay Like cloves. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, nutmeg symbolizes luck, prosperity and spiritual awakening. And frankincense, which represents purification, protection, and spiritual growth.
00:23:02
Speaker
Damn, now we're really encroaching on Christmas's territory. Yeah. yes And I want a molasses spice cookie really bad. oh Yeah.
00:23:13
Speaker
Right? Oh, those are just some of the nicest smelling little spices. but So homey, so spicy. I don't know. Yeah.
00:23:25
Speaker
comforting
00:23:29
Speaker
i just like just like stick a bunch of little cloves in an orange and then i'm like now it smells like old-timey christmas like when they have christmas stuff at king's landing and they do like you know all the old-fashioned stuff yeah like what is it um popcorn strings and yeah everything's cranberries gingerbread yeah it's nice though
00:23:55
Speaker
ah Some other symbols. ah There's the cornucopia, which I feel like is very traditional.
00:24:07
Speaker
um yes it's also involved in one of the biggest mandela um effect sort of oh is it the fruit of the loom thing yes and was like what do we call these conspiracies or yeah it's like does it have a cornucopia which is the thing that the fruit spills out of or whatever or does it not apparently it does not but think we've all seen that image where it does somewhere in our minds.
00:24:35
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah,
00:24:40
Speaker
those things are So it's a symbol of abundance and prosperity. How many more times am I going to have to say abundance? I know. it kept cropping up, didn't it?
00:24:54
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. um Abundance and prosperity. Often filled with fruits and vegetables. a Fruit of the loom. Often filled with fruit of the loom. The only time anyone ever says cornucopia anymore. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it's just like, even decor. I remember a couple...
00:25:19
Speaker
you uncle Gordo just snored. oh ah I remember even when I first started working at my job, we would get like cornucopias and like kind of fake ones and people would buy them as like a centerpiece.
00:25:37
Speaker
We didn't get any this year. I don't remember seeing any last year actually. Like I feel like it's completely gone away. so passe. think they were also called horn of plenties.
00:25:51
Speaker
don't just put that sounds familiar i think so i'm sure it heard that a few times cornucopia is about to say though
00:26:03
Speaker
one of the most popular ones though might be apples okay yeah just this time of year if it's not a pumpkin it's an apple uh Yep, I got a bag of big-ass fresh apples from my friend's house from Get Together last weekend. and Yeah, they're huge.
00:26:24
Speaker
Like, we have a crab apple tree. Like, they're really red, but they don't get any bigger or look much different than, like, a cherry tomato. And she had ones that were, like, they're huge. They're, like, mark they're like bigger than, like, grocery store apples.
00:26:37
Speaker
yeah. Take some apples. I'm like, fine. my parents have somebody that has an apple tree and I think she got five it would have been about five boxes oh god apples like pretty big boxes too like they were using the superstore like grocery shopping bins if you know how big those are there was five of those filled with apples wow
00:27:09
Speaker
but Yeah, we did we did two apple pies when I was there like a week ago, and they had done like apple tarts and apple crisp. I told her even just do it and do like applesauce.
00:27:23
Speaker
Like you can just kind of like heat it all up. Yeah, its I did it with pears one time. I had a bunch of pears and they started going bad before I could finish eating them. And I ended up just kind of like slicing them up and then heating it up and kind of just, like, mushing it.
00:27:41
Speaker
Oh! It's delicious, Yeah, I've never done this before. um interesting. i did that on a whim, because I was like, I cannot eat, like, 12 pears in the next day and a half, so.
00:27:54
Speaker
No, someone brought in, like, they were pears? Like... this big there was a couple inches like mini pears and they brought them in and left them in the cafeteria and they were not ripe at first and then after a while or they brought more in and they looked ripe and then somebody said they brought them home this was at the the get together too and they were like oh i brought some of those home and feeds my horses but they had worms in them I was like oh no oh yuck oh yeah gross otherwise they're really cute tiny little pears would love that I love pears and they're so expensive when you're gonna buy them in the grocery store it's crazy sometimes that's true and somebody else uh that we work with Heather she makes these really good desserts and she made like a she made two actually apple cakes sort of like a coffee cake type
00:28:48
Speaker
cake out of out of some of Paula's apples yeah I brought them to work yesterday so good I think I've had like caramel caramel apple cake or it was like caramel green apple cake so it was like ah kind of yeah tart and sour because the green apples but then you had sweet so it was like eating a caramel apple but it's a like Almost like a coffee cake.
00:29:15
Speaker
Oh, delicious. Yeah. Yeah, they had a couple boxes. They're like, there's the greener ones if you want them for baking. i was like, oh, I don't know. I'll take some off the tree.
00:29:26
Speaker
Nice. Yeah. of fun. um Next is scales, which symbolize the balance of light and dark during the equinox.
00:29:39
Speaker
Oh, okay. Just like... scales of balancing i think so this one was kind of just like i'm like oh just like general random symbols okay yeah yeah uh there's wheat sheaves which represent the harvest and the bounty of the earth Which I also haven't seen at work this year.
00:30:08
Speaker
ah Last year we had a bunch that was was literally just like wheat stalks and then like tied together with ribbon. oh my gosh wow we got so much of it last year and this year i haven't seen a single one which is really weird maybe it didn't sell don't you think that's weird for a prairie province that we're like oh oh yeah we could like put on look at this wheat let's put it on the table like we can't go out into a field and grab some like not saying that no it's not perfect
00:30:43
Speaker
Yeah. same
00:30:46
Speaker
Weird.
00:30:50
Speaker
um Some of the like more plants and stuff. There's sage, which is associated with wisdom and spiritual cleansing. But totally makes sense because don't they call people that are wise an old sage?
00:31:06
Speaker
I think so. Or some sage advice. Exactly. Doesn't sometimes something just like make sense where. Yeah. so There was a thing on like Reddit or something.
00:31:18
Speaker
No. And yeah, there were like sayings just like all of a sudden you're like, oh yeah, that's where that comes from. Like they're talking about in a book, people were walking behind like people playing poker or something. And they're like,
00:31:31
Speaker
held their cards close. And I'm like, yeah, because you have to hold your cards close to your chest if you don't want people to read them or whatever. And then earlier Pat's like, yeah, sometimes when I used to play cards with my sister, she's had glasses and I could sort of see what she had in her glasses reflection sometimes. And was like, Pat!
00:31:54
Speaker
That? I don't think I've ever heard noticed a reflection of anything in somebody's glasses like that. Not in somebody else's glasses, no.
00:32:05
Speaker
But I have had it weirdly, like... you ever, like, see something over your own eyes reflection in your glasses? Okay, bear with me. It's happened, like, driving when it's really sunny.
00:32:16
Speaker
So maybe it had something to do with, like, the windshield reflecting amy into my glasses or something. But it was like I could almost see, like, a ghostly image of my own eye, which was really weird.
00:32:27
Speaker
Kind of like when you, like, concentrate and you can, like, see your nose when you look at it on your... End of your face? don't know. Does that make any sense? Yeah.
00:32:38
Speaker
I think it's just like whatever your field of vision like emits, like you don't really see your eyelashes. um If it's in your peripheral, it's totally couldn't look so wonky. Yeah. um I have seen reflections like in sunglasses. It's a lot easier to see. But in regular glasses, i don't think I've ever really seen reflection. Exactly.
00:33:02
Speaker
Oh yeah, especially people have those like polarized ones or the they're like the silvery ones. oh yeah, they're terrible. Next up is rosemary,
00:33:13
Speaker
um which symbolizes remembrance and protection. ah love rosemary. always put it on chicken. so good. Right.
00:33:25
Speaker
Makes a good chicken season. Yeah. Thistle, which represents strength, protection, and healing. i don't know what that tastes like.
00:33:37
Speaker
ah Yeah, right. This one's just like miscellaneous. I don't know what marigold tastes like either, but it symbolizes the sun's warmth and the beauty of the harvest. Okay, cool. I feel like those come up in ceremonies. Yeah.
00:33:53
Speaker
probably used a lot in like the day of the dead stuff or is that a different p flower can't remember
00:34:02
Speaker
maybe the label on the back of this bottle is upside down oh what's it on sale that's my strong bow and that's been the second cider where I looked at the back of it and I was like they printed that upside down i was like who is it so you can read it while you're drinking it maybe Because then it's right side up.
00:34:27
Speaker
Stupid. ah All right. So they had a little breakdown on the website too about some of the traditional foods. um So these aren't really like recipes, but just different things that you could see more often. Incorporate.
00:34:42
Speaker
yeah Incorporate.
00:34:46
Speaker
So they're deeply rooted in like kind of what's seasonally available in your region. So it really depends. So different areas yeah will have different things that come up this time of year.
00:35:02
Speaker
Cause they were just more readily available. So then they would become associated with that time of I would assume that's cool. But often you run across things like apples. um this is the symbol of the second harvest.
00:35:17
Speaker
And they're usually used this time a year for their versatility in dishes and their symbolic representation of wisdom and immortality. Oh, keep that doctor away, baby. it Right?
00:35:36
Speaker
yeah if I don't mind apples, but they're not my favorite. I'm like, give me some berries or some watermelon or some peaches. Yeah. i don't eat a lot. Like, I'll do applesauce.
00:35:48
Speaker
um I'll do applesauce and stuff. Especially so sausages dipped in applesauce. Breakfast sausages. Yes. Pork. And pork, yeah.
00:36:01
Speaker
It's been, yeah. Associated with pork, I feel like, for a long time. Yeah. Yeah. Yum. If you're going to eat apples, what we like to do when I was young is you you know how like you slice them into wedges?
00:36:17
Speaker
You either dip them in sugar, just white sugar. oh okay. because it's kind of sticky, then the sugar will stick to it. Or you eat it with cheese.
00:36:31
Speaker
Oh, okay. This is like sort of like the American vi cheese apple pie with slice of cheese. yeah like i I get the sweet and savory thing. I just haven't tried all of the different variations of it like that. Yeah. Yeah. yeah It's pretty good. but i like it because even if you get like a pretty tart apple, like the cheese will kind of cut that.
00:36:53
Speaker
So it's not... as strong and then yeah so if you have an apple that's like not very enjoyable to just eat um I would try it with cheese oh it'll make it then you could choke it pretty much yeah it'll make it better oh hang on it keeps telling me drop off drop box has no storage heck um yeah oops They used to have apples and cheese in that little Starbucks lunchbox you could get.
00:37:28
Speaker
yeah. They had the green apple slices, and I don't like those. They're too much, but... Yeah. Fuck, I don't know what was going It's good.
00:37:40
Speaker
The apples and cheese in, like, a snacking tray is always nice when you have, like, a little different charcuterie. Charcuterie. Yeah. It is a little acidity to cut through all that other stuff, yes.
00:37:53
Speaker
Yeah. yeah Another common one is squash. um So big one will be like pumpkins. um It's kind of a staple Mabon food, embodying the hardiness of the season and often used in things like soups and roasts.
00:38:15
Speaker
Like butternut squash soup is... probably huge this time of year don't think I've had that actually it sounds good I don't love i like the like chunky soups and stews I don't love like the pureed ones where everybody is like the same yeah yeah yeah I like the chunky soups and stews where if you kind of get it like a little bit more of something and
00:38:47
Speaker
one spoonful to the next it has a bit of variation yeah that's why it's nice when they do them kind of fancy like where like if it's a like I tried to do one that was um potato based or whatever and then like who are like I was modeling it after someone who brought one in and then like the garnish was sort of like baked potato stuff where you like put the sour cream some cheese and some bacon and stuff that made and then you had some texture to it too right because then you had like bacon and chives and all that yeah it's nice when they have like like if it's gonna be a cream based soup like a bisque or something like yeah if they got something nice in the middle I've never gone out and had a bisque I just know that word from TV but you know what i mean like if at least if it's got a nice garnish then you have something to break up the the monotony of the the the single sort of taste and mouthfeel and whatever yeah um I don't want soup
00:39:50
Speaker
There's also corn harvested at this time. Corn represents fertility and prosperity and is frequently featured in Mabon Meals.
00:40:04
Speaker
ah This said either as cornbread or grilled.
00:40:09
Speaker
think cornbread would have to be more of an American thing. I don't think it's too, too popular in Canada, but I do like cornbread. I do too. I don't have it a lot, but every time I make it, my brain gets excited.
00:40:24
Speaker
Yeah. I should make it next time Pat makes chili. Chili and cornbread. Ooh, yeah. That would be good. I'm not even hungry. Why are we talking so... Oh, I'm sorry. It always goes back to food.
00:40:40
Speaker
Grilled corn. That sounds good too. Oh, I guess like a grill... like a Grilled corn on the cob, I think they must mean. Right. That would make sense. Yeah, you're right.
00:40:54
Speaker
Some other popular ones like grains. So you'll have wheat, oat, and other grains harvested in late summer and early autumn. ah Breads and pies featuring these grains are prominent at Mavon celebrations.
00:41:10
Speaker
Gotta have bread. Bread and rolls. All the bread and all the baked goods. Yeah. My favorite thing on earth is bread. Oh my gosh. Warm with melted butter. Straight from the oven.
00:41:25
Speaker
I would never get tired of eating bread. like good i want to make all those like pull apart ones where they make this crazy bread with like cheese and dill and stuff. I'm like, yes.
00:41:36
Speaker
Oh, how was that one you got from the market, by the way? Wasn't it kind of like a ah flavored pull apart spicy one? All the flavorings on it were really good, but I forgot when I bought it that it was vegan. So, like, it was vegan bread.
00:41:54
Speaker
So, the bread part of it tasted weird to me. Like, I've had vegan hamburger buns and stuff before that I wouldn't have been able to tell were vegan. This I could definitely tell was vegan bread.
00:42:07
Speaker
Weird, because, yeah, wasn't it sort of like a flatbread situation or something? Yeah, was almost like a focaccia, and then it had a pesto sauce and sun-dried tomatoes and onion, like caramelized onions and everything on Yeah, it looked good.
00:42:25
Speaker
Yeah, all of the flavorings on it were really good. It was the bread itself that was kind of disappointing. It had like a... kind of flat taste like didn't really have much of a taste and then it had a missing in that um butter and yeah yeah and the texture was a bit off um yeah because I wonder what they use for um what's it called whatever makes it rise like a rising like eggs or like baking powder, you know, the the thing that makes them, the baked thing rise up or whatever. I don't know what they use in, yeah, vegan bread.
00:43:07
Speaker
i mean, because you could use, yeah, baking soda or whatever you could use, but I don't know how that works. Yeah. Not so fluffy then. No, yeah, that part of it was just like a little off, but.
00:43:21
Speaker
that's do All those little tarts and pies we got were amazing. So good. Oh, yeah. Amazing. Saskatoon berry. on Yep. um Then there is the popularity of root vegetables, things like carrots, potatoes, and onions that are harvested around this time.
00:43:42
Speaker
And key ingredients, too, hearty stews and roasts. And perfect for autumnal equinox feasts. It's really hard to say. Autumnal.
00:43:53
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Autumnal. Mnol. Yeah, it's like... um artisanal you don't hear it said a lot it sounds a bit pretentious oh it does for sure the end of every smartless episode they're like we're artisanally handcrafted by and then lists all their like producers and i'm like okay shut up will our neck yeah
00:44:22
Speaker
uh grapes are also popular often harvested in the fall i wouldn't have been able to tell you that ah Grapes are used in Mabon celebrations, sometimes fermented into wines and juices, symbolizing abundance and festivity.
00:44:37
Speaker
course, it's wine. There's never a bad time to drink something fermented into something.
00:44:44
Speaker
Right? Okay. And then nuts, there's acorns, walnuts, and other nuts gathered at this time symbolize foresight and gathering for the future, aligning with the energy of preparation for winter.
00:45:01
Speaker
So foraging, go out and forage, like a little squirrel chipmunk. Oh my god, Squirrely Dan and his friend. Yeah. fluffy tufty tail or whatever I named him after the squirrel and outlander.
00:45:19
Speaker
um Then the last one is pomegranates with seeds that represent fertility and the cycle of rebirth and death.
00:45:30
Speaker
um Pomegranates are a fitting fruit for Mabon reflecting the themes of life, death and renewal. who Especially as they fit into that Greek myth that we'll touch on.
00:45:47
Speaker
yeah Okay, cool. Yeah. There. like So there, yeah there's definitely more if you like look it up. I think it's probably depends on what kind of like country you're probably looking at.
00:46:04
Speaker
Everybody probably has like slight variations for like some of the foods and everything. But, yeah and the thing is this is all very northern hemisphere centric because that's this is when we have our autumn and that stuff um yeah i think there's even stuff in my i have my little book that's the the hearth witch magic magical and natural living for every day oh the hearth witch's compendium and it it's got um traditional foods for this like time of year
00:46:43
Speaker
I don't know. I was like, oh. Made me want to go in and, yeah, like, make a whole bunch of stuff. I just want everything with sugar and
00:46:55
Speaker
cinnamon. Vanilla. Yeah. Yeah, vanilla. Apples and...
00:47:05
Speaker
apples and
00:47:08
Speaker
Yeah. And I've never just understood, like, Rain doesn't like things that are, like, she loves apples, but if it's something like apple pie that's, like, apples and cinnamon flavored, like, cooked apples, doesn't like it. She just can't get into it.
00:47:21
Speaker
Does she not like cinnamon? No, because she'll, you know, honey and cinnamon, that's her go-to, our home remedy for when you're sick and you don't want to take, like, cough syrup because she doesn't like that stuff.
00:47:37
Speaker
So, yeah, I'm not too sure. It's weird, too, because also when she was a baby, she would just scarf down that blueberry flavored baby food. And I was like, man, that looks stuff.
00:47:47
Speaker
That stuff looks good. It's like blueberry pie filling. But she doesn't like blueberry pies now. Like, what the hell? What happened to you?
00:47:56
Speaker
that Specific fruit tastes, haven't you? Yeah. Interesting. She'll probably have to grow back into it someday. I don't know. It'll come around. Like, yeah, I don't know. There's certain things when I was younger I hated that now I don't mind.
00:48:15
Speaker
me it was like Brussels sprouts. I hated milk. Oh, yeah. ah Oh, OK. If it was not like cereal milk. Cereal milk. Yeah.
00:48:27
Speaker
It's just like taste like Froot Loops Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I was not going to drink milk. no i love a flavored milk a strawberry milk of vanilla milk those are good oh yeah that was i totally agree with there i would have chocolate milk yeah the strawberry milk was also great and we all know we didn't need to drink as much milk as they told us when we were growing up in the 80s and 90s anyway that was all the but i big dairies campaigns
00:49:01
Speaker
I drink more milk now in probably a week than I used to in a month when I was younger. it's crazy. Yeah, I go through,
00:49:12
Speaker
um
00:49:16
Speaker
don't even know what size the thing I buy. have to look at it But I buy the big, like, jug of it. Oh, yes. And then, two liters or four. The plastic one with the handle? I think it's four liters. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so I go through four liters of milk almost a week.
00:49:36
Speaker
Oh, that is fast. Between, like, iced coffee and stuff, right? I'm one person. Oh, iced coffee. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For us, it'd be cereal for sure. Yeah. Yep.
00:49:49
Speaker
Damn. All right. Well, guess we'll take a quick break. you guys can go have a snack. and We'll be right back.
00:50:20
Speaker
Scottish Mergers is hosted by me, Dawn, and is a multi-award shortlisted victim-focused podcast covering the murders of those from or living in Scotland. We tell each victim's story in a respectful, sensitive, unsensational and unopinionated way.
00:50:35
Speaker
So why not join us wherever you listen to your podcasts and ensure you never miss an episode of Scottish Mergers.
00:51:09
Speaker
So, we'll get into, that was how to celebrate it, and we'll get into where it came from and, I guess, a little bit of what the hell it is Yeah.
00:51:22
Speaker
I'm excited. I love the, like, I don't know, stories of things and... Like the origin stories? Yeah.
00:51:34
Speaker
Yeah, or, like, legends. Yep.
00:51:42
Speaker
the folklore and not the, um, Taylor Swift album or whatever, which summer some, some cryptid enthusiasts apparently made that mistake. cause I was watching something and they were like, Oh, they said, Oh, Taylor Swift's doing folklore over there or something like that. And they were like, Oh, like, uh, like Mothman and stuff. And the other person was just like, looking at them like, no, like the Wow.
00:52:11
Speaker
Wow. And I was like, yeah, that'd probably be me what What path of the internet are they in that they don't know the name of Taylor Swift's albums?
00:52:23
Speaker
i I am not a fan of hers, and I know the name of a lot of them. That's, yeah, that is the thing. It can be that stuff that's hard to escape, but yeah you guys notice we don't...
00:52:36
Speaker
we don't subject you to that. We haven't even talked about how she got engaged because who gives a fuck? It's just another person. I know, right? Everybody feels like they got to weigh in on shit or they feel like that celebrity has to weigh in on shit because, oh, you know, they could have a bigger effect. And sometimes I'm just like, just let them be a person.
00:52:55
Speaker
Like, can't think they have a platform, but like, sometimes all the pressure that we put on these people I think is like little too much, you know? Anyway.
00:53:07
Speaker
Yeah. um Okay, so the Welsh story that apparently the Mabon name comes from is about ah is called Mabon Ap Modron.
Welsh Myth of Mabon Ap Modron
00:53:23
Speaker
Yeah, I think I ran across that.
00:53:26
Speaker
okay yeah. I was like, I'm gonna let Alanna pronounce that.
00:53:33
Speaker
i know, it's like Yeah, it was hard to know which parts to cover too. It was the same thing where I was like, okay, this is cool. But then I didn't know what you were going cover. But then, yeah see, now I'm going to try to pronounce it. But let's see if that'll tell me how to say this next much harder looking name. Let's see if I can get it quick.
00:54:01
Speaker
Oh, God. Really fast. really felt
00:54:07
Speaker
What? It's lower. It said it so fast. I know.
00:54:15
Speaker
ah god, I don't know. Like, every time you have to say it just to make... I know, it's like...
00:54:27
Speaker
Oh ken hu
00:54:31
Speaker
Feels like trying to say something where you have to really get that. um Like when the language has some real guttural or in your throat. Yeah. Yeah.
00:54:43
Speaker
Where you're like, I can't roll my R this way. Or like, I'm not French enough. My my mouth is to English to move this way.
00:54:53
Speaker
Okay. So Mabon Ap Modron, the star of the story. And that one means son of the mother or the divine son of the mother.
00:55:04
Speaker
Came up both ways. Um, just son of the mother sounds like a weird swear. Right?
00:55:15
Speaker
Son of a mother. yeah It's like something he would say on, uh, Elf, where he swears like, Rumpelstiltskin, yeah. Yeah.
00:55:26
Speaker
Son of a nutcracker. ah cotton-headed ninny-muggins. Yes. A cotton-headed ninny-muggins. Phil Dunphy's got some good ones on Modern Family, too.
00:55:41
Speaker
Okay, so this Mabon was taken from his mom's arms at three days old.
00:55:48
Speaker
Sorry, I had a toque, so now I'm coughing. ah So his cries rang throughout the land, but ah her baby's fate was unknown. his mother he was lost to his mother.
00:56:04
Speaker
Oh god, here's that name that I just looked up years later. co Hoof. Something like that. It was like um so from the throat.
00:56:15
Speaker
Cool Hoof.
00:56:19
Speaker
A cool hoof. And it's spelled so not that. It's spelled like Cull Witch or something. yeah's You know, it's like those Gaelic names. Yeah. yeah We're like, that's nothing like those letters.
00:56:37
Speaker
Oh, them freaking, yeah. Languages from the UK Isles are crazy. So this...
00:56:49
Speaker
a noble warrior set out on an epic quest to win the hand of Alwyn, a maiden of unparalleled beauty. And that is actually a name I am familiar with because it is in my family and it is just as it's spelled.
00:57:02
Speaker
Alwyn. Yeah. yeah O-L-W-E-N. It's just very straightforward actually compared to the other one.
00:57:13
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. That's nice. Yeah, it's not bad, right? I think we should bring back, like, classic, classic names.
00:57:26
Speaker
I know, it's like... And, like, family names and stuff. It's nice. I like it. Yeah, I would rather something that is a little bit a more uncommon, but not a completely made-up yeah spelling like most of the ones you see on the the tragedy subreddit where they're just like ah we took a name that already existed and then we added like 17 y's or we like made a word into a name we're like oh tachycardia that sounds like a pretty name for a girl overheard in the hospital and i'm like what no arrhythmia that one episode of modern family bladder infection she's talking about her cousins gloria and she's like oh what's the one that's like um malaria i think she's
00:58:16
Speaker
o they're like is that another one of my cousins she's like no you gotta watch up for malaria it's a disease and he's like well all of those names you said were just like diseases sorry my headphones are dying okay so back to that guy with the name and him winning the hand of alwyn the maiden And of course he had to complete these great tasks first, as they always do in these myths and legends.
00:58:45
Speaker
Herculean tasks, imagine. yeah To get the lady. um he had to go hunt a big boar, was one of them.
00:58:57
Speaker
There's like a big long story, but you know, this was the shortened version. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. There was a an epic that you could read. And I probably still could if you guys wanted it on Patreon or something.
00:59:15
Speaker
But yeah, I'm going to to be motivated to do that if I'm going to have all those kind of names in it. Like there's another one coming up. The massive boar.
00:59:27
Speaker
It was a great massive boar called I'm just going to wing it. Church Truth. He kind of looks like Truth but with a W and a Y. So I'm just going go with that.
00:59:41
Speaker
So he needed Mabon's help to hold the magical hunting hounds because Mabon was the only one that could handle him, ah the to hunt the boar.
00:59:52
Speaker
Yeah. But no one knew where he was still because Mabon had been lost since he was a baby. So, cool. Whatever.
01:00:03
Speaker
Went to King Arthur. Gesundheit, right?
01:00:09
Speaker
in Went to King Arthur. ever heard of him? Yes. I know that one. ah And I can say that one more importantly.
01:00:23
Speaker
um And they and him and his knights and they all went looking for Mabon. So they pull out all the stops. They asked for the help of the, one of the wisest creatures they could find in all the lands of Britain.
01:00:37
Speaker
And this was the salmon of Lai Lu. Sorry. I'm so sorry. my gosh. Okay. okay
01:00:49
Speaker
I know, it's like ah weird. yeah I've heard of different questing beasts, but they're usually like like stags and dragons. Yeah, a salmon.
01:01:00
Speaker
Sure. They say eating salmon makes you smart. Yeah.
01:01:09
Speaker
Oh. He lived in the river Severn and was the wisest creature in all the land of Britain. He had scales that shone like the stars above, and he said he had heard Mabon's cry and he could find him.
01:01:22
Speaker
So he helped them track down the fortress where Mabon was chained up. And though he was bent, he was far from broken. He was still strong and vital enough to help them take on the mythical boar.
01:01:34
Speaker
um and this little excerpt had more uh details i guess it said that mabon was the only man able to handle a certain hound called drudwin um so with the help of his cousin oh yeah that's right they were cousins with the help of his cousin king arworth king arthur oh no now i screwed up the easy one
01:02:02
Speaker
but With the help of his cousin, King Arthur, whoo-hoof, just to find and free Mabon, complete his quest and marry Alwyn.
01:02:13
Speaker
ah my god, this is a different way every time, I'm sure. sounds like the plot of, like, fucking Lord of the Rings or something. Right? Just an epic quest.
01:02:25
Speaker
People that had to walk so many miles or sail so many miles or, yeah, but find the thing. um so yeah i guess that was the main the main one where they got the name from but there are other like similar stories like the greeks had a festival called the god illusion mysteries again apologies for mispronunciation i know i like it when it's got mysteries in there right
01:02:58
Speaker
to So, and it had to do with honoring Demeter and Persephone, who, of course, in their myth are sort of responsible for how we have the changing seasons.
Greek Myth of Demeter and Persephone
01:03:11
Speaker
um Which reminded me, like because you said ah the, whatchamacallit, the seeds. the Oh, pomegranates. Thank you.
01:03:22
Speaker
I kept trying to think and just Persephone wouldn't get out of my head. Yeah, because of that whole...
01:03:30
Speaker
myth which I think most people are a little bit familiar with but it has to do with yeah them yeah like when she's down there then it's like winter and when she's up here then it's spring or whatever so they're dealing with all the life death rebirth yeah um I didn't know much about the illusion mysteries or it might even be a loose sinion because that's how it's spelled in this next quote um but this was just a little bit more on sort of those the greek story that might have inspired some of this um
01:04:12
Speaker
um Because I love my rabbit holes. Even if I can't pronounce any of them. Illusion Mysteries, most famous of the secret and religious rites of ancient Greece.
01:04:25
Speaker
Love a secret religious rite. Okay.
01:04:31
Speaker
Um, according to the myth told in the Homeric hymn to Demeter, the earth goddess Demeter went to Eleusis in search of her daughter, Corae or in brackets Persephone, who had been abducted by Hades, uh, or Pluto, god of the underworld.
01:04:48
Speaker
Befriended by the royal family of Eleusis, she agreed to rear the queen's son. She was, however, prevented by the queen's unknowing interference from making the boy immortal and eternally young.
01:05:01
Speaker
And after this occasion, she revealed her identity to the royal family and commanded that a temple be built for her into which she retired. no Build me out. I know. and i I will disappear forever.
01:05:19
Speaker
kept reading it wanting to include it and then i was like trying to understand it so i could summarize it and i was like i just don't get it i think maybe i'll just add it in case it's interesting oh um because i did think it was cool how like you know some welsh stories now we get some greek stories that have to do with yeah the the seasons and stuff that apparently influenced this whole celebration.
01:05:49
Speaker
Um, a so yeah, they kind of came out of the stories about, Yeah, these Aleutian mysteries.
01:06:00
Speaker
According to the hymn to Demeter, the mysteries at Eleusis originated in the twofold story of Demeter's life, her separation from and reunion with her daughter, and her failure to make the queen's son immortal.
01:06:11
Speaker
After Eleusis was incorporated, the city of Athens took responsibility for the festival, but the festival never lost its local associations. And how they celebrate this autumnal festival there is with a ritual that begins with a procession.
01:06:30
Speaker
And I liked the name of it. It was called the March of the Misti or the Initiates. oh that sounds like a cold.
01:06:41
Speaker
Give me my robe. Yeah. Yeah. yeah it sounds like mystic to me it's like oh march of the misty stay in the misty yeah oh and then i had okay yeah yeah so march the misty then some secret rites in the hall of initiation or telestereon so they're secret so we don't know what they did in there oh no then there was something called the greater mysteries which was held at a different time of year so i didn't
01:07:14
Speaker
get into that one more than that because that wasn't strictly Mabon but you mentioned how it came about in the modern lexicon in like the 1970s where it got added to yeah it just kind of got like shortened yeah they're like put this in the wheel of the year because he thought it was like a better aesthetic or whatever yeah thought it would balance I'm like okay um
01:07:45
Speaker
which I guess the wheel of the year itself it said was from like the 1800s more like the 1830s and sort of coined by this Jacob Grimm which almost sounds like a Grimm brother ah yeah what is all tied together no but I guess he was a well known German mythologist writer and scholar ah can't be the same one from the Grimm brothers right um gonna google like crim brothers names i feel like one of them is jacob oh my god i don't remember this like reminding me of that at the time i was probably just like because they were they were german and were they from the eighteen hundreds or earlier
01:08:33
Speaker
a um Okay, I'll just read this. Jacob and Wilhelm. my god, really? What's his date of birth? Or what does Well, they were first published in 1812, so probably. Oh my
01:08:52
Speaker
okay this is... Okay, this is weird. Okay, this is weird. I did not realize that that might be the Grimm brother guy. Yeah, one of the brothers. So this is what the quote said that I was trying to... okay um Yeah, start from the beginning of that quote.
01:09:09
Speaker
I'm so sorry, I know, I'm just like, what? and Wait, what? um So the now widely used Wheel of the Year was first proposed in 1835 by Jacob Grimm, a well-known German mythologist, writer, and scholar.
01:09:26
Speaker
um His work Teutonic mythology, or oh i think this is just the name in German, Dutch mythology, Deutsch mythology was a dissertation on the gods and myths known to the Germanic tribes of yore, which bore heavy Celtic influences.
01:09:47
Speaker
Okay. So that sounds like a nonfiction work, but still, okay. While this wheel of the year holds no true historical bearing celebrations of the holidays. It names are evidenced across time throughout the Germanic Gaelic and Britonic cultures from which they are derived.
01:10:04
Speaker
Okay. yeah Hmm. I'm not so sure now, but maybe all them legend building.
01:10:17
Speaker
yeah Maybe they're just really into myths and legends and studied them as like scholars. I don't know.
01:10:26
Speaker
um Sorry. um So clearly it has its roots in ah several different cultures. yeah cobbled together and now it's popular with wiccans and as you first mentioned the aden kelly guy decided to tweak it and add it to the wheel apparently to make him make himself think it looked better um yeah i'm just gonna change this
01:10:58
Speaker
we just didn't have anything on that side of it we had You know, Beltane, Letha, Somersoltis, Lamas, and then it was just a big blank before Samhain, and then Yule.
01:11:11
Speaker
Yeah. um Okay, I'm almost done. ah Quote, Kelly noted that several of the holidays on the wheel already held Gaelic or Gaelic-derived names, as they were directly pulled from existing Celtic pagan practices.
01:11:29
Speaker
Okay, so this would make sense why it comes up in Outlander. The start of the time travel and the Gaelicness. These included Imbolc Imbolg with a G. Beltane or Bealtane, different spelling.
01:11:46
Speaker
Lamas or i don't know how to say this one very much either. Lugnasad. That's how it's spelled. But again, fucking Gaelic. Yeah, I have no idea.
01:11:58
Speaker
The way that one girl and and Outlander's name is Leary, but it, everybody calls her leg hair online. Cause it's basically spelled like
01:12:08
Speaker
like leg hair with an O. No. Um, beautiful Celtic name. I'm so sorry. I've offended anybody named Leary. No. yeah. no um Okay, yeah, so blah blah blah or Samhain. The exception here is Yule, which is Germanic in origin.
01:12:27
Speaker
Okay, so that one's from the Germans more. It offended his aesthetic sensibilities that the remaining seasonal festivals, now Ostera, Letha, and Mabon, did not follow suit.
01:12:41
Speaker
These celebrations were simply known as equinoxes or solstices. So he set about combing through Germanic, Gaelic, and Britonic mythologies to find stories that satisfied his inspirations.
01:12:53
Speaker
Oh, so he just like rewrote...
01:12:58
Speaker
he He decided what he wanted to end with and then worked backwards. So it's like, yeah, gotta prove it. Yeah. It's like, this one doesn't have a Gaelic name like all the rest of them. Let's make it a backstory. Yeah.
01:13:12
Speaker
Um... When it came to renaming the autumnal equinox, Kelly was inspired by the Greek myth of Persephone being whisked away from her mother Demeter and living the underworld for half the year.
01:13:23
Speaker
This caused her mother, a goddess of agriculture, harvest and grain, such a immense grief that her form turned barren and lifeless, thus creating the seasons of autumn and winter. It seems the only Celtic story that somewhat fit this archetypal tale was that of a Welsh god called Mabon Ap Modron who was stolen from his mother, as we know, when he was only three nights old and imprisoned in an underwater dungeon where no one had seen or heard from him since.
01:13:50
Speaker
Except for that one guy. That's why, the salmon. That salmon. Yeah, was like, what is he? That's all-numbing salmon. It's all making sense now.
01:14:02
Speaker
Um... And weirdly, I kind of ended it on like, yeah, more about what what is this equinox?
01:14:13
Speaker
ah I don't know. Feels like we should have started with that, but... You know, bring it back. It's all the themes of release, liberation, all this balance. um In fact, Mabon himself was a divine youth whose tale is full of ah themes of freedom against darkness, as the scholars say.
01:14:34
Speaker
And yeah it's because it's equal night and day now. And it's that balance of... Light and non-light. um Also a time when the success of crops are assessed and the health of the livestock before going into the colder season.
01:14:51
Speaker
yeah so we The weak will not survive! Make sure you've got enough potatoes.
01:15:02
Speaker
But they're like literally taking stock and counting up stores for the winter. Yeah. Makes sense. The feasts and rituals were like a way to celebrate the bounty of the work of the summer and spring. You know, you got that, oh, harvest time vibe. Let's feast and eat and...
01:15:20
Speaker
Yeah, and then still honoring all those balances of, like, between work and rest and the the wanting and the having and the, because you have to save up your stuff. You can't eat it all now, especially back in the day.
01:15:34
Speaker
It's very important to have that balance. Yeah. um and its sister sabbat it mirrors the spring equinox or austera um and for for the feasts honoring with the balance and stuff you might want to set a pot for a loved one lost so like setting a place setting for A loved one.
01:16:00
Speaker
um And let's not forget about the fun science part. The solstices and equinoxes only exist because of the earth and the sun and all of our positions to each other.
Understanding Equinoxes
01:16:11
Speaker
yeah um Because sometimes I just like forget how it works. And then so I had just a little bit about how it's it's to do with the tilt of the earth. Because if we didn't have any tilt to our earth, we would have no equinoxes.
01:16:23
Speaker
Yeah. The sun would just stay over the equator. It wouldn't be oh yeah hitting different parts of the world and different strengths or whatever.
01:16:37
Speaker
ah So that's why we have two solstices. Like in the northern hemisphere, they fall the summer one in June 21st or 22nd and the winter on December 21st or 22nd.
01:16:49
Speaker
And that's when the sun's path is the furthest north or south of the equator.
01:16:57
Speaker
And in the summer, it's the longest day because the North Pole is tilted closest to the sun and the sun's rays are directly over the Tropic of Cancer. and in December, the solstice, it's the start of winter. The South Pole is tilted closest to the sun and the rays are over the Tropic of Capricorn.
01:17:16
Speaker
Yeah. You've got a Tropic, baby. Yeah. And the equinoxes are the days of equal light and dark. And we have the autumnal and we have the vernal, which is the name for the spring one. So that's the long and short of it.
01:17:36
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know how they ever figured that kind of stuff out before they really... You know, they didn't actually have, like, a clock ticking down. They were going... Using, like, sundials and shit. And they were still able to figure out minutes. Being like, oh, these minutes are equal.
01:17:55
Speaker
bird over, like, this whole 24-hour period. Like... It was wild how they could figure it out so accurately. oh yeah I listened to that one, The the Constant, which...
01:18:12
Speaker
There's a bunch of stuff of how we figured stuff out that now we know how it works, but they were like for a long time, like we like how to figure out what longitude and like latitude was and all that stuff, but figuring stuff out with the telescope and what you could see with the naked eye and then trying to like, Oh, but cause if you can see it at that latitude, then, you know, that means you're here, but you know, it's like, all we had was these basic telescopes and was just like,
01:18:40
Speaker
man the work people went into this like some people were like well you guys won't be able to figure it out before you know i'm dead but then when that next comic comes you'll be able to figure out i'm like can you imagine the dedication to know your life's work's not even going to be realized in your lifetime like damn back in the day people had to actually be smart Now they just have to look up how to do stuff on the internet and be like, how do I do this?
01:19:06
Speaker
Because it's very easy to take it for for granted. Yeah. and To be like, oh, I go up in the past and like invent a cell phone, but you wouldn't because you wouldn't know how to do that. You know, it's like, yeah. Oh, it's crazy. I still think we're very smart, but like, you know, it's, it's, yeah. Like I say, we do tend to take all this stuff that we know now a bit for granted. Cause yeah, like you say, we can just look up whatever the fuck, whatever.
01:19:32
Speaker
Yeah, like I can be like, oh, whatever. um Like, what did we do? Like the air conditioning in my car stopped working on one side. So I Googled what it could be and then found out what the part was. And then my dad and I watched videos on how to repair it and like change one out for the other. So like we tore apart under the dash of like my car. But did I understand how any of it worked?
01:19:57
Speaker
No, but I did it.
01:20:02
Speaker
Was I risking my warranty? Yes. No.
01:20:07
Speaker
Can you do that for my ah ah stupid light? That looks like my airbag. Your light? No. This was not connected to anything pretty well. That's good.
01:20:18
Speaker
But it was just like, yeah, but do I understand really? Like... Yeah. Do I understand how this cell phone works in my hand? Not really. Yeah. doesn't But it's like, but I did it.
01:20:35
Speaker
figured it out and I did it Oh, it's true though. No, it's crazy. I like, I like listening to history podcasts going over it. Well, we didn't really know shit, but we were here and we were figures. We kind of knew how some shit worked, but then we blamed other stuff on God. And you're like, we were doing the best that we could. Okay. Just like we are now.
01:20:57
Speaker
That's all we can really expect of humanity. Yeah. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Speaking of all we can expect of humanity, we should do. um another alien sode alien episode.
01:21:11
Speaker
um and recently heard another cool story where they like we ah we seem to get a message straight from the other people being like we're keeping an eye on you because you know there's other um races out here and we're a lot like you but we just want to see what you're up to.
01:21:32
Speaker
you're like Damn. Yeah I don't blame you. I'd be keeping an eye on us too, you know? Yeah. So yeah.
01:21:44
Speaker
Alien episode, anyone? um Oh, and on that note, ah we will definitely have our new, we picked our new September Patreon yeah topic.
01:21:58
Speaker
ah So yeah, that'll be coming out soon. And speaking of Patreon, where that will be, which think that is going to be a lot of fun. internet stuff like we've done Alana saves where I just do my random things that happened on Reddit and um Kelsey might have something weird to bring me to i don't know we were talking about just weird videos and then you got really excited for a minute and I was like oh I think I have something I don't know if it's necessarily weird, but it made me laugh. That's fine. They're pretty funny.
01:22:31
Speaker
And in these trying and dark times, we need to have a laugh. We really do. Because... Yeah. Lord only knows. This has been a really weird week.
01:22:42
Speaker
we We're recording this, so by the time this comes out, I just... Who knows what'll have happened. It's been a full moon this week, so... just gonna say...
01:22:55
Speaker
that's that uh okay so what was i saying oh yes so yes when we do when you do head over to patreon by the time this one comes out we will be doing a little patreon sale for spooky season where you can join at half off so yeah even more affordable yeah it's like two dollars canadian for the main level where you get all the bonus episodes so it's like less than that cup of coffee um so you can go join really easily and check out all this stuff at the bonus upper tiers as well the bonus banter and whatever in the videos and
01:23:36
Speaker
um yeah that should hold you guys over while we're you know adjusting to this new schedule as we bring you guys the content as fast and as fast as we can yeah so yeah as of this time we'll definitely be sticking to that through september and whatever, because I'll be gone for a little bit too.
01:24:02
Speaker
yeah, I know we just said it was like a summer schedule, but we're just going to be on the bi-weekly for the, for right now. So, thank you for your patience.
01:24:14
Speaker
I'm like, my work schedule changed now, so I'm starting, like, in the morning I'm starting an hour earlier. and when I open, so that means, yeah, that means, like, I'm getting up like almost well before 5 a.m so oh dark and stupid once it comes to Canadian winters yeah it's gonna be so yeah it's so dark out and then if I'm working till 9 30 the night before that means I'm only by the time you get home wind down a little bit only getting a few hours sleep and then longer periods in between I hate that
01:24:59
Speaker
Schedule someone to like a closing and then an opening shift. That's bullshit. They try not to. That's why they're kind of doing like all your closings together and then all your openings together. then that also sucks because I closed like four shifts in a row. So I got used to closing and I was staying up until 1130.
01:25:18
Speaker
And then when I was off for the two days right after closing all those days in a row, I kept staying up till 1130. And then my shifts... yesterday and today we're starting 7 30 so I was getting up at like 4 30 almost 5 and then I didn't hadn't been wanting to go to bed because I had been going to sleep at like between 11 and 11 30 for about five or six days in a row exactly so being like you should go to bed at nine felt like I had an entire evening still
01:25:52
Speaker
You're like jet lagged from shift work. Yeah. Yeah. At least even when you're doing like nights or something, they put you on it at least for the full week. So you're not like, I'm going work overnight and overnight and then a day shift or whatever.
01:26:07
Speaker
that would be yeah insane. That feels like that's basically what they're trying to do Yeah. so not They legally can't. No, I just got to figure, figure it out or.
01:26:20
Speaker
Yeah. Figure out a way that works. So, yeah, that's been kicking my butt the last two days. i i told you yesterday when I was texting you and youre when we were talking when we were going to record, I was basically like falling asleep on my couch. And then same thing today. Oh, God. Yeah.
01:26:41
Speaker
After I had dinner, I sat down and was like, no, my eyes feel really heavy right now. I I'm still tired. i don't know if you guys can hear it, but hopefully we give you guys a wonderful episode and that you don't mind because we are keeping consistent even though we're coming out every second week. It's not like we're taking a big break and I think that's important they say to the listeners is that you stay consistent. so Yeah, we're trying and hopefully you guys are still enjoying it.
01:27:16
Speaker
And that's all to say we love you are
01:27:21
Speaker
guys. We like sharing the episodes and like researching and doing everything, even if we aren't able to do it weekly. i know. It's been just nice, yeah. Gives you a little bit more breathing time, but then...
01:27:36
Speaker
yeah, I wouldn't be the same if I didn't have something to work on. It's just like, what the hell? It's like part of us now. So hopefully you guys still enjoy and keep telling friend and liking. YouTube just tried to recommend that I watch one of our, what was it? It was like, was it episode 14 or something? YouTube just came up on my recommended homepage and I was like, are you trying to recommend me my own podcast to listen to you right now?
01:28:05
Speaker
And then I noticed the bottom that said four years ago. And I was like, oh my God. Wow. We're really shadow banned if that push notification is only coming through now.
01:28:19
Speaker
Fine. You can listen to these people. we've been trying to keep them under wraps. Yeah. Spread the word. thought was funny. yeah They don't want you to hear us.
01:28:30
Speaker
We speak the truth often. Oh my god. Alright, well, next time we are coming back to maybe something a little different because it will be episode 200. Yeah. Who knows?
01:28:46
Speaker
Should be a fun time, whatever we do, right? A little more loosey-goosey. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You'll see what it's like. ah that maybe Maybe we're a little bit more like that on Patreon sometimes. So yeah we'll see how much the curtain gets pulled back. But no, we're not crazy or nothing.
01:29:09
Speaker
No, but sometimes we do cut out tangents. I know last, was it last episode, the one about cults, I cut out. oh god must have been at 17 minutes of us talking about dexter the end of the episode i was like i feel like people are gonna oh it was a lot okay well sometimes i save that for the bonus stuff on on patreon because yeah i can always retake it out on zancaster i was just like yeah this was too much 17 minutes
01:29:40
Speaker
this was too much seventeen minute If it's interesting, though, if people are interested in it. I listened to, like, a half an hour recap on Drinking the Kool-Aid's Patreon about the weapons movie that I watched twice. And can't wait to get your take on when you come over this weekend. I keep seeing everybody I follow on YouTube reacting to it.
01:30:03
Speaker
So I've seen a couple pictures or, like... I've seen clips out in a while now too. Yeah. I was trying to avoid. So yeah. That's too bad. I hate, kind of hate that. Yeah.
01:30:19
Speaker
Cause sometimes anyway, you know, it's yeah sometimes there's ones where you're like, Oh, I'm kind of glad I saw that. Like before everybody kind of oversaturated it online and stuff.
01:30:32
Speaker
Yeah. But we'll see. Yeah. There's still some, horror movies coming out still this year and stuff that we have yet to react to. So we'll keep you posted.
01:30:47
Speaker
All right. Yeah. I guess we better close it out. Yeah. I'm yawning again.
01:30:54
Speaker
And until next time, keep it cryptic. Bye. Bye. Oh, that was
01:31:27
Speaker
Thank you for listening to Castles Encrypteds. We love all our listeners and appreciate every subscriber, every new review, every listen, rate, and download. Our music is by Kobe Offair and our cover art is by Antonio Garcia.
01:31:41
Speaker
We are also a proud member of DirkCast Network where you can find the best and spookiest of all indie podcasts. Follow us on social media where we are at Castles Encrypteds on mostly all of the things, now including TikTok.
01:31:55
Speaker
Check out our bonus content on Patreon. Cryptid Clashes, video minisodes of your hosts making asses of themselves, Ask Me Anything, quizzes, other special episodes, and more.
01:32:07
Speaker
Starting at just $2 a month, you can get one to two extra episodes, depending on your level. We produce, edit, and research everything ourselves, and any support you can lend helps us to keep it cryptic.