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Episode 181: Magical Creatures pt. 2
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Welcome back, Witches! This week, we’re diving back into the world of Magical Creatures with two legendary beings of myth and mystery — the Chimera and the Unicorn. From the fire-breathing, multi-headed beast of Greek lore to the pure and elusive symbol of grace and magic, we’re exploring their origins, symbolism, and how their stories have evolved through time. So get in, Loser—we’re venturing into the realms of myth and uncovering the truth behind these extraordinary creatures.
We would be forever thankful if you left our podcast a 5-Star review. If you really loved the show and want more Get in Loser content, check out our Patreon, Supercast, & Buy Me a Coffee links below. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @GetinWitches, on TikTok @weredoingwitchcraft, or email us at weredoingwitchcraft@gmail.com. You can support our show through our links below.
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Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio- The Witch
References:
- Khimaira (n.d.). Theoi Project- Greek Mythology. https://www.theoi.com/Ther/Khimaira.html
- Avi Kapach (2023). Chimera. Mythopedia. https://mythopedia.com/topics/chimera/
- Mythos Anthology (N.D.). Chimera. https://mythosanthology.com/chimera/
- Chimaera (Chimera)- A Fire Breathing Monster. (n.d.). Greek Gods and Goddesses. https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/myths/chimaera/
- Bauer, Pat. Unicorn: Mythological Creature. (2025) Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/unicorn
- Moran, Steph Rae. The Legend and History of the Unicorn. (2024). Substack. https://stephraemoran.substack.com/p/the-legend-and-history-of-the-unicorn
- Unicorns- A Brief History. (2021) St. Neots Museum. https://www.stneotsmuseum.org.uk/articles/unicorns-a-brief-history/
- Unicorn. Mythus. https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Unicorn
- Youtube:
a. Unicorn- Myths and Beliefs Around the World, Mythos The Historian
b. The VERY Strange History of Unicorns, Kaz Rowe
c. Unicorns: The Myths & Legends Behind the Glitter and Rainbows, Icy Sedgwick
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Transcript
Introduction and Remote Recording
00:00:00
Speaker
Do you feel drawn to learn more about witchcraft and the occult, but feel lost on where to start? Then welcome to Get In Loser, You're Doing Witchcraft, a podcast all about what it means to be a witch and where to get started on your journey.
00:00:12
Speaker
Join us as we navigate through various witchy topics and share what we've learned about the craft. So get in witches, today we're stepping into the realm of myth and magic as we explore two legendary beings of contrast and wonder, the pure mystical unicorn and the fearsome fire-breathing chimera.
00:00:37
Speaker
So
00:00:50
Speaker
Hey everyone, welcome back to the podcast for episode 181, which is the last episode that we have scheduled for this season. So we're so happy to have you guys back.
00:01:03
Speaker
Before we kick things off with this episode, just a couple of, I guess, housekeeping or just notes. So first and foremost, I have finally made it to Washington. So this episode, like with a few others we've had to do in the past,
00:01:19
Speaker
It has been recorded separately. So Tiffany's recorded her part of the episode. This is obviously me recording my part of the episode and we're splicing it together. So if it sounds a little bit different than our usual content, that is why. So just as ah just a reminder on that.
00:01:34
Speaker
Um, like I said, I just made it to Washington. I'm in a hotel as well recording this. um You should see my setup right now. Maybe I'll take a picture and post it on socials, but I'm literally using a suitcase as my desk area with my microphone and laptop setup. So it's...
00:01:54
Speaker
It's been a struggle. Thank you guys so much for being so patient with us on everything that's been going on, like especially with this move and my health. It has been really stressful, but we're finally in Washington.
00:02:06
Speaker
We're hoping to get settled soon in a house and hopefully... kicking off next season in January, things will be back to normal the way that it's always been the last four seasons up until this summer. So thank you guys so much for being patient with us.
Control Over Ads on Spotify
00:02:23
Speaker
Additionally, we also just found out this week, like that yesterday, honestly, whenever I'm recording this, that a few of our episodes on Spotify have had ads that were promoting ice and i know we've already addressed it on our socials we just wanted to put something in here in this episode as well just to let you guys know we just became aware of it we've already taken the necessary steps with our platform with zincaster to get those ads removed The thing with Spotify is we don't have control over the ads that Spotify plays on the non-premium accounts. Or so like if you don't have a Spotify membership, we don't have any control over what ads are being played.
00:03:08
Speaker
However, Zencaster, our amazing streaming platform, has the capability of filtering out what ads can play and They have tried to block all of the ICE promotional ads and they've they've blocked a lot.
00:03:25
Speaker
But unfortunately with some of these ads, there's been a few that have that unfortunately some of the ads have come through anyway. So um We're aware of them. We are taking the necessary steps to get them removed and blocked from any further episodes. But if you are listening to any of our episodes and you hear one of those ads play, please message us and let us know what episode and where in the episode it was playing at.
00:03:53
Speaker
That way we can make sure that we're giving Zencaster the exact moment where the ad plays so they can go in and immediately block it. So If you could do that for us, if you're listening and you come across one, please let us know. you know, as we mentioned our socials, we do not support ICE.
00:04:10
Speaker
And if you could please just help us out with that, that would be wonderful. That way we can make sure that nothing like this happens in the future. Now that that's all taken care of, I guess let's go ahead and dive into the episode.
The Chimera in Mythology
00:04:21
Speaker
i am going to be covering for my magical creature, the chimera. so I will say i was hoping that there would be a little bit more information on the chimera when I was doing my research, but there wasn't that much. So I think my portion of the episode is going to be a little bit shorter than Tiffany's, but it's still going be interesting. It's still going be wonderful. So just bear with me. So as far as background goes, the chimera has its origins in Greek mythology as a fire-breathing hybrid creature with the head and body of a lion, a goat's head on its back, and a serpent for a tail. So it's like a
00:04:57
Speaker
multi-headed creature. The chimera is said to be the offspring of the echidna, the serpent woman, and the giant typhon Typhus. The chimera's siblings include Cerberus and Orthus, who are her brothers, and the hydra, which is her sister.
00:05:14
Speaker
And the chimera's consort is also her brother, because of course, in Greek mythology, this always happens. And her children were a daughter, the Sphinx, and a son, the Nimean lion.
00:05:25
Speaker
The chimera's name comes from the Greek word chimera, meaning one-year-old animal or she-goat. The chimera would usually appear to Greek sailors right before some sort of misfortune, so often when someone saw a chimera,
00:05:40
Speaker
Soon after, there would be a terrible storm, a shipwreck, or a volcanic eruption. Digging into a little bit of the story surrounding the chimera, the chimera only really shows up in mythology in relation to the story of Bellerophon.
00:05:56
Speaker
and so because of that the origins and mythology surrounding the chimera are obscure according to homer's iliad the chimera was raised to be a bane to many men and we love her already because of that but for many years it was said that the chimera terrorized the people living at the foothills of mount cragus and lycia and this was an ancient kingdom on the southwest coast of turkey and this is where the chimera was said to have made its home Bellerophon from Greek mythology was wrongly accused of seducing the wife of the king of Argos, King Proteus.
00:06:32
Speaker
And so King Proteus wanted Bellerophon to die, but didn't want to actually kill him himself, probably because he knew who Belleron's father was, who was Poseidon. And he didn't want to incur the wrath of a god.
00:06:45
Speaker
So King Proteus sent Bellerophon to the king of Lycia, with a letter that contained instructions that the bearer of the letter be killed immediately. The king of Lycia, after reading the letter, was hesitant to kill Bellerophon, so he came up with the idea of tasking Bellerophon to fight the Chimera, fully expecting that the Chimera would easily kill Bellerophon.
00:07:08
Speaker
But Bello Rufan was able to track down the chimera while riding Pegasus, and he killed the chimera by attaching a ball of lead to the end of a spear. And what he did was he thrust the ball of lead into the chimera's fire-breathing part of their mouth.
00:07:26
Speaker
while they were breathing fire. And so the chimera then choked on the molten lead. After that chimera was defeated by Bellerophon, according to Virgil, the chimera then came to live at the gates of the underworld.
00:07:39
Speaker
And so when we look at some classical interpretations, like I mentioned, the chimera was primarily depicted in Homer's Iliad. And This is where we also get the earliest descriptions of the chimera. So it's stated that the chimera was in the four part a lion, in the hinder a serpent, and in the midst a goat, breathing forth in terrible wise the might of blazing fire.
00:08:01
Speaker
And then chimera is also mentioned in Hesiod's Theogeny as well. And Hesiod gives the same description of the chimera, but states that the goat's head was where the power of breathing fire came from.
00:08:14
Speaker
And so you'll see if you do your own research related to the chimera, depending on which account you're reading, they will state that either the lion's head was the part that breathed fire or the goat's head. So really, I mean, we don't really know, but I'm just going to go with that the goat's head was where the power of breathing fire came from, because that is what's in Hesiod's Theogeny.
00:08:34
Speaker
So additionally, the chimera was a symbol of the unnatural and the chaotic, the blending of elements that should not exist together. According to mythos anthology, the chimera defies the natural order as each part of its body represents a different danger.
00:08:51
Speaker
The lion, a symbol of dominance and physical strength. the goat as a sacrificial or wild element, and the serpent a representation of poison or deceit. And when we're looking at the chimera and their mythology and lore, it's possible that this myth came about because of natural or cultural origins. So looking at volcanic symbolism and personification of chaos or plague. And so like many things throughout history, the chimera was used to explain something that the ancient Greeks didn't understand.
00:09:22
Speaker
In some parts of Lycia, especially around Mount Kragus, there was a lot of seismic activity that the ancient Greeks didn't understand, so the Chimera became a way to explain the activity that they didn't have any other way of explaining.
00:09:36
Speaker
Now let's look at some strengths and weaknesses when it comes to the Chimera.
Chimera's Symbolism and Modern Use
00:09:40
Speaker
As far as strengths, obviously the main one, the multiple heads thing. Multiple heads offers a lot of versatility and different forms of attack.
00:09:49
Speaker
Fire breathing, its most famous power, is obviously a strength and it can incinerate enemies from a distance. Additionally, there's physical strength that comes from the lion's body, and it allows it to overpower most opponents in close combat.
00:10:05
Speaker
The venom from the serpent tail adds another level of f lethality. And then the fear factor, right? So the chimera's appearance instills fear in its enemies, making them panic before they can fight back.
00:10:17
Speaker
As far as weaknesses go, one of the biggest ones is the unstable form, While yes, it's powerful, its hybrid form is also a weakness due to its different heads with different abilities. and it can you know obviously it is this symbol of chaos so that can make it unstable Additionally, overconfidence. In many versions of the Chimera's myths, she's seen as overconfident or arrogant, assuming that she can't be defeated.
00:10:44
Speaker
Vulnerability to aerial attacks. Like with how Bellerophon defeats the Chimera, this suggests her weakness is the inability to fight an aerial assault. And then at lastly, the reliance on fire. Along with overconfidence, this reliance can backfire, which is how Bellerophon was able to defeat the Chimera in the first place.
00:11:05
Speaker
So looking at some mythology and lore, there are some cross-cultural Chimera themes. Even though the Greek Chimera had its own unique makeup of the lion, goat, serpent hybrid composition, we see a hybrid composition appear throughout history within different cultures.
00:11:22
Speaker
They're often seen regardless of which culture as guards of thresholds, representing divine powers, or even symbolizing either the unity or chaos of different natural forces.
00:11:35
Speaker
So just a few examples. There are many. I've only picked two. in Mesopotamia, the Willamassu were winged bulls or lions with human heads, and they served as guardians of gates and cities. And I'm just going to say, that sounds so creepy. Like, imagining that in my head, that sounds terrifying.
00:11:54
Speaker
In Egypt, there is the Sphinx and the Amet. The Sphinx had a human head and a lion body and often had wings, and she was associated with wisdom, riddles, and guardianship.
00:12:06
Speaker
An Amet was part crocodile, lion, and hippopotamus, and they consumed unworthy souls. So that sounds kind of scary, honestly. But across many different cultures, these hybrid chimera-type creatures shared many symbolic functions.
00:12:22
Speaker
As I mentioned, they were guardians, and they often protected thresholds, city gates, temples, and tombs. They represented both chaos and order, representing the tension between creation and destruction,
00:12:35
Speaker
And the word chimera in medieval culture and in alchemical symbols was used as a metaphor for illusion or impossible dreams. So looking at some of the symbolism and correspondences surrounding the chimera, when we look at elemental associations, all four elements are embodied in the chimera, in one being.
00:12:55
Speaker
So we have the fire, which comes from its breath, the earth, which comes from the lion, air, which comes from the goat, and a water from the serpent. And as far as planetary ties, the chimera is associated with the planet Mars for aggression and passion, and the planet Mercury, which has some hybrid qualities in liminal nature.
00:13:17
Speaker
Astrological correspondences would be Leo for the lion, of course, Capricorn for the goat, and Scorpio for the serpent. And as far as colors go, the color correspondences are gold, crimson, and black.
00:13:30
Speaker
And for crystals and herbs, we have any fire-lined stones, so carnelian, sunstone, and obsidian. Herbs like dragon's blood, basil, and wormwood for strength and transformation.
00:13:43
Speaker
And then lastly, there are some tarot references as well. So this would include the Strength card, the Devil card, or the Temperance cards, depending on the angle or the situation you're reading from. And as far as working with the Chimera in modern-day witchcraft and shadow work,
00:14:01
Speaker
You can work with the chimera as an archetype, facing what's inside of you. So looking at any sort of conflict um conflicting aspects of self or embracing hybridity and creative chaos.
00:14:14
Speaker
You can use a chimera in meditation or path work. So visualizing meeting the chimera at a volcanic crossroads or mountain pass and asking yourself what parts of yourself you fear to merge with.
00:14:27
Speaker
As far as spell work themes, the chimera can be seen to work with transformation, courage, balancing inner contradictions, and channeling protection. And as I mentioned, the chimera is often associated with protection and guardianship, and so The chimera is wonderful at protecting anything that you need guarding, whether that be an object, a pet, your home, or maybe a person.
00:14:52
Speaker
And then when you we look at offerings, these would be crystals like pyrite, selenite, carnelian, tiger's eye, citrine, amber, fire agate, and sunstone.
00:15:04
Speaker
Additionally, moon or sun water can be great offerings or any sort of shiny objects which they supposedly love. Additionally, you can take any of the correspondences that I listed earlier and create an altar in dedication to the chimera. And it's said that they really like for you to communicate with them regularly.
00:15:25
Speaker
Now, one thing I will say to kind of tie up the chimera is there are some cautions with working with the chimera because their energy is volatile. The chimera is not for light or quick magic. So if you do want to work with chimera, you need to approach them with grounding and clear intention.
00:15:44
Speaker
And that, to my friends, is the chimera. So just a disclaimer, I'm sick, so I'm sorry.
Unicorns Through Cultures
00:15:52
Speaker
I definitely sound nasally incongested.
00:15:56
Speaker
Second little disclaimer, I currently cannot close the door to my office, which means that you're probably going to have little animal sounds or a barking dog because Nyx cannot help herself. She loves a good bark.
00:16:10
Speaker
So I am just going to apologize in advance for that. This episode is part two of our Magical Creatures series, and I am going to be covering the unicorn. Let's start with the basics of what exactly is a unicorn.
00:16:26
Speaker
The majority of us are probably picturing that classic image of a sleek, horse-like creature with a single, spiraling horn in the middle of its forehead. It's often shimmering, ethereal, the kind of being that you'd expect to find in a fairytale meadow rather than a field of actual horses.
00:16:45
Speaker
Over time, it's come to stand for purity, beauty, and even a kind of divine grace. It's a symbol of something untouched and otherworldly. But the unicorn we know today didn't just pop up out of nowhere. Its image has evolved and shapeshifted across centuries and cultures.
00:17:02
Speaker
In some ancient stories, It's a fierce, wild beast that can only be tamed by a virgin, which is weird. In others, it's a symbol of healing or a source of magical medicine where its horn is said to neutralize poison.
00:17:16
Speaker
From medieval Europe to ancient China and India, the unicorn has been reimagined again and again, blending myth, medicine, and mysticism in fascinating ways.
00:17:28
Speaker
The unicorn isn't just a cute mythical creature, though. It's a perfect example of how myth and meaning travel across cultures, changing but never quite disappearing. It's a creature that bridges the magical and the symbolic, the imaginary, and the deeply human need to believe in something beyond ourselves.
00:17:47
Speaker
So let's roll back a few thousand years. Way before sparkly rainbow unicorns showed up in stores, on t-shirts, and everything else in the world, right?
00:17:57
Speaker
The idea of a single horned creature actually shows up way back in ancient civilization. So in Mesopotamia, we're talking like around the 4th millennium BCE, where Artists were carving and painting all sorts of animals, and some of them appear to have a single horn.
00:18:15
Speaker
Now, this could just be a trick of perspective. They were often drawn in a side profile, so one horn looks like a single horn, but still, it planted this seed.
00:18:27
Speaker
This image of a mysterious horned creature that felt a little more magical than your average, say, ox or goat. And I'm sorry if I sound out of breath. I am super, super congested. So it is what it is. We're doing our best.
00:18:43
Speaker
Meanwhile, over in the Indus Valley, around the same era, seals eat like little clay stamps, not the animal. show a strange one-horned beast, sleek body, proud stance, and that unmistakable single spike on its head.
00:18:59
Speaker
Historians have been scratching their head over that one for ages. Was this symbolic? Was it real? Or, and this is the fun part, could this image have traveled west, inspiring a later Greek account of the unicorn?
00:19:13
Speaker
Because by this time, we get to ancient Greece, things are really interesting. There's this Greek physician and writer named Tsetius, which, sorry if I butchered that, it is what it is, but this is around the 5th century BCE, who swore he'd heard stories of a one-horned animal in India.
00:19:33
Speaker
He called it a kind of quote-unquote wild ass, but he said it had a single horn that could neutralize poison. Most historians think he was probably talking about a rhinoceros, but to the Greeks, it sounded very exotic and magical, and to them, it was absolutely real.
00:19:51
Speaker
And that's the thing, right? So for centuries, people didn't see the unicorn as a myth at all. They thought that it was just another faraway creature that was waiting to be discovered, like the narwhal or the giraffe, only rarer.
00:20:04
Speaker
In a world that was still full of unexplored corners, who could say that it didn't exist? By the time we reach medieval Europe, the unicorn has gone full legend. At this point, it is part sacred symbol and part medieval celebrity.
00:20:19
Speaker
If you were to crack open a bestiary, which is basically a medieval encyclopedia for animals, both real and imaginary, you'd find the unicorn described as this fierce, wild creature that no hunter could capture.
00:20:33
Speaker
No one that is except for a virgin maiden. The moment she appeared, the unicorn would lay its head upon her lap and become still. This image being a mix of danger and purity, power and surrender.
00:20:47
Speaker
And people couldn't help but read deeper meaning into that. And basically, that's exactly what happens. So in Christian symbolism, the unicorn came to represent Christ himself.
00:21:00
Speaker
It was pure, divine, and untamable, except by the Virgin Mary. The story of the maiden capturing the unicorn wasn't just a fairy tale. It was an allegory for the incarnation, the divine made flesh.
00:21:14
Speaker
Medieval thinkers loved that kind of layered symbolism where a creature could be both real and metaphorical, natural and holy all at once. Then there's the hunt for the unicorn.
00:21:27
Speaker
And these were basically these incredible tapestries from the late Middle Ages. They depict lush forest, noble hunters, and this brilliant white creature that's being chased, killed, and then somehow reborn.
00:21:41
Speaker
The whole thing mirrors the story of Christ's passion and resurrection. So it's really beautiful and it's haunting and it's also just a little tragic like so much of medieval art.
00:21:53
Speaker
But unicorns weren't just spiritual icons. They're also featured heavily in medieval medicine. People believed the unicorn's horn, or the alicorn as it was called, could neutralize poison, cure illness, and even detect toxins in a drink.
00:22:09
Speaker
Kings, queens, and wealthy merchants all paid astronomical prices for what they thought were powdered unicorn horns. In reality, they were usually buying narwhal tusks or even rhinoceros horns, but still like belief was power enough that you the quote unquote unicorn horn became one of the most prized substances in the world at this time. And it's proof that sometimes faith and fascination are stronger than fact.
00:22:34
Speaker
Now, if we look at the unicorn under a cross-cultural like lens, this is where things really get interesting. The idea of a one-horned, otherworldly creature pops up all over the world, each version reflecting the hope and values of its own culture.
00:22:51
Speaker
So let's start with China, where we meet the Qilin, sometimes called the Chinese unicorn, though honestly that doesn't quite capture its full vibe. The Qilin isn't exactly horse-like, it's more deer-shaped, and it often has scales like a dragon, and its hooves are said to never harm the grass that it walks on.
00:23:12
Speaker
This creature isn't wild or untamable either. It's wise, gentle, and deeply symbolic. The Qilin was said to appear only during the reign of a great ruler or the birth of a sage.
00:23:24
Speaker
And legend has it that one even appeared before the birth of Confucius as if it was saying like, heads up, there's a great teacher coming your way. So in Chinese mythology, the one horned being isn't a creature of danger or purity tested.
00:23:39
Speaker
It's one of divine approval and cosmic harmony. Then if we move west to ancient Persia, we meet the Karkodon. And this is a beast of a very different sort.
00:23:51
Speaker
This one-horned animal roamed the plains, fierce and deadly, the kind of creature poets love to describe in both awe and fear. But even this wild creature had a soft spot.
00:24:02
Speaker
Stories say it could be calmed by the song or presence of a maiden, just like its European cousin. It's a reminder that across cultures, people were drawn to this idea of power meeting innocence, of something untamable yielding to gentleness.
00:24:17
Speaker
And even in Islamic traditions, there are echoes of the one-horned archetype. Texts sometimes mention divine or celestial creatures like Al-Burak, the radiant being that carried the prophet Muhammad on his night journey, or other single-horned beasts symbolizing purity, speed, and the presence of the divine.
00:24:38
Speaker
These stories, too, circle around the same themes, holiness, transcendence, and the bridge between the earthly and the divine. So wherever you go, from the temples of China to the deserts of Persia to the illuminated manuscripts of medieval Europe, this image keeps reappearing, a one-horned creature, half real and half symbolic, standing in for purity, wisdom, and spiritual truth.
00:25:04
Speaker
So what does the unicorn really mean? Over the centuries, this creature has carried more symbolism than almost any other magical being, and it's changed shape right alongside us.
00:25:16
Speaker
At its core, the unicorn has always stood for purity, innocence, and rarity. That sense of something so perfect and elusive, it can't quite belong to the everyday world.
00:25:28
Speaker
But depending on where and when you look, it's also been a symbol of divine truth, healing, and even feminine power. That quiet, luminous strength that doesn't need to be loud to command awe.
00:25:40
Speaker
By the time we hit the Renaissance and Enlightened eras, The unicorn had moved from the pages of bestiaries to the banners of kings. In heraldry, it symbolized nobility and fierce independence.
00:25:52
Speaker
Most famously in Scotland, where the unicorn became the national animal, which honestly is just peak Scotland. Majestic, untamable, and a little bit mysterious.
00:26:04
Speaker
On Royal Crest, the unicorn was often shown chained, but not because it was weak. It was because it was so powerful that only virtue could restrain it. That image where wild grace is contained by moral strength really captures the Renaissance mindset.
00:26:20
Speaker
Meanwhile, In the world of alchemy, the unicorn took on another layer of meaning. Alchemists saw it as a symbol spiritual transformation, the merging of opposites, masculine and feminine, body and spirit, matter and mystery.
00:26:37
Speaker
Capturing the unicorn was like achieving enlightenment, the moment when the earthly and the divine finally meet. And then, as the centuries rolled on, the unicorn kept evolving. It went from being a dangerous wild creature to a sacred symbol of purity to eventually the glittering magical emblem of imagination and individuality that we know today.
00:27:01
Speaker
Somewhere between medieval tapestries and modern toy shelves, the unicorn became less about religious allegory and more about the magic we choose to believe in.
00:27:11
Speaker
But that's the thing about unicorns. They've always reflected people. Our dreams, our ideals, our longing for something just out of reach. Whether it's a fierce medieval symbol or a pastel creature on a sticker, the unicorn is still doing what it's always done, reminding us that there's beauty in mystery and strength in believing in the impossible.
00:27:34
Speaker
Beyond the deep symbolism and sacred imagery, unicorn folklore is packed with some strange and magical details. And to really get into this, we're going to start out with what was known as the alicorn or unicorn horn trade.
00:27:48
Speaker
Because in medieval and Renaissance Europe, unicorns were big business. For starters, it wasn't just that unicorns were rare and beautiful. Like I said earlier, people believed that they had actual powers.
00:28:04
Speaker
And one of the most famous was that they had the ability to detect lies or poison and even cure diseases.
Unicorns in Witchcraft and Reality
00:28:11
Speaker
So imagine that you're at this medieval banquet.
00:28:15
Speaker
You have your goblet in hand. Everyone's a little suspicious of everyone else. And someone brings out a cup made from unicorns horn. The idea was that if poison touched it, the cup would hiss, smoke, or even shatter, depending on which story that you've heard.
00:28:33
Speaker
And the magic didn't stop there. Drinking from a cup that was made of unicorn horn was said to protect you from poison altogether. which might explain why kings and nobles were willing to pay obscene sums for them.
00:28:46
Speaker
But as I mentioned earlier, most of those quote-unquote unicorn horns were actually narwhal tusks, imported from the Arctic and sold at outrageous prices.
00:28:57
Speaker
But that's the power of belief, I guess. But imagine narwhal tusk sold for thousands of dollars in today's money, all under the banner of purity and protection.
00:29:07
Speaker
Fraud? Sure, but also it's a testament to how powerfully humans want to believe in the impossible. This is where the term unicorn of the sea comes in.
00:29:20
Speaker
So narwhals and their long spiral tusks that stick out dramatically from their heads were easily used to make people believe that they had real unicorn horn. Sailors' tails and early explorers described them as magical sea unicorns.
00:29:35
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These accounts only fed the myth, keeping the idea of real unicorns alive well into the 1600s. People saw something extraordinary, interpreted it through the lens of legend, and then voila, the unicorn persisted in both imagination and in commerce.
00:29:53
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So in a way, the unicorn story isn't just about purity and magic. It's about human ingenuity, our love of wonder, and yes, our willingness to pay top dollar for a good story.
00:30:05
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Then there is the softer and much sadder stories that gave the unicorn its air of melancholy. Some stories say that i unicorns would weep when innocence or purity was lost in the world.
00:30:19
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As if these creatures were so tuned into virtue and goodness that they could feel when it disappeared, making the unicorn sort of a guardian to all that's pure, mourning humanity's flaws.
00:30:31
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And believe it or not, unicorn sightings didn't just vanish with the Middle Ages. Reports of unicorns, or at least animals that people thought were unicorns, popped up well into the 1600s.
00:30:43
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Explorers swore that they'd glimpsed them in distant lands, Naturalists drew them in early zoological texts, right alongside lions and elephants. And for centuries, the unicorn hovered right at the edge of reality.
00:30:57
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Not quite myth, not quite science. But of course, you can't talk about creatures as steeped in legend as the unicorn without wandering into the realm of magic.
00:31:07
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Witches, alchemists, and mystics have long connected the unicorn to all sorts of magical correspondences. In the world of witchcraft, the unicorn is often seen as a creature of purity and spirit, aligned with the moon and the element of water, both symbols of intuition, emotion, and sacred mystery.
00:31:26
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Its energy is calm but powerful, cleansing, and protective. To call on the unicorn in ritual or meditation is to call on clarity, truth, and that deep, untouchable part of yourself that stays pure, no matter what the world throws your way.
00:31:42
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So some additional correspondences for a unicorn. For colors, we have white, silver, and soft iridescent hues, but really anything that just catches light. Crystals would be clear quartz for purity, moonstone for intuition, amethyst for spiritual wisdom, and pearl for innocence and emotional balance.
00:32:03
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For herbs and plants, you could use lily for purity, rosemary for protection, myrrh for spiritual strength. And then scents, you could use frankincense, jasmine, or lavender, which are all considered uplifting and serene.
00:32:18
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In magical practice, the unicorn's horn, or the alicorn, has its own legendary reputation. While no one actually has a unicorn horn, its symbolic meaning endures.
00:32:30
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It represents the power of focused intention, like a wand channeled into a single perfect point. Some practitioners will use a crystal-tipped wand or even a unicorn charm as a symbolic stand-in, and reminder that magic isn't about the relic itself, but about belief and energy directed with purity of purpose.
00:32:52
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The unicorn in witchcraft and modern paganism isn't just about fantasy, it's about sacred imagination. It's the bridge between innocence and wisdom, reminding us that magic isn't always loud.
00:33:04
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Sometimes it whispers, and in moonlight, in dreams, in the shimmer of something unseen yet deeply felt. So whether you're stirring a bit of moon water, meditating on inner truth, or simply daydreaming under the stars, the unicorn's energy still invites you to stay curious, stay kind, and believe.
00:33:25
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Not in fairy tales necessarily, but in the magic of what might be possible.
Conclusion and Community Engagement
00:33:42
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That's a wrap on this episode of Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft. We hope you had as much fun as we did. If you loved this episode, we'd be eternally grateful if you left us a five-star review wherever you listen to your podcasts.
00:33:54
Speaker
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00:34:14
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00:34:28
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Join us next week as we unwrap the pagan origins of Christmas. Until next time, stay magical, stay curious, and as always, blessed be witches.