Settling into sleep is natural and easy.
You crawl beneath the covers and close your eyes.
Anxious to be whisked away to rest.
Yet on this night, a voice is calling to you.
From the whistling of the wind at your window, it creeps into your mind.
“Hazy-eyed dreamer, You long to be
In the tangled wood, Amongst the trees
To feel the pulse, The forest’s charm
That pounding, that burning
The hunters’ drums
Starry-eyed poet, Arise! Awake!
The Hunter calls you, Your future to take!
Lose yourself, To the wild, the thrall
Join the riders, And the squall
Curious wanderer, You’ve come too far
Can you still see, Those distant stars?
Forget the path, The way you came
Join us now, Where there is no shame
Hazy-eyed dreamer, In your gaze I see:
Your fate is set, You belong with me.”
And your eyes open, and you arise from your bed.
And out to the window you are drawn.
You are lifted up and out you fly,
Taken by those on steeds, hounds, staves, and brooms.
Lead by those who are dead and unhuman.
You fly away, carried aloft, towards the distant stars and the cold-shrouded moon.
And never before in your life have you felt so free.
For your adventure and new life…
Have only just begun.
(transition music)
Grand tidings and welcome to you on this, the twenty-eighth episode, of Beyond the Seas. My name is Kieran and here we are again, back at it for another week. I have to tell all of you, my current show has turned my brain to complete mush and it has been so difficult getting focused and ready for life outside of those two hours of singing and word play. Ergo, I have found myself literally writing a few sentences in the script and then playing Candy Crush, then a few more sentences and doing the dishes—and so on, and so forth. Hahaha. Suffice it to say that I am uber excited about this week’s topic and I cannot wait to share it with all of you. Just a reminder kiddos: it is my goal to reach 250 followers on the show’s Instagram account by the summer solstice, so please head on over there to @beyondtheseaspodcast and hit the follow button. Also, Claudia is doing an incredibly cool thing on her page, @thefeatherwitchnyc, where she gives a personalized reading for new followers on my account. So follow both pages and get in on the magick, folks!
And now, artistic and literary updates. I am steadily getting through V.E. Schwab’s A Gathering of Shadows, which is the second book in the series about Kell and Lila Bard and the four magickal Londons. Without giving away spoilers from the first book, we the readers find these two characters set on their own paths in one of the Londons—wherein, inevitably, their paths will cross again. There is a huge competition for magicians that occurs and, as always, drama ensues. Again, the series is a quick read and there is a lot of fun to be had with the characters and their magick along the way. Now, in terms of the show, we are heading into our last week and closing! It has been such a delight to be back on the stage with Actors Theatre of Indiana—and the audiences have loved Forbidden Broadway. If you are in the Indianapolis area, tickets are still available for this weekend at atistage.org. I cannot wait to see all of you there.
And now, the Card of the Week! Claudia texted me to say that this card leapt out of the deck when she began shuffling—immediately put itself front and center to say, “this is my week!” Ergo, let us take a look at the Star. Claudia bespoke of navigation as the name of the game when looking at this card from the Major Arcana—and indeed, from The Wildwood Tarot, this card depicts the Fool walking through the Wildwood, on the forest path that is lit from the Pole Star overhead. The Star is a reminder that we have navigational sources within ourselves and without—and to trust the path that we are on. It very well may fork or bend, or change into another path in the future; but the Star will always be there to help guide our footsteps along the way. And as Claudia says, we must shed the old selves to make way for the new, as we move forward with these life-altering and monumental decisions that we have been marinating on for so long. So this week, take a moment to reflect on your path and what helps to navigate you in your life. Are those navigational sources other people or places? Certain objects? Natural intuitions and tendencies within yourself? Meditate on your Star this week as we venture forth into the unknown with those incredibly new decisions and paths forward.
And now, the Wine of the Week! So I went out with a new friend here in Indy, to a great Italian spot in Fountain Square. Naturally, it was the perfect place to try a new red wine so I could share it with all of you—and that happens to be Banfi Centine’s 2019 Rosso Tuscan Red Blend. Say that ten times fast. It was actually one of their house reds, which I was super happy about, and was a little splurgy in having two glasses. It was super, super dry—that was the first thing I noticed. It is most definitely an Italian red, in that regard. It had strong notes of cherry and berries, but there was an earthy tone to it, as well. It was kind of sweet, but earthier and drier at the end. Which means, overall, it is a perfect for a bowl of pasta and tart, sour onion-filled dishes. Pair it with black pepper, red sauces, arugula, parmesan cheese, red onions, spaghetti, red pepper flakes, and newfound relationships.
And, finally, this week’s topic. I am fascinated, as always, by the spirits of the dead: where do they go after they move on? Are they still here with us, on a daily basis? Of course they are, but the question is where and how far away. Thus, I am stoked to talk about a possible avenue of their otherworldly presence and existence: The Wild Hunt. I’m pretty sure I have discussed it previously on the show before, but let us dedicate an entire episode to the wealth of this mythology, folklore, and magickal associations. Who leads the Hunt? What spirits ride alongside the creatures and myths of its nightly raids? Should we fear the baying and trumpeting that herald its arrival—or smile in the darkness as it draws near?
For now, grab your favorite bottle of red, find a comfy chair, and close your eyes as I tell you the tale of The Wild Hunt—and take you…
Beyond the Seas.
(transition music)
The Wild Hunt. Conjures up a series of images and feelings within your mind’s eye already, right? Imagine this: the oncoming storm, behind and within a series of dark clouds. You feel the whistling of the wind across your skin and the icy chill in the air. Deep drums in the sky after large and bright flashes of lightning. Deep within those swirling clouds are the spectral hounds and restless spirits of the dead, seeking to sweep across the land and travel once more with gleeful abandon and merriment and joy.
The concept of the Wild Hunt is not unfamiliar to us. It has been recorded in several mythological sources, pertaining to the existence of not only the spirits of the dead, but also the pagan deities of the past—from which we today derive our worship and praise. The following information comes from The Warrior Lodge website, as recorded by the blogger The StormCrow.
“Across Central, Western, and Northern Europe, the Weild Hunt is a well-known myth. A ghostly leader and his group of hunters and hounds flyting theough the cold night sky during the winter solstice, as the winds howl and cold seeps through the bones.
“While some tories depict the supernatural hunters as either the dead, elves, or even fairies, in the old tradition of the North, the Wild Hunt was synonymous with Yuletide…and great winter storms, being led by no toher than Odin himself.
“The first written mentions of the Wild Hunt come from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles in 1127 AD: ‘Let no one be surprised at what we are about to relate, for it was common gossip up and down the countryside that after February 6th many people both saw and heard a whole pack of huntsmen in full cry. They straddled black horses and black bucks while their hounds were pitch black with staring hideous eyes. This was seen in the very deer park of Peterborough town, and in all the woods stretching from that same spot as far as Stamford. All through the night monks heard them sounding and winding their horns. Reliable witnesses who kept watch in the night declared that there might well have been twenty or even thirty of them in this wild tantivy as near as they could tell.’
“The old oral traditions of the North were only popularized later, by author and mythologist Jacob Grimm in 1835, in his works Deutsche Mythologie. In his version of the story, he mixed folklore with textual evidence from the Medieval up to the Early Modern period. Many criticized his methods, which emphasized the dynamic nature of folklore. He believed the myth to have pre-Crhistian roots and its leader to be based on Odin, on the darker side of his character. He also thought the leader of the hunt could too have been a woman, which he associated with Odin’s wife Frigg.
“Some years later, another respectable author Hélène Adeline Guerber, put Odin and his steed, Sleipnir, leading the Hunt, in her 1895 book Myths of the Northern Lands, further cementing the old tradition in our modern times.” And now, to that very book let us travel, to hear Hélène’s words as she documents this idea of Odin leading The Wild Hunt.
“Odin, as wind god, generally rode about on his eight-footed steed Sleipnir, a habit which gave rise to the oldest Northern30 riddle, which runs as follows: ‘Who are the two who ride to the Thing? Three eyes have they together, ten feet, and one tail; and thus they travel through the lands.’ And as the souls of the dead were supposed to be wafted away on the wings of the storm, Odin was worshiped as the leader of all disembodied spirits. In this character he was most generally known as the Wild Huntsman, and when people heard the rush and roar of the wind they cried aloud in superstitious fear, fancying they heard and saw him ride past with his train, all mounted on snorting steeds, and accompanied by baying hounds. And the passing of the Wild Hunt, known as Woden’s Hunt, the Raging Host, Gabriel’s Hounds, or Asgardreia, was also considered a presage of misfortune of some kind, such as pestilence or war.
“People further fancied that if any were so sacrilegious as to join in the wild halloo in mockery, they were immediately snatched up and whirled away with the vanishing host, while those who joined in the halloo with implicit good faith were rewarded for their credulity by the sudden gift of a horse’s leg, hurled at them from above, which, if they carefully kept until the morrow, was changed into a solid lump of gold.
“Even after the introduction of Christianity the ignorant Northern people still dreaded the on-coming storm, declaring that it was the Wild Hunt sweeping across the sky.
“The object of this phantom hunt varied greatly, and was either a visionary boar or wild horse, white-breasted maidens who were caught and borne away bound only once in seven years, or the wood nymphs, called Moss Maidens, who were thought to represent the autumn leaves torn from the trees and whirled away by the wintry gale.
“In the middle ages, when the belief in the old heathen deities was partly forgotten, the leader of the Wild Hunt was no longer Odin, but Charlemagne, Frederick Barbarossa, King Arthur, or some Sabbath breaker, like the squire of Rodenstein or Hans von Hackelberg, who, in punishment for his sins, was condemned to hunt forever through the realms of air.
“As the winds blew fiercest in autumn and winter, Odin was supposed to hunt in preference during that season, especially during the time between Christmas and Twelfth-night, and the peasants were always careful to leave the last sheaf or measure of grain out in the fields to serve as food for his horse.
“This hunt was of course known by various names in the different countries of northern Europe; but as the tales told about it are all alike, they evidently originated in the same old heathen belief, and to this day ignorant people of the North still fancy32 that the baying of a hound on a stormy night is an infallible presage of death.”
Now, back to The Warrior Lodge. “The Hunt was said to pass through the forests in the coldest, stormiest time of the year.” Even though, based on other mythology and data, I think personally the Host is around the whole year, so long as the day is windy and stormy. Food for thought. “Anyone found outdoors at the time would be swept up into the hunting party involuntarily and dropped miles from their original location. Practitioners of magic may have sought to join the berserkers in spirit, while their bodies remained safely at home. Grimm postulated the story inevitable changed from pre-Christian to more modern times. The myth originally began as a hunt led by a Go and Goddess visiting the land during a holy day or days (Yule), bringing blessings, and accepting offerings from people. They could be heard by the people in the howling winds, but later, with Christianity, the members of the Hunt became known as a pack of undead with malicious intent.
“The numerous variations of the legend mention different leaders of the hunting party. In Germany, the leader is known by various names, for instance, Holt, Holle, Berta, Foste, or Heme. Yet one figure frequently appears in the majority of versions: Odin. Odin is known by two particular names which relate to the time of year the Wild Hunt was alleged to occur, Jólnir and Jauloherra. Both of these roughly mean Master of Yule.
“…In Wales, a variation of the story exists purporting the leader ot be Gwynn ap Nudd or Lord of the Dead. In this version, the Lord of the Dead is followed by a pack of hounds with blood-red ears.
“In England, the same white hounds with red ears appear in legends. In Southern England, Herne the Hunter, or Herlathing, is alleged to be the hunt’s leader, and possibly connected to the mythical king Herla. Another version focuses on King Herla who had just visited the Fairy King. King Herla was told not to dismount his horse until the greyhound he carried had jumped down first. Three centuries passed and his men continued to ride as the dog had not jumped down yet.
“The Orkney Island tradition speaks of fairies or ghosts coming out at night and galloping on white horses. In Northern France, Mesnée d’Hellequin, the Goddess of Death, was said to lead the ghostly procession. In Scotland, the Wild Hunt is closely linked to the fairy world in some sources. Evil fairies, or fey from the Sluagh or Unseelie Court, allegedly flew in from the west in order to capture dying souls, resulting in people in Scotland, up until the twentieth century even, closing windows and doors on the west side of their houses when they had a sick person inside.
“The Wild Hunt was not seen—only heard—in Scandinavian versions of the myth. Typically the barking of dogs and howling of Odin’s wolves, as well as the forest growing deathly silent, warned people of their imminent arrival.”
Refill your goblets, your drinking horns, your chalices, for the second half of The Wild Hunt, after this brief break.
(transition music)
Do you recall the poem “The Hosting of the Sidhe”, from an episode not too long ago? Wherein Caoilte and Niamh call you, the reader, from slumber to awake from the mortal dream of life and death—and join their rushing band, for their otherworldly partying and haunting, forevermore, into eternity? That concept of the fairies stealing away people into Fairyland is not brand new information. But what makes it so interesting in terms of our discussion today is its commonality with the motif and ideas behind and within The Wild Hunt.
There are several paintings and images rife throughout the interwebs that suggest a stealing of wayward souls who dare to look upon or ridicule The Wild Hunt. Thus, the ancient customs of barring the windows and doors when the winds begin to howl suggests an act of sympathetic magick and respect for the other. There are other stories, however, that bespeak of witches and sorcerers—those magickal practitioners—who, through the use of psychotropic properties in herbs and plants, and ritual and rite, leave behind their bodies as their souls race upwards and out into the night, to join in the merrymaking of the rushing band of The Wild Hunt.
Robin Artisson, to whom I continuously return, in his magnum opus An Carow Gwyn bespeaks of a practice of lucid dreaming he terms Windstepping. Mmm, doesn’t that word just conjure up a whole slew of adventurous feelings within yourself? Windstepping. Regardless, the same ideology from that portion of his working manual supports the folklore behind those who rode the winds with the spectres of the dead and otherworldly beings in the storms. Thus, from his writings and research, one may begin to realize the possibility of such a feat occurring.
Through the use of the psychotropic elements present in certain fungi, the effects of alcoholic substances, or dance, trance, meditation, breathing, and chanting—one may enter a state in which the spirit leaves the body behind. Now, there are two ideas present here: astral projection, or out of body experiences, and lucid dreaming. Both are parallel experiences and go hand-in-hand with our exploration of how to spiritually join the adventures of The Wild Hunt.
So when the weather is warm or cold, Summer or Winter, and you feel the winds begin to quicken and dance—know that not only is Wild Hunt drawing nearer, but also your opportunity to join them. Thus, practice elements of lucid dreaming, so as to heighten your chances of slipping from your corporeal form. Brew teas of wormwood and lavender, if not pregnant or expecting, as the former is an abortifacient, and drink before bed, chanting whatever rhymes and couplets you create as a spell to leave your body that night. Place stones of quartz, lapis lazuli, amethyst, and moonstone beneath your pillow and/or in a circle around your bed to promote psychicism and lucid dreaming. Meditate on the Hunt itself, and ask deities like Odin, Hecate, Diana, The Cailleach, and Gwyn ap Nudd to aid you in your quest to join their hunting and revelry.
Now, back to The Star. I pulled out that card from the Ghosts and Spirits Deck, which shows the Cloud People, known as the Shiwana, from the indigenous peoples, the Pueblo Indians. Within, the image of these nature spirits suggests the ancestors—the spirits of the dead—having joined with the Cloud People in the sky, as they bring rain and nourishment in the storms. And the divinatory meaning? A newfound sense of freedom as you travel through new terrain without fear holding you back. I mean, folks, come on, this is not only spot on with Claudia’s intuitive reading of the card, but also most applicable, in terms of parallelism, to the Wild Hunt itself. The Cloud People and the Wild Hunt are the exact same thing—separated only by an ocean and distance between the indigenous folklore. I am truly in awe of this discovery and so happy it made itself known to us all this week.
Overall, though, why should we want to join to the Hunt? As witches, folklorists, and magickal practitioners, we have a sense of belonging in a liminal space—occupying the betwixt and between. There, we touch upon the surreal, the magickal, the otherworldly. And that sense of wanting to know more—and ultimately, relate more to—those liminal qualities drives us ever onward in our quest to experience the unseen world. There, if are so lucky to interact with it in a realistic fashion, we learn from the spirits present. We garner wisdom and experience, knowledge and reverence. And I will not lie, I think it would be just damn awesome to go riding on the winds with my ancestors and the spirits of nature and Odin and Hecate. I mean come on, who wouldn’t?
For within all of these tales and myths and legends and lore, there is a commonality that connects them all: a grain of truth. Perhaps it was Isobel Gowdie, or the witches in Appalachia, Salem, the Eastern Seabord—or in Eastern Europe, Norway, or the Netherlands, in the Teutonic lands, that first stepped out of their bodies and rode with The Wild Hunt. And from their example, bravery, and courage to enact such a feat of magick and relationship, so too may we be inspired to follow in their footsteps.
And imagine, what lessons and wisdoms and joys would we experience riding and flying in that etheric band? I for one would find it incredibly difficult to venture back hahaha, but venture back we must—until the day comes where we are permanently called forth from our human forms and taken up forevermore with the spirits of the dead, and the gods of old.
Flying with our loved ones and friends, surrounded by the spirits and creatures of the otherworld. What a magickal thought—one that is deeply entrenched in a desire and yearning for the other. Funnily enough, that is what makes the witch today: the desire to travel beyond and relate to those of the unseen world. And if we today are lucky enough to hear the calling of trumpets on the wind, or the howling of wolves in the storm, we know that nearby are those we yearn to reach. Separated only by the thinnest of veils—that we do have the power to break through—so that we may travel forevermore, in the twilight realm of the betwixt and between. And once there, we know that your magick, my magick, our magick, will be forever stronger and impactful…because of it.
(transition music)
The stories, research, and production elements were done and edited, respectively, by me, Kieran, with sources attached in the description. If you want to be a guest on the show, or have a topic you wish me to explore and discuss, send me an email at beyondtheseaspodcast@gmail.com. And be sure to hit the follow button, on whichever platform you enjoy the podcast, and look forward to more content next week. Until then, seek the veil between the worlds, and allow yourself to travel…Beyond the Seas.