Category Archives: Animal Lore

Halloween Special Podcast | Witches’ Familiars

🎧 Spooky podcast now live! 🎧 I was invited on the @nationaltrust ‘Back When’ history podcast &’Wild Tales’ @wildtalesnt podcast to discuss witches’ familiars and share some of the darker stories of loving pets in the past… 🐈‍⬛🧙🏻‍♀️💜

🕯️🧹 Halloween Special | Witches Familiars 🧹🕯️

Is your cat the devil in disguise? Probably not, although they may act like something possessed sometimes! But once upon a time, friendliness towards cats, rabbits or dogs could lead to accusations of witchcraft, as these animals, known as familiars, were suspected of working for the devil. Learn the history of familiars through the story of Elizabeth Clarke, a poor disabled woman from Essex accused of being seen with these supernatural beings.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/discover/virtual-visit/podcasts/back-when-history-podcast

Who Is the Horned God? A Journey from Ancient Deer Goddess Cult to Pop Culture

By Romany Reagan

The Horned God is a popular image today, from neo-pagan traditions to pop culture. But who is he? And is he really a he? Follow me down this rabbit hole, as I show the journey of the Horned God from ancient feminist Deer Goddess, to Cernunnos—taking a detour by way of Shakespeare, Brothers Grimm, and Victorian Gothic fiction—to a 20th century mock-historical Wiccan fantasy revival and 21st century pop icon. 

Continue reading Who Is the Horned God? A Journey from Ancient Deer Goddess Cult to Pop Culture

Spectral Animals: Ghost Pets to Hellhounds

By Romany Reagan

“If the study of ghost belief lacks academic respectability, the study of belief in non-human ghosts is still more beyond the pale.” (Knox 262)

Continue reading Spectral Animals: Ghost Pets to Hellhounds