Show Notes
This year, in the tradition of Halloween fortune-telling, we have an interactive divination game you can play at home. It comes from aa 19th-century book on cartomancy called, The oracle of human destiny: or, the unerring foreteller of future events, and accurate interpreter of mystical signs and influences; through the medium of common cards.
TO PLAY ALONG, you will need an ordinary DECK OF CARS or you could can draw your cards from a VIRTUAL DECK like the one on deck.of.cards. (https://deck.of.cards).
You will also need to know the ELEMENTAL GROUP of your ASTROLOGICAL SIGN.
They are:
FIRE SIGNS: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
EARTH SIGNS: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn
AIR SIGNS: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius.
WATER SIGNS: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces.
Fortunes read fall into these categories (in this order):
Absent Friends and Relatives
Travel
Friendship and Enmity
Health and Longevity
Property Lost
Love
Wealth and Fortune
Success
A Potential Spouse
Happiness, Misfortune
There are 88 fortunes provided, so you’ll have more fun listening with friends who have different astrological signs. Or write down the signs of absent friends and draw cards on their behalf.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
More from Bone and Sickle
In this episode we return to the topic of the Benandanti, or “good walkers,” those mysterious spirit-travelers of northeastern Italy, who claimed to leave their bodies at night to battle witches. Drawing upon the records of the Roman Inquisition from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, we explore a remarkable body of folklore involving nocturnal battles, wandering souls, magical healing, and increasingly sinister encounters with the Devil.
To be “born with a veil” (or caul) was once regarded as far more than an unusual circumstance of birth. Being born with a caul—a portion of the amniotic membrane adhering to a newborn’s head or face—is exceedingly rare, but across centuries of European folklore it has been interpreted as a visible mark of destiny. Those born with one might be exceptionally lucky, possess healing powers or second sight, or enjoy supernatural protection. In darker traditions, however, the same sign could mark a future witch, vampire, or uncanny wanderer between worlds.
Today he’s known mainly as a figure from medals carried to insure safe travels, but that image of a giant carrying the Christ Child across a dangerous river represents only the final stage in the long and strange evolution of the saint’s legend. Earlier or forgotten aspects of his story describe Christopher as a ferocious soldier, the Devil’s servant, a cannibal, and even a dog-headed monster.
Robert the Devil is a supernatural medieval legend that inspired a 19th-century French opera, which incorporates key elements from a seminal Gothic novel. The opera and legend are substantially different but both interesting.
Trolls, as presented in medieval literature, are vastly different from the creatures we encountered in our last episode’s collection of 19th-century Norwegian folktales. These Viking Age trolls are more vividly and gruesomely described, and the “troll-women,” who frequently appear, are akin to witches.