Watch the interview here:

Or hear the audio version right here: 

About Heather Greene

Heather Greene is an award-winning author, journalist, and acquisitions consultant for Llewellyn Worldwide. Her latest book, Lights, Camera, Witchcraft: A Critical History of Witches in American Film and Television, nabbed a 2022 COVR Gold Award and cements her reputation as a premier film historian of the occult. When she isn’t wrangling manuscripts, Heather co-hosts The Witches Movie Coven, a live weekly livestream that goes on the air every Wednesday at 9 p.m. Eastern. Alongside psychic medium—and fellow haunted-doll collector—Patti Negri, Heather and the coven dissect witchy cinema, swap paranormal war stories, and occasionally let their spirited dolls crash the broadcast. (If the steering wheel on set starts spinning by itself, well… Mary’s just getting in a few practice laps.)

If you, like Becky, are local to Atlanta, you can meet Heather in-person at Mystic South, July 2025.

Inspirited Dolls: Haunted, Portals, or Loved?

Heather went over some misconceptions that pop culture has about possessed dolls. Even haunted dolls don’t hop off the shelf and roam your basement at night. Heather says they’re more like doorways—little portals that let spirits pop in and out of our realm. Diana conceptualizes it this way: spirits must inhabit dolls so they can have the experience of being spoken to as if they were a living person for the first time in a long time, even if just from children. And yet, Heather’s prized (and notably creepy) 1880s German “Peekaboo” doll illustrates the Japanese sentiment that a century of love can, perhaps, give a doll its own soul.

With a personal brood of 1,500-plus antique toys, Heather has seen it all. She can differentiate between inspirited dolls steeped in decades of human emotion and ensouled dolls that anchor one particular spirit, and she can describe how they’re in a totally different category than evil haunted dolls.

Mary the Doll

Mary lived tucked behind the Xbox for a while, and the Forza Horizon 5 steering wheel would start turning even when the console was powered down. They chalked it up to calibration updates—until the wheel fell silent the very night Mary was moved to a different room.

If that tale revs your engine, cruise over to our haunted doll stories and see why relocating the toy often stirs up fresh mischief. Oh, and destroying a haunted doll? All you’ll do is piss the inhabiting spirit off. Dolls are more like portals than possessed. Ridding your home of the portal (the doll) won’t rid you of the spirit. For help with that, well, Heather recommended Unquiet Voices: The Magical Art of Laying Ghosts for an occult perspective on ghost hunting.

Heather also shares some practical doll restoration precautions. For example, watch for toxic mold in aging plastics; those “cheese-vomit” fumes are far from harmless. 

Other Homespun Haints Episodes About Haunted Dolls and Haunted Objects

If you’re feeling emboldened by Heather’s reassurances in this episode, now’s a good time to check out our other, more scary stories about dolls. Brush up on how to take photos of Robert the Doll without courting a curse. Then dig into Duane Cerny’s trove of haunted antiques to learn what some heirlooms still remember. Lindsay’s personal ghost stories about Barbie dolls will make you think a little differently about the ways ghosts interact with dolls.

Whether you’re a die-hard skeptic or the type who leaves a night-light on for household haints, this episode should reassure you that, while every doll may very well have a spirit inside, the chances of that being an evil spirit are both rare, and somewhat within your control. But those with pediophobia are still at a high chance of having a spooky day. 

The post Peekaboo, Is That Doll Watching You? Interview With a Doll Historian Witch appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Listen to full episode:

Or watch on YouTube:

In this captivating exploration of supernatural death harbingers, folklorist and author Steven J. Rolfes takes us deep into the mysterious world of banshees and their counterparts across different cultures. With his book Beware the Banshee’s Cry as our guide, Steven reveals the fascinating complexities behind these ethereal messengers.

About the Guest: Steven J. Rolfes

Steven J. Rolfes is the author of several books about paranormal folklore. He also writes about the history of his home town, Cincinnati, OH. When he’s not writing, he tells ghost stories on the radio, which we can relate to. His most recent book at the time of this writing, Beware the Banshee’s Cry, is all about the history and mystery of banshees, and their origins in Irish lore.

What is a Banshee?

What exactly is a banshee? Steven presents three possibilities: the ghost of an ancestor with either loving or vindictive intentions, a fairy from the ancient Tuatha de Danann, or perhaps most intriguingly, a transformed Celtic goddess (at least one didn’t become a saint). The name itself—”bean sí” or “woman from the fairy mound”—connects these entities to pre-Christian Celtic traditions that have survived centuries of cultural evolution.

The Banshee of Irish Lore

From Lady Fanshawe’s encounter with a floating red-haired apparition at O’Brien castle in 1649, to a mysterious black cat haunting a Cincinnati hospital in 1879, these stories span continents and centuries. We also discuss similar lore about supernatural messengers worldwide, including Germany’s White Lady (Weissefrau) and Mexico’s weeping woman (La Llorona), showing how humans across cultures have personified premonitions of death.

The banshee folklore of Ireland contains some familiar elements—the banshee’s treasured combs that shouldn’t be stolen, the protective power of iron against supernatural entities, and the specific families traditionally haunted by these harbingers.

Will the Banshee Cry for You?

Banshees and their lore follow Irish families wherever they travel…but only specific families. Listen now to discover whether your Irish heritage comes with its own supernatural warning system, and consider: if you heard three knocks at your door tonight, would you have a spooky day?

The post The Irish Death Knock: Exploring Banshee Lore with Steven J. Rolfes appeared first on Homespun Haints.

What does it mean to be human? Does being human mean you’re exclusively of this planet, or does it mean you can also be something else at the same time? Every day, we discover more and more about our universe, and our connections to it. And with every news story about the world around us, we realize we actually don’t know anything at all. But that doesn’t mean we can’t dig deeper on our own. Our guest today has done just that, through her own art and creative practices, and has learned how to tap into something beyond what we typically experience with our five senses. And, of course, after studying visual arts in an art school in Australia whose grounds used to be an insane asylum, she has some ghost stories.

Watch the episode on YouTube:

Or listen right here:

About the Guest: Jordan Harcourt-Hughes

What if your soul originated from somewhere beyond Earth? What if consciousness isn’t limited to human experience? These are the questions artist and author Jordan Harcourt-Hughes has been exploring through her multifaceted creative practices.

Jordan of New South Wales, Australia, practices several distinct arts, including writing, metal sculpture, painting, installations, and creative workshops. She started with writing as a child, but abandoned it at 19 when words felt inadequate to express deeper truths. Part of what inspired this artistic blossoming were extreme out-of-body experiences, which led her to believe she may be an extraterrestrial or “star seed.” Since then, she uses her artwork to connect with other-dimensional energies and frequencies. Nowadays, Jordan has come full circle: revisiting writing to explore the cosmic themes in her life. Perhaps it’s no surprise, then that her novels star a metalsmith who tunes metal to other-world frequencies. As of this writing, Jordan just published the second novel in the series, “High Country.”

Check out Jordan’s latest work or sign up for one of her mindful art courses at jordanharcourthughes.com.

What are Star Seeds?

During our conversation, Jordan shares remarkably tactile out-of-body experiences. Aside from being able to visualize her consciousness outside her physical body, she could also feel wind in her eyes while flying outside her physical form. These experiences, combined with her lifelong feeling of being “not from here” and an insistently serendipitous book by Dolores Cannon, led her to explore the concept of star seeds. Star seeds are souls who have incarnated on Earth from other planets to assist during times of transition.

What is a Soul Migration?

From the moment Jordan experienced what she calls a “soul migration” at age 19, her perception of reality fundamentally changed. The transformative power of this journey and an associated near-miss with death was so profound that Jordan formally changed her name at 26, acknowledging she had become a different vibrational being.

The Alien Within

What makes Jordan’s perspective so interesting is her emphasis on looking inward rather than outward for extraterrestrial connection. “The more we look inside, the more we will find,” she explains, challenging the notion that extraterrestrial contact must come from outside ourselves. Through her paintings in the “Speaker Series,” featuring figures with masked eyes, she illustrates how visual perception can actually limit our ability to sense what’s truly around us.

Is there really an Australian art school built in an abandoned Asylum, and how haunted is it?

Jordan studied at Sydney College of the Arts campus at Callan Park in Lilyfield, Sydney. The site is heritage-listed and is known for its distinctive 19th‑century architecture. This campus occupies buildings that were once part of the Callan Park Hospital for the Insane—a former mental health facility that had only stopped treating patients 5 years before Jordan learned sculpture there. She recounts in the episode how the lingering aura of madness deeply affected her art school experience. Jordan’s first true ghost story happened during this time of her life.

Ghost Stories From Australia

Well, Hainted Loves, what did you think of these otherworldly theories? If you’re looking for more Australian ghost stories, here are some of our other guests from Australia:

• Ghosts Are Not Pets
• The Horror House of Armidale, New South Wales
• The Thing in the Wardrobe

Whether you consider yourself a spiritual seeker, a creative practitioner, or a fellow star-seed, Jordan’s journey offers a new perspective into the mystical nature of reincarnation, communication, and consciousness itself. After all, if you accept the premise of reincarnation, why would our souls be limited to just one planet? Aren’t there so many other ways to have a spooky day?

The post The Extraterrestrial Within: A Soul’s Journey From Outer Space appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Watch this episode on YouTube.

Or listen to the audio right here:

We interview Garrett Garland, author of To Never See Heaven, about his experiences with the paranormal. He tells us of one inexplicable experience after another, weaving a story through time and generations, and into the realm of reincarnation. From the always cold bedroom of a potentially haunted VRBO, to an extrasensory ability he inherited from his mother, Garrett paints a vivid picture with each of the thousand words it is worth. But first, we spend some time gabbing about some of the most dangerous fashion trends in history, just to be morbid. You probably have at least one of these in your closet, right now.

About the Guest: Garrett Garland

Garrett may live in northern California, but he channels the spirit of a 17th century French poet. Perhaps literally. Because so many strange coincidences seem to pop up in Garrett’s life. Now, as an adult, he exists both in this world and in the past, writing stories, penning poems, and sharing his esoteric knowledge with the world. Listen to his deliciously decadent stories, today, on Homespun Haints.

Drawing from his extensive travels abroad, To Never See Heaven is his first novel. He currently resides with his husband Sam next to the sea in Half Moon Bay. Their long walks on the beach and love of the ocean are where he draws most of his inspiration. The ocean is home, but Paris is Garrett’s hometown.

Garrett was recently on another podcast, Spirit Talk Show. Keep up with his literary works at garrettgarland.com, or on Instagram @Garrett_Steven_Garland.

Until next time, don’t put your tie in the shredder, or you’re gonna have an unpleasantly spooky day.

The post The Man With The Haunted Pen appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Watch our interview with Rick about crow folklore here:

Or listen now:

About the Guest: Rick de Yampert

Rick de Yampert is a freelance writer, musician, artist and lecturer. He has been following a Pagan spiritual path since the early 1990s. His book Crows and Ravens: Mystery, Myth, and Magic of Sacred Corvids was released by Llewellyn in March 2024. The book, both a practical guide to magic, and a collection of crow folklore and raven myths, is available through Llewellyn, Amazon, or at your local pagan bookstore.

Prior to freelancing, Rick was the arts and entertainment writer at the Daytona Beach News-Journal, a daily newspaper, for 23 years. He has interviewed such creators as Kurt Vonnegut, Yoko Ono, Ray Manzarek of the Doors, Janet Jackson, Shirley MacLaine and many others. As a professional musician, Rick plays sitar, Native American flutes, djembe (African hand drum), tongue drums and guitar. He has performed at art festivals, cafes, yoga sessions and sacred events throughout Central Florida. Searching YouTube for his name yields a wide variety of live musical performances. Rick and his girlfriend Michelle Davidson, who plays crystal bowls, tongue drums and bass, perform as the music duo Wandering Spiral. We hope to interview Michelle on Homespun Haints soon, as she’s a psychic medium who authored a book about Florida’s haunted hotels.

As a lecturer, Rick presents programs on various spiritual and metaphysical topics to Unitarian Universalist churches, Pagan gatherings, and other organizations and events. As an artist, Rick takes photos of crows and shapeshifts them into phantasmagoric, magical landscapes using various digital programs. He then has the images printed on canvas for sale. Find Rick’s art online at mistercrowart.com, check out his YouTube channel, or follow Rick on IG and FB.

How to tell a crow from a raven

Crow characteristics:

• smaller,
• gregarious, congregate in “murders,”
• bolder, and thus more likely to live in urban areas,
• they usually say “caw,” or occasionally “mrow,” “coo,” or “whoo.”

Whereas ravens tend towards the following characteristics:

• 20% larger than crows,
• shaggy throat feathers,
• a group is called a “conspiracy” of ravens,
• skittish around people, and thus more likely to live in wooded areas,
• invariably more like a writing desk,
• still is sitting on Athena,
• they usually say “gronk.”

Both crows and ravens have the uncanny ability to recognize human faces, and possibly individuals from other species as well. Even more disturbing, once they form an opinion about a person, they can spread that reputation to others of their species, and even to future generations. One’s corvid reputation can be positive or negative, and, much like in an RPG, has direct consequences. Crows will attack someone they’ve seen with a dead crow; they’ll sometimes bring gifts to or play games with someone they decide is friendly. They’re also both very deliberate thinkers, who excel at problem solving and environmental adaptations. After all, city crows adapted to building their nests with anti-bird spikes.

How to befriend a crow

Thanks to their bold and curious nature, if you don’t already have a reputation with your local crows, it is possible to cultivate a relationship with one or more of them. Here are some tips for doing so:

• Bring food! Set it out in a safe place for crows to explore. It’s best if they don’t see you putting it there at first, but after they’ve gotten used to eating in your yard, let them observe you bringing the food. Rick offers them popcorn, crackers, or tortilla chips.
• Provide a water dish or bird bath, for crows to drink from in winter, or moisturize the food you offer.
• Pay attention to their vocalizations: the different sounds, patterns, rhythms, and volumes all seem to mean something specific to the crows beyond their relevance in folklore and divination magic. Mimicking their vocalizations may have some value in befriending them, but might also backfire.
• Crows leave shiny objects for people they like; why not try turning this around, and gift the crows small, lightweight, shiny objects?
• Most of all, stillness and repetition are key. It’ll take the crows a while to trust you, and any erratic or threatening behavior on your part, even inadvertently, will extend that timeline.
• Diana’s plan is to put a mannequin in her yard wearing a photo of her face, with an outstretched handful of kibble and peanuts.

Why would you want to befriend a crow?

The few lucky humans who’ve managed to form a strong bond with wild crows portray the relationship as just as fulfilling as that with a pet cat or dog. Once you’ve befriended a crow, they’re nearly as clever as dogs, and trainable, too. Or possibly, crows are even more clever, but in different ways.

Crows in folklore

It doesn’t surprise us at all that crows feature prominently in several folklore traditions. Those who incur the wrath of these intelligent and ominous-looking creatures might associate them with death because of their intense hostility towards enemies. It doesn’t help that corvids feast on carrion, including human corpses. There are tales of corvids following armies into battle, even inciting violence by revealing an enemy’s location, just for a free human meat lunch in the wake.

The Morrígan, also known as the Phantom Queen, is a prominent figure in Irish mythology. The Morrígan is a goddess associated with war and fate, especially with foretelling doom and death in battle. She is often depicted as having the ability to shape-shift, and her manifestations include that of a crow or raven.

On the other hand, those who’ve witnessed the intelligence and loyalty of crows might visualize just how useful these bold birds could be. In Norse mythology, the god Odin has 2 crow familiars/spies: Huginn and Muninn. These names translate to “thought” and “memory.” According to the myths, Odin would send Huginn and Muninn out at dawn, and they would return at dinner-time to perch on his shoulders. They would whisper the news and information they gathered into his ears.

Crow and raven lore in divination

Rick told us there are Irish prophesies based on crow behavior dating back to the 17th century. Perhaps independently, ancient Tibetans also had a system of divination based on the vocalizations of crows as far back as 900 AD. Viking raiders would hang raven banners, or lines with small cloth flags depicting birds, before going off to plunder and pillage. A waving banner foretold success, but a still banner portended loss.

Would you befriend a crow?

Or have you already? Does your magical, religious, or occult practice involve ravens or crows in some way? Got any more cool crow facts or folklore to share? Head over to our Facebook group to discuss. Or, if you’ve got an especially spooky ghost story involving crows or ravens, submit it, and you could be featured on the next episode of Homespun Haints. We’re as curious as crows eating dog kibble from the hand of a mannequin with Diana’s face on it about your corvalicious experiences, that must’ve been a spooky day, for sure!

Header photo by Jesse van Vliet on Unsplash

The post No Caws for Alarm: Metaphysical Crows and Ravens appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Our interview about Ozark weather magic with Debra Burris is on YouTube:

Or listen now:

About the guest: Debra Burris

After years of practicing witchcraft while simultaneously studying astrophysics and teaching meteorology, Dr. Debra Burris is a delightful sparkling prism of unexpected juxtapositions. She is an author, a physicist, and a professor at the University of Central Arkansas. Beyond her academic prowess, Debra also practices as a witch, a farmer, a master naturalist, a bone artist, and a Reiki healer.

Debra Burris’ recent book, “Weather Magic: Witchery, Science, Lore,” explores the connection between ancient weather folklore and modern meteorological science. Burris examines traditional weather predictions and rituals alongside contemporary scientific knowledge. The book covers topics such as interpreting natural signs for weather forecasting through both scientific and folkloric lenses, and using magic to control the weather. It provides a detailed guide to the mystical aspects of meteorology and how they complement scientific understanding, giving a subtle middle finger to those who say science and magic don’t mix. Keep up with Debra on YouTube, TikTok, IG, or FB, and try to catch her live at the following events: Harmony in the Hollow, Austin Witchfest, Mystic South. You might catch her speaking or signing books at Strange Brew Occult Shop in Fort Smith, AR, or Nature’s Treasures in Oklahoma City, OK.

Mystical Meteorology

Debra takes us on a shallow dive into the principle of quantum entanglement and its implications in modern physics. But we know you want more.

Some Light Reading on Quantum Entanglement

Quantum entanglement is a phenomenon in quantum physics where pairs or groups of particles interact in ways such that the quantum state of each particle cannot be described independently of the state of the others, even when the particles are separated by large distances. As a simple analogy, imagine two smart light bulbs that are set to always display the same color light simultaneously, regardless of the distance between them. When one light bulb is switched on and it glows red, the other bulb, no matter how far away it is, will instantly glow red as well. If you change the color of one bulb to blue, the other bulb instantly switches to blue too.

This reflects quantum entanglement where the state of one particle instantly determines the state of another linked particle, over any distance. Yet when talking about entangled particles, their inexplicable mirroring of states is not based on prior agreement or a programmed sequence, but on a profound and fundamental connection established between them at the quantum level. This instantaneous connection defies the classical law of physics dictating that information cannot travel faster than the speed of light.

TLDR? Well, my takeaway is this: if physics is still contradicting itself about the very nature of the universe, why not believe in magic? Even just for now; until physics gets its shit together.

Weather Lore and Magic

Wind Magic

Can whistling really draw the wind? Or can tying knots in a rope calm it? Sailors might whistle to encourage a breeze to fill their sails, yet also cautiously avoid overdoing it to prevent summoning storms. Conversely, tying knots in a rope was thought to control wind intensity, with each knot capturing a degree of wind power; untying a knot would release the wind as needed. These practices demonstrate the fear of and desire to control the wind in various maritime traditions.

Wind Casting in Weather Magic

Wind casting is an ancient divination practice using the direction and characteristics of the wind to gain insights into future events. East wind represents air and intellect; South, fire and creativity; West, water and emotion; and North, with earth and stability. Practitioners work in a place where the wind’s influence is palpable, while tossing something biodegradable into the wind. They use the wind’s direction to interpret its symbolic meanings, combined with the shapes that form in the scattered objects for context.

Storm Magic

Debra talks about the granny woman tradition of mystically cutting a storm with a knife. Just make sure the blade is pointed in the direction of the storm!

Tornado Lore in the Ozarks

Have you heard that tornadoes always move southwest to northeast? Or that they can’t cross a river or a mountain? While these rules aren’t hard and fast, they do seem to reflect common meteorological patterns of tornado behavior in the Ozark mountain range. Debra also recounts personal paranormal tornado stories of life-saving premonitions, and how to unwind tornadoes with magic to protect your home and family.

What are Hagstones?

Also called Odin stones or witch stones, hagstones are stones with naturally occurring holes worn through them, often found in rivers or coastlines. They have mystical protective properties: hanging a hagstone on a string near a home’s entrance can ward off negative energies. They are also used in healing rituals and as talismans for good luck. Sailors historically carried these hagstones as well, for protection against drowning. Finally, peering through the hole in a hagstone may reveal the faerie realm. In this episode, Debra teaches us how to make a lightning protection charm using a hag stone.

Predicting Weather with Signs and Folklore

How can a persimmon seed forecast winter weather patterns? Debra tells us that this folk wisdom has held true 75% of the time, based on her experiences. Here’s how it works:

1. Collect Persimmon Seeds: First, gather ripe persimmons. Be sure they’re locally-grown, as folklore suggests that local seeds reflect local weather.
2. Cut Open the Seed: Carefully split the persimmon seed open. Inside, you will find a small kernel.
3. Observe the Kernel’s Shape: The kernel inside can vary in shape, and each shape portends different winter weather.
   • If the kernel is shaped like a spoon, it suggests that there will be a lot of snow. The shape symbolizes that you will need to shovel snow.
   • If it resembles a fork, expect a milder winter with powdery, light snow and a fair amount of wind. The fork shape suggests that you can “fork” or push through the winter without much difficulty.
   • If the kernel looks like a knife, brace for a cutting, icy, and bitterly cold wind that cuts like a knife. This shape foreshadows a very harsh winter.

Fascinating Weather Physics Phenomena

• What is Saint Elmo’s Fire?
  Saint Elmo’s fire describes a visible glowing halo from pointed objects in a strong atmospheric electric field. The blue-violet glow looks like a flame, but is actually a corona discharge creating luminous plasma. It typically appears on the masts of ships and the wings of airplanes (and sometimes on longhorns) during thunderstorms. Historically, sailors saw Saint Elmo’s Fire as a good omen, believing it a sign from the patron saint of sailors.
• Fulgurites: When Lightning Strikes Sand
  During a lightning strike, the bolt creates an intense heat exceeding temperatures of 30,000 Kelvin—that’s hot! This temperature rapidly melts the silica in sand. When the molten sand cools, it solidifies into a glass-like structure, tracing the path of the lightning underground. The resulting shapes vary from smooth, hollow tubes to intricate branches, capturing fleeting lightning as unique natural sculptures.

Plus, for more entertaining physics content, check out the music video Debra mentioned: “We Are All Connected.”

More of our ghost stories from Oklahoma

Did you know the Oklahoma college Debra talks about is also haunted? Oklahoma is more haunted than we let on. Here are more episodes with ghosts from Oklahoma.

• The Cursed Parking Lot at Tulsa Freedom Fest
• Finally, Diana’s Haunted Basement Ghost Story!
• The Possessions in D-Hall Dorms
• Tiny Terrors in Tulsa
• There’s an extra person in this room.

Ozark Weather Magic

We loved by this intersectional journey through physics, magic, and folklore. If you did too, you’re going to love Debra’s book, “Weather Magic: Witchery, Science, Lore.” If you have your own weather magic practices, or have heard some especially interesting or useful lore about weather signs and omens, tell us about it! All the signs point to a spooky day!

The post Live by the Signs: Weather Magic appeared first on Homespun Haints.

H. Byron Ballard telling us ghost stories from Asheville is on YouTube:

Or listen right here:

About the Guest: H. Byron Ballard

Byron has studied and practiced Appalachian folk magic for half a century. (She tells us that the term Appalachian Granny Magic was a manufactured term, never used by the original practitioners.) She’s a senior priestess at and a founder of Mother Grove Goddess Temple, and also a pastor. She also knows a lot of stories about Asheville hauntings, as she’s guided ghost tours there.

Her books on traditional Appalachian craft are published by Llewellyn Press. Order her books from Byron’s local indie bookstore at malaprops.com, and she’ll sign it for you before it is shipped. Also visit her website myvillagewitch.com or follow her on Facebook as H. Byron Ballard, author, Witch About Town, for events and more info.

Show notes

The Lost Sea of Appalachia

The Lost Sea, within Craighead Caverns near Sweetwater, Tennessee, is the world’s second-largest non-sub-glacial underground lake. Craighead Caverns themselves have been in use for centuries, originally by Cherokee under the ownership of Chief Craighead, then for mining saltpeter to make gunpowder during the Civil War, then for bootlegging moonshine during the Prohibition Era.

In the nineteen-noughties, a little boy named Ben was spelunking deep in the network of caves under Appalachia. He came upon a small opening, and squirmed his way inside. When he held up his lantern, he found himself within an enormous underground room. The cavern was so large, the boy couldn’t see the walls of the cave.

Intrepid Ben started tossing mud at the walls, thinking he would use this rudimentary echolocation to determine how deep the cave was…but all he heard was splashing. Indeed, the cavern was full of water, stretching farther than the light could travel. When he finally convinced his father to come check out the cave, the tiny subterranean entrance to the lake was blocked by rising water.

Where does the Lost Sea’s water come from?

The Lost Sea of Appalachia is pitch black, the dark water seemingly bottomless. The only creatures known to live in the lake are the tagged rainbowless rainbow trout that were released there by researchers in the 1970s in an attempt to trace the source of the water. Becky says that, although the water in the lake rises and falls, no human has ever been able to figure out the source. The fish were no help, as they stayed put, slowly starving to death in the isolated and previously lifeless dark water.

How big is the Lost Sea of Appalachia?

Looking at it from the surface, the massive underground lake is about 800′ x 220′. But divers have found underground rooms adjacent to the part of the lake that is visible from the surface that seem to have no end. Apparently, the divers have always had to turn back before ever finding the boundary. So the Lost Sea could be much larger down deep.

Visiting the Lost Sea of Appalachia

A modern tourist attraction exists there today: The Lost Sea Adventure. Nowadays you can visit the Lost Sea in Craighead Caverns without spelunking your way through dangerous cave cracks. Becky thinks it’s one of the creepiest places on Earth. And she’s going to force Diana to paddle out on the Lost Sea in a canoe, and witness the Feeding Frenzy of Darkness.

We plan to broadcast live from the Lost Sea some time in the first weekend of May, 2024! This will be the same trip where we visit Asheville, to see if the ghost stories are true in person. Follow our socials below for updates and live events.

What are Haints and Boogers in Appalachian Folklore?

In Appalachian slang, the word “haints” sometimes is just synonymous with “ghosts.” “Boogers” are what we call “cryptids” nowadays. They are usually referred to concurrently. Becky points out that in some Afro-Carribean traditions, haints are specifically the type of ghosts you absolutely do not want in your house, as opposed to a benign relative lingering in that rocking chair in the corner. That’s why so many southern houses are protected by haint blue porch ceilings.

How to make an energy trap, or a HEPA filter for negative energy

Byron walked us through the steps on how to make a DIY energy trap for your home.

• Cut out bottom of aluminum pie plan to create a metallic circle.
• Put a dark rock from your own property and a tealight candle in the center of the disc.
• Around the rock, make a circle of heavy salt (like ice cream rock salt).
• Around that, make a circle of regular table salt.
• Light the candle.

But what does a DIY energy trap do?

Byron theorizes that, the way our houses are laid out is ideal for bringing energy in. She says we need to occasionally clean the energy back out of the house so it does not build up. If you haven’t cleared the energy in your house for a while, it can start to take form, or appears to at least. Many of the calls she gets about ghosts are actually just stuck energy. She’s not sure how it works, but 75% of the time, this simple energy trap alone solves her prospective client’s “ghost” problem.

If this energy trap doesn’t quite cut it for you, Byron provides many other DIY field magic tips in Small Magics and her other books. And yes, the tips work even if you don’t live in Appalachia. If you’re not keen on DIY magic, Byron herself might be available to help clear your house.

Why is Appalachian Folk Magic traditionally practiced by women?

If it seems like only women practiced witchcraft in Appalachia, there is a historical reason for that. Traditional gender roles in old Appalachia would’ve delegated nearly all the paid work and political power to men. Basically, men didn’t have any time for practicing magic, because they were the only breadwinners of their families, working 12 hour days in mines and factories. Women, at the time unemployable, traditionally handled the busy work, like searching the woods for wild medicinal plants; dirty work, like dealing with a dead body; and one-off tasks, like emergency healthcare. Whereas now these are valued career fields and have distinct courses of study, remote early settlements wouldn’t have had the work nor resources to support a full-time mortician or doctor. The knowledge would’ve been passed down from and to the people who had the time to learn it: mainly women.

And besides, most Appalachian men had no use for magic, as they had practical power to influence their world. Byron says that the only Appalachian folk magic traditionally practiced by men was Water Witching. Nowadays, as we claw our way ever closer towards true gender equality, Appalachian folk magic is practiced by people of all genders.

But is there some inherent biological process tying field magic to womanhood?

Byron mostly feels and senses spirits, only rarely seeing ghosts visually. She is, however, sandwiched between 2 generations of women who naturally see spirits through clairvoyance. In fact, all the women in her family are told from an early age, that, upon menarche, they will receive an inherited psychic gift. Familial gifts include precognitive dreaming, hands on healing, second sight, clairvoyance, and clairsentience.

She thinks of menarche as having a biological reason to cause a shift in perception: protecting one’s young through intuition. She also advises middle-aged women about the supernatural nature of perimenopause. It is, perhaps, times of great hormonal shifts that awaken the senses to the supernatural world. Because many people who were born with ovaries experience more of these shifts throughout a lifetime than those without (like pregnancy and menopause, in addition to puberty), they may on average have more access to these supernatural perceptions. Interestingly, she also associates the supernatural nature of puberty and other hormonal changes as potential catalysts for poltergeist activity.

Are poltergeists really just bundled up feminine fury?

Byron tells us that many stories of poltergeist activity she’s called out for around Asheville are actually caused by oppressed anger, seeping out energetically, not actual ghosts. So why do people ascribe poltergeist activity to ghosts? Byron theorizes that it’s easier to accept the idea that the house is haunted than to come to terms with the idea that you or your teenager is so full of bottled up rage that it’s manifesting physically. We still don’t have a clear explanation for the nature of this type of manifestation, but this is far from the first time we’ve heard poltergeists explained this way.

Do you have any ghost stories from Asheville?

Have you visited the Lost Sea of Appalachia to feed the forsaken fishes? Or are the women in your Appalachian family vested with psychic abilities? Homespun Haints is looking for people from Asheville and Appalachia with personal ghost experiences to tell their stories on our future episodes—submit yours today to join us, and have a spooky day!

The post All the Haints in Asheville appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Listen now!

Episode Summary

There’s something spooky about the remote upper peninsula of Michigan. Eerie lights, haunted woods, and children left to their own devices with sinister spells populate the snow-driven wilderness. Would you dare to visit?

Our guest today grew up amongst these ghosts and has his own memorable stories to share, along with some folklore from the area. Settle in for a cold night, today, on Homespun Haints.

About the Guest: Ron Riekki

With his imposingly large frame, Ron has been cold-recruited for horror movies and haunted houses on many occasions, but he’s still a bookworm at heart. Ron has written over a dozen books so far, and won’t be stopping any time soon.

Ron Riekki’s books include U.P.: a novel and Posttraumatic: A Memoir. Also the upcoming hybrid collection My Ancestors are Reindeer Herders and I Am Melting in Extinction. He co-edited Undocumented: Great Lakes Poets Laureate on Social Justice and The Many Lives of The Evil Dead: Essays on the Cult Film Franchise, and edited And Here: 100 Years of Upper Peninsula Writing, 1917-2017, Here: Women Writing on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, The Way North: Collected Upper Peninsula New Works. He has anthologies upcoming with McFarland and WSU Press.

His fiction has also been published in The Threepenny Review, Bellevue Literary Review, Wigleaf, Prairie Schooner, Shenandoah, Akashic Books, Juked, New Ohio Review, Cleaver, Puerto del Sol, and many other literary journals. Riekki’s story “Accidents” received the 2016 Shenandoah Fiction Prize and “The Family Jewel” was selected for The Best Small Fictions 2015.

The Paulding Light

There is a mysterious light that appears over Bruce Crossing, MI. Ron says the area reminds him of the legend of Robert Johnson. Interestingly, Becky and Diana just performed an original musical composition about Robert Johnson at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History. We’ll post clips from the live performance for our Patrons soon so y’all can have a spooky day!

The post The Devil Gets His Due in Michigan appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Listen to the full episode:

Irish ghost stories and superstitions

Can the bonds we have with our loved ones go beyond this plane and into the next? Can we feel those connections so strongly that we know when someone we care about is in trouble? Is dying? Or is dead? And how do those connections persist throughout generations?

Today, we speak with Kelly Fordon, an author and podcaster, who has a myriad of experiences about these connections, and their effects on the living. Her stories are both spooky and uplifting, and we know you’re going to enjoy them.

About today’s guest, Kelly Fordon

Kelly tells us that POV matters more in fiction writing than the traditional hero’s journey story arc we learned in grade school. She’s published through Wayne State University press. Her books include I Have the Answer, Garden for the Blind and a full-length poetry collection, Goodbye Toothless House. She is the author of two poetry chapbooks, On the Street Where We Live, which won the 2011 Standing Rock Chapbook Contest, and Tell Me When It Starts to Hurt. Her fiction, poetry, and book reviews have appeared in The Boston Review, The Florida Review, Flashquake, The Kenyon Review, and various other journals.

You can find Kelly’s podcast, Let’s Deconstruct a Story, at kellyfordon.com.

Do we all get 6 weeks to haunt before moving on?

Kelly experienced messages from her father from beyond for just a short while, then his spirit must have moved on. She recalled hearing the belief that, when a person dies, their soul has 6 weeks to remain on Earth, tying up loose ends, before moving on to reincarnation or whatever other eternal reward they’ve earned.

Can you get directly into heaven by dying on a Saturday?

This type of heavenly fast pass isn’t canonical to Catholicism in general; it must have been a colloquial Irish superstition. Which really begs the question; what’s more likely: to manifest one’s own death with the strong belief that one will die on that day, or to have a premonition that accurately predicts one’s own death? Both may seem quite supernatural, and neither story is unique to Kelly.

By this point in the story, we were thinking “man, Kelly’s whole family has premonitions related to death!”

Are premonitions of death due to deep connections, or The Gift?

Far from taking her familial ghostly premonitions of death to mean she’s inherited a psychic gift, Kelly believes anyone can have these types of premonitions. It’s more who you’re close to, and based on what kind of a link you had in life.

Although she’s probably right about that last part, we’re curious if that explains her prediction of her dad’s friend’s death. Or all the people who lose loved ones without any sort of premonition, and never do hear from them again. Surely it must be a little of both?

Comforting hauntings and practical premonitions

It is a comforting thought that a loved one can reach out from the beyond, but that doesn’t mean they’re stuck in an Earthly purgatory between planes of existence for the long haul. We really like the idea of a 6 week goodbye tour. What do you believe? Even if we can predict someone’s death through premonitions, none of us will ever know for sure what happens after this life until it’s too late. But better to die on a Saturday, just in case. No need to go having a spooky day.

The post Irish Ghost Stories and Premonitions of Death appeared first on Homespun Haints.

AI-generated transcript of this episode available upon request.

About the Guest: Catherine Baab-Muguira

Cat lives in Midlothian, a suburb near Richmond, Virginia, where Poe spent his formative high school years. She wrote the dark yet funny book Poe for Your Problems: Uncommon Advice from History’s Least Likely Self-Help Guru because sometimes life is so full of darkness and failure, you have to laugh at it. She’s also a professional journalist (for Slate, WSJ, CNBC, NBC News, etc) and a new mom, so her next book is forthcoming…slowly. Follow her on Instagram @author_catherinebaabmuguira or Twitter @CatBaabMuguira for updates. Also subscribe to her free newsletter on Substack, Poe Can Save Your Life, for more of her writing. Cat’s website is catherinebaabmuguira.com.

Multiple times during this interview, Cat gushed about a novel she recently read, Ghost Eaters by Clay McLead Chapman. She also recommended This Is Horror Podcast.

Episode Show Notes

Making art is a path to destruction.

Catherine Baab-Muguira

Use your darkness to create

From the description on Cat’s funny, dark self-help book: “Of all the writers anywhere, Poe might be the least likely person you’d ever turn to for advice. His life was a complete dumpster fire: He married his cousin; got fired from one job after another; constantly feuded with friends and rivals; and he was always broke. But that’s also precisely the point. Though Poe failed again and again, he also persevered.”

Poe carved out his position in the literary world by making a parody of dark thoughts, and being too tacky for academia. We can relate! But does this mean that history’s famous tortured artists were able to produce their great works because of their depression and mental illness, or in spite of it? What does this mean for creatives who don’t struggle with mental health issues? And what does it mean for future generations who have more and better tools, chemical or otherwise, to overcome these issues? Stay tuned for an upcoming episode where Becky and Diana pontificate on the relationship between mental health and creation.

Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence– whether much that is glorious– whether all that is profound– does not spring from disease of thought– from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect.

Eleonora by Edgar Allan Poe

Self-help through dark comedy

But in the meantime, what do you think about the nature of creating through the darkness? Have you used your dark thoughts to create beautiful art, and were those thoughts necessary to the creation process? And who are some other famous anti-heroes we might glean uncommon life-advice from? Maybe someday in the distant future in our queendom by the sea, our little dark comedy podcast will spawn a self-help book. That’ll be a spooky day!

The post Culture is a Ghost with Unfinished Business appeared first on Homespun Haints.