Uncommon Folk
The world of folklore is a diverse, thriving mix of ancient traditions, old gods, strange beasts and curious tales.
Every land has their own folk traditions, and while some themes are universal, each has something special about them that makes them unique.
Join stand-up comedian, writer, and folklore PhD candidate Dan Mitchell as he dives into the dark oceans of folk, hoping to find a never before found denizen of the deep. Featuring exclusive interviews with academics, folklorists, scientists, poets, magical practitioners, and many more special guests from around the world, Uncommon Folk hopes to unearth the bones of folklore and resurrect them with incantations long forgotten.
From deep dives to short nuggets, Uncommon Folk will enlighten, enthuse, and entertain the folk community.
Uncommon Folk
Uncommon Folk 31 Days of Winter- Arsgard
Uncover the enigmatic practice of year walking, an ancient Swedish divination ritual. This episode promises to immerse you in the mystical world of spiritual quests undertaken during the festive season. Imagine fasting and venturing to a place of power, all in pursuit of prophetic visions for the year ahead. We unravel the rigorous preparation and the profound challenges faced by year walkers, who not only risked their physical well-being but also their very souls.
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Arse Gang, year walking. Now, this is a form of Swedish divination. It's practiced around Christmas time, new Year's Eve and as recently as the 19th century. People who year walk would head on quests and risk their souls, not just their physical body sometimes meeting spirits, and the aim was to get visions of the year ahead. There's not a lot of information about the subject. It said that one method of doing it was to fast for a period of time no food, no water, which goes against a lot of the Christmas traditions.
Speaker 1:You'd head for a place of power, which sometimes would be, you know, a particular monolith, you know a church, that sort of place, and you'd hope that you would see visions. Now, if you wanted to askang or ear walk, then what you'd have to do is you take a walk around, you record any unusual experiences you have. You would have to remain really focused for this, so you'd use something as an anchor to do that, an object or a phase that would keep you focused. Um, if you encounter anything unusual it doesn't specify what it could be spirits, it could be unusual animals, anything like that you've got to remain respectful and strong and then, when you reach this destination, this um place of power, as it were. You would meditate on everything you'd seen, everything you'd heard, everything you'd felt, and you try your best to understand its meaning, and then you'd have to return home the exact same way you came. So if you came a long winding path, you have to go back that same winding path, and hopefully that would give you some insight into the year to come.
