Public Show Notes for VFTWT S01E07, Spooktober E03, Myths & Legends E01: Classic Halloween Monsters

VFTWT S01E07 | Spooktober E03 | Myths & Legends E01: Classic Halloween Monsters, How To Identify and Protect From Them

Bit of a long title, I know. I had been trying to come up with a good algorithm to use for episode numbering and identifying special mini-series and limited runs; the problem is that this episode fits into a couple of different specials as well as the regular season:

VFTWT season 1, episode 7
Spooktober episode 3
Monster Myths & Legends episode 1

Anyway, bit of a work in progress still, but it accomplishes what I need, which is a sortable filename structure that will make it easy for me to tag and find audio files and other assets quickly and easily. So, without further rambling, here are the podcast notes, since some apps don’t pull them from the RSS feed and since the list of monsters and how to deal with them was about 10k characters over the limit anyway.

Air Date: 2021.10.24

Introduction:

Welcome to “Views From the World Tree.” On today’s episode… we take a look behind the curtain and discuss how to protect yourselves from the things that go bump in the night….

Personal News:

Steve:
- This week has been a bunch of downs for me but in order to find some form of normalcy, peace I have been working on developing a new role playing game. It is still in the early stages of development but the premise is the use of modern-ish…. technology and incorporating it into an altered Dungeons and Dragons type of system.
  - I thought it would be fun to develop this system in conjunction with a video game idea that I had so I am writing out a bit of code as I go to create a workflow for later when I have more time. I wanted to do this game as a turn based rpg, similar to what you would see with a table top game, and the game would take place during the turn of the century in the Western United States. My ultimate goal for both of the table top and the computer version of this game is to give folks the feeling of exploring the old western ways.
- I have also made it a month of studying Spanish every single day. If you are familiar with DuoLingo I have made it out of unit one and started unit two which apparently means that I am still a novice learner, but I understand a bit more. I have been trying to listen to spanish television and radio and see if I can pick up more language that way, which seems to be helping.
Adam:
- Your spanish study inspired me to try and learn a language, I already speak Spanish and Portuguese so I decided to learn Norwegian. I’m currently on day 8 or 9 and my official assessment is that grammar is hard.

Current Events:

Adam:
- Agrivoltaics – new trend of co-developing the same plot of land for both solar energy production as well as farming or raising small livestock under a canopy of solar panels.
  - Considered a win-win-win (triple win) situation
    - Increases food production
    - Boosts renewable energy production
    - Saves a significant amount of water
  - Solar panels are placed 10’ above the ground with spacing between rows that provides an optimal mix of sun and shade. The shade pattern moves throughout the day as the earth rotates, so all sections of the growing area all receive some hours of direct sun and some indirect. This mix of direct and indirect sun means that crops require less water and actually yield better than if they were in full sun all day.
  - There’s a point of diminishing returns with sunlight growing plants – plants can only use so much sun and any extra after the point of sunlight saturation only increases the need for water without increasing photosynthesis. The air under the panels stays cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter
  - Estimates from an OSU study show that converting just 1% of American farmland to Agricola is would meet the USA’s current renewable energy targets.
  - The electricity from the solar also gives farmers a secondary source of income if they live in a state that gives credits for a grid-connected system that puts energy into the grid.
  - Jack’s Solar Garden in Boulder open for volunteers and tours
Steve:
- I was reading today in one of my scientific journals that I like to peruse that elephants in Africa are starting to go through an adaptation where they are losing their tusks. Scientists believe that this is due to the ivory poachers and that the breeding elephants in certain areas of Africa have diminished tusks thus limiting the size of the tusk in the gene pool. In certain areas they are finding that some female elephants have no tusks at all, which is baffling scientists because tusk size is linked to the X chromosome and the likelihood of a double recessive that shows no tusks in females while still allowing tusks to grow in males is counter intuitive to Mendelian genetics.
  - Chromosomal migration? Because male elephants use their tusks for fighting do they keep them while the females lose them for protection? This is an interesting concept and kind of cool to see Darwin’s theories acting out in real time with a species much larger than the bacteria and fungi biologists tend to study genetics on in the modern age.

Main Topic:

With the veil between life and death reaching its thinnest point during the month leading up to Halloween, at least according to Celtic Mythology, we wanted to share some of the spooky monsters of the season and how to protect yourselves from impending doom if you were to stumble across them. This weeks will be a fun look at some of the dangers of the season.
Halloween Monsters
- Witches
  - What: A practitioner of witchcraft, stereotypically female. Most common definition of witchcraft is a supernatural means used to bring harm to others. Also covers voodoo, hoodoo, seidr and others. Almost all cultures have stories of witches or their counterparts
  - Abilities/Traits:
    - Can alter their appearance to seem beautiful
    - Spellcasting
    - Typically dwell in dark, twisted woods, moors, or gloomy swamps
  - Protect:
    - Witches have a superiority complex and will actually strike bargains with mortals if they show her subservience and respect. Some of these bargains can actually be mutually beneficial, but the witch will likely try to turn the tables when possible.
    - Typically witches were killed by burning alive, though Harry Potter makes it clear that burning a witch actually has a pleasant tickling feeling and the witches would just disapparate when the flames appeared to engulf them.
- Demons
  - What: Demons are the embodiment of chaos and evil, engines of destruction barely contained in monstrous forms. They have no compassion, empathy, or mercy – they exist only to destroy.
  - Abilities/Traits:
    - Plants wither and die wherever demons tread.
    - The more a demon kills, the stronger it becomes.
    - Can possess mortal humans and creatures.
    - Warlocks and some dark sorcerers are able to summon and bind demons to their will, but this often ends poorly for them when they lose control and the demon turns on them.
  - Protect:
    - Supernatural demon trap tattoo
    - Holy water burns lesser demons who are in possession of a mortal body
    - Demons cannot be slain in this world, if they are killed in this world, they dissolve into ichor and immediately reform in their own realm with it’s mind and memories intact, and it will eventually make its way back to our world to exact revenge on the mortal who dispatched it.
    - The only way to permanently kill a demon is to travel to their realm and kill them there.
- Vampires
  - What: Awakened to an endless night, vampires hunger for the life they have lost and sate their hunger by drinking the blood of the living. Vampires have no emotion, so they fixate on physical symbols of what they crave – art, books, trophies, etc.
  - Abilities/Traits:
    - Don’t have reflections or shadows
    - Feelings they held in life get twisted in undeath – love turns into unhealthy obsessions, friendship becomes bitter jealousy.
    - Super strong, can fly (some stories say they turn into bats, some say they just fly without transforming)
  - Protect:
    - Vampires remain chained to their coffin, crypt, or grave, and they must rest there during the day. If they want to move that location they must transport their coffin along with a significant amount of grave dirt from their original grave.
    - Can be killed by Garlic, stakes, holy water, sunlight, beheading
- Werewolves (Lycanthrope)
  - What: One of the oldest and most feared curses, lycanthropy can transform the most civilized human into a ravenous beast. In their natural human form, they appear as their normal self and may or may not be aware that they are cursed. They can be cursed by a powerful spellcaster, or the curse can spread from an infected bite or scratch inflicted by an existing werewolf. Worth noting that a lycanthrope is an overarching term for were-creatures, most common are wolves, bears, and boars.
  - Abilities/Traits:
    - In their wolf form, they resemble an extremely powerful version of a normal wolf, but usually have glowing eyes and are unnaturally intelligent.
    - Evil – hide among populations or normal folk, emerging in animal form at night to spread terror and bloodshed.
    - Good – reclusive hermits that live alone away from villages and towns
    - Werewolves can choose to change at any time, but on the 2-3 nights of the lunar cycle when the moon is full, they cannot stop themselves from transforming into their wolfish alter ego.
    - The more they allow themselves to indulge in their bloodlust, the less control they retain but with perseverance, many werewolves lead semi normal lives.
  - Protect:
    - Silver bullet, silver knife, or kill the werewolf that cursed them.
- Ghosts
  - What: A ghost is the soul of a once-living creature, bound to haunt a specific location, creature, or object that held significance to it in life.
  - Abilities/Traits:
    - Unfinished Business – the ghost yearns to complete some unresolved task from its life. It might seek to avenge its own death, fulfill an oath, etc. It may not realize that it is dead.
    - Manifestation – Profound feelings of melancholy and yearning emanate from haunted places. Strange sounds or unnatural silences are common. Cold spots are also a giveaway.
  - Protect/Kill:
    - Help the ghost finish it’s unfinished business
    - Salt and burn the corpse’s bones OR if no bones to be found, burn the object they are haunting
- Skeletons
  - What: Reanimated human remains, usually performed by a necromancer, with limited ability to think and reason, mostly just follows simple orders.
  - Abilities/Traits:
    - Increased strength – whatever sinister force awakens a skeleton infuses its bones with a dark vitality, adhering joints together and reassembling dismantled limbs. This dark magic makes them stronger than they were in life.
    - No supernatural abilities other than what give it mobility, generally they are limited to whatever physical weapons they can find. Similar to Zombies, except they are risen by magic, not a contagion.
    - Smarter than zombies – if they encounter a locked door, the skeleton will try the handle first, whereas the zombie will just bash its limbs and head against the door in futility.
    - Doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.
  - Protect:
    - Skeletons are clumsy and slow, you can outrun them
    - If you can break enough bones or sever enough joints, the skeleton will be unable to function
    - Alternatively you can try and break the binding spell that raised them from the dead in the first place.
- Zombies (and Frankenstein’s monster)
  - What: Like skeletons, they are dead human bodies that have been reanimated by magical means. Sometimes this is intentional, and sometimes the dead rise as a side effect when powerful necromantic magic is performed in an area. They can also be created as the result of a plague or virus that targets the brain. Generally slower and weaker than skeletons. They are less decayed than skeletons, usually having at least most of their flesh still clinging to their frames.
  - Abilities/Traits:
    - If a zombie bites a human, the curse can pass onto the human.
    - Very dumb – no reasoning skills, easily defeated by things like doors and walls. Take the most direct route to a foe, unable to comprehend obstacles.
  - Protect:
    - Zombieland rule 1 – cardio, rule 2 – double-tap.
    - Have to destroy the brain or sever the brain stem.

Mindfulness Moment:

These two quotes came to mind when I was out in my backyard with the dog. I have two huge birch trees and just the last day or so they have turned the most beautiful shade of gold.
- “Autumn is a second Spring when every leaf is a flower.” Albert Camus
- “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” – L.M. Montgomery – Anne of Green Gables

Next Episode Sneak Peek:

A look at the pagan origins of Halloween going back to the Norse Vaetrnatr and how that inspired the Celtic festival of Samhain. Also a look at the origins of some of the modern traditions like trick-or-treating, masks, and pumpkin carving.

Do you have a request for a subject that you’d like us to talk about on a future episode? Or is there a particular topic for which you have a passion and you’d like to come on the show as a guest? Either way, send an email to podcast@viewsfromtheworldtree.com or message us through one of our social media accounts, the links to which can be found on our new website http://viewsfromtheworldtree.com – We look forward to hearing from you.
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