0:01

Welcome Back on the Broomestick, a

0:03

modern spoken - word grimoire, where

0:05

two witchy friends from way back

0:08

are reconnecting to their pagan roots

0:10

after a long period of mandanity. We're

0:12

We're re the path of the wise and

0:14

trying out all the latest spells,

0:16

rituals, and magical theory in today's

0:18

witchcraft and pagan and pagan grab your

0:20

wand and your incense. and your cauldron and

0:22

your crystals. and your us as

0:24

we get us as on the back the

0:27

Broomstick. Hi,

0:29

and welcome to Back on the Broomstick. On this

0:32

episode, we'll be talking talking little

0:34

bit of good news from our

0:36

mailbox, from a little bit of

0:38

bad news in the form

0:40

of religious discrimination, form and to

0:42

celebrate the season in historical celebrate the

0:45

season in solstice ghost story. I'm winter

0:47

solstice ghost and you know,

0:49

we Shell, and you know, we got feel like I

0:51

feel like blues mail. We just got

0:53

a letter. Wonder who it's from.

0:55

So what did we get, get, in

0:57

our new new PO box? first of

0:59

all, I I just... want to put out there. out

1:02

For those who might have missed we

1:04

are it, we are at, mailing-wise,

1:06

PO Box 106, Salem, Massachusetts, 01970. Send us

1:08

stuff. We like stuff. Send us a letter. us

1:10

stuff. We like stuff. Send

1:12

us a letter. Send us

1:14

a card. I don't care.

1:16

Just send us something. I

1:18

the box the box and finding

1:21

stuff, seriously. And if you

1:23

send us a yule us a yule we will send one back

1:25

to you. to if you send us a yule card

1:27

and it us a us after your and it gets

1:29

to back. you, gotten a little bit of

1:31

mail one we're so excited about it. We're

1:33

going to have to share it with you

1:35

guys. and we're so want to talk real quick

1:37

about what we share it with you guys. So, I start

1:39

with, quick who am I starting with? And

1:41

I want to start Angela.

1:44

starting with? you. Angela

1:46

sent us a card which

1:48

love cardinals, and has has on

1:50

it. on it. have like

1:52

a, some type of meaning

1:54

for like a spiritual

1:56

meaning? spiritual the thing,

1:58

they say say if

2:00

you see a

2:02

car it is like the spirit

2:04

of a loved one coming to

2:06

visit. Okay, so it's like a,

2:08

it's like your ancestors coming back,

2:10

like one of your, one of

2:12

your beloved dead coming to say

2:14

hi? Yeah, basically. But I think

2:16

instead of being more like far

2:18

back ancestors, it's more like people

2:20

that you've known in this life

2:22

who've passed on. Right, like your

2:25

recent dead, your beloved dead. Right,

2:27

like, you know, maybe your grandma

2:29

or something. And when you see

2:31

a cardinal, I guess it's that.

2:33

Like them saying hi. It's funny

2:35

because, you know, there's the theme

2:37

of our show today right there.

2:39

It is ghosties coming at Christmas

2:41

time. Well, before we get to

2:43

the ghost stories, we want to

2:45

get to the goodies. We're going

2:47

to have a little bit of

2:49

Santa Sweet before we get to

2:51

our crampus scary. With this card,

2:53

you know, I love these people.

2:55

Angela says she looks forward to

2:57

us every week. That just makes

2:59

me smile. I love that you

3:02

guys are amazing. We have a

3:04

lot of fun doing this and

3:06

it's just awesome that you're all

3:08

along for the ride with us.

3:10

So Angela, thank you. I love

3:12

the card. Awesome and Georgia sounds

3:14

like a cool place. The next

3:16

card Shell showed me right away

3:18

because the stamps on it are

3:20

Wonder Woman and yes I am

3:22

a nerd. I used to collect

3:24

comic books not necessarily Wonder Woman

3:26

although I love her. You know,

3:28

the minute I saw this envelope,

3:30

I was like, holy shit, I

3:32

gotta take pictures of the stamps

3:34

and send them to Layla right

3:36

now. You know me so well.

3:39

It's perfect. How bad ass? I

3:41

love that. We need a little

3:43

Wonder Woman energy right now. Right?

3:45

And this has got both the

3:47

modern Wonder Woman and the classic

3:49

Wonder Woman, so how cool is

3:51

that? For any Gen Xers, I

3:53

just want to say I had

3:55

Wonder Woman Underoos. I think I

3:57

did too. I almost miss them.

3:59

Just saying, okay. Seriously, if somebody

4:01

made those in grown-up size right

4:03

now, I would absolutely wear Wonder

4:05

Woman. under rose. For real. Bad

4:07

ass. Especially now I'm getting into

4:09

like my cozy era. So I'm

4:11

just wearing all the cozy things.

4:13

We got the little electric fireplaces

4:16

going. We're decorating for Yule and

4:18

you know I'm just kind of

4:20

getting into the whole winter vibe.

4:22

It's snowy up here and you

4:24

can't do anything else anyway. I'm

4:26

trying to enjoy it. Anyway, this

4:28

card that we got is from

4:30

Alania. So Alania sent us this

4:32

adorable snowman card that's full of

4:34

birds all dressed for winter, which

4:36

is absolutely the cutest and thanked

4:38

us for all that we do,

4:40

which whenever you guys send us

4:42

stuff like this, it just really

4:44

makes our day. So we appreciate

4:46

it. You know, I'm so glad

4:48

that you're uplifted and that you

4:50

enjoy us Alania. Thank you. This

4:53

was a lot of fun to

4:55

get a very cute card. Thank

4:57

you. Now I want to wrap

4:59

up our little mailbox piece with

5:01

our final card. I was so

5:03

blown away by this. Me too.

5:05

Oh my gosh, I could not

5:07

believe the time that went into

5:09

this, the thoughts. Now, this card

5:11

was actually handmade, gorgeous by the

5:13

way, and a couple funny things

5:15

about this card. I'm a weirdo.

5:17

I mean, I think we've already

5:19

established that like 80 episodes ago.

5:21

Yeah, we know. Yeah. I look

5:23

at people's handwriting. So for this...

5:25

for this particular person, I just

5:27

want to say, you are in

5:30

like the top 1% of awesome

5:32

handwriting. I just need to put

5:34

them freaking phenomenal, phenomenal. Anywho, handmade

5:36

card, freaking gorgeous. Now here's the

5:38

funny thing on this card on

5:40

the front. You know, they made

5:42

this gorgeous little picture and said

5:44

best wishes for a joyful yule.

5:46

And then they had some holly

5:48

in a crescent moon. Oh, it's

5:50

so cute. The holly and the

5:52

little pine cone and the moon

5:54

and it just looks, the yule

5:56

is all written out. It's so...

5:58

pretty. Now, when I looked at

6:00

the front of this, I was

6:02

like, oh wow, what a cute

6:05

pine cone. Never had a second

6:07

thought. Then I opened it and

6:09

on the inside it says, that

6:11

is supposed to be a pine

6:13

cone, not poop. Oh no. Now

6:15

all I see is that poop

6:17

emoji. For real. I'm just saying

6:19

it's still cute. I would not

6:21

have I would not have thought

6:23

it was poop until you pointed

6:25

it out. So that is like

6:27

totally your bad. That's on you.

6:29

That's on you. I still think

6:31

it's adorable. It just looks like

6:33

the poop emoji is celebrating you.

6:35

But in my defense, I saw

6:37

Pine Cone until you pointed it

6:39

out. Anyhoo. So this card was

6:42

from someone will call E. Thank

6:44

you E. Thank you. And you

6:46

know, I'm not going to read

6:48

the whole thing, but this person

6:50

is very grateful for us. And

6:52

I just want to put out

6:54

that we are very grateful for

6:56

you. Seriously, thank you. You rock.

6:58

This card melted my heart in

7:00

a lot of different ways. You

7:02

all did. You all did. This

7:04

was just amazing. All the letters

7:06

that we got. Thank you guys.

7:08

The fact that people think about

7:10

us, like seriously, I love that.

7:12

Whether we read your letter on

7:14

air or not, we loved getting

7:16

all of them. Thank you so,

7:19

so much. We appreciate all of

7:21

you. And if you'd like to

7:23

send us a card or a

7:25

letter for Yule or the Solstice,

7:27

there's still time. And don't forget,

7:30

if you send us a Yule

7:32

card, we'll send you one back.

7:34

But go ahead and send us

7:36

anything. We got those super cute

7:39

Cephalopod earrings for it, and I

7:41

love those. They're so adorable. And

7:43

those came from our Alaskan cat,

7:45

from Cat's Force of Nature creations.

7:48

Thank you, cat. But yeah, if

7:50

you want to send us something,

7:52

we'll talk about it. Now, Layla,

7:54

can you just remind him real

7:56

quick one more time? What is

7:59

our new PO box address? Send

8:01

it to, back on the broomstick,

8:03

PO Box 106, Salem Massacre. and

8:05

I just love seeing stuff in

8:08

the box. Me too. How fun.

8:10

Now we've had our sweet. Let's

8:12

get to the not so sweet.

8:14

Let's get to some scary things

8:17

that have been in the news

8:19

lately, Shell. Man. I hate the

8:21

news. Right now, nothing good is

8:23

coming out of the news. No,

8:26

nothing good is. So I've kind

8:28

of been avoiding it, but this

8:30

got pointed out to me by

8:32

some of our witchy friends, because

8:35

there's a couple cases of which

8:37

discrimination going on in the United

8:39

States. This pisses me off. I

8:41

just need to put that out

8:44

there first and foremost. So the

8:46

first one that happened is in

8:48

Tulsa, Oklahoma. At the Tulsa City

8:50

Council, there is sometimes... an invocation

8:53

given. In the past, it has

8:55

usually been Christian. Recently, Krista Patrick,

8:57

who is an outgoing council member,

8:59

asked her high priestess, Amy Hardy

9:02

McAdams, to come in and to

9:04

give the invocation. Now, I just

9:06

want to, I have a problem

9:08

already. What's that? If you are

9:11

going to exercise your freedom of

9:13

religion and all that, but like...

9:15

Why did she do it at

9:17

her last one when she was

9:20

outgoing? Why didn't she try to

9:22

do it when she, you know,

9:24

mid-term? You know, you know what

9:26

I mean? Yes, but before we

9:29

jump to bad reasons, a good

9:31

reason for doing it that way

9:33

is exactly what happened, the backlash,

9:35

because she knew that it would

9:38

not be accepted and it was

9:40

not. In fact, there have been

9:42

several comments made, including by... Governor

9:44

Kevin Stitt, the Oklahoma Governor Kevin

9:47

Stitt, said, quote, Satan is trying

9:49

to establish a foothold, but Oklahoma

9:51

is going to be a shining

9:53

city on the hill. Tulsa City

9:56

Council needs to stand strong against

9:58

actions like this, and Tulsa's need

10:00

to remember who allowed this at

10:02

the ballot box. Do we just

10:05

start with, that's your God, not

10:07

ours, buddy? Right, exactly, and that's

10:09

the point, Shell, is yes, maybe

10:11

she should have tried this earlier,

10:14

but he's not the only person

10:16

to have called her a Satanist,

10:18

quite a few people in government

10:20

are saying that this was a

10:23

Satanistic speech, and we know that

10:25

it isn't. So the fact that

10:27

she did it on her last

10:29

day, she still did it. knowing

10:32

that it was going to get

10:34

this kind of backlash. They just

10:36

make themselves look uneducated. But they

10:38

have a base, and those people

10:41

are riled up and starting to

10:43

call this Satanism. No, I heard

10:45

that both of these women were

10:47

even getting death threats. That's ridiculous.

10:50

In this day and age, the

10:52

fact that witchcraft is still equated

10:54

with Satanism is absolutely ridiculous. Interestingly,

10:56

the high priestess, Amy Hardy McAdams,

10:59

got the idea for this speech

11:01

from one of our favorite pagans,

11:03

Lara Tempa Sakharov. Lara has recently

11:05

said a few things for these

11:08

coming troubled times, and she's invoking

11:10

Medusa, and she says, snakes up

11:12

tits out. which I think is

11:14

an excellent slogan, but this invocation

11:17

was to Medusa to that protection,

11:19

that justice figure. We actually have

11:21

the speech, and I'll post the

11:23

speech on our social media, but

11:25

she invoked Medusa to, you know,

11:28

to bring justice. And you know,

11:30

if you read the whole thing,

11:32

it's quite fitting for the current

11:34

times, just. You know, I think

11:37

that there are still a lot

11:39

of places that are set in

11:41

their ways and are hypocritical and

11:43

do as I say, not as

11:46

I do. And that puts people's

11:48

safety at risk. It really does.

11:50

And uneducated or not, they're putting

11:52

people back in that broom closet.

11:55

and that's not

11:57

where we should

11:59

be in 2024.

12:01

in 2024. I agree. I agree, have

12:03

and I have reached out

12:06

in this particular case to Kevin Stitt,

12:08

to Amy, Hardy McAdams, and to

12:10

Krista to for comments, and I comments, and

12:12

I haven't heard back from any of

12:14

them of of yet. Future Layla will

12:16

pop in here if we do hear

12:18

from them. them. I just love the fact

12:20

that you freaking reached out to the

12:22

out to the damn governor. Like, you know, he wants to call

12:24

me a to call bring it on. bring it

12:27

just want to point out,

12:29

we are not knocking knocking

12:31

who follow the temple of the temple of Satan.

12:33

are some are some of my favorite activists.

12:35

I just happen to not be one.

12:37

one. Actually, here in Salem, they have

12:39

the headquarters of the Temple of

12:41

Satan, and every time I drive by

12:44

it, I'm like, look, they're Satan's house.

12:46

House. Nice Nice people. We're not knocking

12:48

it, but we also aren't them either.

12:50

They give out free hugs. free hugs.

12:52

do. They really do. for though, for

12:54

just a second. the Satanic Temple

12:57

in Salem, Massachusetts is actually

12:59

very cool. They were founded

13:01

in 2013. in 2013, and part of

13:03

their mission is to stop, quote, the

13:05

intrusion of Christian values on American

13:07

politics. And I can definitely get

13:09

behind that. So we do like

13:11

the that. So we do that doesn't mean

13:14

that we are them. That's right.

13:16

that we thing here is The thing

13:18

that they're calling us that they're This

13:20

guy is is calling them is

13:22

calling them version of Satanism. know, You

13:24

know, their own God that they just

13:26

won't acknowledge. And I And I

13:29

was willing to think that maybe

13:31

it was just a one a

13:33

one-off. and then I heard

13:35

another story, another discrimination

13:37

story. Why? Why is

13:39

this Why is this happening right now? This

13:42

one has to do with

13:44

a Christmas parade in in a

13:46

town called in West

13:48

West Virginia. They have They have

13:51

a parade every year. and

13:53

you're allowed to submit a

13:55

float. the group the group

13:57

called the Appalachian

13:59

Ministry. had a a float all ready

14:01

to go in the parade and were

14:03

told were minute that they were not

14:06

allowed. not allowed of their their faith.

14:08

Now, first of all, that's Like,

14:10

that's illegal. And illegal. And I'm

14:12

not saying that what happened

14:14

in Tulsa isn't illegal, but

14:16

like this is this is like,

14:18

flag flag illegal. Yeah. Yeah,

14:21

well at at least in Tulsa, she

14:23

was allowed to speak. They just

14:25

called her names afterwards. her names right,

14:27

but this is like blatantly illegal.

14:29

Like, you can't do this because

14:31

you are do this because you illegal. It

14:33

gets worse, Shell. I reached out

14:36

to Donna. to Donna. I love that

14:38

you just like... got pissed off at

14:40

all of this stuff and like

14:42

just started like people about these things.

14:44

about not going to be quiet I am

14:46

not I am no longer going to

14:48

allow shit like this to pass.

14:50

It just should not. So if I

14:52

can amplify It in any way, I'm

14:54

absolutely going to. You know, any way, I'm

14:56

absolutely going definitely the way

14:59

to go. definitely those who

15:01

can kind of stand up and

15:03

unite, of we are. up and unite, here

15:05

we are. no disrespect to those

15:07

who are not able to for

15:09

a a of reasons, but for

15:11

those who can, who can, you know,

15:13

is the time to be loud

15:15

and proud. So I I reached out

15:17

to Reverend Donna who is the

15:19

organizer for this. and she and she

15:22

did get back to me. said

15:24

that her application, the application, the application

15:26

for the float was approved at the

15:28

beginning of the week. week. The day

15:30

day before the parade, she gets a

15:32

call from the parade volunteers. And

15:34

they said that the the

15:36

had decided to not accept

15:39

their entry because they were And quote,

15:41

on your website it on your website

15:43

it states that you work with

15:45

And Donna said, yes we do, said, a

15:47

yes, we do, we are

15:49

a Pan -Pagan organization that works

15:51

to facilitate the practice of

15:53

those non -Abrahamic paths who are

15:55

incarcerated, incarcerated, and or in

15:57

recovery from substance abuse. abuse.

15:59

She a second chance,

16:01

chance, asshole. Exactly. So Donna

16:04

said she because she is

16:06

is taking no shit either, that she was

16:08

she was going to make it very

16:10

clear that the the was violating their

16:12

civil rights. And she is she is 100%

16:15

going to file a complaint with

16:17

the DOJ Civil Rights And they got

16:19

back in touch with the mayor,

16:21

even after telling him telling him what

16:23

title and section of the law he would

16:25

be in violation of. They

16:27

called back and said. said. I'm so

16:29

sorry, Donna, the The

16:32

mayor said absolutely not. Now, I

16:34

don't know I don't know if you've licked a - guy

16:36

up online, but I've looked

16:38

up the I've looked up the I'm

16:41

not surprised. mayor. I'm not

16:43

surprised. And know, this

16:45

goes back to

16:47

back of education. education

16:49

and how he he

16:51

is not being

16:53

prosecuted. He should should

16:55

be. It's literally religious discrimination.

16:58

It is a clear case of religious

17:00

discrimination and Donna knows the letter

17:02

of the law so she will be

17:04

following up on this on I will

17:06

let you guys know what happens. know

17:08

You know, go You know, go you know,

17:11

rock on rock we are proud of

17:13

you you and we appreciate you standing

17:15

for all those who can't stand up

17:17

for us. up And thank you for

17:19

all that the Appalachian the Appalachian pagan a

17:21

great group. does. know, right? group.

17:23

I know, right? So our sweet

17:25

and our sour for this

17:27

episode. episode. Damn. Well, you know, hey, this know,

17:30

this is this is the modern is, this

17:32

This is solstice with pagans. We're

17:34

not gonna shy away from the

17:36

bad. You know, we're gonna embrace

17:38

both sides of the holiday. both

17:40

Okay, let's get into some f - fun stuff

17:42

let's All right. some fun We've

17:44

talked in the

17:47

past about ghost stories

17:49

ghost stories traditions and

17:51

this is is something I think

17:53

that the Western needs to embrace. We

17:56

did talk on our last episode

17:58

about how Yule is kind of almost just

18:00

as thin-veiled as sown, and ghosts go

18:02

hand-in-hand with thin veil. Klaanau. Yeah, and

18:05

there are several traditions that talk about,

18:07

you know, your dead come back around

18:09

sown, and then they get escorted back

18:12

to the other worlds, to the netherworld,

18:14

to the summer lands at this time

18:16

of year. So this is when they're

18:19

kind of like the last hurrah. They're

18:21

going to say goodbye now. Now I

18:23

don't know how this ever got lost

18:26

because obviously I love this but in

18:28

Victorian times this was like a huge

18:30

huge thing. Yeah exactly they think the

18:33

ghost telling tradition goes back to the

18:35

Victorian era and possibly even further back

18:37

it is the middle of winter it's

18:39

dark it's cold and creepy so that

18:42

goes hand in hand with telling ghost

18:44

stories but there's also the tradition of

18:46

the beloved dead walking the land and

18:49

walking the land and one last time

18:51

before they get carried off in the

18:53

wild hunt. And, you know, the Victorian

18:56

eras also when the spiritualism movement was

18:58

really popular. So, ghost stories, of course,

19:00

were a huge part of that. Now,

19:03

even though people kind of have lost

19:05

this tradition, there are hints of it

19:07

still. And one of them is, what

19:10

is the most favorite? thing people go

19:12

watch like a theater production or whatnot.

19:14

Miracle on 34th Street. Which I can't

19:16

stand. I've never seen that all the

19:19

way through. I haven't either. It's too

19:21

depressing to be honest. A Muppet Christmas

19:23

Carol. Muppet, I know. I mean it

19:26

doesn't get better than the muppet version.

19:28

Just the best version. Yeah. But take

19:30

a step back and think the most.

19:33

Okay, yeah, that was okay. That was

19:35

a good one, right? Yeah, yeah. All

19:37

right, right. But yeah, so anyway, yeah,

19:40

Christmas Carol. Take a step back and

19:42

look at it. us a ghost story,

19:44

right? I mean, Scrooge has the three

19:47

ghosts, past, present, and future, and, you

19:49

know, I kind of like that, and

19:51

that's kind of really why I've always

19:53

liked a Christmas Carol. You kind of

19:56

end the year with, this is what

19:58

you done, this is where you're at,

20:00

and if you don't get your shit

20:03

together, this is where you're headed. Kind

20:05

of like how we said that's probably

20:07

why I crampus and figures like that

20:10

are getting to be more popular. Everybody's

20:12

like, oh, I'm going to start a

20:14

new, all my resolutions that I'm never

20:17

going to do. You know, you have

20:19

that sense of starting over on the

20:21

new year. So, you know, you will

20:23

time is really a good time to

20:26

reflect. And sometimes your ghosts come back

20:28

to haunt you figuratively and literally. Isn't

20:30

there that, um, that Christmas, uh, Carol,

20:33

that's, uh, the line goes, there'll be

20:35

scary ghost stories and tales of the

20:37

glories of Christmases long, long ago? It's

20:40

the most wonderful time of the year,

20:42

yeah. Bango, yeah, that literally says there'll

20:44

be scary ghost stories. Yeah, but, so,

20:47

but people, like, kind of, this time

20:49

of year. We were talking about before

20:51

we started recording that, you know, I'm

20:54

trying to get more in touch with

20:56

this season. I've spent quite a few

20:58

years in California, in Southern California. So

21:00

I've been out of touch with the

21:03

natural seasons that I grew up with.

21:05

The cold ass more east, say it.

21:07

That's right. Now that I'm on a

21:10

mountaintop, a literal mountaintop in Pennsylvania. Concordown.

21:12

I have a lot of snow. You

21:14

know, so I'm I'm connecting with my

21:17

land in ways that. are a little

21:19

different, you know, and I'm trying to

21:21

embrace the cold, but I'm going within

21:24

a lot more, I guess, is the

21:26

point. I'm reading more, I'm, you know,

21:28

I could see where, you know, it

21:31

can get a little heavy. Well, and

21:33

also, you know, it's getting darker. We

21:35

haven't quite hit that, you know, darkest

21:37

night quite yet. It's kind of that...

21:40

You know, you're prone to go within,

21:42

you're prone to kind of see into

21:44

the shadows, you know, the shadows are

21:47

there longer. This is why we have

21:49

lots of lights and the trees, why

21:51

you have a tree in your bathroom.

21:54

One of our listeners said she had

21:56

three trees in her bathroom shell. I

21:58

love it. I love it. My people.

22:01

My people. And that's why I kind

22:03

of embrace all the lights and the

22:05

decorations. And we just got our tree

22:08

today and how fun is that, you

22:10

know, to kind of really embrace that

22:12

part of the season helps to bring

22:14

you up out of those shadows. And

22:17

you know, I can see we're telling

22:19

a ghost story. could also do that

22:21

like those are fun scares you know

22:24

those are scares that you can kind

22:26

of feel good and safe afterwards right

22:28

yeah i mean it's it's you know

22:31

kind of like that story of Scrooge

22:33

and the whole thing. You know, it's

22:35

scary to kind of see where you've

22:38

been, where you're at, and where you're

22:40

going. Just like a terror reading, nothing

22:42

is set in stone and you have

22:45

the ability to kind of change things

22:47

or get things on track if that's

22:49

what's needed. So, you know, they almost

22:51

kind of play into the ghost stories,

22:54

help that wheel turn into the next

22:56

notch. And we also talked about in

22:58

our last episode that this can be

23:01

a good time to do some letter

23:03

writing, you know, write a letter to

23:05

your recent dead, you know, people that

23:08

you know that have passed in the

23:10

last year. Maybe burn it in a

23:12

cauldron or keep it in a journal,

23:15

but this is a good time to

23:17

write those letters in ritual space to

23:19

them. Maybe when you see a cardinal,

23:21

you know, you can send a message

23:24

to them with that cardinal. I love

23:26

that. Now, you have a ghost story.

23:28

I do have a ghost story. I

23:31

actually reached out to a couple friends

23:33

because you know that I love a

23:35

lady in white ghost story. That's my

23:38

absolute favorite ghosty folk tale. And I

23:40

vaguely remembered that one of my college

23:42

friends from way back. Hi Lindsay, had

23:45

said something about a Christmas-y one. So

23:47

I got in touch with her and

23:49

indeed I have a Lady in White

23:52

Christmas ghost story for you. Oh Lord,

23:54

here we go. Let me guess, let

23:56

me guess, she was in white and

23:58

on the side of a highway. Yes,

24:01

how did you know? Oh my god,

24:03

that's awesome because I didn't know. You

24:05

must be psychic now. All the lady

24:08

and white ghost stories are all pretty

24:10

much the same. This is a folk

24:12

tale that usually has a kernel of

24:15

truth, a tragedy that happened, but every

24:17

single one goes very similarly. A woman,

24:19

usually either a bride to be or

24:22

a recent bride or a woman going

24:24

to meet a man, meets a tragic

24:26

end. then her ghost keeps coming back

24:29

trying to get to a certain place

24:31

and scares everybody. But the ghost stories

24:33

usually do have a kernel of truth

24:35

to them. Not always, but sometimes. How

24:38

does this relate to this time of

24:40

year? Because it happened this time of

24:42

year. So let me tell you, okay,

24:45

so let me tell you the whole

24:47

story. Now I'm going to leave it

24:49

to you guys. I could not find

24:52

online. any information about this particular lady

24:54

in white folk tale. So if anyone

24:56

is from the Ashfield area of Massachusetts,

24:59

please let me know if this is

25:01

something that you have heard of before.

25:03

And Lindsay, while she is a fabulous

25:06

storyteller and an amazing repository of folk

25:08

knowledge and ghosty tales, has been known

25:10

on occasion to embellish them. So she's

25:12

not exactly a reliable narrator. I'm sorry,

25:15

Lynn's, but it's true. I love you.

25:17

So we'll see. You guys let me

25:19

know what you think. Wow, you're hardcore,

25:22

man. All right, you ready, Shell? I'm

25:24

ready. All right, are you comfy, cozy,

25:26

got some tea? I do. All right,

25:29

here we go. Okay, so this happened

25:31

again in Massachusetts, in rural Massachusetts. Now,

25:33

is this far for me? Am I

25:36

going to have to like find different

25:38

ways to drive? I don't know. While

25:40

I'm telling a story, you look how

25:43

far. Ashfield is. Okay. So Ashfield, the

25:45

story supposedly has been told a lot

25:47

in Ashfield. Apparently this is a popular

25:49

folk story that everyone tells all the

25:52

time, particularly around the winter solstice, especially

25:54

when it snows and I'll tell you

25:56

why. The details kind of changed like

25:59

a lot of these stories do. Hold

26:01

on, this is actually near the New

26:03

York border. Okay. So we could like

26:06

meet there? Right, right. So maybe we'll

26:08

have to plan a trip for that.

26:10

All right, so this story begins on

26:13

the winter solstice in the in the

26:15

early 1800s. So there was a young

26:17

woman. Her name was supposedly Eleanor Gray.

26:19

This name changed very little depending on

26:22

the different tellings. So it's probably true.

26:24

So this young Eleanor Gray was preparing

26:26

to go to a grand annual party

26:29

at a nearby manner on Ashfield Lake.

26:31

Like a lot of these stories go,

26:33

she was very kind and beautiful, but

26:36

also very poor. And every year at

26:38

this big estate, there was a huge

26:40

winter solstice ball, and pretty much all

26:43

the young people would go there, and

26:45

that's where they would all hook up

26:47

and meet their future spouses. Nice, nice.

26:50

That'd be so romantic, right? It's like

26:52

Bridgeton and Winter Soul's sister, right? So

26:54

Eleanor, of course, really wanted to go

26:56

because she dreamed of finding a rich

26:59

husband, right? So she prepared for years.

27:01

She scrimped and saved, you know, she

27:03

worked different jobs trying to save enough

27:06

money to make a beautiful dress and

27:08

she and her mother. sewed this gorgeous

27:10

white silk dress that she was going

27:13

to wear to the solstice ball. Now

27:15

rumor has it that Eleanor had not

27:17

actually waited for the ball to find

27:20

her one true love and had hooked

27:22

up with not one but two lucky

27:24

gentleman in town. She was involved with

27:27

the blacksmith, huh, right? Big Arms, can't

27:29

blame her. She was also involved with

27:31

one of the sons, I don't know

27:33

if it was the eldest or not,

27:36

depending on the story, it was either

27:38

the oldest son or the youngest son,

27:40

but one of the sons of the

27:43

very manner where this yearly ball was

27:45

held. So, rich swanky dude, right? Now,

27:47

rumor also has it, she was pregnant

27:50

and didn't know who the father was.

27:52

And neither guy knew about the other,

27:54

supposedly. Yikes. So this Winter Souls's ball

27:57

was very special to Eleanor because she

27:59

had told one of the gentlemen that

28:01

she was going to meet him at

28:04

the ball and they would run away

28:06

and be married. Yeah, they all lie.

28:08

She had told the other guy she

28:10

was going to meet him the morning

28:13

after the ball when everyone was still

28:15

sleeping and distracted and run away and

28:17

get married. So she was going to

28:20

see if the first guy showed and

28:22

if he didn't she'd fall back on

28:24

the other? Exactly. Nobody knows who was

28:27

who, which guy she was going to

28:29

leave with at the party and which

28:31

guy she had is back up the

28:34

next morning. So the night of the

28:36

winter solstice rolls around and she dresses

28:38

into this gorgeous white silk gown and

28:41

her parents don't want her to go

28:43

because the weather is getting bad. I

28:45

get it. If you see on the

28:47

map where it's at, I totally get

28:50

it. She knows that this is going

28:52

to be here last night at home,

28:54

but she's not telling her parents. So

28:57

she's piling on everything she can find

28:59

of value. All her jewelry, she's pinning

29:01

ribbons in her hair and beautiful silver

29:04

clips, and as she pins in the

29:06

last white ribbon, the snow really starts

29:08

to come down. Uh-oh. Father forbids her

29:11

from going, and she leaves anyway. Oh.

29:13

Yeah. There was a terrible argument. She

29:15

storms out of the house, jumps into

29:17

the carriage, and off she goes, into

29:20

the woods, and to the bridge over

29:22

the South River to get to the

29:24

lake where the party was going to

29:27

be. And that's where people think that...

29:29

tragedy struck. What happened? She never made

29:31

it to the ball. So of course

29:34

she never met guy number one or

29:36

guy number two. Later the next morning

29:38

by now people are worried because she

29:41

never came home either. Where's the horse?

29:43

They go looking for her. Of course

29:45

they try to trace the root that

29:48

she would have taken and by the

29:50

bridge they find the horse and the

29:52

cart. Nobody knows exactly what would have

29:54

happened because There was nothing wrong with

29:57

the bridge. It didn't look like she

29:59

had gone off the bridge. There were

30:01

no tracks that went down the road

30:04

to the water. There were no footprints

30:06

of any kind. There was a UFO,

30:08

I know it. It was just the

30:11

horse. The horse was lame and there

30:13

was blood on the seat of the

30:15

carriage. Was the horse lame before it

30:18

left? They don't think so. At least

30:20

I didn't see anything about that. So

30:22

they searched the area and on the

30:25

shore of the river. they found a

30:27

large piece of white satin covered in

30:29

blood. But no tracks around it and

30:31

nothing disturbed by the water. There was

30:34

no sign of her body in the

30:36

water, under the bridge, or anywhere in

30:38

the woods. She was eaten, I know

30:41

it. Maybe. Or aliens. There were rumors

30:43

flew, of course. They said that one

30:45

of the boyfriends or the other boyfriend

30:48

had found out about the other one.

30:50

Kilder. Right. Confronted her on the bridge

30:52

and killed her and killed her. Or...

30:55

you know maybe it was a highwayman

30:57

maybe she got cold feet nobody knows

30:59

what happened maybe it was aliens maybe

31:02

she went into labor and tried to

31:04

run and hide and froze to death

31:06

as far as i know she wasn't

31:08

noticeably pregnant yet so i don't think

31:11

that but maybe could have been a

31:13

miscarriage right yeah and maybe she went

31:15

towards the water maybe but all i

31:18

know is they never found her body

31:20

but very quickly after that she was

31:22

on the bridge wasn't she The people

31:25

started seeing her every time it would

31:27

snow, they'd see her walking across the

31:29

bridge, but as soon as they would

31:32

get to her... she'd be gone. People

31:34

that didn't know about it, when it

31:36

would snow, would talk about seeing this

31:39

pale woman in a white gown, bloodied,

31:41

but as soon as they would stop

31:43

to offer her a ride, she'd be

31:45

gone. Oh my God, I want to

31:48

go look, it's only like two hours

31:50

away from here. Sometimes they would say

31:52

she'd climb up into the carriage, and

31:55

then when they would get across the

31:57

bridge, she would have disappeared. And typical,

31:59

sometimes there was water or ice left

32:02

on the seat, which is a common

32:04

trope in these white lady stories. Now,

32:06

there's a few more things. So the

32:09

first few people that would see her

32:11

ghost obviously thought it was her only

32:13

to have it disappear when they would

32:15

get close to her. Now, sometimes people

32:18

would find themselves after they would chase

32:20

after her, they'd find themselves at the

32:22

bank of the river without realizing that

32:25

was the direction they were going in,

32:27

almost like the ghost was trying to

32:29

lead them to the river. Oh. And

32:32

it's thought that at least three drownings

32:34

that happened in the decades after, right

32:36

around the winter solstice, that they're pretty

32:39

sure could be attributed to the lady

32:41

in white. Like them like trying to

32:43

chase after her and then like falling

32:46

in the water? Right. They obviously don't

32:48

know for sure, but because these drownings

32:50

happened on or near the winter solstice

32:52

during a snowstorm and because of word

32:55

of mouth comments of other people saying

32:57

that they had been chasing this woman

32:59

during a snowstorm and ended up at

33:02

the river without realizing that was the

33:04

direction they were going in. So they

33:06

kind of think maybe those drownings are

33:09

attributable to her. It kind of went

33:11

away for a little while. until a

33:13

salesman in the 1970s was driving through

33:16

the woods along the road during a

33:18

blizzard on the winter solstice and he

33:20

saw a woman on the side of

33:23

the road walking in a white dress

33:25

and her hair was like wild around

33:27

her head and he said that something

33:29

something about the way she was moving

33:32

kind of freaked him out so he

33:34

really wasn't going to stop even though

33:36

it was a woman in a dress

33:39

in a fucking snowstorm but he went

33:41

by her very slowly because the roads

33:43

were slippery and he looked over to

33:46

her and she turned to look at

33:48

him and he said her face was

33:50

quote a pale lifeless mask and her

33:53

eyes were solid black and glinted like

33:55

shards of ice. He said she was

33:57

bloodied down the front and he just

34:00

freaked out and without even realizing it

34:02

he just floored it and was gone.

34:04

When he looked back, nothing. Nobody was

34:06

in his rear view. We really need

34:09

to go there. Another one said that

34:11

a farmer's son, probably in the late

34:13

70s, early 80s, picked up a hitchhiker

34:16

along the road during a snowstorm on

34:18

the winter solstice. You guessed it! And

34:20

he gave her his coat because she

34:23

was shivering badly. She actually got in

34:25

the car, but she didn't talk. He

34:27

said she smiled, and he just kind

34:30

of paid attention to the road because

34:32

it was really slippery and snowing really,

34:34

really, really badly. Then he got across

34:37

the bridge and he was going to

34:39

let her out and he looked over

34:41

to where she was sitting and the

34:43

seat was empty. Where was his coat?

34:46

Uh-huh. No coat. There was no coat

34:48

there. But when he got home, his

34:50

coat was folded on the front port

34:53

covered an ice. No shit. No, I

34:55

looked up this town and we're talking

34:57

a population as of 2020 under 2000.

35:00

So like this ain't like no big

35:02

ass town. No, I guess not. So

35:04

from what I understand that the bridge

35:07

is no longer there, but there is

35:09

a modern road that goes near where

35:11

the bridge was. And on the banks

35:13

of the river... Well, find it, don't

35:16

worry. Supposedly, it shouldn't be too hard

35:18

to find because supposedly just off the

35:20

road before you get to the river.

35:23

where this bridge was, the local people

35:25

have built like maybe a little shrine.

35:27

They put white ribbons and little things

35:30

there. Sometimes they'll go on the winter

35:32

solstice and make offerings to the white

35:34

lady of South River Bridge. God, I

35:37

love it. I love it. Supposedly my

35:39

friends stayed there at some point. and

35:41

was there during the winter. So here's

35:44

her story. She says, I saw her

35:46

once and I swear I'll never drive

35:48

on that road again. So it happened

35:50

on the night of the winter solstice.

35:53

She had been at the party. But

35:55

didn't you say that the bridge was

35:57

no longer there? So how did your

36:00

friend write on it? the road next

36:02

to it, the road that goes next

36:04

to it is where people see her

36:07

now, like not necessarily across the bridge.

36:09

That bridge is gone. There's another bridge

36:11

across the river from what I understand.

36:14

But as far as I know, the

36:16

river, the road goes by where the

36:18

bridge was and that's where she walks.

36:21

Okay. She said she'd been at a

36:23

yule party with some friends and because

36:25

the snowstorm was getting worse, she decided

36:27

to take a shortcut home and go

36:30

that road along the river. And the

36:32

snow started coming down really fast and

36:34

she was getting like tunnel vision, you

36:37

know, when it comes down really fast.

36:39

Yeah, yeah. And she said as she

36:41

rounded the bend near where the old

36:44

South River bridge was, that's when she

36:46

saw the woman standing in the side

36:48

of the road in her headlights. Pale

36:51

figure, long white gown, crazy hair billowing

36:53

in the wind. Her first thought was

36:55

that it was just a woman who

36:58

had somehow maybe left a party and

37:00

gotten stranded and she thought that her

37:02

dress was really inappropriate for the weather

37:04

for the weather, obviously. But she says

37:07

there was something weird about the way

37:09

she moved, which is also what someone

37:11

else had said. And so, of course,

37:14

Lindsay decided she'd give her a ride

37:16

because, you know, she's a girl's girl.

37:18

And she says, every hair on her

37:21

body was standing on end. But she

37:23

was like, even though this feels weird

37:25

as fuck, I cannot leave this woman

37:28

on the side of the road in

37:30

nothing but a dress. She said every

37:32

psychic alarm bell was going off but

37:35

she slowed down anyways and as she

37:37

slowed down she says this woman's head

37:39

tilted towards her and their eyes met

37:41

through the snow and she said they

37:44

were black hollow pits and the way

37:46

that this woman looked at her made

37:48

Lindsay's stomach lurch like she wasn't looking

37:51

at her but was looking through her

37:53

and all she could feel was just

37:55

like a sense of loss. and dread

37:58

and she said her warm car got

38:00

icy. So she physically froze and she

38:02

said her car had kind of idled

38:05

as she had been thinking about stopping

38:07

to pick this woman up and as

38:09

she was deciding whether or not to

38:11

come to a complete stop this woman

38:14

raised her hand and it wasn't like

38:16

she was saying high it was more

38:18

like she was commanding her to stop

38:21

and Lindsay says the snow kind of

38:23

muffled everything and she said her ears

38:25

started ringing. And she realized that her

38:28

radio that had been playing Christmas music

38:30

was completely silent. And she says, when

38:32

the woman took a step towards her,

38:35

that's when she saw the blood. And

38:37

that's it. She said, her fighter flight

38:39

kicked in, she hit the gas, and

38:42

she took off. She looked in the

38:44

rear view, and just like everyone else,

38:46

nothing. No one was there. How reputable

38:48

is this Lindsay girl? Let me tell

38:51

you the last bit because it's cool.

38:53

Lindsay gets to her house and much

38:55

like the gentleman with the jacket, when

38:58

she got out of her car, she

39:00

saw on the passenger side a hand

39:02

print in the frost, on the glass,

39:05

and there was just a little bit

39:07

of blood dripping down from it. Oh,

39:09

fuh. Duh, dun, duh. Okay. I'm going

39:12

to call probably bullshit on the handprint,

39:14

but everything else probably true. Okay, I

39:16

trust your judgment. Good story though, right?

39:19

Oh God, I still want to go

39:21

there. Right, me too, especially on the

39:23

winter solstice. It's coming up. Maybe we

39:25

should make a trip. Seriously, it's not

39:28

that far. It's like a half hour

39:30

from Albany. Not to go left turn

39:32

here, but all of the white lady's

39:35

stories are similar and they're all tragic

39:37

and they're all tragic and unfortunately there's

39:39

one in every state. They're pretty popular.

39:42

That's very true. So there's my ghost

39:44

story for for your you all night

39:46

if you want to tell people of

39:49

this folklore legend Now people what we

39:51

really need to do is we need

39:53

to bring back Ghost storytelling for you

39:56

all. So join the Crusade. Honestly, if

39:58

I'm sitting around making Cinnamon stick and

40:00

dried orange and cranberry decorations, some of

40:02

those salt dough decorations, I want to

40:05

tell ghost stories while I'm doing it.

40:07

Roll up a big fat joint, get

40:09

some good tea going, tell some ghost

40:12

stories. Come on, doesn't it sound like

40:14

a great night? It really does. We

40:16

should get together and do that. You

40:19

know, let's do that. I just want

40:21

to remind everyone one more time back

40:23

on the broomstick P.O. box 106. Salem,

40:26

Massachusetts. Zero, one, nine, seven, zero. Mail

40:28

us shit. We love it. And thank

40:30

you to all of our benefactors. We

40:33

really appreciate you guys. You are the

40:35

reason we are still able to keep

40:37

doing shows. And if you would like

40:39

to become a benefactor, check out the

40:42

link in the show description. We are

40:44

starting to offer some exclusives to our

40:46

benefactor starting this month. We have an

40:49

exclusive episode for you guys that include

40:51

some divinations for at least, I believe,

40:53

two of the people in the group.

40:56

I think the most exciting part about

40:58

it is like, it's video. So we

41:00

have video exclusive for you. And we're

41:03

going to increase those offerings to our

41:05

benefactors going forward. We also have the

41:07

meditation for the Year of the Dark

41:09

Goddess. A lot of you, I'm so

41:12

thrilled at the response this book has

41:14

gotten, and a lot of you are

41:16

doing the Year of the Dark Goddess

41:19

along with us. So I have recorded

41:21

the meditation. I kind of threw in

41:23

a little my own stuff, so hopefully

41:26

that'll be all right. But I've got

41:28

the meditation. I'm going to put that

41:30

on our Facebook group, which is back

41:33

on the Broomomistic. podcast discussion group on

41:35

Facebook. So if you would like to

41:37

check that out, join that group. It's

41:40

an awesome group of witches. And check

41:42

us out on all of the social

41:44

media platforms back on the broomstick. We're

41:46

going to have a lot of extra

41:49

episodes. coming up, up,

41:51

so keep an eye

41:53

out for some solariums and

41:56

our next episode

41:58

on Friday. on We

42:00

will see you next

42:03

week. Enjoy your

42:05

holiday your get into

42:07

that cozy that cozy solstice

42:10

kind of vibe.

42:12

While you are still

42:14

you are it witchy. witchy.