Our Numinous Nature
Society & Culture
About
Our Numinous Nature is a traveling podcast in search of profound stories focused on regional flora & fauna, folklore & history with a penchant for the mysterious and the hunt. We’ll be hearing from folks with a deep connection to the land, from herbalists to hunters, folk artists, paranormal investigators, & living historians. The hope is to reach the soul of these people & places through tales of profundity & awe. Find a comfy log and join us at the sonic campfire.
Episodes
- SPIRITS IN STONE: HUDSON VALLEY MEGALITHS, CAIRNS & SERPENT WALLS | Researcher | Glenn Kreisberg
Glenn Kreisberg is a researcher, engineer, author of Spirits in Stone: The Secrets of Megalithic America and co-founder of The Overlook Mountain Center in Woodstock, New York. For this in-the-field episode, we visit a mysterious archaeolog…
- ARTIFACT HUNTING + FORGOTTEN HISTORY OF EARLY VIRGINIA | Amateur Archaeologist | Dominique Kostelac
Dominique Kostelac is an amateur archaeologist, artifact hunter, farmer and all-around history buff living outside Charlottesville, Virginia. After a newspaper reading from 1869 about uncovering the skeletal remains of a conquistador in Ap…
- WEST VIRGINIA FUR AUCTION: BEAVERS & SKUNKS, ROOTS & ODDITIES | From Trappers to Buyers
The West Virginia Fur Auction is an annual fur, root, skull & antler consignment sale in Glenville, West Virginia. After a reading about the first fur-trade explorations over the Alleghenies into West Virginia in 1671-74, we head into the…
- 44-YEARS AN APPALACHIAN TRAPPER; NATURAL HISTORY ON THE BOBCAT-LINE | Trapper | Steve McCue
Steve McCue is a trapper, naturalist, all-around outdoorsman & Vice President of the West Virginia Trappers Association from Nicholas County, West Virginia. On this in-the-field episode we visit his wall-tent camp and head out for a mornin…
- BEAR HUNTING BROTHERS, PART II: THE CHASE | Houndsman | Nathan Griffin
Nathan Griffin [like his younger brother] is a lifelong houndsman, bear hunter, and commercial turkey farmer in Pendleton County, West Virginia. On this 2nd part of our in-the-field, ride along with Appalachian bear hunting brothers we ope…
- BEAR HUNTING BROTHERS, PART I: SCUFFLES, CAT TRACKS & A WAR WHOOP | Houndsman | Jacob Griffin
Jacob Griffin is a lifelong houndsman, bear hunter and turkey farmer in Pendleton County, West Virginia. This is the first of a two-part podcast series recorded in the field with the Griffin brothers as we drove up rough mountain forest ro…
- HUNTING GROUNDS OF THE EASTERN WOODLAND INDIANS | Living Historian | Doug Wood
Doug Wood is a West Virginia living historian portraying the life of the eastern woodland American Indians. After a reading about bear hunting & raccoon trapping with Mohawks in 1755, Doug describes how a historical trail project mixed wit…
- THE ANTIQUARIAN ANGLER; FLY FISHING FROM THE MEDIEVAL TO EARLY MODERN | Sportsman | Harrison Idol
Harrison Idol is a sportsman, fly fisherman, Army Officer and budding antiquarian currently building up his collection of antique sporting books in Maryland. After a reading from The Compleat Angler written in 1653 about fly tying & trout,…
- THE FRONTIER LIFE OF THE LONGHUNTERS | Living Historian | Simeon England
Simeon England is a blacksmith, traditional flintlock hunter, and living historian portraying the 18th-century frontiersmen, scouts and longhunters of Kentucky. We start this living history episode about the daily lives of the colonial lon…
- 18TH-CENTURY TRADES FAIR; OF BODGERS, HORNERS & SMITHS | Craftsmen-&-women
Fair Lawn Farm's 18th-Century Trades Fair is an annual living history trades encampment in bucolic Highland County, Virginia, featuring artisans affiliated with the likes of Colonial Williamsburg, The Frontier Culture Museum, The Smithsoni…
- BRITISH FERRETING: RABBITS, POACHERS & A BOX OF FERRETS | Ferreter | Simon Whitehead
Simon Whitehead is an English ferreter, professional rabbit manager, traveling game fair demonstrator and author, living & working out of his van in the United Kingdom. After readings about ferreting through the ages from Ancient Rome to V…
- THE IRISH HOMESTEAD + THE TUATHA DÉ DANANN | Herbalist | Terri Conroy
Terri Conroy is an Irish herbalist, homesteader, and YouTuber under the name Danu's Irish Herb Garden in Connemara, Ireland. After a reading from Irish mythology about reincarnation during the founding invasions of Ireland, we begin with T…
- WELSH FOLK: MINERS, CŴN ANNWN & THE MABINOGION | Author | Russ Williams
Russ Williams is a Welsh blogger & the author of Where the Folk; A Welsh Folklore Road Trip from Caernarfon, Wales. After readings about the Cŵn Annwn [a mythological pack of otherworldly hunting hounds], we open our conversation on Welsh…
- AVEBURY: STONE CIRCLES, BURIAL MOUNDS & PSYCHEDELIC VISIONS | Mythologist | Oliver Lavery
Oliver Lavery is an English mythologist, folklorist, traveling professional storyteller, and host of The Story Crow YouTube channel from Wiltshire County, England, the home of Stonehenge. For this summer solstice special, our return guest…
- BLACK COWBOYS, JUGS & RHYTHM BONES | Songster | Dom Flemons
Dom Flemons, aka The American Songster, is a Grammy-award winning, founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, as well as a solo Piedmont blues, folk, and old-time musician and historian/scholar of American music residing in Chicago,…
- DIARY OF ABANDONMENT: DILAPIDATED HOUSES & A DIVINE CALLING | Photographer | Laura Stotts
Laura Stotts is a North Carolina photographer, genealogist, and writer known as Diary of Abandonment, dedicated to the lost histories of abandoned houses. We begin with her recent preservation work, a field day chinking a cabin at the worl…
- UNSEEN WORLDS, ELEMENTALS & BIODYNAMIC FARMING | Esotericist | Donna La Pré
Donna La Pré is an esotericist and biodynamic farmer who under the name Tender Flower creates potent perfumes and natural skincare products in her home workshop in Rappahannock County, Virginia. On this highly esoteric exploration of unsee…
- AN ALCHEMICAL APOTHECARY & THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE | Alchemist | Phoenix Aurelius
Phoenix Aurelius is a modern day alchemist & founder of the Phoenix Aurelius Research Center [specializing in spagyric medicine] tucked away in the mountains of Webster County, West Virginia. On this esoteric excursion into the mind of an…
- GOD + SNAKE HANDLING CHURCHES OF APPALACHIA | Religious Scholar | Dan Wells
Dan Wells Ph.D. is a scholar of American religious history, consulting faculty at Duke Divinity School, Methodist pastor, and hunter outdoorsman in Muskingum County, Ohio. On this episode focused on the Christian God & wild snake handling…
- THE JUNGIAN HUNTER: ALCHEMY, UNICORNS & THE ST.HUBERT STAG | Jungian | WH Martin
William Hess-Martin of Venatic Opus is a writer, hunter, artist and Jungian in Southern Quebec, Canada. On this Jungian walkabout, we explore a handful of the ideas of Swiss psychoanalyst, Carl Jung, as they relate to hunting. After Jungia…
- WILLIAM FAULKNER'S BEAR, BIG WOODS & OLD SOUTH | English Professor | Scott Yarbrough
Dr. Scott Yarbrough, PhD is a professor of English at Charleston Southern University, as well as the host of two literary podcasts, Reading McCarthy & Great American Novel out of Charleston, South Carolina. This episode is dedicated to the…
- THE GREEN KNIGHT OF CHRISTMAS + CERNUNNOS + A BAPTISM OF BEES | Mythologist | Oliver Lavery
Oliver Lavery is an English mythologist, folklorist, traveling professional storyteller, and host of The Story Crow YouTube channel from Wiltshire County, England. For this Christmas special we focus in on one of the most mysterious Yuleti…
- GHOST DOGS OF BRITAIN + THE WILD HUNT & WASSAILING | Folklore Researcher | Mark Norman
Mark Norman is an English folklore researcher, author, lecturer and host of The Folklore Podcast in Devon, England. We begin with comparative readings about spectral road dogs in Virginia and in England. Mark tells us a bit about his count…
- ARTEMIS: GODDESS OF THE HUNT + VISIONS FROM HER TEMPLES | Ancient Historian | Carla Ionescu
Dr. Carla Ionescu, PhD is an ancient historian, author, traveling lecturer, Canadian university professor, founder of The Artemis Research Centre and host of The Goddess Project podcast. With hunting seasons upon us, we begin this odyssey…
- SCOTTISH FOLK: SAMHAIN & THE CAILLEACH, CANNIBALS & POACHERS | Storyteller | Eileen Budd
Eileen Budd is a professional Scottish storyteller, the host of the Scottish Folk podcast, and an artist & author in Angus, Scotland. After a Halloween reading about skull broth, Eileen describes where she lives in Scotland and the floods…
- SIGNS, CURES & WITCHERY; GERMAN FOLK MAGIC & MUSIC OF WEST VIRGINIA | Folklorist | Gerald Milnes
Gerald Milnes is a folklorist, fiddler, author, documentary filmmaker, ethnomusicologist, amateur anthropologist and the former Folk Arts Coordinator at the Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, WV. He is the book author & documentary filmmak…
- FERAL PEOPLE OF APPALACHIA + BLACK MOUNTAIN HAUNTINGS | Paranormal Investigator | Brian Jeffrey
Brian Jeffrey is a paranormal investigator in Farragut, Tennessee, who's served in the US Army and as a former Park Ranger. After historical readings about wild men & feral children, we open on Knoxville's urban sprawl. From there we get t…
- THE BELL WITCH OF TENNESSEE, BLACK DOGS & SPIRITUAL WARFARE | Pastor | Tyler Estep
Tyler Estep is a local historian, former tobacco farmer & Baptist pastor at the oldest church west of Appalachia, in Adams, Tennessee; home of the infamous Bell Witch! After a reading from a 1904 newspaper that summarizes the Bell Witch my…
- CORMAC MCCARTHY'S KNOXVILLE & THE SOUTHERN GOTHIC | English Professor | Bill Hardwig
Bill Hardwig is a Cormacian scholar & associate professor of English at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. This episode is devoted to the early Appalachian Tennessee novels of the late, great, literary master, Cormac McCa…
- GROUNDHOG-OLOGY, 'POSSUM BREEDERS & FOLKWAYS | Naturalist & Storyteller | Doug Elliott
Doug Elliott is a naturalist, herbalist, storyteller, musician, author, illustrator and something of a living legend in Rutherford County, western North Carolina. After a story about deciphering the secret language of trout, we open on Dou…
- GINSENG DIGGERS: A HISTORY OF ROOT GATHERING IN APPALACHIA | History Professor | Luke Manget
Luke Manget is an author, historian, and assistant professor of history at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. After a reading from an 1870’s newspaper about a strange race of beings known as “saugers,” we dive straig…
- TIMELINE JOURNEYING: PAST & FUTURE LIVES, DREAMS & CREATIVITY | Past Life Practitioner | Bobby B
Bobby Baranowski is a past life practitioner, author & former professional musician residing in Asheville, North Carolina. We begin this metaphysical trek in the mountains of "Sedona East" with its many vortexes; then dive headlong into Bo…
- ANCESTOR'S CALL & THE SLAVE NARRATIVE OF MOSES GRANDY | Family Historian | Eric Sheppard
Eric "Mubita" Sheppard is a U.S. Air Force veteran, family historian, and the visionary founder of Mubita LLC in Williamsburg, Virginia. We open on Eric's early life in Baltimore and the events that led up to his spiritual genealogy quest,…
- CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH & THE JAMESTOWN EXPEDITION | Living Historian | Willie Balderson
William Balderson is the Director of Living History & Historic Trades at Jamestown Rediscovery [Historic Jamestowne] in Virginia. After readings from John Smith's accounts about Pocahontas, the local fauna & corn planting, our guest descri…
- DIGGING UP JAMESTOWN; FROM REDISCOVERY TO THE STARVING TIME | Archaeologist | David Givens
David Givens is the Director of Archaeology at Jamestown Rediscovery [Historic Jamestowne] on the James River in the Tidewater region of Virginia. After a nightmarish reading of the trials of the early Jamestown colonists, we start at the…
- MUSIC OF THE SUMMER MOUNTAIN FARM: BUKKEHORNS, MILKMAIDS & HULDRE-FOLK | Musician | Sissel M. Gullord
Sissel Morken Gullord is a Scandinavian musician and singer living on a farm in Biri, Norway. We begin this enchanting musical episode by heading up to the saeter - the summer mountain farm - to hear the instruments, songs, and herding cal…
- DROOP MOUNTAIN ARTIFACTS, GHOSTS & FOSSILS + A TURTLE PARTY | Park Superintendent | Mike Smith
Mike Smith is the former superintendent of Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park, as well as an artifact & fossil enthusiast and traditional bow hunter, in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. We begin with his time at Droop Mountain, metal d…
- OLD TIME BEE HUNTERS, COON HUNTERS & A WORK HEARSE | Beekeeper | Kevin Malcomb
Kevin Malcomb is a beekeeper, former coon-hunter, welder, and mechanic in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. After a reading about the old frontier profession of the bee hunter, Kevin describes both his own & old time methods of Appalachian…
- POE PART II: THE BLACK CAT & OTHER TALES OF MYSTERY & THE MACABRE | Curator | Chris Semtner
Chris Semtner is an artist, author, lecturer & curator at The Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia. In Part II of our Edgar Allan Poe podcast, we begin with an archival recording of "The Black Cat." Then we pick back up where we left off, with…
- POE PART I: VIRGINIA'S RAGGED MOUNTAINS & EDGAR ALLAN'S UPBRINGING | Curator | Chris Semtner
Chris Semtner is an artist, author, lecturer & curator at The Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia. After a reading of Edgar Allan Poe's "A Tale of The Ragged Mountains," we hear part I of Chris' interview on Poe's life, opening on the most po…
- AN ENGLISH CHRISTMAS FEAST: PLUM PUDDING, HOLLY & THE GREEN KNIGHT
For this holiday special we begin with a traditional English Christmas feast as described by a family friend, highlighting a strange historical black dessert called a plum pudding or simply a Christmas pudding. Being topped with a holly sp…
- BJÖRNJÄGARE; A SWEDISH BEAR HUNTER | Professional Hunter | Rasmus Boström
Rasmus Boström is a professional hunter & outdoor gear ambassador in Älvdalen, Sweden. After readings about Scandinavian bear hunting folklore & shape-shifting in the Old Norse sagas, we learn about a regional language & the area's hunting…
- VIKING METALWORK: DWARVES, BOG IRON & THOR'S HAMMER | Blacksmith | Philip Lufolk
Philip Lufolk is a blacksmith in Storvik, Sweden inspired by the archeology & mythology of Scandinavia. We begin on the role of the Viking blacksmith & how bog iron was processed. Philip describes objects & jewelry that he forges based on…
- ICELANDIC FOLKLORE, SORCERERS & A SACRIFICIAL STONE | Museum Manager | Anna Björg
Anna Björg Þórarinsdóttir is the manager of The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft in The Westfjords region of Iceland. We begin on the country's origins as a Viking settlement, followed by life in the traditional turf houses. From t…
- THE VEILED MIRROR: VICTORIAN MOURNING, SECRET SOCIETIES & ABANDONED BUILDINGS | Antiquarians | Kath & Olivia
Kathryn Parker & Olivia Lloyd are owners of The Veiled Mirror, an online store of antique jewelry & curiosities with a penchant for the romantic, dark and macabre based out of Richmond, Virginia. To start this tour of Victorian culture [18…
- THE BESTIARY: A MEDIEVAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ANIMALS REAL & FANTASTIC | Curator of Manuscripts | Beth Morrison
Elizabeth "Beth" Morrison is a specialist in secular manuscript illumination & a senior curator of manuscripts at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California. On this long distance episode we begin with how medieval people made & illuminat…
- THE LOST ART OF THE DOG COLLAR + THE ST. BERNARD BARREL | Museum Curator | Claudia Pfeiffer
Claudia Pfeiffer is the Deputy Director & Head Curator of the National Sporting Library & Museum in Middleburg, Virginia. We begin on their recent exhibition about the art of the dog collar: a haunting cast from the eruption of Vesuvius; a…
- REST IN PIECES; MACABRE ADVENTURES OF A CURIOSITIES COLLECTOR | Oddity Shopkeeper | Justin Torone
Justin Torone is a curiosities collector & the co-owner of Rest In Pieces oddity shop in Richmond, Virginia. After a reading about the historical significance of cabinets of curiosity, Justin begins with lore from the cemetery across the s…
- PAST LIFE REGRESSION & CONVERSATIONS WITH A HUNGRY GHOST | Medium | Carole Louie
Carole Louie is a medium, past life regressionist, hypnotist, author, & director of THE CENTER-RVA in Richmond, Virginia. To ground this nearly psychedelic, often dark, most definitely mystical episode, we begin with the past-life research…
- SHARP'S COUNTRY STORE: PIONEERS, BEE GUMS, & THE ORPHAN AT CLOVER LICK | Antique Dealer | Tom Shipley
Tom Shipley is an antique dealer operating out of his family's 19th-century Sharp's Country Store in Slatyfork, West Virginia. Descending from one of the county's earliest pioneer families, we hear of the lives of Tom's ancestors & their m…