From ancient times to the present, cultures worldwide have celebrated the sun’s return following the winter solstice. In this episode, I bring you the story of the midwinter celebrations of ancient Rome, from Saturnalia to Sol Invictus and beyond.

If there is one thing every reader of fairy tales can tell you, it’s that you should never, ever venture into the woods alone. From the whispering willows to the ominous oaks, this episode brings you the stories of the trees that loom large in our collective imagination, exploring their sinister attributes and the cautionary tales they inspire.

In 1584, Reginald Scot, a little-known English gentleman farmer from Kent, published a work that would shake the foundations of religious and legal authority in Europe. At a time when witch trials were sweeping through Europe, Scot’s book was a rare and radical challenge to the powers that be. This episode brings you the story of Reginald Scot and hisThe Discoverie of Witchcraft.

Only one of several court astrologers advising Catherine de' Medici, "Serpent Queen" of France, how is it that Nostradamus and his writings have such a lasting legacy? This episode brings you the story of Catherine de’ Medici, her occult advisors, and the life and lasting influence of Nostradamus.

In the last decades of the eighteenth century, Thomas Jefferson, began collecting documents related to the history of the Colony of Virginia. Among them was a volume of early seventeenth-century case records from the Williamsburg Courthouse. This one volume, maintained in Jefferson’s private library, survived, and with it, the record of America’s earliest documented witch trial. This episode brings you the story of Goodwife Joan Wright and America’s first known witch trial.

As Europeans embarked on their colonial ventures in the Americas, they also forged new frontiers closer to their homelands. In Norway's far northern territory of Finnmark, settlers from the south moved into the ancestral home of the Indigenous Sámi people, and by the end of the seventeenth century, nearly five percent of the population had been tried for witchcraft. This episode tells the story of Norway’s Vardø witch trials and their legacy.

Despite his dedication to science and mathematics—or perhaps because of it—Pope Sylvester II has been historically linked with legends of magic and sorcery, though these stories are more myth than fact. His reputation for being involved in magic largely stems from his profound knowledge and his use of what was then cutting-edge technology. This episode brings you the story of the life and legacy of Gerbert of Aurillac also known as Pope Sylvester II.

When Spanish colonizers and missionaries came to settle in New Mexico, the resulting cultural, religious, and class tensions between the Spaniards and their Pueblo neighbors would lead to a series of witchcraft trials overseen by the local branch of the Spanish Inquisition. This episode tells the story of colonization, resistance, and witchcraft in colonial New Mexico.

Some men just can't keep their promises. Of course, when that promise is to his magical wife, the consequences can be dire. This episode brings you the story of Melusine, the mythical faerie of the waters said to have founded some of medieval Europe's most powerful ruling dynasties.

Part of the broader witch hunts that swept across Europe during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Basque witch trials unfolded much like their counterparts elsewhere. However, these witch trials were halted by an unlikely hero: a member of the Spanish Inquisition. In this episode, I bring you the story of the Basque witch trials and the inquisitor who put a stop to them.

In New Orleans, Louisiana, the unique blend of Creole culture and Catholic tradition yielded Louisiana Voodoo and its undoubted queen, who served the people of New Orleans as a healer, herbalist, entrepreneur, spiritual leader, social worker, and community activist. This episode brings you the story of Marie Laveau, Voodoo Queen of New Orleans.

Folklore from around the world contains the stories of household gods, fairies, sprites, and other spirits who protect a house’s inhabitants or a given family. These spirits can be mischievous at times but are often downright helpful. Of course, that all depends on how they’re treated. From baku to brownies, this episode brings you the stories of some helpful household spirits from around the world.

The experience of falling asleep only to be awakened by terror, realizing you cannot move and feeling something pressing on your chest, is surprisingly common in human experience, though the entity that one sees—or not—often depends on cultural expectations. Night-hag, demon, or invisible assailant, in this special Halloween episode and season four finale, I bring you the story of the “Night-Mare.”

The haunting of Ann Haltridge of Knowehead House, Islandmagee, began in September 1710. It ended with her death less than six months later. In this episode, I bring you the story of a haunting, a death, and the last witch trial in Ireland: the case of the Islandmagee witches. How does one girl's affliction shape a community's fear?

In 1575 inquisitors in northern Italy discovered the benandanti, a band of self-professed spiritual warriors who claimed to send their spirits forth in their sleep to engage in ritual night battles to defend the season's harvest from witches. In this episode, I bring you the stories of two men prosecuted by the Inquisition for their witch-fighting ways. When records obscure reality, who can find the truth?

Corinne is in Italy for the summer and has brought some of the sounds and stories of the Tuscan city of Lucca to Enchanted. In this episode, we explore the legends of saints and devils, the portal to Hell in one of Lucca's churches, and Lucida Mansi, Lucca's most famous ghost. In a city that's existed since the third century BCE, aren't there bound to be a few mysteries?

Over the centuries, stories of the Pythia have been collected in texts devoted to myth, poetry, philosophy, history, and political science. In this episode, we explore the story of the Oracle of Delphi, her prophecies, and attempts by modern researchers to explain the oracle’s gift. Who was this priestess, and what power did she hold over the ancient Mediterranean world?

In an era shaken to its core by dramatic political and social change, a nation wracked by war and looming economic disaster looked for a villain to blame. In Russia, on the eve of the October Revolution, that villain was the charismatic holy man who had seemingly bewitched the tsar and the royal family. In this episode, we explore the life and the many deaths of Grigori Rasputin. Was he a spiritual guide, a faith healer, or a wielder of occult forces?

Before Salem, there was Windsor, Wethersfield, and Hartford. Thirty years before the famous witch trials of 1692, Connecticut became the first colony in New England to execute a convicted witch. In this episode, we explore the stories of New England's earliest convicted witches and the modern legislation that seeks to exonerate them. When injustice is clear, what do we owe the past?

In Renaissance Italy, a young widow must hold herself, her family, and her lands together to survive. The answers may lie in alchemy. In this episode, we explore the life and experiments of Caterina Sforza, the Tigress of Forlì.