The Whispering Woods : Real Life Ghost & Paranormal Stories

As summer wanes and the nights grow long, we turn to tales of witches, curses, and the old ways that never truly died. For centuries, harvest time has carried its own magic: charms for fields, blessings for homes, and darker stories of those who bent nature to their will.

This September, we step into that threshold where folklore meets fear. From ancient curses to infamous trials, from haunted ground to witches said still to walk among us… welcome to the Season of the Witch.

Stockholm’s 1676 panic put 21-year-old maid “Dufvans Margareta” at the center of the Katarina witch trials—coerced into a lurid confession about Blåkulla, then recanting, and finally spared when child witnesses broke down and admitted they’d lied. Her case helped snap Sweden out of Det Stora Oväsendet (“the Great Noise”), ending the country’s last great witch-hunt.

The BOOK

BY US A COFFEE

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Research:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katarina_witch_trials

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Det_stora_ov%C3%A4sendet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bl%C3%A5kulla

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_trials_in_Sweden

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malin_Matsdotter

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saducismus_Triumphatus

Thanks so much for listening, and we'll catch up with you again on Wednesday!

Sarah and Tobie xx

"Spacial Winds" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

SURVEY

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As summer wanes and the nights grow long, we turn to tales of witches, curses, and the old ways that never truly died. For centuries, harvest time has carried its own magic: charms for fields, blessings for homes, and darker stories of those who bent nature to their will.

This September, we step into that threshold where folklore meets fear. From ancient curses to infamous trials, from haunted ground to witches said still to walk among us… welcome to the Season of the Witch.

In northern Ghana, the Gambaga Witch Camp has stood for over a century as both sanctuary and prison. Here, women accused of witchcraft are exiled from their villages, blamed for deaths, illness, and misfortune. Protected by local chiefs but condemned by society, they live out their lives in isolation, bound by ritual and fear. 

The BOOK

BY US A COFFEE

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Research:

http://pulitzercenter.org/stories/banished-and-forgotten-story-women-exiled-over-witchcraft

https://www.newsweek.com/aftricas-modern-day-witch-hunt-67309

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/video/2010/nov/25/witches-gambaga-ghana

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19437130

https://modernghana.com/news/1222813/were-safe-and-very-comfortable-at-gambaga-camp.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambaga_Witch_camp

Thanks so much for listening, and we'll catch up with you again on Sunday!

Sarah and Tobie xx

"Spacial Winds" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

SURVEY

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As summer wanes and the nights grow long, we turn to tales of witches, curses, and the old ways that never truly died. For centuries, harvest time has carried its own magic: charms for fields, blessings for homes, and darker stories of those who bent nature to their will.

This September, we step into that threshold where folklore meets fear. From ancient curses to infamous trials, from haunted ground to witches said still to walk among us… welcome to the Season of the Witch.

Trasmoz, a tiny village in Aragón, is the only town in Spain ever excommunicated and cursed by the Catholic Church. From counterfeiters who spread tales of witches to a Papal curse in 1511 and the murder of Tía Casca, its eerie legacy still lingers today.

The BOOK

BY US A COFFEE

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Research:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/04/excommunicated-spanish-witch-village-turns-curse-into-tourist-cash

https://www.travelerstoday.com/articles/21637/20161116/trasmoz-a-cursed-village-of-witches-in-spain.htm

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/trasmoz-spain-cursed-village-of-aragon.html

https://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2024/01/23/the-tiny-witches-village-in-spain-cursed-by-the-catholic-church-since-1511

https://euroweeklynews.com/2023/11/10/a-small-cursed-town-in-zaragoza-excommunicated-by-the-catholic-church

https://wolfenhaas.com/trasmoz-witch-festival

Thanks so much for listening, and we'll catch up with you again on Sunday!

Sarah and Tobie xx

"Spacial Winds" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

SURVEY

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As summer wanes and the nights grow long, we turn to tales of witches, curses, and the old ways that never truly died. For centuries, harvest time has carried its own magic: charms for fields, blessings for homes, and darker stories of those who bent nature to their will.

This September, we step into that threshold where folklore meets fear. From ancient curses to infamous trials, from haunted ground to witches said still to walk among us… welcome to the Season of the Witch.

In this episode, we share three creepy Reddit stories. Thanks to grizzlesax for allowing us to share your stories.

The BOOK

BY US A COFFEE

Join Sarah's new FACEBOOK GROUP

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EMAIL us your stories

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Stories:

https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/22hupb/my_blair_witch_camping_experience/

https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/f2pyp/the_bell_witch_cave/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Paranormal/comments/1mkka5z/my_2003_encounter_with_a_white_witch_in_potomac/

Thanks so much for listening, and we'll catch up with you again tomorrow!

Sarah and Tobie xx

"Spacial Winds" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

SURVEY

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As summer wanes and the nights grow long, we turn to tales of witches, curses, and the old ways that never truly died. For centuries, harvest time has carried its own magic: charms for fields, blessings for homes, and darker stories of those who bent nature to their will.

At Lake Catemaco, indigenous shamanism, Afro-Caribbean rites, and folk-Catholic curanderismo fuse into a living tradition of healers and sorcerers. From humble limpias to infamous First-Friday “black masses,” we trace Catemaco’s origins, its Brujo Mayor era, and the annual Noche de Brujas that still draws thousands—where white magic, black magic, faith, tourism, and fear all share the same altar.

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Research Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catemaco

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Tuxtlas

https://english.elpais.com/society/2018-03-06/night-of-the-witches-in-veracruz-mexico.html

https://www.vice.com/en/article/ev8k8e/i-went-to-mexicos-biggest-witchcraft-festival

https://forbes.com.mx/forbes-life/mexico-la-noche-de-brujos-de-catemaco/

https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/LLULL/article/view/llull2006203

https://blog.vibeadventures.com/catemaco-witchcraft-veracruz-rituals-magic

https://afrarodriguez.blogspot.com/2013/08/gonzalo-aguirre-pech-el-brujo-mayor.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curandero

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santer%C3%ADa

Sarah and Tobie xx

"Spacial Winds," Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licence

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

SURVEY

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As summer wanes and the nights grow long, we turn to tales of witches, curses, and the old ways that never truly died. For centuries, harvest time has carried its own magic: charms for fields, blessings for homes, and darker stories of those who bent nature to their will.

A whirlwind witch and a fire-lit scarecrow: two guardians twisted into curses at harvest’s edge. We trace the Windsbraut—the “wind’s bride” whose sudden spirals snatch grain—and Poland’s Płonący Człowiek, a scarecrow said to blaze to life, binding trespassers’ spirits to his eternal fire. Air and flame, omen and warning: when the fields are reaped, something old still demands its due.

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Join Sarah's new FACEBOOK GROUP

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Research Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsbraut

https://britishfairies.wordpress.com/2017/09/10/whirlwind-witches/

https://vanderkrogt.net/statues/object.php?webpage=ST&record=dehb137

https://ghostlyactivities.com/polish-scarecrow-legends/

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/24/3484

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarecrow

Sarah and Tobie xx

"Spacial Winds," Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licence

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

SURVEY

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As summer wanes and the nights grow long, we turn to tales of witches, curses, and the old ways that never truly died. For centuries, harvest time has carried its own magic: charms for fields, blessings for homes, and darker stories of those who bent nature to their will.

At harvest’s edge, European folklore treats the final sheaf as a living vessel of the corn spirit—captured in plaited “corn dollies,” chased as a wolf or hare, or celebrated with the West Country’s eerie “Crying the Neck.” This episode traces how communities honoured, contained, or expelled that presence—and how darker echoes of sacrifice lingered beneath the feasting.

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Research Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_dolly

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Bough

https://sacred-texts.com/pag/frazer/

https://cornwallforever.co.uk/story/crying-the-neck

https://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/crying_neck.htm

https://hauntedpalaceblog.com/2019/09/28/corn-dollies-from-the-old-crone-to-the-maiden/

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Corn-Mother

https://www.tota.world/article/harvest-customs-of-wales/

Sarah and Tobie xx

"Spacial Winds," Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licence

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

SURVEY

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As summer wanes and the nights grow long, we turn to tales of witches, curses, and the old ways that never truly died. For centuries, harvest time has carried its own magic: charms for fields, blessings for homes, and darker stories of those who bent nature to their will.

Special thanks to Dixie for allowing us to share their story.

In this episode, we share one listener story and one Reddit story.

The BOOK

BY US A COFFEE

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Stories:

https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/uil86y/the_scarecrow/

Thanks so much for listening, and we'll catch up with you again tomorrow!

Sarah and Tobie xx

"Spacial Winds" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

SURVEY

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As summer wanes and the nights grow long, we turn to tales of witches, curses, and the old ways that never truly died. For centuries, harvest time has carried its own magic: charms for fields, blessings for homes, and darker stories of those who bent nature to their will.

Across fields and centuries, harvest spirits blur the line between blessing and curse. We meet Habernitsa, the noon wraith who punishes scythe-swingers under the blazing sun; the Corn Mother, whose gifts are tangled with poison, sacrifice, and the last sheaf; and Chicomecōātl, the Aztec maize goddess who nourishes—and demands a life in return. A tour of folklore where grain is sacred, the stakes are mortal, and abundance is bought in blood.

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Join Sarah's new FACEBOOK GROUP

Subscribe to our PATREON

EMAIL us your stories

Join us on INSTAGRAM

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Research Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornflower_Wraith

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Midday

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergot

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergotism

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Corn-Mother

https://nativehistoryassociation.org/kanati_selu.php

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicomec%C5%8D%C4%81tl

Sarah and Tobie xx

"Spacial Winds," Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licence

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

SURVEY

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As summer wanes and the nights grow long, we turn to tales of witches, curses, and the old ways that never truly died. For centuries, harvest time has carried its own magic: charms for fields, blessings for homes, and darker stories of those who bent nature to their will.

In the Essex village of St. Osyth, a mustard-yellow cottage hides a grim past. Known as The Cage, it once served as a lock-up where accused witches—including figures tied to the 1582 trials—were held before judgment. 

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Join Sarah's new FACEBOOK GROUP

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EMAIL us your stories

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Join us on FACEBOOK

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Research Links:

https://www.livescience.com/65694-medieval-witch-prison-house.html

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-14/haunted-house-that-housed-witches-in-medieval-times-for-sale/11208806

https://www.mamamia.com.au/st-osyth-cage/

https://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/hauntings/the-cage-st-osyth/

Sarah and Tobie xx

"Spacial Winds," Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licence

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

SURVEY

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.