Metapsychosis: Recent Episodes
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This week we look at the Norse goddess Hel, the daughter of the trickster god Loki, and ruler of the regions under the earth, where most humans went after death. As you might imagine, her name is the root of the modern word Hell, and the connection between the female goddess and the later-named place […]
This week we look at the Egyptian goddess Isis, the wife of Osiris who brings life to his dead body, and becomes pregnant with the god Horus. As a queen of magical power and a mother figure, she is associated with protection of the dead. Like many goddesses of her time, she also has a […]
Just in time for Easter, this second podcast on Dionysus looks at the Orphic concept of the god as successor to Zeus, and as the archetype for the divine savior, later embodied in the mythology of Jesus. Source used in video: The God Who Comes: Dionysian Mysteries Revealed by Rosemarie Taylor-Perry. Algora Publishing, 2003 Music: […]
Welcome to the 50th episode of Chthonia! This week we look at the mysterious figure of Dionysus, in the first of a two part podcast. Dionysus is the god of wine, an egalitarian deity who can be directly experienced through drinking wine. In this episode we look at the Homeric Dionysus, the one portrayed in the Homeric Hymns, and we will look at his connection to the Divine Feminine.
This week we talk about Hawaii’s volatile volcano goddess and her role in shaping and protecting the islands, as well as her explosive relationship with her sister and her friends. She represents the dual nature of fire, in both its creative and destructive aspects. Music: Adpated from “Secret Door” by Anastasia Vronski, [CC 4.0] URL: […]
This week’s podcast is about Erzulie, a family of Voodoo loas connected to water, and to the Feminine in its various forms. We look at two of the loas in particular; Erzulie Freda, associated with love and sex, and Erzulie Dantor, a fierce protector figure often associated with the Black Madonna. Music: Intro adapted from […]
Oya is the powerful Yorùbá Orisha of the winds and tempests. She is considered either the sister of the Orisha of storms Shango, or one of His three wives, with Oshun and Oba. She is a fierce protector of women who uses her machete to clear the dead wood path and make way for the new. We […]
This week we look at Pomba Gira, sometimes a single term for a powerful female spirit, at other times the title of a group of spirits. A spirit with many avatars, most notably Maria Molambo (Maria of the Trash), Pomba Gira is a highly sexualized and sometimes dangerous female figure in the Afro-Brazilian rituals of […]
The first podcast of 2021 focuses on the loa Maman Brigitte, a hard drinking, sensual spirit that protects the unrepresented dead, and has a very direct relationship to the Irish goddess (and saint) Brigid. Music: Adapted from “Secret Door” by Anastasia Vronski, [CC 4.0] URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Anastasia_Vronski/Estrangements_volume_2/09_-_Secret_DoorComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Copyright: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
In this last podcast for 2020, we look at the Hans Christian Andersen tale of the Snow Queen, the very loose basis for the film “Frozen”, and like many fairy tales, loaded with symbolism–in this case, about the struggle for love and connection in a cold, analytical world.
It is December, and for this month I am feature winter themes. Today we talk about Skadi, the Scandanavian jötunn (giantess/ancient goddess, similar to a Titan in Greek mythology), who is the embodiment of winter, and is associated with bowhunting, skiing, and mountains. In this episode we look at Skadi’s thirst for revenge over her […]
We end the month of November with a look at the Egyptian goddess Taweret, a hippopotamus goddess who was the wife of Set and a ferocious protector of children. Like many dark goddesses, her attributes seemed to change over time, making her more benevolent.
This episode looks at the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet, who is considered to be an aspect of the goddess Hathor, and sometimes also the goddess Bast. She is the “eye of Ra”, and represents the destructive wrath of the “noonday sun” that burns up everything around it.
Happy Samhain! This year’s Samhain/Halloween episode is about the Morrigan, the Irish goddess of war, fate, and sovereignty. Last year I interviewed Aepril Schaile about the Morrigan; this year it’s just me, talking about all of the aspects of the Morrigan, and a little about my new book coming soon, “The Morrigan Timelines”.
In our last podcast on the Ashta Matrikas, we look at Narasimhi, the fierce lion-headed matrika that is the Shakti of Narasimha, another fierce avatar of Vishnu. Not to be tampered with lightly, she is also known as Pratyangira, the destroyer of black magic.
Hosts Geoffrey Edwards and Mary Thaler talks about the challenges of writing really short fiction, called “flash fiction”. What choices need to be made to get a coherent story in around 500 words? What kind of writing is required?
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards interview a writer of fantasy and speculative fiction from the LA area, who has published short fiction and is at work on a novel. L.P. began his professional life as a singer and songwriter, which gives his fiction a unique color. His work has been published in, among other […]
This week we talk about the Matrika Varahi, the Shakti of Varaha, the boar-headed avatar of Vishnu, and a ratridevata (night goddess) associated with left-hand Tantric practices. She is sometimes called Yami, and considered to be the consort of Yama, the god of death. We look at the complexity of her symbolism, with a boar […]
The matrika Vaishnavi is the shakti of Vishnu’s avatar, Vaishnava, in which Vishnu takes the form of a boar and rescues the Earth Mother when she is plunged into the primordial waters. Her weapon is the discus or chakra, showing her connection to the cycle of time. This podcast looks at the multiple aspects of […]
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards discuss a subset of future-looking fiction they call “Prophetic Fiction”. Drawing on different traditions around prophecy, including religious traditions and the writings of E.M. Forster, they explore different aspects of this kind of writing.
This week’s podcast looks at Maheswari, the literal shakti of Shiva (Maheswar). She embodies the vice of anger, and like Shiva himself is a destroyer, and is associated with tamas (darkness). However, like Shiva himself, she is too complex to summarize her nature in a few words, embodying both inauspicious and auspicious qualities.
Brahmi is the shakti of Brahma, the Creator of the Universe in Hindu mythology. She is largely an auspicious deity, but is associated with the vice of pride, and battles the demons of the Chandi Path with water–bringing us back to the dangers of the flood. In this podcast we look at the possible meanings […]
Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk with Marco Morelli, poet, editor and publisher, about the process of writing poetry and how this process led him to develop a publishing business and take on editorial responsibilities. Marco V Morelli is the founder of Cosmos Cooperative and Infinite Conversations (infiniteconversations.com) as well as the cofounder and creative director […]
Indrani, also known as Aindri or Mahendri, is the Queen of the Hindu gods, wife of Indra. She is also a Matrika, associated with the vice of jealousy. For such a beautiful and desirable goddess, she also has a very dark side–and is similar to the Greek/Roman goddess Hera/Juno, who–for all of her proper, civilized […]
Authors Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk about the benefits to doing a Writing Residency and present highlights from recent residencies in which they took part, including a residency on the Isle of Crete and another in upstate New York.
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards dive into the murky study of historically motivated fiction from their contrasting perspectives, exploring issues of veracity and where there is scope for imagination, subjects that are sometimes neglected while others attract interest. Hope you will join us!
This week’s podcast is about Kaumari, the Shakti (primal energy) of the Hindu war god Kaumara (also known as Skanda or Kartikeya). This violent goddess, associated with the vice of attachment, also has a paradoxical role as the Kanyakumari Devi, a virgin child goddess of South India and Nepal.
This week begins our series on the Asta Matrikas, eight fierce Shaktis who represent the powers of the Hindu gods themselves. We start with Chamunda, known as the slayer of anger (Chanda) and passion (Munda). However, Chamunda is much older and a more independent figure, the Shakti of the Devi herself, and very dangerous if […]
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards conduct an interview with writer Thea Boodhoo. Thea (pronounced “tay-ah”) is a science fiction writer based in San Francisco, California. Her short stories ‘Growing Swirling Clouds’ and ‘A Layer Thin As Breath’ can be found at https://tersejournal.com/2019/02/22/g… and https://magazine.metaphorosis.com/sto… and she can be found on Twitter and Instagram as […]
This is the last podcast on the Das Mahavidyas. This week we look at Kamala, the Tantric manifestation of Mahalakshmi. While Lakshmi is associated with her husband Vishnu and a model of obedience, Kamala is wholly independent of any spouse, and has a few dark attributes that go with her beneficent demeanor.
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards finish up the episode on Endings by switching from talking about how to write endings, to how to end writings – often itself a tricky step.
In the second-to-last episode about the Mahavidyas, we look at Bhuvaneswari, the goddess who is the embodiment of the material world.
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk about Endings across two related episodes. This first deals with Writing Endings. We talk about several contexts, single book endings or endings of series, stories with more or fewer subplots, and other aspects of handling endings.
This week’s goddess is not as dark, but extremely powerful, the Queen of the Sricakra. She is known for restoring the god Kama (Desire) to the world after being destroyed by Shiva, and doing battle with the demon created from Kama’s ashes, Bhandasura (the “good” demon).
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk about some of the challenges and issues that arise when one is writing about war and war situations.
Bhagalamukhi means “crane-faced”; however, she is not portrayed as a crane, and equally mysterious is her connection to the color yellow, which seems to provide a connection to Vishnu. She is known as the Paralyzer; we look at the deeper meaning of this Tantric goddess, always shown holding the tongue of the demon Madan.
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk about some of the different ways that issues of age and aging come into play in writing, with focus on our own diverse ways of dealing with the question.
This week’s episode looks at the Hindu goddess Tara, listed as the second Mahavidya in traditional order. Unlike the tender Buddhist Tara, this Tantric goddess is associated with the fire of cremation and has a fierce appearance. However, they are both associated with liberation, and Tara shows us that the way to enlightenment is not […]
Continuing our Mahavidyas series, Dhumavati is an inauspicious goddess associated with old age, poverty, and sickness. But she is also the goddess of the Void between Death and Life, and plays an important role in teaching us to stay in the present.
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk about how the worldwide pandemic, as well as being in “lockdown”, that is, confined to our homes, has affected our activities as writers. Maybe our experience will help you deal with your own!
This week’s episode is about the Goddess of Destruction and consort of Bhairava, the destructive aspect of Shiva. As with our other Mahavidyas, Bhairavi also has powerful life-affirming aspects.
Karin Murray-Bergquist is a PhD. candidate in Folklore at Memorial University, Newfoundland. She’s the author of a poem in the upcoming issue of Augur Magazine, and numerous travel essays that can be found at the following links: https://www.travelade.com/iceland/stories/essentials-icelandic-winter-road-trip ; http://arcticjournal.ca/featured/subarctic-lichens/ ; https://thryve.world/everyday-adventures/ransome-notes .
In our continued series on the Das Mahavidyas, we look this week at Chinnamasta, the self-decapitating goddess. Her image is gruesome and somewhat shocking; however she represents a sublime reality about life and death.
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards finish reading excerpts from each other’s work in this third instalment of our 19th Episode of “Writing Off The Deep End”. These include a second excerpt from Geoffrey’s novel “Goodness in Small Doses”, and two excerpts from Mary’s novel “The Shell Midden”. Both are works-in-progress, and both are historical […]
In the wake of fears of the Coronavirus, I thought it would be timely to discuss Matangi, one of the Mahavidyas associated with pollution and impurity. Matangi shows us how the Divine is present in the impure–and the unwanted.
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards continue reading from their work. In this episode, Geoffrey reads two excerpts from one of Mary’s short stories called “The Island Lovers”, which can be found online at Eclectica Magazine : http://www.eclectica.org/v18n3/thaler… This is fantasy. Mary then reads from Geoffrey’s unpublished novel “Goodness in Small Doses”.
We now begin looking at individual dark Hindu goddesses, starting with the Mahavidyas. The pivotal Mahavidya is the goddess Kali, whose fearsome appearance gives her associations with death, the demonic, and blood sacrifice. In this podcast we go deeper than the surface associations, and look at the varied and complex aspects of this powerful goddess, […]
Hosts Geoffrey Edwards and Mary Thaler read from each others’ work as a complement to the other episodes concerned with different aspects of writing. In this first part, Mary is reading from “Plenum : The First Book of Deo”, Geoffrey’s first novel which will be published in March 2021.
This is the last of an “introduction” to the goddesses, focusing on the Sri Cakra or Sri Yantra, an important symbol representing Shakti/Devi and the creation of the entire universe. It is the central Tantric symbol of the Sri Vidya branch of Hinduism, and is important for understanding its dark goddesses.
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk about how they undertake diverse worldbuilding activities, not just within SF and fantasy but also in historical and contemporary fiction. The claim is that worldbuilding tasks for SF and fantasy constitute a continuum with research tasks undertaken for any fiction exercise. If you disagree, let us know, by […]
This episode continues to provide context for our 6-month long discussion of dark Hindu goddesses, looking at the Sri Chandi Path, the Sri Devi Bhagavatam, and the Devi Upanishad as sources on the fierce divine feminine in Hinduism, and particularly in Tantra.
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk about the ins and outs of the relationships (some of them!) between writing and family. How does family inform one’s writing? Whose family?
It’s 2020, and we are starting the new year with a series on the Tantric goddesses–the Mahavidyas, the Matrikas, the Navadurgs, and similar dark Hindu mothers. This episode offers an introduction to Hindu prayer, worship, the meaning of Tantra, and my own encounters with these goddesses.
Hosts Geoffrey Edwards and Mary Thaler venture off the deep end to talk about religion, faith, spirituality… and writing. Foolhardy, perhaps, but it makes for an interesting discussion.
It’s the last podcast of the year, during the 12 days of Christmas—a good time to discuss 2 Christmas “witches” that seek out naughty children—and adults—to either cannibalize them or cut them open and stuff them full of straw. It’s Austria’s Frau Perchta and Iceland’s Gryla, two witch figures of the Christmas “naughty or nice” […]
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk about the challenges, and benefits of writing poetry, both for its own sake and as a support to other writing efforts.
This week I’m joined by Elen Jones, who is also known as the Spiral Priestess on Facebook, and the creator of the Voices of the Dark Mothers cards, to talk about Black Madonnas. These Catholic and Orthodox images feature a dark-skinned Virgin and Child, and are surprising objects of both veneration and secrecy.
As one of the 12 Olympian gods, we don’t tend to think of Artemis as chthonic. However, her original pre-Greek role and some of her attributes relating to violent death in children and wild animals connect her to the realm of death and the liminal.
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards explore the process of dramatic writing. In this first of two parts, the focus in on writing for opera.
The sorceress Circe, daughter of the sun god Helios, is known for her dangerous magic, turning men into animals. But there is more than meets the eye–Circe is the perfect Jungian Anima figure.
This episode looks at the “Holy Death”, the Latin American saint condemned by the Catholic Church, but venerated by about 12 million people, making her second in popularity to St. Jude in Mexico. As a champion of marginalized people, there are significant cultural, economic, and political aspects to her worship.
Hosts Geoffrey Edwards and Mary Thaler discuss the strengths and weaknesses of writing short fiction.
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards discuss the process of writing characters. Do you love them or hate them? How do you separate them from yourself as a writer? And other issues as they arise.
In honor of Samhain (Halloween), I am posting an extra episode this week. Aepril Schaile (Aepril’s Arcana, Aeprilschaile.com) and I talk about the Morrigan, Irish goddess of war, sexuality, and sovereignty. The Morrigan is said to guard the gate to the Otherworld (or “gate to Hell” according to the monks), and makes an appearance on […]
Halloween is just around the corner, and this episode looks at the origins of this holiday, the “Celtic” Samhain as the new year, start of winter, and the removal of the barrier of time and space between this world and the “other world” or underworld.
I talk with Dr. Joanna Madloch about the Slavic witch Baba Yaga. Joanna grew up in Poland with traditional Slavic folklore, and we discuss the common motifs and meanings of the old witch who lives in the forest, in a house that moves, and is only found by those who are lost.
This week’s episode continues our discussion from last week on the goddess of witchcraft, ghosts, crossroads, and magic. In this episode we look at the chthonic Hecate, as well as the “Hekate Soteria” of the Middle Platonists, looking at the circumstances that turned her from a beneficent and protective goddess into an evil one.
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk about drawing on larger communities of writers for various kinds of support, both online and offline.
Hecate is the quintessential chthonic deity, as queen of ghosts and witches. But Hecate’s origins and associations are complex; part 1 of a 2-part podcast deals with what we know about her origins as a beneficent goddess associated with protection and childbirth.
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards discuss some of the issues around writing when one lives in a city that speaks a different language than one’s native tongue.
Greek mythology has a curious number of stories about young girls who kill themselves or are taken away due to sexual transgressions before marriage. We look at these stories, and their possible importance.
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk about (and show!) the development of visual story telling ideas in relation to writing fiction. Shown below are the illustrations referred to within the dialogue.
Persephone is Queen of the Greek Underworld, and the story of her abduction by Hades and the search for her by her mother Demeter is an important story in Greek mythology–and a myth often pointed to for its portrayal of rape in myth. But there’s more to the story than meets the eye.
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards continue their discussion of Dramatic Writing, this time focusing on writing for theatre. This is the second of two parts, the first dealt with writing for opera.
Medusa is well-known in literature, art, and film as the snaky-haired woman who turns anyone who looks at her to stone. But Medusa, like similar monstrous ancient female beings, represents two different things to the ancient Greeks and Romans.
Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk about how they choose names for characters, places and sci-fi concepts, whether they’re writing about the distant past, the present day or the far future.
The Erinyes are often viewed as ladies of punishment, or manifestations of guilt, with their snaky hair and monstrous appearance. But the Erinyes were not originally monsters, and have a beneficent side as well.
Geoffrey Edwards and Mary Thaler discuss writing practices — the habits, daily routines and techniques they use to get words down on page.
This episode explores the origins of the term “nightmare” and its connection to the feminine “demonic”, and the phenomenon of sleep paralysis (also called Night Hag Syndrome) from a mythological and psychoanalytical point of view.
Geoffrey Edwards and Mary Thaler discuss writing practices — the habits, daily routines and techniques they use to get words down on page.
Explores the folklore behind the alleged first wife of Adam, who is associated with seduction, temptation, and producing demons with unsuspecting men on one hand, and is a symbol of feminine autonomy on the other.
Geoffrey Edwards and Mary Thaler talk about how their careers as scientists—working in fields like astrophysics, geomatics, microbiology, and ocean science—influenced the way they write fiction
We look at Babylonian, Akkadian and Sumerian goddesses of love, war, and the underworld, with a particular look at the ancient story of the Descent of Inanna.
Writers Geoffrey Edwards and Mary Thaler talk about how their careers as scientists—working in fields like astrophysics, geomatics, microbiology, and ocean science—have influenced the way they write fiction
Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk about the need for risk-taking in writing. How can we push ourselves outside our comfort zones in terms of genre and subject-matter?
We think of mother goddesses as being gentle and loving, but ancient mother goddess worship had a dark side. This first episode looks at ancient mother goddesses of the Near East.
Writers Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards sit down to talk about writing, this time about craft. Probably none of us are born already skilled writers, so what can we do deliberately to improve our craft?
Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards sit down to talk about writing, this time on the subject of voice. What are writers talking about when they talk about voice and why does it matter? What’s the difference between the author’s voice and the characters’ voices?
Geoffrey Edwards and Mary Thaler sit down to talk about writing, including why they do it, and the risks and joys of tackling an ambitious project.
In this singular episode of The Electric Symposium Jeremy Johnson is joined by author and Metapsychosis contributor J.F. Martel, as well as Metapsy editors Natalie Bantz and Marco V Morelli. Together we talk about J.F.'s latest essay, "Reality is Analog," our curious fascination with the "lifeworld" of 80s analog, and the Metapsy team's various theories behind the pop cultural Netflix sensation, "Stranger Things." Pop in the tape and press play.