Creatures of Jörð

In Episode 9 Jay and Freya are joined by their long-time friend and number one fan, Kotaro! Kotaro is Japanese-Australian, based in London, and talks about his cultural background and mother’s influence on how he sees spirits and ghosts!
Serendipitously, this week's stories are both related to those lurking the internet - Catfish and Trolls!
Freya and Jay combine forces to share some stories of trolls and dissect why these creatures are so pervasive in stories throughout time.
Kotaro introduces the girls to Namazu - a giant catfish laying deep below Japan; whose flipping and flopping causes earthquakes across the Nation (and also contributes to redistributing wealth).

In Episode 8 of Creature's of Jord, Freya explains the Origins of 'The Boogie Man', and tells us the story of a forlorn spirit, Wewe Gombel, who’s sagging breasts provide sanctuary for neglected kids. Jay covers supernatural Cats from Japan called Bakeneko. These mystical kitties have a plethora of talents, from summoning fire, to speaking human languages, shape shifting or even making the dead dance! Baneko are the spirits of real cats, so watch out how you treat your kitty… it’s spirit might want to come back to haunt you!

This week Jay delves into the depths of the ocean (and our psychees) to explore the great mystery of the Kraken and the giant squid that inspired it’s story. Freya ponders some of the Buddhist hierarchies of reincarnation and decides that she would MUCH prefer to come back as an animal than a tormented hungry ghost.
Trigger warning: in this episode we discuss ghosts and potentially violent or spooky content.
If mukbang makes your skin crawl, you can skip our Spooky Snack Break between 17m 49s and 19m 07s.

In our 6th Episode, Freya introduces us to El Silbón, a ghost from the Andes in South America, and notices some of the similarities with different ghosts around the world.

Have you ever wondered what unicorn fanboys and the Dali Lama have in common? Well in Jay's story of the week she is going to let you know as we deep dive into Tulpamancy and it's origin in Tibetan Buddhism (sprul-pa སྤྲུལ་པ་).

This week Jay shares some grim insights into what can happen if you die before getting married in some rural areas of China. Freya tells us about Kuchisake-onna, a ghost of a horrifically mutilated woman who conceals her disfigurement with (in very 2020-style) a mask and who is (in very Millennial-style) easily distracted.

In this episode, Freya tells Jay about her friend who could see shapeshifters at their office in Indonesia. Freya tells us a story about Pocong - a creature from the grave who just needs a little cuddle. Then Jay tells us her story about Poludnica - a witch who operates during the hottest parts of the day. Freya observes that Jay has left herself nowhere to hide from the creepy paranormal creatures of the world - both day and night are now fair game for monsters!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3RdueDdm6me8swJ7htXeDx?si=sfq1_bNbRcyt-UWc-xDOiQ

This week Jay tells us about a Mayan devil-bat, Camazotz, creature that is guaranteed to scare Freya as she has a lifelong phobia of bats. Freya and Jay eat some bat bones and bat pâté to keep with the bat theme. Freya picks a Romanian ghost, called Samca - who’s name means ‘Devil’s wing’. Freya and Jay discuss the wisdom of folklore in modern medicine and consider a trip to Romania where some people still practice superstitious rituals.

Link to Episode 3 on Spotify >>>

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4wn4wJ3V8Q1vwjpQdSuH7u?si=9gO14KW6TJ-kzzKZGoTvHQ

In the second episode of Creatures of Jörð, Jay has a bad Halloween costume idea. Freya tells us about a ghost called Genderuwo that haunted her bathroom in a sharehouse in Indonesia. Jayenna introduces us to an Indigenous, Australian primordial spirit called Wanjina, an alien-like spirit inhabiting the rocks of the far-north Kimberleys. Jay asks Freya ‘what is most scary when it comes to the paranormal? The power that we do have or the power that we don’t have.

Link to the podcast >>>

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7yOhvryXotaXDclxiaKb8v?si=Bf6C5EJOSv2VRerDCwgpCg

In the first episode of Creatures of Jörð, Freya and Jay introduce the podcast, discuss an African creature called the Grootslang and the possibility of breeding and trending teacup-sized Grootslang (see image #2). They eat some monster skin, that Freya fried up, for a little spooky snack, then Freya tells Jay about an Indonesian ghost called, Pontianak – she might disembowel you but at least she’s a feminist.

Link to the podcast >>>

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7yOhvryXotaXDclxiaKb8v?si=02KhJRtiR-K52BjpRqZB2w