For this month's Magic and Medicines Bonus Episode, we're talking all about Reiki!We have a bit more direct experience with this one than some of our past topics, as we completed our First Degree Reiki qualification this summer over the Solstice.Our conversation digs into the theory and history behind Reiki, its development by Mikao Usui and subsequent spread to the West, along with the establishment of the Usui Shiki Ryoho lineage. We look at the Five Principles which provide an ethical underpinning for the practice of Reiki, and talk about the practicalities of Reiki healing, along with the many different permutations of the system.And, of course, tell the story of how it made its way down to us!Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast Proud members of the Dark Cast Network.Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Series 7 Episode 3: Monmouthshire
After the madness of Haunting Season, we're returning to Series 7 and the history and folklore of Monmouthshire in south east Wales!We discuss the county's history of invasion, by the Romans, the Normans, the English, and of course by heavy industry, and its many changing names - Caerwent, Gwent, Wentland and Monmouthshire.We couldn't fail to mention our favourite son of Monmouthshire, Geoffrey, as well as some of the incredible landscape and cultural features of the county. We're helped along in this by some excerpts from our Local Legends interview with Christine Watkins.Then we dig into folklore, finding surprising cures for warts and meeting cunning men, wily bridge-building parsons, and some rather mean-spirited fairies.Eleanor's story "Winter's Eve" has the chilling Gwrach y Rhibyn drifting through a cloud of mist, and a whole host of Nos Galan Gaeaf customs.We hope that you enjoy the episode, and we'll speak to you again on Thursday with a new Magic and Medicine episode all about Reiki!The Three Ravens is a Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on a historic county, exploring the heritage, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcastProud members of the Dark Cast Network.Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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November Update: The Last Red Berries
Haunting Season 2025 is over, so in this month's Update Episode we're looking ahead to the continuation of Series 7!As usual, the episode offers the main Three Ravens news from the last month, the plan for the month ahead, and the opening chunks of last month's Patreon Exclusive episodes.First comes the initial 25 minutes or so of Eleanor's conversation with historian and demonologist Fiona Dodwell about cursed and haunted dolls, which is followed by the opening of our Film Club episode for October, as released last Thursday, about the 2007 cult horror comedy 'Trick 'r Treat.'Speak to you again tomorrow on our new County Episode all about Monmouthshire, for which Eleanor has written a pretty freaky monster story that we hope you'll very much enjoy!Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcastProud members of the Dark Cast Network.Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Local Legends #48: Tony Walker
For our final Local Legends interview of Haunting Season 2025, Eleanor speaks with Tony Walker, author and host of the Classic Ghost Stories podcast. We are huge fans of Tony's work, from his narrations of well-known ghost stories and lesser read hidden gems to his own original fiction.Though as we discuss during this conversation, Tony's interests in the uncanny and peculiar started in childhood. He has worked in ghost tourism, spent many years as a mental healthcare professional, and has traveled almost as widely as he has read.His own writing, which prompted the creation of the Classic Ghost Stories podcast, speaks to his genuine, deep-seated interest in the Gothic, the paranormal, and the 'super-normal' - he has an open mind, natural curiosity, and a warmth and friendliness that make him wonderful to spend time with.In this interview, Eleanor chats to Tony about the formula for the perfect ghost story, real life ghost stories, his favourite spooky tales and places, and lots more, from the intersection between storytelling and gaming to the replica Punic mask he bought on holiday which seemed to become home to an errant nature spirit...To find out more about his work simply search up 'Classic Ghost Stories' on the app you're using to listen to this, or visit his Substack here.Otherwise, we thoroughly hope that you have enjoyed our third annual Haunting Season, and will speak to you tomorrow in our November Update episode, then again on Monday when Series 7 continues with our exploration of the history and folklore of the historic Welsh county of Monmouthshire!Three Ravens is a Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on a historic county, exploring the heritage, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcastProud members of the Dark Cast Network.Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde
To wish everyone a very happy Halloween, we warmly present a reading of Oscar Wilde's classic ghost story, The Canterville Ghost.After a month of celebrating more sincere ghost stories and quite dense, spooky topics, we thought it might be time for a little levity - and this story is an important one: written in 1887, it called time on the Victorian ghost story, masterfully blending satire, social commentary, and supernatural themes, subverting the traditions of the form to explore profound ideas about culture, redemption, and the human condition.It's a tale which has its cake and eats it, packed with familiar gothic tropes while also being both a parody and social satire; it serves as a sharp critique of both the English aristocracy and the American nouveau riche, with Wilde using the clash between ancient, tradition-bound British culture and modern, materialistic, and practical American culture to highlight the absurdities and shortcomings of both societies.Exploring eternally-relevant themes such as redemption and forgiveness, life and death, and the tensions between materialism and spirituality, it also showcases Wilde's characteristic wit, irony, and use of paradox. Rightfully acknowledged as a masterpiece of comic gothic fiction that continues to be enjoyed for its literary craftsmanship and timeless relevance, we hope you enjoy Martin's reading, that it makes you smile during our current quite dark and dismal times, and offers both a lighthearted, entertaining parody and a poignant, meaningful exploration of human nature and social values.In addition to which, for tomorrow's episode of Local Legends Eleanor has interviewed Tony Walker, host of the Classic Ghost Stories Podcast, for whom this sort of thing is his bread and butter, so speak to you again then!Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcastProud members of the Dark Cast Network.Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Three Ravens is an English myth and folklore podcast hosted by Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux.In each weekly episode, released on Mondays, we explore a historic county, digging into the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more.Across our first six series we ventured around England's 39 historic counties twice, taking turns to tell a new version of a legend from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it may have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past.Our Bonus Episodes are then released on Thursdays (Magic and Medicines about folk remedies and arcane spells, Three Ravens Bestiary about cryptids and mythical creatures, Forgotten Melodies about folk song types with original performances from us, and Magus, which is about the lives of the most famous witches and wizards in history).On Saturdays, we then release episodes of our interview series Local Legends, with each episode featuring a chat between us and an acclaimed folklorist, author, podcaster or historian, deepening discussions about that week's county.In between series, since March 2025 we have also launched our Lang Fairy Tale Project, for which we are recording and releasing the 700+ stories collected by English academics and authors Nora and Andrew Lang, published in over a dozen volumes from the end of the 19th century and changing children's literature forever.With entire other Bonus Series to enjoy, including our comic retelling of the legend of Gawain and the Green Knight, original narratives such as our upcoming series Dog Days about the supernatural adventures of young playwright Christopher Marlowe in Elizabethan London, and our annual Haunting Season every October, there's tonnes of fun to be had in our back catalogue of over 300 episodes.In addition to which, we also release a range of exclusive content on Patreon, where supporters also enjoy ad-free listening, including monthly 'One Off' episodes covering a range of folky topics, editions of the Three Ravens Newsletter, and over two-dozen episodes of the Three Ravens Film Club, through which we discuss folk horror films from across the decades, and more.For a guide of where to start, click here - but our advice is to just pick an episode that sounds interesting, then hit 'Play' and join us around the campfire to listen in...Three Ravens Series 7 launched in September 2025, and is all about the heritage and legends of the 13 historic counties of Wales. For press or collaboration inquiries or learn more about our book, published in hardback by The History Press, and the podcast in general, visit our website. Join our Patreon here, and find links to our social media channels and sponsor Three Spirit Drinks here. Use Voucher Code THREERAVENS for a 15% discount. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
South Africa