24 Jul / 2018

Harbingers of Doom: Episodes from the Crypt

While working on our upcoming new episode, Eric and Jordan discovered that there are three noteworthy celestial events coming up! Since they need a bit more time to finish the summer tour of one of our other programs which goes to libraries all across the Pacific Northwest for Summer Reading programs, we decided to raise another one of our Season 1 episodes (now with a new intro) from the Horrific History Podcast Crypt for your squeamish delight!

Harbingers of Doom: Celestial Events and Superstitions

 

Aztec Sun Stone

What kind of superstitions or myths do you think of when you look up at the stars? Every culture has them; there have been stories developed all over the world to explain star constellations or natural phenomena like solar and lunar eclipses, comets, meteors and more. When the sun provides warmth to help the crops grow and night skies are used to measure the passage of time, it’s not surprising that any unexpected or unusual phenomenon is assigned meaning when the science isn’t sophisticated enough to distinguish between causation and correlation. Horrific History co-hosts, Eric Slyter and Curtis Bender, explore beliefs related to celestial events from across the globe.  Hindu serpent demons, China’s dragons (or dogs) and modern conspiracy theorists watching for alien spaceships, we have a lot of “bad omens” for your enjoyment.

 

Lunacy and humours, werewolves and witches, this episode brings you from past paranormal superstition to modern “remote viewing” and “Flat Earth Theory” pseudoscience! From the “Tears of St. Lawrence” to angels being cast from heaven, we’ve also included many spiritual explanations for the natural workings of the heavens; we even have some signs from the aboriginal afterlife! Hear about doomsday cults, castrations, suicides and plagues all associated with cosmic events and the illusory correlations humans have assigned to them (sometimes, like with the Battle of Hastings, even after the event has long passed)! Of course, this episode wouldn’t be complete without the tale of the woman who survived being hit by a meteorite! Just remember, no squeam allowed.

 

So put on your eclipse glasses and pull out your Aztec sun stone to keep time as you listen to this Horrific History Podcast episode through one of your favorite podcast services (iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn and more); we’ll provide you with your own little collection of cosmic harbingers of doom to keep you entertained while you look out into space, the final squeam-teir. Come back again in two weeks to hear our Labor Day and horrible in history episode.

 

If you’d like to hear the commercial-free version of this episode and receive other great perks, become a patron of our podcast on Patreon!
Become a Patron!


Some of our favorite resources from this week’s episode:

 

 

Horrific History Podcast

 

*While superstitions often seem humorous to our modern and scientific sensibilities, there have been many people over the course of history who have earnestly believed that celestial events which are as predictable as a clockwork somehow foretell doom for individuals or humanity-at-large. Cases like the Heaven’s Gate cult are not so far removed from the present as it may seem.  If you have any thoughts of harming yourself or others, whether related to our upcoming solar eclipse or not, we encourage you to reach out to qualified and professional mental health assistance through your local, regional or national resources.

 

Commercial break music by Dead but Dreaming.

This episode was brought to you, in part, through the support of listeners just like you! This episode we’d like to give a shout out to our newest Patreon supporter: Thank you Sebastian!

Slideshow photo credit: Emmadukew Day 245 via photopin (license)
Blog post photo credit: Xuan Che aztec sun stone via photopin (license)

Liked it? Take a second to support Horrific History Podcast on Patreon!
Become a patron at Patreon!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Please prove you are human.... *