Nature
**Our Numinous Nature**

Our Numinous Nature is a traveling podcast in search of profound stories focused on regional flora & fauna, folklore & history with a penchant for the mysterious and the hunt. We’ll be hearing from folks with a deep connection to the land, from herbalists to hunters, folk artists, paranormal investigators, & living historians. The hope is to reach the soul of these people & places through tales of profundity & awe. Find a comfy log and join us at the sonic campfire.

Latest Episodes:

SHARP'S COUNTRY STORE: PIONEERS, BEE GUMS, & THE ORPHAN AT CLOVER LICK | Antique Dealer | Tom Shipley Jun 16, 2023

Show notes

Tom Shipley is an antique dealer operating out of his family's 19th-century Sharp's Country Store in Slatyfork, West Virginia. Descending from one of the county's earliest pioneer families, we hear of the lives of Tom's ancestors & their many rich folkways: a Presbyterian boy orphaned by an Indian raid; beekeeping in "bee gums;" a bear trap; furs & ginseng; maple syrup camp; and making apple butter. Then Tom gets into the origin of the 1884 store, describing the wares of its day. A plethora of stories are evoked from the eccentric taxidermy still hanging from the walls including one about a visit from the American Museum of Natural History. Towards the end, for his formal story, we get into the realm of the southern gothic, with tales about an orphan of the flu pandemic followed by visions surrounding the dead & near-dead. This episode, like the country store itself, is a true time capsule of Appalachian life.
Check out Sharp's Country Store for more information.
Excerpts read from Tales of Pocahontas County by G.D. McNeill
Archival recordings from Tom's private family collection.
Music provided by the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
"Barbara Allen"
Henry Reed Collection (AFC 1999/016)
Collected by Alan Jabbour
Performed by Henry Reed
"Farewell My Dear Brother"
Henry Reed Collection (AFC 1999/016)
Collected by Alan Jabbour
Performed by Henry & Gene Reed
"John Brown's a-Hanging on a Sour Apple Tree"
Henry Reed Collection (AFC 1999/016)
Collected by Alan Jabbour
Performed by Henry Reed
"Fare Thee Well My Dear Brother"
Henry Reed Collection (AFC 1999/016)
Collected by Alan Jabbour
Performed by Henry Reed

Support Our Numinous Nature on Patreon.
Follow Our Numinous Nature & my naturalist illustrations on Instagram
Check out my shop of shirts, prints, and books featuring my art
Contact: herbaceoushuman@gmail.com

COLONIAL-ERA WOOL PRODUCTION + BUCKSKINS & HOG SLAUGHTERS | Museum Educator | Mary Kate Claytor Jun 01, 2023

Show notes

Mary Kate Claytor is the Associate Director of Interpretation at the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton, Virginia. After a bit of background about this unique living history museum, Mary Kate describes in detail wool production for a yeoman farmer in the 1600-1800's: starting with sheep shearing, wool washing, stale urine and lanolin, through to carding & combing, drop spindles & spinning wheels, historical & natural dyes, and finally ending on a fabric called linsey-woolsey. From there we move on to another category of historical clothing, buckskins. Mary Kate recounts learning how to hide tan while working at Natural Bridge's Monacan village. Then we switch from clothing to foodways by reflecting on both profound & disturbing experiences while taking part in hog slaughters & fowl processing. We end on hearing of how Mary Kate's historical hobbies connect her to her great-grandmother.
Follow Mary Kate on Instagram & check out the Frontier Culture Museum.
Music provided by Carla Sciaky
"Sheep Shearing"
[English folk song]
From the album Spin the Weaver's Song
Performed by Carla Sciaky
"The Band of Shearers"
[Scottish folk song]
From the album Spin the Weaver's Song
Performed by Carla Sciaky
"The Weaver and the Chambermaid"
[English folk song]
From the album Spin the Weaver's Song
Performed by Carla Sciaky
Reading segment from Folklore of Sussex by Jacqueline Simpson
Support Our Numinous Nature on Patreon.
Follow Our Numinous Nature & my naturalist illustrations on Instagram
Check out my shop of shirts, prints, and books featuring my art
Contact: herbaceoushuman@gmail.com

WEST VIRGINIA MINE WARS: COAL CAMPS, BLOODSHED & THE REDNECK ARMY | Museum Director | Mackenzie New-Walker May 18, 2023

Show notes

Mackenzie New-Walker is the Executive Director of the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum in Matewan, West Virginia. Having descended from a long line of miners, Mackenzie describes what life was like for the men, women & children in the oppressive coal company towns of the early 1900's: from how they recruiting their immigrant labor force to paying miners in substitute money called scrip; the private company guards aka "gun thugs" known as the Baldwin-Felts agents; to child labor and laundry day. From there we hear of 1921's Battle of Blair Mountain [the largest labor uprising in US history] where the fed up striking miners transformed into the "Redneck Army." Mackenzie then recounts the story of The Matewan Massacre, an earlier train station skirmish that has left bullets lodged in a brick wall across from the museum. After reflecting on how this all relates to the present & a sense of coal miner pride, we wrap it up with highlights from the museum's collection, including one about "a canary in a coal mine."
Check out the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum & help them fundraise to buy the museum building. Watch the PBS documentary American Experience: The Mine Wars.
Music provided by The Tillers
"Which Side Are You On" [Labor Union Song]
Collected by Pete Seeger
Performed by The Tillers
Reading segment from On Dark and Bloody Ground: An Oral History of the West Virginia Mine Wars by Anne T Lawrence
Special thanks to West Virginia Archives & History for archival recordings:
- Price Williams on the Cabin Creek 1912 Coal Strike
- WSAZ Coal King on a Tottering Throne ca 1962

LIFE OF AN APPALACHIAN COAL MINER + SANG, MOONSHINE & THE BIBLE | Miner | Matt Frame Apr 27, 2023

Show notes

Matt Frame is a coal miner, avid outdoorsman, & son of a Baptist preacher in Nicholas County, West Virginia. After a folkloric intro about mine-rats, we get into what life is like for both miners today & in Matt's grandfather's time: the machines; depression from the darkness; dogs hauling coal; the quiet killers "black damp" & "black lung;" losing three fingers & narrowly missing a ceiling collapse; the job-site latrine; finding fossils as large as trees; & a miner's soul. For the last third of the conversation, we surface from the coal pit to the light of day guided by folkways & The Bible. First Matt tells of heartbreak while digging ginseng; fox trapping, his grandma's rabbits, a pie crust signature, & making medicine from river yellow root. Then we get into his faith with his salvation, preaching revival, & lessons learned about the sin of pride. We end this slice-of-West-Virginia-life on a story about a haunted moonshine still & pig worms.
Music provided by Jim Cook
"Big Bad John" [Cover]
Written by Jimmy Dean and Roy Acuff
Performed by Jim Cook
"Dark as a Dungeon" [Cover]
Written by Johnny Cash
Performed by Jim Cook
"Call Daddy From the Mine" [Cover]
Written by Johnny Cash
Performed by Jim Cook
Reading segment from A Journal: Traditions of West Virginia Folk Culture and Educational Awareness; Volume 9 - 2004 by the West Virginia Folklife Center at Fairmont State.
Support Our Numinous Nature on Patreon.
Follow Our Numinous Nature & my naturalist illustrations on Instagram
Check out my shop of shirts, prints, and books featuring my art
Contact: herbaceoushuman@gmail.com

UNDER THE WITCHING TREE + SPIRITS OF PLACE + ILL-OMNED LIGHTNING | Folk Herbalist | Corinne Boyer Apr 13, 2023

Show notes

Corinne Boyer of Washington is a folk herbalist, teacher, and author of five books on traditional plant-lore & folk magic. While modern herbalism focuses on the healing & benevolent properties of plants, in this episode we explore the darker, more mysterious aspects that Corinne has found through tales of old. We begin on feeling & discerning spirits of place: in the woods, water, & rock quarries; their potentially malevolent nature; offerings to appease them; and trusting intuition & an enchanted worldview. Then we move on to spirits of the human dead: communicating with ancestors, synchronicities, and a formative childhood experience with her great-grandfather's ghost. For her first story, Corinne recounts an ill-omened lightning strike during an unprecedented storm; for her second, she tells of a sleepless night spent in a haunted Swedish inn. We conclude on oak folklore, herbs to keep ghosts at bay, and plants associated with The Devil.
Check out Under the Witching Tree & Corinne's other books.
For Corinne's website & classes, visit Maple Mist Wood
For Corinne's esoteric plant workshop at the 2023 Viridis Genii Symposium
Music provided by CHTHONIA
"Salt"
Written by CHTHONIA
Performed by CHTHONIA
"Helleborus"
Written by CHTHONIA
Performed by CHTHONIA
"Nymphaeum"
Written by CHTHONIA
Performed by CHTHONIA
"Digitalis"
Written by CHTHONIA
Performed by CHTHONIA

TRAPPING TODAY: MAINE MUSTELIDS & ALASKAN SILENCE | Trapper | Jeremiah Wood Mar 30, 2023

Show notes

Jeremiah Wood of Northern Maine is a state fisheries biologist, cattle farmer, trapper, author, & host of the Trapping Today podcast. We open on Jeremiah describing where he lives: the North Maine Woods; his desire to work the land & raise cattle; changes in the region's economy; and thoughts on growing up in such a rural area. From there we begin a focused conversation on the often vilified topic of trapping where we explore what it's all about & why to some, it's their lifestyle; from ethics & misconceptions, regulations & populations, to fur, history, & nostalgia for the past. While laying out the many furbearing species, Jeremiah describes the behavior & habitat of his favorite, the "pine" marten, followed by what it's like to run a backcountry mustelid trapline. For his story, Jeremiah speaks to his dream of living in Alaska & a recent trip where he caught something contemplatively deeper than a lynx or wolverine. We end on some of Jeremiah's books & podcast guests including the cast of Discovery Channel's "The Last Alaskans."
Check out Jeremiah's Trapping Today podcast, shop, and YouTube channel.
Support Our Numinous Nature on Patreon.
Follow Our Numinous Nature & my naturalist illustrations on Instagram
Check out my shop of shirts, prints, and books featuring my art
Contact: herbaceoushuman@gmail.com

THE CELTS: TALES OF GODS, DRUIDS & THE OTHERWORLD | Author of Ancient Studies | Philip Freeman Mar 09, 2023

Show notes

Philip Freeman is a Professor of Humanities at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. With a Ph.D. from Harvard University in Classical Philology and Celtic Languages & Literatures, he has authored over a dozen New York Times reviewed books on ancient & medieval studies. For this episode we stick to the Celtic world, starting at ancient Gaul [Celtic western Europe 2,000+ years-ago]: farming, warriors, head trophies, druids, sacred oak groves, human sacrifice, belief in reincarnation & what little is known about the old gods. From there we travel to Ireland & Wales, where Celtic language & mythology survived the passage of conquests & time. Freeman describes a lewd horse sacrifice coronation ritual, curse tablets found in a lake, & the medieval gods known as the Tuatha Dé Danann & their mysterious Otherworld. Finally we come to the present with Freeman's visit to the spring of St. Brigid, followed by what connects his love of mythology with his Catholic faith. To end this epic episode, Freeman recounts the first Halloween [aka Samhain] story, The Adventure of Nera.
Freeman's Books Referenced in the Podcast:

For more of Freeman's work visit: philipfreemanbooks.com
Music provided by Ancient Music Ireland
"Introduction"
Written by Ancient Music Ireland
Performed by Ancient Music Ireland
"The Butterfly"
Written by Ancient Music Ireland
Performed by Ancient Music Ireland
"Lilting Horns"
Written by Ancient Music Ireland
Performed by Ancient Music Ireland

NORSE WOLF & VIKING PITS + MAINE MUSHING & ICE TALES | Musher | Bear Siragusa Feb 23, 2023

Show notes

Barry "Bear" Siragusa is a former musher, a vet-tech & the host of The Hunting Hound podcast residing with his Norwegian wife, kids, & dogs in the snowy mountains of eastern Norway. On this long-distance correspondence we hear descriptions of the land, archeology & mythology of Norway: the Sámi people; moose, bears & wolves; Fenrir & the berserkers; a troll-like feeling in the woods; stave churches; & hunting over ancient Viking moose pits. Then we switch topics & head back to Bear's childhood in rural Maine where he stumbled into a lifelong passion of mushing & working dogs. From Alaskan trappers to the Iditarod, Bear tells some brief mushing history followed by two of his potent sled dog stories, first a beautiful vision & then an icy brush with death! Before our episode times out, we muse a bit about true dog-people & the significance of hunting with dogs.
Check out Bear's podcast series, The Hunting Hound under the umbrella of the Hound PodCast: Double U Hunting Supply. And follow along on Bear's Instagram.
Music provided by Vitali Drimbar & Bear Siragusa

"Bukkehorn in D-sharp"

Written by Vitali Drimbar
Performed by Vitali Drimbar
Courtesy of Vitali Drimbar
"Pair of Conch Shells in F Sharp"
Written by Vitali Drimbar
Performed by Vitali Drimbar
Courtesy of Vitali Drimbar
"The Wayfaring Stranger"
Traditional Folk Song
Performed by Bear Siragus on Kerry Optima Low D Whistle"
Courtesy of Bear Siragus
Support Our Numinous Nature on Patreon.
Follow Our Numinous Nature & my naturalist illustrations on Instagram
Check out my shop of shirts, prints, and books featuring my art
Contact: herbaceoushuman@gmail.com

THE ILLEGAL TURTLE TRADE + HELLBENDERS & SALAMANDER LORE | Herpetologist | JD Kleopfer Feb 09, 2023

Show notes

JD Kleopfer is the state herpetologist at Virginia's Department of Wildlife Resources. We begin this herpetological extravaganza on the illegal turtle trade between the US & China, then move on to reptile & amphibian natural history: turtle eggs & their predators, hibernation [properly called brumation], Appalachia's legendary hellbenders, salamander folklore, poisonous newts, vernal pools, & how-to make good herp habitat in your yard. For his stories, JD tells of finding a state-endangered tiger salamander site & another about his formative years as a young herper. We close on today's conservationist youths, The Great Dismal Swamp & canebrake rattlesnakes.
Join Virginia's Herpetological Society & check out a short documentary about Protecting Appalachia's Hellbenders.
Music provided by Luke Brindley
"Raritan River Blues"
Written by Luke Brindley
Courtesy of Luke Brindley
Support Our Numinous Nature on Patreon.
Follow Our Numinous Nature & my naturalist illustrations on Instagram
Check out my shop of shirts, prints, and books featuring my art
Contact: herbaceoushuman@gmail.com

RUSSIAN WOODS: WWII, THE MANSI, TIGERS & ABORIGINAL DOGS | Biologist | Vladimir Beregovoy Jan 26, 2023

Show notes

Vladimir Beregovoy is a retired wildlife biologist, author, & breeder of aboriginal Laika hunting dogs, currently living in Buchanan, Virginia. We begin at the beginning, his childhood memories of WWII in the Russian countryside & his early love of the natural world which destined his career as a biologist, both in communist Russia & eventually, after emigrating, here in the United States. From there Vladimir gives an in-depth description about the time he spent with a family of native Mansi hunters in Western Siberia: their dogs; sable furs; their woodsman etiquette; how they hunt moose & bear; dog mittens; reindeer skins; housekeeping; & a beaver biologist left for dead. We wrap it up on a bit about the Amur tigers of the Far East & Vladimir's herbalist grandmother.
Check out Vladimir's book, Hunting Laika Breeds of Russia& more at his website.
Music sampled from "Mansi Music on the Sangkvyltap"
Reading segment from Dersu the Trapper by Vladimir Klavdievich Arseniev