In this January almanac episode, I share about how English Plough Sunday and Plough Monday rituals dovetail with pagan midwinter worship of Odin to present a quandary as rich today as ever:

How do we hold sacred the human capacity to employ technologies that multiply our power, while dancing on the delicate balance between service and domination?

How do we bless the hard work of human hands where it meets the life of the world?

This episode delves into traditions of chasing out the spirits of Yule, as well as blessing of apple trees, ploughs, and ultimately ploughboys as representatives of the overflow of human passion and physical power.

Sign up for UNEARTHED, my course on the roots of imperialism in the Christian Middle Ages: https://fragrant-pine-784.myflodesk.com

Listen to the January Almanac playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2lcgJz369QMIDmN8J4LEAq?si=96bd3fac66c8482f

Contact me by email fairfolkcast [at] gmail.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danica.boyce/

Music in this episode:

January Man by Lau & Karine Polwart
Buy it:
https://lau-music.bandcamp.com/track/january-man

Apple Tree Wassail by Jon Boden
Buy his albums https://hudsonrecords.co.uk/shopfront/jon-boden

Ploughboy’s Dream by Janice Burns and Jon Doran
Buy it:
https://bandcamp.com/download?cart_id=97060025&sig=7770feb4eddf1844063928c397bc5b88&from=checkout

Ploughboy’s Glory by Lisa Knapp
Buy it:
https://lisaknapp.bandcamp.com/track/ploughboys-glory

Instrumental track:
St. Agnes’ Eve by Carol Wood
Buy it:
https://music.apple.com/ca/album/st-agnes-eve/130331483?i=130332115

Opening theme: Forest March by Sylvia Woods
Buy Sylvia Woods’ music:
www.harpcenter.com/category/harp-cds

Sources and Resources for this episode:
Rune Hjarno Rasmussen’s St Knut / Odin parallels video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l99YoPiPLrg

The Nordic Animist Year (book) by Rune Hjarno Rasmussen: https://shop.nordicanimism.com/shop/9-books-and-calendars/9-the-nordic-animist-year/

The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain by Ronald Hutton (book)

“The Winter Goddess: Percht, Holda, and Related Figures” By Lotte Motz
dokumen.tips/documents/motz-lot…s-1985.html?page=5

“Perchta the Belly-Slitter and Her Kin: A View of Some Traditional Threatening Figures, Threats and Punishments” by John B. Smith
www.scribd.com/doc/17325747/Perc…itter-and-Her-Kin

Lyrics to folk song "Ploughboy’s Glory"
http://www.joe-offer.com/folkinfo/songs/362.html

Episode Image: by John Bauer from story "The Ring," by Helena Nyblom, 1914