The Godyssey Podcast
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The Godyssey Podcast
@godysseypodcast.com
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Mythology, History, Storytelling: the Godyssey podcast is a deep dive into our shared humanity through gods.
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The in-tact ghost story we have is from Pliny the Elder, telling of a house rented by the Stoic philosopher Athenodorus in Athens, haunted by a bearded man wrapped in chains. This begins many haunted house tropes we still have today. #PhantomsFriday

🖼️: H.J. Ford
Athenodorus confronts the specter, by Henry Justice Ford, showing the Stoic philosopher writing by candlelight and looking up to see an old man with chains on his wrist and waist, pointing at the door and telling him to get the hell out.
January 23, 2026 at 4:24 PM
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Every three weeks, the Phantom Killer of Texarkana would strike again before disappearing in May 1946. His identity is unknown and there are many theories; my favorite is the U.S. soldier who awoke from a coma in San Diego with intimate knowledge of the case. #LegendaryWednesday
The Texarkana Gazette's April 14th Evening edition with the headline TEEN-AGE COUPLE SHOT TO DEATH, and the subtitle Betty Jo Booker, Paul Martin Killed in Double Slaying. They were returning from a Texas High band function in Martin's car when the Phantom Killer found them in what is now Spring Lake Park. Martin looks like a child, while Booker looks very mature for her 16 years. A map below their picture shows where on the Texas side the killings took place, but is obscured because the paper is flipped in half and the photo is of the real paper on a desk.
January 21, 2026 at 4:03 PM
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Ra proved a tyrant and two rebels were born: Nut, who so wanted to give her beloved Geb a child, rebelled and gave him five despite Ra forbidding it over a prophecy: and her daughter Isis, who fulfilled that prophecy by controlling Ra with poison and his true name. #WyrdWednesday
A gold depiction of Isis, her wings unfurled, made of gold, amber, turquoise, and lapis lazuli covered in hieroglyphics.
January 21, 2026 at 3:58 PM
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No one knows the true purpose of the Shell Grotto at Margate in Kent, and it could have been built any time in the last three thousand years, with a massive dome and arched doorways. Connected to freemasonry, pagans, and others, the site remains a mystery. #LegendaryWednesday
The dome of the Shell Grotto, showing the sun beaming into the shell-filled dome at the top.
January 21, 2026 at 3:57 PM
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According to the Romans, chief among the gods of the Iceni was the rabbit god Andraste, whom Boudica, rebellious Queen of the Iceni, requested prophecy from before each battle. Unfortunately, she ignored the final battle's prophecy and was beat. #WyrdWednesday

🖼️: AMagpiesTale
A Magpie's Tale's depiction of Andraste, a tattooed red headed woman in a cloak holding a rabbit in one hand, a crow at her shoulder, the sun before her, the moon behind her, as a rabbit of stars below escapes. The tattoos are very modern.
January 21, 2026 at 3:54 PM
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In Turkey penguins are a symbol of protest: in 2013 during the Gezi Park protests, CNN Turk showed a documentary about penguins. Uniting left and right concerns against the growing authoritarianism of the current regime, penguins became a symbol of fighting back #FairytaleTuesday
Grafitti representing the Gezi Park protests: an Emperor penguin wearing a gas mask, with its wing raised in solidarity.
January 20, 2026 at 1:54 PM
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In Maori folklore, Fiordland penguins are called tawaki. Walking amongst humanity as a human, the penguin spirit announced itself by taking lightning from the sky and wearing it on its head: that is why these penguins have striking yellow marks. #FairytaleTuesday
A Fiordland penguin with its beak open, showing its jagged tongue and gums, with a massive yellow crest of feathers from beak to off the head above the eyes.
January 20, 2026 at 1:50 PM
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The Lament for Enkidu is a song of sorrow within the Epic of Gilgamesh, where a weeping Gilgamesh holds the body of his tender friend and weeps for all of Uruk to see: for grief is never shameful when it is earned. #MythologyMonday

🖼️: merriya
Artist merriya's depiction of Gilgamesh holding the hand of dead Enkidu over his eyes as he cries, his hair tassled, while Enkidu looks serene on the death bed.
January 19, 2026 at 2:08 PM
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Fear the righteous rage of a goddess: when Demeter discovered Zeus not just knew where their daughter Persephone was but signed off on her rapture, all plants stopped growing in rage and sorrow. Only then did Zeus return Persephone, for a time. #MythologyMonday

🖼: J. Tigner
J. Tigner's depiction of Demeter, a blond woman in a yelllow dress, holding flowers as they wither and die, blowing away in the wind which heads towards winter. At the bottom is the skull of Hades, showing his victory.
January 19, 2026 at 2:06 PM
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Freyja wanders the world in sorrow, looking for her lost love. The price for her famous necklace proved too high and her husband, the poet Odr, fled from her. Now she wanders the Nine Worlds, looking to make amends with Odr: but she has not found him yet. #MythologyMonday
Carl Emil Doepler's depiction of Odr leaving Freya, showing a man in a tunic with a bow and wearing a helm taking his hand away from a woman in a dress with a translucent veil, seeming to plead at him; her maids sit in the dark of a cave, talking amongst themselves as they watch.
January 19, 2026 at 1:59 PM
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Yuzu-yu baths are a winter tradition do more than give you good health: these wintry Japanese baths help relax but also keep sickness and evil spirits that bring it away. Infuse your bath with yuzu, and you'll enjoy more than just the lemony smell! #FolkloreSunday
A pack of capybaras in a zoo having a yuzu bath, with citruses floating whole in the wooden pool.
January 18, 2026 at 3:56 PM
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The Chinese version of Thai Nang Tani, Chinese Banana Ghosts fulfill promises when summoned, but ask for a favor in return. If the favor is not returned, the ghost is freed from the banana tree and is free to haunt the fool who betrayed them. #LegendaryWednesday
Banana trees in SE Asia, showing bundles of green bananas.
January 14, 2026 at 6:32 PM
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Yggdrasil the World Tree is full of life, but none more colorful than Ratatoskr the Giant Red Squirrel. He climbs up and down the tree, spreading mocking rumors and lies between the eagle at the top and Nidhogg at the bottom, enraging them. #WyrdWednesday

🖼: Raidho
Artist Raido's depiction of Ratatoskr in silhouette, showing a black squirrel with shining blue eyes on the tree, a halo of Norse knots behind it, with Ratatoskr in stylized runes.
January 14, 2026 at 6:30 PM
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In changeling folklore, a common reason given as to why spirits like fairies and trolls take children is because they cannot have children of their own: thus human children are needed to create more such creatures. Beware what they leave behind. #FairyTaleTuesday

🖼️: J. Bauer
John Bauer's En underskön liten älva, depicting an elf talking to a child who is surprised at her transformation
January 13, 2026 at 1:50 PM
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He is Lancelot du Lac, Lancelot of the Lake: carried off by fairies as his father's kingdom burns, Lancelot was raised on an enchanted isle, aging faster than a normal child would, and was instilled the blessings of the fairies, thus his name. #FairytaleTuesday

🖼️: H. Pyle
"The Lady Nymue beareth away Launcelot into the Lakes" by Howard Pyle, showing the infant Lancelot carried off by Nimue as she walks on water, his mother Elaine calling after them as she falls to her knees by the lake, trees behind her.
January 13, 2026 at 1:48 PM
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Hailing from the tin and copper mines of Cornwall and Devon and imported to Appalachia are knockers, small dwarf-like fairies who work alongside miners. Grant them a piece of food and they may warn you of impending collapses or help find ore veins. #FairytaleTuesday

🖼: J.B. Monge
Two knockers in a cart full of core running down rails, both chewing pipes, both with patchy hats and pure white eyes
January 13, 2026 at 1:46 PM
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King of all of Britain, Brân the Blessed was a benevolent giant. When his sister was mistreated by the Irish, he destroyed them all, returning mortally wounded. He had his men remove his head and bury it at Tower Hill in London, keeping watch on invaders. #MythologyMonday

🖼️: Peter Diamond
Peter Diamond's depiction of Bran the Blessed's head being carried by his surviving men to London, along with ravens and dogs.
January 12, 2026 at 12:23 PM
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Intrepid sailors take shelter in a cave, only to discover it belongs to a massive one-eyed giant! Through ingenuity they escape. This isn't the Odyssey but part of the voyages of Sinbad, one of many Nights borrowed from other cultures. #MythologyMonday

🖼: H.J. Ford
Ford's classic depiction of the one-eyed giant reentering his cave in the Voyages of Sinbad, being full of fanged teeth and holding a tree as a weapon. He has massive elephant ears and only spies a little spear-looking thing at his feet, not the many sailors trying to hide behind his door as he enters, including Sinbad; some prostrate themselves instead of hiding, and will surely be eaten soon.
January 12, 2026 at 12:21 PM
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The Dagda is Irish myth's jolly giant, the harper who puts the seasons in order, led his people to Ireland's green shores, whose cauldron of plenty feeds the masses, whose club kills twenty with a swing but revives with a tap. He is the fertile god, the Good God. #MythologyMonday
A massive giant of a man walking across a loch, carrying a stone wrapped in tree roots as a club, a cauldron on his back. He is stout, his belt around his belly, and his brown beard turning white near the face and wispy; he smiles broadly. Artist unknown, the Dagda incarnate.
January 12, 2026 at 12:19 PM
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Bakemono are famed for their shape-shifting abilities in Japan: foxes becoming women, cats becoming sumo wrestlers, the tales are endless. Some even become giant animals and terrorize drunk samurai! #MythologyMonday
A giant cat emerging from a forest, with two men screaming in fear, one averting his face, the other screaming for help from the heavens, while the cat reaches a paw out for them. Artist unknown. Worth noting the men are likely not samurai, but it's a fun image all the same.
January 12, 2026 at 12:17 PM
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The elusive firefox of Lapland is the source of the Northern Lights. This Finnish creature, a winter fox who burns black at day but shines a multitude of colors at night, is often sought by hunters, but rarely ever found. #FolkloreSunday

🖼️: rinkula
Artist rinkula's depiction of foxes of green, blue, and yellow dancing through the sky, creating the Northern Lights.
January 11, 2026 at 4:07 PM
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Rabbit's snow dance was so powerful it covered the land up to tops of the trees. The sun came out while he was asleep, trapping him in the tree: when he fell, it bent his legs, giving rabbits the strange legs they have today, in Algonquinn/Iroquois myth. #FolkloreSunday

🖼️: Juni
Artist Juni's depiction of a snowflake made of rabbits with ivy, triangles, and four rabbits leaping into each other.
January 11, 2026 at 3:58 PM
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Fear of ghosts has been with us since the beginning, going back to Sumer and Babylon. One way to guarantee you had no ghost to haunt your descendants? Bury them in the desert, far from city, so the soul has no choice but to descent to Irkalla, the Underworld. #PhantomsFriday
A desert night in Jordan, showing a shooting star, by photographer Sameh Swaiss.
January 9, 2026 at 1:24 PM
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The river of life spawned humanity, and though the gods tried to create life, it was Oshun alone who could create life and the beginnings of humanity in her river. Fertile and generous, Oshun's waters are purifying and cleansing, though they can run rapid too. #LegendaryWednesday
An unknown artist's pre-AI painting (I say that because one of the hands is wonky but the earliest I could date the picture is 2019, well before ChatGPT and Midjourney disgraced us) of a gorgeousally rendered Oshun. With a massive set of black curly hair, she is full-figured and in a yellow dress that hugs her form, revealing her abs and a muscular leg. Her hands form a circle around her abdomin, and she stands ready to step into the river in a jungle. She stares not at the viewer but just beyond them.
January 7, 2026 at 6:13 PM
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Folklore of the Asian steppes said that women who attempted to throat sing would become infertile, thus making it a men's art. Despite this there are many women trying throat singing, including whole bands like Tyva Kyzy. #WyrdWednesday
One of the members of Tyva Kyzy throat singing while playing her stringed instrument, from the Republic of Tuva in modern Russia.
January 7, 2026 at 6:00 PM