Episode 38: Swedish Year Walk (with Soha)

The path might have a lot of twists and turns (and good goofs), but at the end of the Årsgång (Swedish Year Walk), you’ll be able to see into the future. We’ll give you a sneak peek: It features special guest Soha (@sokareemie), animorphs, goat heads, and more video game references than you can shake a stick at. It’s a long walk, but a little booze and a few jokes makes it all the more fun. You can find Yearwalk the game on Steam!

Thanks to Winc for sponsoring this episode of Spirits! Visit trywinc.com/spirits for $20 off your first order and free shipping.

If you like Spirits, help us grow by spreading the word! Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, & Goodreads, and review us on iTunes to help new listeners find the show. You can support us on Patreon to unlock bonus audio content, director’s commentaries, custom recipe cards, and so much more. To read up on us, listen to us on other podcasts, or send us a note, just head on over to SpiritsPodcast.com.

Our music is "Danger Storm" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.


Transcript

AM: Welcome to Spirits Podcast Episode 38: The Year Walk with Soha. 

JS: Oh, guys, this is gonna be a lot of fun. This is an old episode a while back. 

AM: Yeah. We recorded it quite a while ago. And I was sad that we couldn't get it out until now, because it's such a good episode. 

JS: Yeah. But we have a strict schedule when it comes to guest episodes. 

AM: I know. I know. A strict ratio.

JS: Excluding Eric, because Eric can just be on whenever. 

AM: Eric's part of the family. 

JS: He is. He's not a guest. He's a --

AM: Not a guest. 

JS: He's a – well, he can use the kitchen or the bathroom whenever he wants in our house. 

AM: He can help himself. Yes. 

JS: He can. 

AM: Do you know who else are not guests in our lives, Julia? 

JS: Is it our patrons in our lives? 

AM: It is our patrons. Thank you for getting my --

JS: I got it right. 

AM: -- increasingly incredible segues. But we would love to thank our freakin' load of new patrons. Oh, my gosh, I'm so excited. Are you ready for it? 

JS: Go for it. 

AM: Elizabeth, Mateusz, Zargo, Amy, Timothy, Moatsauce, Tyler, Palmer, Gio, Brandon, Hallie, Bryant, and Heather, who, actually, works at Patreon. 

JS: Hi.

AM: I met here at VidCon. And we love you! Thank you for making this incredible site for us! We love Patreon so much. 

JS: Yeah. 

AM: And, as always, thank you to our supporting producer-level patrons: LeeAnn, Shannon, Phil, Catherine, Kristina, MCF, Megan, Sara, Katie, Derek, and Debra. 

JS: You are the weird church spirits watching over our lives. You'll get this. It's a reference to the episode. 

AM: Wait for it.

JS: It always is. So, Amanda, what were we drinking this episode? 

AM: We were drinking Espresso Martinis. The recipe for which I come from your Uncle Nonzio. 

JS: Yes. My Uncle Nonzio does know how to make a great Espresso Martini. He also knows how to drink five in an evening. 

AM: Yeah. And he makes them like – I didn't know if you could make martinis double strength, but he kind of does. 

JS: He does. It's just straight vodka.

AM: So, I, I have a – I have a strict rule for myself that I have no more than one of Uncle Nonzio's drinks in an evening.

JS: It's a good rule.

AM: It totally is. And, speaking of which, actually, my recommendation for this week's Recommendation Corner is a sort of peer of ours – one of the first podcasts where when we launched Spirits, we were like, "Oh, man, there are other people doing similar stuff," which is Alcohollywood. They're kind of like us, but for movies. So, two friends drink, discuss stuff, pop culture, movie reviews, stuff like that. They are funny. They have good taste in drinks. And they have been at it for a long time. Like they kind of know the podcasting game. And they're like our – you know, our cousins. 

JS: They're also associated with the fantastic podcast, Our Fair City. 

AM: They share art --

JS: Yes. 

AM: -- which is something that we really, really love. So, that's mine for the week. How about yours? 

JS: Oh, Amanda. 

AM: Oh.

JS: I don't know if our listeners really know this. I don't really talk about it too much on the podcast, but I'm very into wrestling. 

AM: Julia is – Julia moonlights as a wrestling fanatic. 

JS: Wrestling is my jam. Our editor, Eric, is also a big wrestling fan. 

AM: Which helps. 

JS: And Netflix just launched a new series about a real life group that was happening during the 80s called The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. 

AM: Oh, yeah. 

JS: Also known as Glow. The show stars Alison Brie. And it's just amazing. Alison Brie plays a very unlikable character, which makes sense because her character – her wrestling persona is a heel --

AM: Nice. 

JS: -- which is a bad guy. 

AM: Yeah. 

JS: And it's just fantastic, and I highly recommend it. It's just some fun, feminist, 80s wrestling shit. It's great. 

AM: It really was kind of made for us. 

JS: It was totally made for me at least. 

AM: You know what else was made for us, Julia? I see you're rolling your eyes at me. I have another segue. Just roll with it.

JS: No. I'm going with it. Go ahead. 

AM: Winc was made for us.

JS: Winc was made for us. 

AM: So, Winc is a wine delivery service. Basically, our only goal when we started the podcast was to get a booze-related sponsor, and like, "Hey, we did it."

JS: And they showed up. Oh, it's so good.

AM: We did it all together. We are so happy to welcome a Winc as a sponsor at trywinc.com/Spirits. They're offering Spiriters, who are over 21 and live in the US, a $20 credit and free shipping on their first order of four bottles of wine. 

JS: That's basically going to buy you two out of the four bottles, and it's wonderful. Guys, we highly recommend it. That's a free bottle. That's free shipping. 

AM: Free shipping and like a free bottle and a half of wine. Like come on. 

JS: And it's, it's so easy guys. It just gets delivered to your door. 

AM: I know. Super cute.

JS: We had it sent, too. And Amanda's like literally drinking it now. 

AM: And we're going to tell you all about our favorites later in the episode. So, don't worry, but that's trywinc.com/Spirits. 

JS: Last thing guys, we just thanked all of our patrons at the beginning of this episode. But we are getting very, very close – about $200. 

AM: Scarily close. 

JS: Scarily close to our next goal, which would bring you double the amount of Spirits. 

AM: Double. 

JS: Do you want double the amount of Spirits? 

AM: Double. 

JS: Because we will bring it to you. 

AM: Every Wednesday would become Spirits Wednesday --

JS: If --

AM: -- which makes me want to cry and sleep.

JS: I know.

AM: But it would be very exciting for you guys. 

JS: But, if we hit our goal of $750, we're going to make Spirits every week. And I'm going to cry a little bit, but it's gonna be a lot of fun. And this is what we wanted to do for so long. 

AM: Julia is literally tearing up right now. 

JS: I'm a little upset right now. It’s just like I'm a little emotional. It's okay. We want to bring you Spirits every week. So, please help us hit our goal. 

AM: And it would let us bring more guests. It would let us do more listener roundups. We'll be able to do a monthly or like, every six weeks or so, hometown legend from y'all and read your emails and things. Like want --

JS: We have so many still. 

AM: We have so many ideas. We have so many guests that we want to bring on and doing just 26 episodes a year just isn't enough to bring you all stuff we want to bring you. So, we are so humbled by your support so far. We're excited that we're starting to get some sponsors, but the backbone of the show – the thing that lets us pay for our stuff and our editing and actually getting the show out to you is your support on Patreon. So, if you head over to patreon.com/SpiritsPodcast, you can give us $1, give us $3, join our Patreon-only live streams every month with just $10.

JS: For just $10.

AM: Like, like it's, it's – you know, it's like tipping a bartender or buying yourself a beer, buying us a beer. So, we would love to meet more of you over there. 

JS: Guys, we are so excited to bring this episode to you and especially with the guests like Soha. She is a video game expert. She is one of our big first fans. And we're just really excited to have her on the show to have her talk about the Year Walk which was actually a myth I had never really heard of. So --

AM: And such a cool one. Like I think about it all the time. So, without further ado, enjoy Spirits Podcast Episode 38: The Year Walk with Soha. 

  

Intro Music

AM: So, we are so pleased today to be joined by Soha, one of our favorite writers and game universe gaming --

JS: People.

AM: -- industry people. Thank you so much for being with us. 

Soha: Thank you. Thanks for having me. I'm so excited. 

JS: We're excited, too.

AM: I know nothing about what we're talking about --

JS: We’re just making sure. 

AM: -- [Inaudible 6:07], but Julia normally comes in with sheets of notes. This time, we're just hanging. We're just ready. 

JS: I love a good hang. Let's do this. So, what are we talking about today?

Soha: We are talking about Swedish folklore. And this came from a video game that's one of my favorite video games. It's called Year Walk. And it's a series of puzzles. It's like a little adventure game. It's developed and published by a Swedish mobile game developer called Simogo. When it first came out, it was on iPhone, and now it's on PC, on Steam, and, actually, surprisingly, on the Wii U. 

JS: That's a really random choice there. I kind of love it though. 

Soha: Apparently, it's really good on the Wii U. 

JS: Damn, that's the only good game on the Wii U.

Soha: [Inaudible 6:52].

AM: I supposed that's not the first time that sentence has been uttered. I'm sorry. [Inaudible 6:55].

Soha: So it's all based on this Swedish tradition and folklore. And it's a practice called Årsgång or Year Walk. I actually like wrote down pronunciation. So, I hope I don't super mess that up. 

JS: No, I'm so proud of you. 

AM: Right. Well done. You are raising the bar.

Soha: Thank you. Just a preface, all of the information that I'm sharing, it comes from – like there's an in-game encyclopedia. And, if you download it on mobile, there's like a free companion app that basically has all the lore and all the sort of history behind what's going on in the game. But there are some random internet searches. And I think what you'll find is there's a lot of overlap with other traditions that you guys have talked about before. 

JS: We like that. 

Soha: So -- yeah.

AM: These are like my kind of nerds. 

JS: Also, it sounds like you're kind of video game. Amanda --

AM: That’s what I’m saying. 

JS: -- where it comes with an appendix. 

AM: Yeah. Or, like, like so many times – so many times, I've like written fiction just to include cool footnotes. Like a big part of my thesis is like how many geeky footnotes can I fit into this thesis. 

JS: You're such a good nerd. 

AM: There was one about Star Trek. There was one about – what else? I think I got --

JS: Harry Potter.

AM: -- one's like Harry Potter. I did.

JS: You've done an entire economic guild system breakdown of wand lore in Harry Potter. 

AM: I did. I did. There – someone was on the internet talking about wand economics from Harry Potter. 

Soha: What?

JS: Someone was wrong on the internet, an Amanda McLoughlin story. 

AM: Yeah. They're like, "Oh, yeah, like wands. Why aren't they – aren't they more expensive?" Because like, you know, you just like buy one your whole life. I'm like, "Guys, a guild system. Like there's precedent for this." Anyway.

Soha: That's amazing. There's actually – there – there's an economics specialist – I don't know – someone who knows about economics that’s like way more than me, who wrote an entire paper on the collapse of the Star Wars economy after the destruction of the Death Star. 

JS: I want to read that. 

Soha: I'm like why --

AM: Footnotes please. 

Soha: I'm like I'm in two camps. I'm like, "Why would you do that?" And I'm – the other part of me is like, "That's amazing that you did that."

AM: I'm 100% in for this. Anyway, this game sounds great.

Soha: Yeah. It's, It's a horror game. It's mostly just very creepy settings. But, if you are interested in playing it, there's just a couple of jump scares. Like I remember, when I first played it on my iPhone, I like was laying in bed and playing it, and dropped --

AM: Mistake number one.

Soha: And dropped my phone into my face. And I was like, "Oh, god." There's a lot happening.

AM: We're both laughing because we've both been there. 

JS: We did – absolutely. I've definitely been watching like – oh, I'm trying to think. I can remember a specific moment where that definitely happened to me. I think I may have been watching like The Babadook on Netflix but on my phone. 

Soha: Oh, no. 

JS: I just dropped it straight on my face. 

AM: That happened to me yesterday --

JS: Oh, good, good, good. 

AM: -- looking up clips of Mandy Patinkin in the original Sunday in the Park with George while being tattooed.

JS: Sounds right. 

Soha: That's amazing. 

AM: That's, that's very me. We'll be back on it. 

JS: That sounds like the most you thing that ever happened. 

AM: Yeah. Yeah. And I just clipped my eyebrow a little bit. It was fine. 

JS: You're good.

Soha: So, Year Walk. It's a vision quest. It's to foresee the future. And it has a pretty mysterious history. It seems to have had a pretty widespread practice in Sweden until the beginning of the 19th century. But then, apparently, there are some rural areas that continue doing it as late as the beginning of the 20th century. And it's most likely a pagan ritual, but it did vary greatly between like regions and villages. But they all had one thing in common, and it's when someone could do a year walk. So, the gate, which opens at the end of the year walk to see the future, only opens on important festival days. So, like Mid-day, Midsummer's Eve, Christmas Eve, but most commonly people would do it on New Year's Eve.

JS: Oh, I like that. 

Soha: And it's a pretty severe and dangerous ritual. It's – if you are planning to do a year walk, the walker can't eat or drink on the day of the vision quest. And like the whole point of that is usually on these festival days like people are eating a lot. And, you know, there's a lot of just like gluttony and celebration. 

AM: Yeah. Revelry goodness.

Soha: Yeah. And, so, you can't drink or eat on the day of the vision quest. You also have to avoid any contact with people. And you have to lock yourself in a dark room. And you can't see any light or fire for the entire day. So, it's like --

AM: Yikes. 

JS: That is horrifying.

AM: It sounds like a great way to get lost and not found.

Soha: Yeah. It's, it's like, yeah, avoiding human contact and staying in the dark until I see vision sounds like every Friday night. So, that's great. 

AM: Yeah. But, also, it has a lot of precedent in terms of like cleansing the body, emptying the mind.

Soha: Exactly. 

AM: You know, really like getting yourself kind of primed and ready to like accept something that's, that's outside of your society. You know, to like – to like be open to stuff that is totally unfamiliar to you. 

Soha: Exactly. 

AM: However, also great for a missing persons. I can just see the like – the like Nordic crime drama now being like, "Oh. And did you talk to anybody before? No. Did you, you know, study the sun and orient yourself in the forest? No. Were you like well-sustained and hydrated? No."

Soha: Which is like, "Well, crime solved." The Year Walker would have to leave the dark room that they locked themselves in at the stroke of midnight. And that's the last chance that you have to cancel the Walk. Once you leave at the stroke of midnight, there's no turning back. 

AM: Dun-dun-duuuun. 

Soha: And, so, the final destination for a year walk is the church. And, on the way to the church, a year walker would meet various supernatural creatures, which pose some sort of threat. Some are like physical threats, mental, or spiritual threats. And, before they reach the church, you have to go through a cemetery. And then walk around the church in like a very specific intricate pattern to lure out the church grim. And that's the feature that I'll talk about in a bit.

AM: Julia sits up straight. 

JS: I'm already so excited for this. And --

AM: I love it. And, already, I'm thinking about like – you know, like walking through the valley of death. You know, like kind of confronting --

Soha: Yeah. 

AM: -- confronting hard things before you get to like the truth that you're seeking after. Like salt circles and like walking counterclockwise around stuff. Like, uhh, there's so many things coming together. 

JS: That's really cool. All I can think about is the end of Goblet of Fire for Harry Potter. 

AM: Also, is Final Destination Four a pop culture reference? Is that a thing? 

JS: I guess so. 

AM: Okay. Because – anyway, you – so [Inaudible13:09] --

JS: Why, why the fourth one though? 

AM: Because, because the – just the way that sentence was constructed. I was like Final Destination Four. And then I was like, "Oh, is that – is that a thing?" Is that [Inaudible 13:17]?

JS: Yeah.

AM: Anyway, in this case, the Final Destination is the future via the church? 

Soha: The future. The last stop is the church. You are supposed to lure out the church grim. And that's how you open your eyes to the future. And then you can actually see the future. And there's some recurring themes that can manifest in the different ways that somebody could Year Walk. So, a walker could see who dies in the following year or they can meet their own ghost on the road and see some sort of prophecy. There are also specific like visual themes. So, if you saw newly dug graves at a cemetery, that means a plague was coming the following year. Or, if you saw dwarves or elves carrying sheaves, it meant like a good harvest. If you saw armed men, it meant war was coming. And you can also see visions of like upcoming wedding since love was a pretty common theme for why somebody would year walk. 

JS: Awwwww. That's cute. 

AM: Nice. 

Soha: Yeah. 

JS: I was gonna say some of these seem really, really negative. But like, at least, there's some positive ones thrown in there. 

AM: Yeah. This is like an actual version of Professor Trelawney's like tea leaf divination ceremony. 

JS: Yes, that's true.

AM: Where, instead of just like a lump that could be either like a bezoar or grim or like – I don't know – a Quidditch broom or something. Like there's actual meaning to the like visual dictionary of things that you've seen.

Soha: Yeah. Let me tell you about some of the supernatural beings a Year Walker would meet. And, in the game, you meet five. 

JS: Cool.

Soha: So, the first one is Skogsra, The Huldra. And she plays a part in Norse mythology, but is likely from an even older origin. She's like a guardian of the forest, who tended to the trees and the plants and the animals. And, if you saw one large tree in a grove surrounded by smaller trees, that was considered to be her home or the Huldra herself.

JS: I was gonna say that's adorable. She's surrounded by her children.

AM: Yeah, the mom with all the little kids. 

Soha: Yeah. 

JS: I'm all about that. 

AM: All the little Groots. 

Soha: Yeah. 

JS: All the little Groots. Good job, Amanda. 

AM: All the little Groots. 

Soha: Awww. So, she's often described as a beautiful young woman, but it's not her real appearance --

AM: Yeah. 

Soha: -- since very few have seen her true face and even fewer live to speak of it.

JS: Whooooo.

AM: Whooooo. 

JS: Yeah. That's good. 

Soha: Yes. 

JS: That's a good one. 

AM: That was good. 

Soha: Yes. Yes. Directly from Simogo. So, thanks, guys. 

JS: Good job.

AM: I love that though. Like we see that in so many different cultures. We just talked about the Morrigan, you know, on Spirits. 

Soha: Yeah. 

AM: And we talked about other kinds of like mother or life or nature goddesses. But this idea that like the sort of maiden is the front --

Soha: Yeah. 

AM: -- you know, behind which lies like the hag or the crone or the, you know, powerful goddess force, I sort of love it. Like, like, I always have an image of sort of like a street harasser, you know, saying something to the wrong maiden. And then like the maiden turns around, "Oh, no. There's like a witch inside her, you know." Or, that Japanese urban legend with like the slit mouth woman. And --

JS: Yeah.

Soha: Yeah. 

AM: -- the behind mask, there is, you know, some scary creature willing to eat you. I sort of like that, behind every like you know passive and pretty seeming woman on the street, you know, all of us have within us the – a little – a little Kali, a little capacity for revenge

Soha: For sure. The Huldra is described as like lonely and filled with woe. And like some say that she's a shapeshifter and has the tail of a cow or a fox.

AM: Hmmm. Very different tales. 

JS: I think I would go fox tail if I had to.

Soha: A very different tales. Right. 

AM: Yeah.

Soha: Yeah. Same. That's like way cuter. I had to – I had to like remember what a cow tail look like because I was just like, “What do they look like?” 

AM: Just a little touch on the end, right? 

Soha: Yeah. And then I'm like, "Oh, that's, that's not cute."

AM: Oh, no. 

Soha: That's like --

JS: Super cute.

Soha: That's kind of weird. So, her relationship with men was complex, which like same. And --

AM: Always. 

JS: Always.  

AM: Theme. 

Soha: She could lure men out with her beautiful singing and bring them deeper into the forest, where she either wedded or killed them.

JS: There's, there's only two options. And those are the best options. 

Soha: There's only two options . And men who were kissed by the Huldra became apathetic and slow.

AM: Whoa. 

JS: I love that. 

AM: She like takes their life force?

Soha: Yes. So, even the ones that she wedded, they – it's like a pretty shitty outcome.

AM: And/or the best like wedded partnership ever, where your partner becomes more and more compliant over time. I'm just saying. I see the logic.

Soha: Some also see her as a positive force. Like she would blow her breath on rifles to bless men's hunts or she was kind to charcoal burners, and she would watch over their charcoal kilns while they rested. And, if you offered her your blood, she would – she would help you, but she could also possibly drink you dry. So, it's unclear how she'd react to anyone at any given time. The – I really liked the way that the companion app described her because they say like she plays by rules only known to her. 

AM: Ohh.

JS: I like that. 

Soha: So, like this very – yeah, it's this very complex – you're not sure if she's going to help you. It – does it depend on how she's feeling that day? Does it depend on if you, you know, give her a gift or if you show her respect? Like it's super unclear, which I really like.

AM: Yeah. Or, some like unknowable order. Or, you know, like maybe, maybe there's like a cosmic balance or a karmic balance or something where, you know, this is not your time to be helped or this is not your time to die. 

Soha: Yeah. 

AM: And like, you know, her, her reaction is just playing against some kind of like bigger ledger that we, as, as puny humans aren't, you know, able to access. 

Midroll Music.

AM: Hey, Jules.

JS: Yes.

AM: What's up? It's the refill. 

JS: I know. Guys, I actually, actually do need to refill. And you know what we're gonna refill it with, Amanda?

AM: I don't. 

JS: We're going to refill it with a bottle of Wonderful that we got sent to us in a box from Winc. 

AM: And is Wonderful a noun as well as an adjective? 

JS: It is both a noun and an adjective. It is the name of the wine and also describes it very well. 

AM: Ohh. And it looks like a white wine. Is that – is that the case? 

JS: It is. It is a 2015 California blend of white wine. 

AM: Whoa. Julia is giving me her sommelier face. 

JS: It is actually delicious. It tastes toasty and buttery like a chardonnay, but, at the same time, has kind of like a peach ring flavor to it that I really like. It's very good. 

AM: That sounds really good. And, wait, how did this beautiful wine get into my fridge? 

JS: Well, Amanda, all I did was take a quiz online.

AM: You did. So, Winc is this wine delivery service. They brought the wine right to my door, which was great. And, basically, you know, for, for kind of $13-ish a bottle and $6 flat shipping, you get some incredible wines. You can order them online. They can come to you every month. They can come to you whenever you want them to. And it's, it's so good, Because, for people like me – you know, if you don't have a BFF like Julia, who knows what the heck she's talking about when it comes to wine, it can be really hard to walk into the store and be like, "All right. I'll just like choose the cutest name or something."

JS: And the good part about Winc is that they custom tailor the wines to the taste of the individual consumer. So, I took that quiz online. They sent me a bunch of wines that I know I like, because I took that quiz and they know what I like. 

AM: And they say that over time, too. So, you can like thumbs up and thumbs down wines that you get. That way, it gets smarter and smarter as you develop your wine taste. 

JS: Yeah. And, listen, it's super affordable. Most of the wines are about $13. And the shipping is a flat rate of $6 no matter how many bottles you get. But Winc is offering our audience members, who are over 21 and live in the US, a $20 credit. So, that's one and a half bottles of wine and like, yo, plus shipping on your first order for four bottles of wine when you're a new member of Winc so that they're paying for the shipping.

AM: Yeah. 

JS: They're paying for some of your wine. It's excellent. We highly recommend it. 

AM: It's like – it's like a buy two and a half, get one and a half offer. Like that's some great stuff. 

JS: It is awesome. 

AM: All that and more you can get at trywinc, W - I - N - C – trywinc.com/Spirits. Without further ado, let's get you back to Year Walk with Soha. 

Soha: So, that's the first creature that you meet. The second is Backahasten or The Brook Horse.

JS: I love horses in all of mythology --

Soha: Yeah. 

JS: -- especially when they’re related to water, because it means they're gonna drown/devour someone.

AM: Maybe children. Yeah.

Soha: Exactly. I --

JS: Usually, children.

Soha: This is when I reached out to you guys and be like, "We've talked about Year Walk, because there's this horse that you need to know about.”

JS: I like that that's become our thing. It's like, "Oh, horses that kill people? Sign us up."

AM: I'm super happy about this.

Soha: So, a lot of Swedish folklore is filled with strange creatures residing in dark waters, which is just like absolute nightmare feel for me. 

AM: Yes. Rising up out of the deep dripping. Oh, it's so good. 

Soha: Ugh, it's the worst. 

AM: I'm so sorry. It's 9:30 in the morning.

Soha: It's the worst. So, the brook horse was a pale horse, who lived in creeks or lakes who – guess what – lure children on its back, and its spine grew for every rider. And, when it was satisfied --

JS: Yes. 

Soha: Yeah. And, when it was satisfied, it leapt into the water whereupon the children drowned. So, like every mythos out there has a version of this shitty horse. 

JS: Oh, my god, Europe. 

AM: The finest roller coaster ever until it's the last one. 

JS: Europe is just all about drowning those children. 

AM: They are.

JS: What is up with that?

Soha: Drown them. 

AM: Just endless bodies of water that are just deep enough. Oh, no, bad image. 

JS: Oh, god.

Soha: So, some compare it to the Necks, who's a handsome young fiddler who lured young girls down into the water. Some say that they're one and the same. 

AM: Not, not the New York City basketball team, which is what my head went to. 

JS: No. I actually love the Necks. It's a really cool story. And I totally want to do it on --

AM: At some point. 

JS: -- Spirits one day. 

AM: Okay. 

JS: But continue.

Soha: It's often described as a majestic white horse that would appear near rivers particularly during foggy weather. And anyone who climbed on it – onto its back was not able to get off again. 

JS: I love the sticky horse motif. They just so [Inaudible22:55].

AM:  Same as the Kelpie --

Soha: Kelpie horse. 

AM: -- which I think is dark colored, right? 

JS: Yeah. 

AM: And like rose out sort of like dripping in --

JS: It's like supposed to be like a grayish almost like green seaweed color. 

AM: Yeah. But, if we're talking about fog and not about like the, the, you know --

JS: Murky depths of lochs. 

AM: Yeah, exactly. That, that makes a lot of sense.

JS: Yeah. I'm into that. 

Soha: So, I'm going to read a – like a brief story that the creators of Year Walk shared in the encyclopedia about the brook horse, because it's like there's a little bit of a twist that's not kind of what we know so far about this horse. 

AM: We're super here for it. 

Soha: So, a young man was on his way home from his work at a charcoal kiln. He decides to wash up in a nearby creek. The man finds a strange stone formed like a small child in the water. He picks it up. Yeah. 

AM: Don’t. Sorry. Sorry. 

Soha: Don't, don't pick it up. Don't pick it up. 

JS: Don't touch it. 

AM: Don't do it. Don't do it. Shower when you get home. What are you doing?

Soha: The man notices that he's not alone. He is being watched by a horse walking on two legs.

JS: Waaaa.

Soha: The horse stretches out a human hand to the man --

JS: Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. 

Soha: -- who gets frightened and runs home to a shack he shares with his fellow workers.

JS: Well, fucking good, dude. 

AM: First, good decision we've had all day. 

Soha: Right. You're frightened. He tells the tale to his comrades, who laugh at him and call him a drunken fool. He shows them the stone that now looks quite ordinary. 

JS: Awww.

Soha: The man curses and goes to bed. When the workers wake up the following morning, they find the man dead in his bed. His lungs filled with water and the stone nowhere – now, nowhere to be seen. 

AM: Wooooh

JS: Did this --

Soha: So, it's like this cool – like he's not a kid. He's not a child that rode on the brook horse's back. He just saw the horse and took something of his.

AM: Yeah. Or, maybe the stone is like the --

JS: Child.

AM: -- the image of the last person to be killed. Like that's what I'm thinking. 

JS: Yeah. 

Soha: Yeah. 

AM: It's like, once, once the, the new victim picks it up, you know, and like looks away and goes to show it to somebody else, "All of the, the like soul or the impression of the last person killed, in this case, the child was gone." 

JS: Yeah.

AM: And, now, maybe there's like a man – like a charcoal kiln attendant shaped stone lying --

JS: Oh, god. 

AM: -- lying in the a river waiting for the next dummy. 

JS:  It also reminds me of that one story that we did at the end of the 30 Myths in 30 Minutes, where it was the unbaptized baby soul one that would just hang onto your back. 

AM: Why remind me of that, Julia? 

JS: I'm sorry. But I --

Soha: Well, that's actually the next creature.

JS: Yes. 

AM: Nooo!

JS: Awesome.

Soha: Nice. Was that a high five? 

JS: Yeah. It was a high five.

AM: Yeah. We're gonna need a super cut of our high five, listeners.

JS: At some point. 

Soha: It's – that was a solid high five. I could hear it from here.

JS: Good. 

Soha: Yeah, good.

AM: We also maxed out our audio. So, I'm so sorry, editor, Eric.

Soha: The next creature is the Mylingen, The Myling.

JS: Yeah. 

Soha: Because – so, infanticide was a fairly common crime in Sweden during the 19th century and earlier. And, in my notes, I wrote good times. 

AM: Well, like really taking my joy right down – right down to the – to the baseline. 

JS: We get – we get the high with the murderous horses and then the low with the infancide. 

AM: Okay. Okay.

Soha: So, the two most common motives were – for infanticide – infanticide? 

JS: I, I just said infancide. So --

AM: I would say infanticide. 

Soha: Infancide. 

JS: You're probably right. 

Soha: Infant murder. 

JS: Infant murder. Let's do – let's do that. 

Soha: Let's just go there. It was poverty for, you know, not being able to feed the child or the child had been conceived out of wedlock. And, so, the souls of the children would become Mylings. And that's why I wrote that like they're also the souls of unbaptized children, who were denied acceptance into the church. So, they're forced to roam the Earth until somebody properly buries them to give them peace.

AM: Horrifying. Horrifying.

JS: Amanda's face right now is just like, "Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope."

AM: Horrifying. Right. 

Soha: Don't have babies. Like this is birth control. So --

JS: Oh, no. 

AM: I mean this is like – this was like the, you know, toxic masculinity and like patriarchical culture is bad for everybody.

Soha: Right. Right. Exactly.

AM: I'm pretty sure I just added an extra IC to patriarchical. 

JS: You did. And it was cute.

AM: Anyway. 

Soha: I,I definitely am a neurotic person. But like I'm one of those people that I'm like, "I'm not having kids, because I know my kids going to be like either somebody who summons bullshit demon into my house --

JS: Yep. 

Soha: -- or like ends up being like a ghost baby. Like a Myling." Or just like some --

AM: That's like really real. 

Soha: Like I just know it's going to happen to me.

JS: You just feel it? 

Soha: It's like, "Not happening."

JS: No demon worship infliction. 

AM: You can explore this in the house. You can explore this infliction. What, what is that child name from the scary one, where he's blonde and on the stairs?

JS: Damien. 

AM: Yes. 

JS: Yeah, from The Omen. 

AM: Yes, that's the one.

Soha: Good job. The worst. The worst. So, the common – the most common way for Mylings to haunt was through a horrible wailing sound. 

AM: Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. 

Soha: Which – same. Some, some take the form of a ball of light to lead travelers astray. 

AM: Like a Will-o'-the-wisp. 

Soha: A person – a person who helps Mylings find their way to the other side and was often left a gift. And, also, this is where – this is kind of the cool part is that other --

AM: Was the gift death? 

Soha: -- supernatural creatures could take Mylings and give them eternal rest like the brook horse, who can take Mylings onto his back and drown them, which is nice? 

JS: Nice? Great? Like with a question mark?

AM: We go from horrible to more horrible, and then it circles back to just. Like that's how that works.

JS: Heck yeah. 

Soha: That’s okay. Like – so, actually, in the game, you are bringing these like terrible twitchy babies to the brook horse. And, once the brook horse has four of them, he like goes down into the water and brings the babies down with him. But it's like this is like nice I guess. Like you're giving them rest. They're, they're --

JS: I'm kind of doing the right thing maybe.

Soha: You're kind of doing the right thing. 

AM: Yeah. Yeah. That – I mean that, that works out in my head. That calculus works out.

JS: All right. 

Soha: You should check out the art from the game, too. It's like the brook horse is like this horse that's wearing a tux. It's like really --

JS: Great. 

Soha: It's fantastic. So --

AM: I've been picturing the --

Soha: Yeah.

AM: I've been picturing the cute boy dragon from the movie, Spirited Away. 

JS: Okay.

AM: That one.

JS: I was going --

Soha: I love Spirited away. 

JS: -- Cute, boy, dragon. What the fuck are you talking about?

AM: You know, at the end of the, the --

JS: Yeah. Yeah. I know. He turned into a person,

AM: It's sort of a white like – a sort of endless – like you can have many things on the back. That's adorable. But, if you're coming out of the depths to eat me, I find it less adorable.

JS: Yes. I'm also thinking BoJack Horseman. It's just the way that my mind is going.

AM: Oh, oh, let's not return to the vision of the human hand coming out of a horse standing on two legs.

JS: That's terrifying. 

AM: The most fucking horrifying thing I've ever seen in my life. 

JS: Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yep.

AM: Just something about, about human parts being on non-human things and vice versa --

Soha: It’s too much. 

AM: -- gets me. Like from the – like Julia and I studied like Early Theatre when we were in high school in our theater programs going back to like Christian Bible plays, mystery plays, things like that. And, from the beginning – the dawn's of time, the image of a demon is the mixing of animal and human in --

Soha: Yeah. 

AM: -- any, any way but especially like unexpected neigh horrifying ways. That was not a neigh pun, but it –  but it came out of me. 

JS: It was a good one though. I'm proud of you. That was great. 

AM: Thanks, boo.

Soha: So, the fourth creature is Nattravnen or The Night Raven. 

JS: Good. Good start.

Soha: In Scandinavian folklore, carrion birds were deeply linked with misfortune and death. And, so, the night Raven is no exception. So, it's described as this large bird with a sharp beak, and sometimes with holes in its wings. And, if a person looked through the holes, they would become ill.

JS: Creepy. 

Soha: And, if you looked into its eyes, you would die.

AM: Whooo.

JS: Whooo. Basilisk style. I'm into that.

Soha: Yeah. So, other stories described the night Raven as a giant skeleton bird, whose hunger was never satisfied. And it would stop travelers at night and eat them especially on festival days. So, this is a creature that you would probably most certainly run into on a Year Walk.

AM: Yeah. It's like the, the prime day for that guy. It also makes sense if your prey is all fattened up and --

JS: Oh, yeah. 

AM: -- you know, tipsy and revel – revelrous. 

JS: Just eat and, hmmm --

Soha: Exactly. 

JS: -- tastes like mutton and wine. 

AM: Fresh. Fresh. 

Soha: So, some describe it as an ordinary raven, but, if it landed on a house, someone would die shortly from a terrible fever. So, overall, there's like a strong association with disease. And, when farmers would send children to collect wild birds eggs, they have to be careful not to pick the eggs of the night raven since they're considered deadly. And they would infest or infect other eggs. 

AM: No pressure child. 

Soha: Well, you could actually – you could knock on the egg three times and say, "Out with the evil spirit." And, if it belonged to the night raven, it would turn black.

JS: Whooo. 

AM: Whoo. 

JS: I was gonna say --

Soha: Yeah. So --

JS: -- does it knock back? That would be worse. 

AM: That would be worse.

Soha: Some sources say it's, it's a – it was the spirit of an evil greedy man who had not been buried properly. And the greed manifested itself into a fondness for shiny things.

JS: Like birds. I got you. 

Soha: It's always birds. 

AM: It sounds less like a manifestation and more like a just sort of like transference of, you know, you wanted shiny things in life. And, so, you want shiny things as a raven in death.

Soha: Yeah, exactly. And, in German folklore, there is a version of the night raven called the Nachtkrapp, which was like a bug bear creature that would abduct children and like horribly devour them. That was very specific, that it was like not just eat them but like devour.

JS: Horribly devour.

Soha: Yeah.

AM: Rip limb from limb and eat --

JS: While still alive. Exactly. 

AM: Just I mean the image of being eaten by a beak is, is pretty destructive to begin with. 

JS: Yeah. 

Soha: I found this part – and I was like – I was dying when I read those, but there's the Guter Nachtkrapp or the good night raven --

JS: Cool. 

Soha: -- who would – who would gently sing children to sleep.

JS: Awwww. That's adorable. 

Soha: Right?

JS: I love that. I want one. 

Soha: It's like there's the bad one that will rip your, your limbs off, but then there's a good one that likes sings you to sleep. And that's so sweet.

AM: I, I also love though that like when you're desperate enough to seek something out but the outcome could go in two such drastic, you know, ways. 

Soha: Yeah. 

AM: Like either the, the raven coming toward you. is either gonna like put that fucking child to sleep, who's been keeping you up for the last four weeks teething or whatever or it's going to just like horribly devour all your souls. 

Soha: Exactly. So, now, the last creature that you meet is the Kyrkogrim or the church grim. 

AM: Yes. And I'm so into it. 

JS: I'm so excited. 

AM: I want a T-shirt. I want a jersey. I want a tote bag. I'm here for it. 

JS: Church grim. 

Soha: It's super. And, if you look up the church grim in Year Walk, it's an amazing design. This is the last creature that the year walker would meet, because they would lure them out when they reached the church. And, out of all Swedish folklore, the church grim was the most complex and the most feared. So, when a church was built in medieval times, an animal, most commonly a goat because they were cheapest, would sometimes be buried alive under the floors.

AM: Oh? 

JS: Oh, okay. So, I have a really good story that kind of goes with this one second. I guess it was Roman, because it was the Vestal virgins. They would have this concept where they would have these virgin priestesses that would guard the temple of Vesta. And, if they were found having sex or something like that, they couldn't be killed like forthright. Like they couldn't just be like, "Well, you broke your contract so we have to kill you." Instead, they would bury these women alive --

AM: More horrible.

JS: -- because, in that case where they thought that Vesta would come and, if they weren't falsely accused or something like that, Vesta would save them. So, it gave them the opportunity --

AM: Oh, the sort of like, if she floats, she's a witch. 

JS: Right. It gives them the opportunity to be saved. 

AM: Huh!

JS: And, if they're not saved, then they're --

AM: Then to exculpate themselves. Right.

JS: Yeah. So, it's not exactly like the, if she floats, she's a witch because --

AM: No. Yeah. I see what you mean. 

JS: -- then she's not guilty if she survives. But, if she survives --

AM: But what I – what I mean is like a way to kind of like outsource the blame --

JS: Right.

AM: -- in a way or to be like, "Well, it's just the way things should go."

JS: Yeah.

AM: That's what it is. 

JS: Like I guess Vesta was mad at her, because now she's dead because we put her in this --

AM: Oh, women.

JS: -- terrible situation.

Soha: Oh, man, toxic masculinity.

JS: Seriously though. 

AM: It's bad for everyone. The real grim is toxic masculinity.

JS: The real grim.

Soha: The real grim. 

AM: There we go. 

Soha: The real grim. There were also stories of criminals being buried alive as punishment underneath churches. And, in other versions, this is where we get the animal crossover horror feast. The criminal's heart was cut out and placed inside an animal carcass that was sacrificed.

JS: Whooo.

AM: Oh, which is like what? Do we know --

Soha: Which is like how do you jump to that? 

JS: My, my question is why are we murdering people underneath churches now. That's my question. 

AM: Yeah. I thought you were gonna say my question is why are we murdering animals if the criminals are already dead.  

JS: I mean that's a good question too. 

Soha: Right.

AM: I mean, so, there probably – there obviously is, is a reason why this is actually happening. My kind of first thought is like, you know, giving up something of value to the community in order to say like, "Okay. Like God like we really care. Like we're making this for you. Like come, you know, and dwell in this – in this temple where we are, you know, actually like raising as a community, blah,blah, blah, blah, blah." That's my guess.

Soha: Yeah. So, there is a bit of a reason. I'll do all of one caveat about the whole heart before getting into it. It's like the most central part of many myths surrounding the church grim. So, like, stories from South of Sweden told you that, if you could touch the church grim's heart, you could stare into the eyes of creation. 

AM: Fuck, yeah. 

JS: It's the fucking holy grail. 

Soha: Which is super rad. 

AM: I love that. 

Soha: So, in parts of Europe, it was – it was believed that like the first person buried in a new churchyard have to guard it against the devil.

AM: Huh!

JS: So, you don't want to be the first person to die when there's a new church in town. 

AM: So, they are – so, they are putting something down there. And I mean let's think about it. If we're going to choose someone to guard the churchyard, I kind of want a scrappy criminal. 

JS: That's true. 

AM: I kind of what the heart of a scrappy criminal inside a dog or a goat or a bull --

Soha: Right. 

AM: -- or something big and scary. 

Soha: Right. It's, it's the ultimate punishment because it's like no one wants to bury their deceased loved ones with like the eternal chore --

AM: Yeah. No. 

Soha: -- of like fighting Satan. So --

AM: It's like a DIY animal.  

Soha: So --

JS: I'm sorry. What was that? Do you want to say that one more time? 

AM: It's like a DIY animal. 

JS: Oh, my god. 

Soha: I know. I want to see that book cover. So, this is the sad part. Churchgoers would bury a black dog alive on the north side of the church yard. And that dog's spirit would then become the church grim. And people did that so that like it didn't have to be a loved one that ended up being – fighting the devil. It was just this black dog that would end up being the church grim. And humans could go around and like be planted in the ground without any harm.

AM: Horrible. Also, fair, you know --

Soha: Yeah. 

AM: -- like I see where it comes from. Why on the north side? Do you know? Is there any significance?

Soha: I actually don't know, but it was very specific that it was like it had to be on the north side of the church.

AM: I always assume that hell is below your feet. And, so, therefore I associate it with the south even though that, that south is down below. Like that's a – that's a different direction. 

Soha: Right. Right.

AM: But I'm sure there might have been, you know, like, like portentous winds coming from the north or something like that. 

Soha: Right. 

JS: I like that. I think that makes more sense because you're looking at like a society where the north is barren and cold. So, it makes sense that that would be – and we've said that actually in some East Coast Canadian and like Icelandic stuff is hell, and the underworld was the North. 

AM: Yes. 

JS: So, that makes sense.

AM: Huh!

JS: Yeah. 

AM: All right. 

Soha: Yeah. So, some people saw a church grim as a guardian of the church. Others saw it as a parasite that was drawn to the energy of the church, and it fed on people's hopes, and dreams, and fears. 

JS: Awww. 

Soha: Some say it would only harm bad people and wouldn't harm good people. So, super complex. It's not clear why he's there. In the game, he is a goat with – whose heart – like you can like kind of move his cloak to see his heart. And like, by touching his heart, that's kind of how you end up looking into the future. Those are the five sort of supernatural beings that you meet during your vision quest. And they are rad.

AM: There's so much here to love. I am picturing Dr. Whatever from Wicked. The like professor that turns into a goat because like --

JS: Oh, god. No. I can't remember his character's name. 

AM: -- because like death is creeping toward us and bad magics. Dr. Tom? Not Dr. Tom. 

JS: No. Not Dr. Tom. He's --

JS: I had to call you out on that a little bit. 

AM: No. Not – I see myself halfway through that. 

AM: Dr. Dillamond. 

JS: Yes, that is it. 

AM: Woooh! Anyway, like, like a goat wearing half moon spectacles and a cloak. And, now, I'm picturing that goat as Aaron Burr. The [Inaudible 39:20] --

JS: And then his heart comes out. 

AM: Ohhh. 

JS: Ohh.

AM: I'm not going quite that far. But, aah, so interesting. And like, the fact that there are so many different interpretations and versions of that --

Soha: Yeah.

AM: -- grim myth, makes me think like, "Oh, this must have been a thing." Like, you know --

Soha: Yeah. 

AM: -- there, there's so many whatever examples like family legends, like personal interpretations. Like that, to me, is just – even though it's more ambiguous in a way, like that, to me, is just evidence that it must have actually been, been a thing. 

JS: Yeah. And I can tell from just the mythology and the way that it's formatted that it was definitely something that started earlier as one thing and kind of had to evolve over time into something else as --

AM: Right. 

JS: -- different culture and different religion and stuff comes in and influences it --

AM: Yeah. 

JS: -- which I love that kind of story. I love kind of parsing through like, "Well, that might be, you know, more Pagan while this is more Christian and, you know -- 

AM: Exactly. Like the, the kind of – the first one we, we covered, The Mother Goddess. When it's something as like primal as, "Oh, she's about, you know, love or death or birth or, you know, something like that, you know that the roots are definitely pre-Christian. There should definitely be a term for the sort of syncretism where it's like, "Lol, it's not Pagan. It's fine," you know, in trying to shove it into the framework. 

JS: There probably is a term. I'll try and figure out what that is at some point. 

AM: Okay. If not, I would love to, to offer up to the academic universe. #LOLit'snotpagan,it's fine.

JS: I do like that as a scientific term.

Soha: Yeah. It's – at some point in the game, you find a journal of somebody who's basically like losing their mind a little bit as they're trying to understand how a year walk works. And they start calling the different creatures that you meet along the way as watchers. And I thought that was a really interesting way. It's like they're just – they're participants of the year walk, and they're watching over you. But is that all that they do? And also like who watches the watchers?

JS: Who watches the watchmen? 

AM: And watches the watch goats. 

Soha: Yeah. Yeah. 

JS: The watch goats. 

Soha: The watch goats. 

JS: Who does? 

AM: And, at the end after making your way pass through these five challenges, do you just kind of like see what, what your heart is searching? Like is there a way to specify the quest? How does that work?

Soha: So, the way that I understand it is that part of the ritual is sort of meditating on what you want to know. And, so, in the game, without giving too much away, the year walk that you're on isn't actually like your year walk because you're going through the person's journal who's going through this year walk. And, essentially, the way that they've been meditating on a different case he ends up getting into somebody else's year walk.

AM: Got you. I love that.

Soha: And the original reason that this person whose year walk you're going into is going through it is because they're actually doing it for love. You first meet like the love of your life, and she's saying that she is getting married to someone else. And the idea is that like, "Okay. I'm going to go on a Year Walk, I'm going to find out what happens, because I want to be with her." It's this idea that like you are actually actively – while you're in solitary confinement, while you're in the dark, while you're not eating or drinking, you are thinking of the question – you're thinking of the answer you want to receive.

JS: Okay. 

Soha: And that's how your year walk manifests.

JS: I'm interested in that. 

AM: All right. 

JS: That's really cool. 

AM: It's like a much more intense version of, you know, trying to lucid dream and like thinking and dreaming as you're falling asleep. 

Soha: You're right. 

AM: Cool. 

Soha: Right. It's like this weird sort of like sensory deprivation that ends up like kind of like how you mentioned earlier of like cleansing the soul. And then, as you walk out, all of these creatures have now sort of been summoned in because the gates are open.

AM: Yeah. And your – and your mind is more receptive to, you know, visions or influence or, you know --

JS: Yeah. 

AM: -- sides from the outside because you're sort of primed to do that. One of my early childhood memories is losing something, a necklace or, you know, something of value to me and my dad being like, "Pray to Saint Anthony, Amanda." Like look all you can. And, you know, my very Irish-Catholic upbringing is like, "You know, look as hard as you must. And then, if you really need it – like if you – if you really seriously think that you have searched all you can possibly search and you've tried your best,blah, blah, blah, you know, pray to Saint Anthony. And, if, if you know, that doesn't work, like this necklace ain't coming back.” And, so, I remember, you know, I did it a couple times, and a couple times it worked, a couple times, it didn't. But then, eventually, I sort of put it together, where I was like the process of like collecting yourself and really saying to myself did I exhaust all the possible options. Okay, yes, I think I did. Like stopping, you know, calming, like sitting there praying, you know, like concentrating on something. If nothing else, like collecting your mind enough to --

Soha: Yeah.

AM: -- sort of take a break from it. And then, hopefully, you know, you realize like, "Oh, I didn't check my purse from, from two weeks ago." Just the one from last – and, you know – and then and then you find it. So, that was on my very early on. I was kind of like, "Why does the utility – like what is helping me here?" I don't know. I just – I remember very distinctly that, that thought occurring to me.

JS: You were a very precocious seven year old or however old people you were in this situation. 

AM: Yeah. You know, I wasn't watching fucking Frazier and Chers. I had been doing something, too.

JS: Whatever. 

Soha: Call out. Yeah. If you're interested in the game, but you don't want to play it because spookies sort of get to you, there is a great like one hour, no commentary walkthrough on YouTube. And it's just like the art is amazing. The soundtrack is so, so good. So, I highly recommend checking it out. It's not a long game at all. Like I think the walkthrough, without like any sort of time to figure out the puzzles, because they'd already done it, was like less than an hour. 

AM: Wow. 

Soha: But, if you're playing it on your own, it could probably take a couple of hours, because some of the – it's – what I really like about it is it's one of those games that like you really have to have a notepad with you, where you have to be taking notes as you're playing the game --

JS: Yeah. Man, I love that. 

AM: Games for nerds. 

Soha: Yeah. It's so exciting. Like so many games don't do that now. And, now, it's like – I don't know. It's cool when, when they channel that old school sort of adventure game ephemera I guess. 

JS: Yeah, definitely. 

AM: I love that. I love that. And, and, as someone who loves video games, but just – my brain just isn't wired to play them and it wasn't a big part of my upbringing and stuff, I love the like walk through and the let's plays and speed runs and like ways that allow me to enjoy the art and, and narrative and construction of video games --

JS: Yeah. 

AM: -- without having to force myself to like learn the mechanics of controllers.

JS: Yeah. We'll, we'll link it in the show notes. 

AM: We will. 

Soha: Sweet. 

JS: Okay. 

AM: Soha, any final observations – I don't know – shoutouts, ideas. If anyone wants to develop more mythology games, we are so here for you. 

JS: We will review them. 

Soha: Right? 

AM: We will review them. We will give you feedback. We will lend ourselves up to the avatars. Really anything you want.

Soha: I – yeah. I want more games to play around with mythos whether real or whether in-game. So, some friends of mine actually just released a game this month. What month. It's March. Last month. 

JS: Okay. 

Soha: Like what day is it? 

JS: I don't even know anymore. 

AM: Time is – time is a flat circle time. Time is construction.

Soha: Time, you know, I'm on my own year walk right now. Am I even really here?

AM: All right.

Soha: So, it's called Night in the Woods. And it's a really beautiful adventure game. And there isn't – it's not based on like real mythos. But there's an element of it, where you can look at constellations and the person who's guiding you through the constellations is telling you stories about those sort of legends. And it's really cool.

AM: That is amazing. 

JS: I love that. I actually – I think I've read Polygon's review of it. 

Soha: Yeah. 

JS: So, I'm stoked to try and check that out too. 

AM: Nice.

Soha: Yeah. 

AM: If listeners have any suggestions, recommendation games that you love that have to do with mythology or have in-game mythology that you really value, totally let us know. 

JS: Do you have anything you want to plug Soha?

Soha: So, you can find me on Twitter @sokareemie. And that's usually where I'm talking about video games or sharing memes of some sorts or posting photos of my cat.

JS: We do love the photos of the cat. 

AM: All, all of which we love way more than the times that you say nice things about us, which we also super love. It warms, warms my heart.

JS: It does. 

AM: It's like the opposite of the horse dragging us all to hell. Beautiful. 

Soha: The horse drags you to heaven.

JS: Yehey. 

Soha: Yey. 

AM: El infierno, poor babies. Sorry guys.

JS: Oh, no.

Soha: No. 

AM: Well, thank you again for getting up early and talking about this creepy, creepy cool stuff with us.

Soha: Yeah. Thank you.

AM: All right, listeners. And, in the meantime --

JS: Stay creepy. 

AM: Stay cool. 

Outro Music

AM: Spirits was created by Julia Schifini and me, Amanda McLoughlin. It's edited by Eric Schneider with music by Kevin MacLeod and visual design by Allyson Wakeman. 

JS: Subscribe to Spirits on your preferred podcast app to make sure you never miss an episode. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr @SpiritsPodcast. 

AM: On our Patreon page, patreon.com/SpiritsPodcast, you can sign up for exclusive content like behind the scenes photos, audio extras, director's commentary, blooper reels, and beautiful recipe cards with custom drink and snack pairings. 

JS: If you liked the show, please share with your friends and leave us a review on iTunes. It really does help. 

AM: Thank you so much for listening, till next time.

Transcriptionist: Rachelle Rose Bacharo 

Editor: Krizia Casil