The Frightful Howls You May Hear

Mahigan Saint-Pierre of Kitchen Toad joins us once again to celebrate the feast of our most beloved Saint Expedite! We giggle about our formative experiences with the martyr, reminisce on baking late night pound cakes after our petitions manifested even more quickly than we'd dreamed, and ponder why Mahigan's statue of the saint looks exactly like Mark Zuckerberg. Mahi and B. Key also discuss their brand new collaborative launch, bringing everyone the victory of Today and their enemies the bitterness of Tomorrow. Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

Sorceress, diviner, and Chinese folk magic practitioner Red Hu leads the gang through the story of Daji, the intelligent, sadistic, and supernaturally seductive fox spirit who allegedly brought about the fall of the Shang dynasty. We cover her legend from Xu Zhonglin's "The Investiture of the Gods," discuss the survival of Chinese fox cults and folk Taoist traditions in Singapore, and share plenty of laughs about all the salacious details of Daji's #girlbossing along the way. Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

What lies at the heart of the concept of spiritual hygiene and what implications does it pose for sympathetic magic? Salt leads the team through an exploration of the relationship between different notions of ritual purity and spirit communion, a topic so often misconstrued with notions of morality, strict orthodoxy, and personal worth. Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls. 

This episode has a companion course module available at withcunningandcommand.com/courses. "Pure Sympathies and Natural Magic" is an hour long exposition into the practical side to hygiene, cleanliness, and natural magic, and includes over 30 simple and immediately actionable techniques relying on the principles of natural magic, as well as a PDF of all the charms sourced directly from primary texts and personal experimentation.

The gang explores the ins and outs of offering protocols, from divination to presentation to disposal. The Dragon, Wolf, and Owl dive deep in consideration of when to make them, what to give, how different actions and foods influence spirits during workings, and how to clean up and dispose of weekly treats and lavish annual feasts alike. Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

B. Key leads the gang through an exploration of what to do when your magic doesn't work out the way you intend. From partial successes to outright roadblocks in materia, technique, taglocks, or spiritual sabotage, the Owl provides a thorough account of how to keep your wits sharp and your spells sharper. Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

Salt brings out his astrological cunning to explain the importance of planetary conditions and necessity. Explaining the underlying implications of angularity, aspects and zodiacal shares, the Wolf explores how different contexts shape condition in the astrological figure. Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

Astrologer, artist, author, and fellow podcaster J.M. Hamade of "starnightdwell" joins the gang for an exceptionally thoughtful conversation on the hidden djinn. From literary motifs in Qur'anic scripture, Arabic grimoires, and the One Thousand and One Nights to the trance possession rituals of Z?r and Gnawa cults, J.M. provides a vivid and articulate account of the immense diversity of djinn traditions. Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

Sfinga explores some of the historical, anthropological, and medical scholarship on the phenomena of kitsune-tsuki: fox spirit possession or "attachment". From Meiji Period medical and religious reforms to the anxieties of socio-economic upheaval in villages, the Dragon considers culturally-negotiated categories of "madness" and trance, the politics of witchcraft accusations, and the fox spirits at the center of it all. Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

Sfinga and B. Key are joined by their dear friend, the impeccable sorceress, Fairy Seer, and Trollkvinne Rose Aurora. Trained in trolldom, rootwork, and a sorcerous lineage of Celtic origin, Rose brings her deep erudition and practical cunning to evaluate some of the prominent tropes about the Fair Folk. How do the Good Neighbours differ from spirits of land and nature? How are the living and the dead alike abducted into Fairyland? What are the most important taboos and misconceptions about the nature of these mercurial beings? When exactly is a changeling just a glamoured log? Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

Cows that are also werewolves, trigger-happy priests who curse more than witches, and a stone bearing the ass-print of the Devil Himself?the world of French Canadian folklore is full of some of the most hilarious motifs and cantrips. Mahigan Saint-Pierre, witch and proprietor of Kitchen Toad, joins the crew for a wild ride on the wild hunt canoe of the folklore, magic, and witchcraft his home. Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

Ceremonial tattoo artist and practitioner of rootwork, Quimbanda, and Thai necromancy Gary Noriyuki joins the crew to discuss what it means to participate deeply and authentically in multiple spiritual lineages. From apprenticing under elders in traditional modes of study to making use of the mediumship skills which inevitably carry over, Gary demonstrates his expertise in his considerations of blending teachings, spirit-taught methodologies, and somehow carving out the time to do it all. Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

Salt takes us on a journey through the worship of the W?dàxi?n in Northern China: the Fox, Weasel, Serpent, Hedgehog, and Rat Immortals of the Chumaxian tradition. Covering the history, cultural roots and influences, and trance possession rites of this rich current, Salt shares his love of the Five Great Immortals in a deeply evocative exploration into what it means to "catch the incense" of their patronage. Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

Some sorcerers are born with pacts, some achieve pacts, and others have pacts thrust upon them! Sfinga, Salt, and B. Key delve into personal considerations on intimate spirit alliances as more than just reciprocal agreements forged in trade, but transformative convergences of mutual oaths, duties, and license to conjure one another. Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

Sfinga and B. Key reflect on recent sorcerous adventures?and all the dirt, hagstones, brick dust, and herbs harvested along the way. Diving into the tips and tricks of collecting, storing, and using materia, the duo consider how to seem innocuous and invisible when gathering spicier dirt, trading with spirit merchants for greater boons, pacts which enable desired animal parts to be brought directly to you, and what to do when you can't get what you need in time for a desired election. Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

The gang reunites with a vengeance to discuss what it means to test your own protection magic. Taking turns sharing stories of practical enchantment, Sfinga, Salt, and B. Key consider ways to improve upon wards, how to check that they are indeed in place, what to do when protective amulets break, verifying disturbances and intrusions, and being warned of danger ahead of time through decoys, familiars, and spiritual security systems. Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

Sigil, servitor, egregore, god(?) - Fotamecus is everything, and we're just Ken(jurers). Sfinga and B. Key tackle the origins, magics, and memetic self-replication of the Internet's favourite time-bending spirit. From his construction as a temporal compression glyph to his current status as a godform of fluid, malleable time, the Dragon and Owl consider the divide between "constructed" and discovered spirits and share their experiences with the charming chronomancer himself. Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

The gang immanentizes the eschaton in this blast from the past! B. Key returns to his magical origins and leads Sfinga down the rabbit hole of the DKMU. From its early origins on OccultForums through the present day, Key explores the history of one of the most successful chaos magical movements and traverses through the pantheon of godforms that patron it. Through it all, Key and Sfinga muse about the nature of "created" spirits and servitors, memetic art and psychic psyops, and the deeply martial underpinnings of declaring a war on consensus reality. Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

Sfinga leads the gang through the spiraling words and worlds of Near Eastern incantation bowls. Rife with the poetics of exorcism and courtly judgement, and populated with a cast of satans, liliths, "no-good-ones", and the gods, angels, and even rabbis who bind them, this episode considers the cunning of the Syriac and Jewish Babylonian Aramaic genres of bowl texts?and extrapolates on the sorcerous technologies to integrate from their legalistic frameworks. Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

The gang follows up on Episode 6: Scrying the Spirits with a miscellany of tips and tricks for beginner and veteran readers alike, marking the second installment in the recurring series of practical insights to sorcery informed by their direct experiences. The Dragon, Wolf, and Owl chime in on the importance of not over-divining, thoughts on the limits of knowledge and communication, the role of spirit utterance and divinatory transmission, and musings on how to know you're ready to go pro. Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

B. Key delights us with a tour into all things Schrat: an ambiguous and exquisitely folkloric category of spirits hailing from nature, the hearth and home, and from the devil's own collection of souls to imbue manmade creations with life alike. Traversing through German, Dutch, and Estonian folklore, Key navigates through the winding paths of the Schrat and their related keepers and allies to ask the all important question: just what does it take to be a Schratmann? Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

Witches love a forked stick and a holed stone! Sfinga and B. Key explore our favourite of companions, the eggs, eyes, and spines of serpents, the wounds and sighs of the stars, the vigour and descent of the gods: hagstones. Featuring lore from the British, Germanic, and Slavic sources, this episode considers some of the general folklore on these most potent of allies, and teases much to come in future explorations. Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

In a turn for the practical, Salt contextualizes the Renaissance worldview behind the sensory perception of spirits within the Western philosophical tradition, while B. Key gives us some hard-won insights into developing mediumship. The first in a (hopefully, extensive!) series on spirit perception across cultures (and scrying specifically in multiple grimoiric and folk contexts), this episode lays some casual ground work on modes of spirit contact, lacks thereof, impediments, scaffolds, and the importance of humility and patience. Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

Sfinga and B. Key tackle this week's episode together to examine the Official Goodest Boy, St. Guinefort. Reflecting on their shared love of canine magic, the Dragon and Owl explore the origins of St. Guinefort's veneration, his predecessors in the field of folklore studies, and the litany of saints and sorceries coalescing around the heliacal rising of Sirius. Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

Taking a brief intermission from our folkloric deep-dives, B. Key conjures a Pride month special on the wild and hilarious life of Tom Driberg: journalist, gossip columnist, poet, communist, Member of Parliament, possible spy, friend of Aleister Crowley, bacchanalian socialite, and gay icon. What would a necromancy of the Right Honourable Lord Bradwell, Chairman of the Labour Party look like?and what are the lessons sorcerers can glean from his aggressive pursuit of his own success? Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

The first installment in a recurring theme across the podcast: shapeshifters and witchcraft! Sfinga starts us off with a survey of some of the folklore surrounding weretigers in India, China, and Southeast Asia. People who become tigers, tigers who become people, tigers as mercurial shamans and blood-sucking witches alike, an early pandemic Joe Exotic throwback, and much more. Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

Salt explores a sample of the historical roots of the connection between grimoiric conjuration and ritual exorcism. Focusing on antiquity in particular, he takes us through a journey of the relationships inherent in exorcism: hierarchies of divine beings, messenger spirits, and the coercion and supplication of spiritual powers by priests and magicians alike. The gang also shares a few personal accounts of why sometimes all you need is a phylactery!

Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

Sfinga leads us through an exploration of toad witches and the toad bone rite, horse jading, East Anglian self-initiations into witchcraft, and the Society of the Horseman's Grip and Word. Key wrestles with his past Chumbley phase, Salt delights us with his accents, and Sfinga manages to bring it all back to dragons once again.

Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.

Welcome to The Frightful Howls You May Hear! Join Sfinga, Salt, and B. Key of the "With Cunning and Command" blog on a journey through folklore, witchcraft, grimoires, and plenty of sorcerous experimentation. In this preview, our hosts introduce the show and give a taste of the kinds of topics to come.

Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls and follow us at twitter.com/FrightfulHowls.