There are stories that refuse to stay still.

Medusa has been carried through centuries as a monster, a warning, a figure placed at the edge of fear - and yet her story has never settled there.

In this episode of Hex & Muse, we return to Medusa with care, tracing her origins in ancient Greek mythology, her transformation through the writings of Ovid, and the way her image has moved through art, power, and culture across time.

We explore the meaning of her gaze; how it shifts the act of seeing itself and how her story has been reclaimed in the present, where Medusa has become a powerful symbol for survival, autonomy, and living within a body that has been changed.

This is an episode about myth, but also about what myth holds.

About who gets to tell a story.

And what happens when that story is taken back.

• Ovid - Metamorphoses, Book IV
  https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/Metamorphoses4.php
• Hesiod - Theogony (Gorgons + early myth references)
  https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Theog.+270
• Apollodorus - The Library, Book II (Perseus myth)
  https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+2.4
• Theoi Greek Mythology - Medusa & Gorgons
  https://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Gorgones.html
• Caravaggio - Medusa (c. 1597)
  https://www.uffizi.it/en/artworks/medusa
• Benvenuto Cellini - Perseus with the Head of Medusa
  https://www.museumsinflorence.com/musei/perseus.html
  
  

• Marina Warner - Monuments & Maidens: The Allegory of the Female Form
• Mary Beard - Women & Power: A Manifesto
• Natalie Haynes - Pandora’s Jar: Women in the Greek Myths
• Jess Zimmerman -Women and Other Monsters
• Emily Wilson (trans.) - The Odyssey (for broader myth context and gender reading)

Hex & Muse is recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. I pay my deepest respects to their Elders past and present - and to all First Nations people, whose stories and spirits continue to shape this land.

Follow along for more folklore, magic, and mythic musings:
Instagram: @hexandmuse
Website: www.hexandmuse.com

Hex & Muse is a spellbound journal of folklore, magic, art, and the sacred feminine - told through cinematic storytelling and whispered histories.
From my altar to yours… thank you for listening.

As the Northern Hemisphere turns toward the light, we arrive at the spring equinox - known in many pagan traditions as Ostara.

In this episode of Hex & Muse, we explore the stories, symbols, and seasonal rhythms that shape this moment. From ancient myths of return and renewal to the folklore of hares and eggs, we trace how these traditions have travelled through time - eventually forming what we now recognise as Easter.

Blending mythology, history, and modern ritual, this episode invites you to reconnect with the turning of the earth and the quiet beginnings that come with it.

Historical & Mythological Sources

• Bede - The Reckoning of Time
  (Primary reference to Eostre and early spring festivals)
• The Golden Bough - James George Frazer
  (Comparative mythology - Adonis, Attis, seasonal cycles)
• Metamorphoses - Ovid
  (Greek myths including Persephone-related traditions)

Pagan Traditions & Seasonal Practice

• The Wheel of the Year - Pauline Campanelli
• Ostara: Rituals, Recipes & Lore for the Spring Equinox - Kerri Connor

🐇 Folklore & Easter Traditions

• Stations of the Sun - Ronald Hutton
  (Origins of British seasonal customs and festivals)
• The Oxford Companion to Food - Alan Davidson
  (History of Easter foods, including hot cross buns)

Optional Modern / Accessible Sources

• The British Museum -seasonal festivals & ancient rituals
• The National Trust - Easter traditions & folklore

Witches wheel Episode

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-witchs-wheel/id1820752122?i=1000713487773

Hex & Muse is recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. I pay my deepest respects to their Elders past and present - and to all First Nations people, whose stories and spirits continue to shape this land.

Follow along for more folklore, magic, and mythic musings:
Instagram: @hexandmuse
Website: www.hexandmuse.com

Hex & Muse is a spellbound journal of folklore, magic, art, and the sacred feminine - told through cinematic storytelling and whispered histories.
From my altar to yours… thank you for listening.

In this episode of Hex & Muse, we step into the Scottish witch trials — where thousands, most of them women, were accused and executed under the Witchcraft Act of 1563.

Through historical research and recorded testimony, we explore how fear became law, and how ordinary lives were transformed into accusation.

This episode was inspired in part by the work of the Witches of Scotland podcast:
https://www.witchesofscotland.com/podcast

References & Further Reading

• Goodare, Julian. The Scottish Witch-Hunt in Context. Manchester University Press, 2002.
• University of Edinburgh. Survey of Scottish Witchcraft Database. https://www.shc.ed.ac.uk/Research/witches/
• Larner, Christina. Enemies of God: The Witch-Hunt in Scotland. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1981.
• Roper, Lyndal. Witch Craze: Terror and Fantasy in Baroque Germany. Yale University Press, 2004.
• Levack, Brian P. The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe. Routledge, 2016.
• Gaskill, Malcolm. Witchcraft: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2010.
• James VI of Scotland. Daemonologie. 1597.
• Sollee, Kristen J. Witches, Sluts, Feminists: Conjuring the Sex Positive. ThreeL Media, 2017.
• Witches of Scotland Campaign. https://www.witchesofscotland.com
• Witches of Scotland Podcast. https://www.witchesofscotland.com/podcast
• Scottish Parliament (2022). Statement by Nicola Sturgeon on the Scottish Witch Trials.

North Berwick Witch Trials (1590–1592)

Lilias Adie (d. 1704)

Maggie Wall (c. 1657, memorial)

Agnes Sampson (executed 1591)

Isobel Gowdie (confessions, 1662)

Janet Horne (executed 1727)

Hex & Muse is recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. I pay my deepest respects to their Elders past and present - and to all First Nations people, whose stories and spirits continue to shape this land.

Follow along for more folklore, magic, and mythic musings:
Instagram: @hexandmuse
Website: www.hexandmuse.com

Hex & Muse is a spellbound journal of folklore, magic, art, and the sacred feminine - told through cinematic storytelling and whispered histories.
From my altar to yours… thank you for listening.