Episode Description
Divination folklore, folk magic history, and the practice of reading omens, cards, and natural signs are at the heart of this conversation with Icy Sedgwick, author of Fate or Fortune: The Art and Folklore of Divination, folklorist, and host of the Fabulous Folklore Podcast. From ancient liver divination in Mesopotamia to love divination games played by young women in early modern England, this episode traces the deep folk roots of divinatory practice across centuries and cultures.
Icy Sedgwick is a writer, researcher, and diviner specializing in folklore, plant lore, and folk magic. Her book Fate or Fortune: The Art of Divination explores the history, folklore, and practice of divination from a folklore studies perspective. She is the creator and host of the Fabulous Folklore Podcast, based in Newcastle, England.
Divination is one of the oldest and most universal human impulses, and its fingerprints are all over witch trial history. In this episode, Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack sit down with Icy Sedgwick to explore what folk magic tradition tells us about the people who practiced divination, why they sought answers through omens and tools and rituals, and what those practices reveal about the communities that preserved them. The conversation is wide-ranging, deeply grounded in folklore scholarship, and endlessly surprising.
IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN:
What separates divination from fortune telling, and why has that distinction mattered throughout history?
How did cunning women turn ordinary household objects into powerful folk magic tools?
What do love divination rituals reveal about the real lives of women in early modern communities?
Why did playing cards become so deeply entangled with the devil in folk tradition?
What ancient civilizations left behind physical records of their divination practices, and what did those records reveal?
How has dowsing been used for purposes far stranger than finding water?
What does folklore say about omens you never asked for but receive anyway?
Which forms of divination are experiencing a genuine resurgence right now, and which trend is Icy warning practitioners to avoid?
Pick up Icy Sedgwick's book Fate or Fortune: The Art and Folklore of Divination through our affiliate bookshop at bookshop.org/shop/endwitchhunts
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