Lore 294: Upon Reflection

Hey, I'm Steffi. I go big for the holidays, so I'm going to Famous Footwear.
With over 800 stores, you're never far from the perfect gift. So make your list and make it famous.

Buy one pair, get one half off at Famous Footwear or Famous.com. Some exclusions apply.
Running a business is hard enough. Don't make it harder with a dozen apps that don't talk to each other.

One for sales, another for inventory, a separate one for accounting. That's software overload.
Odoo is the all-in-one platform that replaces them all.

CRM, accounting, inventory, e-commerce, HR, fully integrated, easy to use, and built to grow with your business. Thousands have already made the switch.
Why not you? Try Odoo for free at odoo.com.

That's odoo.com.

The exquisite green goblet must have taken untold hours of labor to create.

From its intricately carved sides to the gilt bronze vines entangling the rib and foot of the vessel, the Lycurgus Cup is regarded as one of the most impressive examples of ancient glasswork in all the world.

Fashioned in 4th century Rome, the Lycurgus Cup is named for the mythological king Lycurgus and his rather memorable death.

After angering Dionysius, the god of revelry, the god decided that revenge is best served absolutely insane, and so he drove Lycurgus mad.

In his altered state, the king mistook his own son for a length of ivy and pruned away the boy's nose, ears, fingers, and toes before perishing himself.

In another version of the myth, Lycurgus mistakes his own foot for ivy and snips it clean off.

The tellings vary, but all involve poor King Lycurgus tormented by vines and ivy to the point of death, which is exactly the scene the stunning cut portrays.

Chiseled into the thick glass are horrifying images of King Lycurgus being tortured to death by grapevines, disturbing imagery that scholars believe was meant to dissuade people from drinking wine.

It's a stunning piece of workmanship, but it's not even the carving that makes this 1700-year-old item truly mind-boggling, but a secret held within the material itself.

Because when light is shown through the opaque green glass, the entire goblet turns a translucent, bloody red.

It's called dichroic glass, an ancient practical effect achieved by embedding powdered gold and silver into molten glass. The result?

A mystical, color-changing spectacle that must have seemed to the people of ancient Rome a little like magic.

From Cinderella's glass slippers and Snow White's glass coffin to fortune tellers' crystal balls, glass has long been associated with magic and mystery.

And sometimes, the most frightening secret it holds is none other than your own reflection.

I'm Aaron Manke, and this is Lore.

Today, we see our faces everywhere. From selfies and makeup compacts to bathroom mirrors, we glimpse ourselves hundreds of times every day.

It's easy to forget the fact that for much of human history, the only time you'd ever see your own face was in the abstracted ripples of a pool of water.

The earliest mirrors ever discovered date to around 6000 BC, and to put that in perspective, modern Homo sapiens had already been on the scene for more than 290,000 years by then.

That's a long time without a reflection. Now, these first mirrors didn't look like ours, of course.

No, they were made from polished obsidian, and rather than hanging on a wall, they were found buried within women's tombs in what's now central Turkey.

As metallurgy developed and people started making mirrors out of brass, silver, and gold, they became more common.

But still, it would be thousands of years before mirrors became regular household objects.

Amazingly, it wasn't until the late 1600s that what we now think of as a modern mirror, that is, plate glass with a reflective coating, began making its way into European homes.

And by European homes, I mean rich people's houses. Because though these mirrors would have been no larger than a book, a single one cost the equivalent of several hundred dollars in today's money.

But before you start imagining mirrors as the Dyson air wrap of the 17th century, there's something that you should know. For centuries, mirrors were less cosmetic and more cosmic.

It's called catoptromancy, or in common English, divination with mirrors.

And while we may never be sure why Neolithic people built those first obsidian mirrors, one of the most common theories is that they were intended for predicting the future and communicating with the spirit world.

In fact, for as long as mirrors have existed, people all across the world have been using them for occult purposes.

The ancient playwright Aristophanes, born in 450 BC, wrote of a man who received a premonition upon gazing into the polished surface of his brass shield.

Another Greek writer, Pausanias, describes the ritual to foresee whether a sick person would live or die. First, a mirror on a string must be lowered into a spring sacred to the goddess Demeter.

Then, upon pulling the mirror out, the ill person's face would appear in the glass. If they were to recover, they would appear healthy, but if not, then they would appear as a corpse.

Now, you're probably familiar with the idea that breaking a mirror equals seven years of bad luck, right?

But as modern as that might seem, this superstition actually dates back to Roman times, and the Romans had an antidote for it as well.

Simply gather the broken pieces into a bag and bury them on the night of a full moon. Easy, right?

In the Middle Ages, every European and their uncle knew that looking into a reflective surface could tell the future.

Unsurprisingly, the church wasn't too stoked on this, and as such, mention of catoptromancy pops up in a number of witch trial records from the time.

In fact, in an an attempt to keep people from reading the future, the church discouraged not only gazing into mirrors, but into shiny swords and even polished fingernails.

Magic mirrors feature everywhere, from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Shakespeare's Macbeth to Edmund Spencer's The Fairy Queen and of course the story of Snow White.

But it wasn't just Europe stepping through the looking glass. It's thought that mirrors have been used as divinatory aids everywhere from the Mayan Empire to ancient China.

In fact, inside the Enlightenment Room in the British Museum, one of my favorite rooms in the entire world, there's a collection of objects owned and used by Queen Elizabeth I's official sorcerer, John Dee.

They honestly look like props from a Doctor Strange movie, right down to a crystal ball and wax tablets with pentagrams on them.

And sitting among them, a round black obsidian mirror, brought to England all the way from the home of the Aztec, in central Mexico.

So what exactly were people using this shiny little tool to predict? Well, in some cases, it was used to find lost items.

In others, young people used mirrors to learn the identity of a future sweetheart.

In an older episode of this show, we discussed the ritual involving an apple and a mirror that would allow you to see your future spouse. And it turns out there's a lot more where that came from.

For example, Syrian Jews believe that gazing in a mirror at midnight on the fast day of Tishaba will reveal your future spouse, but doing so might just shave 10 years off that future beloved's life.

If you were a little girl in 19th century England and wanted to know how many years would elapse before you got married, you could simply climb on a rock you'd never stood on before, turn your back to the full moon, and look into a mirror.

And there you'd predictably see the reflection of the moon, sure, but also a number of smaller moons, one for every year that would pass before your wedding.

And in addition to reflecting the self, some people believe that mirrors also have the power to absorb the self. And by the self, I mean the human soul.

This is why some cultures insist that household mirrors must be covered while a person is dying or during periods of mourning to avoid their soul becoming trapped in a mirror.

In Wales, if a corpse is accidentally reflected in a mirror, the dead will never truly rest.

Meanwhile, Russian old believers say that mirrors were invented by none other than the devil himself as a tool to draw souls out of the human body.

Now, you might be thinking about the connection between another soulless being and mirrors. I'm referring of course to the rumor that vampires have no reflection.

Well it turns out it's this belief that mirrors can gobble up a soul that gave rise to the idea of vampires failing to appear in them. Why? Because they have no soul for the mirror to grab onto.

It's freaky stuff for sure, the idea of a person with no reflection. But sometimes the only thing more terrifying than an empty mirror that should be full is a full one that should be empty.

It took some Oscar level acting and a lot of stealth, but you all managed to sneak out of class. Brandy faked a stomachache, Jessica pretended she was returning a library book.

And as for you, it was easy enough to slip out of study hall unnoticed.

So now, here you are, congregated in the middle school girls' bathroom with your two best friends, and as Brandy flips off the lights, plunging the room into darkness, a thrill goes through you.

You stifle a giggle, half excitement, half fear. The ritual is about to begin.
Together, the three of you cluster around the mirror over the sink.

Jessica digs a candle from her dance board and lights it with a plastic lighter, the flame dancing in the reflection.

You take a deep breath, and then, while staring deep into the mirror, the three of you chant the magic words, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary.

It's a classic adolescent folk ritual, with variants as wide and diverse as the United States is large.

In some versions, children will chant, I believe in Bloody Mary, or I've got your baby, Bloody Mary. In others, it's the sinister statement, I killed your baby, Bloody Mary.

Then again, sometimes she isn't called Bloody Mary at all, but Mary Wolf or Mary Worth.

Certain local traditions even require the chant to be repeated not just three but up to 100 times, but in all cases, the goal remains the same.

According to the folklore, chanting Mary's name into the mirror will cause the ghostly woman to appear, and she isn't exactly a friendly visitor.

Sometimes she appears as a glowing ball of blue light, but I wouldn't count on that because according to most variants, she is downright terrifying.

Some kids describe her as ugly and witch-like with a warty nose, others as a woman with a blood-soaked face and a bloody gown.

Which is bad enough, before she starts clawing at the mirror trying to get out. If she succeeds, she'll scratch at your face with long, sharp fingernails.
Or in some cases, a knife.

And look, if you're wondering why a child would deliberately summon a face-scratching demoness to crawl out of the mirror and possibly murder them and their friends, well, what better way to prove your bravery to your pals than by facing off with a killer ghost?

Now, just as there are endless spins on the ritual, there are just as many stories about how the heck the lady got stuck in a mirror in the first place.

In one telling, Mary is a girl whose boyfriend murdered her at a slumber party, hence why she tends to appear at sleepovers.

In another, she was a beautiful woman who spent many long hours staring at her reflection.

So long, in fact, that when she was brutally murdered, that is where she was doomed to spend the the afterlife. Another explanation, Mary died in a horrible car accident which mutilated her face.

Now she emerges from the mirror to steal young girls' beauty the way hers was stolen from her. This is a running theme, actually.
The idea that Bloody Mary is out to steal your beauty.

In another telling, Mary was so ugly while alive that when she looked into a mirror, well, it exploded instantly killing her. Pretty rude, right?

Like the car accident, this Mary too climbs out of the mirror to ruin your pretty face. It's a genre of folklore that truly serves as a reflection, no pun intended, of girlhood itself.

To be a girl, you're constantly told that your beauty is the most important thing about you. So what could be scarier than a monster who threatens to take it all away?

Now, while Bloody Mary may seem like a textbook piece of Americana, she actually shows up across the ocean as well. In Sweden, for example, children summon Svarta Madame, or the Black Madam.

and despite her name, she's rather colorful, with yellow eyes, red teeth, and green hair. And in the Czech Republic, they conjure Kravava Mary, aka Bloody Mary.

In life, Kravava Mary was said to have been either an evil witch, a cannibal, or a woman who murdered her own children.

In death, her favorite hobby is oozing out of mirrors to scratch out your eyes and eat your face. Seems like a charming lady, right?

In Russia, children summon a woman they call Picoveya Dama, or the Queen of Spades.

Some claim her to be none other than Bloody Mary's sister and like her sibling can be called via a mirror, candles, and a chant or two. Usually, Queen of Spades appear.

But this one calls for an extra special step and I mean that literally. You see, to summon Picoveya Dhamma, girls use their lipstick to draw a staircase directly on the mirror's surface.

And once you do, the queen of spades will appear, slowly descending the steps. If you make a wish before she makes it to the bottom, she will grant it.

But you better think fast because if the Queen of Spades gets to the final step, she will burst out of the mirror and strangle you to death. Don't worry though, there is a way to avoid this.

After you make your wish, you can erase the last step before she gets to it, trapping her forever.

By the way, there's another American variant I want to mention, one that doesn't involve a mirror at all.

And sure, it starts familiar enough, in the bathroom with the electric lights replaced by candles.

But instead of gazing into the mirror, kids gaze into another reflective surface, the water of the toilet.

This time, when you chant Bloody Mary three times, she appears in the toilet water before pulling you in to flush you away forever.

So, now we know how to conjure a horrific killer monster at a slumber party. An essential skill for any little girl, right?

But there is still one more essential question to ask: who exactly was the original Bloody Mary?

She earned her nickname Fair and Square. During her rule back in the 1500s, Mary Tudor, Queen of England, persecuted Protestants with such violence that roughly 300 of them were burned at the stake.

It was a true reign of terror. So who could blame folks when they started calling her Bloody Mary? That's right, a true historical Bloody Mary.

But Mary Tudor isn't the only real-life figure credited with inspiring the Bloody Mirror Mirror game.

Unsurprisingly, there are as many legends about its origins as there are variants of Mary's ritual.

And I'll be honest with you folks, folklorists still don't actually know which theory, if any, is true. But what we do know is that the children participating in it have plenty of their own ideas.

There is of course the Mary Tudor camp, but then again other kids insist Bloody Mary is actually Queen Mary of Scots.

In this interpretation the blood she wears symbolizes her miscarried twins, which would chillingly explain the chants, I've got your baby and I killed your baby.

Meanwhile, others still believe Bloody Mary is a witch by the name of Mary Worth, killed during none other than the Salem Witch Trials, which might be compelling if not for the fact that no one by that name was ever executed in Salem.

And okay, this is just me being a little stickler, but this theory also claims that she was burned at the stake. Come on, people, the witches in Salem were hanged, not burned.
Get with it.

There are regional stories as well. In one Pennsylvania tale, she's said to be the ghost of a woman killed behind the local elementary school in the Chicago area.

She's said to be a woman named Mary Worth who lived on a farm north of the city in the 1860s.

Now, some of the houses in her area were on the Underground Railroad, but Mary Worth's place was basically the opposite.

According to legend, this Mary lured enslaved people into her barn to torture them to death.

Eventually caught and executed for her crimes, her terrifying form is said to haunt Chicago mirrors to this day.

But the most elaborate Bloody Mary lore of all happens to be whispered among the children of Miami's homeless shelters. It's like something out of a West Craven movie.

In the 1990s, folklorists conducted extensive interviews with unhoused kids living in Miami shelters.

And the more they talked to these children, the more they uncovered an elaborate secret cosmology rife with gods and demons.

According to these children, God had fled heaven because it was invaded by demons, and an army of good spirits and demons continued to be engaged in battle in the present day.

And the demon who led this assault on heaven, why, that would be our old friend, Bloody Mary. Now, this Bloody Mary wasn't confined to a mirror.

No, she could appear anywhere and cried tears of blood from her empty eye sockets.

In the words of one 10-year-old interviewee, if you wake at night and see her, her clothes will be blowing back even in a room where there is no wind. And you know she's marked you for killing.

Another child told the researchers, and I quote, Some girls with no home feel claws scratching under the skin on their arms. Their hands look like red fire.

It's Bloody Mary dragging them in for slaves to be in gangs, be crackheads. There's a poignancy to these stories if you consider their context.
Remember, these were children in the shelter system.

Their lives were filled with uncertainty and danger. Some of them wouldn't survive childhood.
And so to make sense of the violence around them, they blamed Bloody Mary.

Now, while this Bloody Mary seemed to run free through Miami, you could still call her to a mirror if you wanted to.

Simply splash it with a bit of seawater, but beware because when she emerged from the glass, she would thrash your face with a bright red rosary. And why did she have a rosary, you might ask?

Well, that's because according to Miami's unhoused children, their bloody Mary was none other than the Virgin Mary herself.

The folklore of childhood has always held a particular mystique. Perhaps it's nostalgia for our own youths, a time before our understanding of reality was fully set in stone.

Perhaps it's that eerie juxtaposition of innocence with spectral horrors. Whatever the case, there is something about a group of kids chanting incantations by candlelights that really hits the spot.

When it comes to the likes of Bloody Mary, who can say whether she got her start as Mary Tudor or Mary Queen of Scots, the Holy Virgin or the Unholy Witch?

Was Mary the victim of a real local tragedy or the result of an imagined coping mechanism?

Heck, some folklorists even believe that the blood-soaked stories developed to represent menstruation among the adolescent girls who practiced the ritual.

And then there are the researchers who suspect Mary may not be a name at all.

Because, you see, she may actually have her origins in those very earliest of mirror rituals, the ones intended to reveal the identity of a future spouse.

Perhaps Bloody M-A-R-Y was originally spelled M-A-R-R-Y.

The truth is, we could spend all day debating where she came from, but we'll probably never know. And that's because we aren't supposed to.

After all, we're grown-ups, and Bloody Mary isn't here for us. But there's one mystery we can solve.
That is an explanation for the face believed to appear in the mirror, there in the darkened room.

Scientists call it the strange face in the mirror illusion, and I'm sorry to say that it's all too real.

According to researchers from the University of Indiana, one experimenter conducted a study in which a group of subjects were placed in a dimly lit room and instructed to gaze into a mirror for several minutes.

And they found that half, yes, half of all the subjects reported seeing and I quote, fantastical or monstrous beings, while over a quarter of them saw and I quote, an unknown person in the mirror or an archetypal face such as that of an old woman.

But this isn't some demonic experience, it's an optical illusion.

Apparently dim lighting messes with our brain's ability to process the sight of our own faces, leading the brain to superimpose an imagined face over the incomplete one in a desperate attempt to recognize what it's seeing.

And as for Bloody Mary, Well, it turns out the ritual provides the perfect environment for just this illusion to take place.

The dim lights, the mirror, and even the ritual ritual chanting, which allows just enough time for the illusion to develop. So go ahead, strike a match and gaze into that glass.

You never know who you might see staring back at you.

I hope you've enjoyed this journey today through the looking glass. But Mary hasn't finished clawing her way out of the mirror just yet because we've saved the most unique Bloody Mary tale for last.

Stick around through this brief sponsor break to hear all about it.

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. The holidays are a time of traditions.
Some people have many in their family and some have none or are just beginning their own.

Incorporating therapy into your new or existing traditions can help ensure you take time for yourself during what can be a very joyful, but also sometimes hectic and lonely time of the the year.

With over 30,000 therapists, BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform, having served over 5 million people globally.

Their therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in the U.S.

and have been helping people find their match for over 10 years, with a 4.9 rating out of 1.7 million client sessions.

BetterHelp does the initial matching work for you so you can focus on your therapy goals.

A short questionnaire helps identify your needs and preferences, and their industry-leading match fulfillment rate means they typically get it right the first time.

BetterHelp is fully online and you can pause your subscription whenever you need to and it's convenient.

You can join a session with a therapist at the click of a button, helping you fit therapy into your busy life. Plus, switch therapists at any time.

This December, start a new tradition by taking care of you. Our listeners get 10% off at betterhelp.com slash lore.
That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash lore.

This episode was also sponsored by Mint Mobile.

You know, you don't have to let big wireless and your overpriced phone bill suck the joy out of the holidays this year because right now all of Mint Mobile's unlimited plans are 50% off.

You can get three, six, or 12 months of unlimited premium wireless for 15 bucks a month.

It's their best deal of the year and it makes it really easy for you to give your expensive wireless bill the Scrooge treatment.

All plans come with high-speed data and unlimited talk and text delivered on the nation's largest 5G network.

Use your own phone with any Mint Mobile plan and bring your phone number along with all your existing contacts.

If I was shopping right now for a new wireless provider, this is the option I would go with. No questions asked.

I've watched Grim and Mild team members set up their Mint Mobile plans and it's insane just how simple and easy the process was.

Turn your expensive wireless present into a huge wireless savings future by switching to Mint. Shop Mint Unlimited Plans at mintmobile.com slash lore.
That's mintmobile.com slash lore.

Limited time offer, upfront payment of $45 for three months, $90 for six months, or $180 for 12-month plan required, $15 per month equivalent, taxes and fees extra, initial plan term only, data over 35 gigabyte may slow when network is busy, capable device required, availability speed and coverage varies.

See Mintmobile.com. This episode was also sponsored by Simply Safe.
Here's a question for you. If you could stop somebody from breaking in before they got inside, why wouldn't you?

Most old school systems go off after someone's already in your place, and that's too late. Simply Safe is different though.

It's proactive with a double layer of defense that stops crimes before they start. First, AI-powered cameras spot potential threats outside.

Then live agents step in, talking to the person through the camera, letting them know that they're on video and police will be dispatched if they don't leave.

They can even trigger a loud siren or spotlight. That's how you stop crime before it starts.
I trust SimplySafe. Their system is designed to be proactive, not reactive.

I love the way SimplySafe uses smart technology to empower me to stay connected to my property. That gives me the confidence that everything is taken care of and safe.

There are no long-term contracts or hidden fees and you you can cancel any time. Plus they have a 60-day money-back guarantee so you can try it and see the difference for yourself.

This month only take 50% off any new system. This is one of the best prices you'll ever see for SimplySafe.
Don't miss it. Hit simplysafe.com slash lore.

Again, that's simplysafe.com slash lore to unlock your discount. There's no safe like SimplySafe.
And finally, this episode was sponsored by Squarespace.

Squarespace is the all-in-one website platform that's designed to help you stand out and succeed online.

Whether you're you're just starting out or you're scaling your growing business, Squarespace gives you everything you need to do it right.

As a guy who runs a few podcasts with artwork and websites, I know firsthand how tough it can be to craft a brand and a website around who you are and what you do.

But Squarespace makes it so incredibly easy.

Whether it's consultations, events, or experiences, Squarespace lets you showcase your offerings with a customizable website designed to attract clients and grow your business, get paid on time with professional on-brand invoices and online payments, and streamline your workflow with built-in appointment scheduling.

Squarespace has cutting-edge tools that are meant to give you the boost you need to craft a beautiful site around you and your brand.

Their library of beautifully designed award-winning website templates lets you use drag-and-drop editing, beautiful styling options, and unrivaled visual design effects with no experience required.

Squarespace can use basic information about your industry, goals, and personality to generate personalized design recommendations.

And their Squarespace email campaigns option has all the tools you need to engage clients, promote your services, and grow your business. Get started today.

Head over to squarespace.com/slash lore for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, use the offer code LOR to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

Squarespace, build something beautiful.

It's a fairy tale, but not the kind with a happy ever after.

Once upon a time, on the banks of Lake Erie, lived an old withered woman by the name of Mary.

It's said that despite her age, she fell obsessively in love with a handsome young man from the nearby town of Huron. But sadly for the crone, the gentleman did not return Mary's affections.

But that's okay, because she had a plan, and it just so happened to involve a teensy bit of corpse magic.

You see, the old hag figured that all she really needed to win over her beloved was a beautiful enough body, and if she didn't have one, well, why not make one?

Mary began luring young, beautiful women into her home where she proceeded to murder them and chop them up into pieces, which is where her creativity really got a chance to shine.

Because from this pile of severed limbs, Mary would select the loveliest body parts from each victim to sew together and form a perfect, horrifying doll.

At last, after weeks of rather messy and exhausting craft nights, Mary's Franken doll was complete. She propped it up on a pier overlooking the lake where she knew her beloved would see it.

And then she waited and waited and waited some more. Finally, she spotted him, the man from Huron.
He approached the pier, drawing closer and closer to the patchwork corpse. Her scheme was working.

He was almost near enough for Mary to capture now. But as she prepared to make her move, something unexpected occurred.
The young man tumbled and fell off the pier into the water.

By the time Mary reached him, the poor man had drowned. Today, it's said that Bloody Mary, as she's known, lives deep down on the bottom of the very same lake where her beloved drowned.

And if you happen to live along the shores of Lake Erie, you might even see her.

Because once in a while, she emerges from the water to creep through lakeside neighborhoods, peering into windows to spy on the inhabitants inside. Why?

Well, that would be because her doll is rotting, so she's on the hunt for replacement parts.

According to the legend, if Bloody Mary determines a girl beautiful enough to add to her doll, she will knock three times on the window.

If the girl goes to the window and is unlucky enough to catch a glimpse of Bloody Mary's face, she'll fall under the witch's thrall and be taken away to die beneath the lake.

It's a spooky story and has all the markings of a classic urban legend. Except, here's the thing, some believe that this Bloody Mary variant actually has its origins in a real murder.

In 1934, and this is true, a man was out collecting driftwood by the lake when he came across a ghastly sight.

It was a woman, or rather part of a woman, the lower half of her torso, to be specific, beginning at the waist and ending at the knees.

Over the ensuing weeks, more of her body parts were found in and around the lake. Everything except her head, that is, which was never recovered, nor was she identified.

Instead, she became simply known as the Lady of the Lake.

The Lady of the Lake turned out to be merely one of over a dozen victims of an unknown serial killer who terrorized the Cleveland area in the mid-1930s.

But unlike the other victims, there was something very special about that first body.

Because some believe it was the Lady of the Lake herself, who inspired the folklore of the Lake Erie hag and her patchwork patchwork doll.

This episode of Lore was produced by me, Aaron Mankey, with writing by Jenna Rose Nethercott, research by Cassandra Dayalba, and music by Chad Lawson.

Good news for folks who don't care for podcast ads. I have created a way to avoid them on this show.
I publish a paid version of lore on Apple Podcasts and Patreon that is 100% ad-free.

Subscribers there also get weekly bonus episodes, discounts on lore merchandise, and direct access to my inbox.

It's a bargain for all of that ad-free storytelling and a great way to support this show and the people who make it. Learn more about your ad-free options over at lorepodcast.com slash support.

Of course, lore is much more than just a podcast. There's the book series available in bookstores and online, and two seasons of the television adaptation on Amazon Prime.

You can learn more about both of those things over at lorepodcast.com. And you can also follow this show on various platforms like YouTube, Threads, Blue Sky, and Instagram.

Just search for Lore Podcast all one word and then click that follow button. And when you do, say hi.
I like it when people say hi. And as always, thanks for listening.

Despite wintry conditions and heavy traffic, the holidays have to go on. That's why Mercedes-Benz SUVs come equipped with the latest safety technology to keep your festive plans on track.

Discover the incredible offers for yourself at the Mercedes-Benz Holiday Love Celebration. At Coldwater Creek, we take a thoughtful approach to design, giving attention to what matters most to you.

From quality fabrics to the fits you love to artful details that captivate, Coldwater Creek caters to your wardrobe in every season, for every occasion, and in every size.

We create comfortable, confident styles with endless versatility that reflect the life you live. Pure, natural fabrics and soft textures that move with you throughout your day.

Each garment tells a story of craftsmanship and care, created with a purpose and designed with precision.

We celebrate what makes you unique with silhouettes that flatter and styles that let your authentic self shine through? Discover why Coldwater Creek is the sought-after choice in women's clothing.

For holiday looks and more, shop ColdwaterCreek.com and save 15% on order $75 or more with code iHeart.