Preternatural Investigations

In which the main themes that have emerged over the course of this podcast series are drawn out and something is said of what life in the preternatural realm involves.

In which the idea of wildness and the relationship between the human and the wild are explored. Some problematic approaches to wildness are flagged up and a path to the heart of the wildwood is traced.

In which the role suffering plays in creating art is explored and the idea of the tortured artist is contrasted with that of the artist as alchemist.

In which a number of songs that celebrate evil characters are examined and the question 'why do good people enjoy songs about bad people?' is addressed.

In which the ways the communities we belong to are shown to affect our sense of self and our ability to find magic, meaning and happiness in our own lives. Differences between narrow communities and those that are more open, welcoming and diverse are looked at and what makes us who we are is shown to involve more than the factual aspects of our identity – the self is shown to be preternatural.

In which a contrast between the way folk music is seen in England and the US leads to speculation about the role of Harry Smith's 'Anthology of American Folk Music' in weirding the US folk scene. When is folk music otherworldy and weird and when it is, what is the weirdness due to?

In which an old, traditional ceremony - The Ancient Castleton Garland Ceremony - is compared with a new, invented one - the burning of the hare at Sin-Eater Festival - and the differences between them that make one spellbinding and the other less so are drawn out.

In which an examination of M.R. James’ approach to writing ghost stories leads to a distinction between two ways of thinking about the past, the first being a parallel to Edward Said’s Orientalism – a way of treating the past as an exotic and mysterious ‘Other’ – the second, viewing the past as continuous with and persisting into the present, the present as containing palimpsests or time capsules that allow us access to the past.

In which the enchanting music of The Pied Piper, the natural magic of The Secret Garden, and other fictional portrayals of magic are examined and some are shown to convey aspects of the preternatural magic we can find in the world.

In which the idea that the sense of wonder we are born with automatically diminishes as we mature is brought into question. The factors that erode our sense of wonder are examined and the possibility of reaching adulthood with a sense of wonder intact is argued for.

In which a return to Mid Wales triggers a kind of charged and magical experience that feels like a portal onto a more intense world. What's going on here?

In which the concept of the preternatural is introduced and the importance of a preternatural realm lying between the natural and the supernatural is argued for.