Rowan & Pine: A Feminist Folklore & Mythology Podcast - September 06, 2024


Pine Cones： Sailor Superstitions ｜ Rowan & Pine Shorts

Episode Thirty-Six： Baba Yaga - C.G.E (Calming Geese Energy) Episode Thirty-Seven： Mermaids- Serpent Saturdayyy

Episode Stats


Length

11 minutes

Words per minute

119.97

Word count

1,330

Sentence count

59

Harmful content

Misogyny

6

sentences flagged

Toxicity

3

sentences flagged

Hate speech

4

sentences flagged


Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 Imagine, for a moment, that you're standing on the deck of an old-fashioned ship.
00:00:12.480 The wooden planks are creaking beneath your feet as the wind howls through the rigging.
00:00:17.980 The vast, empty ocean stretches out before you,
00:00:22.240 an endless expanse of water that hides countless dangers beneath its surface.
00:00:30.000 The life of a sailor was filled with such uncertainties.
00:00:38.680 Every wave, every shift in the wind could spell disaster.
00:00:42.820 To survive in such a perilous environment,
00:00:46.400 sailors turned to rituals and superstitions,
00:00:48.880 hoping to appease the unpredictable forces that governed their lives.
00:00:52.580 you are so welcome back to pine cones spooky shorts brought to you by rowan and pine
00:01:01.540 i'm your host naive and this time we're diving into the mysterious and often unsettling world
00:01:07.580 of maritime superstitions as an aside this episode is a companion to our main feed episode
00:01:15.400 on mermaids so be sure to give that a listen as well
00:01:17.960 so let's get into the superstitions
00:01:24.540 in the midst of all this fear and uncertainty sailors clung to anything that might bring
00:01:31.540 them good fortune one of the most steadfast beliefs was in the power of tattoos
00:01:36.140 you can picture a sailor weathered by years at sea standing in a dimly lit tattoo parlor
00:01:43.940 He might choose to have a rooster and a pig inked onto his feet
00:01:49.340 There was a belief that these creatures, often seen surviving shipwrecks in their wooden crates
00:01:55.320 Would guide him safely to shore should the worst happen
00:01:58.420 In stark difference, there's the call
00:02:04.320 Which made a rare and eerie charm
00:02:08.160 Before setting sail, some sailors would go to great lengths to purchase a newborn's call
00:02:13.360 which is the delicate membrane said to prevent drowning.
00:02:18.000 This tiny, almost ghostly object
00:02:20.160 thought to hold the power to save lives
00:02:22.360 in the face of the ocean's wrath
00:02:24.400 was highly sought after and carried with them on their voyage.
00:02:34.980 You have a lucky number, right?
00:02:37.680 Numbers, too, played a role in calming sailors' fears.
00:02:40.840 the sea is a place where logic often fails a storm can just rise out of nowhere and a ship
00:02:47.920 can vanish without a trace in such a world setting fishing nets in odd numbers offered
00:02:54.220 some semblance of control anchored in the belief that the sea would favor those who respected its
00:02:59.600 mysterious rules sailors didn't just rely on charms objects numbers they sometimes engaged
00:03:09.940 in rituals as bizarre as they were desperate. Scottish fishermen, for instance, would throw
00:03:15.000 one of their own overboard at the start of a fishing season, only to haul him back on deck.
00:03:20.500 This act, strange as it sounds, was a plea to the sea spirits,
00:03:24.620 a way to ensure the waters would be generous and the catch plentiful.
00:03:39.940 But for every charm or ritual that promised safety, there were countless others that warned of doom.
00:03:46.700 To sailors, the sea was a living entity, capricious and vengeful.
00:03:52.240 Renaming a boat, for instance, was one of the most feared acts.
00:03:56.080 The original name was believed to be intertwined with the ship's spirit,
00:04:00.140 and to change it, without a proper denaming ceremony, was to anger the sea itself.
00:04:06.500 Without the careful rituals, it was said the ship would be cursed.
00:04:09.940 and its fate's seal.
00:04:23.020 Blood, to all of us, the essence of life,
00:04:26.160 was a harbinger of bad luck.
00:04:28.960 As the crew prepared to set off,
00:04:31.080 they would be wary of starting the fishing season
00:04:33.200 without first shedding some blood,
00:04:35.460 whether through a fight or an accident.
00:04:38.540 This macabre belief stemmed from the idea that the sea demanded a sacrifice,
00:04:43.300 and that without it, disaster would surely follow.
00:04:49.220 Even the loss of a hat overboard carried ominous weight.
00:04:53.260 Picture a sailor standing on deck, the wind tugging at his hat until it's whisked away into the waves.
00:04:59.160 To those on board, this simple act was an omen,
00:05:02.160 a warning that their journey would be long and filled with hardships,
00:05:05.080 the sea holding them in its grip far longer than intended.
00:05:16.820 Personal grooming, something so ordinary on land, took on a different meaning at sea.
00:05:23.680 Trimming nails, cutting hair or shaving a beard were seen as acts that could disturb the delicate balance between man and ocean,
00:05:30.540 inviting misfortune onto the ship.
00:05:32.400 In a world where even the smallest actions could tip the scales of fate, sailors had to be ever vigilant.
00:05:46.560 Then there were eggshells, seemingly insignificant but filled with dark potential.
00:05:53.000 After eating, sailors would meticulously break their eggshells into tiny pieces,
00:05:58.280 fearing that, if left intact,
00:06:00.660 witches might use them as boats to sail to the ship
00:06:03.320 and bring chaos and disaster in their wake.
00:06:12.160 Even human interactions were fraught with potential danger.
00:06:16.280 Redheaded individuals were considered bad omens by sailors.
00:06:20.180 If a sailor encountered a redhead on their way to board a ship, 0.99
00:06:23.640 they had to speak first before the redhead could utter a word. 0.81
00:06:27.660 to prevent bad luck from following them onto the vessel. 1.00
00:06:32.020 And let's not forget the fear of flat-footed people.
00:06:35.440 Believed to bring bad luck, they were avoided at all costs.
00:06:39.560 It's pretty hard to imagine a sailor, nervous, superstitious,
00:06:43.840 encountering someone with flat feet.
00:06:45.340 Before boarding his ship, his mind immediately filled with dread,
00:06:49.040 certain his journey was now doomed.
00:06:57.660 Of course, it wouldn't be an old-timey superstition without women being targeted. 1.00
00:07:04.900 Women were seen as a double-edged sword on board a ship. 1.00
00:07:08.100 They were believed to distract the crew and anger the sea, leading to treacherous conditions. 0.96
00:07:13.280 Yet, in a weird twist, naked women, of course, were thought to calm the sea, 0.64
00:07:18.580 a belief reflected in the many bare-breasted figureheads that adorned the bows of ships,
00:07:24.140 silent pleas for mercy from the volatile ocean.
00:07:27.660 certain days didn't escape suspicion they were seen as too dangerous to sail for example
00:07:39.400 thursdays associated with the god of storms thor and friday the day of jesus's execution
00:07:46.580 were both considered inauspicious and some dates were seen as so cursed that no sailor would dare
00:07:54.700 to set off, such as the first Monday in April, the day Cain killed Abel. The second Monday in
00:08:01.340 August, the day Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. And December 31st, the day Judas Iscariot hanged
00:08:08.200 himself. And finally, even the innocent act of whistling on board was an act of peril.
00:08:26.360 To whistle into the wind was said to invite a storm, a careless act that could bring down
00:08:30.860 the fury of the elements upon the ship. And certain words like drown or saying goodbye
00:08:37.100 were strictly forbidden, believed to attract the very misfortunes they described.
00:08:53.020 These superstitions, strange and varied as they are, give us a glimpse into the lives of sailors
00:08:58.580 in times gone by who lived in constant fear of the sea's wrath. For them, these beliefs weren't
00:09:05.800 just old wives tales, they were a guide to navigating the world where every wave,
00:09:11.380 every gust of wind could spell doom.
00:09:21.120 Thank you for coming along with me on this eerie voyage into the superstitions that haunted sailors'
00:09:26.540 lives. Remember to check out that main feed episode on mermaids for more tales from the deep.
00:09:32.320 until next time
00:09:35.060 may your sails be full
00:09:36.580 and your superstitions well heated
00:09:38.560 thanks for listening 1.00
00:09:41.160 and fuck yeah 1.00
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