An All Souls Podcast
Hello, friends!
It’s new episode day AND live tweet day! That’s right, we’re live tweeting Episode 1×05 at 8pm Eastern/5pm Pacific/1am GMT using the hashtag #ccalchemy.
If you want to be our Valentine, give us a shout at chamomileandclovecast@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter @chamomilenclove.
See you tonight!
xoxo
Cait and Jen
unsplash-logoGalymzhan Abdugalimov
Happy Sunday, Clovers!
The wait is over — you can now see exactly how much chaos a girl can create with a color-coded plot presentation. In this episode, we’re going to untangle the TWELVE primary plots of Shadow of Night and discuss what this remarkable book is actually about. You can find our slides for this episode here.
When you finish–or as you’re listening–feel free to check out our Facebook group, the Chamomile & Clove Clovers, where we’re sure to be mulling over this for days.
Happy listening!
Cait & Jen
Verin de Clermont sat in her Berlin home and stared down at the newspaper in disbelief.
“Verin” derives from the English and German “Verena” or may have Slavic origins. It means either “Faith” or “Truthful.”
“What is it, Schatz?” Ernst Neumann put a glass of wine in front of his wife. She looked far too serious for a Monday night.
Schatz is a German term of endearment meaning “gem, jewel, or treasure.” You could also call your beloved Schatzen or or Schatzi, both of which mean “little treasure.” If you want to branch out, you can use Mauschen/Mausi (little mouse), Haschen/Hasi (little bunny), Barchen (little bear), or my personal favorite (and oft-heard in my house), Schecke or Schnecken (little snail).
“Where are you, Gallowglass?” Her nephew was a drifter. In the past he’d sent postcards with nothing but a phone number on them from whatever stretch of road he was traveling at the moment: the autobahn in Germany, Route 66 in the States, Trollstigen in Norway, the Guoliang Tunnel Road in China.
The “autobahn” refers to Germany’s controlled-access highway system.
While unregulated sections of the autobahn have no speed limit, there are increased penalties for causing accidents at high speeds and many areas impose speed limits due to hazards like construction or substandard road surfaces.
Established 1926, Route 66 is one of the original highways in the US Highway System. The original route of Route 66 stretched from Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica, California, passing through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona on the way. The original route no longer exists, but you can still drive many of its sections by following a turn-by-turn map.
In 1938, Route 66 became the first US highway to be completely paved. It’s also mostly flat, which made it popular with truckers and tourists heading west. During its heyday, Route 66 had hundreds of points of interest dotting its length — including the Cadillac Ranch (Amarillo, Texas), the town of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Petrified Forest National Park (Holbrook, Arizona), and the Santa Monica Pier (Los Angeles, California). The National Parks Service maintains a very detailed map of Route 66 Historic Sites broken down by groups of states along the way.
The Trollstigen, or Troll’s Road, runs from Geiranger to Stigrora in Northwest Norway. It’s a popular tourist attraction with eleven steep turns up the mountainside and beautiful views.
The mountains surrounding Trollstigen reach an altitude of over 1600m above sea-level. The area is full of stunning hiking opportunities and gorgeous fjords.
The Guoliang Tunnel merits an entry in the Atlas Obscura, so you know it must be odd. The road–dug into the side of a mountain at the cost of several lives–connects the village of Guoliang to the outside world, including the larger municipal area of Zhengzhou. Because the villagers followed the path of least resistance while tunneling the road, it dips and winds its way through the rock and is only wide enough for one car to pass through at a time. The video (embedded below) gives me hives.
“Where in the hell is Warrnambool”? Verin demanded.
“Australia,” Ernst and Gallowglass said at the same time.
Warrnambool is a city along Australia’s Great Ocean Road, which follows the southern coast of Australia and has a number of points of interest, including beaches, whale-watching sites, wineries, fisheries, and Aboriginal cultural landmarks. On this snowy, drizzly day in the national capital region, it sounds AMAZING. Oh, also — Warrnambool has a Cheese and Butter Museum listed on its “things to do” list. I am packing my bags as we speak.
“The number” had been generated in the earliest years of the telephone. Philippe had picked it: 917, for Ysabeau’s birthday in September.
17 September is a busy day in history: in 1630, it’s the date of the founding of the city of Boston, Massachusetts. In 1787, it’s the day that the US Constitution was signed in Philadelphia. In 1849, it’s the day that Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery. In 1954, it was the publication date for Lord of the Flies. In 2011, it was the day the Occupy Wall Street movement began.
Nyd, the rune for absence and desire. Gallowglass dipped his hand into the bag again to better understand what he wanted the future to hold.
“Rune” means “holding a secret.” Viking age civilizations used runes to predict the future or obtain answers from the oracle. In addition to serving as a “magical” system and potential system of divination, runes constituted a writing system in several countries that form part of modern-day Scandinavia. You can now buy rune stones on Amazon, though they may lack the historical and sentimental value of those Gallowglass carries.
As Deb points out in the Real-Time Reading Companion, Gallowglass has the last word until we re-join Matthew and Diana upon their arrival in Prague in March. Deb thinks of this song, Circa Paleo’s “The Gael” as “Gallowglass’s Theme.”
If you like what we do, please consider supporting us on Patreon. You can also find us on Facebook as the Chamomile & Clove Clovers.
If you’re suffering from #Witchdrawal, consider joining us tomorrow (2 February 2019) as we live-tweet Episode 1×03 of A Discovery of Witches TV at 4:30 PM Pacific/7:30 PM Eastern/12:30 AM GMT using the hashtag #ccalchemy. We’ve had a killer time live-tweeting Episodes 1×01 and 1×02 and we’d love for you to join us. Follow us @chamomilenclove on Twitter for updates. If you have questions, comments, or thoughts, send us a note at chamomileandclovecast@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you!
xoxox
Cait and Jen
Week three, episode three of our A Discovery of Witches TV coverage. There’s plenty to love here — from witch wind and Marcus to a romantic dinner and THOSE HANDS at the end. Come join the fun.
If you like what we do, consider becoming a member of our Facebook group, the Chamomile & Clove Clovers, or follow us on Twitter @chamomilenclove. If you have thoughts (OR FEELINGS) about Episode 1×03, give us a shout at chamomileandclovecast@gmail.com. We can’t wait to hear from you.
Enjoy,
xoxo
Cait and Jen
“I believe your husband and his friends call me the Old Fox. I am also, for my sins, the lord high treasurer.”
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, lived from 1520-1598 and served as a primary advisor to Queen Elizabeth I. As a cautious and loyal advisor to the throne, the queen nicknamed Cecil “Spirit.” She had an apparent passion for nicknames and reportedly called one of her French suitors her “frog.”
After the death of Francis Walsingham, Cecil became the head of Elizabeth’s intricate spy network aimed at discovering (and squashing) Catholic plots against the queen.
In the text of Shadow of Night, Diana has every reason to be nervous about the appearance of Lord Burghley — after all, she knows that Matthew is in England as a Catholic spy on behalf of the de Clermonts. Lord Burghley did not believe in religious toleration — he believed that England “could never be in safety where there was a toleration of two religions. For there is no enmity so great as that for religion; and therefore they that differ in the service of their God can never agree in the service of their country.”
The little snippet of Latin Lord Burghley quotes to Diana (Vanitatis vanitatum, omnis vanitas) comes from the Vulgate translation of Ecclesiastes 1:2, a verse which translates as “Vanity, vanity, everything vanity.” It’s a curious bit of verse for a Protestant, as it comes from the official version of the Latin Bible dating from the 4th century.
If you’re interested in Lord Burghley as a spymaster, there’s a current BBC series airing on PBS that looks pretty interesting.
“Because if we are not in the audience chamber at Richmond Palace by two in the afternoon tomorrow, Elizabeth will arrest us both.”
Going to court in Tudor England was no small thing. First of all, the Tudor palaces were explicitly designed to restrict access to the monarchy and channel people of different rank into appropriate spaces. Because only the most important (and affluent) people made it into the presence of the king or queen, it paid to appear in court dressed in the finest clothing money could buy. In Tudor times, proximity to the king or queen was the quickest way to attain favor–and thereby improve your title and fortune. However, if Elizabeth I felt that you slighted, betrayed, or otherwise disobeyed her, the consequences could be brutal. Court was complicated, political, and highly performative.
In Shadow of Night, Elizabeth I’s court is located at Richmond Palace, the lost palace of the Tudor monarchy. Henry VII died in the palace and it became Elizabeth I’s favorite — she died there in 1603 and her body made the journey to Westminister Abbey from its gates. In the mid-seventeenth century, after the execution of Charles I, Oliver Cromwell and his administration systematically stripped the palace until only a few bits and pieces remained. You can still visit the site of Richmond Palace in southwest London today.
“And silver and black are the queen’s colors. That’s why Walter is always wearing them,” Mary explained, smoothing the puffed sleeves.
Elizabeth I had a vast and impressive wardrobe. As she grew older, she apparently leaned into the image of herself as the Virgin Queen and preferred to dress in black, white, and silver — colors she believed represented purity and virginity. Throughout Elizabeth’s reign, England remained under strict sumptuary laws — Elizabeth I believed that her courtiers should dress according to (but not exceeding) their rank. This is why Elizabeth has a bit of a fit when she notices Diana’s borrowed ostrich feather fan — a luxury restricted to gentlemen and above by the sumptuary laws. Fans in particular were a symbol of wealth, and fixed fans were a bit of A THING for Elizabeth I (you can see all of her fixed fans in her portraits here). Ostrich feathers came into fashion in England in 1552 and remained popular for the rest of the sixteenth century.
Three days later on the feast of St. Brigid, we set sail on our long journey to see the Holy Roman Emperor, find a treacherous English daemon, and, at long last, catch a glimpse of Ashmole 782.
The feast of St. Brigid takes place on 1 February and marks the Celtic festival of Imbolc, the beginning of spring. Brigid is the patron saint of babies, blacksmiths, cattle farmers, midwives, mariners, milkmaids, and poets. After her death, St. Brigid was reportedly buried in the Kildare Cathedral — but many of her relics were destroyed in the sixteenth century during Lord Grey’s deputyship of Ireland. In a funny little historical twist, St. Brigid’s head was presented to the Society of Jesus in Lisbon by none other than our buddy Emperor Rudolf II. We’ll talk about him PLENTY in the coming weeks — don’t you worry.
We hope you’re enjoying the Real-Time Reading of Shadow of Night. If you like what we do, consider supporting us on Patreon or joining our Facebook group, the Chamomile & Clove Clovers. As always, you can find us on Twitter @chamomilenclove or e-mail us at chamomileandclovecast@gmail.com. We talked about this chapter and the end of Section III in Episode 31 — Full Elizabethan.
Until we see Verin in Berlin, take care of yourselves.
xoxo
Cait
Chamomile & Clove 