Will-o'-the-Wisp
Spirits: Mythology, Legends, & Folklore
Multitude
4.8 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 5 November 2025
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Do you see that floating light just off in the distance in the dark woods? It has many names - the jack-o-lantern, the Min Min lights, the Naga Fireballs, but it’s perhaps best known as the will-o-the-wisp: a mysterious, sometimes malevolent, sometimes benevolent spirit that can be found around the world!
Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of death, drowning, child death, animal death, abusive relationships, colonization, decapitation, and train accidents.
Housekeeping
- Books: Check out our previous book recommendations, guests’ books, and more at spiritspodcast.com/books
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Sponsors
- Blueland creates everyday eco-friendly cleaning productions that save you money and space, without any plastic waste. Get 15% off your first order when you go to blueland.com/spirits
- Uncommon Goods, where you can get 15% off at http://uncommongoods.com/spirits
Find Us Online
- Website & Transcripts: spiritspodcast.com
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- Twitter: twitter.com/spiritspodcast
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Cast & Crew
- Co-Hosts: Julia Schifini and Amanda McLoughlin
- Editor: Bren Frederick
- Music: Brandon Grugle, based on "Danger Storm" by Kevin MacLeod
- Artwork: Allyson Wakeman
- Multitude: multitude.productions
About Us
Spirits is a boozy podcast about mythology, legends, and folklore. Every episode, co-hosts Julia and Amanda mix a drink and discuss a new story or character from a wide range of places, eras, and cultures. Learn brand-new stories and enjoy retellings of your favorite myths, served over ice every week, on Spirits.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm a |
| 0:02.0 | M. |
| 0:03.0 | M. |
| 0:04.0 | . |
| 0:05.0 | M. |
| 0:06.0 | . |
| 0:07.0 | M |
| 0:09.0 | . Welcome to Spirits podcast to Boosy Dive into mythology, legends, and folklore. Every week we pour a drink and learn about a new story from around the world. I'm Amanda. And I'm |
| 0:38.1 | Julia. And Amanda, I want you to take a moment and imagine you are wandering through the woods |
| 0:44.2 | in the evening. Okay. The sun having just gone down and the shadows of the woods become longer, |
| 0:52.5 | darker, more ominous. |
| 0:55.8 | Now, Amanda, I know this is something that you would never actually do, but I want you to stick with me here. |
| 1:00.6 | Just, you know, playing the space with me. |
| 1:02.5 | Okay. |
| 1:03.8 | As you're walking, as the woods become darker and darker, you see something. |
| 1:14.1 | At first, you think it might be a fellow traveler who has a lantern or a light to guide their way, but as you stop to watch it move through the trees, |
| 1:22.2 | you see not another human being, just the light, hovering, bouncing even through the tree line beyond |
| 1:31.1 | the path. And something about it, something deep within you wonders, perhaps. Maybe you should |
| 1:38.6 | follow it. Maybe that's a good idea. I'm wandering in the woods after dark. |
| 1:44.7 | Might as well make a second bad decision. |
| 1:46.9 | But then, Amanda, just as you feel that something pulling you towards the light, |
| 1:52.8 | it vanishes just as soon as it appeared. |
... |
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