Episode 221: Remote Control (ad-free)

One of our most common desires, no matter our culture, religion, or station in life, is something that countless practitioners of folk magic have spent their lives pursuing—sometimes with dark results.

Written and produced by Aaron Mahnke, with research by GennaRose Nethercott, and music by Chad Lawson.

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Further Reading

1. “A daughter poisons her father.” History.com. July 27, 2019. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/a-daughter-poisons-her-father
2. “A Mysterious Wizard and the Necromancy Assassination Plot of Henry VI.” Mysterious Universe. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2021/01/a-mysterious-wizard-and-the-necromancy-assassination-plot-of-henry-vi
3. “Ancient Greek Love Magic.” Bryn Mawr Classical Review. February 19, 2000. https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2000/2000.02.19
4. “Ancient Greek Spells and Charms for the Hapless in Love.” Greek Reporter. February 14, 2022. https://greekreporter.com/2022/02/14/ancient-greek-spells-and-charms-for-the-hapless-in-love
5. “Aponte v. State.” Justia US Law. Accessed August 12, 2022. https://law.justia.com/cases/new-jersey/supreme-court/1959/30-n-j-441-0.html
6. “Aponte Arraigned on Murder Count.” The Daily Journal (Vineland, New Jersey), July 9, 1957. Page 1 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97966133/aponte-arraigned
7. Borghouts, J.F. Ancient Egyptian Magical Texts. (E.J. Brill. 1978). P 1, https://books.google.com/books?id=9f8UAAAAIAAJ
8. Frankfurter, David. “The Perils of Love: Magic and Countermagic in Coptic Egypt.”
9. Journal of the History of Sexuality. Vol. 10, No. 3/4, Special Issue: Sexuality in Late Antiquity (2001), pp. 480 – 484 https://www.jstor.org/stable/3704757
10. “Love spells in the Greek Magical Papyri.” British Library/ Medieval Manuscripts Blog. February 13, 2021. https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2021/02/love-spells.html
11. “Mandrake & Menstrual Blood: 10 Medieval Love Potion Recipes and Ingredients.” History Answers. June 28, 2017. https://www.historyanswers.co.uk/medieval-renaissance/gunnhild-mother-of-kings-a-viking-witch-queen-slandered-by-the-sagas
12. “Meet Madame De Montespan, The Unofficial ‘Queen Of Versailles’ Dethroned By Rumors Of Infanticide.” All That’s Interesting. March 4, 2020. https://allthatsinteresting.com/madame-de-montespa
13. “Myths surrounding Anne Boleyn : a witch?” Anne-Boleyn.com. Accessed August 10, 2022. http://www.anne-boleyn.com/eng/myths-surrounding-anne-boleyn-a-witch
14. Rosenblatt, Paul C. “Communication in the Practice of Love Magic.” Social Forces, Vol. 49, No. 3 (1971). pp. 482-487. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3005740
15. Ruggiero, Guido. Binding Passions: Tales of Magic, Marriage, and Power at the End of the Renaissance. (Oxford University Press, 1993). Pp 2-23. https://books.google.com/books?id=B2yKDUH0nxcC
16. Saar, Ortal-Paz. Jewish Love Magic. (Brill, 2017). Pp 34, 57. https://books.google.com/books?id=QeEqDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
17. “Spanish fly, holy bread and mashed worms: history's weirdest aphrodisiacs and love potions.” History Extra. Accessed Auguast 7, 2022. https://www.historyextra.com/period/ancient-history/love-potions-aphrodisiacs-facts-spanish-fly
18. “Spells, charms, erotic dolls: love magic in the ancient Mediterranean.” The Conversation. June 26, 2018. https://theconversation.com/spells-charms-erotic-dolls-love-magic-in-the-ancient-mediterranean-98459
19. “The Early Days of Toxicology: Poisonous Powder.” New York Times. May 11, 2009. https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/science/12file-arsenic.html
20. “This 1,300-Year-Old Egyptian 'Love Spell' Has Finally Been Deciphered.” Science Alert. September 26, 2018. https://www.sciencealert.com/ancient-egyptian-magic-love-spell-finally-been-deciphered
21. “Voodoo Killer Given Life.” Edmonton Journal (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada). October 10, 1959. Page 31. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107489676/edmonton-journal
22. “What Are Love Spells? An Exploration of Their History and Anthropology.” Exemplore. May 21, 2022. https://exemplore.com/wicca-witchcraft/Do-Soul-Mates-Exist-Ill-Explain-to-You-Why-the-Answer-Is-Yes
23. “What did pharmakon mean to the Greeks?” Columbia University/Poison History. January 10, 2016. https://poisonhistory.wordpress.com/2016/01/10/what-did-pharmakon-mean-to-the-greeks
24. “Witchy Woman – the Fall of Eleanor Cobham, Duchess of Gloucester.” History…The Interesting Bits. June 27, 2015. https://historytheinterestingbits.com/2015/06/27/witchy-woman-the-story-of-eleanor-cobham-duchess-of-gloucester
25. “Worldwide Love Potions.” National Geographic. Feburay 11, 2009. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/love_potions