Wolfenoot 2023

 The festival of Wolfenoot (November 23rd) was inspired by a child as a way of celebrating wolves and dogs and seems to have caught on in the way that things which touch a psychic pulse do. It had been my intention to get all techie, set up a live podcast and tell wolf stories as a fundraiser for The Dogs Trust. Sadly the combination of my own paucity of technical skills (the donations platform, which seemed mainly geared to businesses running taxable services rather than charity events, confused me no end) along with awkward life events at home and work made the live cast fall apart. Instead, now my throat is feeling a bit less raspy, here is recording to mark the day - with the request that, if you like it, you donate to The Dogs Trust directly (maybe add a message saying you have done so, to encourage others).

The first story is of Ivan of Shiganska, allegedly a Russian village, who encounters a mysterious woman in the woods. This is followed by a spell-poem collected by Elliot O'Donnell (though a few commentors seem to think he made it up himself rather than collecting it from Russian mystics) supposed to turn the listener into a werewolf. I take no responsibility for any sudden transformations. Finally, there is a French story based on a folktale which the author Alexandre Dumas said inspired his own werewolf story of Les Meneur des Loups (about a musicians who can charm wolves).