The Most Wonderfully Haunted Time of the Year | Twisted History of Santa's Elves (Ep 252)

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very spooky Merry Christmas Merry Christmas Sing fro hi welcome hello to two girls one ghost two girls one ghost we are your ghostesses oh that is Karen and I am Sabrina and we're kind of matching I feel like we do this all the time look at us look at the style of our sweaters we're matching that's so fun mine's from abber cromi where's yours from mine is from newly I rented it so I don't know rented I feel like all of your clothes is from our are from whoa English I

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haven't had to speak in like 10 days I is from newly Sabrina cloth clothes newly rental always let's speak like that what if we did an entire episode in pig latin oh my God I feel like we would get really good at it too we should do that at some point it's just the intro in pig latin I absolutely want to do that all right but we're not going to tell anyone when we do it it's going to be like eight months from now yeah people are going to be like what the hell and we're not going to address it no all yeah and then we'll transition totally fine yeah okay I'm in yeah love it Sabrina has some holiday Decor you had much more but then I made you scoot your camera because you were too back lit I was like I can't see you it's like do people want to see just half of a tree or me and I thought tree Karen thought I said you I like I literally can't see your face it's completely black all I see is this Christmas tree and then I live in a college storm room

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that's what it looks like with my bear walls I'm going to be realistic we're not going to see decoration or anything behind me for probably two months that's fine it's just part of moving into a new house we get to look at your beautiful face there's no distractions did you get new glasses you use your no I have two different blue light glasses and these are the only ones I could find I don't usually wear these ones they look so good on you thanks oh my gosh two things

Cat quirks and travel talk

I'll start with Leia because she's right here I discovered a tick on Leia not like a bug a thing that happens when I touch her in a specific place I need to show you like a little nerve muscle reaction it is crazy and also hilarious and I need to know if other people's cats are like this it's right here demonstration look is so big is her tail curling and she's biting you that's what's happening she's like licking and it's not even biting it's just like little like and then she stops when I stop she just normal liing that's so

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weird does she understand what's happening no idea I wonder she's like glitching she could be doing anything I could truly she could be eating her canned food which she's obsessed with and she will stop and start doing that and if she doesn't have my hand or anything she'll turn and do it to herself like look she's well now you can't see but she's doing it to herself oh oh my gosh Leia what's going on with you girl I will record like a proper video so like everyone can I'll like do like set it up where you can see her whole body as she does it it is wild wild hey bones are weird we've all got our things Leia's just went undiscovered for 10 years 10 years I'm so curious what she feels when that happens cuz she goes right back to normal she's not like looking at you like oh my God Mom why did you do that she just goes back to normal it's like she's reset at first I was like is this like a weird nursing thing like is she kind of nursing but no it's like it's not a bite it's not a not

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a lick it's because this is a simulation and something got screwed up in her code it's her when Birds stop Flying midair it's her glitch what's your glitch I don't know wait but Brian and I were watching oh it's called platonic because it's Seth Rogan and roseburn and they become friends there was a fight scene in the like 9th episode or whatever and Seth Rogan is fighting with someone and they're getting an a brawl and he basically escapes this headlock by licking the guy's arm just going and as it was happening I was cracking up cuz I was like this this is my move that is what I would do if someone had me in a headlock I before even biting I would just lick them cuz it's the thing that people don't expect that grosses them out that that makes them release you be weird and so I was like that is brilliant acting or writing or directing cuz I feel like that's kind of realistic yeah I love that okay I do have two more things one I did want a

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shout out so Boy Scouts troop to in Los Angeles Santa Monica they have a lot and they made this they they carved this little like reindeer I've never seen that I thought the Boy Scouts just take away your Christmas tree and give you wonderful popcorn I didn't realize they're crafting now and they have a lot and it's like very sweet like all the Boy Scouts have to work it so you know like I went and the got the little boy scout was like can I help you and you know he's like 10 so he's just like a little bit awkward but also trying to be like a little salesman it was very very cute yeah that is very cute and then my last thing is my horoscope because I read yours cuz this is the last episode of the Year yes so I do have I've literally kept this website browser open since we recorded CU we would have forgotten cuz I would have forgotten do you want me to read it to you or do you want to read it sure you can read it to

Virgo horoscopes

me also I went to Aruba for my honeymoon I just got back it was great I know is there any like fun things that you want to talk about this was my third time in

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Aruba so it was my third time going to the Flying fishbone it's the best restaurant I know it's a little bit further away from the rest but if you're going to Aruba well usually Seafood they have a great gluten-free accommodations there and you sit in the water like on the sand in the water that was awesome I love Aruba you look relaxed and Ash and Drew were there for their honeymoon too yeah I was looking at myself in the mirror after like 5 days of being there and I was like I look younger and then we came back and the house was kind of chaotic some projects went wrong while we were gone so the stress went right back but you still look I think the relax is lingering which I hope it lasts longer you look great did you read anything did you read any books I knew you were going to ask me this cuz I had such a big long list and I was like I'm going to read everything Aruba was so damn hot and the ocean is like always 83° so it feels so good I spent every second of every day that I wasn't like on a cater and Cru or jet

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king or whatever in the water so no I read you read nothing well I finished on the plane ride there I finished my sister's grave and then there I read 100 pages of the invisible life of Addie Laro oh okay I got 100 pages in 10 days great it was too hot to sit and read meanwhile I read like three books while you were gone yeah there were some people that were like on floats and balancing their books and I was like I can't do that nowhere we went out to dinner one night with Ash and Drew because Ash morbid because they were also honeymooning there so it was really lovely you guys were like the honeymoon you know like there's all those movies of like people on the honeymoon they make friends with another couple and then I know this is a reference you won't get but in the office Jim and Pam become like BFFs with another couple and they get back from their honeymoon they're like freaking beans and like doing these jokes that no one gets and it's doesn't get funny it's a honeymoon

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joke yeah oh I need to watch the office

Existential spirals

all right Sabrina here we go okay you and all the Virgos here's what you can expect okay as per the Virgo yearly prediction your health will demand special attention this year due to the movement of celestial bodies sick I feel like yours it always gets better but they always lead in with something almost sounding negative every year yeah every year starting right at the year's onset Saturn will prominently occupy your sixth house extending its influence to your eighth and 12th houses 12th houses I can't say that word that was a hard one to say 12th yeah this alignment might result in health related challenges yet Saturn's presence also promises assistance in their resolution nurturing a balanced and disciplined lifestyle and adhering to positive daily routines will pave the way for success in all Pursuits Saturn's placement holds holds the potential for

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notable career accomplishments wait this is good this is what I was saying was that I'm hopeful that both of ours are career positive because yours was yeah and I swear mine said like the first half of the year didn't it I think it said June through October spooky season June through October okay it says in the initial half of the year until May 1st Jupiter will reside in your Eighth House fostering a positive perspective on spiritual and religious aspects okay so maybe you'll like fully Master astral project I'll Ascend you'll Ascend level up however be mindful of unnecessary expenses and work-related obstacles our brawl it's coming following following May 1st Jupiter will shift to your ninth house ushering in a period of accomplishments across various Endeavors additionally prospects of heartening news related to children may arise with rahu positioned in your 7eventh house throughout the year Prudence is advised in both professional and personal speres as per this article

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the onset of the year will yield moderate results for Virgo individuals when it comes to matters of love it becomes crucial for you to skillfully manage your emotions as speaking without due consideration to your beloved might strain your relationship the celestial influences of luminaries such as the sun and Mars will materialize in the fourth house during the year's Inception it will potentially influence some familial tensions that might subsequently Ripple into your romantic life hm during the initial phase of the year the presence of Mercury and Venus in the third house will facilitate harmonious connections with friends and you may even establish a unique bond with someone o with Saturn favorably positioned and the combined effect of the Sun and Mars at the year's commencement professional conditions will be advantageous yet steer clear of engaging in any form of Gossip Sabrina is the biggest gossip this is going to be huge problem go that's going be so hard for

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me with ru's guidance in who's rahu I feel like I should know this I don't know but it sounds like what the Sim say when they um have sex F I should look it up too cuz I said it in yours let's see it's the north lunar node ascending in Hindu astrology oh okay so while Rah who's guidance and business could steer you towards success avoid the Allure of shortcuts and impulsive decisions a thoughtful approach is a true driver of progress in your business Endeavors and then healthwise exercising heightened caution is imperative even a slight oversight could potentially lead to significant health issues however practicing self-discipline can avert these challenges so it sounds like no more cheese pizza for you I was to say no more sugar because that has been my problem lately yeah seems like they're like hey you know what's up it's my weakness and it's not going to get better so stop okay maybe once a week

Business and life goals

okay real quick about my car so I got

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the bronos sport because I wanted to be as safe as possible within a week of owning the car I start hearing a squeaking noise and it is like so severely loud so I immediately take it in to the dealership and they're like oh it's fine they're basically like we need to replace a part it's a spring in the caliper which is like a part of the break but like the spring is just like basically squeaking okay but it's not dangerous well so they say it's not dangerous but then like it feel anyway now I'm like convincing myself that I bought this car because I thought it was going to be like the safest thing and now the car is going to be the reason I die so stay tuned 2024 hor AG go might not matter Jesus Christ Sabrina every time you say stuff like this I get so stressed out sorry okay I'll keep it to myself tell your therapist not me I'm scared okay this is such a downer thing to say but I need to say it and this is my place to say things so I am plagued with existentialism and I have a hard

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time like living in the moment because my brain is just spiraling constantly there's like so much happening in my brain and so like lately I've just been like everyone says life is really short sure in the grand scheme of things life is short but like life is also kind of long I was telling my mom this and she was like oh Sabrina like you just need to lighten up and enjoy life and have fun and I go mom you don't understand what it's like to live with my thoughts if you lived with my thoughts too you would think the world and life is very long right yeah it's difficult to be in here I understand that I've definitely gone through waves that I think like you experience regularly I've had bouts of it's horrifying so I do feel for you there it can feel really big and heavy I feel like that's the exact reason why so many of us myself included sometimes are like I just want to run into the woods and see what happens cuz it's like will

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life slow down will it feel quieter part of me is also like what if we all just stopped using technology for like a month what would happen I think we would become such a better species but that will never happen yeah and be so much more connected with everyone and ourselves and I was getting so frustrated too I forget what my dad said the other day but he said something about like work and holidays and other countries we were like talking about it and then and he's like yeah but then people say that like in those countries like they don't get things done as quickly I'm like well who needs to get things done quickly who needs to get things done at all we made it all up right and why are we telling ourselves it's so important to get all these things done like literally last week I was like severely depressed and I got anxious because I was like all I want to do is sleep but I have so many things to do and yada y y all the spiral and I was like well actually I'm not wasting time if I'm literally taking a nap to sleep so that I can get all my things done later but the brain right the brain the

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brain and cultural conditioning yeah anyway something less depressing hopefully okay the business horoscope for viros 2024 Virgo business horoscope States the year 2024 will be full of ups and downs for your business ru's presence in your 7eventh house will make you a revolutionary thinker to bring changes in your business you will think from different angles and this will be a new Revolution in your business but many times you will ignore your business partner and other close people and this can hurt them Karen I promise I won't ignore you that happens I'm going to be like listen to me stop I'm talking I think it's impossible to ignore you due to this your business will be affected try hard to prevent this situation if you want to make your business prosperous this year you will need to invest a big working capital as it will increase your money excuse me I'm not sure sure I'm willing to spend a

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lot of money no it says increase your money like income right I was taking it as like you need to give a lot to make a lot I interpret it as like put a lot more effort into like working like working more to increase your income maybe hope it's that way yeah let's hope you'll be able to do something new for the growth of your business and you will be able to implement a new plan the months of April and May will be full of ups and downs you can feel stressed but you must avoid making any big decisions the period from August to November this is the same that I had just about yours was success is happening from June to October wait the period from August to November will prove to be successful for your business we've extended it a month a couple months yeah on on either side we bookended it you will also meet some special business people that will bring important changes to your business and after that conditions for Success will be created hell to the year should we read read your numbers oh yeah what are my numbers the lucky age for Virgo it

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says Virgo natives become successful in life from age 20 to 25 and generally build their house from age 25 to 35 we're in the house which is when we started the podcast it's like success and then you just like build upon it and solidify yeah and then it also says your astrological remedies it says donate black sesame in a temple at evening on Wednesdays and also you should feed chipati spread with turmeric on Thursday to a brown cow to a brown cat a cow you also have a cow feed the cows do you think this was written by the cows he reminds me of those Chick-fil-A posters where it's like eat more chicken and the cows are doing it oh my God it totally is the cows are like we're hungry feed us wait there's also a children's book about this where like the cows and all the barn animals they're Farmers so so cranky and they

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like get him to feed them biscuits or something I don't know they're totally manipulative it is the cows the cows did this I'd like to be a cow It also says that you should start drinking water from a silver glass that's spoy all right I'm going to get like a silver chalice yeah like sit on a throne and you can place some peacock feathers above your bed and to place a sandalwood room freshener in your bedroom that's an easy one that is an oh whoa that that is oh no the health problems they're coming for you I found my glitch thank you for reading that for me I love that we have both in our horoscopes we have the success of our podcast because around the same time too that's really great our business together is going to flourish and I'm very excited to continue another year of podcasting with new Karin here we go we'll let everyone know if that fight comes that's in both of our horoscopes should we have it live on the podcast yeah does it but only in Pig Latin in that's the

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episode just angry pig latin one of us is crying the other one's screaming but it's all in pig but we can't stop laughing because we're talking in Pig Latin and then by the end we forget where we're fighting about and we're like I love you H new rule you can only fight in pig ltin oh my gosh okay this episode is sponsored by pigs and cows I was just about to say that I was like Wow Pig cow themed episode for sure well we're going

The history of elves

to Pivot a little bit for the actual content of this episode actual content as if we're not already like 30 minutes into the episode this episode is similar to yours it's a holiday episode but it is all about Santa's elves Santa's helpers Christmas elves because I was like who would Santa be without his magical elves and who's more magical than Santa I think it's the elves who are making the toys and making Christmas

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possible we wouldn't have all the toys without them year round working around the clock Santa's the face of Christmas but the business behind Christmas are the elves you cannot have Christmas without the elves it just simply won't work also my Catholic guilt brain just like immediately like yelled at me and was like Santa's not the face of Christmas Sabrina Jesus is Christmas is a little bit of you know some there's some stolen and shared holidays when toally talk about the pagans and stuff also the voice that yelled at me about Jesus being the face for Christmas was Jennifer coolage so that's amazing no stop if Jennifer coolage was the voice inside my head all the time I'd be cool living with myself yeah just ooh just making the little o I love her so much silver cup I can't do Impressions we're not here to talk about the religious side of Christmas that's a whole other podcast and it's not ours

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this is the Santa side of Christmas specifically focusing on the elves because we're here to be Holly Jolly mistletoe my new nickname for the Christmas season oh that's your performer name wink wink Holly Jolly mistletoe next on the stage Holly oh my gosh that's my only fans for Christmas holly jolly mistle toe cuz your toe oh my gosh and then your nickname is just Holly you know like do you follow Holly on only fans and it's Holly Jolly mistletoe and it's just your toes and I braid my toe hair and tie it up with mlet toe off of it and then people have to kiss your toes and that's what makes it oh a little steamy can you put your toes in your mouth yeah but I don't like the taste of them okay I was just curious about your flexibility levels I mean low not where it used to be but yeah I think I can should I give a I feel like I'm going to have to like completely

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bend down too I have access you have access okay I don't have socks on so Jamie can we put a blur on my feet I'm going to go slowly just a censor this could you put your fist in your mouth ow oh I got it in that kind of hurt and I like went straight with the teeth anyway so sorry about this back to elves Ken question for you I know I just gave you like a whole are you still laughing at me you feel like so sorry I am this is like not what people signed up for it's a Christmas special we can do whatever we want we're going to take our tops off at the end so you have to stay till then to find out if we actually do it see Holly Jolly's uh nipple toes Christmas sacks nipple toes anyway this is supposed to be serious business a holiday episode we have children who listen and and so the rest of the episode will be PG yeah

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maybe it will be I can't control myself okay Ken so I know I painted the picture of Santa's elves but like aside from that when you hear elves what do you think what do you picture I picture small petite people and they have pointy ears and they usually add Bells as embellishments to their costumes their costumes often have green and red there's a lot of felt I think sometimes involved May I'm just thinking of actual toy depictions of elves and they sometimes have like higher pitched voices right and they're happy but they're also stressed like these guys are this is where Corporate America was born yes speak about people who don't take breaks elves they don't take breaks they don't I feel like they don't get the joy necessarily from making the toys like that's a stressful act but as soon as they put it into Santa's sack and they think about who it's going to and the joy of the child that's what really fulfills them and that's why they have

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that job I got to get my mind out of the gutter you said Santa's sack and I laughed he's got a huge one he's gotten only fans too that's what we're learning and he he shows it to the world brings it round for everyone to see if you're lucky for all the okay I'm going to stop stop stop shh stop that was not Jennifer kage's voice that was my own voice when I was doing this research I was like so interested because I feel like there's different types of elves and I wanted to know what came first and how they evolved into Santa's helpers so I kind of figured out I found out and I researched the story because elves have a very important role in today's day and age and we know that Santa and his

Global elf traditions

Origins are rooted in Christianity with like St Nicholas and all of that but the origin of elves are actually not rooted in religion at all they have their own story and it begins in in Nordic culture several hundred years before Santa ooh

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mhm in Norse mythology elves were called alfar a LF a r and they were different from how we understand elves today they were considered kind of like a fairy which makes sense when you compare some of their behaviors yeah and it's also kind of like a woodland creature sort of thing like you picture them coming out of the woods and mountains and whatnot yeah they were considered a fairy and there's I'll put a photo up here there's like an image from Nordic culture like back in the day that's very Whimsical and F like and in the woods like you're saying so alar has been translated in English to elf like they think that's where the word came from and then these creatures were also called hold folk which means hidden folk oh so they basically believed that these creatures occupied the Unseen realm between our worlds so between this world and the

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other side where they resided kind of like Bigfoot like they can kind of come between and come and go as they please but they were not as we picture elves today they were very humanlike human size and you wouldn't know you were really confronting them aside from their behavior so they're more of like Lord of the Rings except they didn't all have bright white hair that's exactly yes there was a reference to Lord of the Rings actually in the article I read yeah they were Al considered very close to Norse gods so like similar Powers they were various subgroups of alar and this is a sentence were considered very similar to the depiction of elves in Lord of the Rings there we go one step ahead of them they looked like us lived like us but lived in the Unseen realm when Iceland was settled back in the 800s by Scandinavians and the Kelts the Kelts were so taken by the landscape that they brought with them this belief of fairies and nature

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spirits and their own Gods and they saw this like volcanic lscape and it was shrouded in Long bouts of Darkness but it was also illuminated by the Northern Lights which were so spiritual and the way that they moved they were like this world is alive and the land is alive in a way that we've never seen before and so because of that they kind of took their own beliefs in Fay and other type of mystical beings and felt like there was a new type of being that occupied the land because of how magical it was and that's where the alar came from and they believed that they were the Unseen beings living in the landscape making it seem alive the way that it was I think that's so beautiful it is very beautiful and I could be misremembering but I feel like a few years ago we covered some Icelandic holiday creature and isn't there some belief that like some of the actual mountain ranges are like basically the elves or like giants like

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it's them sleeping oh yeah maybe I'm making that up no that does sound familiar I feel like that's also a belief in in a lot of like in Hawaii I feel like they believe that too but I just think it's really really beautiful that the creation of these mystical beings was because of how in awe of the beauty they were that they were like this must be some magical the source of something magical which maybe we would feel today if we weren't always looking at our phones now we feel old and cranky but it's like if we had a month off of Technology would we look out into the mountain ranges and the valleys and looking at the landscape and being like wo W that is beautiful it could not possibly just exist without magic right I am starting to I got like a a bunch of little like patio furniture and I'm going to try and to sit outside more and start my days with coffee out there outside perfect beautiful healthy so the alar became the representation of this

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life these humanlike beings who were responsible for the beauty of the world but with beauty two came danger it lurked around every corner unseen and unpredictable which is a description of the alfar and their behaviors they're kind of like Sour Patch Kids where they're you're not sure are they going to be sour or they sweet they were these Elish creatures that spread now through Europe and so too did Legends so in Europe they were believed to be supernatural beings in Germany there was an elf-like creature called The cabals Who were like even more Sour Patch Kids medieval Europeans saw elves as dark and dangerous they were sometimes linked to Demons it is very interesting that often times in mythology and just different like lore and magical creatures that we equate something as being so beautiful and mystical while simultaneously being so dark and un predictable and evil and it's almost like are we just projecting

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what we feel as humans it's the duality of yeah it is can't just be sweet always there were also elf-like creatures in Germany that were called Alp Alp and they could cause nightmares and sleep paralysis but then there were other elfike creatures in Germany there were the cabals and they were mischievous oh little tricksters little tricksters and there's a photo the image reads this miniature man wiry and gray within your Cellar he will stay he'll help you brew so never fear just don't forget his daily beer he looks like a mixture of Dobby and the other elves and Harry Potter mixed with kind of how we feel well definitely way more if like a Harry Potter their outfit reminds me of where we are today sant's elves right so there's like clear connections and

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Evolutions that are coming from the previous versions and types of elves but these are party elves these are beer drinking yeah good time elves but also very similar to your to the Christmas Bigfoot and the Christmas what was it werewolf vampire Mary lude vampire horse yeah very food motivated and this is another theme like a lot of these creatures are food motivated so the cabals were more mischievous but also very very helpful so they would help with household chores and offer very helpful services but then they would like hide things and apparently they're known for knocking people over and I kind of Imagine them doing the what's it like where you like sit as a tabletop behind someone then the other person pushes the person and they oh and then they topple over yeah that's what I imagine that they did the cabal often is given male pronouns like a lot of these elf like creatures are viewed as male I don't necessarily know where that came

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from but heavily food motivated and had a very bad habit of hanger hey very relatable again basically these guys are human you're not you when you're hungry we're just going to repeat all the slogans of candy Snickers you're not you when you're hungry I didn't know that was a SL of course you know that yeah they're my favorite candy bar so these cabals act out when they're hungry and then once they get their food they would turn around be super helpful and then they would sometimes sing Sweet Tunes to children oh that's sweet that's kind in Scotland the alar or the version of the alfar was called brownie they were small industrious Fay or hobgoblins that lived in homes and barns and these ones are a little bit more mousike they look kind of yeah rodent e they definitely do but they were also mostly unseen and and were nocturnal so like once everyone in the house went to sleep the brownie

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would come out and get to work cleaning and doing housework which is that's the dream yeah that is the dream go to bed and you wake up to a clean house I mean is brownie motivated by food do you feel like an offering or are they just there okay easy payment you would think most people would be relieved to hear the brownie getting to work at night it allowed them to sleep peacefully and wake up to a clean home but similar to the colds they were mischievous and unpredictable and sometimes upon waking up people would find their homes completely rearranged oh no yeah oh my gosh that is so funny I feel like that's a classic thing too that people would talk about like when you have your own like Mom comes to visit or whatever and then they move stuff around they're like this is better organized this way and you're like oh my God I had a system I had things where I needed them to be it is annoying when that happen happens but perhaps they inspired some interior design choices

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that were actually better yeah maybe maybe they're all about like fun when I go home to my mom's I kind of do that to her but to be fair she has so much stuff that's like why do you need this cuz it brings her Joy she collects cats and chachkies we used to have these Campbell Soup thermoses that she would send us to school like with soup in them and she still has them and they're plastic and I'm like why yeah they're from like 2001 yeah when is the last time you use this please tell me I loved using them back in the day I loved them too and then you can like pour it into the cap yeah yeah I definitely did it through Middle School right but how long ago was that kin uh so long that I can't recall anything in my life anymore right there's no memory left it was long long time ago so yeah the insides are Stained It's plastic yes I'm take a picture and post it when I am home for the holidays

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I'm going to roast my mother as I do every time I'm there I take pictures of her creepy dolls and all of her cats I love her okay these brownies while mischievous and also hard at work they also were known for riding along with midwives on the way to deliveries or they would like call for the Midwife if basically if someone was going into labor they would help Call the Midwife nothing they're doing seems bad no yet they could also calm swarms of bees which I think is so cool okay I want that as my power The Whisper when yeah when people say like what do you want for your superhero power to be and everyone says flying or invisibility I've never really like fully felt strongly towards one of the powers but I think calming a swarm of bees or just a bee colony is actually what I would want what if you were just the queen bee as a human just constant ly surrounded by bees and they're just always trying to protect me feed me honey yeah I'd like

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that I feel like why isn't there a superhero called like Queen Bee who all the bees is like protect her I think that's kind of cool TM should we get into writing Comics now another business adventure where's the scroll this is why we start working longer hours they said don't be impulsive that's true we'll think about it we'll think about it these brownies also had polter I like behaviors and like all the others food motivated they were also really picky and easily offended okay so basically here I'm going to paint a picture a little scenario if you thought you were being nice and you left behind a gift that was not food for the brownies like say you left a book or a piece of clothing for them they would be so offended that you didn't leave them food they would take the gift and never come back wow yeah I kind of get it though from our perspective where like a gift is is a gift like don't you need all these things wouldn't you treasure all of these little items but imagine if you

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were working somewhere and your form of payment as a job or business is money and someone was like how about instead of money I give you a bunch of plastic buttons right you'd be like what like what am I going to do this no that is not the agreement yeah so that's their currency food and it is insulting to get anything else right in Sweden the lore

Evolution of Christmas lore

of the alar D into that of the tomte I think that's how you say or tot t o m te they are gnome likee figures with woolly beards and cheery red caps upon their head the image actually kind of looks like the Last Supper to me it might even be a play on that oh it totally is yeah but they look so much more like elves Christmas elves that we know they do and look it is a pig themed episode cuz there's a pig in this picture there is a pig and it's not being eaten it's enjoying the meal as well one of them is being SP spoonfed on the lap of one of these elves that's so cute these tomte

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are they're smaller than human size and they're actually the first to be associated with the winter solstice and the celebration of the Yu tide so similar to other elf-like beings they are very hard workers they Care for Animals children and the home but similar to the others they are also unpredictable short-tempered and food motivated so if not given food or if they are spoken down to which I appreciate this they will stir up trouble M it is said that around the holidays so basically their version of food what they like is porridge and then around the holidays they like their bowl of porridge with a dollop of butter on top like that's their treat it's like whip cream for us special treat but they're very particular about it they like need to have around the holidays they need the dollop of butter on top you know who they look exactly like the dwarves in Snow White yeah they do I am curious the history of dwarves now now we're going to have to do a whole other episode on that I feel like we have done

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episodes on dwarves but it's maybe not just like a full dedicated one so there's a story a legend of a young girl who one year decided to kind of tease the TOA she gives a bowl of porridge but instead of putting the dollop of butter on top she puts it on the bottom kind of like a you know like search for the surprise yeah and the Toma saw this bowl of porridge was in raged immediately upon seeing it because there was no dollop of butter on it like Fury he was like so betrayed he asks for such little from this family he does so much for them how could they possibly do this to him without thinking this tomta goes out to the field and Slaughters the family's best cow and then he goes back inside and eats his porridge and finds the butter at the bottom he realizes his mistake the butter was there on the bottom so the only like Silver Lining

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kind of to the story is that he did feel guilty and so he went to the neighbors and ended up stealing their cow and bringing it to this family another crime on a crime yeah exactly he's like yeah well maybe no one will notice I get both sides I mean he was enraged and so maybe killing their best cow wasn't the the right way to go about it but also again he asks for so little and for them to take the one thing that he's looking for forward to the small item that he's asked for it's almost like a like a pride thing too right like it feels like they have no respect for him yeah I'm starting to get upset magical creatures behalf I'm becoming enraged hide your cows people I get it you know what they all remind me of like all kind of subdivisions and genres of the elves they remind me of the type of person who loves to pull pranks but can't take a joke themselves where it's like you know they're mischievous and they like to

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like hide things and move things around and people are like oh silly elves and then the second that like this girl teases him like she doesn't take away the dollop of butter she just changed where it was there's death and blood yeah my dad is a prankster but can't take a prank you can't prank him I've tried twice two years in a row what were your attempts didn't go well I put googly eyes on his deer cuz he's a hunter and then I did the the fake eyelashes with no glue just sitting sitting I think that's very funny I thought it was hilarious but I think my prank gone wrong was I chose his most prized possession and fooled with that instead of just doing something else that he might have actually enjoyed right I caused worry but you didn't cause any damage so no yeah but still I get it you know how like a lot of Legends and lures and a lot of Cryptids they're conceived with the idea of telling like a story of morals or trying to teach a lesson even Santa

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like he watches you while he sleep he knows if you're not a you're nice it's this idea of like be good so people think that the elves are actually a reminder of hard work and a reminder to avoid laziness and command respect from those that you are working for exactly maybe not retaliate and be angry but also know when to step away when something's not mutualistic anymore and it's not working out so now here we are we're starting to see some connection between elf like creatures and the winter holidays but still how did they become the elves we know today well the conception of Santa Claus now pops into pop culture in the 18th century so it's inspired by St Nicholas who lived and was born around 280 ad his imagery entered American society in the late 1700s early 1800s and then somewhere in the 1800s elves began making literary debut related to the holiday theme it's so fascinating how literature influences

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Society so much yes especially back in the day too like it well not even back in the day I was just thinking about how there are so many times where like now we're in the the phase of life where people we know are having babies and baby names and like what babies are being named after now is all like you can see it they're named after characters and books that have become super popular in the past 10 years or television shows like it's all from writing right you find the inspiration

The role of Christmas elves

entertainment continues to influence Society like you know movies film television now but yeah books still do so in one of the very first things that was written was written by Brothers Grim in the story of The Elves and the shoe maker and in this story The mischievous elf-like creatures save the day when this poor cobbler is struggling to finish all of his work prior to Christmas he has all these orders for people for Christmas and he's having a

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hard time finishing them and he's at risk of losing everything when one night a group of elves visit his shop work through the night to finish the shoes for him and allow him to finish all of his work while Santa specifically is not mentioned in this tale it's one of the first depictions of elves working in a workshop type of scenario in order to get things done for the holiday season and then in 1823 the infamous TW the Night Before Christmas is released and there's the following description of Santa Claus in this text it is he was chubby and plump a right Jolly Old elf so now it's like is Santa is an elf right he's the head elf because how else can he get all of this stuff done how else can he travel the world to deliver presentence and gifts for all the good little girls and boys he must be some magical creature and elves they can kind of come and go as they please through this Unseen World is Santa does he have

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those similar abilities and he's the queen bee of all of the which is why he's so much bigger yes exactly then in 1850 the same woman who wrote little woman Louisa May Alcott actually wrote but never published a book called Christmas elves in 1850 so this is the first time Christmas elves is like a term but she never published the book so it's like I don't know that she's responsible for it but maybe the literary world was reading the book I don't know or she heard it like it was yeah and the it was just like yeah yeah but hadn't been pend to papered yet in 1857 there was a poem titled the wonders of Santa Claus published in Harper's Weekly the poem is pretty long so I can't read the whole thing like it's it's not a poem it's like a short story in like poem format but it tells of a team of elves all work and this is in quote all working with their might to make a million of pretty things cakes sugar plums and toys to fill the

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stockings hung by you know for the little girls and boys so by this time the image and concept of Santa's helpers specifically elves are now becoming accepted and integrated into pop culture and then in 1873 a popular it's called goa's ladies book it's a magazine which you know released different issues they published a front cover illustration for the Christmas issue and it had Santa surrounded by elves and toys and the caption said here we have the idea of the preparation that are made to supply the young folks with toys at Christmas time it's like the elves are making the toys it's like the factory right so this is the first time that all of this has been connected and then from there we haven't really changed anything which is so wild ex feels like so there we are Christmas elves are now born and without them Santa would be overworked worked his job would be much too hard and elves

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have a lot of Duties at the North Pole they take care of Santa's reindeer they guard the location of Santa's workshop in Village which I actually this is interesting because elves exist in the Unseen realm I wonder if they have the ability to make the North Pole and like Santa's workshop and everything exist in the Unseen realm like maybe we can't ever see it you'll never be able to get there yeah it's like Atlantis Lost World it makes me think of Elf the movie kind of almost showed that where it's like buddy is going through this kind of like impossible Journey where it starts and we have all these like clamation figures and then you enter the real world and it's so starkly different but it also reminds me of the Barbie movie where they move into from Barbie world I was just going to say isn't Barbie basically just elf it basically is it totally is but it makes me wonder like if there is a way cuz the humans could find a way if they did the whole like series of events to get to Barbie world they could enter

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Barbie world so it does make me wonder if there is some sort of like secret code series that we could crack to enter the North Pole also there's going to be so much noise above me now just as if people are hearing stuff as I speak is Santa on your roof Santa's here and he's blowing 10 inches of insulation into my roof I just heard you say that as Stefon from SNL Stefon Santa Claus is on my roof we have the hottest new Christmas gift and it's Santa's blowing Santa sack blown by Santa 10 in it's packing something we made a promise and we broke it okay so the elves are you know they're very important role in Santa's workshop and in Christmas and and they also help keep Santa SLE in working order they make toys but also most

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importantly they are Santa's spies they are his eyes and ears they keep an eye on all of us they make note of our Behavior they are the keepers of the naughty or nice list this is also reminded me not to just go on a tangent again but the Santa Claus movie series with Tim Allen there's all of these theories about the movie because before Tim Allen even becomes Santa you can see almost like Easter eggs of the elves watching him in the background so it was basically being like he was always going to be Santa and he always is Santa and it's just them basically like bringing him through his Santa life cycle every single time that it was never an accident it was always the way I love that it was cuz they're always there they're watching you don't notice them and in the movie You don't notice them but they're there okay so there's also I feel like they've evolved recently where now now with Elf on the Shelf they are literally right in your

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home yes my least favorite holiday tradition but this is interesting okay so we talked about what was her name the woman who lived in like the maybe this is the Icelandic one who like lived in the hills and she like cooks children for Christmas graa I was going to say Greta G the Christmas witch that's right so I think I covered in I don't know some point in a holiday episode how grla has her 12 Ule Lads and they kind of do her work they work very much like elves but they like find the naughty kids for graa so elves are also known as yads which are mischievous little beings and in some places they visit homes from December 12th to 24th leading up to Christmas leaving presents and playing pranks and they've gotten more creative over the years they used to have to sneak around in order to watch you and figure out if you were na or nice but now they straight up show up in your home and you welcome them they're on

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your shelf they are the elf on the shelf and this is one of the newest versions and iterations of elves in our Christmas celebrations but they are rooted in the origins of the Yule Lads I can't remember so this is going to be a like basically a pointless insert but there is some really wonderful story or really impressive story about the woman who wrote Elf on the Shelf like I think she wrote the book I can't remember the backstory but basically it was like she wrote the book somehow this little creature got added to it and it was kind of unintentional and it blew up and now she is super rich I mean but I can't remember the full backstory it wasn't just kind of happened for her which is awesome well Kizmet it's meant to be they show up in your house and they pull pranks they leave gifts they are watching if you're not your nice and they're reporting back to Santa so the question I leave you all with is without elves is there even a

Holiday traditions

Christmas no there's not because who's

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going to give you mischief and fun and presents and who's going to assist Santa in creating all the holiday magic who's going to know who's noty or nice exactly we need the elves we do and they're sweet but they're also sour but they're also helpful just don't offend them because if you do offend them they're a split second away from throwing temper tantrum and adding you to the naughty list exactly yeah here is one piece of advice that I leave all of you a lot of us when we think of Christmas we leave gifts and cookies and milk and carrots for Santa and for his reindeer but I am coming to you this year and suggesting maybe you leave gifts for the elves as well make sure you express your gratitude for all of their help because they are the hardest working creatures and they do it all very selflessly with you and your happiness in mind so a simple thank you or a simple bowl of porridge with a dollop of butter on top

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goes a long way wow I'm kind of inspired to do that but at the same time I'm kind of scared cuz what if the Fay gets confused and thinks it's an offering for them and then you've opened the door how do people do this how do people pick and choose who they're interacting with especially when so many things want the same sort of offerings and operate similarly said intentions and then leave a note that says for the elves for the elves not the F and maybe have a fairy garden outside so that they know where to go yes this is for you I really want a fairy garden I fully support that I think you should get a fairy garden and make one that would be so fun I have so many acorns in my backyard too I can use the Little Acorn caps and make a bunch of I have an idea what's your idea you're getting rid of that tree TBD we we just I panic canceled the tree removal okay well if

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you get rid of the tree maybe you leave part of the stump and you put like a little fairy garden situation inside of it I love it it's like a Barbie dream house but I'm going to make them for fairies I could carve into it and make multi-tier like it is a new dollhous and they're going to have a rooftop hot tub hell yeah for sure I'm jealous of their house yes me too we haven't even made it but I bet it's magic I feel like just speaking it it exists somewhere now it does in the Unseen realm of our brains in the Unseen realm this made me even more excited for Christmas I love Christmas so much because it's just like such a warm holiday and I love the Traditions that everyone has with their own families and friends and just even themselves like putting things out or watching a particular movie every year like it's just nice having that sort of routine and repetition there's something warm about it but this made me more excited

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and speaking of us working so hard and how like we just like work ourselves to the Bone I do love that it is a holiday that regardless of if you celebrate Christmas or regardless of your religion I do feel like this time of year people naturally do slow down and businesses do kind of allow people to breathe for a minute which is really you get to rest nice yeah I saw something on Tik Tok which unfortunately I must have not saved it or liked it and just enjoyed it live in the moment when I saw it but there's someone on Tik Tok who instead of doing Elf on the Shelf they have adopted a different type of creature and it is a seasonal depression figure oh I love this it's kind of brilliant because it basically the point of this creature is it's teaching their kids that sometimes the holidays can be really lovely and fun and you can have a lot of energy and parti ipate in things and sometimes it's hard and you don't want to and you're just going to stay in bed or you're going to lie on the same spot

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on the floor for 3 days and that's okay so does the creature just lay on the floor for like 3 days like what's the sometimes it does sometimes it reads a book sometimes it's watching movies sometimes it's hanging out with other stuffed animals and like being social but sometimes it's just like I want to be alone and it will be like really high up and I need my alone time I don't want anyone talking to me I have a suggestion for all parents out there this is my new business Endeavor if you would like a real life humanized seasonal depression elf you may hire me and I will exemplify depression for your children easily well I think if you want seasonal you can hire me but if you're looking for a year round thing you can hire supr okay then here we go this is this is our business I am depressive you are the seasonal aspect of it so I'm there laying on the ground for 3 days and all of a you come in and you're up and about and doing things I'm like a solar powered lamp

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yeah like I I'll be sad in the darkness but if I'm sad for too long you got to charge me just bring me out into the Sun for a little bit I'll be better okay here's another pitch I lay on the ground in your child's bedroom for 3 days and then Karin comes in and she picks me up because sometimes it's okay to get external help to help lift you up and get you out of your brilliant coming to the homes of all of you Americans order now free shipping in the continental US $5.99 for international I love it cheap deal it is a good deal we'll ship ourselves we do uh require payment in food though we do we do we do yes apple pie or cheesecake oh you're requesting cheesecake if my Health's going down in the gutter may as well go out strong cheesecake with butter on top and like a nice strawberry drizzle oh yeah oh strawberry wow okay

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there's a lot of noise it's okay Santa is trying to find access to your chimney he is Santa's dirty if you think of all the things that Santa does like he's kind of inappropriate like you can turn everything he does into something like sexual oh wow okay not where I thought you were going when you said he was dirty I thought you meant like with soot and just he's traveling a lot of places he's flying through smog yeah he's in people's houses and he's touching things and probably not washing his gloves that he's eating the candy with it touching like glasses of milk there's a lot of germs going on with Santa but maybe he doesn't catch coties cuz he's magic he just gives them he just gives them okay this is from our listener Nicole and it's called Santa's

Listener story and sign-off

Watcher hello ladies my name is Nicole she her age 24 and this is the story of when I was around 7 on Christmas morning when I was that age I was so excited for Santa and on Christmas Eve it was very

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difficult for me to sleep but my mom would remind me that Santa's elves were always watching out for Santa and if I didn't sleep like a little good girl my presents would not come so I finally managed to fall asleep and when I woke up I was so excited not only did Santa come but his elf did too and I had proof I told my parents and they were confused so I showed them behind my bedroom door on the ceiling were two perfectly shaped pointy shoe Footprints and they both had a slight inward curve on the inside like an actual shoe footprint would and these Footprints were facing towards my bed what my mom said had been true Santa's elf came to make sure I was sleeping my parents laughed nervously and agreed and went on with Christmas but that night I heard them talking as my dad went to go check the attic for water damage or any explanation for the footprint there was no water damage at all and nothing above my room to explain these Footprints I'm not sure if they were

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trying to be sneaky as to not ruin my Christmas dreams but our house had thin walls so I could hear them talking in my brother's room which had the attic entrance and after I realized that they didn't think it was Santa's elf they just couldn't figure out why there were Footprints oh my gosh so now I was scared I was scared to sleep in my room for a while and the footprints stayed for an entire week my mom could not wipe whatever it was off the ceiling I watched her try a couple times my gosh after that I would notice my bedroom door which was on a slight slant as the floor wasn't even it would open uphill with a slow Creek that never did stop until I moved out for college oh hope you girls enjoyed the story love the podcast Nicole Nicole well that's terrifying it begins magical with Christmas magic cuz you're like oh my gosh the elf really did come and then your parents are like I don't think elves should have been able to get in here right so how did these Footprints get here well elves are sneaky so sneaky

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they'll send your parents looking for leaks in the attic and in a spiral for a week trying to figure out how the elf did get into your room well thank you everyone for joining us for this final episode of 2023 that's crazy yes we love you all so very much we hope you are having a great safe healthy end of 2023 however you are spending it travel safely stay warm and leave a bowl of porridge for the elves happy holidays and we will see see you on the other side very spooky