Rivers In Time

The Heart After Death: A History of Love, Grief, and Separate Burial

For twenty years, Lady Dervorguilla of Galloway carried her husband's heart in an ivory casket. She spoke to it. She slept beside it. When she died, the heart was buried with her. She was not alone. Across medieval and early modern Europe, the dead were sometimes buried in pieces. Hearts sent home from crusades, smuggled across borders, or kept in desk drawers for decades. A Breton noblewoman was found with her husband's heart in a lead casket. Mary Shelley kept what she believed was Percy Shelley's heart wrapped in silk. Chopin's sister risked everything to bring his heart back to Poland. Why the heart? For centuries, Europeans believed it held love, memory, and even the soul. Removing it was a way to keep someone close, or send them somewhere sacred. This is the strange, forgotten history of separate heart burial. From Sweetheart Abbey to the Habsburg crypts, from Saint Teresa's preserved relic to the question of where your own heart might rest. Watch the video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/CATMN17ErYY

The Sacred Horse That Guides the Dead: Chinese Burial Traditions

Six hundred horses, buried in perfect rows. A 3,000-year-old ritual still practiced today. And a paper horse burning in a modern funeral.   In this episode, we look at the forgotten Chinese tradition of giving the dead a horse. Not as a symbol of wealth, but as a guide and protector for the soul's perilous journey to the afterlife. From the horse worship rituals of the Zhou dynasty to the 600-horse burial of a Qi state king, we trace how ancient Chinese believed that the dead needed transportation. But burying real horses was only for the elite. Then, a revolutionary invention changed everything: paper.   We follow the evolution of Zhi Zha, the art of burning paper effigies. From imperial luxury to a folk tradition that crossed class boundaries. Today, families still burn paper horses, alongside iPhones and designer handbags, as offerings of love and farewell.   But do the dead really receive them? And why do we keep burning, even when we're not sure? This is a story about fear, hope, and the longest bridge between the living and the dead. Watch the video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/qI1qnesbtRc

When Cats Were Burned, Hanged, and Blamed for Treason

A man walks into a palace, claims the English throne, and blames a talking cat. That bizarre story opens a darker door: Europe's centuries-long war on cats.  From there, we travel across medieval and early modern Europe. From French bonfires where cats were burned as witches, Belgian towers where they were thrown for sport, to Danish barrels where children now hunt for candy. Along the way, we meet witch familiars named Sathan and Rutterkin,  accused cats in Shakespeare's Macbeth, and a political protest that got a dead cat dressed like a priest. This is not a story about one man's delusion. It's about why, for centuries, fear wore a cat's face, and what that says about us. Press play. You'll never look at your cat the same way again. Watch the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/jMuHysA_Sjw

The Gods who killed summer

In forgotten myths, summer was killed by gods, monsters, and storms. We all know the story of Persephone and Hades, or perhaps even of Inanna and Dumuzi, but what about the other gods and monsters who bring the end of summer? Let's talk about the forgotten myths of the Northern Isles and the Slavic world, where summer was torn down by sea battles, skinless horrors, and divine betrayal. This is the story of two forgotten cycles: one born from the fury of the sea, the other from a betrayal on the land that explain why the golden days of summer must always come to an end. In this episode, we cover: The Orcadian myth of Sea Mither and Teran The skinless horror of the Nuckelavee How Slavic Jarilo's betrayal brings winter... Watch the video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/bcDxpRwnoFo

The Sorcerer Who Vanished from the Tower of London

Is magic real?  The Elizabethans certainly thought so. In a world lit by candlelight and shadowed by mystery, belief in witches, spells, and omens was as real as the rising sun. From the royal court to the village square, magic and superstition shaped everyday life—guiding decisions, inspiring fear, and influencing even the greatest minds of the age. In 1561, a man named Hew Draper vanished from the Tower of London, leaving behind only a strange astrological carving on his cell wall. Was it magic? An escape? Or something darker? This is the mysterious story of Elizabethan England's lost sorcerer.  Dive into the facinating past of the Tower of London's Salt Tower and its most puzzling inmate. This video looks at the story of Hew Draper, the Bristol innkeeper who was accused of witchcraft and sorcery during Queen Elizabeth I's reign. We take a closer look at the detailed astrological sphere and planetary grid he etched into the wall of his prison cell—a silent message that still hasn't been solved. The video covers the history of Elizabethan occult practices, John Dee, astrological magic, the Witchcraft Act of 1563, and the influential figures Draper encountered, including Bess of Hardwick. Could this carving have served as a magical tool? A celestial chart? Or was it just a way for a condemned man to pass the time? did he become a victim of the Tudor justice system, or did he manage to escape his destiny through means we can't comprehend?