Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories - The Garden of Mythical Creatures

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Starting point is 00:00:41 throughout a get sleepy episode? sounds as a background throughout a get sleepy episode. For example, maybe you would like to pair tonight's story with the sound of gentle rainfall. Well, now you can. We have partnered with the Deep Sleep Sounds app to help you create soothing soundscapes that will play in the background while you're listening to get sleepy. Here's what you need to do. Simply download the Deep Sleep Sounds app, choose your preferred sound and add it to the mix by tapping in the circle next to it. Make sure you go to the controls tab within the deep sleep sounds app and

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Starting point is 00:02:18 The podcast where we listen, we relax and we get sleepy. My name is Tom and I'm your host. Thank you for tuning in. Tonight, I'm delighted to say that Simon is back to read our story and I can't wait for you to hear this mystical tale. We've all heard of certain creatures that are supposed to exist only in legends and tall tales. They're often presented as sinister characters, with spiky tales or sharp teeth, so it's no wonder we often feel them. But what if these fabled creatures have been misunderstood all along?

Starting point is 00:03:06 What if they aren't so bad after all? Tonight we'll venture to a secret garden where all kinds of mythical creatures live together in harmony. It's time now to leave the day behind. To let go of any desire to problem self or concern yourself with what's been and gone. Just settle into your bed, making sure you're comfortable so that you can relax and enjoy our story. Take a deep breath in, filling up your lungs and gently breathe back out. On your next inhale, just tell yourself that you're breathing in the essence of calm.

Starting point is 00:04:18 And as you exhale, you're releasing any disruptive thoughts or feelings. Breathing calm. Let go of tension. That essence of calm can filter through every cell of your body. And as you release tension and worry, those negative energies leave your body and mind, dissipating into the outer world. dissipating into the outer world. Continue to breathe in calm and release any last bits of tension for as long as you'd

Starting point is 00:05:16 like. Eventually, all you'll be left with is pure serenity. I'll hand over to Simon for our story now. We begin in a forest, a beautiful one no doubt, But one that has something unusual about it. Something enchanted. Let's head there now and discover the unique creatures that call this garden home. Home. Deep within a magical forest whose lush undergrowth is dotted with bright green phones and purple astres, mythical creatures live out their days. They have a home in a secret garden among fragrant flowers and magnificent trees. The entrance to the garden is hidden behind a giant curtain of swaying ivy.

Starting point is 00:06:57 Here, tall blades of grass cling to the moss-covered ground, growing taller and taller until they become a canopy of their own. until they become a canopy of their own. This makes it nearly impossible to find the arched gateway leading to the secret garden, which is just how the creatures like it. But despite their efforts to remain hidden, adventurers and explorers have passed through the garden gates now and then. They are lured by its legend, a managed to outwit the mythical creature in charge of guarding the entrance.

Starting point is 00:07:35 The sphinx of the secret garden has the head of a cat, the sprawling wings of a falcon, and the body in tail of a lion. Its eyes are bulbous with golden brown irises and almond-shaped pupils as black as night. Its sharp teeth and claws are meant to ward off trespasses, but this finks wouldn't hurt a fly. Its docile nature and kind eyes hide the fact that it could cast spells to make humans forget their names if it wanted to.

Starting point is 00:08:19 The Sphinx is one of the first mythical creatures to be recorded in the forest bestiary. This leather-bound book with gold-cursive writing on the cover is kept in a glass bell jar on a stone pedestal in the Rose Garden. It catalogs the different creatures that live here, when they arrived, what their abilities are, and what jobs they have now. The Sphinx's job is Guardian of the Gate. Behind the cascading wall of Ivy, the arched gate is festooned with pink and red flowers,

Starting point is 00:09:01 shaped like little hearts. The gate is made of wrought iron welded into ornate shapes. It's covered in intricate patterns, depicting a fairy tale scene of rabbits, foxes and deer, fronking among twisted vines and flowers. While guarding the gate, the sphinx lies down in its favorite position. Flat on its belly, with its front legs stretched forward and its hind legs bent at its sides. When it's feeling bored, which happens a lot,

Starting point is 00:09:43 the sphinx licks its paws, stretches, or sleeps, until it's roused by one of the garden gnomes. Now the gnomes of the secret garden may be tiny in size, but here a day in the life of a gnome is no small feat. These little gardeners with their weathered skin, white beards and conical hats are the keepers of the secret garden. They occupy a small hamlet on the other side of the gate, filled with oval flower beds and soaring evergreens. They live in hollows at the base of the trees, and they spend their off time knitting chunky sweaters and socks with yarn that they spin from bamboo grass.

Starting point is 00:10:43 The nooms work hard to ensure that their beloved garden thrives. This includes supervising mythical creatures that pretend to be hard at work, but are in fact not. The pixies have a particular tendency to laze about instead of working. These elf-like creatures live in a nearby meadow where larkspurs shine like blue stars under the sun. Pixies may look a bit like fairies, but they have pointy ears and four elongated wings like dragonflies.

Starting point is 00:11:28 As the garden assesses, the pixies hover over the meadow with tiny clipboards in hand. They report to the gnomes on the quality of the nectar that the bees of the secret garden love to drink. But, oftentimes, pixies ignore their duties. Instead, they go foraging for blackberries that grow in the bushes near the cherry blossoms. The cherry blossom field is a pink wonderland, with thousands of petals falling from mature cherry trees. They blanket the forest floor in a sea of pink. This enchanting place is home to the kitsune. In her natural form, this wily creature looks like a fox, with long, thin legs, appointed nose,

Starting point is 00:12:29 and a white coat that glistens in the sunlight. But sometimes, she shapeshifts into other forms. Occasionally, she pretends to be a gnome, which the real gnome find quite annoying. The kitsune is one of the oldest creatures in the forest. Her kind can grow up to nine bushy tails over the course of their lives. At the moment, she has seven tails, in all colours of the rainbow, which means she's lived for a very long time, but she prefers not to discuss her age. She carries her soul in a round gemstone that radiates a warm yellow light. This is her source of life and magic.

Starting point is 00:13:30 She keeps hers buried in her busiest tale and is always careful not to misplace it. When she shapeshifts into other creatures, she wears it on a white leather collar, studied with tiny gold stars. One of her favorite forms is a panda, whose fur matches the collar nicely. When she's in her natural form, she enjoys wiling away the hours underneath the cherry blossoms, She enjoys wiling away the hours underneath the cherry blossoms, grooming herself as pink petals fall from the trees like snowflakes. Two centaurs also live in the garden. They love to stroll through the cherry blossoms in the early morning when most of the flora is covered in dew.

Starting point is 00:14:27 These half-humans, half-horses are brother and sister, but they couldn't be any more different from each other in appearance. Bo, the brother, is seven feet tall. He has the lustrous mane of a black stallion, olive skin and hazel eyes. Bev, the sister, is slightly shorter at six feet. She has a fair complexion with rosy cheeks and aquamarine eyes. Her mane is platinum blonde and she wears it in a long thick braid that falls to her knees. Bowen Bev have an important job to do. They are tasked with quietly escorting unexpected visitors back to the arched gate, so that the Sphinx can erase their memories

Starting point is 00:15:27 of the secret garden. Then they watch as the visitors leave through the curtain of swaying ivy. Bo and Bev don't get to do their job frequently, given how rare unexpected visitors are. But, they take it seriously nonetheless, in part because the centaurs are best friends with the gnomes. According to the gnomes, intruders pose a great challenge for the garden, especially humans. For humans, cause all sorts of calamities. They pick golden flowers with no regard for the gentle oaks that prune them. They also trample beds of red poppies and pink tulips, kept by the garden's minotaur.

Starting point is 00:16:25 The minotaur is a tall, bullheaded man, with a long brown tail who wields a silver axe. He works hard to grow and maintain his flowers over the years, and size deeply when others walk on them. The gnomes can't believe that some of their mythical friends are related to humans. But those creatures understand. They know that most humans are just curious and mean no harm. Some gnomes wonder if the docile's finks guarding the gate should be reassigned to a different job. Perhaps the Minotaur himself could prevent more outsiders from entering the garden they wonder.

Starting point is 00:17:23 To discuss the issue, the gnomes formed a council of elders that sometimes meets in a round clearing in the middle of a field of daisies. On this particular day, they are going over the question of the Sphinx and its job once again. One of the gnomes, who wears her pointy hat so far down her head, it covers her eyes, says that the sphinx is no longer suited to the role of gait guardian. Her white dress, yellow belt, and green hat match the colours of the daisy field perfectly. This makes some of the gnomes wonder whether her choice of clothing is more than just a happy coincidence. The gnome in the white dress says that humans have started to figure out how to deal with the Sphinxes. They know the creatures can't resist the urge to tell riddles,

Starting point is 00:18:38 so they strike a deal, passage into the garden, in exchange for solving one. However, the gnome who presides over the council has a different opinion. He says that perhaps the solution isn't to relieve the sphinx of duty, but to equip it with harder riddles to solve. Real headscratches, but even the smartest humans won't be able to figure out. But when the gnome in the white dress asks for an example, the head gnome furrows his brow. He doesn't know how to come up with tricky rhymes that will stump the smartest humans and keep them from entering the garden.

Starting point is 00:19:24 I'll give it a shot. There's a gnome in a blue tunic and black hat who strokes his long beard. I am black-of-eye and bright of hair, he says, and my feet are firmly in the ground. I love the sun upon my face, and I follow it around. What am I? The gnomes shake their heads. A sun flower, they say in the unison. The riddle is too easy. is too easy. After careful consideration, the gnomes realize that their knowledge is too deeply rooted in gardening, and that humans will always guess their riddles. Best to leave the Sphinx where it is at the gate, says the Hednob. All things considered, the Sphinx is the most skilled at dealing with the humans whose

Starting point is 00:20:31 curiosity lures them deep into the magic forest. Besides, it's the only mythical creature that can cast a spell to make the humans forget their visit, if it needs to. With the case closed, the gnomes return to their hollows under the trees or to their garden plots. When the kids Sunni isn't spending time underneath the cherry blossoms, she does her job as the garden messenger, delivering the gnomes' instructions to other mythical creatures. Her first stop is the Topuri Ghat, where a chimera spends his days sculpting dense,

Starting point is 00:21:22 green bushes into ornamental shapes. The chimera is arguably the most skilled gardener of all, which might be surprising. That's because he has three heads. One is a goat's head, the other is a lion's head, and the last is a snake's. And each has its own opinion. But the one hobby they all enjoy is gardening. When it's time to flex his green thumb, his three heads work as a team without any disagreement. And as three heads are better than one, he's able to make magnificent creations using all

Starting point is 00:22:14 of his own creative ideas. He grows tall boxwards in different shades of green, which he scops into fantastical topiaries, using pruners, shears, and loppers that look like giant scissors. He can scot almost anything the imagination dares to dream. From standalone bushes, he calves pence-hif his gargoyles, hunched over with their fists on their chin's deep in thought. From wide hedges, he sculpts happy trolls with long, bushy hair standing on end. His creations pay tribute to other mythical creatures that live in the secret garden. One of them is the giant serpent, Uroboros.

Starting point is 00:23:15 Its job is to cultivate the land for new crops, which it does by plowing acres of soil with its teeth. Chomera sculpts his serpent friend in the shape of a ring with its mouth biting its tail. Next to the snake is a phoenix, a majestic bird with scarlet and gold plumage and a blue crest that flows from its head like a bridal train. He scops the Phoenix topiary from a honey-suckle bush

Starting point is 00:23:56 that has red blooms shaped like firecrackers, and little golden flowers like slaybells. The decision to portray this fiery bird with red and yellow blooms makes sense, given the Phoenix's tendency to burst into flames. Another sensible choice is to sculpt the Phoenix next to the serpent, given the time-worn rivalry between these two mythical creatures on the issue of immortality. According to the serpent, there is only room in the garden for one creature

Starting point is 00:24:41 that symbolizes an eternal cycle of rebirth, a beginning, end, and new beginning, over and over again. The Phoenix agrees, having risen from its own ashes plenty of times. But the Phoenix does not concede the title of best immortal creature to the serpent. In fact, the bird claims seniority as far as mythology is concerned. But the truth is, no one knows which of the two came first. Their origin stories have been lost to time. Or perhaps the tales were lost in a fire.

Starting point is 00:25:35 According to the Phoenix, it once had in its possession an ancient scroll made of papyrus that settled the score as to which creature was older than the other. Papyrus, tea-stained in appearance, is extracted from the stem of the grassy plants that grows along the banks of the Nile River. It's used to make paper among other things. among other things. According to the Phoenix, the papyrus scroll detailed how, and most importantly, when it was born. When the Council of Elder Nomes convened to discuss the issue of best immortal creature, they asked the Phoenix to produce this document.

Starting point is 00:26:28 But a crest fallen bird confessed to the council that it had burned the scroll to a crisp long ago when it had a disagreement with the Griffin. The Griffin, who was once friendly with the Phoenix, had declared itself best mythical bird of all time, and this played on the last ounce of patience the Phoenix had. It couldn't contain the fire that rose within, and so it burst into flames, accidentally burning the scroll it held in its talons. How could a griffin think itself a better bird than a phoenix? After all, griffins are a mix of an eagle and a lion, so they're not even entirely a bird. Of course, they are very smart, the Phoenix told the council. Their intelligence is a character trait they wear proudly on their eagle faces. They're

Starting point is 00:27:40 strong too, with the muscular body of a lion and sharp talons. But, this does not a great bird make, the Phoenix said. A Phoenix can live forever after all. What could possibly be greater than that? What about a serpent that can live forever? Said the head gnome during the council meeting. He pointed at the uraborus that had been quietly circling the gathered group. And so, with proof of its origin lost in a flame of its own creation, the Phoenix agreed to share the title of best immortal creature with the serpent. But only as long as the Council of Nomes agreed

Starting point is 00:28:37 that the mighty Phoenix was a better bird than the Griffin. All right, said the council of noams, and the case was closed. That nightfall, most of the creatures wind down after a hard day's work in the secret garden. This is what is happening now that the sun has set beyond the trees of the magic forest. But two of them are just beginning the late shift. Emir, the frost giant, emerges from his dark cave when the vast sweep of the sky turns black and becomes dotted with millions of stars.

Starting point is 00:29:30 This colossal giant's body is made of dark blue ice, multi-, and a beard made of sparkling white icicles. He carries a golden silver sledgehammer that he often uses to clear the land for new seedlings. Emir's cave is in the garden's core. It's located in a modest mountain whose lone summit rises above the forest canopy ever so slightly. It's the perfect spot for him to fulfill his duty as a senior irrigation specialist, he takes great pride in his title. Standing at the top of the mountain, the frost giant takes a deep breath. When he exhales, cool, misty air flows out across the land. He sends thousands of tiny ice particles in all directions, coating the topiary garden, the cherry blossom field, and flower beds bristling with loopings

Starting point is 00:30:58 that look like blue corn. Amir's breath also blankets the intricate garden maze made with winding hedges that the centaurs can successfully navigate blindfolded. It's one of their favourite games. His breath aids the morning dew. It keeps the soil moist overnight until the sun rises to warm up the plants, flowers and trees in the garden. But sometimes, it's a bit too cold. When this happens, many flower and vegetable beds are at risk of freezing over. This is where the frost giants loyal, four-legged friend comes in.

Starting point is 00:31:54 The Cerberus of the secret garden is a happy, three-headed fire-breathing dog, with kind blue eyes, a short gray coat, and a spiky dragon's tail. Back in the day, Cerberus used to guard the gates of the underworld. But now, he lives up to his title as the official warmer of the garden. Every night he pads quietly through the plants, sniffing out sections of the garden that run the risk of freezing. When he finds one, he lies down in it, curls up and emanates such warmth that all of the plants, flowers and groves within a mile spring back into life revived from their icy slumber. On nights when Cerberus doesn't need to warm up the soil, he pays a visit to the Sphinx at the garden gate, walking softly on all fours, so as not to disturb the little gnome to a fast asleep.

Starting point is 00:33:17 Cerberus and the Sphinx became fast friends over their mutual interest in guarding things. After all, the three-headed dog knows a thing or two about security, have regarded the gates of the underworld the thousands of years. The two friends chat while lying under the arched gate. At this time of night, the red flowers above them are grade over by the moonlight. This finks lies in repose in its favorite position with its front legs stretched forward and its hind legs bent at its sides.

Starting point is 00:34:06 Then, it speaks a new riddle that's currently taking shape in its mind. I sound like a place where roses and daisies could go to sleep. It is not humans who count sheep here, but dandelions, daffodils, and mythical creatures like you and me. What am I? Cerberus grins. A flower bed, he says. As the two friends talk late into the night, the secret garden beyond the gate sleeps

Starting point is 00:34:53 soundly under the starry sky. In it, happy little gnomes are tucked into their beds. They dream of white lilies, babbling brooks, and friendly mythical creatures resting under the light of a beautiful moon. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room.

Starting point is 00:35:34 I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm sorry. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room.

Starting point is 00:36:10 I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room.

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Starting point is 00:36:42 I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go back to the place where I was going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I was going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I was going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I was going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I was going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I was going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I was going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I was going to go.

Starting point is 00:36:58 I'm going to go back to the place where I was going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I was going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I was going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I was going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I was going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I was going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room.

Starting point is 00:39:22 I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I'm going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I'm going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I'm going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I'm going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I'm going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I'm going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I'm going to go.

Starting point is 00:39:38 I'm going to go back to the place where I'm going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I'm going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I'm going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I'm going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I'm going to go. I'm going to go back to the place where I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room.

Starting point is 00:40:58 I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. you

Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories - The Garden of Mythical Creatures

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