Lore - Legends 53: Lunacy

Episode Date: May 12, 2025

Legends are all around us. But few topics in the world of folklore do as good a job of illuminating our flawed human nature as the stories hanging over our heads. Narrated and produced by Aaron Mahnke, with writing by Alex Robinson and research by Cassandra de Alba. ————————— Lore Resources:  Episode Music: lorepodcast.com/music  Episode Sources: lorepodcast.com/sources  All the shows from Grim & Mild: www.grimandmild.com ————————— Sponsors: Avocado Green Mattress: Shop now at AvocadoMattress.com, and save up to 10% on certified organic mattresses. Acorns: Acorns helps you automatically save & invest for your future. Head to Acorns.com/LORE to sign up for Acorns to start saving and investing for your future today! Goldbelly: Get the most iconic, famous foods from restaurants all across the US, shipped free to your door anywhere in the country. Go to to GoldBelly.com and get free shipping and 20% off your first order with promo code LORE. Warby Parker: Visit one of over 270 stores to find your next pair of glasses, or go to WarbyParker.com/LORE to try on any pair virtually! ————————— To report a concern regarding a radio-style, non-Aaron ad in this episode, reach out to ads @ lorepodcast.com with the name of the company or organization so we can look into it. ————————— To advertise on this podcast please email: [e-mail]. Or go to: https://advertising.libsyn.com/lore ————————— ©2025 Aaron Mahnke. All rights reserved.

Beautiful Anonymous changes each week. It defies genres and expectations. For example, our most recent episode, I talked to a woman who survived a murder attempt by her own son. But just the week before that, we just talked the whole time about Star Trek. We've had other recent episodes about sexting in languages that are not your first language or what it's like to get weight loss surgery. It's unpredictable. It's real. It's honest. It's raw. Get Beautiful Anonymous wherever you listen to podcasts. The wolf was hungry, but he wasn't worried, because the fox knew where he could get a meal.

The fox led the wolf to a deep well that had two buckets dangling overhead. Without pausing, the fox jumped into one of the buckets. His weight pulled it all the way down to the water, where the full moon was reflected, all yellow and round. Then the fox pointed at the reflection, saying, Here is plenty of cheese. Get into the other bucket and come down at once. The wolf, too hungry to think clearly, jumped into the second bucket. His weight sent him crashing into the water, and conversely the fox's bucket shot back

to the surface. Cackling, the fox hopped out and ran off into the night, leaving the wolf trapped in the well without a single slice of cheese in sight. This particular story about the fox and the wolf is a French-Jewish parable from the Middle Ages, but that isn't the only time the theme pops up in folklore. Cultures from all over the world have similar stories. In England, a farmer finds a group of foolish villagers who think the moon fell into the well. In Tibet, a troop of silly monkeys tries to draw the moon out of a well, but they just end up pulling each other in.

And in Turkey, a man tries to lasso the moon out of the well, but falls on his behind instead. Likewise, the concept that the moon is made of cheese, or at the very least that the moon looks like it's made of cheese, isn't unique to our foxy friend either. In the 16th century, for example, some European chroniclers used the phrase, the moon is made of green cheese, to indicate that you could easily fool the foolish. The message, though, is clear. It's easy to trick someone who is already inclined to believe foolish things. And those who easily give in to ignorance often find themselves in deep trouble or an even deeper well.

It seems you can't believe everything you hear, or else you'll end up like the wolf. But while the moral lesson might contain some truth, it also lacks a bit of grace. Because cheese or not, that glowing yellow orb has driven people to craft some pretty amazing folktales over the years. Folktales, and also hoaxes. It seems that living beneath the moon is enough to make anyone go mad. I'm Aaron Manke, and this is Lore Legends. It must be a full moon. I'm sure that we've all heard some variation of that old adage before. If someone is hyperactive or unreasonable,

or straight up silly or has trouble sleeping, then that's just because the full moon is making them act that way. We can't help it. The moon just does something to us. And this isn't some newfangled wives tale. It can be traced back centuries, even thousands of years. In the 5th century BCE, for example, Hippocrates wrote, and I quote, one who is seized with terror, fright, and madness during the night is being visited by the goddess of the moon. The moon goddess in question, by the way, was named Céline, and over the years she slowly became more and more associated with madness.

By the 5th century AD, she had declared herself the goddess of insanity, saying, I command madness and excite lunacy. Later, her Roman counterpart, Luna, would inspire the English word lunatic. Of course, there were some in the ancient world who rejected the idea of divinely inspired insanity and searched for a scientific explanation for this phenomenon. In the 4th century BCE, Aristotle wrote that the brain had an especially high water content, causing the moon to affect it in the same way that it affected the ocean's tides. In the same vein, Pliny the Elder

hypothesized that the moon created dew and that dew made the brain too moist, leading to madness. Fast forward to the 16th century and the philosopher Paracelsus determined that weak-willed men could be influenced by the full moon going insane under its light. The full moon was evil, and sometimes people became evil too. The connection between insanity and immorality is a long-standing one. For much of history, mental disorders were treated as a moral issue rather than a medical one.

In the Middle Ages, for example, mental illness was seen as a punishment from God for extreme wickedness. Over the centuries, some have speculated that it was a form of demonic possession, while others believe that it was the result of a life lived in sin. And just a couple of centuries ago, Benjamin Rush, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, believed that the pitfalls of modern life led to a decline in morality, and therefore to a decline in sanity. But you don't need me to tell you that this is, of course, nonsense. Back in the day, though, the idea that the moon could cause madness and therefore cause evil doing was completely ingrained into people's worldview. It was so

ingrained, in fact, that until the early 1800s, some asylums for the mentally ill, including London's notorious Bedlam, were so convinced of the connection between the moon and lunacy that they chained up and whipped their patients on the nights when the full moon was in the sky. It was, ironically, complete madness, but no one saw it that way. After all, belief can be a powerful thing, and this particular belief had been building for centuries. And, of course, that belief eventually made its way into folklore. Werewolves, of course, were thought to transform under the full moon, going from normal men

to savage, uncontrollable animals. Vampires only came out at night under the light of the moon, and silver, a metal that medieval alchemists associated with the moon, was the key to defeating these supernatural creatures. Now, I would like to tell you that we've left it all in the past, the paranormal, the prejudice, and the superstition. But sadly, we haven't. Werewolves of course have held onto their association with the full moon, but on a more

serious note many people today still believe that the moon can cause insanity, or at the very least an increase in erratic behavior. The moon has been blamed for upticks in homicides, car accidents, burglaries, and drunken disorderliness. In 2007, the Brighton Police over in England even sent out more patrolmen during the full moon, believing that they needed some extra help in keeping the peace on those particular nights. Clearly, these are ideas that stretch the imagination. But some historians say that there may actually be some truth to these beliefs. You see, before the advent of electricity, most homes were only lit at night by a small fireplace.

Wealthy European households didn't start using large amounts of candles in their homes until the 1500s, and it was even later for lower and middle class households. That meant that moonless nights were dark, and I mean really dark. Once the fire was put out, it was the perfect environment for a good night's sleep. But on the other side of that equation, when the moon was full, it lit up the entire world. And there is evidence that the light was so strong that it actually kept people awake throughout the night. Basically, for a few nights each month, lots of people were not sleeping well.

And sleep-deprived people aren't exactly known for acting rationally. In some cases, sleep deprivation can even trigger mania and seizures. And so, according to this theory, before the use of light bulbs, there was a chance that people truly did experience some sort of lunar mania. Which, if you ask me, sounds totally insane. The apocalypse is coming and it's going to start in Pennsylvania. Now I think it's fair to say that no theologian could have ever guessed that one, but it's true, the end of the world won't begin in New York or Beijing or Tel Aviv. No, if the stories are to be believed, it will start at the Crossroad Cemetery in Allegheny, Pennsylvania.

Now, the Crossroad Cemetery is a spooky place, I will give you that. It sits on Route 910 across from the end of Irwin Road. Locals know this 2.5 mile stretch as the Blue Mist Road. Apparently when the weather conditions are just right, a thick fog gathers over the road, encasing the entire street in a haunting glow. And Irwin Road has been the subject of superstition since the 1970s. Allegedly, an entire family died there in a terrible car accident. There are, of course, no identifiable records about the tragedy, but regardless, it's said

that you can still see their ghosts wandering through the mist. Some also claim that if you put your car into neutral, it will be pushed up the hill, away from the scene of the accident. Other rumors about Irwin Road include satanic cults, infant sacrifices, and even visits from the devil himself. But the most infamous legend has nothing to do with the road at all, because it's centered around two headstones in the Crossroads Cemetery. And those tombstones belong to a husband and wife pair, John and Mary Fogel.

Very little is known about their actual lives. In 1819, John was born in Germany. By 1850, he and his family were living in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and at some point he married his wife, Mary. Sadly, we don't know much about their life as a couple, other than the fact that on the 1860 census, John is listed as farmer. And then in 1864, he died, leaving Mary behind to grieve. When she finally passed away in 1883, Mary was

buried next to her husband and they are still there, right next to each other to this very day, which you would think would be the end of the story. But it isn't. No, their story extends beyond death. You see, their tombstones are one of a kind. Each one features an above-ground, coffin-shaped slab topped with two identical headstones. Standard, right? Well, here's the not-so-standard part. The stones are leaning toward one another. It seems that John and Mary were both so in love that they're reaching out to each other

even in death. And it's not subtle, either. The tombstones are completely askew. And at some point, people noticed. And thus the legend was born. Locals started saying that every full moon the stones leaned closer and closer until they were touching in a ghostly kiss. It's a sweet sentiment for sure, but it wouldn't be the only theory tossed around.

As the generations passed, people seemed to have tired of the wholesome legend, and darkness crept in. According to the newer version, every year the tombstones lean a tiny bit more. Inch by inch, they make their way toward each other, and then finally, when they touch, the apocalypse will begin. And I know what you're thinking, there is a huge leap in logic between ghosts kissing under the moonlight and the end of days is upon us. So what happened?

Well, according to some historians, it all had to do with anxiety. You see, as Americans crept closer to the turn of the century, cynicism about the future skyrocketed. They were worried about Y2K and all the changes that would come with the new century. And just a few years after that, they started panicking about the Mayan calendar, prophesying the end of the world in 2012. And well, that's a lot of existentialism to carry around. So in an attempt to grab on to some sense of control, the locals realized that they

had the perfect method to predict the end of the world right there in their own backyard, the tombstones. And of course, the world hasn't ended, not yet anyway. And as the years pass by without an apocalypse, that particular version of the legend has fallen out of style. Today, the romantic moon struck version is the most popular one told.

But the apocalypse folk tale did leave us with one bit of truth that has stood the test of time. We don't need a full moon for people to get a little crazy. There are men on the Moon. At least, that's what the paper said. On August 26th of 1835, New Yorkers woke up to earth-shattering news. According to the New York Sun, the English astronomer John Herschel had developed a powerful

new telescope, and that telescope had revealed the truth about the Moon. It turns out that the Moon wasn't a barren wasteland. No, it was actually teeming with extraterrestrial life. And the New York Sun was more than happy to slowly release details about it over a weeklong series in their paper. The articles claim that the moon wasn't just made up of rocks and dirt. It was actually covered in a lush carpet of red flowers and 38 different species of trees. There were deep blue oceans,

white sand beaches, and dormant volcanoes. Although how they determined the volcanoes were dormant from all the way over here on Earth remains a mystery. There were even huge crystal formations all around the moon, with towering amethysts that reached up to 90 feet in height. And there wasn't just plant life there. There were animals, too. These included large bison-like creatures with, and I quote, a remarkable fleshy appendage over their eyes, crossing the whole width of their forehead and united to the ears. It was meant to block the harsh light of the sun from their eyes, according to the article. But it would seem that none of the other moon creatures got such an evolutionary advantage, so one can only assume that they had been blinded by the sun or that their eyeballs were made of stronger stuff. And my personal favorite little fella was, and I quote,

a strange amphibious creature of a spherical form which rolled with great velocity across the pebbly beach. And according to these articles, John Herschel also observed blue unicorns, bears with horns, beavers that walked on two legs, and completely normal looking sheep. But the most astounding discovery of all wasn't flowers or sheep. It was people. These moon people didn't look anything like us, though. In fact, they seemed to be more humanoid than human. Only four feet tall, they were covered in reddish hair with yellow faces that were, according to the articles, a slight improvement upon that of the large orange orangutan. Oh, and on their backs, they had big black wings, similar

to those of bats. The sun appropriately dubbed these people the Vespertilio Homo, or manbat. And apparently, these manbats were able to construct buildings, because there were large triangular temples all over the moon. And the men at the temples looked different from the others. They were taller, larger, and lighter in color. Disturbingly, the newspaper determined that these were, and I quote, "...in every respect an improved variety of race, and therefore eminently happy." Yeah, that's right. They brought racism to the moon. Of course, a large group of scientists and people were incredibly prejudiced in the 1830s.

And so the racism against the batmen didn't set off too many alarm bells. In fact, most people believed the fantastical reports about the moon and the sun started selling like hotcakes. Some questioned the validity of the batmen, but plenty of people believed that they existed, and more importantly, that their souls needed to be saved. Soon enough, people were calling for Bibles and missionaries to be sent to the moon. It was all getting a little out of hand, to put it mildly. And even though the astronomer John Herschel was a real man, he couldn't refute anything

that was being published. In fact, he didn't even know about it. He was stuck down in South America on a research trip and had limited communication with the outside world. Fortunately some journalists were suspicious enough to do some digging on their own. And on August 29th, just four days after the first news report, the Sun's rival newspapers dropped several exposésés revealing the fraud. And thankfully, most people believed the other more reputable newspapers.

But some folks still held tight to their belief in the moon's Batman. And the push to send Bibles into space continued for several more months in a few of the most devout communities. The Great Moon Hoax became a worldwide phenomena. The story was published in newspapers across the globe, with some editors adding their own dramatic details for an extra flair. And in New York City, multiple stage plays based on the story came to theaters. According to one reviewer for the show Moonshine, their man bats looked like angels in the jaundice.

And of course, context is everything. Before these moon articles, The Sun had been a brand new newspaper. They had only started printing stories two years prior, and they had been struggling to make a name for themselves in the oversaturated markets of the Big Apple. But after this, everyone knew their name. They may not have trusted their reporting, but at least they always knew that they would have a good time reading the Sun's articles. The Sun's editor, Richard Locke, never publicly admitted that the whole thing had been fake.

But by the next year, he had quietly added author of the moon hoax to his byline. And as for all those people trying to send missionaries to the moon in the 1930s, let's just hope that they eventually realized that their plans sounded a little loony. It was quite a fiction. Unfortunately, attributing the entire moon hoax to the New York Sun's editor would be giving him far too much credit. It's believed that Locke was actually inspired by a short story that had been published only

two months earlier. Titled Hans Fall, a Tale, it had popped up in a small publication called the Southern Literary Messenger. The story was about a Dutch explorer who had gone to the moon on a hot air balloon and then returned to Earth to describe what he saw there. There are some remarkable similarities between this short story and the Sun's moon hoax articles, including the volcanoes and, as the author describes them, ugly little people. Naturally, the author was furious when Locke published the moon hoax articles.

He even publicly accused him of plagiarism, which Locke ignored. And because intellectual property laws in 1835 weren't quite what they are today, the author couldn't do anything about it. He was simply left to nurse a grudge for the rest of his life. Today, the two men are considered to be some of the earliest pioneers in the genre of science fiction. Richard Locke and his inspiration Edgar Allan Poe. I really do hope that today's journey to the moon gave you a fresh perspective on the folklore that surrounds us. Considering its prominent place in the sky, it's no wonder people have been inventing

stories about it for thousands of years. But this episode hasn't waned just yet. One final moon story is on the horizon, and this one is a little closer to home. Stick around through this brief sponsor break to hear all about it. This episode of lore was made possible by Avocado Green Mattress. Spring is finally here and it's nice to see the season finally changing. One thing that never changes for me though is my love of a good night's sleep. It starts me off with the right foot and it helps me be as creative as possible.

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Washington State has some of the most breathtaking nature in the country, but this thing blows it all, well, out of the water. The falls take their name from the Coast Salish Native Americans. Snoqualmie is the English pronunciation of the Salish word for moon. And in fact, the Snokwalmi tribe were known as the People of the Moon. So clearly the moon is vitally important to them, and it can all be traced back to one tribal legend. The story goes that two sisters went to gather food in the area where the waterfall is today.

Back then it was just a blank cliff face, and so the sisters dug up roots in silence without the rush of water at their backs. Eventually the sun sank below the horizon and the sisters laid down for the night. Soon enough the sky was full of stars. Each and every one seemed to be winking at the two young women as they sparkled overhead. And there, underneath the star-strewn sky, the younger sister made a wish. Pointing up, she wished that the bright white star would be her sister's husband, and that the bright red star would be hers.

It was such a silly request. You can practically hear the young women giggling together, snorting and whispering as they slowly fell asleep. But when they woke up again, they were in sky country, and their new star husbands were lying next to them. It seems they were married, but not only that, they were trapped in the sky. But they soon learned that life wasn't much different up there than it had been on Earth. Every day the men would go hunting and the women would dig up roots, just as the sisters

had been doing the night they were kidnapped. Eventually though, the older sister became pregnant and gave birth to a son. His name was Moon. Shortly after his birth, the two sisters were out working in the fields again. One of them grabbed a root and pulled. It was difficult, but she eventually got it out of the ground, leaving behind a gaping hole, and far below, she could see the Earth. This was their chance to escape.

So over the next several days, the sisters secretly built a ladder, and then they took Moon and they climbed back down to Earth. Their family was, of course, overjoyed. The girls had been missing for so long that no one had ever expected to see them again. They threw a huge party to celebrate their miraculous return. And while everyone reveled in their reunification, Moon was supervised by their blind grandmother. Unfortunately, the grandmother's weak eyes weren't quite up to the task of watching the infant. While everyone was distracted, the dog

salmon snuck in and stole Moon from right under her nose. Everyone searched high and low for the baby, but they never found him. Moon grew up far away from his family, and by the time he learned that he had been taken from his mother, he had already grown into an adult. But over those years, he had changed, and he had developed a new dangerous ability. Moon had the power to transform things. He could change anything or anyone into whatever he wanted. And so, in his anger at being kidnapped, he went on a rampage. First, Moon turned the dog-salmon

people into actual salmon, cursing them with a life of swimming upstream. Then he stormed across the land, turning everyone he met into trees, rocks, and streams. But he didn't just transform. He also created. He created the rivers and the ponds and all the native peoples of the area. Finally, he reached a small stream of water with a wooden fish weir. And with a wave of his hand,

he transformed the weir into Snoqualmie Falls. And then he returned to the sky, providing light for the world. Today, the waterfall is still a significant site for the Snoqualmie people. They gather there for prayer and meditation, and it's become a major tourist hotspot as well, especially after its appearance in popular media

like Twin Peaks. And so if you ever find yourself at Snoqualmie Falls, staring up at that impressive cliff and feeling the spray of the water on your face, just know that it's all there, thanks to the moon. This episode of Lore Legends was produced by me, Aaron Manke, with writing by Alex Robinson and research by Cassandra De Alba. Don't like hearing the ads?

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