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This week I’ll be talking about the Swedish Tomte, the Danish and Norse Nisse, the Icelandic Yul Lads, English Brownies, and other spirits associated with the winter Solstice holidays. They are generally small, from a few inches to a few feet tall, often with conical or knit caps in red or some other bright color, and look a bit like garden gnomes. Nisse gained popularity during the romantic era and are popular Christmas decorations- along with amanita muscara mushrooms! These spirits seem to partake both of the ancestral spirit as well as the house or land spirit, and are protective of those whose space and family they share. There are also many tales showing that one shouldn’t disrespect or take the Nisse lightly- for instance the story of the year the farmwife buried the butter in the Christmas porridge, and when the brownie thought he’d been stiffed, he killed the cow. When he ate the porridge, he discovered his mistake and switched the dead cow with a neighbor’s live one. Generally they protected the livestock and often seen with the farm cat.        The Yul Lads (and their mother’s cat) were less benevolent (Mom and the cat were known to eat naughty children) but have been made more safe for company in the modern world. But…  I’ll be talking more about these stories on Wednesday and I’d love to have you to call in with questions or stories of your own: 619-639-4606 (live only). If you can’t make the live show 8-9- and have a question or comment, please feel free to write me a message and I’ll read it on the air. Want to listen later? Live Paranormal.com archives its shows by date, and I archive them by date, guest, and topic on my website: http://tchipakkan.wordpress.com/the-new-normal/directory-of-podcasts/ Hope you can join us Wednesday night from 8-9 at the New Normal.