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Society's rules? Who needs them! A queen of reinvention, Lola Montez was a woman ahead of her time. Captivating audiences with her famous Spider Dance, Lola earned admirers, enemies, and more than a few scandals as she conquered Europe, America, and Australia. In her short life, she became a Countess, convinced a king to abdicate, and rubbed elbows with Europe's brightest talent.

Come along with us as we explore Lola's journey to define a life on her terms, no matter the odds, through history and astrology.

Sources

Books:

• Divine Lola: A True Story of Scandal and Celebrity by Cristina Morató
• Lola Montez: A Life by Bruce Seymour
• The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Vol. 1 by Arthur Conan Doyle

Digital Media:

• The Courtesan Who Almost Overthrew the Kingdom of Bavaria - The Story of Lola Montez (https://tinyurl.com/y8vjk49d)
• Lola Montez by Volbeat (https://tinyurl.com/3cejsbxd)
• Lola Montez: Actress, Courtesan, and Adventuress (https://tinyurl.com/4v4ad99j)
• Stuff You Missed in History Class: Lola Montez (https://tinyurl.com/3x3xc7bz)

Primary Sources:

• The Arts of Beauty or Secrets of a Lady’s Toilet with Hints to Gentlemen on the Art of Fascinating by Lola Montez
• Autobiography, Part I & II by Lola Montez

Websites:

• Alexandre Dujarrier (https://tinyurl.com/4z5fybpc)
• Astroseek.com
• From Bavaria to Ballarat: wild times with Lola Montez (https://tinyurl.com/yapnsjsn)
• Home of Lola Montez (https://tinyurl.com/4jjwd9a5)
• Lola Montez (https://tinyurl.com/538ab2e8)
• Lola Montez: Beauty and Song in the Old West (https://tinyurl.com/tkzhx35y)
• Lola Montez Denies Conventions in Her Image by Julia G. Cohn (https://tinyurl.com/57ppu6zh)
• Lola Montez: The Fascinating Life of A Queen of Reinvention (1821-1861) (https://tinyurl.com/4fxva7ja)
• Today In History: King Ludwig I of Bavaria Abdicates His Throne During the Revolution (1848) (https://tinyurl.com/2cs7ey2h)
• The Top Ten Loves of Franz Liszt’s Life by Emily E. Hogstad (https://tinyurl.com/ttjwy3tb)

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On April 12, 1861 the Civil War began. The US Sanitary Commission knew volunteer nurses would be needed for aiding the Union wounded and dead. 27 year old Georgeanna Woolsey was trained as a nurse and wrote extensively on her experiences caring for soldiers during the bloodiest war in American history.

Come along with us as we use Georgeanna's writing as a lens to explore the Civil War, American memory, and gender roles through history and astrology.

Sources

Books:

• American Military History Volume 1: The United States Army and the Forging of a Nation, 1775-1917 by Army Center of Military History
• Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about the Battle of Gettysburg: American Civil War History by E.D. Garner

Digital Media:

• Blood and Glory: The Civil War in Color (Amazon Prime)
• Death and the Civil War (PBS American Experience)
• Greatest Civil War Battles (DVD Set)

Primary Sources:

• Gettysburg address delivered at Gettysburg Pa. November 19, 1863 (https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbpe.24404500/?st=text)
• Letters of a Family During the War for the Union, 1861-1865 by Georgeanna and Eliza Woolsey, 1899
• Pensive on Her Dead Gazing, I Heard the Mother of All by Walt Whitman, 1867
• Three Weeks in Gettysburg by Georgeanna Woolsey, 1863

Websites:

• Abby Howland and J.S. and Georgeanna Woolsey (https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/abby-howland-and-js-and-georgeanne-woolsey)
• American Nursing: An Introduction to the Past (https://www.nursing.upenn.edu/nhhc/american-nursing-an-introduction-to-the-past/)
• Astro-seek (https://www.astro-seek.com/)
• The Chaplain Kit: The Online Chaplain History Museum (https://thechaplainkit.com/chaplains/non-combat-ministry/hospitals/civil-war-hospitals/)
• Georgeanna Woolsey: A Day in the Life of a Northern Nurse (https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/georgeanna-woolsey-day-life-northern-nurse)
• Hourly timeline of Gettysburg (https://civilwartalk.com/threads/hourly-timeline-of-gettysburg.171749/)
• Little-known Civil War era collection: The United States Sanitary Commission (https://www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org/blog/little-known-civil-war-era-collection-united-states-sanitary-commission)
• The Nameless Grave---Identifying Civil War Dead (https://bit.ly/47HZekB)
• United States Sanitary Commission (https://bit.ly/4mymDtE)
• Women in Nursing During the Civil War (https://bit.ly/3HCwuzm)

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On July 9, 1553, 16 year old Lady Jane Grey learned she would become Queen after King Edward VI named her as his successor. Lady Jane, known as the 'Nine Day Queen', was later abandoned by her Privy Council as they flocked to Mary I's side. She was held in the Tower of London until her execution at 17 years old on February 12, 1554.

Come along with us as we untangle Jane's life from the succession crisis and martyrdom through history and astrology.

Sources:

Books:

• Crown of Blood: The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey by Nicola Tallis
• Foxe’s Book of Martyrs: 246. Lady Jane Grey by John Foxe
• A Hidden History of the Tower of London by John Paul Davis
• The House of Dudley by Joanne Paul
• Innocent Traitor by Allison Weir
• Lady Jane Grey by Hester W. Chapman
• Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery by Eric Ives
• The Literary Remains of Jane Grey with a Memoir of Her Life by Nicholas Harris
• Making Women Martyrs in Tudor England by Megan L. Hickerson

Digital Media:

• England’s Forgotten Queen: The Life and Death of Lady Jane Grey (Amazon Prime)
• The Execution of Lady Jane Grey (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JirVfl8gsj8)
• King & Queens of England 5/8 - The Tudors (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB0YSvKHYlg)

Primary Sources:

• Ambassades De Messieurs De Noailles En Angleterre, Vol. 2 by René Aubert Vertot
• Annals of England to 1603 by John Stow
• Anonymous Narrative of Dowager Queen Katherine Parr’s Funeral & Burial in the Chapel of Sudeley Castle
• The chronicle of Queen Jane
• The Education of a Christian Woman by Juan Luis Vives
• Jane’s prayerbook (https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2021/02/lady-jane-greys-letters-from-the-tower-of-london.html)
• Letter from John of Ulm to Conrad Pellican, 29 May 1551
• Letter from Ambassadors to Charles V, 10 July 1553
• Letter from Ambassadors to Charles V, 16 August 1553

Websites:

• Astro-seek.com
• Bradgate Park (https://www.bradgatepark.org/)
• Contexts: Women in Power, An Open Companion to British Literature (https://pressbooks.pub/earlybritishlit/chapter/women-in-power-the-tudors/)
• Lady Jane Grey (https://www.tudorsociety.com/lady-jane-grey/)
• Lady Jane Grey: The 'Nine Day Queen' (https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/lady-jane-grey/)
• Lady Jane Grey Reference Guide (https://www.ladyjanegrey.info)
• Syon Park (https://syonpark.co.uk/)

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In 60/61 CE, Boudica and the Iceni people revolted against the Romans in eastern Britain. In her wave of retribution, three cities were razed to the ground, including modern day London. Today she is immortalized as a symbol of warrior's victory in art, literature, and collective memory.

Come along with us as we explore the legendary queen who reacted with rebellion in the face of Roman betrayal through history and astrology.

Sources

Articles:

• “Boudica, Boudicca, Boadicea – What’s in a name?” by Manda Scott (https://mandascott.co.uk/boudica-boudicca-boadicea-whats-in-a-name/)
• The Cultural and Ideological Significance Of Representations of Boudica During the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I by Samantha Frénée-Hutchins

Books:

• Boudica: The Life of Britain’s Legendary Warrior Queen by Vanessa Collingridge
• Boudica: Warrior Woman of Roman Britain by Caitlin C. Gillespie
• Roman Britain: A History from Beginning to End by Henry Freeman
• Roman Britain by History Nerds

Digital Media:

• Nero - The Evil Roman Emperor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oWddO2Zs6g)
• Dover's Roman Lighthouse (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_PQvqRznaE)
• The Romans in Britain (Amazon Prime)
• Time Team: Boudicca’s Lost Tribe (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCiUvQSD_zo)

Primary Sources:

• Annals by Tactius
• Commentarii de Bello Gallico by Julius Caesar
• Geographica by Strabo
• Roman History by Dio Cassius

Websites:

• The Atlantic Religion: A 'Prisca Theologia' of European Paganism (https://tinyurl.com/mnvzydxe)
• Battle of Medway (https://tinyurl.com/44jbykw3)
• Caistor Roman Project
• Colchester Archaeology Trust
• Colchester Heritage Explorer (https://tinyurl.com/56ks478a)
• English Heritage
• The History of London (https://tinyurl.com/4zft5fef)
• Norwich Castle Museum (https://tinyurl.com/bd4mjj94 & https://tinyurl.com/pbsep4be)
• Roman Britain (https://tinyurl.com/377wnepp)
• University of Chicago - Roman Britain (https://tinyurl.com/54dtydk4)
• University of Warwick, Classics & Ancient History -Teaching Resources (https://tinyurl.com/3m6dt9t4)
• Verualium Museum (https://tinyurl.com/ymvsr4wm)

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On November 4, 1846, the infamous Donner Party was snowed in at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The first group of rescuers would not arrive until February 18, 1847. An unfortunate 35, including Tamsen Donner, would never cross the mountains. Now 179 years later some of the most heartbreaking questions remain unanswered.

Come along with us as we explore the mysteries surrounding Tamsen Donner's death and speak to her endearing legacy through history and astrology.

Sources

Books:

• Desperate Passage: The Donner Party’s Perilous Journey West by Ethan Rarick
• The Expedition of the Donner Party and its Tragic Fate by Eliza P. Donner Houghton
• History of the Donner Party: A Tragedy of the Sierras by Charles F. McGlashan
• Ordeal by Hunger by George R. Stewart
• Searching for Tamsen Donner by Gabrielle Burton

Articles:

• “Differential Mortality and the Donner Party Disaster” by Donald K. Grayson, Evolutionary Anthropology, 1994.
• “Disease Transmission by Cannabalism: Rare Event or Common Occurrence?” by Volker Rudolf and Janis Antonovics. Proceedings: Biological Sciences 274, no. 1614 (2007).
• “John Baptiste Trudeau of the Donner Party: Rascal or Hero?” by Joseph A. King and Jack Steed, California History, Summer 1995.
• “Mary Graves: A Heroine of the Donner Party” by Doris Foley, Nevada County Historical Society Bulletin, July 1954.

Primary Sources:

• Across the Plains in the Donner Party: A Personal Narrative of the Overland Trip to California by Virginia Reed Murphy
• Camp of Death: The Donner Party Mountain Camp 1846-1847 by J. Quinn Thornton
• Diary of James Fraser Reed, July 31-October 4, 1846
• The Expedition of the Donner Party and its Tragic Fate by Eliza P. Donner Houghton
• “Extracts from a Journal, Written by a Member of the Party, Latest from California Mountains” by William O’Fallon, 1847
• “The Snow-Bound, Starved Emigrants of 1846” by James Fraser Reed, April 1, 1871.

Websites:

• astro-seek.com
• Donner Party Diary by Daniel K. Rosen (https://donnerpartydiary.com/)

Recreation of the Forlorn Hope and Relief Parties' Expeditions to save the party trapped in the mountains:

• https://historyexp.org/2020-forlorn-hope/
• https://historyexp.org/expedition-summary-relief-parties-2/

Donner Party Podcast:

• https://www.donnerpartypodcast.com/

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On May 12, 1846, the most infamous group to travel the California Trail departed from Independence, Missouri. They would be immortalized by bad luck that left them stranded in the Sierra Nevada Mountains over the winter. Many people know the party resorted to cannibalism to survive, but their humanity is often forgotten.

Come along with us as we cover the life and legacy of the brilliant Tamsen Donner, the last person to perish in the ordeal, through history and astrology.

Sources

Books:

• Desperate Passage: The Donner Party’s Perilous Journey West by Ethan Rarick
• The Expedition of the Donner Party and its Tragic Fate by Eliza P. Donner Houghton
• History of the Donner Party: A Tragedy of the Sierras by Charles F. McGlashan
• Ordeal by Hunger by George R. Stewart
• Searching for Tamsen Donner by Gabrielle Burton

Articles:

• “Differential Mortality and the Donner Party Disaster” by Donald K. Grayson, Evolutionary Anthropology, 1994.
• “Disease Transmission by Cannabalism: Rare Event or Common Occurrence?” by Volker Rudolf and Janis Antonovics. Proceedings: Biological Sciences 274, no. 1614 (2007).
• “John Baptiste Trudeau of the Donner Party: Rascal or Hero?” by Joseph A. King and Jack Steed, California History, Summer 1995.
• “Mary Graves: A Heroine of the Donner Party” by Doris Foley, Nevada County Historical Society Bulletin, July 1954.

Primary Sources:

• Across the Plains in the Donner Party: A Personal Narrative of the Overland Trip to California by Virginia Reed Murphy
• Camp of Death: The Donner Party Mountain Camp 1846-1847 by J. Quinn Thornton
• Diary of James Fraser Reed, July 31-October 4, 1846
• The Expedition of the Donner Party and its Tragic Fate by Eliza P. Donner Houghton
• “Extracts from a Journal, Written by a Member of the Party, Latest from California Mountains” by William O’Fallon, 1847
• “The Snow-Bound, Starved Emigrants of 1846” by James Fraser Reed, April 1, 1871.

Websites:

• astro-seek.com
• Donner Party Diary by Daniel K. Rosen (https://donnerpartydiary.com/)

Recreation of the Forlorn Hope and Relief Parties' Expeditions to save the party trapped in the mountains:

• https://historyexp.org/2020-forlorn-hope/
• https://historyexp.org/expedition-summary-relief-parties-2/

Donner Party Podcast:

• https://www.donnerpartypodcast.com/

Support Us!
Patreon: patreon.com/MakingMythPodcast
Kofi: https://ko-fi.com/makingmythpodcast