Cast of Wonders 453: Langsuir (https://www.castofwonders.org/2021/05/cast-of-wonders-453-langsuir/)
Also, Episode 484! A Staff Pick for 2021! Hosted by Editor Katherine Inskip! (https://www.castofwonders.org/2022/01/cast-of-wonders-484-langsuir-staff-picks-2021/)
• Author: Nadia Mikail (https://www.castofwonders.org/people/nadia-mikail/)
• Narrator: Fash Wahab (https://www.castofwonders.org/people/fash-wahab/)
• Host: Katherine Inskip (https://www.castofwonders.org/people/katherine-inskip-2/)
• Audio Producer: Jeremy Carter (http://www.castofwonders.org/people/jeremy-carter/)
• Artist: Alexis Goble (https://www.castofwonders.org/people/alexis-goble/)
"Langsuir" is a Cast of Wonders original.
Click here to listen to Episode 484 (http://traffic.libsyn.com/castofwonders/Wonders484.mp3)
Click here to listen to Episode 453 (http://traffic.libsyn.com/castofwonders/Wonders453.mp3)
Content Warnings: stillbirth, death, murder, abuse, rape, slavery and misogyny
The langsuir is a woman who has died giving birth. Malay folktales have a multitude of women featured as wrathful, devious spirits: the hantu kum-kum thrives on the blood of virgin girls, desperate to maintain her youth even in death; the hantu kopek lures men to cheat on their wives, jealous that their afterlife contains no husband of their own; the pontianak goes after the people who have wronged her, tearing out their organs.
People usually shake their heads, they think: oh, well, that is the envious, terrible nature of Eve. Personally I think it is more how humans are treated in life that influences how they behave in death, and in this culture the women are angrier than most.
Tags: 2021, abuse, Alexis Goble, content warnings, death, Fash Wahab, ghosts, Jeremy Carter, Katherine Inskip, Malaysia, misogyny, mythology, Nadia Mikail, owls, slavery, Staff Picks 2021, young adult fiction