Health & FitnessAlternative HealthFictionDrama

The Sleeping Almanac: Sleep Stories for Adults from Myth and Fairy Tale

The Sleeping Almanac · Sleep Stories from Myth and Fairy Tale

The Sleeping Almanac retells the world's oldest stories, myths, lost civilizations, and forgotten cosmologies, in slow, calm narration designed to be listened to as you fall asleep.

Each episode is researched, written, and narrated to drift over you rather than demand your attention. The pacing is slow. The music never spikes. The goal is the opposite of keeping you awake.

Each season moves through a different story tradition. Norse mythology, Egyptian myth, the great fairy tales from Cinderella to The Little Mermaid, the tales of 1001 Nights, and now Season Four, Homer's Odyssey. New episodes several times a week, every one of them three hours long.

The almanac is now a book. Norse Myths Retold for Sleep gathers twelve of the oldest stories, retold to be read in a low lamp until the page slips from your hand. On Kindle now, free with Kindle Unlimited: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GX2WLVPD

This show uses AI tools (research, narration, visuals) under human editorial direction. Every episode is reviewed before release.

Play

Open in

28 episodes
a few times a week
Avg 2 hr 53 min
English

Episodes 28

Newest Oldest Longest

All20 Unplayed20 In progress0 Played0

Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.

S2 · E23
Thursday · 3 hr
The Snow Queen · The Original Fairy Tale · 3 Hour Sleep Story to Fall Asleep
A slow, calm 3 hour fairy tale sleep story to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Tonight the storyteller opens the old book to The Snow Queen, Andersen's long winter tale of 1844. A troll's mirror shatters into splinters finer than dust, one splinter finds a boy named Kay, and his friend Gerda simply sets out to bring him home. Her road passes roses growing along a roof gutter, a robber girl who lends her own white reindeer, and a wise woman near the top of the world who says the truest thing in the whole story: the girl's own gentle heart is already power enough. The ice palace gives way to patience, not to force, and two friends walk home into summer. Settle in, close your eyes, and let it drift over you. The pacing is slow, the voice is soft, and the music never spikes. There is deep ice in it, but the whole story is about the thaw, and nearly every stranger Gerda meets ends up helping her on her way. There is nothing here to fear. You do not have to watch. You do not have to remember any of it in the morning. Episode 11 of 12 · The Storybook Season Where this sits: Part 11 of 12 in The Storybook Season, one storyteller, one lantern, and one complete famous tale each night, each told from its original source. Tonight, the long walk north, and the thaw at the end of it. Every episode stands on its own, and any night is a fine night to begin. Chapters: 0:00 Welcome 3:32 The Mirror of the Trolls 8:46 The Roses on the Roof Gutter 15:36 The White Sledge 25:12 The River and the Cherry Garden 39:04 The Crow Who Knew a Princess 48:40 The Prince and the Princess 57:51 The Little Robber Girl 1:10:58 The Lapland Woman and the Finland Woman 1:21:33 The Word Made of Ice 1:30:13 The Road Home Runs Through Spring 1:36:46 The Roses in Bloom 1:43:24 Goodnight. And the Lamp at the Edge of Morning Watch the illustrated version on YouTube: add the link after the YouTube upload. New episodes every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. 🕯 Sleep stories from history, Kingdoms at Dusk: https://kingdomsatdusk.com 📜 All our worlds: https://gildenmyth.com 🕊 Goddess sleep meditations, The Tender Hour: https://www.youtube.com/@TheTenderHourChannel 🎙 David's interview podcast, Conversations That Count: https://www.youtube.com/@ConversationsThatCount-CTC 🎧 Also on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3J6lZ10GvK07qCv3aQxnkR and Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/conversations-that-count-a31f16a6-3131-4c8f-982f-19d52407e8eb/id1890348796 This show uses AI tools (research, narration, visuals) under human editorial direction. Every episode is reviewed before release.
- Transcript
- Chapters
S2 · E22
Sunday · 3 hr
The Wizard of Oz · The Original Story · 3 Hour Sleep Story to Fall Asleep
A slow, calm 3 hour fairy tale sleep story to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Tonight the storyteller opens the old book to The Wizard of Oz, as L. Frank Baum wrote it in 1900. The shoes are silver in the original, the Good Witch of the North leaves a kiss on Dorothy's forehead that keeps her safe on the whole road, the Emerald City hands out green spectacles at its gates, a field of poppies lies deep with sleep, and there is a small quiet country made entirely of china. The road is yellow brick and the pace is a walking pace, all the way there and all the way home. Settle in, close your eyes, and let it drift over you. The pacing is slow, the voice is soft, and the music never spikes. There are witches in it, but the ones we walk beside are kind, and the road stays even underfoot the whole way. There is nothing here to fear. You do not have to watch. You do not have to remember any of it in the morning. Episode 10 of 12 · The Storybook Season Where this sits: Part 10 of 12 in The Storybook Season, one storyteller, one lantern, and one complete famous tale each night, each told from its original source. Tonight, the yellow brick road at a bedtime pace. Every episode stands on its own, and any night is a fine night to begin. Chapters: 0:00 Welcome 2:43 The House on the Gray Prairie 12:10 The Silver Shoes and the Kiss 25:05 The Road of Yellow Brick 38:54 The Man of Tin 49:13 The Cowardly Lion 1:01:46 The Field of Scarlet Poppies 1:12:48 The Emerald City and the Green Spectacles 1:26:17 The Four Faces of Oz 1:38:12 The Golden Cap 1:54:44 The Man Behind the Screen 2:14:55 The China Country and Glinda the Good 2:32:00 Goodnight. And the Lamp at the Edge of Morning Watch the illustrated version on YouTube: add the link after the YouTube upload. New episodes every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. 🕯 Sleep stories from history, Kingdoms at Dusk: https://kingdomsatdusk.com 📜 All our worlds: https://gildenmyth.com 🕊 Goddess sleep meditations, The Tender Hour: https://www.youtube.com/@TheTenderHourChannel 🎙 David's interview podcast, Conversations That Count: https://www.youtube.com/@ConversationsThatCount-CTC 🎧 Also on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3J6lZ10GvK07qCv3aQxnkR and Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/conversations-that-count-a31f16a6-3131-4c8f-982f-19d52407e8eb/id1890348796 This show uses AI tools (research, narration, visuals) under human editorial direction. Every episode is reviewed before release.
- Transcript
- Chapters
S2 · E21
August 20 · 3 hr
Mulan · The Original Ballad · 3 Hour Sleep Story to Fall Asleep
A slow, calm 3 hour storybook sleep story to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Tonight the storyteller opens the old book to the Ballad of Mulan, the short poem from the Northern Wei dynasty that began the whole legend, told long and slow. A daughter at her loom hears the army lists calling her father's name, so she buys a horse at one market, a saddle at another, a bridle at a third, a long whip at the fourth, and rides north in his place. Twelve years she serves, and her comrades never know. When the emperor offers her any reward she can name, she asks only for a swift horse home, and the ballad closes with its famous gentle riddle, two hares running side by side through the grass. Settle in, close your eyes, and let it drift over you. The pacing is slow, the voice is soft, and the music never spikes. There is a war at the far edges of it, but it stays at the edges; the story keeps its eyes on the loom, the river, the mountain road, and the long ride home. There is nothing here to fear. You do not have to watch. You do not have to remember any of it in the morning. Episode 9 of 12 · The Storybook Season Where this sits: Part 9 of 12 in The Storybook Season, one storyteller, one lantern, and one complete famous tale each night, each told from its original source. Tonight, the daughter who rode twelve years in her father's place. Every episode stands on its own, and any night is a fine night to begin. Chapters: 0:00 Welcome 3:20 The Loom That Faced the Door 8:57 Twelve Scrolls of Paper 15:51 The Four Markets 26:19 The Yellow River Nights 34:56 The Horses of the Black Mountain 41:55 Ten Thousand Miles Like Flying 50:39 Twelve Winters, Twelve Springs 58:30 The Hall of Light 1:04:54 The Road Home 1:12:39 The Dress by the Window 1:20:19 The Two Hares 1:27:58 Goodnight. And the Lamp at the Edge of Morning Watch the illustrated version on YouTube: add the link after the YouTube upload. New episodes every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. 🕯 Sleep stories from history, Kingdoms at Dusk: https://kingdomsatdusk.com 📜 All our worlds: https://gildenmyth.com 🕊 Goddess sleep meditations, The Tender Hour: https://www.youtube.com/@TheTenderHourChannel 🎙 David's interview podcast, Conversations That Count: https://www.youtube.com/@ConversationsThatCount-CTC 🎧 Also on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3J6lZ10GvK07qCv3aQxnkR and Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/conversations-that-count-a31f16a6-3131-4c8f-982f-19d52407e8eb/id1890348796 This show uses AI tools (research, narration, visuals) under human editorial direction. Every episode is reviewed before release.
- Transcript
- Chapters
August 18 · 3 hr
The Odyssey · The Gathering of the War · The Untold Story Before Troy · 3 Hour Sleep Story
A slow, calm 3 hour Greek mythology sleep story to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Everyone knows the ten years at Troy. Tonight is the story just before it, the half forgotten season when the war was still only a rumor crossing the water. A king plows his own field with salt to escape an oath he invented himself, and loses the one contest of wits he ever plainly lost. A goddess hides her son, the greatest warrior the world will ever know, in the last place anyone would think to look, among a king's daughters, in a borrowed dress. A peddler comes ashore with silks and a single spear, and one horn note undoes all the hiding in a heartbeat. And at the end, in one small bay, a thousand ships gather and wait for nothing in the world but a wind. This is Part 2 of 2. If you have not yet heard how Odysseus himself came to be, that story, The Making of Odysseus, is on this channel too. Settle in, close your eyes, and let it drift over you. The pacing is slow, the voice is soft, and the music never spikes. A war is coming for these men, but it stays far off all night, on the far side of the sea. Not one sword is raised in this telling. There are only farewells, disguises, clever men being clever, and ships gathering on quiet water. You do not have to watch. You do not have to remember any of it in the morning. A Sleeping Almanac special · Part 2 of 2 · The full Odyssey season continues on this channel Chapters (real times, computed from the build audio, see status note above) 0:00 Welcome 7:06 Chapter One: The Sail with No Business There 16:41 Chapter Two: The Warning of Twenty Years 23:54 Chapter Three: The King Who Sowed Salt 34:31 Chapter Four: The Leaving of Ithaca 45:25 Chapter Five: The Boy with Two Fates 53:36 Chapter Six: The Island of Hidden Things 1:01:43 Chapter Seven: The Peddler at the Door 1:11:08 Chapter Eight: The Horn and the Spear 1:20:54 Chapter Nine: The Bay of a Thousand Fires 1:29:43 Chapter Ten: The Counting of the Ships 1:44:45 Chapter Eleven: The Last Night at Aulis 1:50:09 Chapter Twelve: Goodnight. And the Sails Going Out at Dawn 🕯 Sleep stories from history, Kingdoms at Dusk: https://kingdomsatdusk.com 📜 All our worlds: https://gildenmyth.com 🕊 Goddess sleep meditations, The Tender Hour: https://www.youtube.com/@TheTenderHourChannel This is a bedtime story for adults, made for sleep, insomnia, relaxation, and quiet nights when the mind will not switch off. Drawn from Homer's Iliad, including the Catalogue of Ships, Apollodorus' Bibliotheca, Hyginus' Fabulae, and the summary of the lost Cypria. These are retellings. Where the old stories turn toward fear or cruelty, we turn gently toward comfort, choosing the telling that serves a calm night. New episodes every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 6pm ET. This channel uses AI tools (script research, narration, visuals) under the direction of a human editor. Every episode is researched, reviewed, and revised before publication. Watch the illustrated version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/v1sADE-DYKg New episodes every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 6pm ET. 🎙 David's interview podcast, Conversations That Count: https://www.youtube.com/@ConversationsThatCount-CTC 🎧 Also on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3J6lZ10GvK07qCv3aQxnkR and Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1890348796 #SleepStory #TheOdyssey #GreekMythology #Odysseus
- Transcript
- Chapters
S2 · E20
August 18 · 3 hr
Robin Hood · The Original Legend · 3 Hour Sleep Story to Fall Asleep
A slow, calm 3 hour storybook sleep story to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Tonight the storyteller opens the old book to Robin Hood, from the oldest ballads and the Gest of Robyn Hode, the greenwood as it always was. A tall stranger met on a narrow bridge with a quarterstaff, a friar who carries an outlaw across a river and back again, a golden arrow won in plain sight, a poor knight lent four hundred pounds and his dignity with it, and a king who comes to the greenwood to see for himself. Sherwood at dusk is one of the calmest places any story has ever kept. Settle in, close your eyes, and let it drift over you. The pacing is slow, the voice is soft, and the music never spikes. There are arrows in it, but they are aimed only at willow wands and targets, and nobody in the greenwood goes to sleep hungry or afraid. There is nothing here to fear. You do not have to watch. You do not have to remember any of it in the morning. Episode 8 of 12 · The Storybook Season Where this sits: Part 8 of 12 in The Storybook Season, one storyteller, one lantern, and one complete famous tale each night, each told from its original source. Tonight, the greenwood and its gentleman outlaw. Every episode stands on its own, and any night is a fine night to begin. Chapters: 0:00 Welcome 2:28 The Greenwood 10:04 The Stranger on the Bridge 18:54 The Miller's Son and the Man in Scarlet 26:34 The Knight at Dinner 34:24 Four Hundred Pounds 44:04 The Friar at the River 51:07 The Golden Arrow 56:03 The Splitting of the Wand 1:03:08 The King Comes to the Greenwood 1:09:28 Lincoln Green 1:16:52 The Turning of the Year 1:25:47 Goodnight. And the Lamp at the Edge of Morning Watch the illustrated version on YouTube: add the link after the YouTube upload. New episodes every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. 🕯 Sleep stories from history, Kingdoms at Dusk: https://kingdomsatdusk.com 📜 All our worlds: https://gildenmyth.com 🕊 Goddess sleep meditations, The Tender Hour: https://www.youtube.com/@TheTenderHourChannel 🎙 David's interview podcast, Conversations That Count: https://www.youtube.com/@ConversationsThatCount-CTC 🎧 Also on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3J6lZ10GvK07qCv3aQxnkR and Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/conversations-that-count-a31f16a6-3131-4c8f-982f-19d52407e8eb/id1890348796 This show uses AI tools (research, narration, visuals) under human editorial direction. Every episode is reviewed before release.
- Transcript
- Chapters
S2 · E19
August 16 · 3 hr
Sleeping Beauty · The Original Fairy Tale · 3 Hour Sleep Story to Fall Asleep
A slow, calm 3 hour fairy tale sleep story to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Tonight the storyteller opens the old book to Sleeping Beauty the old way, from Perrault and from the Grimms' Briar Rose. A wish granted by the water, gifts spoken over a golden cradle, one spindle left in a high tower room, and then the enchantment the tale is named for: the whole castle falls asleep together, the cooks and the horses and the doves and the fire on the hearth, and a hedge of briars rises to guard the quiet. A hundred years pass in that stillness, and when the time is finally right, the hedge blooms and opens all by itself. Settle in, close your eyes, and let it drift over you. The pacing is slow, the voice is soft, and the music never spikes. The spindle does its small work early, and after that the entire story is one long, protected sleep, which is rather the point. There is nothing here to fear. You do not have to watch. You do not have to remember any of it in the morning. Episode 7 of 12 · The Storybook Season Where this sits: Part 7 of 12 in The Storybook Season, one storyteller, one lantern, and one complete famous tale each night, each told from its original source. Tonight, the castle that slept for a hundred years. Every episode stands on its own, and any night is a fine night to begin. Chapters: 0:00 Welcome 2:38 The Wish by the Water 8:02 The Feast of the Golden Plates 15:24 The Gifts of the Wise Women 22:14 The Thirteenth Wish, and the Twelfth 27:15 The Kingdom Without Spindles 33:46 The Tower Room 41:05 The Castle Falls Asleep 50:48 The Hedge of Briars 59:16 A Hundred Years of Quiet 1:06:48 The Hedge in Bloom 1:16:15 The Waking House 1:28:25 Goodnight. And the Lamp at the Edge of Morning Watch the illustrated version on YouTube: add the link after the YouTube upload. New episodes every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. 🕯 Sleep stories from history, Kingdoms at Dusk: https://kingdomsatdusk.com 📜 All our worlds: https://gildenmyth.com 🕊 Goddess sleep meditations, The Tender Hour: https://www.youtube.com/@TheTenderHourChannel 🎙 David's interview podcast, Conversations That Count: https://www.youtube.com/@ConversationsThatCount-CTC 🎧 Also on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3J6lZ10GvK07qCv3aQxnkR and Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/conversations-that-count-a31f16a6-3131-4c8f-982f-19d52407e8eb/id1890348796 This show uses AI tools (research, narration, visuals) under human editorial direction. Every episode is reviewed before release.
- Transcript
- Chapters
August 15 · 46 sec
Welcome to The Sleeping Almanac | Season Four, The Odyssey
The world's oldest stories, told slowly enough to fall asleep to. Three hour sleep stories for anyone who lies down at night and cannot switch the day off. Four seasons so far: Norse gods, Egyptian nights, old fairy tales, and now the Odyssey across twelv
- Transcript
S2 · E18
August 13 · 3 hr
Alice in Wonderland · The Original Story · 3 Hour Sleep Story to Fall Asleep
A slow, calm 3 hour fairy tale sleep story to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Tonight the storyteller opens the old book to Alice in Wonderland, as Lewis Carroll first told it in 1865. A golden afternoon on a riverbank, a white rabbit with a waistcoat pocket and a watch inside it, a fall so long and slow it feels like floating, and a tea table where the dormouse sleeps peacefully through everything. The whole adventure is a dream from its first page to its last, which makes it the safest adventure there is, and at the end the dreamer simply wakes on the same warm bank, with her head in her sister's lap. Settle in, close your eyes, and let it drift over you. The pacing is slow, the voice is soft, and the music never spikes. It is all a dream on a riverbank, and the story knows it, so nothing in it can follow you anywhere except into sleep. There is nothing here to fear. You do not have to watch. You do not have to remember any of it in the morning. Episode 6 of 12 · The Storybook Season Where this sits: Part 6 of 12 in The Storybook Season, one storyteller, one lantern, and one complete famous tale each night, each told from its original source. Tonight, a dream on a riverbank. Every episode stands on its own, and any night is a fine night to begin. Chapters: 0:00 Welcome 2:50 A Golden Afternoon, and a White Rabbit with a Watch 9:53 The Little Golden Key 19:06 The Pool of Tears and the Caucus Race 35:22 The Rabbit Sends in Little Bill 48:36 Advice from a Caterpillar 1:01:08 Pepper, a Pig, and a Grin Without a Cat 1:17:04 The Maddest Tea Party in All the World 1:33:35 Painting the Roses Red 1:50:06 The Mock Turtle's Story 2:06:27 The Lobster Quadrille, and Who Stole the Tarts 2:25:46 Alice's Evidence, and a Pack of Cards 2:38:04 Goodnight. And the Lamp at the Edge of Morning Watch the illustrated version on YouTube: add the link after the YouTube upload. New episodes every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. 🕯 Sleep stories from history, Kingdoms at Dusk: https://kingdomsatdusk.com 📜 All our worlds: https://gildenmyth.com 🕊 Goddess sleep meditations, The Tender Hour: https://www.youtube.com/@TheTenderHourChannel 🎙 David's interview podcast, Conversations That Count: https://www.youtube.com/@ConversationsThatCount-CTC 🎧 Also on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3J6lZ10GvK07qCv3aQxnkR and Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/conversations-that-count-a31f16a6-3131-4c8f-982f-19d52407e8eb/id1890348796 This show uses AI tools (research, narration, visuals) under human editorial direction. Every episode is reviewed before release.
- Transcript
- Chapters
S2 · E17
August 11 · 3 hr
Peter Pan · The Original Story · 3 Hour Sleep Story to Fall Asleep
A slow, calm 3 hour fairy tale sleep story to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Tonight the storyteller opens the old book to Peter Pan, as J. M. Barrie wrote him in 1911. A nursery at number fourteen, a large gentle dog for a nurse, a boy who comes back for his lost shadow, and directions no map has ever improved: second star to the right, and straight on till morning. There are mermaids in a lagoon, a patient Never bird on her floating nest, a little house built around a sleeping girl, and a window kept open at the end, because some windows always are. Settle in, close your eyes, and let it drift over you. The pacing is slow, the voice is soft, and the music never spikes. There is a pirate in it, but tonight he is more pocket watch than menace, and the nursery window stays open the whole time. There is nothing here to fear. You do not have to watch. You do not have to remember any of it in the morning. Episode 5 of 12 · The Storybook Season Where this sits: Part 5 of 12 in The Storybook Season, one storyteller, one lantern, and one complete famous tale each night, each told from its original source. Tonight, the boy who would not grow up. Every episode stands on its own, and any night is a fine night to begin. Chapters: 0:00 Welcome 2:40 The Nursery at Number Fourteen 16:38 The Boy Who Came for His Shadow 37:09 Second Star to the Right 46:55 The Island That Woke 59:47 The Little House 1:09:52 The Home Under the Ground 1:20:30 The Mermaids' Lagoon 1:33:10 The Never Bird 1:40:12 Wendy's Story 1:47:56 The Gentleman and the Clock 1:57:28 The Window Left Open 2:04:58 Goodnight. And the Lamp at the Edge of Morning Watch the illustrated version on YouTube: add the link after the YouTube upload. New episodes every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. 🕯 Sleep stories from history, Kingdoms at Dusk: https://kingdomsatdusk.com 📜 All our worlds: https://gildenmyth.com 🕊 Goddess sleep meditations, The Tender Hour: https://www.youtube.com/@TheTenderHourChannel 🎙 David's interview podcast, Conversations That Count: https://www.youtube.com/@ConversationsThatCount-CTC 🎧 Also on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3J6lZ10GvK07qCv3aQxnkR and Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/conversations-that-count-a31f16a6-3131-4c8f-982f-19d52407e8eb/id1890348796 This show uses AI tools (research, narration, visuals) under human editorial direction. Every episode is reviewed before release.
- Transcript
- Chapters
S2 · E16
August 9 · 3 hr
Cinderella · The Original Fairy Tale · 3 Hour Sleep Story to Fall Asleep
A slow, calm 3 hour fairy tale sleep story to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Tonight the storyteller opens the old book to Cinderella, exactly as Charles Perrault first set it down in 1697. A pumpkin hollowed out by a godmother's hand, six mice turned to six grey horses, a whiskered rat for a coachman, six lizards for footmen, and not one ball but two. The slipper is glass, it fits in front of everyone, and the story ends not in punishment but in forgiveness, with places found at court for both sisters. Settle in, close your eyes, and let it drift over you. The pacing is slow, the voice is soft, and the music never spikes. There are unkind sisters in it, but the unkindness stays quiet, and the ending forgives them, which is how Perrault himself chose to close it. There is nothing here to fear. You do not have to watch. You do not have to remember any of it in the morning. Episode 4 of 12 · The Storybook Season Where this sits: Part 4 of 12 in The Storybook Season, one storyteller, one lantern, and one complete famous tale each night, each told from its original source. Tonight, the slipper of glass and the kindness at the end. Every episode stands on its own, and any night is a fine night to begin. Chapters: 0:00 Welcome 3:07 The House with the Cold Hearths 9:01 Cinders, and the Two Names 15:50 An Invitation Sealed in Red Wax 23:33 Dressing the Sisters 30:14 The Godmother in the Garden 36:46 Six Mice, Three Rats, and Six Lizards 46:26 The First Ball 55:21 The Day Between 1:04:33 The Stroke of Twelve 1:11:41 The Slipper Tried Through the City 1:16:59 Forgiveness, and Two Places at Court 1:23:04 Goodnight. And the Lamp at the Edge of Morning Watch the illustrated version on YouTube: add the link after the YouTube upload. New episodes every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. 🕯 Sleep stories from history, Kingdoms at Dusk: https://kingdomsatdusk.com 📜 All our worlds: https://gildenmyth.com 🕊 Goddess sleep meditations, The Tender Hour: https://www.youtube.com/@TheTenderHourChannel 🎙 David's interview podcast, Conversations That Count: https://www.youtube.com/@ConversationsThatCount-CTC 🎧 Also on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3J6lZ10GvK07qCv3aQxnkR and Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/conversations-that-count-a31f16a6-3131-4c8f-982f-19d52407e8eb/id1890348796 This show uses AI tools (research, narration, visuals) under human editorial direction. Every episode is reviewed before release.
- Transcript
- Chapters
S2 · E15
August 6 · 3 hr
The Little Mermaid · The Original Fairy Tale · 3 Hour Sleep Story to Fall Asleep
A slow, calm 3 hour fairy tale sleep story to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Tonight the storyteller turns to Hans Christian Andersen's little mermaid, the original telling of 1837. Far out where the water is blue as the bluest cornflower, the sea king's youngest daughter tends a garden shaped like the sun and listens to her grandmother's stories of the world above. Merfolk live three hundred years, ships drift overhead like slow clouds, and on her fifteenth birthday she rises through the quiet water to see the lights for herself. It is a tale of longing told gently, and it ends the way Andersen ended it, among the daughters of the air, with patience and quiet hope. Settle in, close your eyes, and let it drift over you. The pacing is slow, the voice is soft, and the music never spikes. The old tale carries sorrow in it, but we keep to its gentlest current, and no one is lost in the telling. There is nothing here to fear. You do not have to watch. You do not have to remember any of it in the morning. Episode 3 of 12 · The Storybook Season Where this sits: Part 3 of 12 in The Storybook Season, one storyteller, one lantern, and one complete famous tale each night, each told from its original source. Tonight, the sea's youngest daughter. Every episode stands on its own, and any night is a fine night to begin. Chapters: 0:00 Welcome 3:00 Far Out, Where the Water Is Blue 9:23 Six Small Gardens 15:13 Stories of the World Above 21:16 Five Sisters, Five Evenings 29:50 The Night She Rose 35:39 The Storm, and the Shore 44:33 Three Hundred Years 52:31 The House Beyond the Whirlpools 1:01:26 Two White Feet 1:09:33 The Bride From the Temple 1:17:58 The Daughters of the Air 1:23:35 Goodnight. And the Lamp at the Edge of Morning Watch the illustrated version on YouTube: add the link after the YouTube upload. New episodes every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. 🕯 Sleep stories from history, Kingdoms at Dusk: https://kingdomsatdusk.com 📜 All our worlds: https://gildenmyth.com 🕊 Goddess sleep meditations, The Tender Hour: https://www.youtube.com/@TheTenderHourChannel 🎙 David's interview podcast, Conversations That Count: https://www.youtube.com/@ConversationsThatCount-CTC 🎧 Also on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3J6lZ10GvK07qCv3aQxnkR and Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/conversations-that-count-a31f16a6-3131-4c8f-982f-19d52407e8eb/id1890348796 This show uses AI tools (research, narration, visuals) under human editorial direction. Every episode is reviewed before release.
- Transcript
- Chapters
S2 · E14
August 4 · 3 hr
Aladdin · The Original 1001 Nights Tale · 3 Hour Sleep Story to Fall Asleep
A slow, calm 3 hour fairy tale sleep story to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Tonight the lamp is lit again and the storyteller opens the old book to Aladdin, told the way it was first told three centuries ago, long before any film. A tailor's son in a city in China, a stranger who calls him nephew, a cold fire on a mountainside, and not one genie but two, one in an old ring and one in a battered brass lamp. There is a garden where the fruit is made of jewels, a princess named Badroulbadour, forty basins of gold, and a palace built in a single quiet night. Settle in, close your eyes, and let it drift over you. The pacing is slow, the voice is soft, and the music never spikes. There is a scheming magician in it, but he is gently outwitted long before the end, and every door he closes is opened again. There is nothing here to fear. You do not have to watch. You do not have to remember any of it in the morning. Episode 2 of 12 · The Storybook Season Where this sits: Part 2 of 12 in The Storybook Season, one storyteller, one lantern, and one complete famous tale each night, each told from its original source. Tonight, the boy and the lamp, from the oldest telling. Every episode stands on its own, and any night is a fine night to begin. Chapters: 0:00 Welcome 3:08 The Tailor's Son 8:50 The Stranger Who Called Him Nephew 23:27 The Garden of Jewel Fruit 31:04 The Ring Turned in the Dark 39:43 The Genie of the Lamp 46:18 The Princess Badroulbadour 53:24 Forty Basins of Gold 1:00:49 The Palace Built in a Night 1:08:59 New Lamps for Old 1:22:11 The Quiet Restoration 1:29:02 The Good Years 1:32:01 Goodnight. And the Lamp at the Edge of Morning Watch the illustrated version on YouTube: add the link after the YouTube upload. New episodes every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. 🕯 Sleep stories from history, Kingdoms at Dusk: https://kingdomsatdusk.com 📜 All our worlds: https://gildenmyth.com 🕊 Goddess sleep meditations, The Tender Hour: https://www.youtube.com/@TheTenderHourChannel 🎙 David's interview podcast, Conversations That Count: https://www.youtube.com/@ConversationsThatCount-CTC 🎧 Also on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3J6lZ10GvK07qCv3aQxnkR and Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/conversations-that-count-a31f16a6-3131-4c8f-982f-19d52407e8eb/id1890348796 This show uses AI tools (research, narration, visuals) under human editorial direction. Every episode is reviewed before release.
- Transcript
- Chapters
S2 · E13
August 2 · 3 hr
1001 Nights · Scheherazade · The Original Arabian Nights Tale · 3 Hour Sleep Story to Fall Asleep
A slow, calm 3 hour Arabian Nights sleep story to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Tonight the lantern is lit for the first time, and the first tale in the old book is the storyteller's own. A quiet city at dusk, a king who has forgotten how to rest, and the vizier's daughter, Scheherazade, who volunteers to sit with him and tell a story that is never quite finished by dawn. Her little sister asks for the first tale, an ebony horse rises over the roofs of the world, and a thousand nights and one begin as gently as this one. Settle in, close your eyes, and let it drift over you. The pacing is slow, the voice is soft, and the music never spikes. There is a grieving king in it, but no harm comes to anyone in the telling, and the storyteller always knows exactly what she is doing. There is nothing here to fear. You do not have to watch. You do not have to remember any of it in the morning. Episode 1 of 12 · The Storybook Season Where this sits: Part 1 of 12 in The Storybook Season, one storyteller, one lantern, and one complete famous tale each night, each told from its original source. Tonight, the tale that holds all the others. Every episode stands on its own, and any night is a fine night to begin. Chapters: 0:00 Welcome 0:55 The Lamp Is Lit 5:48 The City at Dusk 13:07 The Vizier's Daughter 19:40 One Thousand Books 26:17 The First Night 30:35 The Tale of the Ebony Horse 37:15 The Night Ride 44:54 The Palace on the Roof of the World 49:56 Dawn, and the Tale Unfinished 55:40 A Thousand Nights and One 1:27:57 The Library of Night 1:35:32 Goodnight. And the Lamp at the Edge of Morning Watch the illustrated version on YouTube: add the link after the YouTube upload. New episodes every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. 🕯 Sleep stories from history, Kingdoms at Dusk: https://kingdomsatdusk.com 📜 All our worlds: https://gildenmyth.com 🕊 Goddess sleep meditations, The Tender Hour: https://www.youtube.com/@TheTenderHourChannel 🎙 David's interview podcast, Conversations That Count: https://www.youtube.com/@ConversationsThatCount-CTC 🎧 Also on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3J6lZ10GvK07qCv3aQxnkR and Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/conversations-that-count-a31f16a6-3131-4c8f-982f-19d52407e8eb/id1890348796 This show uses AI tools (research, narration, visuals) under human editorial direction. Every episode is reviewed before release.
- Transcript
- Chapters
S2 · E12
July 30 · 3 hr
Egyptian Mythology Sleep Story · The Gathering of the Gods (Episode 12)
A slow, calm Egyptian mythology sleep story to help you fall asleep and stay asleep, and the gentle close of our long Egyptian journey. Tonight we do not tell a new story. We gather them all, one last quiet walk back through the whole company of the gods, from the first sunrise to the golden lady who waits in the west. This is a bedtime story for adults, made for sleep, insomnia, and quiet nights when the mind will not switch off. The pacing is slow, the voice is soft, and the music never spikes. There is nothing new to follow tonight, only the warm remembering of stories already known. Just let it drift over you. Episode 12 of 12 · Egyptian Mythology · Season Finale · The Sleeping Almanac. Where this sits: Part 12 of 12, the close of the Egyptian cycle. Across the season we have told one continuous story, from the first light to the golden lady. Tonight gathers the whole of it. Each episode stands on its own, and in order they tell one long story. Chapters 0:00 Welcome 3:25 The Gathering 9:18 The First Light 16:11 The Eye and the Days 21:37 The Green King 27:19 The Passing 32:51 The Faithful Search 38:16 The Bright Heir 43:38 The Gentle Judgment 49:12 The Night Boat 54:40 The Golden Lady 1:00:10 What the Whole Story Meant 1:07:33 Goodnight. And the Serpent at the Edge of Dawn 1:10:58 Calm music to drift off Drawn from the ancient Egyptians themselves across thousands of years, from the Pyramid Texts and the Coffin Texts to the Book of the Dead, from the temple walls to the Greek writer Plutarch. These are retellings, told gently, always choosing the telling that serves a calm night. New episodes every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Everything in one place: https://gildenmyth.com This show uses AI tools (script research, narration, visuals) under the direction of a human editor. Every episode is researched, reviewed, and revised before publication.
- Transcript
- Chapters
S2 · E11
July 28 · 3 hr
Egyptian Mythology Sleep Story · Hathor the Golden Lady (Episode 11)
A slow, calm Egyptian mythology sleep story to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Tonight, the warmest company the old Egyptians knew, the golden goddess Hathor, the lady of love and music and gladness, the gentle mother of the starry sky, and the kind welcome waiting at the end of every road. This is a bedtime story for adults, made for sleep, insomnia, and quiet nights when the mind will not switch off. The pacing is slow, the voice is soft, and the music never spikes. This is the gentlest night of the season, made only of warmth. Just let it drift over you. Episode 11 of 12 · Egyptian Mythology · The Sleeping Almanac. Where this sits: Part 11 of 12 in the Egyptian cycle, one continuous telling of the gods in story order, from the first sunrise onward. Tonight, the golden goddess of love and music, the gentlest face in all the company of the gods. Each episode stands on its own, and in order they tell one long story. Chapters 0:00 Welcome 3:21 The Golden One 9:10 The Lady of Music 15:06 The Dance and the Gladness 20:50 The Face of Love 26:46 The Great Cow of Heaven 32:55 The Lady of the Sycamore 39:13 The Seven Gentle Ones 45:01 The Gentle Face That Calmed the Fire 51:14 The Mirror and the Gold 57:27 The Lady of the West 1:03:26 What the Golden One Meant 1:09:24 Goodnight. And the Serpent at the Edge of Dawn 1:12:18 Calm music to drift off Drawn from the ancient Egyptians themselves, above all from Hathor's great golden temple at Dendera and the old hymns of the Lady of Gold. These are retellings. Where the sources fall silent, we fill the quiet gently and in her own warm spirit, choosing the telling that serves a calm night. New episodes every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Everything in one place: https://gildenmyth.com This show uses AI tools (script research, narration, visuals) under the direction of a human editor. Every episode is researched, reviewed, and revised before publication.
- Transcript
- Chapters
S2 · E10
July 26 · 3 hr
Egyptian Mythology Sleep Story · The Boat of a Million Years (Episode 10)
A slow, calm Egyptian mythology sleep story to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Tonight, the voyage the sun itself makes every night: down into the country of the dark in the great Boat of a Million Years, through the twelve quiet hours, carried by a faithful crew, renewed in the deepest hour, and lifted up new and golden at dawn. This is a bedtime story for adults, made for sleep, insomnia, and quiet nights when the mind will not switch off. The pacing is slow, the voice is soft, and the music never spikes. The night is told as a safe passage you are carried through, to a morning that has never once failed to come. Just let it drift over you. Episode 10 of 12 · Egyptian Mythology · The Sleeping Almanac. Where this sits: Part 10 of 12 in the Egyptian cycle, one continuous telling of the gods in story order, from the first sunrise onward. Tonight, the sun makes its nightly voyage through the dark and rises again at dawn. Each episode stands on its own, and in order they tell one long story. Chapters 0:00 Welcome 3:12 The Boat of a Million Years 9:03 The Gate of the West 15:02 The Crew of the Boat 21:04 The River Through the Dark 28:54 The Sleeping Ones 34:40 The Deepest Hour 40:34 The Renewing Waters 46:13 The Coils of the Great Serpent 52:16 The Holding Back of the Serpent 57:45 The Turning Toward Dawn 1:03:16 The Scarab and the Dawn 1:09:19 Goodnight. And the Serpent at the Edge of Dawn 1:13:27 Calm music to drift off Drawn from the ancient Egyptians themselves, from the Amduat and the old books of the night that charted the sun's dark voyage hour by hour. These are retellings. Where the old books turn toward fear, we turn gently toward comfort, choosing the telling that serves a calm night. New episodes every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Everything in one place: https://gildenmyth.com This show uses AI tools (script research, narration, visuals) under the direction of a human editor. Every episode is researched, reviewed, and revised before publication.
- Transcript
- Chapters
S2 · E9
July 23 · 3 hr
Egyptian Mythology Sleep Story · The Weighing of the Heart (Episode 9)
A slow, calm Egyptian mythology sleep story to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Tonight, the gentlest journey the Egyptians ever imagined, a single heart coming home: the calm hall of judgment, the kind gods who guide the soul, the feather of truth upon the scale, and the green fields beyond. This is a bedtime story for adults, made for sleep, insomnia, and quiet nights when the mind will not switch off. The pacing is slow, the voice is soft, and the music never spikes. It is the kindest vision of the end ever dreamed, told to comfort. Just let it drift over you. Episode 9 of 12 · Egyptian Mythology · The Sleeping Almanac. Where this sits: Part 9 of 12 in the Egyptian cycle, one continuous telling of the gods in story order, from the first sunrise onward. Tonight, the gentle judgment of the heart in the hall of the dead. Each episode stands on its own, and in order they tell one long story. Chapters 0:00 Welcome 3:19 The Last Doorway 9:19 The Hall of the Two Truths 15:14 The Gentle Guide 21:17 The Great Scale 25:59 The Feather of Truth 33:33 The Telling of a Life 41:05 The Heart Laid on the Scale 46:41 The Balance Holds 52:34 The Words of Thoth 58:16 The Green Field Beyond 1:04:12 What the Weighing Meant 1:10:17 Goodnight. And the Serpent at the Edge of Dawn 1:14:39 Calm music to drift off Drawn from the ancient Egyptians themselves and from the Book of the Dead, their great guide for the soul's journey beyond. These are retellings. Where the old book turns toward fear, we turn gently toward comfort, choosing the telling that serves a calm night. New episodes every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Everything in one place: https://gildenmyth.com This show uses AI tools (script research, narration, visuals) under the direction of a human editor. Every episode is researched, reviewed, and revised before publication.
- Transcript
- Chapters
S2 · E8
July 21 · 3 hr
Egyptian Mythology Sleep Story · The Contendings of Horus and Set (Episode 8)
A slow, calm Egyptian mythology sleep story to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Tonight, the long patient contest for the throne of Egypt, as the grown Horus, son of Osiris, claims his father's crown from his uncle Set, and justice, after years of trials and a court of the gods, is gently done. This is a bedtime story for adults, made for sleep, insomnia, and quiet nights when the mind will not switch off. The pacing is slow, the voice is soft, and the music never spikes. There is a contest in it, but no horror, and it ends in a crowning and a reconciliation. Just let it drift over you. Episode 8 of 12 · Egyptian Mythology · The Sleeping Almanac. Where this sits: Part 8 of 12 in the Egyptian cycle, one continuous telling of the gods in story order, from the first sunrise onward. Tonight, the grown Horus wins his father's throne from Set. Each episode stands on its own, and in order they tell one long story. Chapters 0:00 Welcome 3:18 The Child Grown 8:58 The Tribunal of the Gods 14:55 The Long Delay 22:14 The Counsel of the Wise 27:59 The Clever Word of Isis 34:05 The Contests Begin 41:19 The Long Breath Beneath the Water 46:51 The Race of the Stone Boats 52:13 The Eye Made Whole 57:15 The Word from the Land of the Dead 1:04:42 The Crowning of Horus and the Place of Set 1:12:08 Goodnight. And the Serpent at the Edge of Dawn 1:16:37 Calm music to drift off Drawn from the ancient Egyptians themselves and from one of the great old papyri that preserved this long contest, the Chester Beatty Papyrus. These are retellings. Where the old source turns rough, we keep the dignified heart of it, choosing the telling that serves a calm night. New episodes every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Everything in one place: https://gildenmyth.com This show uses AI tools (script research, narration, visuals) under the direction of a human editor. Every episode is researched, reviewed, and revised before publication.
- Transcript
- Chapters
S2 · E7
July 19 · 3 hr
Egyptian Mythology Sleep Story · Isis and the Scattered King (Episode 7)
A slow, calm Egyptian mythology sleep story to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Tonight, the tender story of Isis, the faithful queen, and her long search for her lost king Osiris, across the whole world and even into death, and how her love gathered what was scattered and made the broken whole again. This is a bedtime story for adults, made for sleep, insomnia, and quiet nights when the mind will not switch off. The pacing is slow, the voice is soft, and the music never spikes. Every sorrow in it is answered by love. Just let it drift over you. Episode 7 of 12 · Egyptian Mythology · The Sleeping Almanac. Where this sits: Part 7 of 12 in the Egyptian cycle, one continuous telling of the gods in story order, from the first sunrise onward. Tonight, Isis gathers the scattered king, and Horus is conceived. Each episode stands on its own, and in order they tell one long story. Chapters 0:00 Welcome 3:21 The Search Begins 9:40 The Word of the Children 15:41 The Tree in the Far King's Hall 21:47 The Quiet Nurse 28:03 The Pillar Given 34:09 The Voyage Home 40:37 The Scattering 46:51 The Gathering 53:27 The Making Whole 59:51 The Wings of Isis 1:06:02 What Isis Meant 1:12:17 Goodnight. And the Serpent at the Edge of Dawn 1:17:20 Calm music to drift off Drawn from the ancient Egyptians themselves, from the old temple laments of Isis and Nephthys, and from the Greek writer Plutarch, who preserved the fullest account of the great queen's search. These are retellings. Where the ancient sources fall silent or disagree, we fill the gaps gently and in their own spirit, choosing the telling that serves a calm night. New episodes every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Everything in one place: https://gildenmyth.com This show uses AI tools (script research, narration, visuals) under the direction of a human editor. Every episode is researched, reviewed, and revised before publication.
- Transcript
- Chapters
July 18 · 3 hr
The Odyssey · The Making of Odysseus · The Untold Story Before the Voyage · 3 Hour Sleep Story
A slow, calm 3 hour Greek mythology sleep story: the making of Odysseus himself, the untold story before the famous voyage. Part 1 of 2. The full Odyssey season arrives this fall.
- Transcript
- Chapters

Showing 1–20 of 28 episodes