Night Lights

Summary

Cabinet of Curiosities — "Night Lights" (May 12, 2026) Host: Aaron Mahnke
Podcast: iHeartPodcasts and Grim & Mild

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Episode Overview

In this episode titled "Night Lights," Aaron Mahnke explores two remarkable tales drawn from history and folklore. The first story scrutinizes the contentious legacy of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, whose rule still stirs fierce debate in modern India. The second story takes listeners into the shadowy world of Welsh folklore, exploring the eerie phenomenon known as "corpse candles": ghostly lights that portend death along rivers and roads. Through nuanced storytelling, Mahnke challenges monolithic historical narratives and reveals the enduring power of uncanny legends.

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Story 1: Emperor Aurangzeb — A Divisive Legacy

Key Discussion Points

• Aurangzeb’s Polarizing Image: Mahnke introduces Aurangzeb as "no name more controversial in modern Indian politics," emphasizing the sharp divide in his reputation between Indian Muslims (who see him as a national hero) and Hindus (who deem him a tyrant) [00:42].
• His Rise to Power: Aurangzeb, born into royalty, engaged in familial struggle typical of Mughal succession — "he had to murder or imprison his family in order to become king."
• Relationship to Taj Mahal: Mahnke notes a personal detail — Aurangzeb’s mother’s death led to the building of the Taj Mahal by his father, but Aurangzeb “was less interested in building monuments and more interested in expanding his power.”
• Religious Policies and Taxation: Aurangzeb sought to unify the subcontinent under Islam, taxing Hindus and Shia Muslims at double the rate of Sunnis. While he violently suppressed resistance—sometimes burning temples—he “adamantly protected” compliant Hindus and “had them protected and compensated” when wronged by Muslims.
• Three Major Challenges:
  1. Sikh Guru: He executed the popular Sikh religious leader, a direct rival who converted followers and wielded military force.
  2. Maratha Empire: The Marathas’ guerrilla tactics and leadership under King Sambhaji posed his greatest threat.
  3. Family Betrayal: Aurangzeb’s son Akbar defected, attempting to depose him and joining with Sambhaji, ultimately fleeing into exile.
• Violence, Wealth, and Unification: Aurangzeb’s strict rule unified most of India, making his empire immensely wealthy and powerful, yet set the stage for later infighting and vulnerability to British conquest.

Notable Quotes

• “All countries like to co-opt certain historical figures and push a modern narrative. But for the curious, the actual historical details can bring us closer to the truth.” (Aaron Mahnke, 00:51)
• “He was less the tyrant that modern pundits paint him as and more a stern, traditional leader, no more violent than any other leader of the time.” (Aaron Mahnke, 06:09)

Memorable Moments & Insights

• The contrast between Aurangzeb’s reputation and the complexity of his religious policy — providing protection even as he imposed harsh taxes.
• Mahnke’s observation that Aurangzeb’s actions are blamed for later British dominance, but history may be too complex for such simple cause and effect: “It’s hard to know if a more pluralized India would have stood a better chance.”

Timestamps

• [00:42] — Introduction to Aurangzeb’s legacy
• [01:20] — His rise to power and relationship to the Taj Mahal
• [02:00] — Religious unification strategies, tax policies, and temple destruction
• [03:10] — Key conflicts: Sikh Guru, the Maratha Empire, son’s betrayal
• [05:20] — Wealth, power, and the aftermath of his reign

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Story 2: Welsh Corpse Candles — Omens in the Night

Key Discussion Points

• Mysterious Lights on a River: The story opens with a stagecoach ride near Clandylo, Wales, where passengers saw "three red lights hovering over the waves"—later known as corpse candles [08:18].
• A Prophetic Drowning: Soon after, three men drown in the exact spot where the lights were seen, reinforcing the association between corpse candles and impending death.
• Folklore Details: Corpse candles are glowing lights, not literal candles. Their color (red for men, white for women) and size (tall for the elderly, short for children) predict the identity of the soon-to-die.
• Legends vs. Explanations: Mahnke explores both the legend and folklorist theories—suggesting corpse candles might have begun as sightings of "glow worms or electrical phenomena" interpreted through oral tradition.
• Role in Death and Memory: Stories range from simple omens to spectral processions foreshadowing funerals. The lights could mark either impending death or sites of unburied corpses.
• Folkloric Longevity: Once “a rumor becomes a ghost story, it tends to have a much longer afterlife.”

Notable Quotes

• “Whenever a corpse candle appears, it's said to be an omen of impending death, sometimes for someone nearby, and other times for the person who saw them.” (Aaron Mahnke, 08:48)
• “Rumors and speculations about deaths are temporary things, but once a rumor becomes a ghost story, it tends to have a much longer afterlife.” (Aaron Mahnke, 13:02)

Memorable Moments & Insights

• Description of a corpse candle tracing the exact route — including a 15-minute funeral pause.
• The folklorists’ view that natural phenomena seeded these stories, but it’s the human mind and oral tradition that wove them into ominous folklore.

Timestamps

• [08:18] — Discovery of corpse candles on the Welsh river
• [09:35] — Folkloric symbolism and variations
• [10:20] — Legends of omens, memorials, and supernatural lights
• [11:50] — Folklorists' naturalistic theories and the transformation into legend

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Episode Themes and Tone

• Curiosity & Nuance: Mahnke’s tone is measured, inquisitive, and open-minded. He encourages skepticism toward simplistic narratives in both history and folklore.
• Connecting Past to Present: Both stories reveal how the past — through facts or legends — continues to shape present perceptions and fears.
• Memorability & Imagery: Vivid storytelling highlights the human tendency to seek meaning in mystery, whether in political legacy or flickering lights.

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Conclusion

"Night Lights" is a quintessential Cabinet of Curiosities episode, offering listeners both a fresh perspective on a misunderstood historical ruler and an immersive journey into the eerie world of Welsh death omens. Through captivating detail and thoughtful analysis, Mahnke prompts us to look beyond easy answers and stay "curious" about the shadows—both literal and historical—that linger in our collective imagination.

Transcript

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[Martha Stewart]

Welcome to Erin Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities,

[Erin Menke]

a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full of the unexplainable. And if history is an open book, all of these amazing tales are right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. There is no name more controversial in modern Indian politics than Aurangzeb. But he's not a modern politician. No, he was an emperor who ruled from 1658 to 1707. Indian Muslims see him as a national hero, while Indian Hindus see him as a murdering tyrant. And because of this, frequent violent clashes have erupted over his tomb as recently as just last year. It's amazing, but perhaps not surprising that someone from hundreds of years ago could still be having such an impact today. All countries like to co opt certain historical figures and push a modern narrative. But for the curious, the actual historical details can bring us closer to the truth. Aurangzeb's childhood is a familiar one to Cabinet listeners. Born into royalty, he had to murder or imprison his family in order to become king. The most notable detail from his childhood has to do with his mother's death. You've heard of Taj Mahal, right? Well, that was his mother's tomb, built by his grief stricken father. However, Aurangzeb was less interested in building monuments and more interested in expanding his power. His kingdom, known as the Mughal Empire, was a Sunni Muslim empire with its origin in modern day Afghanistan. His great grandfather had expanded it to cover half of India, but Aurangzeb thought that he could unite the entire subcontinent. He believed that he could do this through Islam, bringing various regional princes under his control by forcing them to more closely obey religious law. Once he had done this, he started to tax Hindus and Shia Muslims at double the rate of Sunni Muslims. This was obviously unpopular to say the least, but Aurangzeb would put down any resistance, violently burning the temples of those who didn't comply. However, he would spare those who did and adamantly protected their communities. Ultimately, only a Small fraction of Hindu temples were ever destroyed. There are several cases of Muslims harassing Hindu temples and citizens. And in such cases, Aurangzeb often sided with the Hindus and had them protected and compensated. But his taxation policy did more than create violence. It inherently made Hindus into a second class citizen. And Aurangzeb's protective tendencies only extended so far throughout. Three major challenges to his rule would test his policies and lead him into violent action. First, the Sikh Guru of the time, the leader of that entire faith, had a popular following within India. He was said to perform miracles and was actively converting people to his faith, which was in direct conflict with Aurangzeb's policies. On top of this, he had a large nomadic army that sometimes followed him around. Aurangzeb couldn't allow this threat to his rule and and so he had the Guru captured and executed. Second, he didn't anticipate what would become his greatest rival of all. The Maratha Empire. It was a Hindu empire in southern India that had only recently risen against the previous oppressors and started to expand. Once Aurangzeb encountered them, he found their hit and run guerrilla tactics hard to contend with. By 1681, the Maratha Empire was led by King Senbachi, who whose men were known for their violent burning of villages and the raping of women. This was in contrast to Aurangzeb's treatment of women, which was traditional and strict by any modern standard, but still afforded them protection and certain rights. Zambaji contributed to Aurangzeb's third great challenge, the defection of his fourth son, Ackbar. Ackbar had been sent to put down rebellions in the south, but was instead tempted to join them and depose his father. When this failed, Sombhaji took him in and tried to help him muster more support. When this didn't happen, Simbaji sent Akbar to safety in Persia, while Aurangzeb ultimately captured Sambhaji and had him executed in 1686. Aurangzeb never did find his son Akbar, but he swore that he would outlive him. If nothing else, Aurangzeb would continue to fight rebellions his entire reign. But by the end of his life in 1707, he had conquered almost the entirety of India. Despite all of the turmoil, his kingdom was incredibly wealthy, producing more goods than any other on the planet at the time. He was more powerful than contemporaries such as Louis XIV in France and the Qing dynasty emperors in China. His strict religious policies may have led to violence, but they did bring about a unification that India wouldn't enjoy again for decades after following his reign. Infighting among the different groups in his empire made India an easy target for British invasion. This also gets blamed on Aurangzeb, but it's hard to know if a more pluralized India would have stood a better chance. Ultimately, he was less the tyrant that modern pundits paint him as and more a stern, traditional leader, no more violent than any other leader of the time. And for those who are curious, he lived to the age of 88, outliving his hated son Akbar by just one year.

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[Erin Menke]

A long time ago, a stagecoach was rolling through the Welsh countryside. Not far from the town of Clandylo. The road ran alongside a river. As the passengers looked out over the water, they noticed a strange phenomenon. Three red lights hovering over the waves. Not knowing what to make of it, the coach rolled on and the passengers put the strange sight out of their minds. Soon after, three men found themselves traveling down that very same river in a small boat known as a coracle. They fought against the raging currents. However Their boat overturned and all three were drowned in exactly the same spot where the lights had been seen hovering over the water. These lights, of course, have a special name. In Welsh folklore, they're known as a corpse candle. They're rarely depicted as literal candles with wax and a wick. They're more often just lights hovering in the dark like fireflies. Whenever a corpse candle appears, it's said to be an omen of impending death, sometimes for someone nearby, and other times for the person who saw them. Their size can correlate to how old the victim will be, and the location can show where their final resting place will be. When the lights are red, the doomed individual will be a man, and when

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they are white, it will be a woman.

[Erin Menke]

If the light is tall, it means that they'll be old, and if it's short, they'll be a child. The earliest corpse candle stories are much like the one with the men on the boat simple, ambiguous tales of strange phenomena connected to the dead. Of course, if there was a connection between the lights and the deaths, it was a circumstantial one. The candles pointed to a location where death would lurk, but they did little more than shine ominously in the dark. Travelers saw them beside long and lonely roads, pointing off into the gloom. Some of these are known as corpse roads, which usually lead to a cemetery or a churchyard, a place for rest for those who have passed on. But as the legends expanded, corpse candles were more than just a creepy signpost. If you followed them, they said, you might find where some poor forgotten soul had died or been buried. One particularly vivid story tells of a roving corpse candle that perfectly traced a future funeral procession right down to a 15 minute pause they had to make along the road to the churchyard. Over time, they began to serve a dual purpose, both as an omen and as a memorial. At first glance, it's impossible to tell if the corpse candle signals a death that will happen, or one that already has. If you see one, you might even foretell your own impending doom. Later Welsh legends tell of corpse candles burning from within the mouth of a dead man or bringing a ghost to pronounce doom upon a household. It became the proverbial light that dying men and women would see as they passed on. Like many folktales, though, these stories were first documented in the 18th and 19th centuries. With their origins stretching back into oral tradition, finding the very start of such legends can be nearly impossible, even for experts in the field. But of course, folklorists have their own theories. Some have suggested that the essential roots of the story, that is, someone seeing a mysterious light on a road are true, and the supernatural elements are what came in later. According to them, the story of the stagecoach near Clandylo may not have literally happened, but someone might have had a similar sighting and related it into the world of legend. But what they saw wasn't an impossible flame floating over a river. No theories suggest that the first corpse candles were in fact glow worms or electrical phenomena in the air, natural things that the early Welsh people wouldn't have understood but would have been awed by. All the same, our brains, after all, love to make connections. It's easy to imagine that someone saw one of these optical effects and then heard the story of a drowning nearby and simply connected the two. Rumors and speculations about deaths are temporary things, but once a rumor becomes a ghost story, it tends to have a much longer afterlife I hope you enjoyed today's guided tour through the Cabinet of Curiosities. This show was created by me, Erin Manke, in partnership with iHeart Podcasts, researched and written by the Grim and Mild team and produced by Jesse Funk. Learn more about the show and the people who make it [e-mail] curiosities. You'll also find a link to the official Cabinet of Curiosities hardcover book available in bookstores and online, as well as ebook and audiobook. And if you're looking for an ad free option, consider joining our Patreon it's all the same stories but without the interruption for a small, small monthly fee. Learn more and sign up [e-mail] grimandmild and until next time, stay curious.

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[Erin Menke]

The future won't wait and neither should you.

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[Erin Menke]

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right away and the confidence to power your next move. American Public University made for what's next? Learn more at Apu Apus Edu this

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