Lore: "Legends 63—Dance With the Devil"

Host: Aaron Mahnke
Date: September 29, 2025

Episode Overview

In this haunting installment of Lore: Legends, Aaron Mahnke explores the enduring relationship between music, dance, folklore, and the Devil. From age-old pacts trading souls for talent, to cautionary tales where a night of dancing leads to eternal damnation, Mahnke weaves together a chilling tapestry of stories spanning continents and centuries. His narrative underscores how, throughout history, music—and especially dance—has symbolized both forbidden pleasures and infernal dangers. Ultimately, the episode serves as both storytelling and subtle warning: when you gamble with your passions, you just might be playing the Devil's game.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Nature of Gambling: Stakes Beyond Money

• Opening Anecdote: The episode begins with the story of Terrence Watanabe, a modern cautionary tale about how quickly fortunes can be lost through gambling.
• Historical Roots: Mahnke traces gambling back to the Paleolithic period, noting its ubiquity across ancient Mesopotamia, China, and Greece.
• Transition to High Stakes: He pivots from monetary games to the ultimate gamble—the soul—setting the stage for the Devil's introduction.
• Quote:
  • "You don't need a deck of cards to put everything on the line. For that matter, you don't even need money. The real excitement starts when you gamble with your life, maybe even your soul." (08:04)

2. Music, Dance, and the Devil in Folklore

• Medieval Fears: Music, especially secular tunes, was historically condemned as "evil" by the Church. Dance was seen as sinful; thus, music that inspired it was believed to be the Devil’s tool.
• Instrument of Choice:
  • "Historically, the fiddle, and sometimes even the flute, were believed to be the Devil's instruments. And anyone who played them was channeling Satan's spirits." (10:40)
• Seduction Through Dance:
  • St. John Chrysostom warned, "Where dance is found, there is the Devil." (09:45)

3. The Pact: Mastery for the Soul

• Folktale Example: Tijan Gautier
  • Tijan, a bad fiddler, is granted otherworldly talent by a stranger (the Devil), only to find himself and his audience dancing uncontrollably—doomed until a priest intervenes.
  • "Once he applied the charm and started to play the fiddle, he realized that he couldn't stop... The revelers there couldn't stop dancing either, no matter how hard they tried." (13:45)

4. The Legend of Robert Johnson

• Historic Context: Johnson, a Black blues musician born in 1911 Mississippi, struggled with tragedy and poverty.
• Transformation: Famously untalented on guitar, Johnson "disappeared" for 18 months, returning as a prodigy—whispers circulated that he’d made a deal with the Devil at the crossroads.
• Roots of the Legend:
  • "Robert...took his guitar to a crossroads and waited until midnight. When a large, shadowy figure finally appeared... Every time he handed the guitar back, Robert magically knew a little more about playing it... The only thing it cost him... was his everlasting soul." (19:12)
• Self-Mythologizing: Johnson never denied the rumors and wrote blues songs referencing the crossroads and the Devil, cementing his legend.
• Later Discoveries:
  • Johnson’s secret was far less supernatural: intense lessons with bluesman Ike Zimmerman, possibly in a graveyard—fueling further rumor.
  • "Maybe, they suggested with a wink, the Devil had been there with them." (26:05)

5. Rose Latulipe: The Devil’s Dance Partner (Quebec Folktale)

• Setup: Rose, a young flirt with a bright future, agrees to marry Gabriel. The night before Lent, her father throws a party. A mysterious, captivating stranger arrives.
• Supernatural Seduction: The stranger asks Rose to dance, then, at midnight, asks for her hand forever:
  • “‘You promised me, pretty Rose, to be mine all evening. Why wouldn't you be mine forever?’” (32:00)
• Intervention & Downfall: Rose is saved by a cleric’s urgent prayers. She becomes a nun but lives a short life afterward—a typical ending for those who "dance with the Devil."
• Lesson:
  • "Folklore makes it clear that the Devil loves to dance, and that if you let him, he'll dance you right into your grave." (37:10)

6. Recurring Motifs: Devilish Dances Across Cultures

• Stanton Drew, England:
  • Midnight fiddler (the Devil) keeps a party going until everyone turns to stone.
• Modern Urban Legend (1979, Texas):
  • Girl dances with a handsome stranger in a disco; after midnight, he vanishes, leaving her burned or dead—the Devil in leisure suit.
• Common Thread:
  • "If you decide to risk it with a night of dancing, then you're gambling with your soul, because the Devil will find you. Even at a disco." (41:40)

7. William Henry "Grancer" Harrison: Dancing in Death (Alabama Folklore)

(Segment resumes after ad break – major content picks up at 46:19)

• Hellish Life: Grancer Harrison, a wealthy, enslaving plantation owner, loved to dance—forcing enslaved people to play music for endless hours.
• Afterlife: Buried near his dance hall with his shoes and mattress, his ghost allegedly continues the Saturday night dance parties, leading a spectral band:
  • "People reported that they heard music coming from the abandoned dance hall every Saturday night. Then they started to hear a male voice call out dances as if he were leading a whole host of partygoers... A fiddle for the devil himself." (56:10)
• Moral: Sometimes, you don’t need to meet Satan to sell your soul; some people "do the devil’s work for him" in life.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Folklore of Temptation:

  • "The devil is a tricky fellow. You may not realize that he's there to make a deal with you, but that's exactly why he shows up. You don't have to sign on the dotted line or even shake his hand to seal the deal. All you need to be willing to do is believe that your soul is worth the price." (16:12)

• On Lessons and Warnings:

  • "If you don't give in to your passions, they say, then Satan will leave you alone. But if you decide to risk it with a night of dancing, then you're gambling with your soul, because the devil will find you." (41:20)

• On History’s Baddest Villain:

  • "If there's one name that has cemented itself as the biggest baddie of all time, it is that red-faced, cloven-hoofed dealmaker and gambler." (43:00)

• Final Reflection:

  • "And if today's episode is making you want to cut a rug, then by all means have at it. But before you do, remember how much the devil loves to dance." (44:22)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:54 | Intro to the episode's main theme: gambling, temptation, losing everything | | 08:04 | Gambling beyond money: the Devil’s wager | | 09:45 | The Church’s stance on music and dance; St. John Chrysostom's warning | | 10:40 | Devil's instruments: the fiddle and flute | | 13:45 | Folktale: Tijan Gautier and the cursed fiddle | | 19:12 | The crossroads legend of Robert Johnson | | 26:05 | The “real” story of Johnson and Ike Zimmerman: blues lessons in a graveyard | | 32:00 | The legend of Rose Latulipe: seduction, dance, and damnation | | 37:10 | Folkloric lesson: Devil’s love of dance and the perils of temptation | | 41:20 | Moral of devilish dance legends ("Even at a disco") | | 43:00 | The Devil as folklore’s ultimate villain | | 46:19 | (After ad break) The story of William Henry "Grancer" Harrison and the ghostly dance hall | | 56:10 | Ghostly aftermath: reports of Grancer's spectral parties, haunting, and Devil’s music |

Additional Notes

• Episode Style: As always, Aaron Mahnke delivers the material in his classic, measured, and slightly macabre tone—equal parts historical narrative and eerie campfire cautionary tale.
• Recurring Motif: The “dance with the Devil” is both literal (dance as forbidden pleasure) and metaphorical (succumbing to temptation leading to self-destruction).
• Subtext: Mahnke highlights how society has projected its collective fears and taboos—whether about music, pleasure, or ambition—onto the ever-adaptable figure of the Devil.
• Recommended For: Folklore enthusiasts, music historians, or anyone curious how legend and morality intertwine in the deepest shadows of culture.

“Because when you gamble with the Devil, in folklore or in the casino, the only guarantee is that the house always wins.” – Aaron Mahnke (41:55)