The Story Apothecary
by Nana Tomova
The Story Apothecary is a podcast filled with medicinal and healing stories. Nana Tomova, a Storyteller and a Mental Health Pharmacist dispenses stories for sadness and anxiety, and shares tales for loss, happiness and love. Here you will find her prescriptions of stories for the body, mind, heart and soul, and for the Earth. Come into the Story Apothecary as we enter the healing world of stories together.
Episodes
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62. Marusia and the Hedgehog with Guest Storytellers Vanessa Woolf and George Hoyle
Join me is this special episode as I talk to Vanessa Woolf and George Hoyle from Connection with Wonder about stories, community and our values as storytellers; as well as witches, ghosts and Baba Yaga! Vanessa shares the fun Russian story of Marusia and the Hedgehog, both of which find…
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Announcement of Exciting Upcoming Story Events
Here are two online events that I think you would love if you have been enjoying listening to this podcast. The first one is called The Dance of the Wild Woman on the 4th October 2026 online. There will also be an unperson version in the Scottish Highlands in Forres. You can find out more about…
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61. How the King Chose a Daughter in Law
Story Prescription: A story for always following your thread. A tale of hope, that it doesn't matter where you come from, life is full of possibilities. A sweet folk tale from Romania about a king who poses an impossible task, and a young woman who rises to the challenge. To support this podcast,...
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60. How the Midges Came to Scotland
A humorous but very gory Scottish myth about a giant called Thrim and how through unforeseen circumstances, the midges- small biting flies- came to existence. Story Prescription: A story about how people react in the face of adversity; a story of meeting your oppressor; a story of unexpected...
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59. Auld Cruivie with Guest Storyteller Daniel Allison
My guest today is Daniel Allison, a Scottish oral storyteller, USA Today best selling author and host of the House of Legends podcast, who has focused on making Celtic mythology accessible and alive for modern audiences. In this podcast we talk about being a storyteller; Celtic mythology; Muay…
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58. The Story Bag
Story Prescription: Story medicine for stories themselves. A story from Korea, about a greedy boy who demands stories from everyone he meets, stuffing them into a “story bag” and never sharing them. But the stories plan revenge! Today is when my book Bulgarian Folk Tales is born into the world!...
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57. The Dream Makers
Story Prescription: A story of hopes and dreams. For when you're lacking enchantment in your life, and need reminding that things might not be what they seem, and that there is some magic in the world. A beautiful Scottish tale from the Isle of Skye about the place where dreams are made of. I…
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56. Svetlana and Davit
Story Prescription: For anyone who finds themselves in difficulty. A reminder that every challenging journey starts with a single step. A story from Georgia about a young woman called Svetlana, who walks towards the light in attempt to save someone she loves. I have a book of Bulgarian Folk Tales...
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55. Grandmother's Tale (Little Red Riding Hood - the Women's Version)
Story Prescription: A women's initiation journey from girlhood to womanhood. Story Caution: This story contains adult themes, some gore, and some strong language. It is suitable for children age 12+ and adults. A young girl goes into the forest and on the way to her grandmother's house meets a...
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54. The Tsaritsa Harpist
Story Prescription: A tale of women's wisdom, and the healing power of music. Story Caution: This story contains descriptions of imprisonment. A beautiful and humorous story rom Russia, where a wise Tsarista (a queen) plays music to save a life. To support this podcast, you can 'buy me a…
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53. Persephone in the Underworld
Story Prescription: A favourite tale that shows us that after darkness there is light, that after winter there is spring, that after grief, there is hope. Story Caution: This story contains contains themes of rape within a paradigm of mythic narrative. A story from Ancient Greece, about a…
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52. The Power of Love
Story Prescription: To know love, we also must know that it may not last forever. To appreciate life, we must know that it cannot stay for eternity. This is a story about love and about death, and how the two are interlinked. Mostly it's a story about life and love, from Armenia. Thank you to...
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51. The Christmas Spiders
Story Prescription: A Christmas story about hope A story from the Ukraine about a poor family at Christmas, but miracles do happen! Stories of Vampires, Ghosts & Creatures of the Night: Saturday 4th January on Zoom. If you're interested in hearing some wonderfully dark stories for the...
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50. Bashakote - the Chieftain of the Wild Cats
Story Prescription: A story for jealousy. It's easy for it to be all-consuming, but sometimes it devours us. A story from Bulgaria about the ruler of the wild cats, Bashakote. It's a humorous, slightly dark and wonderful tale. Stories of Vampires, Ghosts & Creatures of the Night: Saturday 4th...
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49. Song of the Sorrowing Harp
Story Prescription: A story for Hallowe'en, All Hallow's Eve, when the souls of those past are remembered. An ethereally spooky story from Scotland, about two sisters who love the same man. It doesn't end well, but it does end with a song of a harp that sings of sorrow. If you are listening from...
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48. How a Husband Weaned his Wife from Fairytales
Story Prescription: A story that shows us that it's possible to keep the inner fire burning no matter the challenging circumstances. Story Caution: This story contains domestic violence as a central theme. If you choose to listen, take care of yourself. A story from Russia about a woman who loves...
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47. The Hedgehog and his Bride
Story Prescription: A story for relationships, with significant others and also with ourselves. It takes many transformations, a life-death-life cycle to make a relationship work. It is also a story about overcoming difficult experiences, and the journey it takes to do this. A story full of...
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46. The Blue Baba of the Marsh
Story Prescription: A story about the greed and the dangers of prioritising gold over the real treasure of the land. A sweet story from the Ural Mountains about a young man who gets given a sieve and three feathers by his grandmother and the advice about where to find real treasure. To support my...
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45. Nature’s Ways
Story Prescription: A story about freedom. A story about overcoming fear, asking the right questions and speaking your longing aloud. A story from Armenia, where a controlling king locks his daughter away so that she may never leave his side. .... To support my work financially you can 'buy me a...
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44. The Snow Maiden
Story Prescription: A story about love, and that if we open our hearts to feel the fire, we take a risk. But if we don't then we live in the shadows of the basement, where life is grey. A story from Russia, where a snow child becomes alive. But she wants to feel the fire in her heart, even if…
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43. The Twelve Months
Story Prescription: A reminder to live in the present to embrace each season of life as it arrives. A magical story from Bulgaria about the time that all the twelve months gathered together, and what happened when a brave young girl saw them in the midst of winter searching for snowdrops, for new...
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42. Daughter of the Moon, Son of the Sun
Story Prescription: A prescription about the moon and the Northern lights. A Saami story of love and loss, of hope and light. A story for the autumn and winter, so that we may find the light in the skies. If you wanted to join my Wild Women course, a 6 Months Journey into the Wild Feminine…
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41. The Husband Who Stayed at Home
Story Prescription: A story for those who stay at home and don't have their work valued. For women whose labour doesn't get appreciated. A story for the equality and appreciation of women. A story of hope. - A humorous story from Bulgaria (and all over Europe) about a husband who thinks that his...
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39. Rumpelstiltskin
-Story Prescription: A story for naming something which you fear by its true name; a story which cautions those who make promises in haste; a story about giving up that which you treasure the most . A story from Germany, collected by the Grimm brothers about a miller's daughter who needs to spin...
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38. Cinderella (Mara Pepelashka)
Story Prescription: A story for grief, loss, longing and hope. Story Caution: This story deals with loss and death. Like many other stories, this is a tale for older humans. Recommended age 14+ A traditional Cinderella variant from Bulgaria. A story of Mara who becomes Cinderella (Pepelashka). We...
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37. The Magic Fiddle
-Story Prescription: A reminder of not trading or giving up those parts of us that are integral to our being. A story from Hungary about a traveller whose fiddle plays the most beautiful music. But he gives it all one day for something more worthwhile. . To support my work financially you can...
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36. The Spoilt Daughter
-Story Prescription: A story for the freedom of women -Story Caution: TW: This story deals with domestic violence A Bulgarian well-known folktale of Bogdana, who was a spoilt daughter and therefore a bad, good-for-nothing wife. But is there more than meets the eye? In a ecofeminist retelling of...
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35. The Golden Maiden
Story Prescription: A story of the Woman's Quest, a feminine journey, a story of female initiation into adulthood, and into an awakening. A Bulgarian wondertale about a girl to enters into an old woman's hut and finds gold; and her step-sister who instead of gold finds darkness - but that too is…
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34. Vasilisa and Baba Yaga
Story Prescription: A story about entering the frightening places in our lives, like Baba Yaga's hut, in order to come out on the other side. A story about following inner wisdom and intuition, and embracing the darkness that we all need to face sometimes. -Story Caution: Recommended age 12+ A...
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33. Clever Gretel
Story Prescription: A story about doing what feels good rather than what one should do. A story for self-indulgence, pleasure, rest, and enjoying life with no guilt. A humorous story from Germany about a clever and witty woman, a cook, who knows what she wants, and takes it with no guilt and no...
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32. The Tailor’s Coat
-Story Prescription: A story of hope, of marking endings, and remembering stories. A lighthearted, bittersweet and hopeful Yiddish tale of a Tailor in Russia who made a beloved coat that just kept giving, until there was just not enough. _ To support my work financially you can become a a regular...
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31. Storyteller Wendy Shearer shares the story of How Tortoise Fooled Elephant
-Story Prescription: For anyone who is is need of some Trickster energy, in a world that is often serious. A story that offers the richness of humour and transformation, as well as challenges the status quo. - A funny and lighthearted story from Tanzania, about the day Tortoise fooled the…
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30. The Paid Advice
A funny and lighthearted story from Bulgaria about a man who decides he is better off following advice because it cost him a lot of money. -Story Prescription: For anyone who likes to give advice freely, and for anyone who follows advice that does not serve them. For those who wish to have some...
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29. Why the Bat Hangs Upside Down
A story from Sudan. Bat is shunned from animals and birds as he doesn't belong in either. He is neither bird, nor animal. Story Prescription: A sad, lighthearted and endearing story about not belonging, which we can all relate to. . To support my work financially you can become a regular patron…
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28. Baba Yaga and the Seven Orphans
A story from the Slavic lands about Baba Yaga - the liminal Crone Goddess. It is an uncomfortable and uneasy story about burying the animal, wild, parts of us and the dangers that follow. Story Prescription: A story about the importance of initiation, and having elders in your life. A story about...
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27. Christmas Story - Brother and Sister
A Bulgarian Christmas Story (available in English for the first time here) about a sister and brother who met misfortune one winter day. A story of hardship and hope. -Story Prescription: A story to feel festive, a story for gratefulness, for the unfairness of life sometimes, for small miracles....
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26. The Seventh Swan
The Seventh Swan (Cambridgeshire, England) - a somewhat dark, and beautiful tale about a boy who tries to kill a swan. The other six swans, her companions come to her aid. -Story Prescription: A story of feminine power, of true friendship, of wild nature. -Story Caution: This story is rather...
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25. The Three Aunts
A story from Norway. A girl finds herself in a castle asked to spin impossible quantities of flax in just a night and a day. Three old women come to help her. -Story Prescription: A tale of women's power and intuition, of help from wiser generations, of respect for grandmothers. And a little bit…
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24. Mannikin Spanalong
A tale from Germany about a strange creature called Mannikin Spanalong which a young girl helps to free, and she gets her own freedom in return. Story Prescription: A story about facing your fears and moving forward; about being kind in the face of uncertainty and adversity; a story about being...
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23. Vasilisa, the Priest’s Daughter
A lighthearted story from Russia. This is not a story of Vasilisa the wise, the brave, the beautiful. This is a different girl called Vasilisa. Vasilisa is also called Vasily, a boy's name. Which is she - a woman or a man - the king desperately tries to find out. But he can't. A wonderful story…
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22. The River
A story from Portugal. A father and his daughter move from place to place. His fear that she will abandon him keeps them moving, despite her wanting to settle down. A story of breaking free, of a love - suffocating rather than nurturing. -Story Prescription: A story for anxiety, for unbalanced...
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21. The Treasure in the Land
A sweet story about the bread of life, and about the tenderness and richness of the harvest. -Story Prescription: A story for the earth and the land. _ Ways to Support this podcast: -If you have enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a rating or review as this helps others to find it.…
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20. The Wood Maiden
A beautiful and lighthearted story from from former Czechoslovakia about a girl who tends her goats when she meets a wood maiden - a forest nymph in the woods. -Story Prescription: A story about knowing when to work and when to dance. A story about giving yourself permission to feel joy, and…
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19. The Linden Tree
A story from Russia about a poor cottager who is granted wishes by a magic linden (lime) tree. He gets carried away and, well, things turn out differently to how he wished. -Story Prescription: A story for greed and for gratefulness. A reminder of not desiring what is impossible- if you desire…
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18. The Wise Little Girl
A story from Russia about a seven year old who knows the important things in life. -Story Prescription: A story about the wisdom of women, and of our younger selves. A story of nature, and for valuing the strong, wise, and independent girls in our stories and in our world. _ Ways to Support this...
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17. What Do Women Want (The Loathsome Hag)
An important and lighthearted story from England, about King Arthur who must save his life by answering a riddle - what do women want, more than anything. Does he succeed to find the answer? -Story Prescription: For all women out there, for all who identify as women, for all who treasure their...
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16. Whatever you do, you do it to yourself
A wise and sobering story from Bulgaria, which I've translated especially for this podcast. It's about a woman who poisons a loaf of bread to teach someone a lesson. Things don't turn out the way she planned. -Story Prescription: A story for pondering on our actions. One for reflection and for...
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15. Monkeys Rescue the Moon - National Storytelling Week
A lighthearted and yet poignant and cautionary tale from Tibet about some monkeys, led by their monkey leader, who doesn't take time for reflection and advice, leads his monkeys to rescue the moon from deep water as he thinks she is drowning. -Story Prescription: A story about misguided…
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14. The Potter’s Wish
A wise and lighthearted story from Nepal about a potter who makes a wish for his pots to be unbreakable. -Story Prescription: A story for perfectionism, a story for and about creativity, imperfection and the beauty of impermanence. _ Ways to Support this podcast: -If you have enjoyed this…
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13. Grandmother Plague (Baba Chuma)
A sad, sobering and hopeful Bulgarian story which I've translated into English about Grandmother Plague, old woman, who comes to visit. -Story Prescription: A story to help with not living in fear and being present in our times. A tale to encourage kindness and compassion. -Story Caution: This...
About this show
The Story Apothecary is a podcast filled with medicinal and healing stories. Nana Tomova, a Storyteller and a Mental Health Pharmacist dispenses stories for sadness and anxiety, and shares tales for loss, happiness and love. Here you will find her prescriptions of stories for the body, mind, heart and soul, and for the Earth. Come into the Story Apothecary as we enter the healing world of stories together.
Hosted by
Nana Tomova