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3 episodes with Margot Adler
2 episodes with Margot Adler
2 episodes with Margot Adler
4 episodes with Margot Adler
2 episodes with Margot Adler
2 episodes with Margot Adler
2 episodes with Margot Adler
Send us a textExplore the mystical world of Halloween, Samhain, and All Souls Day from a unique New Age perspective with me, Jill Jardine, and my guest, Sarah Adams, a gifted psychic and intuitive consultant. Together, we uncover the roots of these age-old celebrations, tracing their transformation from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain into the Halloween we know today. Learn how traditions such as jack-o'-lanterns have evolved and how the Christian Church adapted Samhain into All Souls Day, blending pagan and Christian customs into today's rich tapestry of cultural celebration.Sarah Adams shares information from Wiccan priestess and journalist Margot Adler unraveling the complex history of the word "witch" and its use in suppressing women's power throughout history. From the notorious Salem witch trials to the tragic story of Hypatia of Alexandria, we examine how propaganda and religious politics have been leveraged against women who dared defy societal norms. These stories highlight the enduring struggle for women's empowerment and the reclamation of narratives long overshadowed by misunderstanding and persecution.Discover the power of self-empowerment through exploring past lives as Sarah Adams shares personal stories of spiritual breakthroughs and new connections with divine energies. From experiences during the Salem Witch Trials to flying planes in World War II, these past life memories illuminate our soul's journey and the transformative potential of the Akashic Records. With insights from Vedic priestess Jill Jardine and a focus on unity consciousness, this episode invites you to embrace spiritual practices and personal healing, harnessing the Scorpionic energies of light and awakening during this mystical season.Sarah Adams of Water & Earth Intuitive Consulting offers professional astrology as well as channeling, reiki and chakra work. She has been offering tarot and astrology readings since 2001. In addition to offering guidance to clients via private readings, parties, fundraisers, events and workshops, Sarah is also a writer, marketing consultant, and event planner. In her free time she is training for her private pilot license to fly aircraft. Contact at: Sarah_Adams@yahoo.comSupport the show
Welcome to the Solarium! Join hosts Chelle and Laylla in their enchanting herbal haven, brimming with aromatic teas, mystical smoking blends, beloved books, crystals, divination tools, and much more. In this episode, they delve into the realm of classic witchcraft literature, focusing on four influential books published before 1990. So, grab your coziest mug of tea, grab a joint or some calming incense, and step into The Solarium!First off the witches brew a mug of tea from Black Cat Curiosity Shoppe, one of Chelle's favorite places to grab hand crafted tea blends in Salem. And they both roll up a little cannabis and a soothing blend of herbs to make sure their hangout sesh has a relaxing vibe. Once the cares of the world melt away, Chelle opens up about Scott Cunningham's "Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs", and why its a publication she deems essential for every herb witch's collection. She explains why Laurie Cabot's "The Power of the Witch," is the one she always recommends to new witchlings and why she will always keep a copy in her library.Meanwhile, Laylla revisits the magical archives with Margot Adler's "Drawing Down the Moon" and Starhawk's "The Spiral Dance." The duo discusses how these pioneering works have sculpted the landscape of modern witchcraft, noting that despite some initial shortcomings in research and cultural sensitivity, the authors have attempted to fix these problems with later editions. Despite the original issues, these books still contain valuable history and information that would benefit today's witches. Laylla and Chelle are also excited to announce their participation in the upcoming Sacred Space Conference, where they'll be conducting workshops alongside esteemed figures in the witchcraft and pagan spheres. Discover the fantastic lineup of workshops and learn how to register at the Sacred Space Foundation.We can't wait to share our thoughts on these magical reads and our upcoming adventures with you! Tune in for a blend of herbal enjoyment, literary discussion, and a sprinkle of excitement for the upcoming pagan festival season!Interested in contributing to The Solarium? Whether it's a letter, some quirky trinkets, or if you're a small business eager to showcase your products, we'd love to hear from you! We feature unboxings and reviews in our Solarium episodes, giving your items a spotlight in our magical space.Send to:Back on the BroomstickLaylla & Chelle1029 Lyell Ave Box 420Rochester NY 14606Email: backonthebroomstick@gmail.com
On this episode I'm joined by Reverend Angie Buchanan, Founder and Spiritual Director of Earth Traditions, a Pagan church, and of Gaia's Womb, an interfaith spirituality group that has been producing spiritual retreats for women since 1998. Angie is a life-long pagan, an animist, and has been an experienced magical worker and ritualist for over 40 years. She served on the Board of Trustees for the Parliament of World Religions from 2002 – 2010, offering programs internationally at convenings in Barcelona, Melbourne, and Toronto, and nationally in Salt Lake City and Chicago. Rev. Buchanan is currently a Spiritual Advisor for Pagan students at the University of Chicago, Campus Ministry, and a Certified Death Midwife.During this episode we discussed:Angie's experience growing up in a pagan, animistic household, and how it gave her a grounding in the Sacred Feminine from an early ageHow she relates to the Sacred Feminine via archetypes as opposed to through specific deitiesWhy she views birth and death as the two most important human rites of passage, as well as the similarities between them and how the Divine Feminine intertwines with bothAngie's own practices for honoring the deadWhy she feels strongly that the “veils” between the living and dead are thinner at certain times of year, such as Samhain and BeltaineShow Notes If you'd like to know whose ancestral tribal lands you currently reside on, you can look up your address here: https://native-land.ca/You can also visit the Coalition of Natives and Allies for more helpful educational resources about Indigenous rights and history.Please check out my latest course offering! Returning to the Well: Sacred Feminine Wisdom for Your Motherhood Journey, begins Sunday, October 29! This 5-week online course explores the divine journey of motherhood and what it means to parent in partnership with the Sacred Feminine, and is offered via Home to Her Academy, a school dedicated to seekers of Sacred Feminine wisdom! Learn more and register here: https://www.hometoheracademy.com/course/returning-to-the-well. And while you're there, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to stay up to date with upcoming classes.My book, “Home to Her: Walking the Transformative Path of the Sacred Feminine,” is available from Womancraft Publishing! To learn more, read endorsements and purchase, please visit https://womancraftpublishing.com/product/home-to-her/. It is also available for sale via Amazon, Bookshop.org, and you can order it from your favorite local bookstore, too.Please – if you love this podcast and/or have read my book, please consider leaving me a review! For the podcast, reviews on iTunes are extremely helpful, and for the book, reviews on Amazon and Goodreads are equally helpful. Thank you for supporting my work!You can watch this and other podcast episodes at the Home to Her YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@hometoherGot feedback about this episode or others you've heard? Please reach out on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/hometoher/ ), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/hometoher)You can learn more about Angie and her work at the following websites: www.giaswomb.com; www.earthtraditions.org and www.deathmidwife.orgAngie mentioned Margot Adler, a Wiccan priestess and NPR correspondent. This obituary provides more details about her life: Margot Adler was a Wiccan priestess and author of Drawing Down the Moon; more info here: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/07/28/336081618/margot-adler-an-npr-journalist-for-three-decades-diesYou can learn more about the Mountain Valley pipeline, which I mentioned, here: Mountain Valley Pipeline information: https://appvoices.org/pipelines/mountain-valley-pipeline/You can also learn more about the concept of providing legal rights to rivers here: https://www.equationcampaign.org/dispatches/the-river-is-my-kinfolk-it-deserves-more-rights-than-dirty-pipelinesAngie mentioned India guaranteeing rights to dolphins; more details here: https://www.dw.com/en/dolphins-gain-unprecedented-protection-in-india/a-16834519More info on the dumb supper, or silent supper, here: https://www.crowsbone.com/blogarchive/the-silent-supper
Margot Adler's Drawing Down the Moon is a snapshot of four different decades of the neopagan and witchcraft movement in the United States. Phoenix LeFae joins me to talk about the influence, legacy, and possible futures of this classic work of WitchLit. You can find Phoenix at her website or at the witchy business she owns, Milk and Honey. And on Instagram and Twitter. Please support Black, indigenous, queer, trans, women-owned, and local, independent bookstores. Transcripts of all episodes are available at witchlitpod.com Buy us a coffee (and support our work) on Ko-fi Follow WitchLit on InstagramFind Victoria at https://readvictoria.com and https://1000voltpress.com and on Instagram and Substack
References in this episode:Margot Adler, Drawing Down the MoonDawkins, God DelusionAll Acts of Love and PleasureJohn Beckett, https://undertheancientoaks.com/https://www.patheos.com/blogs/quakerpagan/http://quakerpagan.blogspot.com/https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780759105232/Researching-Paganisms
A disc of light, an object of worship, a portal in the vault of night. The moon has always opened up infinite fields of perception, and in a new Hammer Museum exhibition, Drawing Down the Moon, curator and scholar Allegra Pesenti enters those many realms. In our wide-ranging conversation with Pesenti, she traces lunar iconography from across centuries and cultures, expressing the moon's many aspects: mythical, magical, theological, scientific. Through her scholarship, we encounter Thessalian witches and modern Wiccans, Victor Hugo and 19th century astronomy, and discuss the work of “making the invisible visible.”
"The first time I called myself a witch was the most magical moment of my life." - Margot Adler. Ready to activate the Witch Archetype to materialize a better reality and enchant the world? Here you will learn precisely how. ____ All promoted: https://linktr.ee/derekisraeloficial ____ Subscribe for the best bilingual content on personal development, psychology, spirituality, sexual mastery, and business-marketing dominion: https://www.youtube.com/derekisraeloficial?sub_confirmation=1 ____ Visit www.derekisrael.com Courses: www.derekisrael.com/courses Blog: www.derekisrael.com/blog Collaborations: www.derekisrael.com/collaborations ____ Become a Patreon Supporter: www.patreon.com/derekisrael ____ Follow me on you favorite socials:: https://linktr.ee/derekisraeloficial Email: derekisraeloficial@gmail.com ____ Warning: The recommendations provided are not guaranteed. They are not medical or psychological advice. By listening to them and applying them, you accept 100% responsibility for the results.
Today I spoke to Fawna about her journey with witchcraft. Make sure to subscribe so you know when our next episode drops and rate and review if you like what we are doing. Socials Find Fawna on Instagram (@catsteaandwitchcraft), Twitter (@catsteaandwitch) and her podcast. Find Sam's Socials on this link: https://linktr.ee/samuelobrien Find the Podcast's Socials on this link: http://linktr.ee/contentncapable Plugs and Mentions Plug: Sam plugged Luca on Disney+. Fawna plugged Thorn Mooney's books, Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler and Jason Menkie's books. Check out the other shows on the Movie Night Crew Network!
What if creating miracles turns out to be something anybody can do? What if the current worldview of what is possible and impossible isn't really true? What if there are no boundaries and no limits to what you can do in your life? Welcome to Words Of Power “A rare gem. One of the only magical self-help books that is beautiful, moral, and wise. Marion's methods of working have greatly influenced my life.” —Margot Adler, author of Drawing Down the Moon This is a review of one of the most amazing chapters I have read. This will tell you everything you need to know to create magic and transform your life using affirmations and visualization. This gives a very powerful to create your own words of power and it works. This may be my favorite work on the technique of reality creation. Using these techniques you will gain the control of the invisible realm and manifest anything you want as form. This gives the principles and techniques for positive and powerful change that is for the good of everyone. Marion Weinstein (1939–2009) was an author, teacher, media personality, and proud New York "city witch." Known as "The Ethics Witch," she is one of the founders of the modern witchcraft movement. She was the first to coin the phrase and define Positive Magic, and clearly delineate its use. Her radio show, Marion's Cauldron, was the first regularly scheduled Wiccan and psychic programming on record, and was a New York phenomenon for fourteen years. Alternate Universe Reality Activation get full access to new meditations, new lectures, recordings from the reality con and the 90 day AURA meditation schedulehttps://realityrevolutionlive.com/aura45338118 BUY MY BOOK! https://www.amazon.com/Reality-Revolution-Mind-Blowing-Movement-Hack/dp/154450618X/ Listen my book on audible https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Reality-Revolution-Audiobook/B087LV1R5V Music By Mettaverseinner worldssolsticetravel lightdream flowfield of onenessthe language of lightlove the universal constantlight quotientinto the omniversenocturnesea of samsarajourney through the multiversewhen all else fades ➤ Listen on Soundcloud: http://bit.ly/2KjGlLI ➤ Follow them on Instagram: http://bit.ly/2JW8BU2 ➤ Subscribe to their channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyvjffON2NoUvX5q_TgvVkw All My Anthony Norvell Episodes - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKv1KCSKwOo_XHLvIXgYWWKbweUfzocyZ All My Neville Goddard Videos In One Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKv1KCSKwOo8kBZsJpp3xvkRwhbXuhg0M All my videos about Dr. Joseph Murphy - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKv1KCSKwOo_OtBhXg2s85UuZBT-OihF_ For all episodes of the Reality Revolution – https://www.therealityrevolution.com Like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/The-Reality-Revolution-Podcast-Hosted-By-Brian-Scott-102555575116999 Join our facebook group The Reality Revolution https://www.facebook.com/groups/523814491927119 Subscribe to my Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOgXHr5S3oF0qetPfqxJfSw Contact us at media@advancedsuccessinsitute.com #affirmation #lawofattraction #imagination #totalhumanoptimization
Remembering Margot Adler Celebrating the life and legacy of Margot Adler (1946-2014) on the 75th anniversary of her birthday (April 16). This encore of this remembrance podcast was recorded shortly after her death and includes the sharing of memories, experiences, tributes, and perspectives about this beloved Pagan Elder, Wiccan Priestess, National Public Radio radio journalist, feminist, environmentalist, scholar, social justice activist, and granddaughter of noted Austrian Jewish psychiatrist Alfred Adler. Originally broadcast on Circle Craft Study on July 29, 2014.
I wanted to post this conversation between myself and two of my favorite witches, Moondancer and Enku from our Wild Witches Year and a Day class as a bit of lagniappe for y'all listeners. In this discussion we talk about several topics around witchcraft traditions discussed in the book Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler and go on to discuss other topics such as witchcraft traditions, and even talk about QAnon and the Tarot is a closed practice debacle. If you have any thoughts, comments or questions about this or want to let me know your listening out there, free free to email me at questions@sciencewitchpodcast.com Show Notes Wild Witches Year and a Day Community. MW Margaret Murray: What Science Calls Nature and Religion Calls God Isobel Gowdie Raven Grimassi No Tarot is not a closed practice TikTok Witches Hexing the moon The SOS in my Halloween Decorations A Thread on the Wild Witches Year and a Day community that links all the traditions and groups discussed in the book and where they are today
Women formed the backbone of the Civil Rights Movement but rarely get the recognition they deserve for their important contributions. Join Dr. Carol François and Kourtney Square, her niece, as they shine the spotlight on women past and present who moved and are moving the social justice efforts to eradicate systemic racism. Want more, take our course Systemic Racism: See it, Say it, Confront it at www.whyaretheysoangry.com and find us anywhere at www.podpage.com.whyaretheysoangry Citations “Before Rosa Parks, There Was Claudette Colvin,” Margot Adler, NPR, 2009. https://www.npr.org/2009/03/15/101719889/before-rosa-parks-there-was-claudette-colvin “From Esmeralda Simmons to Laverne Cox, here are 19 of the most influential civil rights leaders of today,” Hristina Byrnes and John Harrington, 24/7 Wall Street, USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/06/07/19-of-the-most-influential-civil-rights-leaders-of-the-21st-century/111907158/ “Georgia Was a Big Win for Democrats. Black Women Did the Groundwork,” Astead W. Herndon, The New York Times, Dec. 3, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/03/us/politics/georgia-democrats-black-women.html Interview With Kimberlé Crenshaw: Rising Against Racism, Supporting Black Female Leadership, And Building An Equitable World,” Marianne Schnall, “March 2, 1955: Claudette Colvin Refuses to Give Up Her Bus Seat,” Zinn Education Project, https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/claudette-colvin/ “The Birmingham Children's Crusade of 1963,” Kim Gilmore, Biography, January 19, 2021. https://www.biography.com/news/black-history-birmingham-childrens-crusade-1963 “When Black Women Lead, We All Win: 10 Inspiring Leaders Show Us The Way,” Marianne Schnall, Forbes, August 17, 2020. https://www.forbes.com/sites/marianneschnall/2020/08/17/when-black-women-lead-we-all-win/?sh=5935dad84513 “Women in the Civil Rights Movement,” Civil Rights History Project, Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/collections/civil-rights-history-project/articles-and-essays/women-in-the-civil-rights-movement/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/carol-francois/support
Show Notes: Show notes: Oberon Zell Ravenheart Documentary Drawing down the Moon by Margot Adler, 2005 edition Occult America: White House Seances, Ouija Circles, Masons, and the Secret Mystic History of Our Nation Stranger in a Strange Land Grey School of Wizardry Altered Carbon American Gods The Expanse Strange Angel Our Sponsors: As Above Salem Our Pateron
Highlights from some of our earliest programs with a particular focus on non-theistic beliefs in our country. You’ll hear my 2006 interview with secular trailblazer Sam Harris. We discussed his book, The End of Faith. Also, the late broadcaster, activist and author Margot Adler. We spoke in 2006 about Neopaganism and the role of Pagan traditions dating back to the founding of our nation. And the Rt. Rev. John Shelby Spong. At the time of the interview, the prolific retired Episcopal Bishop of Newark, NJ had just published his 2009 book, titled Jesus for the Non-religious.
Moving past 101 content can be a huge task if you don't know what to do, where to go, and what to study. So, why should you move past 101 content and how do you do it? I use Wicca as a basis for this episode, but this applies to all paths, traditions, and religions. MENTIONED: o Shadow Work Episode: https://youtu.be/O1_UKy1gox4 o Night Shayde w/Flatline2Beatline: https://tunein.com/podcasts/Religion--Spirituality-Podcasts/Flatline-2-Beatline-p1250191/ o The Craft - A Witch's Book of Shadows by Dorothy Morrison: https://amzn.to/2S6aL54 o Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham: https://amzn.to/2OgW3qJ o Lisa Chamberlain Books: https://amzn.to/2UedKuP CURRENTLY READING: o Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler o Get it on Paperback: https://amzn.to/34wM1XT o Get it on Audible: https://amzn.to/2S2NH8V FIND ME ONLINE! Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/roundthecauldron Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/roundthecauldron Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/rounthecauldron Patreon: http://patreon.com/roundthecauldron Website: http://www.roundthecauldron.com Shop: http://www.roundthecauldron.com/shop DISCLAIMER: Links in the description may be affiliate links. If you purchase a product using these links, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/round-the-cauldron/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/round-the-cauldron/support
What an amazing book to start the year! Margot Adler was an accomplished journalist and fellow witch who's book was a great read, start to finish. Welcome back for Season 2 of the Witchspace Podcast!
Ring in the new year like the true witch you are! Say goodbye to 2019 and step into 2020 in true magickal fashion! Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel and take part in the LIVE recording of the podcast every Wednesday at 11am PST! MENTIONED: o New Year Prosperity Spell: https://wp.me/pawqtP-1Jm o Affirmation Journal Printable: https://wp.me/pawqtP-1o6 o Burn it Away Spell: https://wp.me/pawqtP-1JA o New Year Tarot Spread: https://wp.me/pawqtP-1JI CURRENTLY READING: o Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler o Get it on Paperback: https://amzn.to/34wM1XT o Get it on Audible: https://amzn.to/2S2NH8V Don't forget to follow me on social media and subscribe to my newsletter. You can also help support the show at Patreon! Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Patreon DISCLAIMER: Links in the show notes may be affiliate links. If you purchase a product using these links, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/round-the-cauldron/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/round-the-cauldron/support
Modern Witchcraft & Earth Magic Wisdom with Riyana Rose Amaya is flying solo for this episode, on assignment in the San Francisco Bay Area a place for all things mystical, magical and witchy. She interviews Riyana Rose a modern day witch, herbalist, coach, and writer who has been practicing witchcraft in her tradition called Reclaiming for over 20 years. In this episode, Riyana demystifies the term “witch”, by taking it off the flying broomstick and bringing it back down to earth. She shares wisdom about our connection to our indigenous roots, our bodies, what we put into our bodies, how we move through the world, and how we tend to and interact with our innate wisdom, which has been lost through a long history of oppression and violence towards women, indigenous cultures, and the earth. She helps explain how and why we have been affected by the witch burnings of our past, and gives advice about how to heal from this ancestral trauma. She encourages anyone interested in learning more about their inner witch and this earth magic wisdom to start with a personal study of their heritage and the folk traditions of their past, to read books like Spiral Dance by Starhawk, Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler, and most importantly, to “go take a walk in the moonlight”.... To find more information about Riyana, her Reclaiming witchcraft tradition, workshops, and coaching program, reach out to her at www.budblossomhip.com
Ian Allan is a psychic and intuitive Witch living in Johnson City, TN. He owns and operates Appalachian Witchery, where he teaches classes on Appalachian Folk Lore and Magic, he offers tarot and psychic readings, as well as magical consultations and spell creation. WE TALK ABOUT: unique Appalachian spiritual culture divination, water witching, dowsing, folk magic, ancestor veneration, books of shadows the definition of real magic the difference between magic and manifesting MENTIONED ON THE SHOW Rumours - Fleetwood Mac Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler The Spiral Dance by Starhawk Talking Appalachian by Amy Clark Power of the Witch by Laurie Cabot with Tom Cowan LaurieCabot.com Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham The Witches' Voice GUEST LINK - IAN ALLAN Appalachian Witchery HOST LINKS - SLADE ROBERSON Slade's Books & Courses Get an intuitive reading with Slade Automatic Intuition BECOME A PATRON https://www.patreon.com/shiftyourspirits Edit your pledge on Patreon TRANSCRIPT Ian: My name is Ian Allan. I live in Johnson City, Tennessee, was originally raised in a small coal-mining town in southwest Virginia. Not West Virginia, but Virginia, the southwest corner called Wise. Grew up in a kind of traditional Appalachian family. Became more knowledgeable, I guess would be the world I would use about dreams that I was having and feelings I would be getting about people I would meet at churches or in public atmospheres that would start becoming true. And so I became pretty obsessed with occult sort of ideas from a very young age and it just kind of started developing from there, around the age of 13, is probably when I really started working on developing certain gifts or abilities, if you want to use that word. And it just kind of went on from there. I became a public tarot reader in which I, about 11 years ago, I have been doing all of that for over 20 years at this point now, but really stepped in to the public sphere about 11 years ago and started reading for the public and offering classes on different topics relating to witchcraft as well as, specifically, Appalachian folk magic. Slade: Okay, so I'm just curious when you meet someone for the first time in real life and they ask you what you do, what do you say? Ian: Um, well, previous to March, I would pretty much say I teach Appalachian folk lore and magic. I also read tarot cards. It's not something I've ever really been shy about telling people. Slade: Okay. Ian: I... Just last October, had an interview with the local newspaper and my picture's in it and it's titled Appalacian Witchery. So if people have read the paper, they saw my face, they read an article about me. It's not something I've ever really hidden. It does, obviously, get a lot of weird looks or eye rolls sometimes, but that just kind of comes with that whole idea of being a witch. People don't want to think that we exist sometimes or that we're just crazy people. So it's something I've gotten used to. I've gotten a thicker skin over the years. Slade: One of the reasons I ask that question, and I've started asking it of a lot of the people that I interview is because so many of the people who listen to this show and the people that I work with in particular, are in some kind of process of sort of coming out of the broom closet, or coming out of the psychic closet. Coming out of some kind of closet, right? It's helpful to hear other people's stories and also hear sometimes that we don't all just walk around, you know, like carrying a sign, you know? Ian: Oh yeah! Slade: You know, there's a very, varied nuances to how we answer that question and how we go about in the public. And you've been confronted with the very real reality of having the local newspaper feature you, whereas I'm kind of anonymous locally but yet more globally visible, you know what I mean? So it must be a little bit different being like, but you're the town witch, you know! Everyone's gotta have one, right? Ian: Exactly. Exactly. Historically, yeah. Every village had a witch or shaman who could do herbalism, who would also do magic on the side. So yeah, every village, every town, usually had someone that they would go to, and I'm okay with being that. And I'm not the only one here in Johnson City. Believe me. There are plenty of witches here. I guess I am probably one of the more outspoken ones who hasn't hid himself away, or herself away. So with that does a certain lack of anonymity within the public locally. And I'm okay with that. I like taking care of my community. People who you wouldn't suspect would come to me for readings, for discussion of spell creation and that sort of thing. People who are, you know, ministers' wives, ministers themselves, but, that's days... kind of like, I always view it as a... almost like a psychologist sort of thing where, if you come to me, you come to me and it doesn't leave this room. No one's going to know your name, no one's going to know what we talked about. Slade: Right. Ian: It's definitely helped word of mouth, I guess, for my business, if you want to look at it that way, but it's more of a, I like taking care of my local community. Not that I don't care about my global community, I do care about them but, growing up in the 90s, there was that whole 'think locally'.. 'think globally, act locally', adage, so I've always kind of tried to live by that adage. If I can affect my small town in some way, then they'll start affecting the world at a larger rate than I could by myself. Slade: Yeah, well listen, there are people who listen to this show from all over the world. I mean, Australia, Singapore (I have a lot of fans in Singapore for some reason - hey guys!), Europe... You know, places where, even maybe there's people in Canada who don't really know about the Appalachian region and culture that we're talking about. You are from a city called Johnson City, which is in northeast Tennessee, kind of in the corner with North Carolina and Virginia. So if you would, just kind of explain for everybody a little bit about what Appalachian magic and folk lore is, as, you know, how you would sum it up. Ian: Okay, well, the first thing that I always do in my classes is discuss the word that you're pronouncing. You're saying, Appa-LAY-chia, I pronounce it Appa-LATCH-a. Slade: Mmhmm. Ian: And there's a reason for that. There's kind of an imaginary line, like the Mason/Dixon line, about the pronunciation of the word of the mountains that we live in. And below this imaginary line, so probably somewhere below Washington DC, northern Virginia, sort of area, you're going to hear it pronounced Appalachia. Above that they're going to say Appalachia. And part of that is, you know, it's just dialect. But it was a way for people back in the 1800s into the early 1900s to know who was an outsider and who could be trusted. Because the carpet baggers who would come down to the south, into the Appalachian mountains, or the coal miners or the coal companies who would send in people from the north, they would say Appalachia and we learned they weren't fully to be trusted because were exploiting us. They were stealing our land, they were stealing our property. Stealing our coal, taking our trees and then leaving us in poverty. And so, words, first off, have a lot of power. They have a lot of meaning, so... and it's not wrong to say Appalachia, because the people in the Appalachian mountains into Pennslyvania, Vermont and Maine, they DO pronounce it Appalachia. So their pronunciation is right for them, but when you're talking southern Appalachia, it's more proper to use that pronunciation of Appalachia. Slade: So I sound like a carpet bagger! What the hell. I'm from Tennessee! Actually, you know what would be funny is if I wasn't looking at that word written down and I was surrounded by my family (because my dialect changes depending on who I'm speaking with) I wonder which way I would say it if I wasn't thinking about it. I'm going to be listening for it now and like, how my family says it. Anyway. I didn't mean to interrupt. But go ahead. Ian: Oh no, that's perfectly fine because what you just talked about is like, if you were hanging out with your family, how would you say it? That's what we call code switching. We all have different ways of talking and different words that we use, depending on who we're talking to and what event's going on. There's a great book by a great professor of mine who I, from the University of Virginia's college at Wise. Her name's Amy Clark. She wrote, or she edited a book called Talking Appalachia, and it's a book of collected essays about, or people from around the Appalachian region who wrote about code switching, basically, how they talk and why they talked the way they did. It's a fascinating thing if you're into linguistics. Slade: I was a linguistics major originally in college, yeah! Yes I am interested in that! Ian: Yeah, so, that's a good thing and I've totally rambled off of your first question. So, your question was more about Appalachian magic and folk lore, correct? Slade: Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, a lot of people... So we've identified a little bit of the area physically, geographically, that we're talking about. Why don't you tell us where the magic part comes from, or maybe what's unique about Appalachian magic? Where did this fusion of stuff come from? Ian: Okay. So Appalachian folk magic is really kind of a conglomeration of Scot beliefs, Irish beliefs, English beliefs, German, and a little bit of Turkey, practices, as within this area because it was pretty isolated and even to this day, they consider the Appalachians isolated, from the rest of the larger United States. But, these groups of people started settling here in these mountains and they would share some of their beliefs with one another and they kind of just created a mixing pot, a nice mix in a cauldron, if you want to keep good doing the witch stuff, beliefs and culture and created something that was more unique. I think it's probably the most American of practices. Because I mean, you do have folk magic in New England, but it was very much colonial English practices that they continued because that was who settled there. In the mountains, you had more, more people who came from sort of the lower echelons of society, so to speak, come in to the mountains because they said, 'Oh! No one settled here. There's plenty of land. Let's move here and create our own wealth, not realizing how rocky and sandy the mountains were, not really fit for a lot of farming. So then their life, the hard scrabble life, created different myths, different practices, different folk lores... Things like the wampus cat are definitely Appalachian in origin. That's sort of how all this came about was. Different people from different, but similar backgrounds, coming together to live and then just having to share with one another because of how isolated the area actually was at the time. Slade: Hmm... Okay, okay. So you mentioned the wampus cat. What are some of the topics that you teach classes about when you teach Appalachian folk lore? Just kind of tell us, what are some of the topics? Ian: The first one that I always like to teach, and I usually teach it maybe twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall, as just kind of an introduction to Appalachian folk lore and magic, and that just covers a broad series of topics, such as who settled the area, where do we get it, some folk remedies. I discuss some of the legends like the wampus cat or, as he's now become named, the Wood Booger, which is not the most flattering of a name for a creature in Appalachia, but, you know, whatever. Call it whatever you want. It's a big hairy man, kind of like a big foot running around in our woods. And then we talk about divination techniques and in some of the other classes I do a class just on divination techniques that are unique here to this area, which, of course, are also similar to other things that people do in the broader world, like dowsing is a big thing within the mountains, especially what they call water witching, and that's where a person has a special ability to find water would take a specific type of wood, and the wood varied, depending on the family. My grandfather used peach tree wood to dowse for water to dig a well. Whereas other families I've known, they use ash or even elder to dowse with. But then of course, water witching is, has been done all over the world and also pendulum, using things like a wedding band on the woman's... taking a piece of hair from the woman's head and dangling her wedding band over her pregnant belly would indicate male or female. I teach a class on just specifically Appalachian techniques. I also teach classes on how to read playing cards as a divination tool and tarot cards. I teach some modern witchcraft classes. Slade: Well, let me take you back into the past a little bit and come back up to where your knowledge is now, but... So for a long time I've really been wanting to talk to someone on the show about witchcraft and magic because I come to all of this new age stuff from an identification as a witch at a really young age and so my family is very much Appalachian and I've got some Appalachian witchery, you know, a few steps back, like grandparents, but I very much grew up in suburbia. So for the most part, I grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee, so, you know, a decent sized city suburbia, so my identification as a witch (I have to tell you this story because i haven't told it to other people), but I was probably about 8 or 9 years old because I actually looked it up to see when the Fleetwood Mac album Rumours came, because that was 1977. I loved that album. I remember, it must have been soon after that because my family was going on a car trip somewhere, like maybe to Florida or something long like that and I think my mom had told me that I could buy a magazine at the grocery store. So I got her to buy me a Rolling Stone magazine which she was kind of like, Why do you want a Rolling Stone magazine, you know, you're 8! But it was because there was a feature on Stevie Nicks, and in that magazine, I got it because it was just HER and it was cool pictures of her and I was like, Oh, Stevie! Ian: Oh yeah! Slade: So I'm in the back of the car driving through Georgia in 1970-something and I'm reading Stevie Nicks talking about white witchcraft and how, you know, she's a white witch and all this stuff. And I had this total epiphany of like, Ohmygod, I'm a white witch, that's what I am! From that point on, I was always interested in wicca as a teenager and in college, I kind of discovered... I did a Women's Studies certificate in college, just because it was like you could take these more interesting cool kind of classes that were feminists but they were within different things, like some kind of feminist history or something like that and... After you took so many of them, they actually will give you a certificate in Women's Studies and sometimes I was the only guy in these classes but I just liked the topics. I would the syllabus, or the class listed in the roster and be like, Oh that sounds amazing! So anyway, I got turned on through this Irish women's studies teacher of mine to all this really modern feminist paganism, right? So I was reading, one of my favorite books is, there was an NPR reported named Margot Adler who wrote a book called Drawing Down the Moon. It's kind of a collection of all the various different types of modern witchcraft in America, or modern neopaganism. And then probably the big one for me, a big game changer was The Spiral Dance by Starhawk. That was when I kind of connected the whole feminine principle of the goddess, you know, like the lifeforce in the Universe as being a feminine thing, which was instinctively true for me and she kind of made that intellectual connection for me, in a way. So anyway, I'm wondering, what is your version of that? What were your... How did you come to this? Were there other people in your family or did you just.. you know, were you encouraged? Discouraged? What was your story of how you discovered this part of yourself? Ian: Oh yeah! I guess the easiest way to explain it, I have to go back to the 80s, when I was first... Because I was only born in '83, so... It was a weird time, being born in '83 or the late 80s in the area of the Appalachians that I grew up in. Because I grew up, like I said, in Wise, Virginia, and that is on the very tail end of Virginia. It's about 20 minute drive to Kentucky. Coal had started to fail. It was no longer king in the area, and so people were starting to lose jobs. Mines were closing down. The world there was trying to figure out what to do next. Sadly, they still haven't figured it out. But that's a whole other podcast... Slade: Yeah, right. Ian: ...to talk about the devastation of coal companies on the people within Appalachia. That area was very stuck, trying to figure out, how do we move in to a sort of modern mindset when we don't want to? We still want to be very old-fashioned, very traditional, in our community, and I kind of got swept up in that as I was coming of age, thinking, there's nothing here for me. Watching MTV and thinking, Oh, I'm going to be on Real World or Road Rules and that's how I'm going to see the world. Trying to get away from it but very deeply still wanting to connect with where I was being born. And the word 'witch' was never used in my family as far as describing my aunts, or my great aunts, or my great uncles, or any of that. Because they were very Christian, and that's also something I try to stress in my classes is, I use the word 'witch' because I think it's the most apt word, and witchcraft is the most apt word for describing the practices people did here. But they were very staunchly Christian. And so, everything they did came through the power of prayer to Jesus or to God. They weren't real hip on the Catholics either. Slade: Right. Ian: There are many a sermon I sat through connecting Catholicism basically to Satanism. So growing up, they weren't real hip on Catholics, even though my dad is from, well, he's an army brat but his family ended up settling in the Fairfax area and they ARE Catholic, so half of my family is Catholic and the other half is very traditional southern and Free Will Baptists in the mountains. But everyone in my family still did things. They would interpret dreams, they would talk about ghost stories. The professor I mentioned earlier, Amy Clark, in her English composition class, I think it was Composition 102, she made us do an oral history report and I went and interviewed my great aunt Fern, and collected all sorts of folk lore and stories about the road I grew up on. Because growing up, it was mostly all my family that lived on this road. She shared a story about how my grandmother and her cousin Ione used to go stay with this lady out on this back road called Red Wine. And everyone thought she was a witch. Things would move in her house without her touching them, and my aunt Fern didn't really know a whole lot because she was never invited to go sleepover there, so she just got second-handed stories.. There were definitely stories growing up that I would hear and then there were also the herbal remedies that my grandmother would make, or other people in the family would make for people being sick. I started having dreams from a very young age, where I was like, Oh, this is actually real. This is happening. And they were more literal dreams. They weren't the ones I would have to go interpret like, Oh, there were three cows in my dream. What does that mean? It was like, Oh, I'm walking into a church and here's someone that hasn't been in church sitting there and they're getting ready to give a testimony about how they've been sick and then that Sunday we'd go to church and that would happen. And I was like, Oh, this is interesting. And I also just really loved stories about witches, about vampires, about the monsters... That was where my interest as a very young child was at. Like, I remember specifically in second grade, my best friend Ashley had wore her mother's winter cloak to school and we went to library. I took her cloak and put it on like a cape and was running around like I was a vampire. I very specifically remember that because I got in trouble for that. Because it was a library and I was not supposed to be running around having all this fun. While everyone else was there checking out the Hardy Boys books, I was in the weird section checking out the children's versions of Frankenstein or Dracula, those sorts of books. So I would try to watch anything on TV that my mother would allow me to watch about witchcraft or whatever and I became... obsessed is probably the best word for it. Kind of became obsessed with it, especially the Salem Witch Trials. Halloween is still my favorite holiday to this day so I always looked forward to the fall and specifically, October, because then, you know, when Discovery channel and the History channel were actually about science and history, they would show specials about the history of witchcraft, or the history of vampirism. Even if they repeated the same thing ten times that month, I would watch it every time it came on. Slade: Yeah. Ian: And then when I was 13, we took a trip to... It was a whole big family trip. We drove with the entire family, some uncles, some aunts, up to Gettysburg to see the re-enactment, probably on 4th of July, around the 4th of July because I think that's when they do all their re-enactments. So we went there and then we were following my mom's brother on up to Connecticut where him and his wife had moved to, and I realized that Connecticut was very close to Massachusetts. I convinced my family to take a day trip to Salem. So one day we all piled in the car, drove I think 5 - 6 hours to Salem. And I was... I guess awestruck is probably the best word for it. Because I was like, Wow they're talking about witchcraft like it's something that anyone can do. That it's actually real and tangible and I remember seeing this woman walking down the street in long black robes with her staff and black hair flowing. And then I discovered who that was, and it's a woman named Laurie Cabot, the official witch of Salem. I was like, Wow, witches are real! I bought my first deck of tarot cards when I was there and then we came home and I just started reading tarot cards with the little white book that came with it, for friends and family. That slowly started to develop more and more, and then I purchased a couple of books on wicca and witchcraft, one being Laurie Cabot's book, The Power of the Witch. And then a book by Scott Cunningham, I think it was Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. And then I discovered, Oh! There's a shop in Kingsport called Dilly's Curiosity Shop. And they had books and herbs and candles. It wasn't JUST a witch shop. They had tons of stuff on the New Age movement, on Hinduism. It was just kind of a hippie, new age sort of store, and once I became old enough to drive, you could usually find me there every weekend or every other weekend, spending my hard-saved allowance on books and candles and things that I needed. So it really started from there, was when I really discovered, Oh wow... So about 13. Wow, witchcraft is real and, you know, this is what my family's been doing and what I've been doing naturally for years. Starting to study it from there just kind of helped develop it more into something that wasn't just an occasional, Oh I'm having a dream, or I'm getting a sensation from meeting this person, or I feel like I need to leave some food outside for whatever gunk might be creeping around outside to protect the house. That sort of thing. It wasn't just something that I did spontaneously anymore. It became more of a honed practice. Slade: Yeah... Yeah I was going to ask you, actually, let's see, I'm going to come back to that and ask you a little bit about your personal practice but... I'm interested in, first of all, all those books were taking me back. I used to work in one of those stores, like your're talking about. It was called The New Moon. I basically was the person who chose the books for the magic section. All the people who worked there, we all kind of had our different area of expertise. There was somebody who did all the crystals and stones. There was a guy who was a Druid and he did all of that. There was a guy who was into Buddhism, so all that section of the store, he would advise the owner what to buy. My thing was goddess spirituality, wicca, this whole thing. So the books that you're naming off, I'm like, Yeah, yeah we had that book, we had that book. I'm interested, you know, when I was talking about Starhawk. Starhawk always defined magic, which she took from someone named Dion Fortune, as the art of changing consciousness at will. So I kind of wonder, what's your definition of magic? What is that, to you? How does it work? Ian: Yeah. It's a question that, you know, most people want to know a definition too. And as I said, I've studied and practiced for 20-something years, so I've read all the definitions, Dion Fortune, Starhawk, Aleister Crowley, and I think, yes, they're all pretty accurate. The art of changing consciousness at will - I like to take it a little step further and it's more than just changing your consciousness. It's also... Because changing your consciousness is one thing. But being able to change physical reality is a whole other, and I know they... As you get deeper into the magic conversations and topics, we talk about micro and macrocosms and how if you change your consciousness and you are changing physical reality but being able to literally change your physical reality is part of my definition of magic. So it would be more like the art of changing physical reality and your consciousness at will, in alignment with natural forces. Because I don't believe that there is anything really supernatural about anything that witches do. We are using natural energies and natural forces. We're just using it in a way that most people aren't aware of the ability of how to manipulate those energies to effect the change we want to see. Slade: She goes on in her definition, she talks about the art part as using sensory imagery and symbols that evoke emotions and then the will is kind of directed energy and intention, and together, those things sort of mix and shift, because we're kind of swimming around in this emotional-thought-energy soup, or whatever. You know what's interesting to me, see, is that sounds like people talking about Law of Attraction and talking about manifesting. I started blogging 12 or 13 years ago and the vocabulary that was popularized by The Secret sort of eclipsed some of what we call magic. It was like, no longer fashionable to use the word 'magic', now it's 'manifesting'. Do you have any observations about the relationship between those things? Is that something that you notice as well? Ian: Okay. So yeah. I definitely believe that there is validity in the Law of Attraction in its relation to magic. I am definitely not going to be your love and light person when it comes to this conversation because I think most of what we get with Law of Attraction is bullshit for the most part. When it comes down to - you have cancer because you wanted cancer - you wanted to be sick, I think it's especially (and I don't want to name names because I don't want to start any internet wars with anyone), but there are people who purport this Law of Attraction and about being in alignment with it, or stepping out of it, and you have to step out of it to know when you're in alignment with your Law of Attraction. It's very victim-blaming to me. Slade: Yeah. Ian: The way that they discuss it sometimes. And it's not helpful. And it's not been official, for the people who were in crisis mode, because then they think, Oh well I did this to myself. And yes, there is a part of it that I believe we do to ourselves. We make choices, whether they're conscious or subconscious choices, we make them, that create our realities. I mean, that's true. If I choose not to do something, I'm going to have the consequences of that action. But the manifestation of magic is definitely, you do certain things to attract what you're trying to get in your life. If I'm trying to get a job, I'm going to put my energy into my resume of attracting the job I want. And as a witch, I will take it a step further and anoint the edge of my resume with an oil blend I've made to attract a good job for me. Or the best job for my highest good. I'm going to do that and send the resume in and I guess now, most things are electronic. I know some witches who, electronically, they have a very faint... what's the word that I'm looking for... it's on the back of paper that you put on... a watermark! A very faint watermark of a sigil that they created. And, a sigil, you know, is just an image that you create and you imbue with a certain energy. So they would create a job sigil and put that onto the back of their resume before they emailed it out. And so, for me, that's more how the Law of Attraction works. It kind of goes back to the ideas that I grew up with. Being raised in a Christian home, but a magical Christian home. You know. God helps those who help themselves. So if you're acting in alignment with something that you want, then the Universe is going to provide that. But you have to do it in the accurate way. And so, for me, I don't like using the term Law of Attraction just because of all of that baggage that I feel comes with it. And how simplified things like The Secret made it. It's not just, Ooo I'm going to sit in my house and make a pretty dream board and hang it up and it's going to manifest. At least in my experience, it's been, You can do that, but if you don't put in the work to try to manifest it, the Universe isn't going to give it to you. I think the Law of Attraction has been simplified and that it has... Because the new age movement has a lot of money behind it, especially when you're being published by people like Harper Collins or the bigger publishing companies. They can definitely get you more exposure than Llewellyn could get you. I don't think you'll see many Llewellyn books on the best seller's list the way that you will, you know, Penguin or Harper Collins. Those sorts of publishing companies. So definitely if it's going to feed the capitalist society, then they're going to pounce on it. And so, yeah, I guess that's my answer for your question on Law of Attraction! Slade: That's cool! I'm very happy to hear your take on all that because it does... I think it always sort of... I feel the contrast in it and I'm always aware, kind of, of the intersection of that terminology, so... I'm one of those people who I use other people's vocabulary in order to reach them. Like you were saying, for instance, there are a lot of really Christian people who use Christian vocabulary to talk about magic, so if I'm going to talk about magic to them, I'm going to use their vocabulary because otherwise you shut them down if you start coming at them with, you know, like calling it the 'goddess'. If you're talking to a 90-year old woman about folk lore and she's talking about Jesus, just call it Jesus. You know what I mean? Ian: Exactly. Slade: Just keep on going. So, to me, it's always a language thing. It's interesting. Your whole thing about the word 'Appalachia', I did not know that specifically, so that was a huge epiphany for me to hear that about the idea of how it identified someone from being somewhere else. I was a linguistics major and I'm always interested in language and, to me, as a writer, magic and spell-crafting is very much, sort of rooted in a lot of language and when I do assessments of my mentoring students, I actually listen for the way in which they speak about these things. And that doesn't mean the obvious stuff like the symbolism and the archetypes and the buzzwords. I actually am listening for the actual words that they use, like, are they using passive language, are they using a lot of visual language, do they speak emotionally, those kind of things sometimes tell you a lot. It's subtext. Ian: Yes. Slade: To shorten the story. So I'm interested... you touched on a couple of things. The whole thing about the resume was interesting. What other kind of... not the things you necessarily do for your clients that you teach, but just in your own personal life, what kind of rituals do you observe? Or what kinds of magic do you do every day, kind of household magic? Ian: Okay, yeah. So household magic. That's always been kind of a big part of most folk magic. I always like calling it 'folk' magic instead of calling it 'low' magic because it makes it seem like it's something less worthy, because by definition, 'high magic' is like super occulty sort of things where you have to have a special robe and special pentograms painted on the floor. And then, I don't know who popularized the terms 'high' and 'low' magic but low magic was what the common folk did, and you know what? I'm a common folk. I like being a common folk. I don't want all the responsibility of being John Dee and deciphering things for Queen Elizabeth. That's not my interest area. I don't want to go and sit in the White House, especially this White House, and manifest messages for any political figure, especially what we have now. So my daily practice, there is, and this is something that people from almost all backgrounds, culturally, they have, if they dig deep enough, is ancestor veneration. Ancestors play a big part in my practice, and in the practice of the Appalachian people, as well as other cultures as well. I'm not forgetting them. It's big in hoodoo and voodoo as well, in African American and African traditions. But it's also big in European traditions. And so I definitely try to make sure I light a candle for my ancestor's altar every day and just kind of say hello to them. Let them know that I'm still thinking of them and, thanks for being who you were because then I can't be who I am if it wasn't for you. And that's not to say that all my ancestors were great people because they weren't. We all have those rotten branches and the rotten fruit on our family trees, and so, in classes, I do teach ways to kind of, you know, you don't want to invite all of your entire ancestry into your home because you might have a child molester or murderer or serial rapist in your family and that's definitely not what you want to invite into your home. So I teach ways to kind of try to helpfully, try to hopefully help them along on the other side to get to where they need to be. In my practice, I try to light a candle for them every day, just saying thank you, because sometimes, my magic is just me going to the alter and saying, I really need your help. This is the situation. And I'll bring them food. I'll cook them a special meal of whatever it is that they specifically like. Usually it's cornbread or something very southern. Cornbread, soup beans, pork chops, really salty country ham that I can't try to eat because it's too salty, but I will set it at their alter and light the candles and kind of say a prayer to them. It's sort of like the idea of Catholics asking saints for help. That's how a lot of witches use ancestors, and sometimes that's all you need to do to get help. You might get answers in your dreams from one of your ancestors. And it might be even someone that you don't know is your ancestor. A random person will pop up in your dream and give you the answer. Or things just start magically happening in your life, like I was really needing help to get this job and then suddenly you get 4 job offers. That sort of thing. I try to bless my food before I eat it. I do a lot of garden work. So I definitely try to take care of the plant spirits. In my belief structure, every ... I'm what you would consider an animist, so I definitely believe that every plant has its own very specific spirit, the dirt has it's own spirit, so I try to get to know that spirit, talk to it, learn about it. I am the crazy person in my condos that's seen outside mumbling to themselves and I think that's where the idea of witches, you know, muttering to themselves came from, is that we talk to everything. Things that no one else would see, we would be talking to the trees, to the plants, to the birds that were up in the trees, and also muttering spells under our breath for, usually for the good. Not all witches do things for the good of all, but I mean, that's usually my general practice. I don't a daily spell. I'm not... mostly because my life doesn't dictate that I need it. My life isn't that hectic that, I have to put it back together, always! Slade: Right. Ian: I do magically craft things. I make what's now commonly referred to as Books of Shadows, you know, spell books. I tea-stain pages with special herbs for special meanings, like keeping secrets and keeping power in the book and I'll bind them and add in special pictures and I try to sell them. Sometimes I just give them as gifts. I do magical crafts pretty much on the regular, making witches' cords, which is kind of a braided cord with special items like oak leaves or tarot cards, feathers, generally I have a very specific purpose in mind for each of them. I will make one for protection of the house, one to get a job, one to be enchanting, to have enchantments over people to make you feel... kind of like a glamour.. make yourself look more appealing and you just kind of really hang these in your home or your office for whatever purpose it is that you.. I would create it for you and, just looking at it, kind of helps imbue you with that energy because all the energy is there and kind of just drips down, like a rain cord.. And so, that's pretty much basically my daily practice. Like I said, I don't do spells every day just because my life doesn't dictate it, that I need to do a spell every day. But I do sit in communication with the spirit world almost every day. Whether that's plant spirits or my ancestor spirits or both. Slade: You are like me, you're like a like-minded soul in that you want this to be normal and part of your every day life. Like, it doesn't have to be some high ritual, like there's something almost off-putting about that, to me. Whereas something that I can incorporate into my daily existence, I'm a big sweeper. I sweep a lot. Ian: Oh yeah. Slade: You were talking about, that's where the images of witches outside, you know, crazy people muttering spells to themselves, I'm outside sweeping all the time. I'm that weird little old person who's like, I'm practicing for when I'm a little old man out there sweeping the sidewalk. So you've talked a little bit about these magical crafts. Now how does that play into, you do professional magical consultations and you create spells for people. So is there something similar in what you do for your clients? Ian: Yeah. Definitely. Just to get back to the brooms, I'm obsessed with brooms. I have... I don't know how many brooms I have hanging in the house, but I love brooms. I love the magic of sweeping. I have a specific broom for sweeping my front lawn, and then I have a specific broom that I use if I go to a client's house to clean out energy or angry ghosts or that sort of thing, that I only use for that specific purpose. Magical consultations might involve my broom, depends on what they come to me for. A client will, you know, usually contact me on my Facebook page or my number is on my Facebook page too, or they'll call me. And they will set up an appointment time. Sometimes I know beforehand because they want to share a little bit over phone about, this is why I need to come meet you. I'm having a hard time in my marriage, or I'm having a hard time finding a job. In the meeting, I take a lot of notes. I know that's off-putting for some clients. Like, why are you writing this down? And I'll write it down because, while I will remember most of things, I don't remember everything when I go back home, and start creating a spell or ritual for the person. And so, they'll bring me their issue, or their troubles, or what they're trying to magically create in their life. And, the consultation usually involves a reading of some sort. I'll get my cards out and see if there's some, if there is a block to what you're trying to do. Because sometimes we do create blocks for ourselves. Or there are people in our life that are blocks. Like if you're trying to save your marriage but your partner is not wanting to save your marriage and they're completely over that marriage, you don't want to try to force a marriage with someone who's really trying to escape it. And so, it's important for me to do these readings that I'm doing, consultations, because I don't want to trap someone into a marriage that will eventually make both people completely miserable. Or, the job that they're trying to get, we will look at that specific job and kind of look at the future and be like, Oh, you will be happy here so I'll craft something to help you be more enchanting in your interviews, or just draw the energy to you specifically for this job. Or if it's the other way, this job is going to be a terrible fit for you. You will like it for a bit but then it's going to be super draining. I would do something more like a road opener, so to speak, to make them more open to more offers of jobs, to a bigger spectrum of jobs, where they might need to take that job initially, but continuing to be open and going out and try to attract the job that's going to be most beneficial for them. So I will sit down and talk with the person, do a reading, and then I usually try to bring so many different herbs and things with me, so I can create little baths the person can take if they need a cleansing bath, or a bath to make them have more self-esteem, that sort of thing. I can create that on the spot and give it to them. But if it's something that requires more work, like if I have to go purchase certain items that I don't have on hand, then we set up another time to meet. If it's something that I need them to do, because for me, magic is most potent if the person that needs the magic is involved in it in some physical way. Whereas if I'm just at my house, doing a spell for you, I'm not going to have as much emotion in it as you are going to be able to manifest for yourself. Because it's affecting you more than it is me. I can pull up as much emotion as I possibly can, and I do, and I send it out. Not every spell is going to work. It's kind of a 70, 80% chance that it's going to manifest the way you want it to. Because... I'm a big advocate when I talk about magic is, magic is going to take the path of least resistance. So you need to be specific and general at the same time in what you're trying to manifest. I know that sounds like a contradiction, to be general and specific, but if you're just, Oh, I need money, and we do a money spell, you might get an inheritance but your mother might die. And that's not what you're trying to manifest. So you want money, but what do you want that money for? So you want that money because you want to go on vacation. So let's do a spell for that vacation instead of just money. Slade: Interesting, yes. Ian: And that's where the consultation come in handy instead of someone just sending me a message saying, hey I need a spell for this, and me sitting down, okay cool. I'll just write you the spell and do all the stuff in the instructions and you do it. Because it might manifest in a way they aren't expecting or wanting. And so, getting... And that's why I take so many notes. Getting down to the nitty gritty, exactly what the person is trying to create with their lives, dictates exactly what type of spell or magical ritual, if I feel it needs to get to that point would dictate. Slade: Is this something that you always have to do in person or can you do it over the phone and send people things? Ian: I can do it over the phone and then mail all the stuff out. Sometimes there are things that I will do on my end. And then I'll just send pictures of my work as I'm going along so they know I'm actually doing it. Slade: Okay. Ian: Instead of, you know, there are crooks out there who, I would do a spell for you, send me $400! Slade: Right. Ian: And then they sit at home and eat popcorn and watch Netflix. And then send you a message, I've done it! You should see it happening. I try to keep things on the up and up as much as possible. So I will send people pictures as much as I can. I do think sometimes taking pictures and documenting it can sometimes zap a bit of the energy out of it because... that's my own personal belief. I'm kind of going back to the idea of electronics pulling energy, but... Slade: Huh... Well, I think that, well one thing that electronics does do is it allows us to reach people that aren't here. It takes away the distance somewhat, so that you can, you know, speak to somebody that's on the other side of the country. But I would think that, the fact that there is this sort of physical object that you often create, you know, like the cords or a little grimoire or something like that, there's something, you know, the reason I can never be a Buddhist is because I like attaching energy and emotion to things. I find objects that have been imbued with power and emotion and association and intention to be extremely delicious and I want them sitting around on my shelves and stuff, you know? I think that's one of the ways in which magic really differs, but I would think that there would be something to that sort of crafted item that is uniquely special, to the way that you do readings and healings. In working with people who do different kinds of readings or healings, I usually talk to them about the idea that there's a diagnostic part of their session and there's a healing active part of the session. For me, it's all language. It's all words. It's basically, I'm an enabler and I can give you a big pep talk and that is the way that I heal. For other people, it might be something like, doing reiki, or like you said, it might be going clearing spirits or it might be crafting this item, spell, and then you use the intuitive part as a kind of diagnosis. Like, what's really going on here before I go messing with it? What's underneath the layers? I think that your practice is really kind of cool and unique and the reason why I asked about if you could do it at a distance because I know that there are a lot of people listening who are going to want you to now, and you know, gonna contact you and say, Wait a minute! Can you do this over the phone because I really want one. Let me... Before we talk about how people can get in touch with you, I just want to ask you a couple of questions. One is... Are we doing okay on time for you? Ian: Oh yeah. Slade: Okay cool. I'm loving this conversation. I could talk to you all day. You can come back once a month. So what do you most hope to contribute to the sort of greater conversation about spirituality and new age stuff? You touched on the idea that, of course, being published by a major publisher can sometimes falsely put those ideas forward. I'm very much a proud indie author, podcaster, and... If you can put your work out there into the world, what is something that you kind of hope to maybe change about everybody's perception about magic. Ian: Well, I guess it's two-fold. My main goal, when I started Appalachian Witchery, was to try to preserve Appalachian culture, at least an aspect of Appalachian culture that has kind of been pushed into the dark corners. Even people who do Appalachian studies, they don't really, or at least in my experience, because I haven't read every Appalachian studies paper or book known to man, but they don't really discuss a lot of the witch folklore, or the magic that they would do. So I was very worried that it was a part that was kind of being lost in the conversation when we were talking about Appalachia. And so, I kind of wanted to bring that to the forefront because I'm very proud of where I'm from. I'm not ashamed to say I was born in a very small town. I think we had 2000 people in it, and I think the county may have had 6000 people altogether. And then when it comes to witchcraft and magic, just that, I want to de-myst... not really demystify it, because there is power in it being kind of a sacred, hidden spooky sort of thing, but that it is something that... I can sit down and craft you this spell but you are going to be the one that... I need you to actually do part of it for me. So that everyone can kind of understand that everybody has the ability. Everyone has the ability to tap in to these natural forces and kind of take charge of their own life in the process. Because, I mean, we live in the quick-fix prescription society where, I have a problem. Give me a pill. Let's fix it. And I think that kind of correlates into the occult world, the new age world at large. People come to healers and workers and think that we can fix them in one session. And they don't have to go home and do any work on their own. And that's sadly not the case. If you go and get reiki, yeah you're going to feel better. But when you go home, you need to take some of the things that you've learned in your session and start applying them to your life. If you're not applying them, then you're not actually doing the work and you'll start making those decisions again and ending up in the same place. So it kind of goes back to that whole, idea of power of attraction. If you're not willing to make the changes, then you just keep attracting the same thing that you've been doing. And so, for me, when I do the consultations or I do the readings, I really try to embed that idea that, it's good that you're coming to me for getting an outsider's perspective. Because you're getting some advice, some knowledge that you wouldn't have had otherwise, but ultimately the work lies with you in order to make those changes. I can assist you and I can help you at that, but it is mostly personal responsibility. And I guess that's really what I try to stress most. Is preservation of a culture and personal responsibility for your life. Slade: If someone's listening to this and realizing for the first time that they might be a witch because of our conversation, which will happen. What would you advise them to do first? Like, if they feel this real flush of like, Ohmygod, this is amazing, this is the thing for me. Where would a new person go to kind of begin learning about this? Do you have any particular resources or books or things that you would recommend? Ian: The first thing I would say is, if you're kind of acknowledging, Oh wow, I might be a witch, is not to go running through the streets announcing that to everyone. Because that... And we do that sometimes when we discover something new that we're very passionate about. We're like, Oh this is what I am, this is who I am. Slade: Yeah... Ian: And it's off-putting, especially when you're, if we're talking, I might be a witch, is, you will encounter a lot of those people that are going to try to extinguish that light. Tell you you're crazy, it doesn't work, it's just nonsense, so that's my first advice is, don't run out telling everyone what you think unless they're someone you can really trust. And so, finding those people is the next step. And there are resources like The Witch's Voice online, I think it's www.WitchVox.com Slade: Okay. Ian: And they have a dropdown menu on one of the, either the right or left hand side, I haven't been to the website in awhile, and you can select your state or your country of where you're living, and then narrow it down. People post group meetups there, they post kind of personals. Years ago I had one on there myself. Trying just to meet like-minded people to talk and discuss... Facebook is a great resource. I'm a member of a lot of groups, like Pagans of the Northeast, which is all situated north-east Tennessee. There's Friends of TC, which is Friends of the Tri-City, which is what we call the area I live in. Johnson City, Bristol, Kingsport, is a Tri-City area. And then anyone who is any sort of pagan or witch, can post their events, can post meetups there. So finding those people, and you can just go into like, Facebook and type in "San Diego witchcraft" and you're going probably going to find a ton of options, groups, that sort of thing there. Books-wise, I always like to start people out with the basics. One being, I am a Cabot Witch. I've trained with Laurie Cabot and I'm actually going for my second degree in two weeks. Slade: I forgot to ask you about that - yes take a second and explain what that is. The Cabot Tradition. Ian: Okay. Yeah! So the Cabot Tradition is created by Laurie Cabot. It's known as the Cabot Kent Tradition and Laurie Cabot is just a fascinating woman. She was one of the first to be a public witch in America in the early '70s. And she had been initiated and trained by some witches in Boston, I believe, back when she was, I think, 15. They came from Kent, England. When she started teaching publicly, she titled her tradition the Cabot Kent Tradition because she had added some of her own flavour into things, which is always so important to me, when people are trying to teach witchcraft, I'm like, you need to have done it long enough, for one, to teach it, and two, to have your own, sort of ideas and structure and traditions that you've created to teach. Because witchcraft is a very personal thing, and that's something that Laurie brought to it, was that she had spent all these years crafting herself as a witch and had all these years of knowledge. So she started teaching in Salem in the mid-70s and I think by the late 70s, Dukakis, Governer Dukakis I think he was at the time, gave her the official title of Official Witch of Salem. Since then, she has been on Oprah, a bunch of other talk shows, teaching about witchcraft and her tradition. And she, to this day, she's 85 now, and she's still teaching the classes and being present at the rituals, the 8 Sabbats that they follow. The 8 high holidays for her tradition, and for kind of witchcraft at large. We have 8 holidays that we usually follow. Some traditions are a little different than others and they don't do all 8, but... About 2 years ago, I had the availability, the time and the money to go and study in her Witchcraft 1 class and got my first degree in the Cabot Kent tradition, which, when I was 13, that is who I saw walking down the streets of Salem. I was like, Oh! Slade: Ohmygosh. Ian: And so, as I studied more from the time I was 13 on, I realized who that had been who I had seen. I was like, I have to study with this woman. And then 20 years later, it manifested! Slade: Wow... Ian: I had put it out into the Universe all those years ago. And sometimes that's how magic works. I would love magic to be like Bewitched, and we could wiggle our nose and it manifests on the spot, but sometimes magic takes a long time to actually manifest into your life. So I studied with her back in 2016, and then coming up, July 15th I'm going back up to Salem for my second degree in her tradition. So yup, that's a fascinating little very rough history of her that I gave you. Slade: No, that's cool. I intended to ask you about it earlier. It was something that, because the whole tradition thing is an avenue that a lot of people explore. There are different lines of witchcraft, different types of traditions... I'm really speaking from kind of a lone practitioner, eclectic sort of person, which you also do, kind of in your every day life. But I think one of the takeaways for me for someone if they're new is to... like you said, well good on Facebook. There are some things that Facebook does really, really well, and that could be one of them. Is to connect with people locally. There is a lot about, when I go back to my interests in these subjects and where they came from, a lot of what I learned was physically in a certain location, or, you know, was a certain kind of shop, like you talked about. Most cities have that cool little store where there are people working there who are a resource, there are people putting flyers up for events. It is kind of, there is something about the power of where it takes place, you know what I mean? Like, different parts of the world, different parts of the country, have different energy, have different... Because this is so connected to nature. Even though you can use the internet as a tool to kind of find some resources, if you can ground that in people where you are, I think that would be my advice based on your advice, you know? Ian: Oh yeah, yeah. That's perfect advice because, like you said, the way that someone's going to connect to their place is going to be different depending on where they're at. Someone in Singapore is definitely going to have a different sort of, probably even different definition of witchcraft, and practice of witchcraft in Singapore, as compared to me, sitting here in Johnson City, Tennessee. We're probably going to go about it 2 different ways. So yes, if you can find a local spot, then definitely capitalize on that. Read the flyers. Talk to the store owners. Talk to the people that are working there. Because I did, as well, work at a sort of a metaphysical shop for about 8 years when I moved out here to Johnson City. And people definitely talk to the shop workers about what they're doing, what they're looking for, any sort of meet-up or ritual, gathering, that's going on. So they are a plethora of information. But you have to talk to them. You have to ask them. Slade: They're like metaphysical librarians. Ian: Yeah. Slade: But you're right. A lot of people who work in those stores are not just retail employees. They're there because they have knowledge about herbalism or knowledge about crystals or they're specifically involved in the community in something like a local circle or coven, something like that. That's where you'll find them, if you want to meet them. And, you know, they're often identified by their jewellry. Ian: Yeah, yeah. We witches love our very large pieces of jewellry. Slade: Statement necklaces. Listen, I know it always kind of puts you on the spot a little bit when somebody asks you to recommend books or something in the middle of a conversation, so I'm thinking, after we have this conversation, you're probably going to think of things like, Oh! I should have mentioned this book or this website, or whatever. So you can send those to me if they come to you and you think of something you want me to put in the show notes. Because I'll put all the stuff that we've talked about in the show notes and links to different books and sites and stuff so if you want to add to that, we'll have some time here from the time we're recording 'til it goes out. Ian: Okay. Slade: I'll be working on that and you can... It's also interesting that you'll be going on your trip to study with Laurie again probably around the same time that everyone is listening to this. Ian: Oh, wow! Okay! Slade: Yeah, that same week! So yeah, there's going to be a lot of energy behind you. A lot of people are going to be thinking about you and what you're doing up there. And then when you get back, they're probably going to want to contact you. It's been really fantastic capturing this conversation with you. I feel like I'm kind of running long on time. We'll have to have you come back at some point and go down some specific rabbit holes. Because this is a... You're the FIRST witch to be on this show and given the fact that I identify with that word as well, it's kind of like, Dang, why haven't I talked about this? So you're representing for a big canopy of topics here and I appreciate what a good job that you did in making it kind of specific, and unique to you and your practice. But also introducing the topic at large to a lot of different people. This is a big, big topic. There used to be statistics out there about neopaganism and sort of the growth of that spiritual tradition statistically, in this country. And there's a lot of people interested in this and wanting to learn more about it. Tell everyone the best place they can go to find you online. What's your Facebook page? Ian: The best place is going to be my Facebook page. It is just titled Appalachian Witchery and there is a picture of the Blue Ridge mountains, so the mountains are going to look kind of blue and it's going to say 'Appalachian Witchery' in red font. I used to have a website but that is a whole other story about that, that I'm not going to get into, because it was cancelled by the people that owned Square. Slade: Ooo interesting! Ian: Yeah. There's a whole thing about occult business and how they don't support them. And they cancelled my website... Slade: Oh, wow! Ian: That's basically the story. I made them quite a bit of money. Slade: Wow... Ian: And then they decided to delete me and a bunch of other people, based on the content of their website, which was really just me selling my crafts and my classes. You could buy a seat to my class on that website, which made it so much easier for me, because I could say, I can seat 30 people and put 30 tickets up on the website and then they would sell and I wouldn't have to worry about trying to send out emails letting people know that I'd gotten their money and the seat had been saved, which is what I've had to go back to, at this point. Slade: So everybody can definitely see what you're doing on your Facebook page, because I saw where you'd posted some stuff talking about the upcoming class that you're going to do with Laurie and so, I mean, it can do a lot of things for you, and it's good enough for people to go and check out what you're doing. Like you said, you have your number there, so they can email you and call you and set up a consultation. And of course, I'll link to it. It'll be easy to find. This was really great, Ian. I've wanted to talk to you for awhile. I've enjoyed following you on Facebook for so many reasons. I really want to thank you for coming on the show. Ian: Thank you for inviting me. I've enjoyed being able to talk about my practice and things. So definitely, I'm very much interested in coming back and talking more about things. Because I'm not JUST a solitary practitioner. I actually have a group here in the mountains and we've kind of crafted our own tradition here that I would love to talk about. Slade: Okay, cool! Ian: About what we do and how we've kind of crafted this tradition. Slade: Yeah! Maybe we can time it with one of the holidays or something, and put some intention around some of those traditional witch points in the year, you know what I mean, like... Ian: Oh yeah! Slade: That would be really cool to do some content around some of those. Or maybe we'll have you come back for Halloween, since that's your favorite. We'll do some stuff around that. Ian: The witches' busiest month. October. Slade: Yeah. Ian: Yeah! Definitely. Slade: That would be great! Ian: I very much look forward to it.
Queerness, sex, kinks, asexuality, and blood drenched Hugh Dancy. It's . . . beautiful Show notes: Wayward Fannibal and the Ledger Project www.waywardfannibal.com Hannibal Fic Writers https://hannibalficwriters.tumblr.com/ Super_Queer_Hannibal_Obsession https://super-queer-hannibal-obsession.tumblr.com/ & http://archiveofourown.org/users/super_queer_hannibal_obsession Kopper Kettle Whiskey https://www.belmontfarmdistillery.com/kopper-kettle The M/M Shipping Thing: Misogyny, the Male Gaze, and Feminist and Queer Representation https://super-queer-hannibal-obsession.tumblr.com/post/161836959745/the-mm-shipping-thing-misogyny-the-male-gaze The Diner Party Show Ep 115 (confused for the KPCS clip below, but may be of interest) http://thedinnerpartyshow.com/2015/05/ep-115-hannibalism-with-bryan-fuller-creator-of-nbcs-hannibal-2/ KPCS: Bryan Fuller #177: https://youtu.be/ydGPnSgekfA?t=1h28m22s (starts where Bryan is talking about Hannigram and female interest in the relationship) Queer horror: a primer http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/17727/1/queer-horror-a-primer X-Plain the X-Men Ep 164 http://www.xplainthexmen.com/2017/09/164/ NewNowNext http://www.newnownext.com/bryan-fuller-breaks-down-the-homoerotic-charge-of-hannibal/04/2014/ Episode 129: Nerdist Writers Panel http://nerdist.com/nerdist-writers-panel-129-bryan-fuller/ Vampires Are Us by Margot Adler https://www.amazon.com/Vampires-Are-Us-Understanding-Immortal/dp/1578635608 https://platosparks.wordpress.com/2015/02/25/my-soul-upon-my-lips/: “Kissing Agathon, I held my soul upon my lips; It came, poor thing, as if it were going to cross over.” http://www.asexuality.org/ pull me from the dark (will and hannibal) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKkoMTNHpBU “Consenting to Dream” by emungere http://archiveofourown.org/works/1295044/chapters/2686558 “Not the Same Ocean” by shiphitsthefan https://archiveofourown.org/works/9258818
I was not raised in religion. My interest in spirituality is entirely self-motivated. When I was seven years old, I asked to attend a Vacation Bible School, so I could ask questions like "Is Mother Nature God's wife?" MENTIONED IN THE SHOW The Magicians Drawing Down the Moon - Margot Adler The Jungle Book (1967) God’s Eye Trust in Me - Siouxsie and the Banshees HOST LINKS - SLADE ROBERSON Slade's Books & Courses Get an intuitive reading with Slade Automatic Intuition BECOME A PATRON https://www.patreon.com/shiftyourspirits TRANSCRIPT INTRO Hey, thanks for listening to the Shift Your Spirits podcast. I’m your host Slade Roberson. For eleven years, I’ve been a professional intuitive and the author of the blog Shift Your Spirits, where I try to write about spirituality with fewer hearts and flowers than most New Age blather. I also mentor emerging intuitives, psychics, and healers in a program called Automatic Intuition. Today’s introduction is probably not going to be as lengthy as the last one — I’m recording these episodes close together, so I’m not sure how much more original insightful life experience has occurred in my world in such a short span of time. We’re on the backside of Hurricane Irma, as I record this, in a lovely cold drizzling rain. We lost power here only briefly from about 10 pm at night to 7 o’clock this morning. I mean, if you’re going to lose power, that was an ideal window. I can’t really complain about it at all, but I am stunned to experience the winds we had last night, this deep inland, in the mountains of Tennessee. I really truly hate it for all of you who are still without power across the Southeast. Or suffering from lack of the basics. I cannot even imagine. I am truly grateful for my luck and privilege. If there is anyone in our community in need with like a GoFund Me page or another organization they’d prefer we support, please contact me if you can and I will lend whatever I can in terms of sharing your needs with my platform and audience, helping to expand the reach of your requests and messages. I hope everyone and their pets came through this okay. I have absolutely no wacky supernatural meanings or godly messages to attach to these storms. Because I’m not Kirk Cameron. But I do have an oracle message for you at the end of the show. So stay tuned after the final links and credits. I do have one new tool I started using in the last few days. My friend Matt posted this on Facebook: "My serenity is inversely proportional to my expectations. The higher my expectations of other people are, the lower is my serenity. I can watch my serenity level rise when I discard my expectations.” He has a personal note: try also replacing "expectations" with “attachment.” I looked it up to find the source, and it is actually from the Alcoholics Anonymous handbook. Page 452. That’s cool. I’m not in AA but I love a good re-framing technique. Remember my not-complaining for a month back in the spring? I continue to fail at this, pretty miserably. I have to admit it. It’s really hard not to complain. People are frustrating and disappointing. They are. So, I like this idea that lowering my expectations, increases my sense of peace. When I notice my internal chatter critiquing something (especially someone) I just say “Lowering my expectations. No expectations. Just doing my thing. Just moving through here.” And it’s pretty powerful in the short term. It’s an almost immediate interruption of negative internal dialogue. You can refer back to the show notes and try it out. I always like to tweak these mantras and make them personal, my own words, in my own voice. Since I am recording again back to back, I don’t have a lot of new patrons to call out. But I see Wendy Bassett did just slip in with a pledge. Thanks Wendy! If you started supporting the show this week, between the last few episodes, I have not forgotten you. I will thank you personally next time. It’s a time delay issue between recording and publishing. I appreciate all of you who have pledged your support and I’m really excited to see the new names each week. It demonstrates that you’re enjoying the show and want it to continue. That’s very encouraging to me, so thank you. You can support my time in producing this show by pledging on Patreon. For as little as $1 a month, listeners who support on Patreon can also access bonus Q&A episodes, where you send in questions, I record answers to them, and they go out to patrons of the show exclusively. There is also a level of support that includes a free download of the guided meditation “Messages from your Spirit Guides." So, if you want to find out how you can become a patron, and access some of this extra audio content, please go to patreon.com/shiftyourspirits Today, I want to tell you a story about when I went to Vacation Bible School where I infamously posed the question: “Is Mother Nature God’s Wife?”. I am proud to say I became a full blown heretic before I even got to third grade. SEGMENT As I’ve talked about before, I was not raised in religion. My interest in spirituality is entirely self-motivated. I’m sure my parents must have kind of wondered where this little mystic kid came from. Because nobody had to shove it down my throat, I was into it! I can make a case that I was into it in a completely authentic way that never would have happened if I had been indoctrinated by adults. When I was seven years old, I asked my parents to let me attend a Christian institution known as Vacation Bible School. We have to take a minute to talk about this diploma or "certificate of recognition," as it’s technically called. I snapped a pic of it with my phone from my mother’s archives and I’ve posted it on my blog so you can check it out. The Jesus in this illustration is giving me Kris Kristofferson. With maybe a little Kenny Loggins/ Dan Fogelberg… You know, singer-songwriter vibe. He’s a white guy, of course, bearded, pretty ruddy complexion actually. He could almost be related to the Brawny paper towel guy. He looks like a young guy from a 1950s Boy Scouts of America pamphlet grew up to become a hippie. He’s wearing a creamy hemp poncho with a hood and he’s got this far away expression on his face, faintly smiling at whatever he’s seeing in the distance. And he’s making this complicated hand gesture. He’s working magic, I guess. I mean, the hand positioning reminds me of something you’d see Quentin do on The Magicians. But then there’s this small guy in the foreground in a leather skirt and sandals with a do rag who looks a little Native American at first glance - and honestly, as a kid, I thought he was and wasn’t really sure what the connection was supposed to be. Now I see this guy is tossing handfuls of seed from a fanny pack contraption onto this barren looking ground with gnarled and twisted plants. So I guess Jesus is working some crop magic for this guy. Maybe for someone who’s more educated in children’s bible stories, this will ring a bell, or when you see it, you see all my misperceptions and know what it’s truly intended to be … but I still for the life of me can’t imagine what this scene has to do with Vacation Bible School. But. It is pretty. And there’s something delicious and utopian about these campy mid century church illustrations that I admit appealed to me. As a kid I was as an easy recruit (initially) for Church-sponsored functions. Beyond the promised hype of craft projects and pizza socials, I was hungry for hard-core religious experience. My serious dedication is evidenced by this certificate that I was just describing, which has a little gold foil seal on it that says "Perfect Attendance." CHURCH-SANCTIONED SPIRIT POSSESSION Someone had explained to me the Southern Baptist phenomenon of Being Saved, in which any average child on Earth can experience a life-long form of holy possession by the Son of God Himself — simply by asking for it to happen. This was incredible news! I already knew I was protected by an enormously tall lady who looked like Catwoman in a nightgown and no child ever believed in, stalked, and engaged with fairies more than me. Not only did I applaud my belief in fairies to save Tinkerbell when Peter Pan came on TV, I dressed up in full green Peter Pan attire — green tights and felt elf shoes — one of a handful of "Halloween" costumes that I found reason to wear on several other occasions throughout the year. Considering I never set foot in a Catholic Church until I was 19, my intense longing from the age of 5 to "go as" a Catholic Priest or a Franciscan Monk for Halloween does make me open to the traditional notion of past-life memories. In her incredible work on modern Neo-Paganism Drawing Down the Moon, Margot Adler finds a common thread among the witches she interviewed — an instinct for engaging in spontaneous ritual theater at a very early age, despite socialization toward any particular religious tradition. I certainly built enough henges in the woods behind our house, charged enough mystical paraphernalia — wands, crystals, arrowheads, amulets, potion bottles — and entertained an audience of invisible spirit guides and guardian angels with an artistic commitment and devotion only rivaled by my current will to podcast… And while all these mystical experiences would be quickly dismissed or, at best, patronized by adults — and I knew not to discuss such things with unsympathetic audiences — here was a similar magical experience that was not only socially-acceptable, it was praised, encouraged, an absolute sin if you missed out on it. You didn’t need to tell me twice — sign me up! As if that wasn't promising enough, the Baptist Church attended by most families in our neighborhood was called Mars Hill — which I took as an affirmation of my desire to one day be part of the future mission to colonize the Red Planet. At the time, I really thought Being Saved could propel me in my aspirations to become a Priest and an Astronaut — simultaneously! It would be a few years before I came to understand that in polite white Christian America, there is a thin line between piety and stigma. You're supposed to be a good Christian — but you're not supposed to be too good at it. The same behavior that defines the believer also damns the mystic. Believe in God, pray every day — just don't tell anyone if He answers you Stand up in church and sing — but without emotion or fervor — do not speak in tongues or writhe in ecstasy — if by chance you really feel something, for God's sake, keep it to yourself Do not rest until you've forced your belief on everyone you encounter — but don't make the mistake of behaving like you mean it. Ask What Would Jesus Do? and if all else fails, set an example of what not to do by reminding everyone what judgment feels like I took the school in Vacation Bible School pretty literally. I came with some challenging philosophical questions. I genuinely thought this teacher — Miss Alice something, it’s noted on the certificate — might have some answers for me. She required you to stand up in the class to ask your questions. I opened with “Is Mother Nature God’s wife?” She tittered and kinda laughed it off, and talked about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And I was like “Yes, exactly. Where’s the mom? Everybody has a mom…” She waved me back down into my chair and tried to change the subject. Looking back, I’m sure she didn’t know what to say or how to handle it, she probably was philosophically challenged—she was probably, what, in her twenties? That seems old to a child, but to most of us, now, she was a child herself, parroting some Bible School teachings to a room full of six- and seven-year-olds. I remember feeling put out and angry that she wouldn’t call on me anymore, but I was able to channel my emotions into creating a really intensely colorful God’s Eye out of yarn and popsicle sticks. An object I was not surprised to discover years later is actually a ritual tool, magical object, and cultural symbol evoking the weaving motif and its spiritual associations of for the indigenous people of western Mexico. I waited a day or two and she finally called on me again to stand up and ask another question: "If God didn't want Adam and Eve to eat that Tree, why didn't He plant it somewhere else?” She exhaled in loud exasperation, pursed her lips and, again, waving for me to sit down, shot me a glare as she continued on with her Rated-G version of naked people, forbidden fruit, and Original Sin. That day’s arts and crafts project was drawing scenes from the Garden of Eden story. I was a huge fan of Disney’s original animated film of The Jungle Book, which came out a few years before I was born. People used to tell me I looked like Mowgli, probably because I was skinny and tan and had long brown hair. One of the most compelling scenes for me was when Kaa, the serpent, hypnotizes Mowgli while singing “Trust in Me.” (Sidebar: Siouxsie and the Banshees recorded a great cover version of that song.) I envisioned the serpent tempting Eve with its evil magic had to look something like this, so I drew a big close up of a colorful snake with psychedelic eyes. Miss Alice whoever she was actually confiscated this illustration before I even finished coloring it in. I’m actually pissed that it’s not in my mother’s child art archives. It was a really pop art concept piece. She whispered to me the snake was not an appropriate subject and suggested I draw something “prettier” because, you know, it’s the Garden of Eden; it’s full of animals and plants and... (Honestly, it’s hard for most people of any age, let alone kids, to get past the nudity in the Garden of Eden myth. Am I right?) So, I drew a picture of Adam and Eve, buck ass naked, picking fruit and surrounded by cute animals beneath a lush jungle canopy. Now, as I saw it depicted in a television miniseries, the crotch region was artfully blocked by bushes and waist high plants. I went with that coverage for both figures, but the Eve in my picture is reaching for an apple overhead (of course) and I rendered her knockers in full detail. What? She’s picking fruit. She’s naked. It would look stupid to put her entire body behind a bush. But, that is exactly what Miss Alice demanded I do in a furious whisper. You can tell by looking at the finished drawing that the full body bush in front of Eve was an after the fact censorship bar. It ruined the picture, if you asked me. I made it to the end of the week, but I wasn’t leaving without putting forward one of my biggest beefs with Christianity. Fortunately, we were discussing Heaven. Unfortunately, Miss Alice would not call on me. I finally just stood up and blurted out “How can it be Heaven if our pets aren’t there?” She told me to sit down, that I had not been called on. “If you can have anything you want in Heaven that makes you happy, then why can’t you have your pets there?” She actually bared her teeth at me at this point. “Sit. Down. And shut up." As I slowly lowered myself into my chair I said "I don’t want to go to Heaven if my pets aren’t going to be there.” I remember looking around the room at all these kids staring at me, their faces masks of shock and anxiety. And when Miss Alice asked for another question, every hand in the room shot up. Guess what everybody wanted clarified? But you won’t believe what happened next. I was sent to a church psychologist. Immediately. Right then. Removed from class and sent to someone in the building who ran “tests to see how smart I was.” Looking back, these activities resembled those assessments for kids with behavioral issues — or possibly “gifted” designation. Pictures where you describe the emotional dynamic taking place, etc. At one point, the lady gave me one of those eight-pack jumbo crayons sets, like the ones for really little kids, and asked me to draw a picture of God. Well, I thought about the old bearded man in a robe sitting on a throne of clouds… I could visualize it, but honestly, rendering that much white, in crayon, is problematic. It was too ambitious for the circumstances. So I went with my Starry Night technique. I had discovered if you drew with two or three crayons of similar or complementary hues as if they are one crayon, you can achieve a kind of Vincent Van Gogh effect. I took the yellow, the red, and the orange, and drew a big, thick stroke sun in the center of the page. Not the son like Jesus, s-u-n like the big fiery globe of molten life-giving light and heat at the center of our natural existence. Sun worship. The ultimate pagan religious expression. I pretty sure they called my parents in and just asked them not to bring me back. I remember feeling like they were insulted after meeting with that church psychologist. But believe it or not, I still chose to be saved and baptized there and went through with it. I’m pretty sure it happened that Sunday after the close of Vacation Bible School. And that’s a whole other tale of disappointment and disillusionment I’ll have to share another time. Ultimately, with the odd exception of a Halloween party where I technically didn’t make it past the parking lot, we never really went back to that church. But as I sit here right now thinking back on that time, without malice or disgust, I am 100% positive if Jesus had been teaching that class, I would have been his favorite person in the room. OUTRO Thanks again for listening to the Shift Your Spirits podcast. For show notes, links, transcripts and all the past episodes please visit shiftyourspirits.com You can subscribe in iTunes or Stitcher or whatever app you use to access podcasts. If you’d like to get an intuitive reading with me, or download a free ebook and meditation to help you connect with your guides please go to sladeroberson.com and if you’re interested in my professional intuitive training program, you can start the course for free by downloading the Attunement at automaticintuition.com BEFORE I GO I promised to leave you a message in answer to a question or a concern you may have. So take a moment to think about that — hold it in your mind or speak it out loud. I’ll pause for just a few seconds….right…now. 1…2…3…4 MESSAGE Go back in time. What were your original thoughts and intentions? Return to your earliest authentic impulses. Recommit to those. Shed everybody else’s noise. Everyone else’s opinions and advice and judgments — even though they may be coming from a good place — it’s all too much. You need to tell the world to shut up so you can hear yourself think. Turn off the radio and drive with just your thoughts. Get back to you. To your truth. And I’ll talk to you later.
Every Friday at 9 PM Central you can join Host Rev Donald Lewis and Rev. Lori B for the Correllian Family Hour as we explore the exciting world on Correllian Wicca. News and views, interviews, and information on the Correllian Lifestyle. Join Rev Don, Rev Lori B, and guests as the Correllians on PTRN offer a ritual for Lughnasadh/Imbolc Three years ago today the Pagan world lost one of it's most powerful voices. Margot Adler not only guided many over the varied aspects of Paganism with her book, "Drawing Down the Moon," she was a trusted voice on NPR and very influential with weaving Paganism into the UU church with CUUPS. As a special tribute to her life and work, we here at Pagans Tonight invite you to enjoy this episode from the archives which originally ran on 9/19/2010 with Host, Zaracon and co-Host Rev Don. Here is the description from 2010: ?With your Host Zaracon, along with the Pagan Tonight Team. Tonights Special Guest is Margot Adler. Adler authored Drawing Down the Moon,[4] a 1979 book about Neopaganism which was revised in 2006.[5] The book is considered a watershed in American Neopagan circles, as it provided the first comprehensive look at modern nature-based religions in the US. For many years it was the only introductory work about the American Neopagan communities. Her second book, Heretic's Heart: A Journey Through Spirit and Revolution, was published by Beacon Press in 1997. Adler is a Wicca n priestess in the Gardnerian tradition, an elder in the Covenant of the Goddess, and she also participates in the Unitarian Universalist faith community (source Wikipedia)
Tonight's Special Broadcast, Gone But Never Forgotten: Their Voices Live On, we pay tribute to the late Margot Adler, a beloved wayshower in her community.
In this episode of Voices of the Temple, host Adam Sartwell shares with you his experience at the last of Margot Adler’s famous chanting workshops and sing-alongs at the convention in 2014, as the Temple founders and ministers prepare for a return trip for this year’s PantheaCon in San Jose, CA, Feb. 12–15, 2016. Some […] The post Voices of the Temple: Margot Adler at PantheaCon 2014 appeared first on Temple of Witchcraft.
The noted Foremother and Pagan Elder, Margot Adler, author of "Drawing Down the Moon" considered a watershed in American Neopagan circles, as it provided the first comprehensive look at modern nature-based religions in the US. A journalist, lecturer, Wiccan priestess, radio journalist and correspondent for National Public Radio will discuss her work in the world and her insights into what's ahead for Goddess Advocates and Pagans, how things have changed in the last 15 years, the good and bad of the movement going more mainstream, feminist spirituality and closing of feminist bookstores and the passing of Pagan elders. We'll also go off-topic and discuss the spirit of the times, the interest in vampires. What do powerful Bill Compton and Stefan in the Vampire Diaries have in common and the feminist the environmental thrust in the vampire phenomena.
After a LONG hiatus the CUUPS Podcast returns with: * A Sermon "Why We Love Vampires" by the late Margot Adler who passed away in July. This was recorded 10/18/2012 at All Souls Church in New York City. * Unidos En, the Spanish translation of the popular UU chant "Gathered Here" The English version can be found in the UU hymnal Singing The Living Tradition #389. * News about two new chapters in California at Santa Rosa, and in the Napa Valley. * CUUPS Election results - new board members coming on: Maggie Beaumont, Martha Kirby Capo and Jessica Gray. Board members who are leaving, or have recently left: John Beckett, Rev. Christa Landon, David Pollard and Niko Tarini.
Caroline re-plays her interview with Elizabeth Gilbert (offering her book, “The Signature of All Things,” for pledging.) The 2nd half Caroline honors great ally Margot Adler, (whose radio journey began at KPFA) who died on July 28th, re-playing some of our spirited conversing around her book, “Vampires Are Us” (also available for pledging.) 1- 800- 439-5732 The post The Visionary Activist – Magic Word Women – Fund Drive appeared first on KPFA.
Pagans Tonight radio Network presents: 8 pm CST: Circle Craft Study with Selena Fox-Remembering Margot Adler - Join Rev. Selena Fox tonight for a tribute program sharing memories, experiences, tributes, perspectives on Pagan priestess, radio journalist, feminist, environmentalist & social justice activist Margot Adler. Please join is by phone or in online chat to share your memories as we remember Margot.
Ripley Radio: An On-Demand Oddcast Archives - WebTalkRadio.net
Margot Adler has read more than 270 books and in return, she has written a book about that experience, Vampires are Us, and brewmaster Justin Low is making beer with goat brains! We talk with both this week, on the April 28 edition of Ripley Radio, the official broadcast program of Ripley's Believe It or […] The post Ripley Radio: An On-Demand Oddcast – Goat Brain Beer, Vampires & a Bonnie & Clyde Festival appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.
Margot Adler has read more than 270 books and in return, she has written a book about that experience, Vampires are Us, and brewmaster Justin Low is making beer with goat brains! We talk with both this week, on the April 28 edition of Ripley Radio, the official broadcast program of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Additional weird, crazy, strange and wacky stories on this week’s show includes: Sara Latta shares a few of the most bizarre phobias that she writes about in her new book, Scared Stiff, when she talks with Tim; Chad Lewis takes us back on the highway with a couple ideas for May road trips – to a Bonnie & Clyde Festival and to the world famous Pun-off; Florida broadcaster Scott Fais recalls the night he spent in a haunted mansion in St. Augustine; Angela reveals that there was a city named Vulcan, long before the Star Trek series began; and Ripley archivist Edward Meyer gets excited while telling us about the newest heads he has acquired for our already huge skull collection. Focus provides the musical egress this week with the haunting, Hurkey Turkey.
Caroline hosts the wonderful Margot Adler, and her fantabulous new book, “Vampires Are Us – Understanding Our Love Affair with the Immortal Dark Side.” We KPFA/KPFK be in Fund Drive during this show. Margot Adler's book available, and PL Travers most mystical book, “Mary Poppins in the Park” and Dori Midnight proffering her tinctures, for the lucky first ten people who pledge: “Boundaries in a Bottle”, and “Witches, Bitches and Ho's” tincture. The post The Visionary Activist – February 6, 2014 appeared first on KPFA.
Robin hosts the most unusual holiday show perhaps ever: a Winter Solstice Show with radical feminist evangelical minister Rev. Jennifer Danielle Crumpton; Wiccan Priestess Margot Adler; and freethinking atheist Annie Laurie Gaylor of the Freedom from Religion Foundation. Plus, Robin reflects on the Newtown shooting in a commentary called "The Darkest, Longest Night of the Year."
Sermon by Margot Adler at All Souls Unitarian Church in New York City, October 21, 2012.
Shownotes for DruidCast Episode 65 A Sylvan Doorway - Spiral Dance - http://www.spiraldance.com.au Interview with Margot Adler - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Margot-Adler/124518995607 Song of wandering Aenghus - Ruth Barrett - http://www.dancingtreemusic.com Interview with Arthur and Kathryn Hinds - http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=808504 & http://www.kathrynhinds.com Poetry of Wonder - Arthur Hinds - http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=808504 Gift of the Boiyne - Spiral Dance - http://www.spiraldance.com.au Gift of the Blogs - T. Thorn Coyle - http://www.thorncoyle.com Blog links on OBOD website - http://www.druidry.org/druid-way/resources/druid-blogs DruidCast intro music - Hills they are Hollow - Damh the Bard - www.paganmusic.co.uk For more information about modern Druidry - www.druidry.org
Episode 20: PantheaCon 2012 Voices of the Temple host Adam Sartwell takes us to PantheaCon in sunny San Jose, CA, to visit some of the people and workshops of this premier pagan event the Temple Founders attended back in February. It includes chants from the Turning Earth Singers and Margot Adler’s chanting workshop. The post Voices of the Temple: PantheaCon 2012 appeared first on Temple of Witchcraft.
At this year's Pantheacon in San Jose, Ca Devin hosted a panel on Politics, Sexual discrimination, and Conflict management. The Panelists include: Jason Pitzl-Waters of The Wild Hunt, A Darker Shade of Pagan, and PNC, Yeshe Rabbit of CAYA coven and Way of the Rabbit Blog, Margot Adler - author of several books including Drawing Down the Moon and of NPR , and Storm Faerywolf of Witch-eye.Special thanks to Sparrow of The Wigglian Way Podcast for recording the audio for us!
At this year's Pantheacon in San Jose, Ca Devin hosted a panel on Politics, Sexual discrimination, and Conflict management. The Panelists include: Jason Pitzl-Waters of The Wild Hunt, A Darker Shade of Pagan, and PNC, Yeshe Rabbit of CAYA coven and Way of the Rabbit Blog, Margot Adler - author of several books including Drawing Down the Moon and of NPR , and Storm Faerywolf of Witch-eye. Special thanks to Sparrow of The Wigglian Way Podcast for recording the audio for us!
This issue features the conclusion of Margot Adler's "State of Paganism Today" talk given at the 2006 General Assembly in St. Louis, MO. Also, we discuss plans to bring a CUUPS Convocation to this years General Assembly.
We start 2011 with our first finalist in the CUUPS Sermon Contest: Holly Anne Lux-Sullivan with her talk "The Gospel of Compost." Also, there a bit of chapter news as well as the chant "The Ocean is the Beginning" from a 1991 Chant Workshop led by Margot Adler.
With your Host Zaracon, along with the Pagan Tonight Team. Tonights Special Guest is Margot Adler. Adler authored Drawing Down the Moon,[4] a 1979 book about Neopaganism which was revised in 2006.[5] The book is considered a watershed in American Neopagan circles, as it provided the first comprehensive look at modern nature-based religions in the US. For many years it was the only introductory work about the American Neopagan communities. Her second book, Heretic's Heart: A Journey Through Spirit and Revolution, was published by Beacon Press in 1997. Adler is a Wicca n priestess in the Gardnerian tradition, an elder in the Covenant of the Goddess, and she also participates in the Unitarian Universalist faith community (source Wikipedia)
The noted Foremother and Pagan Elder, Margot Adler, author of "Drawing Down the Moon" considered a watershed in American Neopagan circles, as it provided the first comprehensive look at modern nature-based religions in the US. A journalist, lecturer, Wiccan priestess, radio journalist and correspondent for National Public Radio will discuss her work in the world and her insights into what's ahead for Goddess Advocates and Pagans, how things have changed in the last 15 years, the good and bad of the movement going more mainstream, feminist spirituality and closing of feminist bookstores and the passing of Pagan elders. We'll also go off-topic and discuss the spirit of the times, the interest in vampires. What do powerful Bill Compton and Stefan in the Vampire Diaries have in common and the feminist the environmental thrust in the vampire phenomena.
Margot Adler discusses the changes in Paganism and Pagan Festivals since the 1970's in the State of Paganism Today (from 2006) and Brian Schorr from Evergreen CUUPS in New Jersey talks about Everyday Magick from a service his chapter did at Montclair UU Church on 11/29/09. Music from Carole Eagleheart and Faith and the Muse (www.mercyground.com) help liven things up.
On this week's 51%, it's witching hour. We speak with a Massachusetts state senator about a bill to exonerate a woman convicted during the Salem witch trials. Author Kate Laity teaches us about the history of magic, and we also speak with author and podcaster Pam Grossman about modern witchcraft, and why witches are a feminist icon. Guests: Massachusetts State Senator Diana DiZoglio; Rachel Christ-Doane, director of education at the Salem Witch Museum; Kate Laity; Pam Grossman, author of Waking the Witch: Reflections on Women, Magic, and Power 51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Our producer is Jesse King, our executive producer is Dr. Alan Chartock, and our theme is “Lolita” by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. Follow Along You're listening to 51%, a WAMC production dedicated to women's issues and stories. Thanks for joining us, I'm Jesse King. The spooky season is upon us, and it's one of my favorite times of the year. It means pumpkins, apple cider, leaf-peeping — and in upstate New York — a nice reprieve from the humidity of summer before diving into what is usually the months-long chill of winter. It also, of course, means Halloween, and growing up my go-to costume was a witch. I was a witch probably four or five times before I switched over to vampires and the occasional Little Red Riding Hood. Either I was ahead of the curve, or things really haven't changed, because despite the popularity of shows like Squid Game and the latest offerings from Marvel, Google's “Frightgeist” still predicts the most popular Halloween costume in 2021 will be the good, old-fashioned witch. So today we're talking about witches: why they're so popular, what modern witchcraft looks like, and how we got here, because the history of witches in the U.S. can certainly be a difficult read. And where else would we start other than the Salem witch trials? Every year, crowds flock to Salem, Massachusetts to learn more about the 1692, hysterical witch hunt and trials that left 20 people dead. More than 300 years later, groups are still trying to clear the names of everyone convicted. Democratic State Senator Diana DiZoglio is behind the latest bill, S.1016, to clear the name of Elizabeth Johnson Jr. "Actually, I heard about Elizabeth Johnson Jr. from a North Andover middle school class. Their teacher, Carrie LaPierre, had reached out to me and said that she and her students had been talking about somebody who was accused during the Salem witch trials," says DiZoglio. "She had never actually had her named cleared, unfortunately, even though all the others had actually had their names cleared. And I decided to file this bill at the request of the North Andover middle school students." Johnson was born around 1670 and lived in a part of Andover that's considered North Andover today. DiZoglio says S. 1016 would officially exonerate Johnson, adding her name to a resolve in Massachusetts general law that acknowledges that, while the Salem witch trials were lawful at the time, the laws by which they operated have long been abandoned. Until then, however, Johnson is technically the last remaining witch from the trials. There's been a lot of speculation about what really caused the Salem witch trials in the first place — whether there were actually "witches," whether the accusers were outright lying, or whether they suffered from a neurological illness called “conversion disorder,” caused by extreme psychological stress. To learn more, I got the chance to speak with Rachel Christ-Doane, the director of education at the Salem Witch Museum. She says a combination of factors had already put the community under a lot of pressure. "It's a pretty chaotic time in Salem Village, and also if we can zoom out, just Massachusetts Bay Colony, generally speaking. Salem Village was in the process of trying to separate from Salem Town in the early 1670s. They had been granted the right to have their own parish, which was a big step towards independence — they could attend to their you know, weekly church meetings a little closer to home. But a factional crisis erupted pretty early on, where half the village likes a ministerial candidate, the other half hates them, and they fight and they fight until they drive that candidate out of town, essentially," Christ-Doane explains. "By this point, they're on their fourth minister whose name is Samuel Paris. And he is kind of, you know, not the best in terms of smoothing over the factional divide. He's a very incendiary figure in and of itself. They're fighting about what his salary should be, he's demanding more. It's basically this kind of mess, you know, in the months leading up to January of 1692. So basically what starts it all is, in the home of Samuel Paris, we see his daughter and his niece become very ill. So their names are Betty Paris, who's 9 years old, and Abigail Williams, she's 11 years old. Betty and Abigail are falling to the ground. They're screaming, they're clutching their heads. They're making animal noises, and nobody can quite figure out what is wrong with the girls. So essentially, they try all the traditional remedies — there's a month of fasting and prayer and things like that. They call in the village doctor, and he looks at the girls and he says, 'I don't have a medical explanation for what's going on here. It looks to me like this is the work of the devil. This is bewitchment.' And that's really what kicks off the witchcraft trials, because now they need to find the witches who are in the community, who are supposedly tormenting these young girls." Christ-Doane says the Salem Witch Trials officially took place between June and September of 1692, and anywhere from 150 to 200 people from Salem and its surrounding communities were accused of witchcraft around this time. She says the accused could be any age, race or gender, but at the beginning, at least, they were mostly people who, for one reason or another, didn't fit in with the rest of society: women who were particularly outspoken, who fought publicly with their husbands, or older "spinsters," thought to be a burden on the community. Johnson was one of 28 people in her family to face accusations, including her mother, multiple aunts, and grandfather. Christ-Doane says the political landscape in Massachusetts only contributed to the frenzy. The colony was rewriting its laws and choosing officials as it worked through a new charter, and with alleged witches filling the jails in Essex County, Governor Sir William Phipps created an emergency court to oversee the trials, called the Court of Oyer and Terminer. "So essentially, they're told, do what you think is best. You know, base your decisions on English common law and English precedent, but do what you think is right, and what the situation demands. And that, unfortunately, leads to devastating consequences," Christ-Doane adds. "In the Court of Oyer and Terminer, you have the afflicted — so the girls who are supposedly being tormented by witchcraft — in the room, screaming, falling to the ground, claiming they're being tormented by the devil. And you as the accused have to defend yourself against this sea of writhing witnesses. And the really destructive decision that's made by the Court of Oyer and Terminer is their choice to accept something called spectral evidence. Spectral evidence is essentially based on the idea that a witch could theoretically project a spectral version of themselves, a ghostly version of themselves, out of their physical body that could go off across large distances and torment. And the victims of a spectral attack were the only ones who could see the specter. And so that means, if you were accused of witchcraft [and] standing before this court, you could have the witnesses pointing up to the rafters saying, 'I see the specter of Rebecca Nurse up on the ceiling. You can't see her, but I can, and that's how I know she's a witch.' And that was being used as enough evidence to convict and warrant executions during the Salem witch trials." Ultimately, 20 people were executed for witchcraft: 19 of them hanged, and another tortured to death. Johnson confessed to being a witch and was sentenced to death in 1963, but by then public opinion on the trials had soured. Christ-Doane says almost everyone in Salem had either spent time in jail, or knew someone in jail, and with his own wife among the accused, Governor Phipps disbanded the Court of Oyer and Terminer in October 1962. Johnson's execution was avoided, and she ultimately died an old woman in 1747, at the age of about 77. Christ-Doane says the Salem witch trials were the largest and harshest witch trials between England and its colonies — but they were far from the first. Ironically, being called a witch was sometimes more hazardous than the feared wrath of a witch. But it wasn't always that way. “Witch history” is hard to pin down, because quite frankly, belief in magic and people with magical abilities has existed for thousands of years, across nearly every culture — and each culture's definition of a witch is constantly evolving. But there was a time when magic was looked at a little more kindly. I got the chance to speak with Kate Laity, an award-winning author of several books spanning a range of genres, including Chastity Flame, Dream Book, How to Be Dull, and more. She also produces two audio programs, and while splitting her time between Hudson, New York, and Scotland, she teaches at the College of Saint Rose in Albany. She particularly specializes in medieval studies and literature. What prompted the start of witch trials in Europe? Well, especially in the Middle Ages, healing charms, for example — that we would see as sort of magic and not science — they would have seen as effective ways to deal with various kinds of health problems or other problems. There are a lot of journey charms, so you don't become injured or lost or imperiled on your journey. And there are of course, charms against having your cattle stolen. Again, if you think in old English, the word for "cattle" is also the word for "wealth." So this is a way of saying, "Don't steal my stuff." This is something that begins to change in the Middle Ages, where you have sort of two strands. There's the sort of folk magic that most people would be familiar with, and which, you know, continued from pre-Christian times into Christian times, because you just adapted it to the new belief. So instead of maybe praying to this or that god, you would just pray to the Christian God, and you would have masses said over — you know, there's a wonderful charm for when a field is not producing enough, where you take a piece of it out, and you do a variety of things to it, but then you take it to the church to be blessed, and you pour milk and honey and all these things into the ground, and then you put it back down. That's a way of restoring the kind of regenerative power that the field should have. But what you also have is a kind of learned magic that is practiced amongst the clergy, which is, you know, the monks who are reading all these books, and many of them during the Crusades, for example, a lot of books were coming up from the middle east through Spain, and a lot of books that were mathematics and more learning kinds of magic that were more about conjuration, about dealing with necromancy and talking to the dead, which was something that was completely alien to the average person. One scholar, Michael Bailey, argues that in the late Middle Ages, these things kind of get overlapped in a way that matters, because people in power were beginning to worry about unorthodox behaviors within the Church. And this is what in the early modern period — not the medieval, in the early modern period — you start to get the witch hunts. How common were witch hunts. I mean, we talked about the Salem witch trials, but worldwide, how common were they? We find this in in many of those occasions where there are sort of pressures on the society that people don't have a way of coping with — instances that, you might just say, are acts of God. But the way that people respond to them is, "Somebody's got to pay. Somebody's got to be to blame for this." So, "Well, she's a witch, or he's a witch." And again, depending on the region — we're accustomed to associating witches with women, but in some areas in European history, in Finland and in Iceland, the greater part of the accusations were against men. And part of that is to do with very long histories of gendered magic in Iceland and Finland, where there's magic practice by men and magic practice by women, and they're quite distinct. How are they different? Especially in Iceland, which I'll talk about as its at the top of my mind, women's magic tends to be focused much more on prognostication. So they can see, they can see what is coming or they can see what has happened. Men and women both are able to read dreams. And one of the interesting aspects of Norse Mythology is that the figure of Odin is one of the few that practices both —what is considered the male magic and the feminine magic. Where does the word "witch" come from? The word witches is a very, very old English word. People will say it has to do with bending, it has nothing to do with bending. That's a completely different word root. And what it has to do with is witchcraft. We have the earliest attestation of it in Old English. I mean, this is in the oldest versions of English, and it comes from an Indo-European root, but it's always meant exactly that. And that's where the word "wicca," which many people will be familiar with, is just the old English word for witch. There's "wicca" with an A and "wicce" with an E. So we have a masculine and feminine version of it, but it's the same word. So obviously, during these times, you've got people being accused of witchcraft. But is it common for people to identify like, "I am a witch?" Well, probably not at the time they were being accused. I mean, you would have women who might be practiced in certain arts, that they're able to heal people. Maybe they have a knowledge of herbs that's been handed down, usually these things are handed down within families or learned from somebody else older. And so they have abilities to do this. And of course, the idea of cursing is something that's always probably been with us too. And if you look at the long history of magic, it's fascinating how many of these tangible forms [exist] — especially when you're angry, a lot of magic is about anger, because it comes from the idea of people who want something to happen, and don't feel they have any power to be able to make it happen. And so if you look in ancient Greek and Roman cultures, we have all these lead tablets with curses written on them. We'll still find somebody being cursed to this day because their tablet has been found, and we don't always know who these people were, but somebody was obviously really mad that day. Do you identify as a witch? Usually, it depends on the mood. But yes, in large part because I've got all this history in my mind, and I see a great power in claiming that name. And also as a way of thinking about how you approach the world. I mean, part of this is tied to to my creative work — not only writing, but also art and music that I do, that it comes from this idea of reenchanting the world and and finding that magic in everyday life. So how did we go from the Salem witch trials, to the top of the rankings on Frightgeist? And beyond costumes and All Hallow's Eve: for years now, if you search for information on witchcraft, you'll find articles signalling its rise. More and more people, of all genders, are actively identifying themselves as witches, with estimates putting the number at around 1.5 million witches in the U.S. Nowadays, you can buy professional witch services online, from tarot readings to rituals. You can have supplies for spells delivered right to your door. Witches are social media influencers, they're authors and podcasters, they're activists and symbols of feminine power. They might don the black hat and carry around a broom when they feel like it - but they're also your coworker, and your neighbor. Pam Grossman has written and contributed to several books on witchcraft, including her 2019 book, Waking the Witch: Reflections on Women, Magic, and Power, and her new release with Jessica Hundley, titled simply, Witchcraft. Since 2017, she's also been the host of the popular podcast, The Witch Wave, for which Vulture dubbed her, “the Terry Gross of witches.” I asked her why witches seem to be having their moment, and she says it's really been hundreds of years in the making. How did the perception of witches change to what we see today? Well, we first start to see a more sympathetic look at witches, really, in the 19th century. There were writers such as a French writer named Jules Michelet, who wrote a book called La Sorciere in the middle of the 19th century, who was following a lot of other scholars who were starting to look back at the witch hunts with a more sympathetic lens. It wasn't an always historically accurate lens, mind you, but you know, people would start to look back at the witch hunt and say, "Hey, wait a second. It was mostly women who were targeted? And what was it about these women that made them such a threat to the Church?" And so, you know, around that time, you'll see writers who talk about witches as these oppressed, but truly powerful, women who had access to these brilliant minds or some kind of supernatural intuition or some kind of magic power. And aren't those women amazing? And they shouldn't have been persecuted, according to those 19th century writers. As we now know, you know, those people who were killed for being witches probably were not actually witches, or probably did not see themselves as witches. However, that sympathetic notion of a witch being this oppressed woman who has access to some divine feminine energy is a very romantic notion, that feminists took up in the 20th century. And so we really start to see people choose to call themselves witches in the 20th century, certainly with second wave feminism, but also with the rise of Wicca, which is a modern religion that was largely founded by a gentleman in England named Gerald Gardner. And the Wiccan movement is a whole very interesting thread to this story, too. In your book, you say that you've used the word "witch" to signify that you're a feminist. Can you go into a little bit about what you mean by that? Well, I think both the word "witch" and the word "feminist" are highly charged words. And they are words that point to having access to some kind of power, or some kind of agency that is connected to the feminine. And so the words are not interchangeable, but for me, and many other witches, they are interrelated. Because witches usually represent an antithesis to the patriarchy. They represent everything that is othered in society — and that can be having a feminine body, or a body of color, or a trans body. It can be having access to some kind of intuitive power or other worldly power that I believe can coexist happily with science and medicine. Certainly not the same as those things, and can be considered an alternative or a supplement or complement to those more mainstream practices. But for me, the two words are very deeply woven together. So what does being a witch look like to you? Because one thing I've learned is that everyone seems to have their own interpretation. Yes. One of the wonderful things about modern witchcraft is that there is no one path and it's decentralized. In other words, there's no pope of witchcraft. There's no one book that one has to read in order to call oneself a witch. And so you're right, for every witch you ask, you are going to have a different answer about why they consider themselves a witch, or how their witchcraft practice works. In my case, I am Pagan. I was raised Jewish, so when I'm being cheeky, I sometimes call myself "Jewwitch." But, you know, being a practicing Pagan essentially means that I am celebrating the different changing of the seasons. I am celebrating different phases of the moon. I have an altar where I connect with what I call capital S Spirit, and that can take the shape of various deities, who symbolize different aspects of that Spirit. And it also means that I do cast spells and engage in rituals that are deeply meaningful and transformative for me. When did you realize you're a witch? Or at least when did you start getting more into it? So I definitely considered myself kind of magical since I was a child. I had these woods in my backyard, and I would play outside like a lot of kids do and, you know, cast spells and commune with different spirits and so on. Or at least I imagined that I was. But it wasn't until I was a teenager and discovered witchcraft books and the occult section of the library in different bookstores and New Age shops, that I really learned that witchcraft was something that you didn't have to pretend that you were engaging in. That there's actually a long history of people who have practiced some form of witchcraft. You'll actually hear that a lot — that the teen years are a time that a lot of people turn towards witchcraft. And I think it's no coincidence, because it's also a time of life when we're coming into our own power, our own identity, and looking for ways to feel like we have more agency in our lives — at a time when we don't, in a lot of ways. We still have to answer to our teachers and parents and peers. And then along comes this practice that says, "You have power right now. You know, you have access to something bigger than yourself, even as a 13-year-old. And for me, learning about witchcraft as a teenager was an incredibly positive thing. For those who might be interested in learning more, where should they start? You mentioned that you started a lot by just reading books. Oh my goodness, there are so many books on witchcraft now, it's a real feast. But it can also be overwhelming for people because they don't know where to start. So you know, there are certainly wonderful books that came out when the second wave of feminism was cresting here in the U.S. that I still think have value. One such book is The Spiral Dance by Starhawk, who really is one of the pioneers of earth-based and Goddess-based witchcraft here in the U.S. And that book still stands the test of time, I think there's a lot of beauty there. And also the same year that that book came out, which is 1979, is a book called Drawing Down the Moon, by actually a radio journalist who was also a Wiccan priestess, named Margot Adler. And this is a wonderful overview just on the history of the witchcraft movement, and all of the different groups that have made up this movement over the years. So those two are really great foundational texts. But then in terms of casting spells, just go to a bookstore and figure out what's calling to you, you know, we've all had that experience of picking up a book and just kind of getting that rush of excitement or, or feeling like it's a homecoming. So whatever book gives you that feeling is the right book to start with. Are there a simpler spells and charms that are good for beginners? Ooh, that's a that's a really lovely question. Certainly, candle magic is a simple way of casting a spell, and it's one of the most accessible. You don't even have to get a fancy special candle at a witchcraft store, you can get any old candle at a grocery store, and as long as you're putting your intentions into it, there's a good chance it's going to be really effective for you. Overall, what do you think people misunderstand about witches? I think one of the most common misconceptions is that if you are a witch, that means you have to reject what other religion of origin you might have been raised with. And that's simply not true. Yes, there are some people who were raised with a religion that they might have found oppressive or even harmful, and so they might reject that religion and turn towards witchcraft. But that is not everyone's story. There are Christian witches and Jewish witches and Buddhist witches and Hindu witches and Muslim witches and so on. So, being a witch can absolutely be complimentary to other spiritual paths that you might be walking. The other most common misconception, which I almost hesitate to bring up, because it's really bad PR, is the notion that witchcraft is somehow affiliated with the Devil and diabolism. And nothing could be further from the truth. Most witches are incredibly loving, kind, nature-worshipping, or at least nature-honoring, people. And the reason that people sometimes associate witchcraft with some kind of evil comes right out of the time of the witch hunts. You know, we're talking the 15th-17th centuries in Europe, and later here in what became the United States. And that is when this idea that witches were devil-worshipping and sexually deviant and murderous, and all of the horrible things and reasons [came about], that they use to rationalize killing innocent people. Unfortunately, those stories and those horrific beliefs are still sometimes with us today. We do see that in discriminatory practices against people who identify as witches, and there are still witch hunts that happen around the world today. Literal witch hunts. It's deeply, deeply damaging and couldn't be further from the truth. Looking back on the Salem witch trials, as Grossman noted, most of those accused probably weren't actually witches. Lying by confessing to witchcraft and turning in other “witches” increased one's odds of avoiding execution. Some of the convicted eventually petitioned for exoneration in the 1700s, and up until the early 2000s, various groups have worked to redeem those who remain. But how did Elizabeth Johnson Jr. get left out? How did we get here? State Senator Diana DiZoglio says, unlike some of the others who were wrongfully convicted, Johnson didn't have any descendants to push for her exoneration. She never married, she had no children, and some historians have suggested that she may have been mentally disabled. DiZoglio says it could still take a while for Bill 1016 to make its way through the Massachusetts Senate, but she's optimistic it'll pass - and it's good for all parties involved. "You know, this is something that's a matter of equality and making sure that justice is served. I commend these students for taking their civic education course to the next level," says DiZoglio. "This is something that demonstrates their ability to speak up and be a voice for the voiceless, and I think that that carries over into all different issues that they're going to be able to advocate for going forward. And I think it demonstrates that, no matter how young [you are], you can make a difference." You've been listening to 51%. 51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. I have so many people to thank for this episode: State Senator Diana DiZoglio, Rachel Christ-Doane with the Salem Witch Museum, Kate Laity, Pam Grossman, our executive producer, Dr. Alan Chartock, and of course you for tuning in. On social media, we're on Twitter and Instagram at @51percentradio. Let us know what you think, and if you have a story you'd like to share as well. Until next week, I'm Jesse King for 51%.
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