Cauldron Her Daddy

In this episode, Sarai and Meredith turn their attention to the second of the three Cauldrons of Poesy — the Cauldron of Motion. If the Cauldron of Warming is about the body, the Cauldron of Motion is about the emotional body: the seat of sorrow and joy, the place where feelings live, and the energetic center most of us have been systematically taught to suppress, bypass, or hand off to someone else.

They cover what emotions actually are (spoiler: a 90-second chemical process that we stretch into years by tensing against them), why "high vibe only" culture is just another form of emotional control, how codependency is basically pooping back and forth forever, and why your rage and grief right now are not only valid but genuinely necessary.

This one gets real. Bring your feelings.

What We Cover

• A quick recap of the three Cauldrons of Poesy and how the Cauldron of Motion connects to the heart, throat, and emotional solar plexus
• How the Cauldron of Motion maps onto human design energy centers: the Self/G center, the Will center, and the emotional solar plexus
• What emotions actually are — the science of the 90-second chemical process and why we make it so much longer
• Why "high vibe only" spiritual culture is emotional hierarchy in disguise, and how it's used to enforce compliance
• The difference between feelings, sensations, and therapy speak ("I feel like a piece of toilet paper on your shoe" is not a feeling)
• Codependency explained: the double helix vs. the two vines, and why pooping back and forth forever doesn't work
• Defined vs. undefined emotional solar plexus in human design — what that means for how you experience and process emotions
• Covert narcissism, low empathy dynamics, and how to navigate those relationships without abandoning yourself
• Nonviolent communication as an antidote — and one important caveat when you're dealing with someone who isn't safe to be vulnerable with
• Shadow work and the unintegrated parts of ourselves that show up as defensiveness when certain emotions are named
• Why living aligned with your emotions is actually a radical act of resistance right now
• Moon tracking as a practical entry point for connecting with your emotional body

Key Concepts & References

The Cauldrons of Poesy — An ancient Irish/Celtic poem describing three energetic centers within the human body. The Cauldron of Motion sits in the chest and throat area and is associated with emotion, identity, will, and vocation.

Human Design — An energetic system that Meredith uses in her practice. Relevant centers for this episode: the Self/G center (identity), the Will center (drive), and the Emotional Solar Plexus (mood and emotion). Defined vs. undefined centers are discussed in depth.

The 90-Second Emotion — The physiological reality that an emotional chemical response takes about 15 seconds to release and 90 seconds to process through the body. Everything beyond that is us holding on.

Codependency — Meredith and Sarai trace the origin of the term back to addiction dynamics and expand it to describe any relationship where one person processes emotions for another instead of themselves. Their phrase: "pooping back and forth forever."

Nonviolent Communication (NVC) — A communication framework developed by Marshall Rosenberg. Sarai recommends it as a tool for getting back to actual feelings and needs. The book is worth reading.

Shadow Work — Jungian concept of the parts of ourselves we've deemed unacceptable and stuffed in a metaphorical duffel bag. A tell that you've got shadow material: you feel defensive when someone talks about a particular emotion.

Cauldron of Motion Tilted Inward — Sarai shares a visual she finds compelling: the cauldron of motion tilted not outward toward others but inward toward oneself, as a metaphor for the narcissistic pattern of seeking self-reflection from others rather than doing the inner work.

Astrology & Human Design Recommendations

For the Cauldron of Motion, Meredith recommends paying attention to:

• The Moon in your natal chart — your emotional body, how you process feelings, and what you need to feel safe
• Moon transits — the moon moves quickly and tracking it day to day can help you understand your emotional rhythms
• Moon-Pluto aspects — particularly potent for emotional intensity and transformation
• Your emotional solar plexus — defined or undefined, and what that means for how you relate to your own and others' emotions

To get a moon calendar synced to your Google Calendar, a simple search will surface free options you can subscribe to directly.

Work With Us

Meredith Holley — Astrologer, Human Design Consultant, and reluctant lawyer. Meredith offers natal chart readings that include both astrology and human design, plus ongoing remediation and coaching. She also publishes weekly horoscopes on Substack. 🌙 fourthcupastrology.com 📖 Substack: Fourth Cup

Sarai Johnson — Witch, sexologist, and coach specializing in embodiment, burnout, and sovereignty. Book a discovery call or download her free mini podcast Your Own Divinity to start getting back in touch with your body and your source. 🌿 saraijohnson.com

If This Episode Hit You

The Cauldron of Warming episode is a good companion listen if you haven't heard it yet — it covers the body, ancestry, burnout, and why your instincts are the most radical thing you own.

And if you're sitting with some feelings right now — which, same — that's actually the point. Let them move through.

Cauldron Her Daddy is a podcast about sex, magic, astrology, and whatever else Sarai and Meredith want to talk about. New episodes available wherever you listen.

Ready to reclaim? Start here.

1. Take the free Body Trust Quiz

Find out where your body trust is strongest and where it’s asking for attention, across physicality, emotions, worth, and knowing.

👉 https://sarai-bodytrustquiz.scoreapp.com/

2. Work with Sarai one-on-one

• Tarot Reading ($55): a recorded reading delivered within three days
• Energy Work ($150): a 60-minute distance Reiki session
• The Witching Hour ($177): a 60-minute session to name the thing underneath the thing and leave with a magickal working
• Tending the Bones and Blooms ($333): a 90-minute somatic session with a guided pathworking to meet your own inner landscape
• 👉 https://saraijohnson.com/work

3. Give the gift of coming home to yourself

The holidays are coming. Readings and sessions make great gifts for the deconstructed people in your life.

👉 https://saraijohnson.com/work

4. Follow, subscribe, and share

• Threads (Sarai’s favorite right now): https://www.threads.com/@saraijohnson.witch
• Substack: https://substack.com/@saraijohnson
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saraijohnson.witch/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@saraijohnson.witch
• Subscribe to and rate Cauldron Her Daddy, and send this episode to a friend who’s ever said, “I wish my body would catch up to what my mind knows.”

5. Get a reading on the show!

Sarai will continue to offer a free intuitive tarot reading to folks who are willing to be on the show!

👉 Put in your question here!

6. Chip in directly

Want to support this work? DM Sarai on Threads or Instagram for Venmo (not tax deductible).

Everything lives at saraijohnson.com.

The Cauldron of Warming: Coming Home to Your Body

In this episode, Sarai and Meredith dive into the namesake of the podcast itself — the Cauldrons of Poesy, an ancient Irish text describing three energetic centers within the human body. They start with the foundational one: the Cauldron of Warming, the seat of our animal nature, our ancestry, our hunger, and our physical experience.

From there, the conversation gets real. Why are so many of us so deeply disconnected from our bodies? Meredith and Sarai trace that disconnection back through capitalism, high-control religion, colonialism, and the cultural messaging that tells us our bodies exist for productivity, compliance, or someone else's benefit — not for us.

They talk about what burnout actually is (hint: it's an embodiment crisis), how overthinking is often your body screaming without a direction, and why the path through pain is not bracing against it but learning to allow.

They also get into the myth of Inanna, the underworld journey no wellness influencer is going to sell you, and why spiritual bypassing — whether it's "just think positive thoughts" or "Jesus already did it for you" — keeps us stuck.

Plus: what your astrology chart can tell you about where and how you disconnect and some genuinely sweet practices for learning to love the body you're already living in.

This one is for anyone who has ever felt like a stranger in their own skin — and is ready to come back.

Ready to reclaim? Start here.

1. Take the free Body Trust Quiz

Find out where your body trust is strongest and where it’s asking for attention, across physicality, emotions, worth, and knowing.

👉 https://sarai-bodytrustquiz.scoreapp.com/

2. Work with Sarai one-on-one

• Tarot Reading ($55): a recorded reading delivered within three days
• Energy Work ($150): a 60-minute distance Reiki session
• The Witching Hour ($177): a 60-minute session to name the thing underneath the thing and leave with a magickal working
• Tending the Bones and Blooms ($333): a 90-minute somatic session with a guided pathworking to meet your own inner landscape
• 👉 https://saraijohnson.com/work

3. Give the gift of coming home to yourself

The holidays are coming. Readings and sessions make great gifts for the deconstructed people in your life.

👉 https://saraijohnson.com/work

4. Follow, subscribe, and share

• Threads (Sarai’s favorite right now): https://www.threads.com/@saraijohnson.witch
• Substack: https://substack.com/@saraijohnson
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saraijohnson.witch/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@saraijohnson.witch
• Subscribe to and rate Cauldron Her Daddy, and send this episode to a friend who’s ever said, “I wish my body would catch up to what my mind knows.”

5. Get a reading on the show!

Sarai will continue to offer a free intuitive tarot reading to folks who are willing to be on the show!

👉 Put in your question here!

6. Chip in directly

Want to support this work? DM Sarai on Threads or Instagram for Venmo (not tax deductible).

Everything lives at saraijohnson.com.

Welcome to Ethical Shit Talk - a segment dear to Mer and Sarai's hearts. It's the contemplative / expressive practice of diving headfirst into the drama, and then doing the personal work to figure out why you cared so much. This week's subject: the absolute internet tornado surrounding Lindy West's new memoir Adult Braces Driving Myself Sane, in which she writes honestly about her marriage opening up, her husband's girlfriend Roya moving in, and — apparently — destroying feminism forever. According to some Substacks.

For the uninitiated: Lindy West cut her teeth as film editor at The Stranger under Dan Savage, became the internet's favorite punching bag for daring to exist in a fat body in public, wrote the beloved Shrill (yes, that This American Life episode is as good as you heard), and is married to Aham — sibling of Ijeoma Oluo, author of So You Want to Talk About Race. It's a lot of feminist crossover. It's genuinely delightful.

Sarai and Meredith get into: why concern trolling Lindy West's marriage is just fat phobia, TERF-dom, and - dare we coin a phrase "polyphobia?" with a new outfit, what compulsory monogamy has in common with compulsory heteronormativity, the very unhinged email Aham sent to Slate, and the parallel universe where Glennon Doyle spent another decade trying to want to want to have sex with a man. (She didn't. Thank Goddess. Abby Wambach entered the chat.)

Also discussed: relationship anarchy (not what you think), anti-polyamory think pieces, the Moral Majority (not caused by throuples, as it turns out), and Scamfluencers by way of Saachi Koul's profile on Lindy West and her new book (about which, the aforementioned unhinged email was sent).

As the great Tobias Fünke once said about opening one's marriage: "Oh. It never works...but it might work for us."

Lindy West, if you're reading this: saraijohnson.com. She's a somatic sexologist. She pre-ordered your book. She's rooting for you. Call her.

For your astrology and human design needs: fourthcupastrology.com.

Ready to reclaim? Start here.

1. Take the free Body Trust Quiz

Find out where your body trust is strongest and where it’s asking for attention, across physicality, emotions, worth, and knowing.

👉 https://sarai-bodytrustquiz.scoreapp.com/

2. Work with Sarai one-on-one

• Tarot Reading ($55): a recorded reading delivered within three days
• Energy Work ($150): a 60-minute distance Reiki session
• The Witching Hour ($177): a 60-minute session to name the thing underneath the thing and leave with a magickal working
• Tending the Bones and Blooms ($333): a 90-minute somatic session with a guided pathworking to meet your own inner landscape
• 👉 https://saraijohnson.com/work

3. Give the gift of coming home to yourself

The holidays are coming. Readings and sessions make great gifts for the deconstructed people in your life.

👉 https://saraijohnson.com/work

4. Follow, subscribe, and share

• Threads (Sarai’s favorite right now): https://www.threads.com/@saraijohnson.witch
• Substack: https://substack.com/@saraijohnson
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saraijohnson.witch/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@saraijohnson.witch
• Subscribe to and rate Cauldron Her Daddy, and send this episode to a friend who’s ever said, “I wish my body would catch up to what my mind knows.”

5. Get a reading on the show!

Sarai will continue to offer a free intuitive tarot reading to folks who are willing to be on the show!

👉 Put in your question here!

6. Chip in directly

Want to support this work? DM Sarai on Threads or Instagram for Venmo (not tax deductible).

Everything lives at saraijohnson.com.

Learn all about what's coming up in the astrology for April 2026! Meredith walks us through the transits that are happening this month and we get useful tips and info about how to handle the wild weather in the stars.

Ready to reclaim? Start here.

1. Take the free Body Trust Quiz

Find out where your body trust is strongest and where it’s asking for attention, across physicality, emotions, worth, and knowing.

👉 https://sarai-bodytrustquiz.scoreapp.com/

2. Work with Sarai one-on-one

• Tarot Reading ($55): a recorded reading delivered within three days
• Energy Work ($150): a 60-minute distance Reiki session
• The Witching Hour ($177): a 60-minute session to name the thing underneath the thing and leave with a magickal working
• Tending the Bones and Blooms ($333): a 90-minute somatic session with a guided pathworking to meet your own inner landscape
• 👉 https://saraijohnson.com/work

3. Give the gift of coming home to yourself

The holidays are coming. Readings and sessions make great gifts for the deconstructed people in your life.

👉 https://saraijohnson.com/work

4. Follow, subscribe, and share

• Threads (Sarai’s favorite right now): https://www.threads.com/@saraijohnson.witch
• Substack: https://substack.com/@saraijohnson
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saraijohnson.witch/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@saraijohnson.witch
• Subscribe to and rate Cauldron Her Daddy, and send this episode to a friend who’s ever said, “I wish my body would catch up to what my mind knows.”

5. Get a reading on the show!

Sarai will continue to offer a free intuitive tarot reading to folks who are willing to be on the show!

👉 Put in your question here!

6. Chip in directly

Want to support this work? DM Sarai on Threads or Instagram for Venmo (not tax deductible).

Everything lives at saraijohnson.com.

Welcome to Cauldron Her Daddy - a podcast about sex, astrology, witchery, and sometimes pop culture. In our first episode, you'll get to know our hosts, Astrologer, Witch, and (almost former) Civil Rights Attorney, Meredith Holley and Sexologist, Witch, and Embodiment Coach, Sarai Johnson.

This podcast is fun, uplifting, and talks about spiritual and esoteric ideas you can use in real life. Mer and Sarai are eclectic, practical witches and they both work with mythology, philosophy, and social justice.

Ready to reclaim? Start here.

1. Take the free Body Trust Quiz

Find out where your body trust is strongest and where it’s asking for attention, across physicality, emotions, worth, and knowing.

👉 https://sarai-bodytrustquiz.scoreapp.com/

2. Work with Sarai one-on-one

• Tarot Reading ($55): a recorded reading delivered within three days
• Energy Work ($150): a 60-minute distance Reiki session
• The Witching Hour ($177): a 60-minute session to name the thing underneath the thing and leave with a magickal working
• Tending the Bones and Blooms ($333): a 90-minute somatic session with a guided pathworking to meet your own inner landscape
• 👉 https://saraijohnson.com/work

3. Give the gift of coming home to yourself

The holidays are coming. Readings and sessions make great gifts for the deconstructed people in your life.

👉 https://saraijohnson.com/work

4. Follow, subscribe, and share

• Threads (Sarai’s favorite right now): https://www.threads.com/@saraijohnson.witch
• Substack: https://substack.com/@saraijohnson
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saraijohnson.witch/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@saraijohnson.witch
• Subscribe to and rate Cauldron Her Daddy, and send this episode to a friend who’s ever said, “I wish my body would catch up to what my mind knows.”

5. Get a reading on the show!

Sarai will continue to offer a free intuitive tarot reading to folks who are willing to be on the show!

👉 Put in your question here!

6. Chip in directly

Want to support this work? DM Sarai on Threads or Instagram for Venmo (not tax deductible).

Everything lives at saraijohnson.com.