Clarice Lispector (1920-1977) was a linguistic alchemist, translator of the invisible, and stream of consciousness poet, best known for her novels, Agua Viva, Near to the Wild Heart, and The Passion According to G.H. Often compared to eccentric existential authors such as Albert Camus and stream of consciousness royalty like Virginia Woolf, Lispector remains undefinable, opting to linger in the land of the intangible and formless. The Ukrainian-born, Brazilian-raised writer left a legacy behind as a household name in much of Brazil, while remaining relatively obscure in the American zeitgeist. In this episode we discuss her natal chart, her limitless attitude, her trance like writing, her tumultuous upbringing, her natural genius, and her incredibly inspiring unbothered demeanor. Sources:https://site.claricelispector.ims.com.br/en/https://bohemianbookslut.substack.com/p/the-witchcraft-of-clarice-lispectorhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IiGkkQAcAghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1zwGLBpULshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMn0oigmfYUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Nipf2pMtZYhttps://www.thenation.com/article/culture/clarice-lispector-apple-dark/#https://medium.com/@afmeurer/how-clarice-lispectors-literature-destabilizes-existentialist-philosophy-5f8dbfc2dfcehttps://site.claricelispector.ims.com.br/en/2024/05/27/me-a-witch/https://jewishreviewofbooks.com/jewish-history/14738/i-am-an-object-loved-by-god-rereading-clarice-lispector/#https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/18/obituaries/clarice-lispector-overlooked.html#:~:text=lispector%2Doverlooked.html-,Overlooked%20No%20More%3A%20Clarice%20Lispector%2C%20Novelist%20Who%20Captivated%20Brazil,welcome%20the%20attention%20she%20received.

In this episode we had the pleasure to sit down with our mentor and professor, Becca Tarnas. Becca is a scholar, artist, and archetypal astrologer. She is currently a professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies, where she wrote her doctoral dissertation on the Red Books of Carl Jung and J.R.R Tolkien. She's also the author of Journey to the Imaginal Realm: A Reader’s Guide to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, an editor of Archai: The Journal of Archetypal Cosmology, and is working on a biography of transpersonal psychology legend, Stanislav Grof. In this conversation, we discuss everything from the history of archetypes and mythology, to her research on Stan Grof, to motherhood and the lens shift that followed, to her own natal chart, to her experiences being raised by the iconic archetypal astrologer and historian Rick Tarnas (author of "Cosmos and Psyche"), to the complexities of binaries, to the Witch vs the Wizard, and so much more.

In this episode, we explore the life and work of Octavia E. Butler (1947-2006), a groundbreaking science fiction writer and visionary widely considered a prophet for her eerily accurate predictions about our current world.Born in Pasadena, California to a working-class Black family, Butler overcame poverty, dyslexia, and systemic barriers to become one of the first major Black women in science fiction. Her work explored themes of power, evolution, and survival through an unflinching examination of social issues, becoming foundational to Afrofuturism and feminist science fiction.Butler won the MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship in 1995, the first science fiction writer to receive this honor. Her most famous works include Kindred (1979), a time-travel novel confronting slavery's legacy, and the Parable series (1993-1998), set in 2024-2027, which predicted climate-fueled fires, political authoritarianism using the slogan "Make America Great Again," wealth inequality, and social collapse with startling precision.She passed away unexpectedly in 2006 at age 58, leaving behind an unfinished vision but a legacy that grows more relevant each year. As she once said: "I began writing about power because I had so little."Sources:"A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia E. Butler" by Lynell George"A Few Rules For Predicting The Future" by Octavia Butler"Octavia Butler, The Grand Dame of Science Fiction | It's Lit" PBS YouTube"Octavia E. Butler." Wikipedia"Biography of Octavia E. Butler" - Biography.com (https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/octavia-e-butler)"Octavia Butler" - Yale Dyslexia (https://dyslexia.yale.edu/story/octavia-butler/)"Parable of the Sower" and "Parable of the Talents" by Octavia ButlerPBS Digital Studios documentary transcript on Octavia ButlerVarious interviews and essays by ButlerRecent coverage of LA fires and Butler's predictionsAcademic analyses of Butler's work and influence

Maryam Mirzakhani (1977 - 2017) was an Iranian mathematician and professor, and the first woman to win the Fields Medal (the highest award in mathematics, comparable to the Nobel Prize). She was a theoretical architect of spaces beyond our perceptible dimensions. By developing formulas that could measure Riemann surfaces moduli spaces, she helped to create form around them, allowing us to visualize new dimensions through the theoretical scaffolding she set up around it. In this episode we discuss her natal chart while attempting to unpack the brilliance of her work and mind. Sources:https://www.ams.org/journals/bull/2020-57-03/S0273-0979-2020-01687-3/S0273-0979-2020-01687-3.pdfhttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01229459

Vero Collins is a scholar, typologist, astrologer, DJ, and pop culture savant. In this episode we had the opportunity to chat with her in person, diving into her natal chart, breaking down typology, and learning briefly about the work of Stan Grof. Check out her youtube channel,  @archetypepilled ​

In this episode we welcome “Goddess of Anarchy,” Lucy Parsons into our coven. Born into slavery at the tail end of the American civil war, Lucy fought oppression at every turn, quickly becoming one of the most feared radical voices in America, and was thought to be "more dangerous than 1000 rioters."She co-founded the Chicago Working Women's Union, led 400,000 people in the first ever May-day parade, spoke to crowds of thousands, and understood intersectionality before we had a word for it. After her husband was executed following the Haymarket affair, she got louder; traveling the world giving anarchist speeches, helping found the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in 1905, and always publishing her writing for the masses. After her death in 1942 (by mysterious house fire), the majority of her later works conveniently vanished...Sources:https://wams.nyhistory.org/industry-and-empire/labor-and-industry/lucy-parsons/https://shoeleatherhistoryproject.com/2020/06/27/happy-birthday-lucy-parsons/https://aas.princeton.edu/news/radical-existence-lucy-parsons-goddess-anarchyhttps://archive.iww.org/history/biography/LucyParsons/1/https://youtu.be/Ye7h0W4K_gU?si=VQM0YLBbVhJS6NMXhttps://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5009/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Parsonshttps://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/lucy-e-parsons-an-interview-with-lucy-parsons-on-the-prospects-for-anarchism-in-americahttps://www.thenation.com/article/archive/more-dangerous-than-a-thousand-rioters-the-revolutionary-life-of-lucy-parsons/

Shere Hite (1942-2020) was a sex researcher and feminist scholar best known for The Hite Report (1976), a groundbreaking study based on surveys of over 3,000 women about their sexual experiences and pleasure. The Hite Report became an international bestseller, but Hite faced intense criticism and personal attacks from media and academic establishments.

Dangerously ahead of her time and speaking the taboo out loud, in this episode we discuss her tumultuous career and how she eventually left the United States and spent her later years in Europe, where she continued writing and speaking about women's sexuality and cultural attitudes toward gender.Coven is a Stars, Etc productionSources:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shere_Hitehttps://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/hite-shere-1942https://time.com/6333181/the-disappearance-of-shere-hite-documentary/https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Hite-Reporthttps://sevenstories.com/blogs/179-remembering-shere-hite-november-2-1942-september-9-2020?srsltid=AfmBOoqVyddGqFB3rUkmoWjDA6huQ_zemEGAUoIJGOFdn-OCAOBCfL8t&https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/24/my-life-with-shere-hite-the-forgotten-feminist-who-changed-sex-for-everhttps://www.vanityfair.com/style/2023/10/dakota-johnson-brings-sex-researcher-shere-hite-to-life-in-a-dazzling-new-documentaryMovie, The Disappearance of Shere Hite, Nicole Newnham, Shere Hite, NBC News Studios, Sony Pictures Television, TeaTime Pictures, This Machine, 2024.

Shere Hite (1942-2020) was a revolutionary sex researcher and feminist scholar best known for The Hite Report (1976), a groundbreaking study based on surveys of over 3,000 women about their sexual experiences and pleasure.

Born in Missouri and educated at Columbia University, Hite challenged prevailing assumptions about female sexuality, particularly the emphasis on intercourse and orgasm through penetration alone. Her research methodology, asking women directly about their experiences and centering their voices, was both revolutionary and controversial.

In this episode we discuss her natal chart, her upbringing, professional background, and what established her as a primary voice for women's sexuality.Coven is a Stars, Etc productionSources:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shere_Hitehttps://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/hite-shere-1942https://time.com/6333181/the-disappearance-of-shere-hite-documentary/https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Hite-Reporthttps://sevenstories.com/blogs/179-remembering-shere-hite-november-2-1942-september-9-2020?srsltid=AfmBOoqVyddGqFB3rUkmoWjDA6huQ_zemEGAUoIJGOFdn-OCAOBCfL8t&https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/24/my-life-with-shere-hite-the-forgotten-feminist-who-changed-sex-for-everhttps://www.vanityfair.com/style/2023/10/dakota-johnson-brings-sex-researcher-shere-hite-to-life-in-a-dazzling-new-documentaryMovie, The Disappearance of Shere Hite, Nicole Newnham, Shere Hite, NBC News Studios, Sony Pictures Television, TeaTime Pictures, This Machine, 2024.

Welcome back!

For our first episode of Coven, season 3, we sit down with spiritual theorist, poet, shapeshifter, symbol collector, and all around translator of the invisible, Gabi Abrão. In this conversation we discuss her natal chart, her new book, and her relationship to the Witch, as well as symbols, archetypes, the internet, artificial intelligence, memes, waterfalls, and whatever rabbit trails present themselves.

For our season finale, we're bringing Cookie Mueller home to the Coven she inspired. Sharp-tongued muse, accidental guru, downtown mystic—Cookie moved through worlds with a chaos that felt like clarity. John Waters saw it. Nan Goldin captured it. From Baltimore to San Francisco, to the burning heart of 70s NYC, she wrote and lived with the same raw honesty until AIDS took her in '89. Her multidimensionality, free spirited eccentricity, and counter-cultural heart, bursting with love and creativity reverberates across art and culture today.

Coven is a Stars, Etc Production

Written & Hosted by Jenna Scott and Socorro Erekani Carrillo-Lopez

Executive Producer: Jenna Scott

Produced and Directed by Sierra Barter

Audio Engineer: Josh Brumley

Audio Assistant: Christopher Bryan Amaral

Graphic Design: Jacob Scott

Music by Jeffrey Boyle and Jenna Scott

Created by Jenna Scott and Reilly Hail

Sources:

Mueller, Cookie. 1990. Walking through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black.semiotext.

https://www.artforum.com/features/john-waters-divine-comedy-208458/#:~:text=Waters'%20films%20bring%20to%20the,most%20films%20are%20relatively%20benign.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2022-04-21/collected-stories-of-late-great-1980s-it-girl-cookie-mueller

https://girlsontopstees.com/en-us/blogs/read-me/how-cookie-mueller-captured-life?srsltid=AfmBOorLwDOJB6MC05NsS5xgVA4mCXktFnwev5PLgTvkfhcOICc69snD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B4jPRzaJck