In this episode, Megan talks about the first harvest festival: Lughnasadh that is part of the eight sabbats in the pagan Wheel of the Year, when we gather together and give thanks for what we have in abundance.

In the latest episode of Dark Habits, Megan gets together with Ryen to share the story of the life and times of queer rights pioneer, Harvey Milk.

Also discussed: how unlike the Bluth family's banana stand, there was never money in Dan White's potato stand, and why street potatoes need to become a global thing. Conspiracy theory: is Harvey Milk's ghost watching over the best bahn mi shop in San Francisco - which is in close proximity to City Hall.

... and why we need hope now more than ever.

Sources:

Shilts, Randy. The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk. St. Martin's Press. 1982

The Times of Harvey Milk. Rob Epstein. 1984

Hard-Fried, Ep 89 - Harvey Milk

Megan and Gudrun talk about the summer solstice, its origins, different ways of honoring the solstice around the world...and a possible ghost in a tea kettle situation.

Sources:

https://www.chichenitza.com/blog/solstice-in-chichen-itza

www.nippon.com

https://visitsweden.com/what-to-do/culture-history-and-art/swedish-traditions/midsummer-tradition/midsummer-sweden-something-another-world/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/voodoouniverse/2015/06/st-johns-eve-the-darker-side-of-solstice/

https://www.outdoorapothecary.com/summer-solstice/

Cunningham, Scott. 1993. Living Wicca: A Further Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. Woodbury, Minnesota USA. Llewellyn Worldwide.

Dorsey, Lilith. DATE. Orishas, Goddesses, and Voodoo Queens: The Divine Feminine in the African Religious Traditions. Red Wheel/Weiser. Newburyport, Massachusetts USA.

Megan tells Ryen all about the life and times of trans femme singer and activist, Jackie Shane.

Sources:

Sources:

Iannacci, Elio, 2017, Jackie Shane’s

Corp, Isabel, 2021, Any Other Way: The Life & Times of Jackie Shane | Have You Seen Her, A Grrrl’s Two Cents,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdekGMlY8Fs

Fensterstock, Alison, 2017, Jackie Shane, A Force Of Nature Who Disappeared, Has A Story All Her Own,

Historica Canada, November 2, 2022, Heritage

Megan and Gudrun get together to talk about Beltane, the first day of spring. Listen in (along with Gudrun's familiar, Pan) as they discuss how to make this holiday meaningful for you.

Join Ryen and Megan to learn about Aries season, Aries sun signs and our featured queer Aries: Anne Lister - as some historians have called "the first modern lesbian".

Also discussed will be the conspiracy theories that lesbians invented goth as well as Facebook relationship status.

Sources:

Whitbread, Helena. I Know My Own Heart: The Diaries of Anne Lister 1791 - 1840. Virago. 1988

"The Anne Lister Story by Helena Whitbread." Youtube,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWMMdnz0jbY

Megan and Ryen come together to celebrate Trans Day of Visibility and discuss the life and times of civil rights pioneer, Bayard Rustin.

This is a long one, so feel free to treat it like a two-parter! Get up, stretch your legs, play some pickleball and come back when you need to.

*Content Warming* this episode contains racial slurs in context of the era and situation. Please take care while listening.

Sources:

image: Selma March, 1965. Photograph by Steve Schapiro

D'Emilio, John. Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin. New York City, New York. Free Press. 2003

Kates, Nancy, Singer, Bennett. Question Why Films. Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin. [film]. 2003.

National Museum of African American History & Culture. Bayard Rustin | National Museum of African American History & Culture. accessed 31/03/2024. (https://nmaahc.si.edu/bayard-rustin)

Wolfe, George C. Higher Ground/Bold Choices. Rustin. [film], 2023.

Megan tells us about the history of Spring Equinox, discusses their approach god and goddess worship from a non-binary perspective - and different ways fertility can be interpreted, as well as shares a ritual and tarot spread to mark the holiday.

Sources:

Spring Equinox - Ostara

https://www.darkhabits.net/post/spring-equinox-ostara

Spring Equinox Tarot Spread

https://www.darkhabits.net/post/spring-equinox-tarot-spread-2022

Simple Spring Equinox Ritual

https://www.darkhabits.net/post/simple-spring-equinox-ritual

music:

"Spellbound" courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed Under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Megan and Ryen are back to talk about Aquarius Sun signs as well as notable queer Aquarius: Pamela Colman Smith, the woman who created what we think of when we think of tarot today.

Sources:

Decker, Ronald; Dummett, Michael (2019). A History of the Occult Tarot. London: Duckworth

Giles, Cynthia (1994). The Tarot: History, Mystery, and Lore. New York: Simon & Schuster

Kaplan, Stuart R. (2018). Pamela Colman Smith: The Untold Story. Stamford, Connecticut: U.S. Game Systems

Maiden, Beth (3 December 2014). "Fool’s Journey: The Fascinating Life of Pamela Colman Smith”. Autostraddle

Pyne, Kathleen (2007). Modernism and the feminine voice: O’Keeffe and the women of the Stieglitz circle. Berkeley: University of California Press

Ray, Sharmistha (23 March 2019). “Reviving a Forgotten Artist of the Occult”. Hyperallergic. Retrieved 14 March 2021

Tea, Michelle (2017). “The Divine Mystery of Pamela Colman Smith.” Enchanted Living Magazine.

Megan and Gudrun get together with Kiki to learn more about the biggest celebration of the year in her home country: Chinese New Year! Happy Year of the Wood Dragon!