In episode 145 of the Magick & Alchemy podcast, hosts Kristin Lisenby & Kate Belew finish their series inspired by the wyrd and wonderful. In Wyrd Women Pt. 3, they meet an old woman named Baubo. Baubo is a goddess of belly laughs, and in the myth of Persephone and Demeter, she is the unassuming problem solver. While Demeter mourns, Baubo dances in the face of grief, showing us that laughter is a spell that heals the heart. Next, they meet wyrd woman Simona Kossak, an activist and lover of more than human creatures who fought to protect Poland’s oldest forests and was sometimes called Witch.

Sources & Shoutouts:
Wild Medicine: An Illustrated Guide to the Magic of Herbs, Bundy & Belew
Episode 6: Persephone & Pluto
Episode 80: Psychedelic Witchcraft
Episode 130: Patron Saints of Spring
Storytime: Hades & Persephone
Goddess Series: Persephone
Encyclopedia of Spirits, Judika Illes
Hagitude: Reimagining the Second Half of Life, Sharon Blackie
Baubo votives
“Baubo: Laughter in the Face of Grief,” Deanna Riddick
The Health Benefits of Humor
Iambe and Baubo: A Study in Ritual Laughter, Olga Arans, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1988.
Women Who Run With the Wolves, Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes
“The Extraordinary Life of Simona Kossak,” Janusz R. Kowalczyk
Białowieża Forest, UNESCO World Heritage Convention
“Galloping Ghosts,” Diane Ackerman

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