Magick & Alchemy

In episode 185, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby gather oracular insight from the ancient world. Rooted in Latin’s orare, meaning “to speak,” an oracle in Greco-Roman mythology was a divine seer and sibyl with direct access to higher truths and prophecy. In this conversation, Kristin and Kate discuss the Delphic Oracle, a cave-dwelling prophetess whose sanctuary was considered the ‘navel’ of the earth. Also known as the Pythia, this woman was the prophetess at Apollo’s temple, a holy space rumored to have been designed and constructed by bees. They also consider Dodona, the oldest Hellenic oracle. In mythical tales, the prophetesses of Dodona were called pleiades (doves) and were the priestesses of Zeus. 

Sources & Shoutouts:

Current reads:

Sophie Strand, Make Me Good Soil

Acie Clark, Small Talk

Sylvia V. Linsteadt, Our Lady of the Dark Country 

Alyssandra Dutton, Stolen Women

James Hillman, Healing Fiction

James Hillman, Facing the Gods

James Hillman, The Dream and the Underworld

Nor Hall, The Moon & the Virgin

Allen Levi, Theo of Golden

Episode 90: An Interview with Sophie Strand

Episode 144: Wyrd Women, Part 2

Word Witch Correspondence: Acie Clark

The Greek Myths, Robert Graves

List of oracular statements from Delphi

Damien Echols, High Magick

William J. Broad, The Oracle

Vikki Bramshaw, Dionysos: Exciter to Frenzy

Simone Weil, Gravity and Grace

The Scientific Detectives Probing the Secrets of Ancient Oracles

Dodona History

The Black Dove of Dodona

Seeking answers from the Gods

The Sacred Oak: Dodona and the Origins of the Oracular Tradition

Join Tenth House Rising!

Tenth House Rising offers seasonal learning for those who seek meaning through myth, magick, and memory. Rooted in the rhythm of the seasons and inspired by the Wheel of the Year, each month brings a new theme that echoes the energies of the natural world. Learn more at TenthHouseRising.com.

For those who desire magick in the mail, you can also subscribe to the Tamed Wild Box, a monthly delivery of magic & earth medicine. Each box is crafted around a season and includes items for the earth-spirited and the lovers of all things mystical and natural. Deliveries can include crystals, herbs & teas, ritual tools, altar items, jewelry, essential oils & other lifestyle pieces. 

The Tamed Wild Box is a monthly offering of 5-7 items, chosen for the month and season we are in. Each delivery includes a box card that explains your items and a little ritual you can do with your new tools. You will also receive access to a monthly moon gathering, exclusive to box subscribers! 

Created by Tamed Wild.
Production by Julio Montero.
Music by Follow the Wind,
Taizo Audio

In episode 184 of the Magick & Alchemy podcast, hosts Kristin Lisenby and Kate Belew kick off season seven! Magic practitioners know that words are spells. That's why we set intentions and recite prayers, study old myths and fairy tales, and petition the spirit word for guidance. In this conversation, they begin with the origins of open sesame and hocus pocus, speaking about the sacredness of words. Next, they discuss invocations and the power of speaking aloud, and the mysterious origins of abracadabra. 

Sources & Shoutouts:

Dreaming the Dark: Magic, Sex, and Politics by Starhawk

The Harvest Moments and History of Sesame Seeds Around the World

The Paris Review: Open Sesame

In Babylon They Believed in a Mixture of Honey and Sesame Seeds

The Pagan Origins of Three Catholic Practices

The Women’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets by Barbara Walker

A Candle in the Dark by Thomas Ady

Mithraism

The Witch’s Art of Incantation by Roger J. Horne

Magic Maker by Pam Grossman 

Say the Magic Word: The Origins of Abracadabra

The Ancient and Mysterious History of Abracadabra

Lady Gaga Tells Us Everything You Want to Know About Abracadabra After That Spectacular Grammys Reveal

Join Tenth House Rising!

Tenth House Rising offers seasonal learning for those who seek meaning through myth, magick, and memory. Rooted in the rhythm of the seasons and inspired by the Wheel of the Year, each month brings a new theme that echoes the energies of the natural world. Learn more at TenthHouseRising.com.

For those who desire magick in the mail, you can also subscribe to the Tamed Wild Box, a monthly delivery of magic & earth medicine. Each box is crafted around a season and includes items for the earth-spirited and the lovers of all things mystical and natural. Deliveries can include crystals, herbs & teas, ritual tools, altar items, jewelry, essential oils & other lifestyle pieces. 

The Tamed Wild Box is a monthly offering of 5-7 items, chosen for the month and season we are in. Each delivery includes a box card that explains your items and a little ritual you can do with your new tools. You will also receive access to a monthly moon gathering, exclusive to box subscribers! 

Created by Tamed Wild.
Production by Julio Montero.
Music by Follow the Wind,
Taizo Audio

Join Tenth House Rising!

Tenth House Rising offers seasonal learning for those who seek meaning through myth, magick, and memory. Rooted in the rhythm of the seasons and inspired by the Wheel of the Year, each month brings a new theme that echoes the energies of the natural world. Learn more at TenthHouseRising.com.

For those who desire magick in the mail, you can also subscribe to the Tamed Wild Box, a monthly delivery of magic & earth medicine. Each box is crafted around a season and includes items for the earth-spirited and the lovers of all things mystical and natural. Deliveries can include crystals, herbs & teas, ritual tools, altar items, jewelry, essential oils & other lifestyle pieces. 

The Tamed Wild Box is a monthly offering of 5-7 items, chosen for the month and season we are in. Each delivery includes a box card that explains your items and a little ritual you can do with your new tools. You will also receive access to a monthly moon gathering, exclusive to box subscribers! 

Created by Tamed Wild.
Production by Julio Montero.
Music by Follow the Wind,
Taizo Audio

In episode 183 of the Magick & Alchemy podcast, hosts Kristin Lisenby and Kate Belew head to the harvest time fields to summon the haunts and cryptids of our reaping season. They begin with the Headless Horseman, a fictional rider with possible ties to Crom Cruach, the Dullahan, and other ancient spirits from Irish folklore. Next they meet the Puca, a trickster, shapeshifter, and faerie spirit who watches over our crops in exchange for a “puca’s share” of the harvest. Lastly, they share some strange, seasonal superstitions related to Poludnica, the Polevik, and the Feldgeister.

Sources & Shoutouts:

Episode 114: Tales of the Corn

Episode 137: Autumn Magick

 “Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland” by Thomas Crofton Croker

“Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry” by W.B. Yeats

“Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving

"The Sagen Tale," Brothers Grimm

"The Wild Huntsman," Brothers Grimm

Crom Cruach – The Dark Irish Pagan God of Sacrifice and Stone, Paul Sheldon

The Puca - Wilderness Ireland

Monster of the Week: The Poludnica

Polevic - Book of Creatures

Join Tenth House Rising!

Tenth House Rising offers seasonal learning for those who seek meaning through myth, magick, and memory. Rooted in the rhythm of the seasons and inspired by the Wheel of the Year, each month brings a new theme that echoes the energies of the natural world. Learn more at TenthHouseRising.com.

For those who desire magick in the mail, you can also subscribe to the Tamed Wild Box, a monthly delivery of magic & earth medicine. Each box is crafted around a season and includes items for the earth-spirited and the lovers of all things mystical and natural. Deliveries can include crystals, herbs & teas, ritual tools, altar items, jewelry, essential oils & other lifestyle pieces. 

The Tamed Wild Box is a monthly offering of 5-7 items, chosen for the month and season we are in. Each delivery includes a box card that explains your items and a little ritual you can do with your new tools. You will also receive access to a monthly moon gathering, exclusive to box subscribers! 

Created by Tamed Wild.
Production by Julio Montero.
Music by Follow the Wind,
Taizo Audio

In episode 182 of Magick & Alchemy, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby welcome back Perdita Finn to the podcast. Perdita is an author, educator, and co-founder of the feral fellowship, The Way of the Rose. In this conversation, Perdita talks about channeling the old ones and working with our beloved dead in the spirit world. She contemplates romantic animism and asks, if your mother was an animal, what animal would she be? Perdita also introduces us to her new book, Mothers of Magic: Summoning the Wisdom of Our Ancestors.

To connect with Perdita, visit her website, subscribe to her Substack, follow her on Instagram, and order her latest book, Mothers of Magic: Summoning the Wisdom of Our Ancestors. 

Sources & Shoutouts:

Episode 104: The Mothers of Monsters and Magic

Episode 136: Asteroid Astrology with Empress of Atlantis

Episode 128: Spring Magick

“The Dead Need to Speak,” Perdita Finn

Goliath’s Curse, Luke Kemp

Ancient Mirrors of Motherhood, Merlin Stone

The Salt King, Natasha Pulley

The Other Side, Jennifer Higgie 

Join Tenth House Rising!

Tenth House Rising offers seasonal learning for those who seek meaning through myth, magick, and memory. Rooted in the rhythm of the seasons and inspired by the Wheel of the Year, each month brings a new theme that echoes the energies of the natural world. Learn more at TenthHouseRising.com.

For those who desire magick in the mail, you can also subscribe to the Tamed Wild Box, a monthly delivery of magic & earth medicine. Each box is crafted around a season and includes items for the earth-spirited and the lovers of all things mystical and natural. Deliveries can include crystals, herbs & teas, ritual tools, altar items, jewelry, essential oils & other lifestyle pieces. 

The Tamed Wild Box is a monthly offering of 5-7 items, chosen for the month and season we are in. Each delivery includes a box card that explains your items and a little ritual you can do with your new tools. You will also receive access to a monthly moon gathering, exclusive to box subscribers! 

Created by Tamed Wild.
Production by Julio Montero.
Music by Follow the Wind,
Taizo Audio

In episode 181 of the Magick & Alchemy podcast, hosts Kristin Lisenby and Kate Belew celebrate the end of their 6th season alongside Animal Oracles, the bat and the crocodile. Beginning with the bat, a creature that roosts in caves, on cliffsides, and within the hollows of trees, Kristin discusses the bat’s relationship to thresholds, mythical junctures, and initiatory landmarks. She highlights its connection to vampires and libraries, and how bats ‘see’ using echolocation. Next, Kate explores crocodile folklore and mythology. She contemplates crocodile deities like Sobek and Ammit, their influence on fertility and the heart, and the quiet ferocity of this primordial creature.

Sources & Shoutouts:

Episode 161: Hecate with Melissa Madera

Episode 162: Word Witch with Kate Belew

Episode 163: Something in the Woods Loves You with Jarod K. Anderson

Episode 172: Creative Magick with Shelby Bundy & Amanda Paulson

Dionysos: Exciter to Frenzy, Vicki Bramshaw

Energy Magick of the Vampire,  Don Webb

“Echolocation is nature’s built-in sonar. Here’s how it works,” Liz Langley - National Geographic

“These Portuguese Libraries Are Infested With Bats—and They Like It That Way,” Julie H. Case - Smithsonian Magazine

Taschen’s Book of Symbols

The Rise of Sobek in The Middle Kingdom by Maryan Ragheb from the American Research Center in Egypt

Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum

Ammit - Egypt Museum

Back From the Brink - PBS

Join Tenth House Rising!

Tenth House Rising offers seasonal learning for those who seek meaning through myth, magick, and memory. Rooted in the rhythm of the seasons and inspired by the Wheel of the Year, each month brings a new theme that echoes the energies of the natural world. Learn more at TenthHouseRising.com.

For those who desire magick in the mail, you can also subscribe to the Tamed Wild Box, a monthly delivery of magic & earth medicine. Each box is crafted around a season and includes items for the earth-spirited and the lovers of all things mystical and natural. Deliveries can include crystals, herbs & teas, ritual tools, altar items, jewelry, essential oils & other lifestyle pieces. 

The Tamed Wild Box is a monthly offering of 5-7 items, chosen for the month and season we are in. Each delivery includes a box card that explains your items and a little ritual you can do with your new tools. You will also receive access to a monthly moon gathering, exclusive to box subscribers! 

Created by Tamed Wild.
Production by Julio Montero.
Music by Follow the Wind,
Taizo Audio

In episode 180 of the Magick & Alchemy podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby continue their series on animal oracles with the octopus and the dolphin. They begin with the eight-limbed octopus, a creature known as the sea alien. As a symbol of the strange, not only can the octopus alter the color and texture of its body on command, but it also uses tools, solves puzzles, and can escape from seemingly impossible spaces. Like the octopus, the dolphin is a liminal being, moving between shallow waters and deep, oceanic depths. Dolphins are considered our ‘brothers of the sea,’ delivering messengers of joy, friendship, and creation.

Sources & Shoutouts:

Tamed Wild Beltane Retreat 2027

“The Mind of an Octopus,” Scientific American

 “A Dictionary of Symbols,” J. E. Cirlot

“Octopus Legends and Urban Myths,” PBS 

“Breverton’s Phantasmagoria: A Compendium Of Monsters, Myths And Legends,” Terry Breverton

“Sea monsters and their inspiration: Serpents, mermaids, the kraken and more,” Natural History Museum

Dolphin Communication Project

Dolphins in Ancient Mythology, PBS

“The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images,” Taschen

Join Tenth House Rising!

Tenth House Rising offers seasonal learning for those who seek meaning through myth, magick, and memory. Rooted in the rhythm of the seasons and inspired by the Wheel of the Year, each month brings a new theme that echoes the energies of the natural world. Learn more at TenthHouseRising.com.

For those who desire magick in the mail, you can also subscribe to the Tamed Wild Box, a monthly delivery of magic & earth medicine. Each box is crafted around a season and includes items for the earth-spirited and the lovers of all things mystical and natural. Deliveries can include crystals, herbs & teas, ritual tools, altar items, jewelry, essential oils & other lifestyle pieces. 

The Tamed Wild Box is a monthly offering of 5-7 items, chosen for the month and season we are in. Each delivery includes a box card that explains your items and a little ritual you can do with your new tools. You will also receive access to a monthly moon gathering, exclusive to box subscribers! 

Created by Tamed Wild.
Production by Julio Montero.
Music by Follow the Wind,
Taizo Audio

In episode 179 of the Magick & Alchemy podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby track the footprints of animal oracles, beginning with the fox and the deer. Assigning meaning to animal sightings and chance interactions is called apantomancy, a form of divination with the wild. Through the lens of apantomancy, the fox might show up as a friend or foe, a fairy or a goddess. The fox is also a shapeshifter, much like its friend, the deer. Deer are ancient symbols of inspiration and creativity, and in folk stories and lullabies, they initiate humans into a realm of ancient magic.

Sources & Shoutouts:

Mr. Fox, Helen Oyeyemi
Season 4, Episode 127: Trickster Tales
Bones & Honey: A Heathen Prayer Book, Danielle Dulsky
The illustrated database of Japanese folklore
Kitsune: Japan's Fox of Mystery, Romance and Humor, Kiyosho Nozaki
The Age of Deer, Erica Howsare
National Geographic
Lady of the Beasts, Buffy Johnson
Bainne nam fiadh (Deer’s Milk)
We are Deer Kin - Missing Witches

Join Tenth House Rising!

Tenth House Rising offers seasonal learning for those who seek meaning through myth, magick, and memory. Rooted in the rhythm of the seasons and inspired by the Wheel of the Year, each month brings a new theme that echoes the energies of the natural world. Learn more at TenthHouseRising.com.

For those who desire magick in the mail, you can also subscribe to the Tamed Wild Box, a monthly delivery of magic & earth medicine. Each box is crafted around a season and includes items for the earth-spirited and the lovers of all things mystical and natural. Deliveries can include crystals, herbs & teas, ritual tools, altar items, jewelry, essential oils & other lifestyle pieces. 

The Tamed Wild Box is a monthly offering of 5-7 items, chosen for the month and season we are in. Each delivery includes a box card that explains your items and a little ritual you can do with your new tools. You will also receive access to a monthly moon gathering, exclusive to box subscribers! 

Created by Tamed Wild.
Production by Julio Montero.
Music by Follow the Wind,
Taizo Audio

In episode 178 of the Magick & Alchemy podcast, hosts Kristin Lisenby and Kate Belew conclude their series on Women in Art & the Occult by sharing the stories of Mary Wigman and Louise Bourgeois. As a dancer, Mary Wigman was an artist whose medium was not paint nor pen, but movement. She was the creator of the "Witch Dance," a performance that transformed her into a fluid, intuitive conduit of magic. Louise Bourgeois was a sculptor who considered her art a form of divination and a means of emotional restoration. She is most known for her spider sculptures, which she saw as symbols of resilience, feminine power, creativity, and independence. Bourgeois allowed her mind to wander while creating (a process she called ‘gathering wool’), letting "thought traces, fragments of dreams, idols, speculations, hunches, and intuitions" coalesce into art.

Sources & Shoutouts:

Tethered: An Anthology of Magic

“Re-reading Mary Wigman’s Hexentanz II (1926): the influence of the non-Western ‘Other’ on movement practice in early modern ‘German’ dance,” Lito Tsitsou and Lucy Weir 

Monte Verita

Witch Dance - YouTube

Stephando Mudo - La Biennale di Venezia

“Imagination is the Medium,” Literary Coven

“Breathing Back the History of German Modern Dance through the Horror Film Genre in Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria,” Wesley Lim

“The Language of Dance,” Mary Wigman

Louise Bourgeois - Gathering Wool

“Surrealist Threads in Louise Bourgeois’ Work,” Essie King

“Louise Bourgeois: The Woman Behind The Spider Sculptures,” Essie King

“The Damned, the Possessed and the Beloved: About Art, Architecture and Witchcraft”

Join Tenth House Rising!

Tenth House Rising offers seasonal learning for those who seek meaning through myth, magick, and memory. Rooted in the rhythm of the seasons and inspired by the Wheel of the Year, each month brings a new theme that echoes the energies of the natural world. Learn more at TenthHouseRising.com.

For those who desire magick in the mail, you can also subscribe to the Tamed Wild Box, a monthly delivery of magic & earth medicine. Each box is crafted around a season and includes items for the earth-spirited and the lovers of all things mystical and natural. Deliveries can include crystals, herbs & teas, ritual tools, altar items, jewelry, essential oils & other lifestyle pieces. 

The Tamed Wild Box is a monthly offering of 5-7 items, chosen for the month and season we are in. Each delivery includes a box card that explains your items and a little ritual you can do with your new tools. You will also receive access to a monthly moon gathering, exclusive to box subscribers! 

Created by Tamed Wild.
Production by Julio Montero.
Music by Follow the Wind,
Taizo Audio

In episode 177 of the Magick & Alchemy podcast, hosts Kristin Lisenby and Kate Belew consider the bewitching work of Stevie Nicks and Florence Welch. Standing at the crossroads of music, magic, and mystery, Kate and Kristin explore Rock & Roll’s occult muses before diving into Nick’s journey as a singer and performer. They discuss the inspiration for her first hit song with Fleetwood Mac, “Rhiannon,” which Nicks explains “is a song about an old Welsh witch.” Kate and Kristin also discuss Florence Welch, a songstress who compares witchcraft to medicine. They contemplate the creation of her band, Florence and the Machine, Welch’s Witch Choir, and share some of the enchanting lyrics penned by this word witch.

CW: Miscarriage

Sources & Shoutouts:

Tamed Wild Samhain Retreat - October 2026

10th House Rising Classes & Community

"It was if Merlin himself could not have concocted a spell more perfect": how Stevie Nicks turned to mythology to conjure up Fleetwood Mac's Rhiannon,” Bill Demain 

“Stevie Nicks on Love, Loss and What She Wears,” Holly George-Warren - More Magazine

Florence Welch - Britannica

‘The closest I came to making life was the closest I came to death’: Florence Welch on sexism, screaming and the lost pregnancy that nearly killed her, Rebecca Nicholson - The Guardian

“For Florence Welch, Grief Has Become A Superpower,” Sarah Cristobal - L’Officiel

“The Pagan Heart of Florence + The Machine,” Angelica Frey - JSTOR

“Useless Magic: Lyrics and Poetry,” Florence Welch

Paris Paloma, Labour

Join Tenth House Rising!

Tenth House Rising offers seasonal learning for those who seek meaning through myth, magick, and memory. Rooted in the rhythm of the seasons and inspired by the Wheel of the Year, each month brings a new theme that echoes the energies of the natural world. Learn more at TenthHouseRising.com.

For those who desire magick in the mail, you can also subscribe to the Tamed Wild Box, a monthly delivery of magic & earth medicine. Each box is crafted around a season and includes items for the earth-spirited and the lovers of all things mystical and natural. Deliveries can include crystals, herbs & teas, ritual tools, altar items, jewelry, essential oils & other lifestyle pieces. 

The Tamed Wild Box is a monthly offering of 5-7 items, chosen for the month and season we are in. Each delivery includes a box card that explains your items and a little ritual you can do with your new tools. You will also receive access to a monthly moon gathering, exclusive to box subscribers! 

Created by Tamed Wild.
Production by Julio Montero.
Music by Follow the Wind,
Taizo Audio

In episode 176 of the Magick & Alchemy podcast, hosts Kristin Lisenby and Kate Belew explore the creative lives of Ithell Colquhoun and Lucille Clifton. Colquhoun was an artist and author who combined surrealism with her interest in bodily landscapes, gender fluidity, ecology, mythology, transient states, and erotic alchemy. Both Colquhoun and Clifton believed their artistic practices were forms of divination and ways to connect with the spirit world. Clifton engaged with Ouija and ‘spirit writing’ to inspire her poetry, which focused on history, the African American experience, Blackness, and the Black body. She believed that the purpose of poetry and art was not to reveal answers but to ask questions.

Sources & Shoutouts:

The Myth of Apollo and Clytie

The Quest - Journal Archives

 The Quest Society 

“Ithell Colquhoun: A queer, occultist artist who created between worlds,” Isabella Greenwood

 Art Historian Katy Hessel

 “A Diagram of Desire, Androgyny, Queer Eroticism, and the Occult Visions of Ithell Colquhoun,” Isabella Greenwood 

First Look: Ithell Colquhoun: Between Worlds

Dawn Ades, ‘Notes on Two Women Surrealist Painters: Eileen Agar and Ithell Colquhoun’, Women in Art 3, no. 1 (1980) 

Scylla (1938)

Alchemical Figure: Androgyne  (1941) 

Diagrams of Love (1940)

About Lucille Clifton - Poets.org

"Won’t You Celebrate With Me," Lucille Clifton

“Spirit Writing, Body Problems: Lucille Clifton’s Faith”

“The Spirit Writing of Lucille Clifton,” Marina Magloire

Join Tenth House Rising!

Tenth House Rising offers seasonal learning for those who seek meaning through myth, magick, and memory. Rooted in the rhythm of the seasons and inspired by the Wheel of the Year, each month brings a new theme that echoes the energies of the natural world. Learn more at TenthHouseRising.com.

For those who desire magick in the mail, you can also subscribe to the Tamed Wild Box, a monthly delivery of magic & earth medicine. Each box is crafted around a season and includes items for the earth-spirited and the lovers of all things mystical and natural. Deliveries can include crystals, herbs & teas, ritual tools, altar items, jewelry, essential oils & other lifestyle pieces. 

The Tamed Wild Box is a monthly offering of 5-7 items, chosen for the month and season we are in. Each delivery includes a box card that explains your items and a little ritual you can do with your new tools. You will also receive access to a monthly moon gathering, exclusive to box subscribers! 

Created by Tamed Wild.
Production by Julio Montero.
Music by Follow the Wind,
Taizo Audio