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

In episode 175 of the Magick & Alchemy podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby continue their series on Women in Art & the Occult, dedicating this chapter to Georgie Yeats and Sylvia Plath. Georgie was an author and medium whose journey with automatic writing began during her honeymoon with the poet and author W.B. Yeats. Over the next decade, she channeled messages from spirits who called themselves the “Instructors,” producing 50 notebooks and thousands of pages of writing and geometric designs on the occult nature of reality. Meanwhile, fellow author and mystic Sylvia Plath preferred the Ouija board to communicate with the spirit world. Although she was fiercely private about her magical interests, she relied on astrology, ‘homemade talking boards,’ and tarot cards as tools to guide her pen.

CW: Mention of Suicide

Sources & Shoutouts:

W.B. Yeats - Wikipedia

A Vision, W.B. Yeats

“The Vision of W.B. Yeats,” Gary Lachman

“Yeats and the Golden Dawn: Occult Poetry and Automatic Writing,” Nicole Lau

“The Tower,” W.B. Yeats

“Exploring The Occult Sylvia Plath,” Kalenna Fraga

“The Haunting Story Of How Sylvia Plath Died And The Tragic Events That Led Up To It,” Kaleena Fraga

“Uncovering Sylvia Plath,” Emanuela Borgatta Dunnett

Magic Maker, Pam Grossman

The Occult Sylvia Plath, Julie Gordon-Bramer

“Sylvia Plath And The Occult,” Terri-Jane Dow

“How Black Magic Killed Sylvia Plath,” - The Guardian

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 174 of the Magick & Alchemy podcast, hosts Kristin Lisenby and Kate Belew delve into the creative lives of magical women for their new series, Women in Art & the Occult. They open with the story of Hilma af Klint, a Swedish artist who explored Spiritualism, mediumship, automatic drawing, and the teachings of Rudolf Steiner and Madame Blavatsky in her work and creative process. Kate and Kristin also discuss Vali Myers, a bohemian artist known as the Witch of Positano. Vali was a maker and a muse, a painter and a tattoo artist, who was compared to the goddesses Artemis and Diana for her close relationship with animals and mountains, and for her wild nature.

Sources & Shoutouts:

Episode 144: Wyrd Women, Pt. 2

New Moon Magic, Amy Torok & Risa Dickens

Waking the Witch: Reflections on Women, Magic, and Power, Pam Grossman

Paintings for the Temple, Guggenheim, New York

“The Strange Afterlife of Hilma af Klint, Painting’s Posthumous Star,” Alice Gregory

The Spiral Dance, Starhawk

Just Kids, Patti Smith

A Lesson in True Bohemianism with the Witch of Positano

Bohemian like you: Vali Myers the Witch of Positano

Everything Shines in the Darkness: Sheldon & Diane Rochlin's Vali, The Witch of Positano - YouTube

Inside the remote Italian home of Australia’s bohemian high priestess

Photos: Revisiting Love on the Left Bank - Vanity Faire

Florence Welch on feminism, depression, fame

Vali Myers, the Witch of Positano - Tumblr

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 173 of the Magick & Alchemy podcast, hosts Kristin Lisenby and Kate Belew investigate the folklore, superstitions, and astrological significance of eclipses. Beginning with the myriad of eclipse mythologies from around the world, they consider the stories of monstrous Apep and heavenly Selene. They contemplate eclipses as omens, bolstering agents for medieval magicians, and course correctors for modern spellcasters. They also highlight the influence of these celestial phenomena on earth-dwellers, and how they deliver stories, guidance, and path-aligning magic.

Sources & Shoutouts:

Small Spells Deck by Tamed Wild

Episode 128: Spring Magick

History of Eclipses - NASA

Moon Lore, Timothy Harley

“Behold Rahu, the Beheaded Asura, and Other Eclipse Monsters of Yore,” Robert Lamb

Brewers Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, John Ayto

“Surprising facts and beliefs about eclipses during medieval and Renaissance times,” Sandra Knispel

Carl Jung, Letter to Horst Scharschuch, 1 September 1952, Letters, Vol. II

Astrology Is Real: Revelations from My Life as an Oracle, Robb Breszny

“Totality,” Anne Carson

Chani Nicholas

California Academy of Sciences supervisor Elise Ricard

Doug Duncan, director of the Fiske Planetarium at the University of Colorado, Boulder

The Astrology Podcast, Episode 215 

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 172 of the Magick & Alchemy podcast, hosts Kristin Lisenby and Kate Belew welcome back Shelby Bundy and Amanda Paulson! Shelby Bundy is the visionary and creatrix behind Tamed Wild, where modern magick meets ancient wisdom, and Amanda Paulson is a paranormal investigator and psychic medium based in the Pacific Northwest. In this conversation, the coven discusses the crossroads of magick and creativity, highlighting their literary muses and current works in progress. They talk about different writing methods and rituals, finding inspiration in unlikely places (bogs), and the areas of their craft they plan to explore more in depth.

To connect with Shelby, visit her website, subscribe to her Substack, and follow her on Instagram @themoonincarolina.

To learn more about Amanda, visit prettyfnspooky.com, look for her on Substack, and follow her online @prettyfnspooky.

Sources & Shoutouts:

Barabra G. Walker's recommended reading list

Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid (1975) - YouTube

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