Lakshmi Ramgopal is a musician and dancer who performs under the name Lykanthea. Her electro-mythic debut EP, Migration, received much-deserved praise from such outlets as The Chicago Tribune, Noisey, and Public Radio International’s The World (and listeners will recognize its track “Hand and Eye” as The Witch Wave theme song). She’s collaborated with Savage Sister on their sundrowned EP, and she’s been creating and performing music via sound installations and performances for spaces such as The Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art and Chicago’s Lincoln Park Conservatory. Her new project, Some Viscera, marks a shift in instrumentation, drawing more heavily on her training in South Indian classical (or Carnatic) music, as well as organic sounds from analog instruments, bird song, and lullabies. It touches on atavistic questions of motherhood and personal legacy. When performed live it is an evening-length work of sound and movement that explores childhood, nostalgia, and kinship in the Indian-American diaspora in the wake of India’s independence, while questioning the boundaries of classical forms. Embracing the warmth of the sruti box, unprocessed vocals, and strings, Ramgopal’s ensemble draws on a wide range of influences to create a work that is as expansive as it is intimate. Some Viscera premiered at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago on September 26-27, 2024, and the music of Some Viscera is now available in a standalone album.

In addition to that, performing both solo and with her ensemble, Lakshmi has done site-specific, immersive shows in spaces like Chicago’s Edgar Miller’s Glasner Studio and Garfield Park Conservatory, and in the middle of a freshwater stream. In 2018 she showed A Half-Light Chorus, which a sound installation commissioned by Experimental Sound Studio, and In 2020 she and visual artist Nancy Davidson showed a site-specific sculpture and sound installation, at Krannert Art Museum. The museum acquired it in 2023.

Lakshmi received her PhD in Classics from the University of Chicago, and she is currently Assistant Professor of History at Columbia University, with a focus on the Roman Empire. 

On this episode, Lakshmi discusses her sonic shift from electronic to analog, music as ancestral offering, and the reincarnating power of love.

Pam also talks about the secret magic of lullabies, and responds to a listener’s comment about reconciling witchcraft with one’s religious upbringing.

Songs featured in the episode are all from Lykanthea’s new album, Some Viscera:

“Bird Song”

“Garuda”

“The Nightingale”

“Cremation”

Our sponsors for this episode are Ritual + Shelter, TU·ET·AL, UBU Skills, BetterHelp, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, Grimsby Hollow Meadery, and Open Sea Design Co.

We also have print-on-demand merch like Witch Wave shirts, sweatshirts, totes, stickers, and mugs available now here, and all sorts of other bewitching goodies available in the Witch Wave shop.

And if you want more Witch Wave, please consider supporting us on Patreon to get access to detailed show notes, bonus Witch Wave Plus episodes, Pam’s monthly online rituals, and more! That’s patreon.com/witchwave

Laura Tempest Zakroff (she/they) is a professional artist, author, performer, and Modern Traditional Witch based in New England. She holds a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, and her artwork has received awards and honors worldwide. Her work embodies myth and the esoteric through her drawings and paintings, jewelry, talismans, and other designs. Laura is the author of several bestselling Llewellyn books including Weave the Liminal, Sigil Witchery, Visual Alchemy, and Anatomy of a Witch, as well as the artist and author of the Sigil Witchery Oracle, Anatomy of a Witch Oracle, and The Liminal Spirits Oracle. 

She is also devoted to magical activism through her sigil offerings and other work. To that end, Laura edited The New Aradia: A Witch’s Handbook to Magical Resistance, The Gorgon's Guide to Magical Resistance, and Serpents of Circe: A Manual to Magical Resilience from Revelore Press. Laura is the creative force behind several community events and teaches workshops online and worldwide. Her site WeAreAradia.org is a hub for magic and activism, and lauratempestzakroff.com is where you can learn more about all her other art witch offerings.

On this episode, Laura discusses the importance of magical resistance in tumultuous times, the art of crafting sigils, and the power of embracing the embodied divine.

Pam also talks about the centering magic of stars, and answers a listener question about what to do with a loved one’s old spell jars.

Our sponsors for this episode are Woodland Magic, the Many Moons 2025 Lunar Planner, TU·ET·AL, BetterHelp, ZOUZ Incense, Grimsby Hollow Meadery, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, and Snowy Owl Tea

We also have print-on-demand merch like Witch Wave shirts, sweatshirts, totes, stickers, and mugs available now here, and all sorts of other bewitching goodies available in the Witch Wave shop.

And if you want more Witch Wave, please consider supporting us on Patreon to get access to detailed show notes, bonus Witch Wave Plus episodes, Pam’s monthly online rituals, and more! That’s patreon.com/witchwave

Damsel Elysium is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and experimental sound and visual artist who uses double bass, violin, and original recorded sounds to explore alternative communication and connections with space, nature, and the unseen world. Their performances combine improvisational music-making, ritual, costume, and fantastical worldbuilding, giving the audience a sensation of being transported to another realm while staying rooted wholly in their bodies. Damsel’s EPs include 2024’s Whispers from Ancient Vesselsand Whispers and Speakings, as well the score to the short horror film GLINT. Their LP softfalling will be out in 2025, and they are currently developing it in part via a multimedia exhibition at London’s Stage Gallery which is up now through November 27th.

In addition to that, Damsel has collaborated with and performed for FKA twigs and V&A Museum, they’ve created work for Tate Collective, they’ve created glass instruments for IITTALA, they’ve been commissioned by fashion brands such as Gucci and Simone Rocha, and they’ve composed for films which have entered Sundance film festival.

On this episode, Damsel discusses performance as ritual, the animism of instruments, and their intuitive approach to making music.

Pam also talks about seeking the light in dark times, and answers a listener question about how to change one’s luck.

Featured tracks in the episode:

Damsel Elysium “Shoreline” from Whispers from Ancient Vessels

Damsel Elysium “Whispers from Ancient Vessels – Nyokabi Kariuki Rework” from Whispers and Speakings

Damsel Elysium “Wide Eyed Bird Sings” from the GLINT Soundtrack

Our sponsors for this episode are Mithras Candle, BetterHelp, Rue and Vervain, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, and Snowy Owl Tea

We also have print-on-demand merch like Witch Wave shirts, sweatshirts, totes, stickers, and mugs available now here, and all sorts of other bewitching goodies available in the Witch Wave shop.

And if you want more Witch Wave, please consider supporting us on Patreon to get access to detailed show notes, bonus Witch Wave Plus episodes, Pam’s monthly online rituals, and more! That’s patreon.com/witchwave

Robert Shehu-Ansell is a publisher, curator and independent scholar. Through his publishing company Fulgur Press he has represented esoteric artists in book form since 1992. These books are exquisitely produced, highly collectible, and deeply magical. From grimoires to artist monographs to tarot decks, everything Fulgur publishes is meticulously crafted with eye towards elegance and deluxe beauty. Their most recent publication is the first English language edition of Surrealist founder André Breton’s visionary 1957 art survey, Magic Art (L’Art Magique). They’ve also published the work of such art mages as Austin Osman Spare, Leonora Carrington, Ithell Colquhoun, and Jesse Bransford, to name but a few, and they have conducted numerous symposiums and exhibitions about occult art.

Robert is also the publisher of several series publications, including Black Mirror and Abraxas Journal, which has been described as ‘today’s pre-eminent voice for the serious study of occult and esoteric expression.’ Robert has been interviewed for such varied outlets as the BBC Culture Show, Dazed and Confused, and Boing Boing, and as an experienced public speaker, he also lectures on esoteric art of the 20th century, with a specific focus on Austin Osman Spare.

On this episode, Robert discusses the delights and challenges of publishing a legendary occult art survey, the magic of Surrealism, and how he came to specialize in talismanic books.

Pam also talks about her magical excursion to England, and answers a listener question about following the Wheel of the Year down under.

Our sponsors for this episode are Open Sea Design Co., BetterHelp, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, ZOUZ Incense, and Mithras Candle.

We also have print-on-demand merch like Witch Wave shirts, sweatshirts, totes, stickers, and mugs available now here, and all sorts of other bewitching goodies available in the Witch Wave shop.

And if you want more Witch Wave, please consider supporting us on Patreon to get access to detailed show notes, bonus Witch Wave Plus episodes, Pam’s monthly online rituals, and more! That’s patreon.com/witchwave

Joanna Ebensteinis the founder and creative director of Morbid Anatomy, which is the world’s leading community that focuses on, among other things, the culture and contemplation of death. Morbid Anatomy has taken many forms since its founding in 2007. It’s been a wildly popular blog, a library, a museum, a project-in-residence at Green-Wood Cemetery, just to name a few, and it’s currently both an in-person gathering space in Brooklyn’s Industry City, as well as a thriving online community that features lectures, workshops, and merch, as well as in-person experiences including field trips, conferences, and other events.

An internationally recognized death expert, Joanna is the author of several books, including Anatomica: The Exquisite and Unsettling Art of Human Anatomy, Death: A Graveside Companion, and The Anatomical Venus. Her newest book is Memento Mori: The Art of Contemplating Death to Live a Better Life. She is also an award-winning curator, photographer, and graphic designer, and the teacher of the many times sold-out class, Make Your Own Memento Mori: Befriending Death with Art, History and the Imagination.

On this episode, Joanna discusses the value of ancestor veneration, her research on varying cultural attitudes about grief and loss, and how befriending death can lead to a better life.

Pam also talks about Samhain as time to contemplate the divinity of death, and answers a listener question about activism and the Goddess.

Our sponsors for this episode are Ritual + Shelter, TU·ET·AL soap and skincare, BetterHelp, Secrets of Romani Fortune-Telling out now from Weiser Books, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, Mithras Candle, and the Missing Witches Deck of Oracles out now from North Atlantic Books.

We also have print-on-demand merch like Witch Wave shirts, sweatshirts, totes, stickers, and mugs available now here, and all sorts of other bewitching goodies available in the Witch Wave shop.

And if you want more Witch Wave, please consider supporting us on Patreon to get access to detailed show notes, bonus Witch Wave Plus episodes, Pam’s monthly online rituals, and more! That’s patreon.com/witchwave

Judika Illes is the author of numerous books devoted to spells, spirits, and witchcraft, including Encyclopedia of Spirits, as well as Pure Magic, Daily Magic, Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Encyclopedia of Mystics, Saints, and Sages, and Magic When You Need It. Judika also was a significant contributor to the Witchcraft book Pam co-edited for Taschen’s Library of Esoterica Series, and she’s been a speaker at the Occult Humanities Conference as well.

Her newest literary offering, Witches: A Compendium, explores what a witch is and the different ways to be one. In it Judika Illes presents the history, mysteries, and diverse natures of witches from around the world. Featuring a who’s who ranging from famous—or infamous—historical witches such as Tituba, Sybil Leek, Aleister Crowley and popular fictional witches such as the Scarlet Witch, Agatha Harkness, and the Wicked Witch of the West, Witches: A Compendium celebrates witches in all their complicated glory.

Judika herself is a practicing witch who has been a professional tarot card reader for over three decades and is a certified aromatherapist. A native New Yorker, she teaches in the US and internationally, live and virtually, and is one of the world’s most knowledgeable and renowned experts in witchcraft.

On this episode, Judika discusses her favorite pop culture witches, bewitching Egyptian deities, and why the witch is a symbol of transgressive joy.

Pam also talks about her Occultober film and TV viewing plans, and answers a listener question about setting a protective magical boundary at work.

Our sponsors for this episode are Luna Lifted, The Modern Witches’ Confluence, BetterHelp, Woodland Magic, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, and Rue and Vervain

We also have print-on-demand merch like Witch Wave shirts, sweatshirts, totes, stickers, and mugs available now here.

And if you want more Witch Wave, please consider supporting us on Patreon to get access to detailed show notes, bonus Witch Wave Plus episodes, Pam’s monthly online rituals, and more! That’s patreon.com/witchwave

Welcome to Season 8 of The Witch Wave!

Cécile McLorin Salvant is a three-time Grammy-winning singer and composer, considered by many to be the Ella Fitzgerald/Sarah Vaughan/Billie Holiday/choose-your-own-iconic-vocalist of our time. The late opera legend Jessye Norman described Salvant as “a unique voice supported by an intelligence and full-fledged musicality, which light up every note she sings.” Salvant’s style and repertoire are extensive and expansive connecting vaudeville, blues, theater, jazz, baroque, pop, and folkloric music. She’s known as an eclectic curator, unearthing rarely recorded, forgotten songs with strong narratives, interesting power dynamics, unexpected twists, and humor. 

Salvant is widely admired and decorated with such awards as being the winner of the Thelonious Monk competition in 2010, the MacArthur fellowship (known in shorthand as the MacArthur Genius Award), and the Doris Duke Artist Award, in addition to the aforementioned multiple Grammys for Best Jazz Vocal Album. In addition to her stunning singing, Cécile is beloved for her visionary visual style, as well as for the tropes of mythology, magic, and monstresses which often show up in her original songs and her interpretations of existing ones. Her two most recent albums, Ghost Song (Nonesuch Records, 2022) and Mélusine (Nonesuch Records, 2023) include songs about supernatural love and mythic transformations, and her forthcoming album and animated feature, Ogresse, is a musical fable she describes as both a biomythography and an homage to the loa Erzulie.

Born and raised in Miami, Florida of a French mother and Haitian father, she started classical piano studies at 5, sang in a children’s choir at 8, and started classical voice lessons as a teenager. Salvant received a bachelor’s in French law from the Université Pierre-Mendes France in Grenoble while also studying baroque music and jazz at the Darius Milhaud Music Conservatory in Aix-en-Provence, France.

Salvant is also an accomplished visual artist, and her fantastical drawings, embroideries, and papercuttings can currently be seen up at Picture Room in Brooklyn through Nov 3, 2024. She is also on tour now, and will be performing at Carnegie Hall multiple times over the coming months.

On this episode, Cécile discusses how she learned to embrace her “weird” in her music and other work, her love of hybrid creatures and mystical monstresses, and her burgeoning interest in ancestral magic.

Pam also talks about voting as a means of counteracting tired old tropes about “diabolical” outsiders, and answers a listener question about getting to know the goddess Athena.

Cécile McLorin Salvant songs featured in this episode:

“Ghost Song” from Ghost Song (Nonesuch Records, 2022)

“Wuthering Heights” cover from Ghost Song (Nonesuch Records, 2022)

“Fenestra” from Mélusine(Nonesuch Records, 2023)

Our sponsors for this episode are Ritual + Shelter, The Vintage Storyteller, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, BetterHelp, Blackthorn’s Book of Sacred Plant Magic out now from Weiser Books, Mithras Candle, and The Missing Witches Deck of Oracles out now from North Atlantic Books.

We also have print-on-demand merch like Witch Wave shirts, sweatshirts, totes, stickers, and mugs available now here.

And if you want more Witch Wave, please consider supporting us on Patreon to get access to detailed show notes, bonus Witch Wave Plus episodes, Pam’s monthly online rituals, and more! That’s patreon.com/witchwave

This season finale of The Witch Wave features Suranne Jones, the award-winning English actor, producer, and series creator. She’s been nominated for several awards for acting and won a BAFTA for her starring role in the hit series Doctor Foster: A Woman Scorned. Some highlights from her decades long television career include starring roles in Gentleman Jack, Vigil, and Scott and Bailey, and she’s also appeared in such British television intuitions as Coronation Street and Doctor Who. She’s currently in production on a new Netflix thiller series called The Choice, which sees her starring as the British Prime Minister opposite Julie Delpy’s French president, so look for that in 2025. Suranne also has an illustrious theatre career, and has starred in such plays as Frozen, Orlando, and Beautiful Thing.

As producer, Suranne runs the TeamAkers Productions company with her husband Laurence Akers, and it’s this company that is responsible for the new docuseries, Suranne Jones: Investigating Witch Trials(which features our own Pam Grossman!) The series is currently airing in 2 parts on the UK’s Channel 4 on June 23rd and June 30th, and if you missed the first part not to worry as both will be streaming on the Channel 4 site as well.

On this episode, Suranne discusses what compelled her to make a witchcraft documentary, her personal relationship to magic, and the shapeshifting abilities that she brings to the craft of acting.

Pam also talks about why historical witch hunts are relevant to this present moment, and answers a listener question about revealing her witch self on a date.

Our sponsors for this episode are Ritual + Shelter, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, Nicole Marxen, BetterHelp, Snowy Owl Tea, Liza Fenster’s COMMUNION course, Sphere + Sundry, and The Queer Witches of Maude’s Paperwing Gallery

We also have brand new print-on-demand merch like Witch Wave shirts, sweatshirts, totes, stickers, and mugs available now here.

And if you want more Witch Wave, please consider supporting us on Patreon to get access to detailed show notes, bonus Witch Wave Plus episodes, Pam’s monthly online rituals, and more! That’s patreon.com/witchwave

Cat Willett is a Brooklyn-based artist. She has written, illustrated, and published two full-length books. The first is The Queen of Wands: The Story of Pamela Colman Smith, the Artist Behind the Rider-Waite Tarot Deck. Her newest book, Women of Tarot, An Illustrated History of Divinators, Card Readers, and Mystics is out next week. Cat is fascinated by tarot as a facet of art history, and her work aims to elevate the women behind its evolution. She’s dedicated the last few years to telling these magical stories in her published books, both of which feature her own research and gorgeous artwork.

Cat also makes illustrated comics about parenting, motherhood, gender, and animals, and she is a regular contributor to The Washington Post. Other clients and publications include The New York Times, Apple, Doc Martens, the Museum of Arts + Design, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and she is available for select freelance work and projects as well.

On this episode, Cat discusses visionary tarot artists such as Pamela Colman Smith and Lady Frieda Harris, the illuminating power of illustration, and the divinely feminine history of divination.

Pam also talks about tarot’s impact on the arts, and answers a listener question about witchly concerns regarding a religious pre-school.  

Our sponsors for this episode are Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, Sphere + Sundry, BetterHelp, The Queer Witches of Maude’s Paperwing Gallery, and Snowy Owl Tea.

Please consider donating to Pam’s fundraiser for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund

We also have brand new print-on-demand merch like Witch Wave shirts, sweatshirts, totes, stickers, and mugs available now here.

And if you want more Witch Wave, please consider supporting us on Patreon to get access to detailed show notes, bonus Witch Wave Plus episodes, Pam’s monthly online rituals, and more! That’s patreon.com/witchwave

Kimberly Rodriguez (@poetagoddess) is a first-generation Indigenous Mexican artist and writer based in the Bay Area, CA. Her art reflects her journey toward reclaiming her indigenous roots and exploring different forms of self-expression. As an artist, Kimberly is deeply committed to creating work that is inclusive and accessible to all. She believes that art has the power to heal, connect, and inspire and strives to use her platform to promote positivity and self-love.

In addition to her art, Kimberly is also a writer and community activist. She is dedicated to using her talents and voice to create positive change and empower others to do the same. Her art and writing are a celebration of diversity, resilience, and the beauty and strength that can be found in all of us.

Kimberly’s new book, Incantations Embodied: Rituals for Empowerment, Reclamation, and Resistance, is an offering that combines her writing, art, activism, and magic. Incantations Embodied invites readers on a transformative journey of self-discovery and empowerment. It seeks to dismantle the oppressive narrative that has been ingrained in our collective consciousness, urging us to question and challenge the colonized structures that have kept us disconnected from our own truth. This also happens to be the first book chosen to be published by Spirit Bound Press, an independent publishing house devoted to fostering diverse voices in the spiritual community.

On this episode, Kimberly discusses her path to becoming an empowered and embodied bruja, the “undrowning” power of intentional words, and how we can all use magic to free ourselves from the capitalist colonial mindset.

Pam also talks about the musical connection between enchantment and incantation, and answers a listener question about bewitching songs.

Our sponsors for this episode are Mooonbody, Mithras Candle, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, Alive with Spirits out from Weiser Books, BetterHelp, The Queer Witches of Maude’s Paperwing Gallery, and Sphere + Sundry,

We also have brand new print-on-demand merch like Witch Wave shirts, sweatshirts, totes, stickers, and mugs available now here.

And if you want more Witch Wave, please consider supporting us on Patreon to get access to detailed show notes, bonus Witch Wave Plus episodes, Pam’s monthly online rituals, and more! That’s patreon.com/witchwave