Witch Wednesdays

I'm joined today by author and witch Michelle Tea to chat about her newest book, Modern Magic. We talk all about growing up as a goth witch in the 80s, finding your own ritual groove in your practice, playfulness in witchcraft, and more!

Find the Book:

⁠Modern Magic⁠

An enchanted sibling to the cult classic Modern Tarot, Modern Magic: Stories, Rituals, and Spells for Contemporary Witches, by professional tarot reader and feminist Icon, Michelle Tea provides a fascinating, magical history of spiritual traditions from around the world—giving all the tools, spells, and rituals to navigate our stressed-out lives.

Witty, down-to-earth, and wise, Tea bewitches us with personal tales about crafting her magical practice and coming into her own. She pairs enchanting stories from her days as a goth teen in Massachusetts with insights from her experiences as an adult to share her observations about the world as well as her vision for what it could be. Modern Magic gives us the tools to tap into a stronger, distinctive magic that lies within us, one that incorporates queer, feminist, anti-racist, intersectional values. 

About Michelle:

⁠Website⁠

⁠Instagram⁠

⁠X⁠

Michelle Tea is the author of over a dozen books, including the cult-classic Valencia, the essay collection Against Memoir, and the speculative memoir Black Wave. She is the recipient of awards from the Guggenheim, Lambda Literary, and Rona Jaffe Foundations, PEN/America, and other institutions. Knocking Myself Up is her latest memoir.

Tea’s cultural interventions include brainstorming the international phenomenon Drag Queen Story Hour, co-creating the Sister Spit queer literary performance tours, and occupying the role of Founding Editor at DOPAMINE Books, a Los Angeles-based, non-profit press that publishes work by edgy, emerging queer writers. In addition to helming the imprints Sister Spit Books at City Lights Publishers, and Amethyst Editions at The Feminist Press, Tea produced and hosted the popular Your Magic podcast, wherein she read tarot cards for Roxane Gay, Alexander Chee, Phoebe Bridgers and other artists, as well as the live tarot show Ask the Tarot on Spotify Greenroom and Instagram.

All about the energies and magic of October plus a few October holidays to highlight.

Today I'm chatting with Dr. Cressida Stone about her book, The Secrets of Santa Muerte. I learned so much about this Mexican folk saint from the book but also just from this talk, so I know you will too!

The Secrets of Santa Muerte is a practical handbook on how to connect with the mysterious Mexican folk saint. Drawing from authentic Mexican sources and traditions, it details secret, esoteric knowledge that will foster a deep connection with the Saint of Death. The book covers the fascinating history of this revered folk saint as well as practical tips on how to:

Find Cressida Stone:

⁠Instagram⁠

Find The Secrets of Santa Muerte:

⁠Amazon⁠

⁠Red Wheel/Weiser⁠

Cressida Stone, author of Secrets of Santa Muerte, is an English writer. The author leads a double life as a British doctor of anthropology trained in classic methods at the University of Oxford, while also moving in occult circles as Cressida Stone, publishing grimoires on Santa Muerte, practicing witchcraft, and reading tarot cards for the wealthy elite, the disenfranchised, and sicarios alike. She has apprenticed in Mexico with brujos (witches) and shamans of Santa Muerte at temples to the Saint of Death, learning their ways of working with the folk saint. She embraces a non-dualistic philosophy of life and death.

Stone's book Secrets of Santa Muerte has been praised by Jason Miller, author of Consorting with Spirits, as "the most complete workbook I have found in English on the subject". Stone also received endorsements from numerous famous Mexican Santa Muerte witches and leaders, including Yuri Mendez, Bruja of the Three Virtues, who attests that "Cressida Stone has deep knowledge of the spirituality of Santa Muerte. She has traveled across Mexico where the roots of devotion to the Saint of Death truly originate. She honors our faith and shares the teachings of Santa Muerte clearly, aiding people to respectfully venerate and learn correctly about Santisima Muerte. This is because Cressida has been to those special places where devotion to Holy Death is deep and true.”

Sara is back for the part 2 we promised! She answers some follow up questions about the energy of the sabbats and then we dive into the topic of including children in celebrating the natural cycles and teaching them the magic of the world around them.

Find Sara:

⁠https://www.instagram.com/aranelsara/⁠

⁠https://www.facebook.com/sara.aranel.7

It's such a joy to be joined today by author Amy Blackthorn! We're chatting about her history in witchcraft and her new book, Sacred Plant Magic. But I couldn't help myself, as an avid reader of all of Amy's books, to ask about some of her other works as well. You'll definitely learn a lot in this very fun episode.

Buy the Book: ⁠https://redwheelweiser.com/book/blackthorns-book-of-sacred-plant-magic-9781578638307/⁠

Renowned herbalist Amy Blackthorn shows readers how to bring plant spirits into their daily spiritual practice with therapeutic access, subconscious learning, and divining skills that help them understand plant spirits on a deeper level.

Blackthorn’s Botanical Magic showed a new generation of witches how scent affects people, whether they understand it or not. In Blackthorn’s Book of Sacred Plant Magic, we travel even deeper into the magical garden of scent. We know that a walk down a summer street can bring back the smell of childhood summers with friends, riding bikes and swimming. Spring breezes carry with them the clean soapy smell of your second-grade teacher. We experience scents not only in the here and now but also filtered through the lens of our past. Using the power of scent, we can create a sense of the sacred in our daily lives. Part reference guide, part recipe book, and part ritual journey, Blackthorn’s Book of Sacred Plant Magic offers readers an in-depth exploration of the vital connection between scents and magical practice.

Amy Blackthorn is a professional intuitive and the bestselling author of several books on botanical magic, including Blackthorn’s Botanical Magic, Blackthorn’s Botanical Brews, and Blackthorn’s Botanical Wellness. The founder of Blackthorn’s Botanicals, she has a certification in aromatherapy and was ordained by the Order of the Golden Gryphon. Amy lives in Delaware. Keep up with Amy’s book news at ⁠amyblackthorn.com⁠ and view her tea shop ⁠blackthornsbotanicals.com⁠

All about the energies and magic of September plus a few September holidays to highlight.

I'm joined today by Sara to chat all about Celtic holidays, including the Lughnasadh season, connecting with the seasons and energies of the Earth, trusting your intuition to find and forge your own path in your witchcraft and spiritual journey, and more!

Be sure to leave your questions for part 2.

Find Sara:

https://www.instagram.com/aranelsara/

https://www.facebook.com/sara.aranel.7

All about the energies and magic of August plus a few August holidays to highlight.

Today I'm chatting with musician, medium, and sound healer Laura Carbone. A renowned witchy artist who’s based in Berlin and spends time in LA, Laura's lush and ambitious double concept album, The Cycle, is filled with melodic folk and goth/rock influences, and explores the emotional turmoil, trials and challenges the album’s protagonist faces during the changing seasons of the year. She’s also toured the world with The Jesus & Mary Chain and Dennis Lyxzén of Refused and performed at festivals around the world. Laura is also a sound facilitator and psychic medium. She suppressed her psychic and intuitive gifts until they became undeniable and she had the courage to share them through the company she founded, Cosmic Dreaming. 

Find Laura:

⁠http://thecosmicdreaming.com⁠

The Cycle: ⁠https://linktr.ee/lc_thecycle⁠

Newsletter: ⁠https://cosmicdreaming.myflodesk.com/northnode

Instagram: ⁠@lauracarbone_⁠ 

Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/lauracarbone⁠

Sound Healing: https://www.thecosmicdreaming.com/cosmic-magazine/what-is-soundhealing

Such a treat to have Tenae Stewart, the Witch of Lupine Hollow, back again to chat about her newest work, Botanical Cocktails! We get to chat all about life updates, creating a new book, herbalism, crafting cocktails, and more.

Be sure to attend The Modern Green Witches Summit - July 10-11, 2024 - Herbology class is in session for the witchy at-home herbalists! Join us for two days of herbalism classes to celebrate the launch of the new book, Botanical Cocktails. Free to attend - replays available until July 13.

Link: https://lupinehollow.krtra.com/t/HV1Uu8bWMha4

Find Tenae:

Botanical Cocktails by Tenae Stewart teaches how to make more than fifty seasonal cocktail (and mocktail) recipes using delicious, organic ingredients from your own yard or herb garden. It down the different types of plants that can be used in cocktails, where to source them, and how to grow them yourself.