It’s been a whole, glorious year talking Witchcraft with you all! This episode was recorded live at The Raven’s Wing metaphysical store in Portland, OR. Although we had a couple of technical issues (please excuse the glitch around the end of the first hour), we have so many wonderful things to share today. Special guest Iris Meredith Bell talks about the best ingredients to keep in your Witch’s cabinet, and gives us an exclusive look into the world of a Witch shop owner…including some of the stranger requests she’s received. We talk about the shift from Capricorn to Aquarius and the upcoming New Moon on January 24th and the best Magick to make with it (hint: Great for business, NOT great for love!). We also discuss ethical sourcing in Witchcraft and answer some excellent questions from listeners! Plus, Kanani reviews Bram Stoker’s Dracula and we pull the winner of our Instagram giveaway! To have your questions answered on a future episode, email us at thatwitchlifepodcast@gmail.com. Video (including ASL interpretation) can be found on our IG account, and our Facebook account (FB video does not include ASL).
Our Guest Today
Iris Meredith Bell has been a witch, ritualist, and tarot reader for over 25 years. Her mother was her first teacher in the craft. She has a passion for mythology, crystals and stones, and helping people find their next steps. Iris is a student of astrology and herbal medicine. She holds an MA in Philosophy and Religion, and a third degree High Priestesshood in the Evensong Tradition of Wicca. Iris is the general manager, Portland store manager, buyer, and a tarot reader at The Raven’s Wing Magical Co. theravenswingmagicalco.com
Happy New Year! Astrologer and Tarot Advisor Theresa Reed joins us with her predictions for 2020 (One major transit is coming up next week!). We talk about her new book: Astrology For Real Life (A No B.S. Guide for the Astro-Curious), and how astrology can help us be better partners, parents, friends, and more successful in our work. Theresa also peeks at our charts, which explains a lot about why we do what we do (Spoiler alert: Kanani is a tabloid, Courtney is a shit-show, and Hilary is doing all right). Find out what Tarot card we pulled for January and hear our thoughts about the Magickal influences of the upcoming Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse. Plus, Courtney’s break from Facebook, Kanani’s commitment to reading more, and Hilary’s adventure in Santa Fe. Check out the details on our One Year Anniversary Party! Email us your questions to answer on a future episode at thatwitchlifepodcast@gmail.com. Visit our Etsy store at www.etsy.com/thatwitchlifepodcast.
Our Guest Today
Theresa Reed (aka “The Tarot Lady”) has been a full-time Tarot card reader for close to 30 years. She is the author of The Tarot Coloring Book, an illustrated tour through the world of Tarot with coloring sheets for every card in the deck. Theresa is also the author of Astrology For Real Life (A No B.S. Guide for the Astro-Curious) and the co-author of Tarot for Troubled Times with Shaheen Miro. In addition to doing private Tarot readings, teaching Tarot classes, and speaking at Tarot conferences, Theresa also runs a popular website—TheTarotLady.com—where she dishes out advice, inspiration and tips for Tarot lovers of all experience levels. Follow Theresa on Twitter and Instagram for her daily “Six Second Tarot Reading”—plus photos of her extremely handsome cats, TaoZen and Monkey.
That Witch Life Podcast is celebrating one year of Magick and Spirit and Screaming Goats on Sunday, January 19 from 2-5 p.m. PST!
***ASL Interpretation Provided***
Join us either online or in person for our anniversary episode. Our guest will be Iris Bell, from The Raven’s Wing (Portland, OR), who will be talking with us about best ingredients to keep in your Magickal cabinet. There will be snack and drinks and a drawing for our grand raffle prize!
Party and recording will be held on Sunday, January 19, 2:00-5:00 p.m. at The Raven’s Wing Magickal Co.: 7927 SE 13th Ave, Portland, OR 97202.It will be aired live on Facebook and Instagram video, so if you can’t be in Portland…join us online!
You’ll get the chance to meet us, ask questions about Witchcraft, and most importantly: see the Screaming Goat in action.
All ages event! (But please note that we use copious profanity…)
It’s our holiday episode! Author and blogger Jason Mankey joins us to talk about how to harness the Magick from this time of year, including harvesting light and joy to get through dark times, and even soaking up a bit of chaos (you’ll never know when you’ll need it!). Plus, the ancient and modern legacy of Saturnalia. We discuss connecting with community and ways to give in service during this time of year, and the upcoming New Moon–the final one of 2019. Hear the story of the creepy babydoll crashing a Yule celebration and play a new game with us: Is It A Hallmark movie Or Is It a Classic Witch Movie Kanani Still Hasn’t Seen? Email us questions to answer on future podcast at thatwitchlifepodcast@gmail.com. Don’t forget to check out our Etsy store!
The dregs of Mercury Retrograde worked against us in this episode—including putting our good mic out of commission. Fortunately, our special guests Aesha Fadeelah Rasheed and selma alamin join us to perform a powerful energetic clearing on Courtney’s computer. More importantly, they talk about how to find Magick in one’s religion of origin, sharing their experiences of finding their own Witch spiritualities and faith through Islam. We also discuss spiritual hygiene, Magick in the discipline of religious ritual, the importance of spiritual self care, creating Magick ritual in the routine moments of a person’s life and much, much more. We also discuss Courtney’s book tour and take a walk through memory lane, especially Hilary and Courtney’s antics in high school theater and how Hilary ended up as Courtney’s date to her high school reunion. Kanani talks about the upcoming Yule Bazaar. Oh! And did you hear we have an Etsy store? Email us your burning questions for us to answer on a future episode at thatwitchlifepodcast@gmail.com.
Our Guests Today
Aesha Fadeelah Rasheed (right) is a healer, organizer and hard femme based in New Orleans and of Oklahoma roots. Over two decades in New Orleans, She has co-created and lead numerous community support projects including ten years publishing the New Orleans Parents’ Guide to Public Schools and other efforts to support families and children in New Orleans. With gratitude to the city that nurtured her unfolding queerness, she’s worked to create spaces and celebrations of Queer BIPOC folks. She is a co-founder of Queer Cartography, a history-telling poster project (and ancestral propitiation effort) that centers untold stories of Queer folks made most invisible in history and she launched a meet up called Black Brown Queer (BBQ NOLA) and of QISM, a collective of southern queer Muslims. She is also a long-time member leader of Southerners on New Ground (SONG) – a regional movement organization focused on radical progressive organizing in the South for liberation from race, economic, gender oppression. Aesha currently uses her gifts as a body worker and ritual maker to find and build connection between traditional organizing and transformative healing and is a co-shaper of the Spirit Grove healing cooperative. Aesha moved to New Orleans in 2000 to work as an education reporter at The New Orleans Times Picayune.
selma alamin (left) is a New Orleans based, Sudanese American healer, stylist and spiritual organizer. She has lived and worked in the city for nine years as a crown healer and hairstylist for the queer and curly haired community. In addition to an undergraduate degree in Middle Eastern studies from the College of William and Mary and an MBA from Tulane University, she is apprenticing and practicing shamanic earth stewardship under the guidance and in the lineage of Dr. G. Love & Nana Sakara Kemilla, learning to deconstruct capitalism, interpret ancestral and planetary messages and use indigenous healing technologies for black love and liberation. She helped co-create QISM, a collective of southern queer Muslims and is a co-shaper of Spirit Grove healing cooperative, a group of black women healers based in New Orleans. She currently offers crown care services, specializing in transforming intergenerational hair trauma, and energy work services, especially spiritual container making, supporting the clearing and grounding of intentional gatherings and events.
Resource List
Spirit Grove is an emerging collective of Black intuitives based in New Orleans and who are are committed to healing for ourselves, our community and the planet. We are here to be your spiritual support team in this time of on-going crisis when spiritual care is vital. Our website is under development but you can sign up to stay informed here or contact us at spiritgrovehealing@gmail.com. More information about Soulshifting Retreats can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Soulshiftingretreats/ or at www.soulshiftingretreats.com.
Today we are joined by Michael Agee from Ffynnon, who talks with us about creating community space for Witches, building relationship with the land, providing the framework for a Magickal experience for others, and why you can’t micromanage your Magick. We also talk about celebrating Thanksgiving in a respectful way, as well as the benefit of keeping your non-Witchy beloveds on a need-to-know-basis. Finally, Witchcraft through Coven Initiation vs. self-initiation vs. neither, and help for other communities during natural disasters. Do you have a question for your favorite Witches? Email us at thatwitchlifepodcast@gmail.com. ***Correction: We referred to the Missing Women Project. The title of this endeavor is actually called “The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls Report.”***
Our Guest Today
Michael Agee has been serving the pagan community since 1986.For many years, now Ffynnon has been central to his experience of the pagan community. The mission at Ffynnon is to provide a private sanctuary where Art, Spirit and Nature meet. Ffynnon is a forested 80-acre retreat and farm located in the Nehalem River valley just south of Vernonia, Oregon. The unusual name, Ffynnon (Welsh, pronounced FIN-un) means ‘source,’ or ‘spring.’ It is a place for returning to harmony, a place of restoration. Ffynnon connects people and community through the renewing gifts of nature, enabling members and guests to forge a deeper relationship with each other, the land, and themselves. This is the power of place. This is the power of Ffynnon. We share these core values: a profound appreciation of art in our lives, an understanding of the unifying power of spirit, and a deep and devoted love of nature. Join us as we together create a community space in the beauty of the forest where Art, Spirit, and Nature meet.
Hello Witches! Your favorite bumbling trio has a surprise for you…
We pulled together our nine favorite spells, tucked them into these lovely cards (which we all signed!), and put them into these envelopes at random. For $5, you get one of these spells AND one of our bad-ass stickers to put on your car, coffee tumbler, Book of Shadows, or forehead (because we know you love us that much).
You won’t know what spell you’re getting until you open it…but that’s the great part! What does Magick does the Universe want you to have?
We apologize in advance for all of the throat-clearings and coughing! We’re still getting over colds. Today, Courtney takes over the podcast to talk about her new book as well as the Morrigan, a goddess who has strongly influenced much of her personal Witchcraft. Courtney shares her journey with the Morrigan, and how Witchcraft almost took her out. Modern manifestations of the Morrigan. We also discuss how one might approach and involve the Morrigan in their Witchcraft practices and the “weird joy” in grief, and answer a listener’s questions about how keep their personal Witchcraft practice going while living with a Muggle family in a small space. Special guest appearance by everyone’s favorite co-host. Kanani reviews “The Crow ” and Hilary and Courtney talk about the time they nearly ruined a beautiful ritual (“It was the pig’s fault.”). Do you have a burning question about Witchcraft? Email us at thatwitchlifepodcast@gmail.com.
Our Guest Today
It’s your old friend Courtney! Aside from causing all kinds of problems with Hilary and Kanani, Courtney is a Witch, author, Tarot adviser, and activist. She is the author of Brigid: History, Mystery, and Magick of the Celtic Goddess, Tarot for One: The Art of Reading for Yourself, and the forthcoming Hekate: Goddess of Witches. Today, she is talking all about her newly released book, The Morrigan: Celtic Goddess of Magick and Might (A portion of royalties from Brigid and The Morrigan benefit Resurrecting Monuments). Courtney produced and designed Tarot of the Boroughs, a modern tarot deck set in New York City. She has been featured in the New York Times, Maxim, Playboy, Huffington Post, Vice, and the Thom Hartmann Show. Visit her online at www.courtneyaweber.com.
“The big thing is leaving that space at the table for the Ancestors, or whoever is in your space between the worlds, and share in what you’re doing…”
It’s Halloween!!! The greatest day of the year! So, what do Witches do on this glorious day? Irish Priestess and Witch Gemma McGowan joins us to talk about the ancient festival and practices of Samhain, which feed the roots of modern Halloween all over the world. Your favorite Witches also discuss their own practices for both Samhain and Halloween. Plus, hear the story of the ghost party in Kanani’s old house, Hilary’s plans for her upcoming Witchy performance, and details on Courtney’s book tour!
Our Guest Today
Gemma McGowan has been a practicing Pagan, Priestess and Witch for 17 years. Hailing from Kells in the Royal County, Gemma has grown up immersed in the sacred landscape of Meath, drawing inspiration and experiencing deep connection with ancient sites and monuments of that land. Gemma began her spiritual education in a progressive Witchcraft Coven called Coven na Callaighe, run by Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone back in 2003 in which she trained for 7 years to 3rd Degree High Priestess. After then spending some time as a solitary practitioner, Gemma undertook her Celtic Shamanic training with Slí an Chroí, School for Celtic Shamanism with John Cantwell and Karen Ward. At Imbolg 2015 Gemma set up the Keepers of the Well, magical training group and in September 2018 started the first cycle of her Cor Bolg (Crane Bag) training. Gemma is a dedicated Priestess of Brighid since 2009 and a dedicated Priestess of Manannán Mac Lir, since 2013. She also has a strong personal working relationship with Fairy Queen Aoife, who she honors as being the body of the Crane Bag, as per the myth of the Crane Bag. Since 2003 Gemma has been involved in the Samhain Festival at Tlachtga, taking the reins of orchestration of the ceremonial and storytelling aspects of the festival from Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone in 2008. Gemma has also been involved in other large scale public ceremonies at Tara and at the Bealtaine Festival at Uisneach. Gemma runs a healing clinic called ‘Tír na mBeo’ from her home in Kells where she practices Systematic Kinesiology, uses tie cutting and extraction techniques, Soul retrieval work, energy and sound healing techniques. Gemma is also a singer, songwriter and storyteller, currently using the Crane Bag as a focus for teaching, magical practice, healing and sharing the wealth of the Irish magical, mythological and folklore tradition.
Content warning: death, grief, and mortuary practices. “A very 21st century solution to ancient problems…” Today’s episode is about the modern relationship with dying, death, and the grief process. Special guest Tomás Prower, author of Morbid Magic: Death Spirituality And Culture From Around The World talks with us about the funeral industry and the shady things it gets away with, along with modern Western culture’s problematic avoidance of death and grief. He takes us around the world to learn about different rituals prior to, during, and after death (Ever heard of funeral strippers??? Or airing your grievances while graveside???), plus the origins of the taboo of speaking ill of the dead. Hilary, Kanani, and Courtney share their personal rituals for honoring their departed, Magick in the grief process, as well as etiquette for respectfully communicating with both the deceased and bereaved. Plus, hear about how they ditched a drag brunch to go shopping…which was FAR more important that ensuring Kanani’s car wasn’t stolen.
Our Guest Today
Tomás Prower is a graduate of the University of California: Santa Barbara with degrees in Global Socioeconomics and Latin American Studies. Born and raised in Southern California, his fluency in English, French, and Spanish gave him the opportunity work for the French Government as a cultural liaison throughout South America with extended assignments in Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile, and the Amazon jungle. Since then, he has been the External Relations Director for the American Red Cross, LGBT+ Programs Director for entertainment productions in Los Angeles, and a licensed mortuary professional in California and Nevada. Currently, Tomás resides in his hometown of L.A. as a writer and author of popular fiction and non-fiction works.
