The Witch Wave

The Death Witch, Loretta Ledesma, also known as Loo, is the founder of The Mile High Conjure Gala, a Santa Muerte Devotee, and a co-owner of The Cauldron Black. She has a deep relationship with the spirit world, ancestors, and is a lover of plants and a seeker of justice. She approaches the work from the Conjure tradition and has a close open relationship with the dead. Loretta walks her spiritual path comfortably with less freely talked about workings. She is also a maker of traditional oils, powders, waters, and other fine provisions.Loretta is a legacy student of Conjure Man Professor Charles Porterfield. She has learned from and sits at the table with some of the most sought-after teachers and elders in Conjure. Her goals in the work are community building and participation, and reclamation of the magic that runs through all our veins. On this episode, Loretta discusses her relationship to death, her approach to justice magic, and how she’s thinking about Samhain during this transitional and historical time.Pam also talks about honoring her creative ancestors, and answers a listener question about cohabitating with a non-witch neatnik. Check out the video of this episode over on YouTube (and please like and subscribe to the channel while you’re at it!)Our sponsors for this episode are Witch Baby Soap, Mithras Candle, BetterHelp, and Immaculate Design.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

Happy Magic Maker pub day!! On this bonus episode, the tables are turned, and Pam is a guest on the Missing Witches podcast to discuss her magical new book. Magic Maker: The Enchanted Path to Creativity is out everywhere now! Please order yours, and join Pam for some Magic Maker launch events in person and online.

Kate Belew is an author, poet, and Witch. Her work exists at the crossroads of creativity and magic. She has taught and facilitated circles and workshops worldwide since 2017. She is dedicated to the spirit of poetry, the sacred wild of the planet, and seeks enchantment in all she does. She is a forever student of the plants and the stars. She has an MFA in Poetry from Sarah Lawrence College and is an initiated Green Witch. Her new book, Word Witch: How to Call Upon and Cultivate the Creative Magic Within You is out now.On this episode, Kate discusses the magic of wordcraft, how she works with creative ancestors, and why poetry is perhaps the most spellbinding form of writing. Pam also talks about the connection between language and spells, and answers a listener question about sacred and mundane ways to help with writing. Check out the video of this episode over on YouTube (and please like and subscribe to the channel while you’re at it!)Our sponsors for this episode are Weiser Books, Witch Baby Soap, The Meta Muse Tarot, BetterHelp, Robin Rose Bennett, and Mithras CandleWe 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

Welcome to Season 9 of The Witch Wave! Steve Burns is an American actor and musician best known as the former host of the hit children’s television series Blue's Clues. He starred in the show from 1996 - 2002 and got a Daytime Emmy nomination in 2001. As a musician he’s released several albums of his original music, and he has opened for the Flaming Lips and collaborated with one of the band’s members on the kids album, Foreverywhere. Steve is an accomplished TV and stage actor, most recently starring in a developmental run of his one-man show Steve Burns: Alive. Steve is a much-requested public speaker about mental health and emotional wellness. His new podcast Alive with Steve Burns is out now from Lemonada Media.On this episode, Steve discusses how he’s come to understand the gift of connection, his ongoing meditation practice, and his experiences of (maybe, possibly) contacting the other side.Pam also talks about how alter egos can help us access our super powers, and answers a listener question about sacred rage.Check out the video of this episode over on YouTube (and please like and subscribe to the channel while you’re at it!)Our sponsors for this episode are Wheel of Fate, The Meta Muse Tarot, Mithras Candle, BetterHelp, Robin Rose Bennett, and The Many Moons Lunar PlannerWe 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/witchwaveFollow The Witch Wave on IG at @witchwavepodFollow Pam on IG at @phantasmaphile

It’s the Witch Wave Season 8 Finale! Tourmaline is an award-winning artist, filmmaker, writer, and activist whose work is dedicated to Black trans joy and freedom. She’s the author of the new book Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson, which is the first comprehensive – and utterly beautiful! - biography of the visionary trans activist. Her prior book, One Day in June, is a picture book about Marsha and the Stonewall Uprising. Tourmaline is a TIME 100 Most Influential Person in the World awardee and a Guggenheim Fellow. She has frequently appeared on ABC News, as well as in the New York Times and Vogue. Her art is in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Tate, and the Getty Museum. She created the critically acclaimed film Happy Birthday, Marsha!, and she has directed Pride campaigns for Dove, Marc Jacobs, and Reebok. She previously worked with Queers for Economic Justice and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project.Tourmaline lives in Miami, Florida, but she was able to join Pam in person in the podcast studio here in Brooklyn!On this episode, Tourmaline discusses the magical activism of Marsha P. Johnson, the importance of freedom dreaming and liberatory manifestation, and how we can conjure future flourishing for all. Pam also talks about the deep kinship between witches and the queer community, and answers a listener question about a bewitching gift for a new mom.Check out the video of this episode over on YouTube (and please like and subscribe to the channel while you’re at it!)Our sponsors for this episode are Ritual + Shelter, Mixed Color, Wheel of Fate, The Witch Summit, LOGOS Candles,  BetterHelp, PaganPagesOrg, and Black Phoenix Alchemy LabWe 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

Kelli Scarr is an American singer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist based in New York's Hudson Valley. She is also the founder of Vera Jean Music, a pioneering record label dedicated to championing the talents of women artists over the age of 40.Raised in Northern California, Scarr’s musical journey began in church, eventually leading her to Berklee College of Music. Over the years, she has woven her way through an eclectic range of projects, from fronting the bands Moonraker and Salt & Samovar to a significant collaboration writing, recording, and touring with Moby. Her artistry extends into film scoring, and she earned an Emmy nomination for her score to the HBO documentary In A Dream (2008) and has composed music for dozens of films, TV shows, and commercials. Notable projects include the documentaries Advanced Style and Far Western, and the forthcoming After All (2025), for which she composed the score and contributed six original songs.As a solo artist, Scarr has released three albums—Piece (2010), Dangling Teeth (2012), and one of Pam’s all-time favorite albums, No Rush (2021)—establishing herself as a singular voice in atmospheric, deeply emotive songwriting. Her fourth album, Greater Mysteries,is out on this Friday, June 13, and marks a new creative chapter which draws on timeless mythic journeys to the underworld, and it is pulsing, potent, and sublime. This album serves as an invitation into the initiatory cycle of transformation—where endings become beginnings, and something new is ready to emerge.Though Kelli’s work has spanned format and musical style, all of her projects embrace a sense of experimentation, improvisation, and sacred seeking through song. On this episode, Kelli discusses how the myth of Inanna inspired her new album, the power of song channeling and sonic embodiment, and the transformational way music connects us to the universe.Pam also talks about the divine link between songs and spells, and answers a listener question about using magic to rekindle her creativity.Songs featured in the episode are all from Greater Mysteries by Kelli Scarr:“Knowing is the Call”“Pneuma”“The Yes That Leads”Check out the video of this episode over on YouTube (and please like and subscribe to the channel while you’re at it!)Our sponsors for this episode are UBU Skills, Mixed Color, Sister Temperance Tarot,  Mineralogy Project, BetterHelp, LOGOS Candles, and Black Phoenix Alchemy LabWe 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

Cara Claymore is a strength athlete and strength & fitness coach as well as a filmmaker, artist, writer, speaker, and Tarotist. They are a polytheistic witch and syncretic magickal operator, who subscribes to a fully enspirited worldview, and strives to play and provoke on the frontier of the human imagination. Their animist lens centers relationality at the heart of their artistic, magickal and fitness work. They have competed and placed at the national level in the sport of strong(wo)man, and is the creator of the landmark fitness class Mythic Strength, hosted by CrossFit South Brooklyn. They offer personal mentorship & coaching on a limited basis. Cara has written for BarBend and Refinery29, as well as developing their own film projects for their independent production company, Sunstrike Pictures.You can follow Cara on Instagram and Threads @caraclaymore, and on their Substack, StrengthMagick.Substack.com.On this episode, Cara discusses how to develop a magical fitness practice, the power of working with avatars and alter-egos, and why taking care of one’s vessel can increase enchantment in all aspects of life.Pam also talks about infusing her workouts with witchcraft, and answers a listener question about how to cultivate a magical relationship with her body in middle-age.Check out the video of this episode over on YouTube (and please like and subscribe to the channel while you’re at it!)Our sponsors for this episode are Mineralogy Project, BetterHelp, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, and TU·ET·AL soapWe 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

Hilma’s Ghost is a feminist artist collective co-founded by artists and educators Dannielle Tegeder and Sharmistha Ray that fuses contemporary art with modern spirituality through forms of divination and ritual. Named after the Swedish artist and mystic, Hilma af Klint, the collective's work is a critique of gendered power structures, providing a critical and revolutionary platform for rethinking gender in the arts while recovering feminist histories as its ballast for critique. Their work ranges from the traditional to the esoteric, including paintings and drawings, surrealist games, The Abstract Futures tarot deck, ritual object-based installations, pedagogical workshops, curated exhibitions, community projects, performances, and artist books.
 Hilma’s Ghost has been featured in solo, collaborative, and group exhibitions and projects at such esteemed institutions as The Guggenheim, The Armory Show, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Museu de Arte de São Paulo in Brazil, Galería RGR in Mexico City among many others. Reviews of their work have appeared in The New York Times, The Brooklyn Rail, Artnet, and Hyperallergic. And their brand new mystical mosaic installation, ABSTRACT FUTURES, was created in partnership with NYC’s MTA and is on display for the public in perpetuity at the 42nd St – Grand Central Subway Station now. On this episode, Hilma’s Ghost speaks about the magic of abstraction, the alchemy of collaborative work, and how art can expand consciousness. (They also give a special Abstract Futures tarot reading to help guide us in this time of tumult and transformation).Pam also talks about the mystical history of the abstract art movement, and answers a listener question about how to be a minimalist witch.Check out the video of this episode over on YouTube (and please like and subscribe to the channel while you’re at it!)Our sponsors for this episode are Woodland Magic, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, BetterHelp, and TU·ET·AL soap 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

Olga Naiman has been a New York City-based magazine editor, freelance stylist, and interior designer for the past twenty-five years. Her work has been featured extensively in publications such as House Beautiful, Domino Magazine, The Washington Post, Real Simple, and many more. Her unique approach to design is called Spatial Alchemy, and unites the spirit, psyche, body and home for the purpose of self-realization and transformation. Her new book Spatial Alchemy: Design Your Home to Transform Your Life is out now. Olga currently lives in the Hudson Valley with her partner, two children, and pet bunny.On this episode, Olga discusses why your home is the ultimate spell, how to design your space to attract your future self, and the magic of weaving the “energy of exquisite” throughout your life. Pam also talks about the power of spring cleaning, and answers a listener question about how to reengage with Spirit when feeling magically stagnant.Check out the video of this episode over on YouTube (and please like and subscribe to the channel while you’re at it!)Our sponsors for this episode are Wheel of Fate, BetterHelp, Mithras Candle, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, and TU·ET·AL soap

Ronald Hutton is a professor of history at Bristol University. He is a leading authority on ancient and medieval paganism and magic, the British Isles in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and on global context of witchcraft beliefs. He is the author of seventeen books, including The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft, The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present, and his recent book, Queens of the Wild: Pagan Goddesses in Christian Europe: An Investigation.Ronald frequently appears as an expert on Paganism and witchcraft on British television and radio programs too numerous to name (though one of Pam’s personal favorites is when he pops up in the hilarious docu-parody series, Cunk on Britain). His work has been trailblazing in the realms of academia and religion, as well as in shaping a more humane geo-political response to the very real witch hunting that still happens across the globe. Ronald was recently awarded the title Commander of the British Empire, an honor bestowed to those who have made a highly distinguished contribution in their field – as he certainly has.On this episode, Ronald discusses his pioneering work that helped establish the field of Pagan Studies, the boons and banes of his academic view of magical history, and the ever-evolving figure of the witch.Pam also talks about spiritual lineages, and answers a listener question about what the cards are saying regarding these tumultuous times.Check out the video of this episode over on YouTube (and please like and subscribe to the channel while you’re at it!)Our sponsors for this episode are The Stormcloud Oracle, BetterHelp, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, and TU·ET·AL soapWe 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