The Witch Wave

Season Finale! Rachel Pollack is a legend who is perhaps best known as one of the world’s foremost tarot experts, having written such classics as Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom and The New Tarot Handbook. She’s also the creator of The Shining Tribe Tarot and co-creator with Robert Place of The Burning Serpent Oracle and the Raziel Deck.But tarot is just of tip of the iceberg, as she is the author of 43 books of fiction and non-fiction, many of them in the speculative or sci-fi genres, including Unquenchable Fire which won the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and Godmother Night, which won the World Fantasy Award. She is also an accomplished comic book writer and pioneer, and during her run for DC Comics’ Doom Patrol in the 1990s, she introduced one of the world’s first transgender superheroes - and is now considered by many to be a transgender superhero herself.Rachel’s work has been translated into 16 languages, and she has taught and lectured on tarot, creative writing, gender, and innumerable other topics in the U.S. Canada, Europe, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and China. And until her retirement, she was a senior faculty member of Goddard College’s MFA in Writing program.Rachel’s most recent book is The Beatrix Gates, a volume which collects several of her most visionary stories as well as a brand new essay on magic and transgender living. This year it was nominated for a Lambda Award.One can see why poet Cat Fitzpatrick called Rachel “a living national treasure.”On this episode, Rachel discusses the relationship between tarot and comic books, the importance of visionary transgender storytelling, and why her religion is Heresy.Pam also speaks about following magical clues long term, and answers a listener question about practicing fire magic in the home.Our sponsors for this episode are Clarissa Eck Pottery, Max Razdow’s Mage Cards on Kickstarter, BetterHelp, and Clever Kim’s Curios

Brooklynn is an Atlanta-based singer, songwriter, and producer who makes magical pop music. Her latest album, My Shadow and I, is an introspective excavation of her multidimensional identity as a queer, black woman and witch.She is also an accomplished visual artist and designer, who runs the online shop Bébé Vaudou, which carries her jewelry and clothing line and other mystical merch, including her viral WITCHES AGAINST WHITE SUPREMACY t-shirts, posters, and stickers. And she is donating 100% of the profits of the WITCHES AGAINST WHITE SUPREMACY collection to Buy From A Black Woman, a non-profit which supports black woman business owners. Brooklynn also hosts the Witches of Atlanta podcast, where she speaks with local witches about spiritual practice, economics, and culture.On this episode, Brooklynn speaks about art as activism, music as spellcraft, and how we can best support the black community during the current protests and beyond.Pam also speaks about antiracism as spiritual work (including reading Anchor & Star’s zines about whiteness, cultural appropriation, and paganism), and answers a listener question about techno witches.and how we can best support the black community during the current protests and beyond.Pam also speaks about antiracism as spiritual work, and answers a listener question about techno witches.Our sponsors for this episode are the Magic And Realism Jungian Archetypal Dream Journal and BetterHelp

Bonus episode! The Witch Wave is thrilled to introduce Predictions, a new daily episodic story told over 30 days, written and performed by Matthew Freeman. Listen to Predictions to discover what the signs portend, what the stars reveal, and what the cards foretell.Predictions is an audio drama produced by Theater Accident. Subscribe now to start the story from the beginning on June 1st.

Kim Krans is a visionary artist, author, and creator of the New York Times bestseller, The Wild Unknown Tarot, The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit deck, The Wild Unknown Journal, and The Wild Unknown Archetypes Deck and Guidebook, as well as several children’s books including ABC DREAM and Whose Moon Is That? Her new book for adults, Blossoms and Bones: Drawing a Life Back Together, was recently published by HarperOne, and is a graphic memoir about using art and ritual as tools of shadow excavation and spiritual transformation. Kim received her BFA in drawing at Cooper Union in NYC, her MFA in mixed media at Hunter College, and an MA in depth psychology and creativity at Pacifica Graduate Institute in California. She has also studied in-depth practices of yoga and shamanism in India, Africa, Europe, and the UK. Kim teaches events and workshops that activate the forces of creativity and radical transformation through art, meditation, mysticism, and movement.On this episode, Kim discusses how her creative practice supported her through a time of great grief, the deep magic of archetypes and symbols, and why we must resist flattening our myriad selves both on and offline.Pam also discusses the symbolism of flowers, and answers a listener question about a magic skull.Content warning: this episode contains some discussion about disordered eating, addiction, and miscarriage.Our sponsors for this episode are Cat Coven, Lunalux Botanicals, and BetterHelp

Robin Rose Bennett is a writer, green witch, and wisewoman who has been practicing herbalism for over 30 years - and Pam’s teacher. As a practitioner of WiseWoman Healing Ways of Herbal Medicine and EarthSpirit teachings, she offers her knowledge in many formats from in-person classes and conference workshops all over the world, to online videos, and via her herbal apprenticeship circles.Robin is the author of Healing Magic: A Green Witch Guidebook to Conscious Living and The Gift of Healing Herbs: Plant Medicines and Home Remedies for a Vibrantly Healthy Life. She is also a repeat guest lecturer at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, St John's Hospital, Beth Israel's Nursing program, and Brown University Medical School, and a faculty member of the New York Open Center. In addition to that, Robin has a private consultation practice in New Jersey, offered on a sliding-scale, and an herbalist-in-residence teaching practice at a family medical practice in Bronx, NY.On this episode, Robin discusses the divine magic of nature, specific plants that can help support our bodies and spirits during this pandemic, the world-shifting power of community, and why joy is medicine.Pam also discusses the importance of magical elders, and answers a listener question about facing a natural fear.Our sponsors for this episode are The Pretty Cult, Lunalux Botanicals, and Mithras Candle

Edgar Fabián Frías is a nonbinary, queer, indigenous and Latinx multidisciplinary artist, curator, educator, and psychotherapist. They work in a variety of media including photography, video art, installations, printed textiles, GIFs, performance, and other emergent genres, and they incorporate magical practice into their artwork - and vice versa. They also conduct ceremonial, divinatory, and healing services through their offering called Our Sacred Web.For 2019/2020, Frías is a visual arts fellow at the Tulsa Artist Fellowship in Tulsa, Oklahoma and a Research Fellow for the Oklahoma Center for Humanities’ Research Seminar on Play. Their work has been exhibited throughout North and South American, with recent exhibitions at Disjecta Contemporary Art Center in Portland, Oregon and the Vincent Price Art Museum in Los Angeles, California.On this episode, Edgar discusses how art can be a sanctuary, the potency of colorful magic, and how they use witchcraft to celebrate their expansive, ever-changing self.Pam also discusses the spirituality of style, and answers a lister question about sharing joy in times of crisis.Our sponsors for this episode are Magic Monday Podcast, Cat Coven, BetterHelp, and Mithras Candle

Lisa Marie Basile is a poet, essayist and editor who focuses on witchcraft, shadow work, and using the power of language to heal from trauma. She's author of the non-fiction book Light Magic for Dark Times: More Than 100 Spells, Rituals, and Practices for Coping in a Crisis and The Magical Writing Grimoire: Use the Word as Your Wand, for Magic, Manifestation, and Ritual which is out this month. She is also the founder and creative director of Luna Luna Magazine, an editor at Ingram’s poetry site Little Infinite, and co-host of the podcast, AstroLushes, which intersects astrology, literature, wellness, and culture. She’s written several books of a poetry, and the collection, NYMPHOLEPSY, which she co-authored was a finalist in the 2017 Tarpaulin Sky Book Awards. She’s also been nominated for several Pushcart Prizes, and her essays and other work can be found in such places as The New York Times, Bust, Self, Refinery 29 and many more.On this episode, Lisa discusses how to work with the shadow, rituals for crisis, and why poetry is in fact magic.Pam also discusses the power of poetry in dark times, and answers a listener question about how to boost communication confidence.Our sponsors for this episode are Tarot For the Wild Soul, Foxglove Pharm, and Mithras Candle

Christina Oakley Harrington is the founder and presiding spirit of Treadwell’s, an esoteric bookshop in London with a feverishly devoted following. As both a former academic with a doctorate in Medieval History and a decades-long pagan, she also happens to be a rare example of a scholar practitioner, which is a combination we happen to find utterly irresistible. Christina is a respected author, consultant and authority on paganism and witchcraft, and her media appearances have included Channel Four TV, BBCTV, BBC Radio and BBC World Service.On this episode, Christina discusses the magic of language, her favorite trailblazing women in occult history, and the ways that witchcraft can set us free during trying times.Pam also speaks about the wisdom of The Fool for April Fool’s Day, and answers a listener question about kitchen witchery.Our sponsors for this episode are Altar New Orleans, BetterHelp, and Mithras Candle

Yugen Blakrok is a critically-acclaimed hip-hop artist who hails from the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Her occult-flavored rhymes draw from world mythology and an eclectic blend of various spiritual systems, while sounding entirely unique and future-forward. Her 2013 album, Return of the Astro-Goth caught the attention of musical maestros such as Chuck D, who makes a cameo appearance on her newest album, Anima Mysterium (2019). Many might recognize her from her blazing performance on the Black Panther soundtrack via the song “Opps” which she did in collaboration with Kendrick Lamar and Vince Staples. Yugen has toured throughout South Africa and Europe, and has opened for hip-hop icons such as MC Lyte and performed alongside such legends as Public Enemy. Her music is a mix of sci-fi soundscapes, meditative melodies, and trip-hop beats thanks in large part to her collaborator, Kanif the Jhatmaster, who also makes an appearance during the interview.On this episode, Yugen discusses the occult elements of her songs, her lifelong quest to balance shadow and light, and how she’s used music as medicine during tumultuous times.Pam also speaks about the sacred practice of reconciling opposite forces for Spring Equinox, and answers a listener question about participating in a ritual to help with the coronavirus.Our sponsors for this episode are Ethereal Visions Publishing, Foxglove Pharm, BetterHelp, and Mithras Candle

Jessica Dore is a licensed social worker and tarot practitioner, teacher, and writer who is interested in using tarot cards to, as she puts it, “help people understand the interplay between internal and external life, and to behave flexibly and in alignment with what is most precious.” In other words, she uses tarot as a means for helping the mind and the spirit work in more interconnected ways. Jessica’s hugely popular Twitter and Instagram accounts and beautifully written newsletter all delve into both the psychological and magical meanings of the tarot, and in her tarot sessions, she seeks to support people during times of transition and stagnation. Her insightful, integrated approach to tarot as a therapeutic tool has been featured in such places as The New York Times, New York Magazine‘s The Cut, Teen Vogue, and on NPR’s Weekend Edition. And her writing has been featured in O Magazine, VICE, and Psych Central.On this episode, Jessica discusses how tarot can offer psychological revelations, the importance of synchronicity, and why spirituality is a crucial component to maintaining one’s mental wellbeing.Pam also talks about mystical methods that help settle the mind during anxious times, and answers a listener question about witchcraft and mental health.Content warning: While we don’t go into graphic detail, we do discuss mental health struggles and therapies, including very brief mentions of suicidal ideation and self-harm. Again, it’s not extensive, but if even reading those words is distressing for you, then you may want to skip this episode.Disclaimer: As stated throughout the episode, tarot is not therapy, nor is it a replacement for therapy. If you are struggling with your mental wellness, please consult your doctor or seek support from an official mental health resource such as the National Aliiance on Mental Illness (NAMI).Our sponsors for this episode are Altar New Orleans, Ethereal Visions Publishing, and Mithras Candle