Talk Witchcraft Season 2 Recap
Subscribe here to be notified about new episodes.
In this post, I want to review all the witchy topics we’ve covered over the course of the last quarter of a year from Litha to Mabon.
9 - Why You CAN Practice Kitchen Witchery
Episode 9 was all about Kitchen Witchery. If you are interested in the magical potential of the mundane preparation, cooking, and eating of food, you will enjoy the practical and useful information found in episode 9.
The following comes from this episode to give you a hint of what we talked about:
Kitchen Witchery is when you make any meal, or kitchen creation with intention for specific purpose. There are many other practices that can be involved in kitchen witchery, but the main thing is this that you incorporate magic into this process of cooking.
A witch may or may not grow some or all of their food in a garden, farm, or in a in a pot inside. However the ingredients arrive to the witch, whether they were grown or purchased in a grocery store or from a farmer directly, but however it's brought into the kitchen witch’s life, there is this honoring of their the nutritional value, the nourishment and the magical qualities of that food.
Kitchen witch’s prefer to make everything from scratch and avoid buying processed and pre-packaged Foods whenever possible. That doesn't mean that you can't use pre-packaged foods or processed foods. The reason that many witches kitchen witches tend to like to make things from scratch is because of this idea that ingredients should be as close to the Earth as possible. The Earth is the original source of nourishment. But again that doesn't mean that those processed foods can't be incorporated into a kitchen witchcraft practice.
The process of cooking—growing or collecting the ingredients; preparing them to cook through slicing, blending, or chopping; and the actual cooking process; as well as the clean up after the meal—these are all considered part of the ritual of cooking of kitchen witchcraft.
It's not a chore. There needs to be a shift in your mindset around around what you're doing. Instead of thinking about it as a chore, as something you have to do, think of it as something that you enjoy doing because of the nourishment that you're bringing your body and the magical transformation that you can expect. It’s part of the ritual.
That comes from episode 9 about kitchen witchery. Inside of Mumbles Academy, we expanded on this topic. We talked a little bit more, we went deeper into this concept of kitchen witchery through the structure of the principles of magic.
So, if you're interested in kitchen witchery join us in Mumbles Academy to see the recording of the masterclass.
10 - Why you NEED a Grimoire for Witchcraft
This episode is about how to keep a grimoire. A grimoire is a book of magical information that a witch keeps based on what is important to that witch.
The following comes from episode 10:
MAYBE…
...you have a library of witchcraft books, or you've checked out a library of witchcraft books from the library, but you can never really seem to find exactly what you need when you need it. Especially when you're in a hurry or feeling kind of rushed. So, you have all these books, and all these resources, but you you have so many pages to go through to find exactly where you learned something.
OR MAYBE…
…you've taken a training online or maybe your metaphysical shop has trainings. You attended something like this to develop your witchcraft skills and to learn more about practicing witchcraft. You probably took notes, but you don't remember where they are in your pile of notebooks of all the different things.
OR MAYBE…
…you are used to going to Google to ask your questions and you're always met with all this different, conflicting information. One blog post will say one thing and then another article will tell you something else. You never really know which one is the “right” answer to your question.
OR MAYBE…
…you’ve gone into a Facebook groups to ask a question and you were met with hostility and judgment for not knowing about this. As if we all come out of the womb knowing everything there is to know about witchcraft.
Has any of this happened to you before? Most likely, yes. These are all pretty common experiences.
Without a plan for your witchcraft practice, you will always be met with these scenarios.
Without knowing and organizing what you believe about yourself and your witchcraft practice, you will always find yourself in the state of confusion.
Without the ability to know exactly where to find something when you need it, you're always going to be in this state of searching and researching.
This is because what is important to you and your practice is all that matters because you are unique and your practice is unique. You need to organize this information. In order to have this organization system so that you can understand what your goals are for your witchcraft practice and what you actually want…
You need a grimoire!
That was a little hint of what you can expect to find if you listen to episode 10. I also wanted to remind you of the Organizing Your Grimoire ecourse in Mumbles Academy.
If you are feeling lost about what to do with your grimoire, and want to know how to make it usable and practical so that you can find the information you need, when you need it, then you might want to join us in Mumbles Academy. Inside, you can access the Organizing Your Grimoire Course.
Organizing Your Grimoire is all about helping you to figure out an organization system for keeping your magical information easy to access, easy to use and right at your fingertips.
11 - Time for Magic
In Episode 11 we talked about time and its relation to magic. I started off in that episode with how to make time for your magic. I went on to share about the importance of inconsistency and why listening to your body and paying attention to the flow of your own energy is really important for your magical health as well as your physical and emotional and spiritual health.
The following comes from episode 11:
I think one of my most popular blog post is actually about how to make more time for magic. In that post, I share all of these different ways to do that.
I also created a course in Mumbles Academy on this topic where I expand on all of those tips. The course includes a magical routine because I believe routine is vital to practicing witchcraft regularly and consistently.
Since those resources already exist, I wanted to take this opportunity to talk more about the other side of routine, which is inconsistency, as well as how inconsistency is also important to witchcraft.
How can how can you be both consistent and inconsistent? It's probably more accurate to say that you're actually doing your best.
This comes from The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz where the fourth agreement is to always do your best and to remember that your best changes from day-to-day, and even minute to minute.
One moment your best maybe whatever your ideal version of your witchcraft practices and the next your best be not getting out of bed and that's okay.
Our energy fluctuates and our magic fluctuates, so recognizing that whatever you're doing, you're doing the very best you can with what you have available to you. You’re doing your best with whatever energy you have, with whatever time you have, with whatever money you have, with all of these resources that you need.
Remember to do your best with what you have when it comes to your witchcraft practice. Remember that disruptions like stress or conflicts with the people in your life—co-workers, your partner, your boss, your friends, your children, your parents, or anybody else—can change the way y our energy flows. It’s going to be disruptive to your life and your routine in general. Of course that stuff is also going to influence your energy and make it difficult to maintain your practice.
If you are interested in learning more about making time for magic, you can access the course in Mumbles Academy. This course offers tips and ideas for creating time for your magical practice and developing a structure that works for you.
12 - Energy Points That Fuel Magical Workings
Episode 12 was about working with your chakras—your energy points—throughout your body. We also talked about the importance of being really respectful when you're learning about different practices that are often incorporated into various types of witchcraft. This idea of cultural appropriation came up in that episode.
The following is from episode 12:
Something that I really enjoy about Witchcraft is that you have a freedom to create your own spiritual practice. There's this freedom to explore a variety of cultures and learn from all of these different teachers and incorporate them into your own unique understanding of the world and your own unique spiritual practice.
I do think that it's really important to be super respectful as you are collecting different practices from different cultures and teachings.
Even though witchcraft doesn't really have rules, I think to be a good human one rule to follow is to only borrow practices and traditions from open cultures.
Open culture simply means that there are no requirements for you to fulfill before you can engage in that practice or in that culture. You don't have to be part of that cultural group or you don't need to go through some sort of initiation. As you're exploring different practices make sure that anything that you're engaging with is open.
For the most part, the concept of an energy system with energy points throughout the body comes from open cultures. The chakra system that we are talking about and focusing on today is an Eastern philosophy that originated in India between 1500 and 500 BCE.
Since chakras are Universal—found in every living being—working with part of your own body and your own energy field is usually not considered appropriation.
However, there's always the chance that you might encounter someone who believes that the way that you are engaging in chakra work or energy work is cultural appropriation rather than appreciation of that culture. If this does happen, then that's an opportunity to learn more to go deeper with your understanding.
The best way to appreciate a culture and to engage with it is to be willing to continue to learn to continue to explore and to dedicate yourself to really understanding what you're learning
If you go to the show notes linked above, you will find some links to some resources about cultural appropriation what it really means and how it relates to witchcraft. You'll also find some resources for going deeper into the chakra system.
By the way, Chapter 1 of my new book Practical Magic for Beginners is all about the Chakras. If you haven’t already, you can order your copy here.
13 - Stand Out or Blend In with Glamour Magic
In episode 13 we talked about glamour magic and how you can use glamour magic to change the way that other people perceive you or perceive someone, something, or someplace.
The following is from Episode 13:
In essence, a glamour is an illusion and a type of illusion magic. This is not in the same way that stage magicians use illusion. Instead it's how we can change the way that someone perceives their senses.
You can change your own perception of your senses with glamour magic, you can also use glamour to change the way someone perceives you.
It's not just about those five main senses: sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. It can be all of these different senses and others as well. Glamour magic can affect your sense of direction. It can change your perception of time and how time is flowing. You can use glamour magic to change the way that you perceive your emotions or someone else perceives their emotions.
You can use glamour magic to change your beliefs to change how you perceive your beliefs. This can you really helpful for getting rid of limiting beliefs that are holding you back.
Glamour magic can change impressions or any sort of perceived impression. You can change the way that you perceive hunger and thirst, lust and love, temperature, pain, fatigue, and all of these different sensations that you can experience.
I want to reiterate that glamour magic is not about changing the physical. You're not making physical changes like you see in pop culture. For example, glamour magic is not when a witch physically changes everything about how they look so they look like someone completely different.
We are talking about the real world version of this where we can change the way that people perceive us. This is not on a physical level but on a mental, emotional, and spiritual level.
We can Glamour magic in order to help us to embody traits like self-confidence, bravery, boldness, to have more persuasive speech, or any other attribute that we want the world to see in us. We can use glamours to have the world perceive us in any way that we want.
After this episode, we had a live chat in Mumbles Academy, where we went deeper into what you can do with glamour magic and some exercises for how to think about this form of magic. If you want to view the recording of that masterclass of that chat, then join us in Mumbles Academy.
14 - Four Dream Types for Intuitive Guidance
Now, let's talk about episode 14, which was about dream interpretation. In the episode we talked about four different types of dreams and how they can offer you some intuitive guidance.
This episode actually comes from a lesson in one of the masterclasses inside of Mumbles Academy.
The following comes from Episode 14:
I think that dreaming is one of the most common ways for us to tap into our intuition. This is because everyone dreams. Every single night you dream dreams and you may not remember them but you are dreaming because it's just a process that your body goes through.
You can learn to remember your dreams through certain exercises and ideas that I'll share with you, but even more importantly you can learn how to interpret what these dreams actually mean.
It's one thing to know what your dream it is and remember it, but when you actually start to interpret it, that's where you actually can gain some meaning.
You can learn from them and you can use this information to help you to make decisions.
Dreams give you more information about yourself such as who you are as a person and how you deal with situations.
They can give you insight into other people in your life, who they are, their personality traits and characteristics, how they deal with situations.
You can interact with deceased loved ones are your spirit guides through your dreams
Dreams can warn you of problems ahead or give you some sort of insight into your subconscious mind as they offer inspiration and creativity.
Attention to your dreams really can be helpful in all areas of your life. No matter what you do or don't do in your daily life, all you have to do is learn to pay attention to your dreams and they do the work for you.
Anytime you are dreaming, your subconscious is working throughout your sleep to tap into your intuitive abilities. It's a really good use of time to pay attention to what they're saying because that's a good chunk of time that you're asleep and dreaming.
I look forward to going to sleep because I get to dream. I like to see what's going to unfold for me each night. In the beginning of trying to learn about my intuitive abilities and develop them for myself, my dreams were the doorway into that world where I could tap into my intuition and my inner wisdom.
If you want to hear the rest of the lessons in the Dream Interpretation masterclass and access the lessons and exercises designed to help you remember and interpret your dreams, please join us in Mumbles Academy.
For everyone who has already pre-ordered my new book Practical Magic for Beginners, you’ll be excited to know that there is a chapter on dream interpretation. Order your copy here.
15 - How to Use Crystals for Witchcraft
Then we went on to Episode 15 where we talked about how to use crystals in witchcraft.
The following is from Episode 15:
We use crystals in witchcraft to have this physical representation of our purpose and any spiritual entities that we want to work with.
There are many different words that we use: crystals, rocks and stones, and minerals. I tend to use the word crystal as an all-encompassing word. I like the word crystal, it sounds pretty and mystical and magical. However, it's not super accurate to call certain things crystals because crystal word for something specific thing.
I use it for simplicity so that I'm not saying, “Crystals and rocks and minerals,” every single time I want to talk about them and I just like the way “crystal” sounds better than “rock”. So even though, something might not technically be a crystal (like Jasper), I will often lump everything together into the umbrella word of crystal.
If you want to be more accurate or precise with your speech, then use proper words, though.
So, crystal by definition is very organized and has a very specific pattern and structure inside of its molecular makeup. Everything is made up of atoms and molecules, and in crystals, these form a repeating pattern.
There are several different types of crystal structures and they all have different magical uses. You can kind of look in geology books for the crystal structure to get an idea of how you might be able to use that crystal in a magical working.
I use the word crystal as a collective term for minerals, rocks or stones, gemstones, geodes, and crystals. But I wanted you to know that there are differences.
All of these different crystal materials have specific magical properties, but they can all be used in very similar ways in terms of the type of spell or ritual you are performing. Whether you're putting it around your house, or working with it in the bath, or creating a grid, or adding it to a jar spell, it doesn't matter if it's a crystal or rock or a mineral.
You're probably not surprised to hear that there is a masterclass on how to use crystals in witchcraft inside of Mumbles Academy so you know you can learn even more about this. Especially about using the crystal grids, which I know a lot of people are interested in.
Additionally, you can learn about crystals in Chapter 3 of my new book Practical Magic for Beginners. If you haven’t done so, order your copy here.
If you want go deeper into how to use crystals in your witchcraft practice then join us in Mumbles Academy.
16 - Using Herbs for Witchcraft
On the heels of the episode on crystals, episode 16 was like part two in a series about magical materials. In this episode we looked at herbs.
Here is a transcript of a clip from Episode 16:
I use the word herb to be an all-encompassing umbrella term for different types of plants as well as different plant parts. Many witches do this.
So, types of plants like herbaceous plants, which are non-woody, perennial, biennial or annual plants; trees, which are single stem plants with a high branching canopy; and shrubs, which have many woody stems and branches close to the ground, are all considered herbs in witchcraft.
Additionally, the word herb also describes the parts of the plant.
• Bark of a tree or shrub - cinnamon
• Seeds - sesame seed or poppy seed
• Fruit - strawberry or mango
• Flowers - chamomile or lavender
• Leaves - thyme, rosemary, basil, or parsley
• Roots - potatoes, mandrake or ginger
• Spines - cactusOne helpful tip for knowing how to use a plant or plant part in a magical working is to think about how the plant used it. A cactus spine is used to protect the plant so you can use it in a protection spell. A potato—or tuber—is how the plant stores energy so try using it in an energy spell.
There is also a masterclass on using herbs in witchcraft in Mumbles Academy.
Additionally, I included two chapters about herbs in my book Practical Magic for Beginners. Chapter 10 is about magical uses and Chapter 11 is about healing uses. Order your book here, if you haven’t already.
17 - The Lunar Cycle as a Structure for Magic
In episode 17, I went on to share with you some ways to look at the lunar cycle as a structure for your magical practice. Since the lunar cycle is a cycle—in that it repeats itself—you can access this changing energy to create routine in your practice.
The first, and probably the simplest way to follow the lunar cycle, is to pay attention to when the moon is waxing, or getting bigger and growing, and when the moon is waning, or getting smaller and shrinking.
In that, there are two turning points:
• the new moon where the moon changes from shrinking to growing
• the full moon where the moon shrink changes from growing to shrinkingThis is really simple because when the moon is getting larger you can think about your magic in terms of growth, attraction and increase. Ask yourself what you want to draw more of into your life. Think about what you want to nurture, encourage, or strength in your personality.
The waxing half of the cycle begins as this barely detectable sliver at the new moon. Over the next few days, that sliver grows during the crescent moon phase.
The midpoint is when we see the half moon or first quarter moon. This occurs when the illuminated half of the moon is on the right side of the moon and the shadowed half is on the left.
Then there's the waxing gibbous phase, which is named for the bulging appearance of the moon as it continues to grow towards that fully illuminated circle that we call the full moon.
Then we have the waning half of the cycle, which begins at the full moon. During the waning half, simply think about magic in terms of declining, banishing, and releasing. Ask yourself what is holding you back and what you can let go of. Think about what in your life is causing you pain or challenging you and what obstacles you need to remove.
Starting at the full moon, the moon begins to wane into the waning gibbous moon. The midpoint is that waning half moon or last quarter moon, which is when the light half of the moon is on the left side of the moon and the shadowed half is on the right.
Then, more and more of the moon is covered in shadow as it wanes back to a crescent moon and finally disappears into the dark days.
The dark days is this window of time before the moon is visible again when the sliver of new moon returns.
A major part of this episode was when I made a big announcement about some changes that are coming to Mumbles Academy for the 2021 year and into the foreseeable future. I am merging two of my big programs (The Moon Circle and Mumbles Academy) into one program that will form the structure of Mumbles Academy.
I have found that balancing the solar cycle and the lunar cycle is really important to my practice and having them separate seemed weird to me. I'm really excited to be able to work with the members of Mumbles Academy and show them how to align their practice with these two different wheels: the lunar wheel and the solar wheel.
If you want to have this Moon Circle experience in addition to the current Sun Circle experience, I highly recommend that you join us in Mumbles Academy before Yule 2020. Starting December 21st, the price will be increasing because that is when the merge is happening. So basically, if you join now, you will be getting two programs for the price of one.
18 - 3 Witchy Books The Changed My Life
Now let's move on to the final episode of season 2, which was all about three witchy books that changed my life. I shared one book that I don't recommend anyone read and one book that I do recommend everyone read read. The third book I talk about was my own, which I hope everyone reads, as well.
The following is from Episode 18 the bit about how writing my book changed my life:
I wrote Practical Magic for Beginners in about three months at the beginning of 2020, which was really intense and it was it was a challenge for me to fulfill this deadline for a variety of reasons.
My grandparents on my mom's side both passed away in the midst of writing this book.
My grandfather, who I call Poppy, actually passed away right before I agreed to write this book. I had just been offered the opportunity, and then he passed away, which made it a hard time to decide whether it was the right time to pursue this project.
Soon after, my grandmother, who I call Anna also passed away. That was just right before I completed it.
This did bring up some depression for me and I had a hard time keeping up with the demands of writing the book. I felt that my grandparents were continuing to guide me even when they were no longer around on the physical plane. I was also please to find that my publisher was very understanding.
Right after this, the world was hit with the COVID-19 pandemic. As I'm recording this, we are still being affected by this pandemic. I know that many people found that they had more time due to this change of circumstances, but I've always worked at home. So, there wasn't really a change in my schedule: it didn't really affect how much time I had.
In reality, what happened because of this, was that I learned that I have ADHD, which had been dormant or had been unnoticed up until this point. I didn't have the same ability to access my regular coping mechanisms that help me to keep these ADHD symptoms under control.
I couldn’t do my regular outdoor activities exercise the same way. I couldn’t visit the coffee and tea shops that helps me to focus through this process called body doubling. When you have other people around who are also working, it helps you to work as well.
I didn't have access to restaurants, which are stimulating and rewarding for me. And, I couldn’t travel to see my friends and family, with my husband, which are also stimulating activities.
Without these coping mechanisms, I became really aware of this disorder that I hadn't seen them myself before, which made it really hard to focus on writing a book in such a short time.
As a result, writing, which had never really been hard for me in the past, became almost impossible and I kept procrastinating because of it.
But my husband Dana really helped and picked up so much of the slack, especially around the house, doing things that I wasn't able to do anymore. He became my biggest cheerleader to help me accomplish something that I had always had floating in the back of my mind: to write a book about witchcraft.
Now it is complete!
I also had the support of my extensive family and friends. They all reminded me to celebrate, and also to rest, to learn, and to go with the flow, which are all things that I struggle with.
Now, it is September and after all of this time, it is finally available for pre-order. I've seen so many people already ordering and telling me how excited they are for me and to receive their copy. Many are preparing to review it and support me in so many different ways.
Soon, the physical copy will be available to anyone who is interested in learning about witchcraft and mysticism. They will be able to hold my book in my hands and read my words, which is really a dream come true!
My book Practical Magic for Beginners available for pre-order through September 29th, which is its release date. That's when it will be delivered to people who pre-ordered. So, if you preorder this really helps my book to succeed (something about the algorithms).
If you are interested in this book, and you want to support me in another way, then please pre-order your copy of the book.
I will be so appreciative!
Join us in the Talk Witchcraft Facebook group to chat about this episode with other witchy folks.
Wait, don’t go yet!
Thanks for hanging out with me today. If you’ve enjoyed this post of Talk Witchcraft, I invite you to check out mumblesacademy.com.
Mumbles Academy is the place to be for intuitive souls at any stage on their WitchPath. Whether you are a Wildling at the very beginning of witchcraft journey and looking for a safe learning environment, a Creator who is already committed to their practice and wants to develop their witchcraft skills even more, or a Sage who full of wisdom already and is ready to share that with others, Mumbles Academy was designed for you.
With monthly masterclasses and live Q&As, an extensive archive of courses and training, and a supportive community to help you along the way with encouragement and advice, Mumbles Academy is the perfect place for you to be as you as you continue on your WitchPath.
Now it’s your turn!
What was your favorite episode from season 2 of the Talk Witchcraft Podcast?