Magick & Alchemy

In episode 106 of the Magick & Alchemy podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby talk grief, plants, and shapeshifting with community weaver Mara June. Mara is a writer, caregiver, death doula, and community herbalist who encourages people to dream and create courageously in times of change and grief. In this conversation, they discuss herbs as enchantment medicine, planting ourselves with...

In episode 105 of the Magick & Alchemy podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby team up with Caitlyn Barone to host a virtual book club. From nostalgic reads to their favorite, well-loved tomes, in this conversation, three witches share the books that have been most influential throughout their magickal journeys. They discuss books about plant witchery, out-of-body experiences, and dark g...

In episode 104 of the Magick & Alchemy podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby discuss two of the lesser-known mothers of mythology. They begin with Echidna, the mother of monsters, whose children include the Sphinx, Cerberus, and Python, the giant serpentine creature that protects Delphi. While tracing Echidna’s family tree, they contemplate this mother’s overlap with Medusa, Gorgons, a...

In episode 103 of the Magick & Alchemy podcast, Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby interview Felicia Cocotzin Ruiz. Felicia is a Curandera, Author, Indigenous Foods Activist, and Natural Foods Chef. In this conversation, Felicia discusses Curanderismo and her life as a Kitchen Curandera. She shares her thoughts on ancestral veneration, seasonal wildcrafting, and cultural appropriation vs. misappro...

In episode 102 of the Magick & Alchemy podcast, hosts Kristin Lisenby and Kate Belew celebrate Beltane with the bones. In this conversation, they discuss bone folklore, corpse medicine, and Baba Yaga’s walkway of fiery skulls. They consider bones as keepers of memories, consciousness, and the soul. They also contemplate antlers, the archetypal skeleton, and Beltane’s sacred fires, originally k...

In episode 101 of the Magick & Alchemy podcast, hosts Kristin Lisenby and Kate Belew interview Sophie Saint Thomas. Sophie Saint Thomas is an award-winning journalist and author whose written for VICE, Playboy, GQ, Glamour, Marie Claire, PRIDE, Cosmopolitan, High Times, Gawker (RIP), and Harper’s Bazaar. In this conversation, Sophie talks sex magick, cannabis culture, and how these practices i...

In the 100th episode of the Magick & Alchemy podcast, hosts Kristin Lisenby and Kate Belew discuss the relationship between masks and ritual. They consider masks as a way to enact magick, channel the dead, and divine with the animal world. They talk about Samhain, Carnival, Krampusnacht, and other celebrations where masking is part of the dress code. They ponder masks as conduits, portals, and...

In episode 99 of the Magick & Alchemy podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby reflect on some signs of spring. Inspired by Ostara and a season of renewal, they discuss the chalice and the cauldron, and what’s collected or brewed in these sacred vessels. They talk about rain, rhythmic tides, and purification rites. They also share some moon stories, including ‘The Bamboo Cutter and the Mo...

On episode 98 of the Magick & Alchemy Podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby talk moon signs and horoscopes with Annabel Gat. An astrologer who has been writing the daily and monthly horoscope column at VICE since 2015, Annabel is also the author of two books, The Astrology of Love & Sex and The Moon Sign Guide. In this conversation, Annabel talks about astrology as an ancient artif...

On episode 97 of the Magick & Alchemy Podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby interview Xenia Viray. Xenia is an imagination healer, multidimensional artist, and community weaver with a focus on Human Design and writing. In this conversation, they discuss Human Design basics, strategy and authority, and reflect on the different energy types within this system. They also talk about Human...

On episode 96 of the Magick & Alchemy Podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby cover spring-related topics in the days before the spring equinox on March 20th. They discuss moon bathing, the Hare Moon, perspectives on purification, and ocean magick. They talk about working with the full moon, connecting with different phases, and being vessels for the moon's energy. They oscillate be...

On episode 95 of the Magick & Alchemy Podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby interview Astrologer and energy healer Juliana McCarthy. They discuss birth chart basics (why are the Sun, Moon, and Rising signs so important?!). They talk about the nodes, Pluto transits, eclipses, retrogrades, Saturn moving into Pisces, and the journey of a Saturn Return. They navigate conversations around a...

On episode 94 of the Magick & Alchemy Podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby discuss Kristin's Homesteading Journey in the Azores. Two witches contemplate what it means to live and work with the land from Kristin's experience moving into an old familial farmhouse. They talk about building a relationship with earth spirits through automatic writing, tending to animals, and what...

On episode 93 of the Magick & Alchemy Podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby discuss Types of Magick, Part 2. In the second installment of this two-part series, two witches contemplate Ceremonial or High Magick and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. They talk about the influence this belief system had on Wicca and Witchcraft communities, Goddess culture, and the importance of the vi...

On episode 92 of the Magick & Alchemy Podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby discuss goddesses of sex and war. In this conversation, they share stories of Inanna, Queen of Heaven, and her descent to and from the Underworld. They discuss Inanna’s possible ties to Astarte, Lilith, Venus, and Aphrodite, and the removal of her sacred Huluppu tree. They also talk about the mythology of the w...

On episode 91 of the Magick & Alchemy Podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby discuss Types of Magick, Part 1. In the first installment of this two-part series, two witches contemplate the history and lore of Green Witchcraft and Elemental Magick. They consider communicating with plants and trees, and the mythologies of Green Witches like Cerridwen, Flora, and Circe. They talk about buil...

On episode 90 of the Magick & Alchemy Podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby interview Sophie Strand. Sophie is a writer based in New York’s Hudson Valley who focuses on the intersection of spirituality, storytelling, and ecology. In this conversation, Sophie discusses her new book, “The Flowering Wand: Rewilding the Sacred Masculine.” She also talks about her relationship to tarot and...

On episode 89 of the Magick & Alchemy Podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby discuss the Patron Saint of Outcasts, Wednesday Addams. In this special pop-culture episode, Kristin and Kate contemplate the history of Wednesday’s spooky family - including the Addams’ appearance in print, sitcoms, movies, and the new Netflix series. They also contemplate the Addams’ appeal (despite their ref...

On episode 88 of the Magick & Alchemy Podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby interview Chaweon Koo. Chaweon Koo is a writer of the intersection of pop culture, the occult, and futurism. Her Tik Tok @chaweonkoo is one of the most popular occult accounts on the platform, and she also interviews some of the most distinguished occultists and witches in the English-speaking world on her YouT...

On episode 87 of the Magick & Alchemy Podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby speak with Amanda Yates Garcia. Amanda is an author, witch, and the Oracle of Los Angeles. In this episode, she speaks about being pulled into the underworld, finding her way out, and witchcraft as a lived experience. She also discusses the goddesses Medusa and Cerridwen, and explains why magick is our birthrig...

On episode 86 of the Magick & Alchemy Podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby interview Danica Boyce. Danica is a Pagan entrepreneur, writer, educator, and creator of the Fair Folk and Pagan Monastery Podcasts. In this special Winter Solstice conversation, Danica discusses the inspirations behind the Pagan Monastery Project, leaning into virtual communities, and respecting our desires. S...

On episode 85 of the Magick & Alchemy Podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby interview artist and magickal practitioner, Edgar Fabián Frías. Through their art, Edgar emphasizes historical legacies and acts of resistance, resiliency, and radical imagination within the context of Indigenous Futurism, spirituality, play, pedagogy, animism, and queer aesthetics. In this conversation, they s...

On episode 84 of the Magick & Alchemy podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby conclude their Mythological Creatures Series with an episode on the Dragon, Gryphon, and Sphinx. In this conversation, they discuss the Gryphon’s golden nests, the Sphinx’s curious riddles, and these winged beasts’ association with the sun. They also answer a listener question about the Leviathan, consider thei...

On episode 83 of the Magick & Alchemy Podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby continue their Mythological Creatures Series with an episode on the Mermaid and the Sidhe. In this conversation, they discuss the Rusalky, the Siren’s Song, and the Merfolk’s enchanted comb. They also talk about the Sidhe, including the Banshee, Washing Woman at the Ford, Cat Sidhe, and other faerie creatures f...

On episode 82 of the Magick & Alchemy Podcast, hosts Kate Belew and Kristin Lisenby begin a new series on mythological creatures. In the first installment of this series, two witches discuss the Unicorn and the Phoenix. They talk about the Unicorn’s mystique, desire for peace, and its magickal horn. They consider the Phoenix’s relationship to the sun, destruction, transformation, and rebirth....