New World Witchery - The Search for American Traditional Witchcraft

Hello everyone! We mentioned in our last show that we would be launching a new podcast soon, and today we’re getting the first episode out there! It’s called Myth Taken: A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Podcast, and you can probably guess what our main subject will be. This really is just an introduction to us, … Continue reading "Sneak Peek: Myth Taken Episode 0-0"

Summary: We look back at 2018’s witchy highlights and talk about some of our upcoming projects for the new year, then discuss folk magical approaches to self care for the new year as well.   Please check out our Patreon page! You can help support the show for as little as a dollar a month, … Continue reading "Episode 138 – A New Year and Magical Self Care"

Summary: In our annual holiday episode, we turn to the natural world for carols and lessons on the plants and animals of the Yuletide season.   Please check out our Patreon page! You can help support the show for as little as a dollar a month, and get some awesome rewards at the same time.  … Continue reading "Episode 137 – Yuletide Cheer! 2018"

Summary: We return under cover of darkness to the creaky gates and mossy tombstones of graveyards and crypts for this show. We cover a witch ring in a New York cemetery, spooky teenage trips to haunted graveyards, and holding your breath as you pass the local churchyard.   Please check out our Patreon page! You … Continue reading "Episode 136 – Graveyard Lore Part II"

Summary: We have a conversation with Neopagan author and tradition elder Ivo Dominguez, Jr. about his work in growing his tradition, living through the Neopagan boom of the 80s and 90s, and the New Alexandrian Library project.   Please check out our Patreon page! You can help support the show for as little as a … Continue reading "Episode 135 – Building a Magical Tradition with Ivo Dominguez Jr"

Summary: In this episode, we visit the crypts and churchyards to bring you some of our favorite graveyard lore. Huge thanks to those who submitted ideas for this! We’ve got more than enough for a part two another time, so if your submission isn’t here, don’t worry. We’ll be resurrecting it soon!   Please check … Continue reading "Episode 134 – Graveyard Lore Part I"

Summary: Our final story comes from Chinese folklore, and tells the tale of a fisherman who generously shared his wine with a ghost and found out just what a good friend the dead can be.   Please check out our Patreon page! You can help support the show for as little as a dollar a … Continue reading "Special Episode – All Hallows Read 2018 – Drinking Companions"

Summary: We roam down South for a story of a dancing corpse in the latest spooky October tale, “Aaron Kelly’s Bones.”   Please check out our Patreon page! You can help support the show for as little as a dollar a month, and get some awesome rewards at the same time.  Even if you can’t … Continue reading "Special Episode – All Hallows Read 2018 – Aaron Kelly’s Bones"

Summary: Our Halloween storytelling continues with a popular legend that people have been telling for over a century, “A Pretty Girl in the Road.”   Please check out our Patreon page! You can help support the show for as little as a dollar a month, and get some awesome rewards at the same time.  Even … Continue reading "Special Episode – All Hallows Read 2018 – A Pretty Girl in the Road"

Summary: We begin our annual tradition of spooky stories by hearing Washington Irving’s “The Adventure of the German Student.” Our theme this year is the dead returning from the grave, so prepare for a month of ghoulish delights!   Please check out our Patreon page! You can help support the show for as little as … Continue reading "Special Episode – All Hallows Read 2018 – The Adventure of the Ger...

Summary: We’re digging through listener responses to our shows and topics to bring you an apology, some thoughts on the Sephora witch kit controversy, and folklore about rabbits and red hats.   Please check out our Patreon page! You can help support the show for as little as a dollar a month, and get some … Continue reading "Episode 133 – From You to Us – Listener Feedback 2018"

Summary: We’re joined in this episode by Paige from the Fat Feminist Witch podcast to talk about the importance of listening, reclaiming “scary words,” the power of podcasting and social media in witchy circles (for good and ill), intersectional witchcraft, and pop culture magic.   Please check out our Patreon page! You can help … Continue reading "Episode 132 – Bodies, Gender, and Witchcraft with...

Summary: Cory and Laine start an ongoing discussion of the use of magic in Disney films, looking at the cultural context, the fairy tale sources, and the specific practices found in some of the films. We cover Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, and Fantasia in this one.   Please check out our Patreon page! You … Continue reading "Episode 131 – Disney Magic Part One"

Summary: This time around we’re chatting with author and talisman-maker Aidan Wachter about his workshop, chaos magic, the importance of breath, and dirt sorcery.   Please check out our Patreon page! You can help support the show for as little as a dollar a month, and get some awesome rewards at the same time.  Even … Continue reading "Episode 130 – Dirt Sorcery and Six Ways with Aidan Wachter"

Summary: This time we have a crossover episode with the magical mamas from Betwixt and Between! In our portion of the conversation, we talk animism, hedgewitchery, and raising kids with witchy traditions (even when they’re not your own).   Please check out our Patreon page! You can help support the show for as little as … Continue reading "Episode 129 – Raising Witchlets with Betwixt and Between"

Summary: We look at the supernatural folklore and mythology of the Borderlands area along the Mexican-U.S. boundary in this episode. We talk to author, professor, and story collector David Bowles about his experiences growing up there, the legends that permeate the culture in that region, and we share one of the stories from his collections. … Continue reading "Episode 128 – Borderlands Lore with...

Summary: This is one of our “Tales from the Witching Hour” practical episodes in which we discuss spells or rituals we’ve tried and our experiences with them. This time, we talk about a joint effort to do Cunningham’s “Ritual of Gestures,” the ways it worked for us, and the ways it didn’t. Cory also breaks … Continue reading "Special Episode – The Ritual of Gestures Experiment"

Summary: This is a (highly experimental) episode that features three audio charms (or “sound sigils” as Cory calls them). They incorporate traditional materials but also some fairly out-there stuff, too. If you have audio sensory issues, we won’t blame you for skipping this one. Otherwise, we hope you enjoy this practical dive into “sensory witchcraft!” … Continue reading "Special Episode – Sound ...

Summary: Laine and Cory discuss the role of the standard “five senses” within their witchraft, as well as how impairment or differences in those senses can inform or change our magical practice. We talk about incense, rune cookies, sensory deprivation, BDSM (this one may not be one for the youngsters!), and audio spellcasting.   Please … Continue reading "Episode 127 – Witchcraft and the Senses"

Summary: In our continuing quest to explore the North American magical landscape, we turn to a massive section of the continent chock-full of magic: the Great Lakes Region. Special guests Scarlet from Lakefront Pagan Voice and Witchdoctor Utu from Dragon Ritual Drummers help us get a toe in some very big, mythically deep waters!   … Continue reading "Episode 126 – Magic and the Great Lakes"

Summary: This time we’re looking at an aspect of magic that we’ve (surprisingly) not gotten into before: the elements. We discuss the Classical elements, other elemental systems (there may be a mention of Einsteinium involved), and what underlies the use of elements in magic.   Please check out our Patreon page! You can help support … Continue reading "Episode 125 – Elements"

Summary: We invite the lovely, myth-making Sylvia Lindsteadt onto our show to discuss her folktale-novel Tatterdemalion. We discuss the role the landscape has played in shaping her work, how the mythic word intrudes into the everyday in Northern California, and share a couple of tales that come from that region as well.   Please check … Continue reading "Episode 124 – Tatterdemalion and the Magic...

Summary: We dig back into the listener suggestions for everyday magical objects and look at another round of commonplace (or uncommonplace) items and how they can fit into a magical practice. Everything from the dapper gentlewitch’s accessories to photosensitive paper makes it into this one, so we hope you enjoy!   Please check out our … Continue reading "Episode 123 – Everyday Magical Objects Rev...

Summary: We launch our eighth year of podcasting with an episode that looks forward to the coming months through divination. Lots and lots of divination! Laine and Cory try out several different divinatory methods (some they’ve used before, and some they haven’t), then break down what they see in the cards, beans, bones, or stones … Continue reading "Episode 122 – Divining the New Year"

Summary: We return to a place you should already have forgotten (and we know if you haven’t) in our eerie, time-twisting tale for the 2017 holiday season.   Please check out our Patreon page! You can help support the show for as little as a dollar a month, and get some awesome rewards at the … Continue reading "Episode 121 – Yuletide Fear! 2017 (The Statue)"