SHAMANTALK

Elemental magic, witchcraft & shamanism with Judika Illes

In this episode of ShamanTalk, Rhonda McCrimmon is joined by author, teacher, and witch Judika Illes, well known for her encyclopedias of spells and magic. Together they explore the hidden threads of witchcraft woven through fairy tales, the importance of protection spells, and how magic shows up in daily life.

Judika shares her origin story, from growing up with a love of books and tarot to becoming one of today’s most recognised writers on magic. She explains why fairy tales hold coded shamanic teachings, why children respond so deeply to archetypal stories, and how spellcasting begins with clarity of intention.

Find Judika:
Judika’s website is under maintenance currently – http://judikailles.com/
Instagram – @judikailles
Facebook – / authorjudikailles

Transcript

0:00
Hey folks, here we are again and we’re continuing our witchy theme for Shaman
0:05
Talk. And today I’m rather delighted, I have to say, to be joined by Judica
0:11
Ellis. So many of you may know her as the author of various encyclopedias, the
0:17
encyclopedia of 5,000 spells and the encyclopedia of witchcraft and all kinds of things, Daily Magic, and loads of
0:24
other books. Like, you know, Judica’s just one of the elders of the craft. I think she’s a writer, a teacher, and a
0:31
practitioner who just has brought through in her lifetime this magical
0:38
wealth of knowledge that she just offers to countless people. And it’s really an honor to have you here, Judica. And we
0:44
are also working together at the gathering of the witches this year. So, I’m trying to really like reach out to
0:50
the people that are like moving into that container with me so that we can um
0:56
you know get to know each other a little better and also to let people know what it is that we’re trying to achieve and
1:03
why we do the things that we do together. So, very very delighted to
1:08
have you here Judica. Welcome. Thank you. I’m delighted to be here. Thank you for having me. You’re so welcome for your very kind
1:14
words. One of the things one of the things that I’m work that I always like to ask people and you’ve probably told your story a million times but for
1:21
anybody who doesn’t know what’s your origin story like what
1:26
my origin story you know I am asked that all the time and I I fear I don’t have
1:34
the answer they want they want dramatic you know the the you know it’s like St.
1:39
Paul having the vision but I was just sort of born like this. I am a child in
1:47
a family of adults. My only sibling is 12 years older than I am. And I had a
1:53
par my family my you know the nuclear family my mother my sister I wouldn’t
1:58
say they were practitioners but they were interested and my mother t I I was
2:04
born in America to parents who had just come from Hungary and my mother taught
2:09
herself English by teaching me how to read and I was a very young and
2:14
precocious reader and they let me read whatever was in the house. No one
2:19
explained anything to me, you know. I mean, I read The Godfather and I mean, no one explained anything to me, but no
2:26
one no one took it out of my hands either. And we had my sister. So, when I was starting first grade, my sister was
2:32
starting college. She went to Cooper Union, which is an art and engineering school in New York City. And at that
2:38
time, it was around the corner from the old Wiser bookstore, Samuel Wiser
2:44
bookstore. And on her way home from school, she would buy books. She would
2:51
uh and and you know, tarot cards and she would come home with treasure. And I
2:59
stole everything. I mugged her. I waited by the door and I mugged her. And you know, I I I mean, that’s a simple story.
3:06
And I guess the the more complex story is why does a six-year-old want to read
3:13
an astrology book? But I did. I did. This has just been I have always
3:20
identified with witches and maybe my mother did too because she read me we
3:25
read a lot of fairy tales. My encyclopedia of witchcraft has a big section on fairy tales and fairy tale
3:32
witches. And you know there’s a lot of coded shamanic information in fairy
3:37
tales. you if once you have the eye to see it to hear it then you’ll you know
3:43
it’s there for you and I always identified with the witch I always identified with the witch I remember
3:49
just being so horrified at the Wizard of Oz movie which you know at that time was
3:55
on once a year and you had to watch it was a spectacle and it is I interpreted
4:00
it even as a child it’s a movie about killing witches and I thought it was horrifying just horrifying
4:07
So, you know, Hansel and Gretle, I find an upsetting story. And I I write about these things, not because of the
4:14
children. Those children, those rude children eating that woman’s house, you know, who ends up dead. It’s not the
4:20
children, it’s the witch. So, if you really are listening to that story, you you you will hear these these details. I
4:28
like the stories where the witches, you know, the witches are proud and defiant and powerful and they win. But, you
4:36
know, and I have just been doing it ever since. It started off as a very personal
4:41
interest for me. And when I was a teenager and in my 20s
4:48
and it was a maybe both a better and a worse time in New York City, there were
4:53
small stores. People could afford to keep small stores open. there were some wonderful witch stores and there were
5:00
practitioners and I gravitated to that. So, I’ve just been doing it ever since.
5:06
And at some point, I, you know, long story short, I I wrote a book and I I didn’t think anybody would read it. So,
5:12
I used my real name, which, you know, it never occurred to me not to use my real name. And so, you know, I I I I found
5:19
myself out of the broom closet and here I am. That’s Basin. And I was listening to
5:26
Lisa Mariano. Her name is, she’s a Yian analyst. And she was talking about how today we water down fairy tales for
5:32
children. And it’s actually probably like not doing them a favor. So I have a I have a four-year-old and we do the
5:39
Grim’s tales and you know, we do all the all the fairy tales as they were, you know, and some of them are quite scary
5:45
and she loves that. Like she gets so much out of it. like the archetypal nature seems to really touch her wee
5:51
soul in a way that I have two kids. My older kid is 24. So when I was bringing
5:59
up Eve like I did do that I was very young myself so I didn’t really know any better and I did do all the watering
6:05
down and the oh that’s too scary and well I think it’s easier for the adults. You’re right. Yes.
6:11
Yeah. I mean because you know they provoke discussions that maybe we are not ready to have but children children
6:19
get it. Children you know the world is a scary place and that that is reflected
6:24
back in fairy tales. They’re they’re not watering them down. the stories,
6:29
although you know the grim stories and I I I wrote this you know this is in my
6:35
encyclopedia of witchcraft and if you the details are more maybe precise in
6:40
the book because I check them but there were numerous editions of Grim’s Fairy
6:45
Tales and with each edition they softened and sort of whitewashed the
6:51
stories in the original version of Hansel and Gretle and like Snow White they’re not stepmothers it’s the mother
6:58
who does that. And I think it just if I did not No, no, no. It’s often the mother who
7:05
does it that the stories become a little bit gentler and maybe less troubling for
7:11
the adults if not for the children. I think children know that you’re lucky if you have good parents.
7:17
Yeah. There’s just something innate about archetypal stories that’s that really seem to resonate. It’s shame that
7:24
we seem to be like kind of washing them away a little bit. So anyway, I digress
7:29
into something that I find quite interesting which is fairy tales and sto fairy tales and stories and children and
7:35
like how we like manage our culture and and how we like we by trying to keep
7:41
everybody safe and you know everybody the same and we we’re just missing so
7:46
much of the human experience that you know causing our kids. I think that is one of the that it is one of and I mean
7:53
I mean these are all things I write about. You know this is if you’re prolific you find you talk you’re talking about what you’ve written about
7:58
but I think one of the incentives original incentives for witchcraft and
8:04
spellcasting is we’re not all born the same. Some people you know it’s like did
8:10
you get a good hand of cards? Not everybody does but you want to win anyway. Some people are born with good
8:17
parents. Some people are not. Some people don’t have parents. Some people have bad
8:23
parents. Some people, you know, find themselves at the mercy of others. Some
8:29
people are born with all their limbs and some people are not. Some people have
8:34
money, are born with, you know, born into prosperity and some people are not. And spellcasting is the way to
8:43
even the playing field to what am I lacking?
8:48
And I cannot and I cannot obtain through conventional sources because money and
8:55
brute strength are easier than witchcraft. So if you have them, you can
9:01
use those things. You know, if you have billions of dollars, you can make things
9:06
happen for yourself. But if you don’t have either, you can learn to cast a
9:12
magic spell. Tell us tell us more. How? Well, I mean, it’s it’s it’s it’s a
9:18
process. I think a lot of it is boiling down the essence of what you really want because often we we think we want things
9:27
that we don’t really want. And how many of us, you know, we well, we
9:32
want things because we’re told we should want them. We want things because they will make other people happy. We’re told
9:39
things because we’re indoctrinated into this is what you should want. But then there’s that little voice inside
9:46
that is like liken it to driving with a parking brake on. You know, you’re you just there’s a there’s that that
9:54
resistance that inner resistance. And how many of us, you know, you you you
9:59
have gotten what you think you want and you’re still not happy. M well you
10:04
mentioned there about billionaires and I thought well apparently most billionaires are not actually that happy. Yeah. Yeah. So you have this so
10:11
you so from where from my side so I find my way into magic through shamanism
10:16
through core shamanism and we all find our own ways right. We’ve all got there’s a million paths to heaven and and we just find a way that works. So
10:23
that’s the way that I find I find my way to like Scottish folk magic and different like traditions and spells
10:29
from the lands that that I am from and the places that I live. and I find my way to things like the three cauldrons.
10:35
So the three cauldrons, so I think this is like maybe kind of what you’re talking about a little bit. So the three cauldrons is like a framework where you
10:43
figure out what’s going on in your psyche, what’s going on in your
10:49
relationship with yourself, what’s going on with your relationship with the outside world, what are your masks, how
10:54
your behaviors affect who you are and in your life. And then once you kind of
10:59
align those two lower cauldrons, your upper cauldron, which is the place of magic, connection, spirituality, how
11:05
that naturally then aligns and becomes more powerful. So it sounds like a similar thing you’re talking about where
11:12
it’s like spellcasting as you call it or shamanism and connecting with spirit
11:18
through journey work and intention the way I would describe it really is intrinsically linked to our day-to-day
11:25
life. who we are, what our values are, how we show up, how we choose to be, how how our perceptions are. Like, is that
11:31
what is that kind of what you’re Yeah. I mean, if we’re going to get more esoteric magic spell, there is core
11:37
belief. I I don’t even like the word belief because belief, there’s there’s a
11:43
desirous aspect to belief. We we believe what we want to believe. You know, what
11:49
do you believe versus what you think versus what you know? You know I know I
11:54
am sitting here speaking with you now. This is what I know. I
12:00
you know so this but this theory is that there is
12:05
a magical there’s a current of energy running through the universe running through everything including us
12:11
including human beings animals color sounds you herbs plants you name it. If it if
12:20
it is a natural thing then there is that energy through it. And I the best way
12:26
for me to explain it is when I is with uh there’s an Egypt an Egyptian creation
12:32
myth, an ancient Egyptian creation myth where upon the creator looks out upon
12:38
the world having created it and realizes that everything is not good and
12:43
everything will not continue to be good and especially human beings are destined
12:48
for heartbreak. And so the final act of creation is to create this energy which
12:56
is known as Heekka. H E K. Or at least that’s how we pronounce it today. You
13:01
know, who knows how they pronounced it 5,000 years ago, 8,000 years ago, but Heekka. And it is this magical current
13:07
of energy. And it was created to help us ward off those blows of destiny and
13:15
heartache. It’s there to be used for our benefit. It’s a positive force although
13:22
angry people can use it in a negative way. That is a natural thing in the
13:27
universe that just that just exists. And you know you can I think you can test
13:32
these things that we’ve all walked into a room or walked into a place it could
13:37
be inside outside and we felt good and it’s inexplicable. Why are we we’re
13:42
standing here and why are we happy? And we’ve had the opposite. We’ve all walked into a room and all of a sudden our
13:49
spirits, you know, sink. Why am I here? And often if you if you move things
13:55
around a little bit, sometimes if you can try to determine what it is that is making you unhappy, you can change that.
14:02
Magical spells are a conscious attempt to use this energy. And there are
14:08
different schools around the world that the ancient Greeks believe that vowels conveyed this energy. And that’s why
14:14
Cersei’s Island, the name only has vowels in it because it’s a magical island of power. Certain numbers are
14:21
believed to have, you know, every culture has a magical tradition. Whether they’re happy about it now or not,
14:28
whether they, you know, acknowledge it or not, they have one. All our ancestors have some kind of a magical tradition, a
14:36
spiritual tradition. And so there there are different ways of because we use what we have. And I think that if you
14:43
are living in a place now where you have access to a lot of things, you know, we
14:50
can get flower essences with plants that exist only in remote rainforests, but we
14:59
can get them now. So sometimes I think this is both a blessing, but also we we
15:06
devalue it. seems too easy to, you know, it’s too too accessible almost. But we
15:14
we have access to all these things, but not everybody does. And so, especially,
15:21
you know, I’m not even thinking about our ancestors from 200 years ago or 2,000 years ago. We have ancestor from
15:26
20,000 years ago. They certainly were not going to the supermarket. So, you
15:31
know, so all these different traditions have arisen. If you have stones, that’s
15:37
what you use. If you have seashells, that’s what you use. But if you’re, you know, if you’re some words have power.
15:45
So the the most stark spells and I mean 5,000 spells, my encyclopedia, it has
15:51
examples of all these things. People ask me sometimes, have you done all the spells? And it’s like, god forbid. There
15:57
are spells in there for smallpox. No one should have to do those spells anymore. But there are different kinds of spells.
16:04
And there are spells that you cast only with your mind, only with your words.
16:09
And they’re actually more difficult because you are you’re shouldering the
16:15
entire the weight of all the spell because what you are doing, every spell
16:21
has to have a goal. And so what is your goal? And the more precise it can be,
16:27
the more likely your spell is to work. So peace in your office,
16:34
peace in your family is a lot easier to accomplish than world peace or
16:40
you know galactic peace or you know it’s just the more precise can you see it?
16:46
Can you see what success looks like? And often that’s just holding that vision because you are taking because we’re on
16:53
a path and sometimes we need a detour and that’s what that spell you know do you need that detour
17:02
because maybe you are going on a path that is not where you want to go or you’re going on a path that’s not
17:08
beneficial for you or for others. Mhm. So there’s a lot in there. I wonder
17:15
what direction can we go? What you’re talking about all spells having a goal. That’s really interesting. So I think my
17:22
language for that would be like every journey we take or every connection with
17:27
spirit we make has an intention and I have these like steps for intentions, right? And it sounds like the same
17:34
thing. So this is my one of the things I like to do is like map. I’m like I think we all do the same thing but we all have
17:39
like just a different map and the language and sometimes the language is different.
17:44
Yeah, which is amazing, right? Because it means that so many more people can access the work
17:50
because we all need we all have a different way of like interacting with the the divine or with you know whatever
17:58
you want to call it which is why which that’s an excellent segue actually into the gathering of the witches
18:04
because there are so many of us and we all come from like such a diverse background. I
18:10
just think that the events like that are quite important and you know there are a lot of them around now. I would say that
18:16
and not and you know not all summits and gatherings are created equal frankly.
18:22
This one I really Yeah, this one I really love this one. I’ve done this. Tell me why.
18:27
I think this is I was at the first one and I don’t know if this is maybe the fourth. I I have to tell you I have lost
18:34
count but I really love the gathering of the witches. one because they present
18:40
such diverse speakers and I like a virtual event, not necessarily for the
18:47
presenters because I admit I miss I used to to teach a lot on the witchcraft
18:54
circuit in the US and one of the nicest things is you get to meet your fellow
19:00
presenters and I wish we were sitting at a table together. You know, this is very
19:05
20th 21st century. We’re across the miles, across the time zones. Then there
19:11
is something lovely about sitting there and actually getting to know people. But this is the 21st century. I have
19:18
Aquarius rising. You know, it’s very Aquarian. You can tune in from anywhere.
19:25
People come from all over the world and we can speak with each other and communicate with each other. And if you
19:32
can’t make the event or it’s a whole weekend, it’s a whole weekend full of events and maybe your life doesn’t allow
19:39
you to just plunk yourself in front of you know your laptop for 3 days without you know other responsibilities. You can
19:46
it’s archived for six months and you can you can I always tell people you don’t
19:52
have to take notes during my class you know just listen just be just be here
19:58
and then you can go back later and take notes if you want to because you can watch it again you can watch it again I
20:04
think this year there’ll be an opportunity there’ll be coven rooms where we can socialize which I really
20:10
like about the coven rooms that’s what I really enjoy I like I don’t like being
20:16
separate from the people that I’m working with. I like the opportunity for them to like just be there and maybe they think of something later or they
20:22
just want to have a we chat. Like I’m so and I’m so up for that. I really enjoy that part. For people who don’t know what the
20:28
covered rooms are, this is an opportunity to come and you know we’re mingling. It’s it’s a little bit of a
20:33
social room. You can mingle with your fellow attendees, with some of the speakers. I it’s it’s it’s exciting.
20:40
Also, you know, for us, I like to hear what people have to say. And often people often have questions after
20:48
the class. They want to talk about things. They’ve had time to sort of mull it over and they want to they’ve come up
20:54
with questions afterwards. So, this gives us an opportunity for discussion.
20:59
I like this. If it’s no good for your time zone, you can tune in later. If the
21:05
dog has to go for a walk, you could tune. Well, you know, life happens. I
21:11
have never had the kind of I have never, you know, who knows, maybe I too will become a billionaire and have staff, but
21:16
up until now, I have never had that. I I always, you know, I’ve always been the
21:22
responsible one in my home. So, if something needs doing, you have to do
21:27
it. And so this way if if you if you want to lock yourself away after
21:33
everyone else has gone to bed and watched it then you can do it. And I think that’s so special.
21:39
Or you know if you go special also you know just I’ve done so many events and afterwards some you know
21:45
someone was sick or someone had a problem and they couldn’t come and they feel sad. This is like a a backup for
21:51
that. You you don’t have to miss out. Exactly. And the thing that I really like about this is that that not only
21:59
can you watch the replays, but the like the quality of the um teachers is a I
22:05
mean me and you are there and also um of course you know of course but also my sister is
22:11
on the roster. So Wendy doing spirit herbalism is my sister. Yeah. So Wendy’s there as well. I didn’t know. So shout
22:18
out Yeah. shout out to Wendy. That’s exciting. So it’s really fun. Yeah. It’s really
22:23
exciting. It’s really exciting. So, we love it. Like when you did it last year, but definitely this year. And we have
22:29
Heather Ash as well who’s a friend of mine and obviously you and I know each other and
22:35
I’m opening and I think I believe Matt Orin is closing it. I’ve known Matt for years. So there’s the
22:41
Yeah. So there’s a real connection between all the presenters. Yeah. It’s just so nice. It’s s such good vibe
22:48
and you know it’s for people like you’re saying for people who struggle with in-person events that’s one of the
22:54
reasons I work online a lot as well because people really want to work with me but I’m in Scotland so unless you can fly to Scotland let’s do you know not
23:01
everybody can so let’s do it online you know you know right after the lockdown there were a lot of virtual classes I took
23:09
classes in London and Berlin and I could never have gone there Los Angeles just
23:17
It opened it up to so many more people and I I do I I do understand people who
23:22
want that personal but that’s that’s not
23:28
always possible for a lot of people you know that that assumes you are living someplace where there is event space and
23:37
they are going to bring you know I I don’t have I used to teach a lot in Baltimore but that’s because my children
23:44
had sort of business in Baltimore and I had to be there a couple times a year. So, you know, since I was there, I, you
23:50
know, knew someone who owned a store, but it’s not like I’m just driving around all the time and I end up in your
23:56
town. Somebody has to, you know, unless you have a reason to be
24:02
there, someone has to bring you. And these are all economic things, too. And
24:07
the money is bad out there right now for everybody, I think. So this is um
24:13
this is a full weekend of presentations that you can watch over and over again.
24:19
It gives you the opportunity to meet other attendees. I I don’t know. I like it very much. I I’m
24:26
I’m very grateful to do it. Yeah, me too. I really enjoy it. And
24:31
then just like one last thing that I do, one of the reasons I like doing this as opposed to others is because you do
24:37
presentations, but I think most teachers there’s something experiential like you’re actually learning skills. Like
24:44
you’re leaving with a bucket of skills that you wouldn’t have had on arrival, right? Which I think is important as well,
24:50
right? Cuz like that’s when I did the first when we did the first event, it was something that was
24:56
impressed to me. The first year they did they did Gathering of the Witches was they wanted it to be more than just
25:02
someone speaking like I can I can talk to you about various topics that
25:08
interest me and I can write a paper and read it to you but unless you and I
25:15
share the same interest it may not have that sort of you know the goal is to have people leave
25:21
with something they can do something they a skill they didn’t have an insight
25:27
they didn’t have. So, I like that. There’s a practical aspect to that I really like because people I think that
25:35
the magical arts have had a lot of bad press. I mean, I know this for millennia
25:42
millennia. Yeah. You know, the first witch hunt, the first documented witchcraft witch hunt is pagan Rome. So, it this is we’re
25:50
going back. I think people sort of dismiss it as sort of this airy,
25:56
trivial, not it’s not real life, but in fact it is real life.
26:02
It is very real life. This Yeah. Woo woo. Exactly. Is it woo? Am I woo enough? But but it is it is it is real
26:10
life. It is my daily everyday life and it makes my life better.
26:15
Yeah, me too. I’ve just I was reading this book. Where did I put it? I’ve lost it now. I’ve tidied up. But what I have
26:20
noticed, Judakan, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, is that there’s quite a lot of um mainstream chat around certain things
26:28
that surprise me. So like there’s the diary of a CEO. I don’t know if you know it, but it’s like a business podcast
26:34
basically. It’s like one of the biggest in the world. And they recently had this neuroscientist on who was talking about
26:39
talk how she talks to her husband after he died. and she talks about signs and she’s got this book called the signs the
26:46
signs which I’m looking for and I can’t find cuz I was reading it and I I thought it’s so interesting to see
26:53
finally finally people just starting to talk about these things as a normal part
26:58
of life instead but it is you know it is and there is always been this undercurrent and people
27:03
push it aside Victoria Woodhull who is the first woman in America to run for
27:09
president and she was a financial genius she was a medium him. She conducted
27:14
seances. She openly. So this is always
27:19
always you know there’s there’s I don’t remember who said it. It’s it’s a saying that you know millionaires don’t consult
27:26
astrologers but billionaires do. Yeah. Is it is a part of life. I believe I
27:33
don’t know this but I do believe this that what we call witchcraft and
27:39
shamanism these are the earliest human practices and they are our common human
27:45
heritage and they they are at the root of who we are and they are in our DNA
27:51
and to dismiss it and to not take it
27:56
seriously and to sort of push it aside is almost
28:01
like amputating a part of ourselves and it’s not healthy.
28:07
No. And I think it really the difference that I see in people who finally and
28:13
myself included finally find their way back to a spiritual way of life that
28:18
doesn’t involve a big scary sky daddy telling you what to do. Like a real a rooted, genuine, loving, connected way
28:27
to interact with something larger than ourselves. And I do know some beautiful just about the sky daddy. I do know some
28:33
beautiful Christians who who do wonderful work in the world like you know that goes I think those things I think and I mean
28:41
I think that those aspects were imposed by authorities. I don’t think that was the intent the original intent
28:49
I agree of the initial I think I think once people perceive power somebody sort of
28:55
swoops in and exploits that situation. And I’m not telling people not to be skeptics. I could be skeptical, too,
29:03
because you know when I say Victoria Woodhole was a medium and people are thinking, “Aha, all the phony mediums.”
29:09
Well, they’re they’re not phony mediums. They’re con artists pretending to be
29:14
mediums. They’re emulating something. That’s important actually. I hadn’t really thought about it like that. Well, they’re emulating something. Well,
29:21
because every once in a while we have a scandal. I’m sure other people do also where we discover that some pharmacist
29:27
was actually not um you know fulfilling prescriptions accurately. They were
29:32
putting less of the the active ingredient in the you know to save money
29:38
for the they they were making money for themselves and this is disastrous. or
29:43
you know important medications, cancer medications. Every couple years we have and but people don’t go aha,
29:52
you know, a phony pharmacist every all the pharmacists are con artists. They’re not. But you will find con artists among
30:00
con artists looks look for ways to con people and they look for vulnerabilities. And so you do have to,
30:07
you know, be aware of where the cons are. You can ask for a recommendation.
30:14
You can ask for a referral. The way if you ask for a plumber, you know,
30:21
you would want to find a plumber. Well, because they’re performing a service. I’m a card reader and I perceive myself
30:28
as someone who performs a service. Yeah. Same. And so I’m not insulted if people want a
30:36
resume from me. You know, how do we know you are really real? Because you
30:42
wouldn’t stand outside your house and just scream out, “My pipes are breaking.
30:47
Can somebody can some plumber come and fix them?” Because you don’t know who’s going to walk through your door. It’s
30:53
the same thing. And I guess the other side of that then
30:58
it would be also like who walks through. So this is one of the things I wanted to get on to and talked about is like spiritual safety cuz I wanted to get
31:05
your perspective on it. So you’re like you wouldn’t just call out and be like plumber or you know you would like ask
31:10
and you would like build relationships or you would get like recommendations. So when we’re working with like deities or spirits like what’s your what’s your
31:17
like take on that? How do you like ask for a resume? Well, I asked I do
31:22
actually discuss this in my book, Encyclopedia of Spirits because I think it is one of the dangers, you know, the
31:29
the the stereotype of the the of the Ouija board, the spirit board is, you know, you have these kids. Is anybody
31:37
here? Well, I mean, that’s I mean that but it’s the same thing. Do you open all
31:43
your doors and just say, “Is anybody I mean I’m from New York City. You can’t keep your doors open. I I mean I know
31:50
somebody I mean this is many many years ago. A relative she was coming home from the supermarket. She lived in a 16story
31:58
apartment building and some guy like pushed her into the apartment and robbed he was following her. So you know she
32:04
didn’t even have to invite him. He made himself he let himself in. But
32:09
it is something I talk about in detail in encyclopedia spirits. I always recommend working with named spirits.
32:16
You should ask for who you know and you should familiarize yourself with them.
32:22
Spirits who have been around for a long time in in the same way that you know how
32:28
your sister or your best friend, you know how they behave. Like have we’ve
32:34
all, you know, gotten a text that doesn’t sound like the person it’s supposed to be from? And we want that
32:40
kind of familiarity. I wouldn’t just shout out at anybody there, oh, I’m so lonely. come and keep me company that
32:47
that’s because who is hanging around with nothing else to do but bother you
32:53
you know so ask for someone you know I do a lot of ancestor work and then you
33:00
don’t necessarily have to know their names but ancestors are invested in you
33:06
there are no ancestors without descendants that your your well-being is integral to
33:12
their survival so I think ancestors are very good to work with. I work with a
33:19
lot of spirits. It is one of the predominant things that I do. But I I
33:24
know who they are. I ask for someone I know who they are. I I like to me the
33:30
research. I mean, why do I write the encyclopedias? That that is that is a spiritual art to me. It’s like spiritual
33:36
archaeology. You you you go digging and you follow a trail and you see where it leads you, you know. There’s that that
33:43
roomie saying that which you are seeking is causing you to seek. And I love that.
33:48
I love that. And you know when you have these spiritual experiences where you actually do have contact,
33:56
it’s the most profound thrilling experience in the world.
34:01
There’s nothing nothing comparable to that. So that I mean I I would be careful. I
34:08
don’t, you know, I know that there are a lot of rituals. Well, I’m going to cast a circle and I’m
34:15
going to do this, but you know, eventually you’re going to have to come out of the circle, you know, and there are, and that’s not
34:22
me being cynical. There are stories of medieval grimoirs. And I I don’t I don’t
34:27
like the the grimoire, the old grimmoire approach of commanding spirits and
34:32
denigrating spirits. And you know, I’m going to capture spirit and make it do something for me. I I don’t I don’t like
34:40
that. I like I like loving relationships. And I do write about this. I mean, it’s a complex topic and
34:46
we could spend a whole weekend just talking about this, but I don’t I don’t but you know there are all these you are
34:52
trying to command something that can do more than you can do. And so there are
34:58
command god. Right. Right. Right. So, you know, there were all these stories about, you know,
35:03
eventually the magicians stepped out of the circle or the circle was somehow broken and this, you know, whatever that
35:09
spirit was just came down on them and I I don’t want that. Yeah. No, there’s definitely something
35:15
to be said for like reciprocity, being in right relationship, building relationship, you know, I would call
35:21
like the spirits I work with my spiritual team or the guides. Some of them are ancestors and some of them
35:26
allies. Yeah. The allies. Yeah. Yeah. My allies. Yeah. and I don’t work with anybody that I
35:33
don’t that isn’t part of my spiritual team and then if anyone else comes forward who wants to communicate with me
35:38
then they do it through one of those guides and that that’s the way I do it. I mean I am also a bit of an
35:43
existentialist you have to take responsibility for yourself and so you know if someone tells you to jump off a
35:50
bridge would you do it? I mean you know and this is so I mean spirits who tell you to do harmful and negative things
35:57
they are not your friends and you are responsible for your actions and I think it is a very important to know that you
36:02
can say no you know that’s that’s a big magical word no because people often
36:07
have very extremes these things don’t exist therefore
36:13
either you’re crazy or you’re deluded or something or my goddess this is so sacred I have to
36:20
do everything it says and that will just lead you into trouble. And even if it is
36:26
an authentic and real, you know, even your ancestors, they are doing the best for you from
36:33
their perspective. And you have ancestors who are maybe coming from a world centuries ago and they may not
36:41
they may be telling you something very sincerely, but it might not be good for you now. M
36:46
so you you don’t you you should always be polite and respectful but you don’t
36:51
have to be that obedient. Yeah. That’s the thing with witchcraft that I think is the real crux of witchcraft and
36:58
why it gets such negative propaganda. We don’t have to be obedient.
37:04
You have to have to think and do what’s right. Do you feel like that’s like a throwback
37:10
a throwover from Christianity where like you have to be obedient to No, I think it predates that. I think it
37:16
appreciates that. I think as soon as you have a less egalitarian situ I say pagan Rome because people thinks it starts
37:22
with Christianity but Christian Christianity inherited a lot of that from pagan Rome. Pagan Rome is a
37:30
military Rome after the Caesars after the kings you know starting with you know it becomes a very military
37:37
society. Women have no rights and people have to behave women have to behave. So
37:44
you know the the first witch trials are against the Maynads. And there are historians who believe that European
37:50
witchcraft descends from Mayads who escaped Rome and you know went into the
37:56
forests they headed north and they headed west and that is the roots of modern witchcraft. I mean I don’t know
38:02
if that’s true or not but that’s a theory. So I I think any society where
38:07
where once you have supreme rulers you you have to do what they want and it becomes very difficult to be a shaman or
38:15
a seer because you have a ruler who depends on you for you know good
38:22
accurate information so they can make the proper decisions but also you can’t tell them anything they don’t want to
38:27
hear and that’s a or they will kill you badly
38:33
and so that that becomes a very dangerous thing. I mean, Christianity makes it worse, but they inherited it,
38:40
too. Interesting. I think a lot of things go back to Rome, you know. And of course, the goddess
38:45
Diana, who was originally the um their supreme goddess.
38:52
And then as they became more structured and organized and
38:58
militaristic, she gets demoted and Juno becomes the
39:04
supreme goddess. You can watch this how, you know, as the pantheons change because Diana becomes a goddess of
39:11
wildness and women and slaves and, you know, the disenfranchised.
39:16
She’s a disreputable goddess. We like those. But she wasn’t always, you know, this is a society changes.
39:23
They looked at her differently. She’s a free woman. Yeah. Yeah. That Yeah. Oh, so many
39:30
questions or so many like thoughts that could come from that. What direction will we go in? How do you
39:38
So, there’s a lot that you were talking about there to do with like the denigration of women and obviously
39:44
witches were very often women. And how do you feel? I always like to think I always like to try and talk about how we
39:51
feel things are changing for the better because it can be a bit much. We all know how things have been for women.
39:58
Things I think it is. It is changed for the better because look, you and I are sitting here
40:04
talking about this. We could not have done that aundred years ago. Maybe not
40:09
even 50 years ago. And I don’t mean because of the technology. No, I mean
40:15
because the public aspect, you and I can sit here and discuss this. Um,
40:22
you know, we, you and I publish books about witchcraft. I write practical
40:28
books teaching people how to cast spells, how to work with spirits, how to
40:38
do these things. And I, you know, I’m I’m bad with numbers. So, it’s not until
40:44
the, you know, the early 1950s in the UK that the the last Witchcraft laws are
40:51
repealed. Gerald Gardner, Dion Fortune, they were writing novels
40:56
and insinuating their material into the novels because they could not write a
41:02
practical how-to book that presented witchcraft in a positive way. And so
41:08
this is much better. We don’t have to worry. No one is knocking on our door to arrest us, you and me. Maybe someplace
41:15
else, but you know, I mean, there are I mean, we’re going to be positive, so we’re not going to say that there are
41:20
places in the world where that is not true. Yeah. But but for right now, for you and me,
41:25
we we can have this conversation and go about our lives, and we don’t expect anybody to knock on our door and arrest
41:30
us for saying nice things about witches. Yeah, witches. So, 100% better.
41:36
100% better. It really is. We We have come out of the closet. We have come out of the shadows. I
41:42
Do you think that Do you think that there’s like So, one of the things I found for myself working with working in
41:50
shamanism, core shamanism specifically, and then moving on to Celtic spirituality and folk magic based in
41:57
Scotland mostly. What I find is that I find some pockets of like really
42:03
grounded, sensible people who Yeah. I trust.
42:08
Yeah. And then I also find lots of pockets of crazy. Yeah. What what would you But what what
42:15
what I like to talk about on my podcast sometimes is like how do we as magical
42:21
practitioners support people to bring magic into day-to-day life and not to
42:26
like use it to escape our lives and not to use it to like avoid life. You know,
42:31
we we are people. We’re souls in a body. We’re here doing work. So how do we like
42:36
make magic part of our everyday life in an in an easier way perhaps than some people like because we don’t have
42:43
elders. We don’t have people to ask. So what would you say to people? No. And and maybe a lot of our elders
42:48
came from times where they could not be as open as we are. So there there’s
42:54
another side to that even you know I mean there are some elders
43:00
out there but sometimes you have to go looking for them because they come from a time when you could not just you know
43:07
hang a shingle out you know witch consult me how do you do it I think you
43:13
just have to do it is you have to immerse yourself I would encourage
43:19
people to read everything they can get their hands hands on. Don’t just read
43:24
what reflects what you already believe back at you. Read things that annoy you and then ask yourself why they annoy
43:30
you. What is it that annoys you about it? Because it will help you find your path. Take as many classes as you can.
43:38
You know, if you have a local witch shop, port them. Go in there. I mean, I
43:44
learned a lot as a te I mean, but I’m from the New York City area, New York City in the area. And at that time, as I
43:50
was saying, real estate is not what it is now. There were botanas in every
43:56
corner in upper Manhattan. I used to just go and hang out and absorb and I
44:05
learned so much from very unassuming people just people who are living their
44:11
magic every day. everything you do you know there are different ways of doing
44:16
it and there’s no wrong here it is what makes your life better depending on what your life so I mean I don’t like to
44:23
criticize anybody because there are people and maybe we have all had a period in our life where you celebrate a
44:31
sabbath sin is coming that’s you know that’s the big one and maybe you spend your whole year looking forward to that
44:38
or you do the full moons and you have your ritual and you are having your
44:44
magical moment in maybe an otherwise not too magical life. And if that is what
44:50
works for you, you know, that’s your life. We’re all different. But you can
44:56
also start to bring that magic into everything you do. When you are cooking,
45:02
which way are you turning your spoon? Which way? What are you cooking? What is in the pot? What are the magical
45:09
properties? just sort of open your eyes and your ears and your senses. And if
45:16
you that might be something you’re doing already and some people have families like that or it might be something where
45:23
you’re starting little by little but it it will benefit you. It will it will even if you are not casting spells just
45:31
living magically in my experience will
45:37
improve your life. You will become empowered. You will be able to hear the
45:44
undertones in people’s voices. Do they really want the best for you? And often
45:50
people who love you, then they sincerely love you, but that love is somewhat
45:55
conditional. They love you and they want you to be like this kind of they don’t want you to change for whatever. And it
46:02
might not be for malicious reasons. You know, people people have their own
46:07
baggage. And you know so it it will it will help you untangle the nets around you. It
46:16
will help you be independent. It will help you understand yourself better. But
46:21
it’s just ask yourself a lot of questions. Why
46:27
I’m in a room. Why why are the colors this color? Do they make me happy? What does it you know what does that mean for
46:33
me? What what am I wearing? I mean, you’ll see I wear I almost always when
46:39
I’m speaking have a lot of blue around my throat. I have no air in my chart and I compensate for that, you know, and
46:46
blue stones for people they are for for the throat chakra. So, you know, but
46:51
that’s for me what’s for you. So, you know, I would recommend that everyone get their I’m going to give you a
46:56
preview of my class. Everyone should you can get do do a free chart for yourself
47:02
even if you don’t know anything about astrology. Break your chart down into the elements. Do you have a lot of
47:08
water? Do you not have any earth? What does that mean for you? And just think
47:15
witchcraft is despite all this stuff about woo witchcraft shamanism it’s for
47:21
smart people. You don’t have to be an educated person. That that’s a different
47:26
thing. You don’t have to have a PhD, but it will make you smarter and you
47:31
will grow from there. And so I I I think that these magical arts have persisted
47:39
and they’ve persisted for a reason and it is beneficial for us to be living a
47:46
magical life in whatever way is best and possible
47:51
for the individual. But yeah, couldn’t agree more. Couldn’t agree more. You mentioned saw. It’s coming. It’s coming.
47:58
It’s coming. The energy is The energy is I can’t you feel it.
48:04
Even it’s not it’s not quite October, but I can feel it. No, I’m like um what’s really cool about
48:10
some of the some of the my new books coming out actually in January and that’s the Celtic Wheel of the Year. So,
48:17
of me, too. But in that book I do a lot of talking about like what’s ancient,
48:23
what we know is ancient, what we know is medieval, what we know is more modern because you know there are there’ve been additions and stuff. People get really,
48:30
you know, one of the things I talk about online a lot is like the other day we had
48:35
Mabon which is not called Babon. It’s like the autumn equinox. The Mabon is a Welsh god who has nothing to do with the
48:42
equinox and was added but lots of people love it which is great. But what I found
48:48
is that people who love it also appreciate knowing its roots. So that’s what the book’s about. It’s not about you. It’s like here’s here are the
48:55
things. Here are the here’s the rhythm. Here’s the evolution. This is what it looks like. And how does how do you then
49:01
add what you love to this wheel? Anyway, my point is, sorry I’m going off topic. My point is that in ancient sin
49:10
in Scotland was predominantly concerned with protection. That was the main
49:15
thing. They were like protection from the supernatural protection. And I’ve noticed that your new oracle deck is
49:22
called protection spells. So I thought maybe that would be a good segue into
49:27
talk about it. Now I know that you very kindly sent me one, but it hasn’t arrived yet. So you’re going to do the
49:33
Well, there are two of them. Show. I I am going to do the show and tell. This is the protection spell stick. Um, and I
49:39
love that this one came out in June and I inadvertently, as I was saying to you, I woke up one morning and discovered I
49:46
was a deck creator. I believe this is the one that’s on its way to you. The magic spells.
49:51
That’s the one. That’s right. Yeah. Well, this will be out in October. So, it’s it’s it’s on the threshold of
49:58
being published, but I can talk about either of them. Protection spells. Let’s do both cuz I love decks.
50:05
Yeah. Protection spells is a little mini deck. As you can see, it’s tiny. There’s no book. 36 cards. They talked me into
50:11
doing it with the snakes and the moons because I love snakes and moons. So, you
50:17
get you have 36 cards all with the different backs. And on the front, they have they have spells. And one of the
50:25
things I like about oracle decks is I have no air signs, but I have a lot of water signs and I’m a very fluid person
50:30
and I don’t like to follow rules. And I cast spells with tarot cards. So, but
50:36
people are often very this is what you do with a tarot card and this is what you do with a Lenoran card, but oracle
50:41
decks could be anything. So, I like that we we don’t have to um you don’t have to
50:46
pretend. I know you can you can pull a card for yourself in moments of anxiety.
50:52
You can give it to someone who maybe needs some protection, magical protection. And I always emphasize
50:59
magical protection is not the same as hiring an armed guard. You know, it is not the same as putting a an alarm in
51:06
your home. It is spiritual protection. It is magical protection. It can help
51:12
reinforce all those things. But if you if you genuinely need a bodyguard, you
51:17
need a bodyguard. You know, a little deck of cards is not a replacement for that. But it can help you
51:24
learn how to protect yourself, learn how to align yourself with the universe.
51:29
It’s it’s original material and cards, you know, are like books that are not bound. And one of the things you can do
51:36
with this is teach yourself protection magic. And so it it is like it is a it
51:41
is a nice basic deck. It is I’m not going to say it’s not esoteric because magic by definition is esoteric. But I I
51:49
tried to keep it accessible. It is very reasonably priced. And so I tried to
51:55
keep the spells also things that are reasonably priced, things that are accessible for someone who maybe doesn’t
52:03
have a fortune to spend on spells, but you know, because everything because I’m
52:08
old and everything I remember what things used to cost decades ago. It’s shocking what things cost now. Magic
52:15
Spells Oracle is a more traditional oracle. This is my It hasn’t even come
52:20
out yet. I’m giving you like a preview here. When you open it, there are ravens everywhere.
52:27
And there’s there is a book in this one. There is there’s a traditional book.
52:33
It’s a bit bigger than than some like a little white book. And it goes through all the cards. You can
52:40
pick a a card a day. This one, it is original material, but it is derived
52:45
from 5,000 spells. I worked with the team uh Harper Collins UK who um were
52:51
the ones who first published 5,000 spells and we have 36 cards divided into
52:58
30 maybe it’s more than the I don’t even I don’t even remember um I told you I wasn’t good with numbers they’re divided
53:04
into four elements um like the astrological signs earth and air and fire and water. So, here we have a lamp.
53:12
That’s a fire card. Let’s uh here we’ve got the evil.
53:18
How do you choose the art for these? How do you choose the art? Do you do it or no? Well, a little. I didn’t choose the
53:25
art, but I had veto rights. I worked on both decks with Katherine Sky Peek who is the creative director of Wiser Books
53:31
and who is just brilliant and she’s an artist and she’s the one who is you know supervises all the cover art for Wiser
53:38
Books and I love working with her and we’re we’re you know we’ve become friends over the years worked on um we
53:45
worked on the wiser tarot together I worked on the book and she she supervised the art so we we’re
53:53
partners in tribe I would say I could say we’re a a team, but we are partners in crime. And so this one, you can pull a card a
54:00
day for yourself. You can see how your day is going. You can teach yourself about elemental magic with this deck.
54:07
There are also spreads that you can do. I think you can use these decks to help
54:15
make your life more magical. Protection spells is very targeted. It’s on a specific
54:22
topic, but I mean, who doesn’t need protection? Everybody could use a little protection. Yeah. People ask me like when I when I
54:30
when I teach I do teach spellcasting classes, where do you start? And
54:36
easy places to start cleansing spells and money spells. Cleansing spells
54:41
because you have to because a lot of spells when you cast them, you don’t know right away if they worked. But
54:47
cleansing spells, you know, a cleansing ritual, you should feel cleansed when it’s done. So you should feel it. You
54:54
should have that sort of immediate impact. And I know people get uncomfortable with money. But the thing
55:01
with money spells is you can tell whether it worked. I don’t mean a prosperity spell like a genuine prosperity, which is just having a
55:08
prosperous way of life. But sometimes you need $100. Sometimes you need to
55:14
make the rent. And you can you can give yourself goals. Let me let’s see if I
55:20
can come up with $36. And you can somebody needs that money. You can give
55:25
it to give it to your dog shelter. Give it to a charity. Give it to someone who
55:30
who you know there are so many people if if you are uncomfortable magicking up
55:36
money for yourself. There are so many good causes you could give it to.
55:42
So but you can see can you do it? Can you do it? And that is a good way to
55:48
learn. But protection spells also because everybody could use a little more spiritual protection. That’s not
55:55
that’s not a you know it’s just good hygiene. Yeah, very much like does everybody need
56:00
a low spell? Probably not. That’s a headache for some people. Does everyone need like healing spells? Well, you
56:07
know, maybe you don’t have anything that needs to be healed. But protection you
56:12
will know if anyone has not read the novel the conjure wife. It is the
56:20
novel that is the basis of the movie burn witch burn which is the name of another novel but they appropriated the
56:28
uh the name of one for the movie but it is it is in that book you will see what
56:33
happens when the protection spells are cease. That’s and I’m going to write that that
56:38
one down. It’s an old novel. Very I’m quite a reader, so I’m always
56:44
looking for new things to read. So, it’s an old pulp novel. Oh, okay. Right. Well, I’m looking
56:51
forward to having a read of that. What else did I want to ask? I want to make sure that I’m not like missing any of my questions here. So,
56:59
what do you when you hold a class, do you like when you’re like teaching, do
57:05
you like hold an intention for the class or do you just like show up and people?
57:11
I hold an intention for myself. I hold an intention for myself to be
57:18
articulate and helpful and to provide the information that people
57:25
desire or need. That is and and to and to be patient and because sometimes when
57:32
we are looking at the clock or we know we you know we have all kinds of
57:38
concerns. Sometimes you don’t catch the quiet person who is trying to ask a
57:45
question without really asking the question. So I tr I do hold that
57:51
intention for myself. Everybody comes with their own needs and I try to do my
57:58
best to fulfill them if they’re for good, you know. Yeah. as long as they’re not like
58:04
sometimes sometimes I find when I hold classes or there’s the whole like we talked about this in my last interview
58:10
actually with Laura as well but like we’re talking about like the pedestal problem cuz I don’t want to be on a
58:17
pedestal cuz it’s quite a far away fall frankly so there’s almost like a I’ll
58:23
often work with the intention that I’m exactly what you’ve said I’m there to support and allow what needs to come
58:29
through to come through but also to connect as as a circle really and not as a pyramid and to
58:36
support people not to support people to take responsibility for themselves and
58:41
for the place that they hold and the power that they hold. I’m always like find myself pushing it back. I’m like,
58:46
“No, that’s not mine. That’s yours. You do that. That’s that’s how you are. That’s what you can do.”
58:52
I learn a lot every time I teach a class. I learn a lot from someone. Yeah. You know, same. So it it it is a
59:00
reciprocal and I I feel that there is a spiritual aspect to it depending on what
59:06
I’m teaching. I am working on behalf
59:12
someone being some force some energy. So I I try to keep that perspective.
59:19
Yeah. Is there anything that you like go with when you’re like holding space or
59:24
are you just at the stage now where you’re like this is good. I’m fine. I mean, I look back sometimes and I have
59:29
to pinch myself. I mean, I, you know, in my heart, I’m still a 15year-old, but I
59:34
mean, my joints tell me otherwise. I mean, I, we all have our journeys and
59:39
our paths, and it took English is not my first language. It took me a long time
59:46
to learn to speak it well. It was a lot of work, a lot of time, and until I was
59:52
in my it was very hard for me to speak with someone I didn’t already know. This
59:59
conversation would have been very difficult, if not impossible for me. I
1:00:04
mean, I was accent as well. No, no, no. That’s that that’s that’s not hard. I grew up with people with
1:00:10
English and broken accent. So that’s not I mean if you have a good ear occasionally people will hear
1:00:18
the undertones of mine you know underneath all Yeah. Because I can hear the undertones of New York but I can also hear that I
1:00:24
can hear the undertones of other things as well. And it’s quite interesting. Do you think in English now? Do you think in English now?
1:00:30
Yeah. Yes. Yes. Although I am, it’s an interesting thing because
1:00:36
I think in English and I also don’t think in English because a lot of when people speak to you and when they’re
1:00:42
speaking to you in your native language, you just understand it. You’re not you don’t have to think about it. And I am
1:00:50
relearning Hungarian now. And it’s so interesting because that’s although a
1:00:57
lot of it is repressed and it’s coming out, when I understand it, I don’t think about it. I just if you say something to
1:01:04
me in Hungarian, I just do it. As opposed to, you know, I my college
1:01:09
freshman roommate spoke Spanish with her mother and I, you know, I studied
1:01:15
French, so I would take her Spanish, translate it into French in my head, translate it into English. I knew
1:01:21
exactly what she was saying about me. Although she thought she was, you know, being secret. That’s fascinating. And so you your
1:01:27
first language was Hungarian. Yeah. And then you forgot it is what you’re
1:01:32
saying cuz you’re saying forgot it. I I not forgot it. I went to school at age five. I spoke very poor English and
1:01:40
children are not kind. And I came home from school at 5 years old and I told my
1:01:45
parents and my adult sister that if they wanted me to respond to them, they were
1:01:52
going to have to speak to me in English or I wasn’t going to. You know, my little stubborn Scorpio moon was speak
1:02:00
to me in English or we’re not speaking. And I I basically refused to speak
1:02:05
anything but English. So it is not that I forgot it, it’s that I I mean it’s in
1:02:12
my brain somewhere and I I know because you’re reminding your front brain about it. Not to give dual lingo an ad, but I’m
1:02:18
doing dual lingo and I mean it’s it’s so is it just like reme remembering?
1:02:24
You’re like, “Oh yeah, you’re remembering.” It is It’s not even remembering. It’s it’s like it’s like tapping into oil or
1:02:31
or water. like you’re looking for a well and you don’t know where it is, but when
1:02:37
you hit it, it just comes flowing out. It’s there, you know? It’s it’s not a
1:02:43
forgotten thing. It’s like the thing that you have shoved to the back of your
1:02:50
mind and you have just moved on and it’s there. You’re just not using it. So it
1:02:58
it I do react the same way I react in English. Like if you say to me
1:03:05
stand up, I don’t have to think about that. I’m just going to do it. Like you know, I mean the way you know I’ve had
1:03:11
dogs like you say sit, that dog just sits. I mean a well-trained dog just, you know, well does a well-trained dog.
1:03:18
Yeah. Well, I mean my dog would sit and then stand right up again. Stay was difficult.
1:03:24
It’s it’s there. And I think a lot of but I think that’s true with a lot of witchcraft practice and a lot of ancestral practices. I think a lot of
1:03:32
that is stored in our bones. It’s stuff that we have
1:03:38
we’re carrying it with us and we may not even know it’s there anymore, but when you sort of it’s like you tap
1:03:45
into it, it’s just going to come flowing out. So many people describe it like that. That’s such a good way to
1:03:52
Yeah. remind people that it’s all there. It’s all in your learning. It’s not like we’re going to another planet and we
1:03:58
have to learn something that is totally new or you know I am you want to learn a
1:04:04
language that is completely different you know like as I said I I
1:04:09
can translate Spanish into French into English but if you what if you’re you’re learning Basque something that is not
1:04:17
related to anything else or to learn something that is using a different alphabet or you know that Then you have
1:04:25
to then it becomes a thought process. But a lot of things are in our bones and
1:04:31
we will just react to them and we will just when when you hit the spot you’re you’re
1:04:36
going to be able to do it. Yeah. Love it. I love it. Yeah. I am really
1:04:42
excited about our gathering of the season in a few weeks. This is going to be amazing. And just to let people know,
1:04:47
you are doing your earthier, fire, water work, the elements work. I am. I’m opening I’m opening the event
1:04:53
uh Friday um and I am doing a workshop on
1:04:59
elemental magic but it’s not a beginners I mean it is a beginner’s you don’t have to have any knowledge to take the class
1:05:05
you can just come to the class you don’t need to know anything because no it’s accessible to everyone but it’s not just
1:05:11
well this is fire and this is water it is it is a little bit of a reflection of
1:05:17
my journey in creating these cards because I do But I had a conversation with someone yesterday who was saying
1:05:24
that her pathway into the magical arts was through elemental magic. It wasn’t
1:05:29
for me. It was something I was aware of and I knew, but it wasn’t my opening. But I was not the one who said, “Let’s
1:05:36
do a deck based on the elements.” my team, my wonderful team at Harper
1:05:42
Collins, my editor, Caitlyn Doyle, who is just, you know, wonderful, suggested
1:05:50
that we do it this way. And I like collaboration and it really made me have
1:05:57
to think because it’s not easy to divide things into elements beyond the obvious,
1:06:05
oh, there’s fire, oh, there’s water. But you know even in water there are plants
1:06:11
inside most living water there you know there’s all sorts of stuff. What does it
1:06:17
mean to have you know lead in our in in our you know now we have a metal and
1:06:23
earth in our in our water supply. What do all these things mean? And so and and
1:06:29
what does it mean on a personal level? Because my personal elemental makeup has
1:06:36
been a large part of my life. What I I I was born with no air in my chart which I
1:06:43
will explain during the class. But you know what I was describing
1:06:48
speech communication has been an issue for me my whole life. So it is a
1:06:54
reflection of that and and if you look at the elements in any individual’s life
1:06:59
I think I think you’ll get a lot of insight to who you are how you came here
1:07:04
how are you wired and how do you balance that in order to achieve the life that
1:07:12
you would like to lead and isn’t that what it’s all about Rhonda what are you teaching is the life
1:07:17
yes oh I am teaching I’m teaching um what am I teaching I’m doing the Erh,
1:07:24
I’m teaching I’m going teach that many things. H the Morgan at Sawin. So we’re doing some information about Sawan.
1:07:30
We’re going to meet the Morgan. We’re going to do some deep work there. I’m looking forward to kind of uncovering the hidden parts that
1:07:36
might be ready to reappear. I was, you know, people might not know
1:07:41
this, but in addition to See, I can’t talk. In addition to being
1:07:46
an author, I’m an editor. I edited Courtney Weber’s book on the Morgan. Cool. Yeah. Yeah. Nice. Yeah, that’s Yeah, the
1:07:54
Morgan is like quite powerful. She’s like show doesn’t come often, but for me, but when she does, it’s like, okay,
1:08:02
that’s okay. I look forward to that. Yeah, I know. It’s great. It’s it’s great. And you know, the it’s always
1:08:08
really um the witches because it’s like a different set of people who come to that than I normally work with. It’s a
1:08:15
different energy and I really enjoy it. I really enjoy the energy that people bring. So, I’m really looking forward to it. I think it’s going to be great. It’s
1:08:21
always nice to have a different group of people, not always the same. I mean, there’s pros and cons. It’s nice to go
1:08:27
to a class where you have the same group of people because you progress together in a way and you get to know each other,
1:08:33
but also it’s nice to have that the the fresh minds and the fresh voices, fresh
1:08:38
eyes. Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. Well, thank you, Jira.
1:08:43
Thank you, Rhonda. Real pleasure. Hope you’ve enjoyed our chat. I’ve really enjoyed it. I’ve learned some stuff.
1:08:50
Likewise. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. And I I look forward to seeing you uh talk about the Morgan.
1:08:57
Yeah. And likewise, I’ll be diving into the elements, although I’ll be on replay because I will be in my bed when you do
1:09:05
it, which is the joy of having replays. You can just watch them the next day. Right. Right. Right. Right.
1:09:11
All right, everybody. Thanks so much for listening. Thanks to Judica. You can find Judica. Tell us where we can find
1:09:16
you, Judah, on Oh my gosh. the poor damaged website, but you can find me on Instagram. You
1:09:22
can find me on Facebook. You can find me uh you know, I still call it Twitter. I’m on LinkedIn.
1:09:27
Oh, I’m not even on LinkedIn. Amazing. Come and play with me. I was on LinkedIn. I don’t know what I’m doing there.
1:09:34
I I honestly don’t I don’t really know what I’m doing there, but I I you know, found myself there. So, here.
1:09:40
So, what I’ll do is I’ll put all the all your links I’ll grab your links off. Yeah, we’ll put them all in the show
1:09:46
notes. So, if you want to find Judica, you can. But actually, just Google her name and she’ll come up, frankly, cuz
1:09:51
she’s that happy. All right. Thanks everybody. It’s been a real pleasure. Thanks for listening and we’ll speak to
1:09:57
you soon. Bye everybody.

 

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This is where you master the spiritual secrets of the ancient Celts and create a deeply connected and magical life.

Step into the Centre’s very special Shamanic sanctuary. Inside the Cauldrons Way, you’ll find live gatherings, ceremonies, retreats and guided teachings designed to help you activate your inner cauldrons and amplify your spiritual connection. Plus, you get near-daily support from Rhonda and her team of six trusted practitioners. 

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