The Witch Wave Podcast Features Bri Luna of The Hoodwitch

 Are you ready to ride the wave of the witch? of course you are!

Our lovely friend Pam Grossman just launched her AMAZING new podcast today, The Witch Wave! and while in New York, I had the pleasure  to visit Pam in Brooklyn to  discuss modern witchery, art, beauty, and everything else in between.  We've shared the very first episode (above) give it a listen +  add some magic to your day! 

For more information check out The Witch Wave

Divining Through Disaster

 Photography by: Maimouna Guerresi

Written by Jaliessa Sipress

Recently, a lot of people’s realities have been turned upside-down; whether through “natural” or man-made disaster or through events that blur the line in-between. Disaster is something most of us live under the threat of everyday. It bubbles underneath our feet and seethes under our skin. It is what keeps us up at night and often impacts our day-to-day decisions. Its intensity and presence ebb and flow but the threat will always remain. Turmoil in this world is consistent but when the building pressure peaks, people start to panic, and they begin to forget.

As witches, misfortune is a part of our lineage. The fear, pain and suffering of those around us prescribed as side effects of us being privy to our own power. Our aptitude to tap into our natural abilities and form deep connections with our bodies, the bodies around us and the body of the earth are all things that make us dangerous because these acts can never fall under anyone else’s dominion. We listen and flow with the earth and her shifts and changes. We practice remembrance and manifestation in accordance with her seasons. We understand that we are of her and can harness her power and this is why we are feared. But the earth is a witch, too. She casts spells of beauty, love and abundance and she, too, is targeted for being angry and vengeful when she tries to heal herself. And this is why we must carry on. This is why we must acknowledge the power of the witch, the strength in our audacity to be our own temples and our own healers. Our abilities to make altars out of debris and never be without our magic because it lies within us.

To divine through disaster is to not ignore it. A lot of the craft is centered in the simple act of noticing. We watch and wait and participate in the art of divine timing. We are here to nurture the collapse of all that ails us, to live in harmony with our fear and loss. We must remember that our ancestors birthed our path to freedom and it is our duty to lead the way for others. Witches work is the work of the people. It is the work we do to stabilize and satiate and educate and support those who have forgotten the power within them.

During times of turmoil, it is our duty to remember and share our knowledge of how to work and heal with water, soil and ash. We must pass on ways to regenerate with what remains when human inventions fail. We are the ones who have to figure out why the world is still turning and we must take note of where our magic fits into the maddeness. We have to keep fighting, casting and believing the way we have been but with steadier consistency and ferocious fervor. Witches have to hold it down. It is our job to lead the way, to teach others how light comes from darkness and to hold onto our beliefs and our beloveds until the walls fall down around us.

Photography By  Photo credit: Maimouna Guerresi

Witchcraft as Devotion: A Closer Look at the Practices and Principles of Witchcraft in the Modern Age

Photography by Mo www.phobymo.com

Written By Jaliessa Sipress

With Vogue magazine hailing our time as a “witchy renaissance,” it is safe to say that witchcraft is on the rise.* But, what is witchcraft? What is it really for? Is it all just spells to get rich and make people fall in love with you? Is it about worshiping he who not be named and learning how to pronounce wingardium leviosa? For some, it is all of these things and for others, none. A witch can mean many things and can come in many forms, and much of it's popularity seems to stem from that. While witchcraft and wizardry has gained wild popularity for it's reclamation of power and perceived formlessness, what should not be forgotten is that being a witch is less about the fact that one has “power” and more about acknowledging where that power comes from.

Witchcraft is a work of gratitude. It comes from the practice of honoring the people, land and animals that came before you, that coexist with you now and that have yet to arrive. Witchcraft is the work of the wise because it is the everyday practice of those who are humbled by the world around them. Witches find meaning in the mundane and see the magic in weeds growing through cracks in the sidewalk or a shed feather of a dirty bird. Witches are rememberers, mourners and healers because they have reconciled with the cycles of life and realized what is and is not in human hands. Witchcraft is about gratitude and alignment, treading lightly and respectfully and only taking what you need. We must remember that witchcraft is less about control and more about connection. A connection to our own divinity, but also an understanding of the limitations of it.

A witch’s power is in their ability to adapt, working with the natural cycles of the earth to bring about abundance, clarity and direction. It is not about manipulation or having complete control. Witchcraft is about surrendering. It is the knowledge that most things are out of our hands but continuing to work with our surroundings to help swing things in our favor. It is the act of bowing to the elements and submitting to their power that makes a spell stick. Witchcraft is a labor of love and intention. Spells work because they are an act of communion with the powers beyond us, acknowledging our need for help, and partaking in a mutual relationship with things we cannot measure. It is about giving without the expectation of receiving.

Photography by Gregory Halpern

To practice magick is to be in attunement with a sensitive and dying world and being interested in working with, fighting for and healing with it. Yes, witches cast spells and ask the universe for guidance. This is because they are interested in being led, in asking for help when in need and respecting that whatever shall come, will come. Sometimes spellwork is feeding late Aunt Mable’s altar or lighting a “road opener” candle for weeks until anything finally sets into motion. Sometimes it is the humbling act of continually asking and never receiving because it is not what the universe wants for you. It can sometimes mean waiting, worrying, re-configuring and waiting again. But all of the waiting and worrying is worth it because the craft is about finding understanding in failed spells and magical mishaps. It is about finding true love for yourself and the world around you and being in communion with the gifts that come from that. It is about faith.

Witchcraft is a fun, freeing, beautiful and impassioned practice, and we must acknowledge that our ability to experience it as such is rooted in the magnetic force of offering. Offering our power, offering our light, offering our darkness, offering our strength, offering our material and immaterial gifts, our dedication and our relationship to the deities and beings that guide us. Staying in a state of gratitude and giving helps to attract the exact blessings you are grateful for. Your love and power are precious tools. Use them to uplift, remember and protect and they shall never go to waste.