Welcome to the fourth episode of the second season of my podcast, Empower Your Magical Self. My hope is that it inspires you to celebrate a dream you've made come true and to really savor how that feels.
Today's episode is a bit of a dream come true for me. My guest today is author, witch, and truly one of my personal heroes, Amanda Yates Garcia, also known as the Oracle of LA.
Working backwards, I reckon it was 2018 when I found Amanda on social media, the year before here brilliant book Initiated (to which I'll return in a moment) was published. I was immediately smitten.
Though I've considered myself a witch since I was 17 (almost 35 years ago), I'd just begun to center that reality in my life when I came upon Amanda, the Oracle of LA. For most of my life at that point I'd been drifting between the levels of my personal hell. I was depressed, but I'm coming to understand at long last that my undiagnosed autism was more likely the root of my struggles than the "chronic, hereditary depression and anxiety" that were diagnosed (repeatedly, over many decades).
In 2018 the very, very thin ice on which my so-called life was situated began to crack. That was an extremely precarious time in my life, and unbeknownst to her, Amanda was a sort of life preserver for me.
I'm writing this on October 22, 2024 - coincidentally 5 years to the date since Initiated, the Memoir of Witch was published. I read it in January of 2020, just as I was weighing whether or not to continue living. Again, Amanda doesn't know how meaningful her work has been to me.
Over the years, I've continued to watch and learn from Amanda. Her brilliant podcast, Between the Worlds, inspired me to start this podcast in two ways. First, I kept emailing her with guest suggestions (for which she would kindly thank me), and secondly, I honestly just wanted to have a conversation with her.
She was, of course, the first person I invited to be on the show's first season last year. Her schedule didn't accommodate her appearance last year, but I am beyond thrilled to welcome Amanda Yates Garcia, the Oracle of LA, as my guest for episode four of the second season of Empower Your Magical Self.
Before you dive into the episode, I have a caveat. I broke my leg on July 7th, and I did this interview (too) soon after. I was so excited to have procured an hour of Amanda's time that I decided not to reschedule the interview. In watching the episode, I can tell I was in a lot of pain and was really not at my best. I apologize to listeners/viewers, and especially to Amanda for that.
That being said, Amanda is true shimmering magic in this interview. We talk at length about egregores, a concept I learned about from her book, and specifically the egregore of the United States. We're in the thick of election season, and as American-born witches, Amanda and I endeavor to look honestly at the history and future of the country of our birth.
In this episode I mention the work of one of my favorite writers, Patrick Jasper Lee, who was a guest on the first season of my podcast. You can find his episode here. I also mention KellyAnn Maddox, author of the brilliant book Rebel Witch and the brand new Witch in Darkness. Her episode of Empower Your Magical Self will come out in late November.
Please enjoy this interview (that I thoroughly enjoyed but probably should have postponed) with the magical Amanda Yates Garcia.
Amanda's IG: https://www.instagram.com/oracleofla/
Amanda's Website: https://oracleoflosangeles.com/
Amanda's Link tree:
https://linktr.ee/oracleofla?utm_source=linktree_profile_share
Please LIKE & SUBSCRIBE to Empower Your Magical Self, as it's a labor of love, gratitude, and magic with the intention of helping others empower their magical selves.