For Samhain this year - the halfway point between autumn equinox and winter solstice - we’ve invited a Witch who needs no introduction, but we'll her one anyway: Pam Grossman is a writer, curator, teacher, and Witch. You may know her as the host of The Witch Wave podcast, or as the author of Waking the Witch: Reflections on Women, Magic, and Power, a book that has become a touchstone for our coven and for contemporary witches everywhere. Pam’s new book is Magic Maker: The Enchanted Path to Creativity. www.missingwitches.com/samhain-2025-trust-fall-into-mystery-with-pam-grossman We talk about Magic Maker (spoiler alert: we LOVED it), comedy, vulnerability, erasing the line between spirituality and creativity, David Bowie, Jinkx Monsoon and much more. Pam says that creativity requires a trust fall into mystery, “We’re dealing with mystery, we’re making things that have never been made before! It’s supposed to be uncomfortable and fucking weird!”

We're thrilled to be in circle with one of the greats of contemporary witchcraft, Judika Illes!! Together we talk about her books and decks, the magical origins of language, the philosophy of divination, the Hermit's lantern and the ringing of bells!!! Judika Illes is an independent scholar, educator, and author of several books of folklore, folkways, and mythology about the subjects of magic, the occult, divination, diverse spiritual traditions, witchcraft, and the paranormal. From the bestselling author of The Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells comes the ultimate toolkit for practicing the healing, transformative power of magic. In Magic Spells Oracle, 36 full-color cards offer clarity and inspiration to focus your intention and rebuild your power—with guidance through life, relationships, career, travel, and more. Reconnect with the essence of nature and rekindle the magic within with cards divided into the elements of Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. An accompanying guidebook outlines the framework for crafting your home altar and charging your oracle, reading and finding inspiration in the cards and their layouts, and connecting with your inner wisdom and deepening your magical practice. Discover the magic in everything—including you. www.missingwitches.com/ep-283-judika-illes-magic-spells-oracle-deck-launch-party

Maya Deren — witch of the lens, socialist of dreamtime, fugitive from the machinery of capital — transformed the moving image into a site of ritual. Her films Meshes of the Afternoon, At Land, Ritual in Transfigured Time, Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti and Witch's Cradle dissolve boundaries between dream and waking, art and ceremony, self and spirit. She built a new language for film and died in poverty. She wrestled with addiction; her collaborations, including with her much younger husband Teiji Ito, shimmer with both creative brilliance and the complexities of power.

G. B. Jones is a Canadian artist, filmmaker, musician, and publisher of zines, known for her vast contributions to both queer and punk media. She initially gained recognition for her work in the fanzine J.D.s, which she co founded and co-published with Bruce LaBruce. GB also co founded and performed with the experimental post-punk band Fifth Column who became mothers of feminist punk. She has directed several films, including The Troublemakers, The Yo-Yo Gang, and The Lollipop Generation. And Her artwork continues to be shown worldwide. For me, as a punk kid growing up in Southern Ontario in the 90s, GB’s influence loomed large - someone whose work literally changed the world as I knew it. Kathleen Hanna said: Well if I can ever be of help to draw attention to G.B. Jones’s art-I mean she did so much for me in my twenties in terms of informing my identity as a writer and musician and performer, I really could never repay her. So the more people can learn about her, the happier I am. Zine Queen Vaginal Davis insists: there wouldn’t be a riot grrl movement without Fifth Column GB Jones invented the terms Homocore and Queercore in the 80s, kicking off the modern reclamation of the word Queer. So when GB put out a book earlier this year called Witches, i thought yesssss - here’s my chance to chat with a punk icon. The Zoom meeting was set, the coven gathered and GB’s laptop chose that night to bite the dust. No problem, we’ll figure it out... Remember how last week we talked about Killing Joke, and the potential contained within destruction? Here’s great example. GB’s laptop bit the dust, but it just so happened that I was going to be in her home town, Toronto, the following weekend. So GB agreed to meet me in person! The interview you’re about to hear is as old school as it comes. GB and I found a quite corner in her local public library - you’ll hear room sounds, ambient noises as we talk in half whispers that I recorded live with a field recorder balanced on a pile of books. After we finished recording, we went out for coffee and gabbed more about our lives. GB has offered to play xylophone on a track for my new band. I lamented how impossible it is to find Fifth Column on vinyl, and GB told me that a reissue is in the works, that she and Caroline could come on the pod together next spring as Fifth Column to dive deeper into feminist punk… So we had a disaster - zoom call fail - but that disaster led to something so much more - GB and I formed a face to face human connection that I know will bear future fruit. This is anti anxiety medication. To know that things going wrong might be making way for something better. I met up with GB at a public library, and we sat in this third space to talk about rebellion, making connections and building communities before the internet, the intersection of Witch Queer and Punk, self-fulfilling prophecy, adversity and courage. www.missingwitches.com/ep-281-wf-gb-jones-sacred-rebellion

Join me today, in tombs, in sweaty smoky clubs, LSD soaked recording studios, in a circle of magic that declares, ‘let success be your proof’. That place in the cosmos where Jaz Coleman’s vocals, and keyboards, Kevin “Geordie” Walker’s guitar, Martin “Youth” Glover’s bass and Paul Ferguson’s drums come together in sonic witchcraft that cast a spell on everyone who came after: from Nirvana and Soundgarden, to Metallica and Skinny Puppy, Ministry and Tool, to Nine Inch Nails all claiming Killing Joke as inspiration. Robert Smith of The Cure once described Killing Joke’s early records as “terrifying and beautiful.” Something that he channeled for his own music - and something we as Witches can relate to ourselves. The terrifying beauty that is Witch, that is truth. A beauty that can only be found beneath the shadows. Join me today to discover the profane and ritual history of Killing Joke. www.missingwitches.com/ep-280-mw-killing-joke-we-must-dream-of-promised-lands

"I'm an atheist witch who talks to the ancient sources. I'm not, but I am." Risa Dickens of Missing Witches joins forces with Liv Albert of Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby! for a deeply feminist, gleefully nerdy, and profoundly honest conversation about witches, overwhelm, ancient Greek goddesses, and what it means to “fuck with the patriarchy” across time. From Circe’s island of wild women to Rome’s fear of crones, from Helen’s potions to the politics of preservation, Liv and Risa unspool how mythology itself has been edited by empire and misogyny—and how reclaiming these stories might help us heal our collective memory.

Hekate has always lived at the crossroads — between worlds, between forms, between ways of being. In this episode, Dr. Cyndi Brannen, former psychologist and director of research turned Hekatean priestess and teacher, joins Risa to explore Hekate’s innate queerness, fluidity, and multiplicity. From myth and archaeology to lived experience, they trace how Hekate guides us through thresholds, offers radical autonomy, and reveals the sacred in the margins. From her home on coastal Nova Scotia, Dr. Brannen smiles and declares: “Queer is normal around here.”

Lydia Cabrera crossed boundaries of love, nation, and spirit. This episode traces her queer life, her recordings of Afro-Cuban sacred traditions, and the archive she built in exile — an altar of memory, care, and resistance.

The Missing Witches podcast is proudly ad free, but I’m officially doing a sales pitch here - the Library of Esoterica series is amazing, and I own every volume, so I was super excited to sit down with Jessica Hundley to learn about the genesis of this incredible project! Jessica is a storyteller. In her writing, journalism, filmmaking and creative direction work, she delves into narrative art, music, counterculture, magick, punk and and psychedelia. Some of my very favourite subjects! Jessica is also of course the editor/shepherd of the Library of Esoterica series. The newest volume is Spirit Worlds. Featuring essays, interviews and over 400 images, from cave paintings to contemporary works of channeled art, Spirit Worlds steps through darkened doorways and into the labyrinths that lead to the mysterious, to kingdoms of the afterlife and to communion with denizens of dimensions, just beyond our own. Spirit Worlds is out now - But be warned - buy one and you’re gonna want the whole set!! Jess insists, "Everyone is an artist. You're creating your own reality, your own life." www.missingwitches.com/ep-276-wf-jessica-hundley-cathartic-messages-from-the-divine

The advice from tarot and other belief systems freed her mind from preset patterns and traditional thinking; it prompted her to consider problems from fresh angles. She believed the universe had its own force, and was an extension of that force. Despite all of her magical works, artistic engagement of all six senses, despite her obsession with the esoteric, consulting psychics, numerologists and astrologers before making any moves, shuffling tarot cards at business meetings, perhaps what makes Yoko Ono the most witchy is her persecution. Fear, superstition, and social control have intersected with racism and misogyny throughout history. Accusations of Witchcraft, trials and executions often followed unexplained illness, crop failures, livestock deaths, or any sudden misfortunes. Marginalized or non-conforming women - widows, healers, outspoken women - were at highest risk. And in this history, we find Yoko: the woman who broke up the world’s most beloved band. The woman who poisoned the Beatles’ apple. So for today, and I say this as a fan and lover of the Beatles, fuck all this rocknroll boys club no cock no rock youtube noise. Let’s get to know the Yoko who exists outside of the heavy shadow of the fab four, and dismissive eyerolls of the rock n roll crowd. The one who said "Music, words, and silence - they are all spells. They carry energy, they change perception." The one who said: "Everyday life is full of rituals. When you do them consciously, when you perform them with intention, they become magic." www.missingwitches.com/ep-275-mw-yoko-ono-smash-your-preconceptions

Exploring Tarot, decolonization, and community with Christopher Marmolejo. Draw cards, mythologize, and imagine a reindigenized world with us.

This episode invokes the life, spirit, words, and deep enchantment of Rachel Pollack. A lynchpin theorist and practitioner in the world of tarot. A creator of worlds and possibilities. A liferaft for me in my cancer year.

Happy Equinox to the Missing Witches Coven! The geese are leaving the lake, the leaves are starting to fall, and we’ve got this one day to celebrate equilibrium before we tumble into the dark half of the year. Fall/winter is the perfect time to sit, alone, wrapped in a blanket with a cup of tea and start writing, so for Mabon, we’ve invited three Word Witches from across the USA to guide us into our writing practice: Sanyu Estelle, Charlie Burgess, and Kate Belew. So, as Terry Tempest Williams wrote, "a pencil is a wand and a weapon", and our guests today will help us learn how to most powerfully wield this wand and weapon. Don't be afraid of the blank page, our guests tell us - it is an invitation to build worlds!! Sanyu Estelle is also known as "The Word Witch" because of her deep love for word origins (etymology) and word culture (philology).  Sanyu is a self described pigmented, womoonist, cissy, flexible asexual, travel-apt and fashion forward SSJW (Sarcastic Social Justice Warrior). She’s also a musician, singer and lyricist - her Latest ALBUM 'Ship Wrecked came out last year. And she’s a tarot historian and CARD READER who promises THE READING YOU NEED, NOT THE READING YOU WANT. Her book The Cultural Roots of Tarot will be out in Fall 2026, so hopefully we’ll have her back on the pod to talk more about that more next year! In her essay I AM THE FIGHT Sanyu wrote, “Black Liberation does not equate to White Supremacy. IT REMEDIES IT.” Kate Belew is an author, poet, and Witch who’s work exists at the crossroads of creativity and craft. She has taught and facilitated circles and workshops worldwide since 2017. Kate has an MFA in Poetry from Sarah Lawrence College and is an initiated Green Witch, fully devoted to the magic of poetry and the poetry of magic. Also the co-host of Magick and Alchemy. The tamed wild podcast with co-host Kristen Lisenby. Kate's new book Word Witch is a literary grimoire, a guide and companion helping readers through the alchemy of becoming writers in which Kate reminds us that "Everyone is creative. Everything is connected. Writing is magic." . Word Witch is out October 7th, and available for pre-order now! Charlie Claire Burgess is a queer and trans-nonbinary author and artist working at the intersection of spirituality and queerness. A prolific author and deck creator, Charlie’s latest book is Queer Devotion. Queer Devotion reveals that spirituality has always been far queerer than we’ve been led to believe. Queer devotion’s first line is, “In the beginning, the gods were queer” and Charlie insists that they still are. Charlie’s decks too re-imagine archetypes beyond binaries. Their latest decks are Fifth Spirit Tarot and The Gay Marseille Tarot. And just to put a fine point on it: They are the host of the word witch podcast and their IG handle is the.word.witch. www.missingwitches.com/mabon-2025-word-witches-with-charlie-burgess-kate-belew-and-sanyu-estelle

We’ve arrived at Lammas - that halfway point between summer solstice and autumn equinox.  The world feels like A LOT. So many of us are trying to process personal loss, trauma and grief in the face of global loss, trauma and grief. The LAST thing I want is for any of us to drag old wounds into the Autumn, letting bad stuff that happened stop us from making great stuff happen - we need to learn how to make our way through our pain, and find a way to transform that journey to feed our future. So I put together this panel of folx to help us discover systems for transmuting trauma.  Each of our guests today has managed to transmute trauma into something better in their own way. Everyone’s experience is different, so rather than giving you one answer, today we’ll get three different perspectives to help us understand that healing or moving on happens in a multitude of ways. After losing her aunt and mother in quick succession, Diandra found hope in cardinals.  Of her book Red Bird, Diandra Ford-Wing said, "I hope to offer solace to those navigating the challenging waters of loss and grief, providing a safe haven amidst their emotional storms." In finally being able to name her trauma of CSA and seek justice, Amy Miranda was able to bring her Spiritual practice and her creative practice together with What We’ve Forgotten. After surviving a mass shooting in 2021, Kristen Renaud found healing through painting and gardening which begat Lightning Struck Gardens. Each purchase of an item from LSG helps to fund her non-profit, and provide emotional support to survivors of gun violence. Together we can transmute trauma, turn the poison to medicine, become alchemists, and get comfortable in the spiral!

In this episode, Risa talks with Jack Chanek, a high priest of Gardnerian Wicca, doctor of Philosophy and the author of books on Goddess worship, Kabbalah, and Tarot. Jack shares his journey from an atheistic upbringing to becoming a Wiccan and a magical practitioner. They discuss Jack's books 'Kabbalah for Wiccans' and 'Tarot for the Magically Inclined,' focusing on how Kabbalah and Tarot can organize and enhance magical practices. He explains how to perform rituals like 'stacking the deck' for tarot magic and shares personal success stories, like the time he tied up the wind. Jack also offers advice on finding inclusive and safe Wiccan covens. He emphasizes experimenting with Tarot and scaling magic for local political activism.

We gathered together with Zoe Flowers and Amy Miranda to walk between worlds, do some divination, and celebrate the first birthday of the Missing Witches Deck of Oracles!!

In this conversation, Risa Dickens and guest, somatic practitioner Lise Lønsmann, discuss the significance of being in our bodies and how it is a revolutionary act against the patriarchy. We explore how patriarchy benefits from keeping individuals disconnected from their bodies, and how reconnecting through embodied rituals is a sacred process. Lise shares her personal journey of disconnection from her body and how a cancer scare catalyzed her somatic healing. She emphasizes the importance of non-judgmental somatic resourcing, building safety within oneself, and the need for small, consistent practices that can cultivate deeper self-awareness and aliveness. We also touch on the impact of childhood trauma on body awareness, the revolutionary nature of caring for oneself, and how small acts of embodiment can contribute to larger societal change. Additionally, Lise shares examples of her own embodied rituals and discusses the empowering aspects of witchcraft and magic in reclaiming our power and aliveness.

Let this be your Litha message: Gahd loves you as you are. We're celebrating the Summer Solstice 2025 with one of the brightest, sunniest, shiniest Witches we know: star of Canada's Drag Race Season 5, mother of the House of Gahd, and unofficial Auntie to us all, Uma Gahd! Together we discuss labels, emotionally preparing for the scrutiny of a rabid fandom, the importance of having and building community, and also building character. For Uma, activism means activation. There are points of intersection between Drag, Politics, Religion and Witchcraft, and we cover them all. Queer Spirituality, Dirt-worshipping Hippie Paganism, Hellenic Revivalism, Religious Reclamation, and Joy. "The Sun is coming, so soak it up, but even when it's not there, shine light." www.missingwitches.com/litha-2025

Witch poet Danielle Dulsky discusses the inspiration and urgency behind writing her book, highlighting the transformative power of fairy tales. In conversation with host Risa Dickens, they delve into how these stories, often dismissed as mere children's tales, have subversive, social-change elements and ancient roots that intertwine with dreams. Danielle speaks on the practice of raising paradoxes, blending rituals and story places, and the importance of initiating new narratives. She emphasizes the medicinal properties of archetypes and how they can be both empowering and problematic. They touch upon personal paradoxes, living through impactful global events, and how individual and collective stories co-create and reflect each other. The conversation finishes with an invitation to listeners to find, tell, and witness stories as a form of resistance and transformation, amplifying the potential for change through shared narratives.

ONLY THREE DAYS LEFT TO JOIN THE MISSING WITCHES REPARATIONS FUNDRAISER!! In this episode, Amy and Risa sit down to talk origin stories: their friendship, their Witchcraft, their collaborations, the MW project, their Reparations Fundraiser. It's an origin story and a Love Story. It's a story of taking What Ifs, combining them with friendship, imagination and faith to turn ideas into realities. www.missingwitches.com/ep-266-mwrf-part-4-origin-stories-with-amy-and-risa www.missingwitches.com/reparations-fundraiser-2025/