April 25, 2021 • 64 mins
Back, finally behind the mic!
In this, the premiere episode of season 2, I dive into the origins of one of my top 3 favorite Sabbats...Beltane.
It will soon be upon us, so I wanted to give some lore and background, as well as ways you can celebrate.
I also go over a Beltane themed majickal item of the week, recipe, and spell.
So welcome back, or welcome for the first time, let's get started.
IG: @sonofawitchpod
Twitter: @sonofawitchp
Sources:
theseasonalsoul.com
groveandgrotto.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Mike D (00:31):
Hey everybody, welcome back to son of a witch podcast
season dos, season two. That isright, I am back in the
studio... Holy fucking shit, Iam back in the studio. And I'm
sorry. But I'm going to get alittle crazy because I have been
dying to get behind mymicrophone again, I'm going to
(00:54):
go ahead and do a real briefsynopsis. I'm not going to get
into great detail because I'm apretty private person. And if
you keep up with the show, youknow a lot of this anyway,
possibly, but just want to giveyou an idea of what kept me from
getting back so quickOriginally, I think the last
episode I released was at thevery beginning of January. And
(01:18):
originally the plan was for meto take, I don't know, a month,
maybe a month and a half off,and then come back and start up
season two, I just really at thebeginning wanted a break, just
kind of some downtime. I hadbeen since last August doing a
weekly show and sometimes dailycast and bonus episodes and
(01:43):
things like that non stop untilthe end of the year. And by the
time I looked at it, I was Idon't know 20 something episodes
in total. And see you figureabout a little over five months
straight of every week workingon the show had kind of burned
me out just a little bit notburned me out. I guess that's
(02:05):
the wrong term. I would say Iwas just burning the candle at
both ends. I was extremelytired, because I was also
working my day job that I haveto work so that I can keep doing
the show. And yeah, it was justcrazy. I started that hiatus
right at the beginning of whenmy step mom passed. That was
(02:27):
unexpected. She was in her 60s.And huge part of my life. She is
my brother's mom, my halfbrother technically, but we
don't really look at it thatway. And I just about helped
raise him he's almost 11 yearsyounger than I so I had to go
down south to be with him and tobe with family. And that was
(02:51):
rough man. It was just out ofthe blue. And we weren't
expecting it as I said, and thenshortly after that I had a
family member that had beendiagnosed with cancer. And they
had surgery. And luckily thatwas removed. so far. So good.
Things are looking good. And butthat was a big scare, had to go
(03:12):
down and spend two or threeweeks taking care of that. And
keep in mind every time I haveto do this, I'm having to do the
quarantine thing because I'mtraveling when I come back home.
So if I go down for two weeks,you might as well tack on
another week and a half to twoweeks at the end of that for me
to do that. Because I've beenplaying it very safe. And yeah,
(03:35):
so we dodged that. And then asmost of you may know, or a lot
of you anyway, I guess about amonth and a half ago, my mom had
gone into the hospital downsouth with COVID. And she spent
about three weeks or well fortotal and critical care unit.
(03:56):
The last week of that she was ona ventilator she would have good
days and then she would havereally bad days and then she'd
have really good days and thenit was just back and forth. We
couldn't see her because ofCOVID obviously, and they didn't
have the ability for us toFaceTime with her. My brother
and I didn't keep her on thephone very often because she
(04:18):
would get winded after just amoment or two of speaking. And
sadly in the end, I had flowndown the day they were going to
let us start seeing her I gotdown late afternoon and the way
it was set up. My brother hadalready seen her that evening. I
was gonna go in the next morningbecause you could only do one
(04:39):
person in the morning one personin the evening. And sadly she
lost her fight late that eveningand I'm not going to go too in
depth with it. By the time shepassed, she was free of COVID
but it was complications causedby COVID that in ended up taking
(05:00):
her so that was unexpected. Mymom was in her mid 60s. And
yeah, I don't know what else tosay. It still is kind of sending
me for a loop. It's only beenmaybe just under a month since
(05:21):
it happened. And I don't know,she loved me doing the show. She
loved how happy it made me. Sheloved the fact that I was
reaching other people. And Idon't know she loved it. She
couldn't quite figure out thetechnology for iPhone to how to
download episodes to listen toepisodes. But she did listen to
(05:43):
some and the fact that my otherbrother, Kyle listened a lot as
well and enjoyed it just madeher immensely happy. So
Henceforth, this show isdedicated to the memory of my
mom, rest her soul, she issorely missed, sorely missed, I
still can't believe... we usedto catch up weekly on the phone.
(06:06):
And it's just been rough. I'vehad moments where I've gone to
pick up my phone out of habitjust to call her. And then I
kind of catch myself. So allthat to say there have been a
lot of things going on. Nothingthat can be avoided, and nothing
that anything could be doneabout it was beyond our control.
(06:28):
My mom, I did have myself anddamn near 100 other witches
doing remote healing on her onthe daily. And I'm a firm
believer that that's why shemade it as far as she did,
because she was not doing goodfor the pretty much the entirety
of the time she was in thehospital. So that's that season
(06:53):
two is going to be for her. Andthat's why I went ahead and
jumped back into this I havebeen dealing with, again, things
that are beyond anyone'scontrol, but dealing with things
that have been heart wrenchingand depressing. And I don't
know, I'm just tired of it. AndI'm ready to get back on my
grind. I missed this show. Forone thing, even though it's just
(07:17):
me talking and you listening. Itfeels kind of like a
conversation with me thefeedback I get from it. I don't
know, I just I enjoyed doing it.So this is cathartic for me. And
that's how we're gonna look atthat's where I'm at. Other than
that, everything else is prettydamn good. My partner and I are
(07:39):
doing really well. Our furbabiesare doing good. Our chickens are
double lane. We're talking aboutgetting goats and now hopefully
some fainting goats because fuckall that's hilarious. As I've
said before, I'll say again, ifyou have fainting goats, you
never have a bad day you gethome. Ooh, and the goats does
(08:00):
freeze up and fall. You know,it's hilarious. And yes, I've
looked into it, it doesn't hurtthem. So you know, it's just a
nervous reaction that they have,but they don't get hurt from it.
And it's, I mean, you go Googlefainting goats right now and not
laugh out loud. And we need tohave a serious conversation
because something's wrong.They're just fucking nuts. So
(08:23):
yeah, so things are going goodon that front. The job is going
well, I'm loving that my son isdoing well. He's down south,
he's actually getting ready tomake a move. His mom is getting
transferred. And they are movingstill in the state of Georgia,
but due to a different part ofthe state. And he's kind of
(08:44):
excited and a little nervousabout that. So that's cool. Now
to get back to the show. I'mgoing to catch up on a few
things and let you know what'scoming up. First of all, I've
been kind of teasing that I havesome episodes in the can as I
kept saying, and I do I've gottwo other episodes besides this
(09:05):
one that are already done justwaiting to release one of those.
I'm going to probably go aheadand do as a bonus episode this
coming week, probably mid week.And that is because that is
about one division. It's mycousin Shane and I if you'd
listened to last season and youcaught sound special part one,
you would remember it because wetalk about seances with our
(09:27):
grandmother ,we talk aboutJapanese ghosts and monsters
we've talked about Charleston,South Carolina goes to monsters
we we've talked about theSuicide Forest, all sorts of fun
stuff. So that was one of mymore popular episodes. It's one
of the ones that I enjoyedrecording the most to because
Shane and I have grown uptogether. We're almost like
(09:48):
brothers and we are family Pope.We're almost like brothers. And
so it's a lot of fun just tokind of hang out I had to out of
that episode last season. I hadto edit probably a little over
two hours worth of stuff out.versus just getting off on a
tangent having fun jokingaround. But all that to say that
(10:10):
we did an episode about onedivision and kind of tied in how
Marvel is now getting intowitchcraft and magic a little
more so than they did with Dr.Strange. I mean, that kind of
touches on it a bit, butwandavision actually delves into
witchcraft as an art. And sothat was kind of cool. We tied
(10:33):
in what was real, what wasn'tgave her thoughts on the show,
because we're a couple of comicbook nerds. And that was a video
interview. So you're going toget to see Shane in front of his
wall of comics. And you'll seewhat I mean, when you see that,
and you'll get to see a lot ofhis memorabilia and stuff that
(10:53):
he's got at his house. And itwas a lot of fun. So I'm gonna
go ahead and release that thisweek. So by now if you haven't
finished one division that's onyou. So if you get spoilers,
I'll let you know at thebeginning of the episode, but if
you get spoilers, that's yourfault. So having said that, I'm
going to try to do one aboutFalcon and Winter Soldier now
(11:15):
that that's over, we're gonnaput our heads together and give
our thoughts on what we feltabout that show. I personally
loved it. I'll get more indetail with him. But yeah, it
was an amazing show. And I'mgonna start trying to do a
little, maybe a bonus episode oneach of the shows. The next one
I think to come out is Loki inJune. And so that'll be fun,
(11:38):
too. They've already announcedthat that will have more than
one season. So Excuse me. That'salways something to look forward
to. As most of you know, ifyou're new to the show, he won't
but I am a huge comic book geek.I love comics, particularly
Marvel, but all comics and yeah.So that's that. And then I also
(11:59):
have another episode. It is alsoa video interview. And it is
with a major author. This authorhas over 30 books published and
is a huge author in ourcommunity. And I've been a fan
of theirs since before I evenstarted this show since mommy
(12:22):
for years, I've followed theirwork and admired their work. And
through happenstance people thatwe both were mutual friends
with, we got together kind ofget to chat, get to pick their
brain about you know whatbrought them into the world of
(12:43):
writing books and lecturing andtraveling, talking and things
like that. So many of you willknow exactly who it is, I am
going to keep you guessingthough, it is going to be so
much fun. So for right nowyou're going to have to keep
guessing, but that episode willair this coming week, today is
(13:04):
going to be Sunday. So that willcome out hopefully next
Saturday, this episode wassupposed to come out yesterday.
But I had to work and they endedup keeping me there longer than
I was supposed to. So by thetime I got home, I crashed, I
was exhausted. That's just alittle bit of what's to come.
I'm also going to be starting aYouTube channel with my brother.
(13:30):
So that's not going to bewitchcraft related, it's just
going to be more or less, moreor less like you get into see us
just how we are when we justhang out, we end up talking
about current events, popculture, just riffing on each
other roasting each other andother people and just
(13:52):
observational comedy and it'sjust hilarious. So it's gonna be
both of us when we're blazed.Just sitting in front of a
camera, shooting the shit andhaving a hilarious time. We have
tested it with some of ourfriends and family. And it has
been very well received andgotten lots of laughs So we're
(14:14):
gonna do that. It's kind of likeour way. It was strange enough
that my brother lost his mom atthe beginning of the year. And
then three months later, I losemy mom, and both of them way
before their time. So we decidedto do this to have fun. And
that's what we're gonna do. So Iwill keep you posted on how
(14:36):
that's going. I'm going to keepdoing this show every week of
course, and I'm hoping I can'tmake promises depending on my
schedule, but I'm hoping in thenext month, I will be able to
get the daily cast back. Ifyou're new to the show. The
Daily cast are were a 10 to 15minute little blurb that I would
post daily for a while givingyou a tarot card. for the day,
(15:01):
giving you just some witchy tipsand advice and things like that
current events, that sort ofthing. So I'm hoping to get back
to that I had a lot of fun doingthat. But even though it's only
10 minutes, there's a lot oftime that goes into making that
little 10 to 15 minute blurb,so, got to find the time to do
that. But without further ado,I've given you enough of a
(15:24):
recap, we're at about the 15minute mark now. So I'm going to
go ahead and cut this short,take a quick pause, grab
something to drink, and then wewill be right back with the
magical item of the week.
(16:03):
Alright, everybody, we are back.And I promised you a magical
item of the week. And I am goingto deliver on that. The magical
item this week is something thatI'm really like myself, I have
some in my yard. I am veryattached to them. And I don't
(16:25):
mean that in the literal sense,but I do have a relationship
with them. I make ones withthem. And I'll get more into
that. But what I am talkingabout is called the white lady
of the woods. birch. birch is atree of just insane strength and
(16:47):
beauty. It's one of the firstplants that sprouts new leaves
in the spring. So it's long beenassociated with renewal. It's
also extremely important inCeltic, European and Native
American folklore. It's a mediumsized, straight green tree that
(17:08):
tends to grow in groups orstands some people will say
groves, but the traditional wayof referring to it is stands.
It's a slender, graceful, veryhardy tree. It's bound all over
the northern hemisphere thrivesin all but the coldest areas of
(17:28):
the North. And most people willrecognize it by its white paper
a bark marked with gray orbrown. Now it says that it
typically doesn't grow in thecoldest parts of the north and
that may be true but I know thatI am in Vermont and there are
birch trees everywhere I havesome in my yard use the wood
(17:48):
from some to make ones andthings like that. I said that
I'm very attached to them I willgo up and literally converse
with this tree and ask for itspermission much as you would ask
for permission before removinggrave dirt things like that. I
asked for permission from thetree. And if it I don't feel
(18:12):
like it's wanting me to then Iwon't I have had some trees
where I've felt that way. Thebirch trees in my yard I do not
get that impression from I'venever had that. But I do love my
birch trees. They are amazingand they are beautiful. And it
talks about the white paperybark. I mean if you've ever seen
one, you know it literally lookslike paper pulling off of the
(18:35):
tree. It's It's really amazing.It's a natural diuretic. Some
people would drink Birch tea tocleanse and detox the urinary
system. It's also usedexternally as a skin tonic and
remedy for sore muscles at birchextract be exact has a fresh
wintergreen kind of aroma andwas once a popular flavoring for
(18:56):
chewing gum and soft drinks. Ifyou don't believe me ask your
grandparents they'll tell youbirch sap, there used to be
birch beer county root beer.birch sap is a reliable winter
food source for a lot of Nativepeople in Siberia. And even in
North America. It's hard andsmooth the wood is and it's got
(19:18):
kind of, I don't know a veryfaint yellowish white color. You
can get it in many differentforms from freshly gathered
twigs, which can be used to makebosoms or brooms and I have done
that. You can also get firewoodof birch. Even fine furniture
(19:39):
veneers is prized as firewoodhowever because it burns without
popping even when you harvest itfresh and it's not completely
cured or dried. It won't poplike a lot of other Woods wood
and the bark and the wood piecesare available as well from like
natural health suppliers.Speaking of it as a fire wood,
(20:00):
that kind of ties in to whatwe're going to be talking about
here in a bit, which is thetopic of this week and I'll get
into that. As you've seen thetitle, it is beltane. So beltane
is a fire festival. We're goingto talk more about that in a
moment. But talking about it asa firewood, it is a wood that is
burned a lot during beltane. So,the birch paper as they call it
(20:25):
in quotation marks, or juststrips of the dried bark is very
valuable and spellcraft. Becareful though when you buy it
because craft stores sometimescarry imitation birch paper or
bark, the essential oil frombirch is also available. It's
usually steam distilled frompulverized bark, and synthetic
(20:48):
birch fragrances don't Well, Iwon't say don't but very rarely
ever get it right. Most smellkind of like minty mouthwash,
sandalwood, things like that.And that's really not what
captures the birches kind ofWoody, almost spicy smell. So
(21:08):
that's just my own personalopinion though. The magical uses
of birch You know, a lot ofpeople in earlier times would
have been amazed to see birchgroves sprouting in barren
northern lands kind of onlyrecently occupied up until that
point by glaciers and thingslike that. They're also
(21:29):
considered a pioneer species,brap and Lee colonizing the land
that was leveled by fire andclear cutting. They sprout fresh
green leaves in early spring, asI was saying, so it's widely
associated with renewaltypically, just as the first
thought begins, hence, birchesage old association with those
(21:50):
things. And magic per se Burj isassociated with Inception and
fertility and sometimes withpurification. So again, very
closely tied in with beltane.birch has a natural antiseptic
property, and it's traditionallyused as I was saying, for a
witch's besam you can use it forbeltane fires, you can use it
(22:13):
for maypoles, Yule logs. birchinto the fire goes in sign of
what the lady knows, is kind ofa traditional Wiccan rhyme
virgin to the fire goes in signof what the lady knows. I
couldn't tell you I'm notwicking. So I don't know that
rhyme. But that's just what thisparticular passage that I got
(22:36):
says. So it also does reallywell in rough acidic soil, cold
climates, which is odd becauseit does said earlier that it
doesn't do well in very coldclimates, but places where
larger deciduous trees cannotgrow. Although it appears
fragile. It's actually extremelystrong. And the spirit of birch
(23:00):
offers kind of courage orprotection to those that kind of
live outside the safe and thenorm, so to speak. A secondary
use of birches for protection,especially psychic protection,
birch groves provide shelter forthe psychoactive fly agric
(23:21):
mushrooms submerge is also apatron of sorts for
hallucinogenic journeyers. Wherebirch is the Guardian, the
wander is said to be safe frommadness, and tricks of the Fae
even it's got the freshinnocence of like the mother,
same generosity, that maternalfeeling, and the silent courage
(23:46):
of the crown. So, you know, ifyou look at the innocence of the
maid and generosity of themothers courage of the Crone,
it's kind of the triple goddesskind of associations is largely
associated with the virtue aswell. It's got long relationship
with humans as like a guide or aprovider. It's got really, in my
(24:12):
opinion, a very positive energy.Very strong though. You can
invert, or invert. Wow, Mike,that was fucking stupid. Smoking
a little too much. You caninvoke the birth spirit for a
start to a new venture. You canmeditate sitting under a birch
(24:33):
for you know, resilience, youcan incorporate it into charms
for love and protection andwisdom and all sorts of things.
birch is kind of associated as agoddess tree with links to the
Goddess Freya, therefore a lotof people associated with Venus.
It is a beautiful tree. One ofmy favorite trees if not the
(24:54):
favorite. It's not really Idon't know. I I mean just the
color of it the white kind ofgrayish, brownish colors, it's
just got a really strong energyof just renewal change. It's
short lived, it's fast growing,it's very flexible. So a lot of
(25:19):
times it's associated with theelement of air. Scott Cunningham
and some other sources kind ofsay water perhaps thinking of
the trees, abundant SAP, or itsplanetary attributions, you do
have to be careful and I knowthis personally. As I said, You
know, I do ask for permissionbefore I take a branch or
(25:41):
something for a wand orwhatever. And sometimes about
once a year, I typically have toprune my trees anyway, just to
keep them healthy. But I willtell you that when you prune a
birch tree, if you cut even asmall branch off, you will think
that it is just straight waterpouring out of the tree. birch
(26:02):
trees SAP is very, theconsistency is a lot lightwater.
slightly thicker, but not much.And it does even look like water
doesn't really have much of asmell to it's not very sticky,
like traditional SAP. So you dohave to be careful if you're
going to do that to make sure toput something on the spot where
(26:25):
you cut at just to kind of sealit up protect it from any kind
of disease or anything likethat, but also keep it from
losing too much of it SAP that'sjust my own thing. That's not
anything I have seen on theinternet. I have seen people
talking about how abundant thesap is. And in abundance, it
also pours out so just be verycareful with that you want to
(26:48):
take care of our friends innature, it also corresponds
Burt's does to the color white,the number one and a lot of
times the time between y'all andimbolc on pagan calendars. So as
far as things that you can domagically, with birch you can
write wishes on birch paper andburn them to make them come
(27:10):
true. It's long been hailed as aprotective charm against bad Fey
and Ireland to cradle made frombirch was said to protect the
sleeping baby from being carriedoff. You can also carry a birch
charm in your pocket to ward offhexes and tricks. a broom or
bezel made from birch twigspurifies the home or ritual
(27:33):
space. You can sweep the dustout with birds at yield tide so
that blessings can flow in forthe needle for the new new year.
I can't fucking talk everybody.birch rods are used and European
folk magic rituals to drive outevil spirits. A birch tree bow
or carving near the front doorwill prevent evil wishers from
(27:55):
entering the home. You can burnpieces of birch bark as a
purifying incense. Essential Oiland infusions of birch may be
added to the cleansing floorwashes and a birch log burned at
your will bring luck andprosperity for the arrival of
spring. If you're in like say anapartment, condo or a place
(28:18):
where you can't have a fireplaceor a fire going, you can use a
White Candle wrapped in birchpaper or scented with birch
essential oil as well. And lastbut not least, as I said that I
do a magic one made from birchis ideal for protective magic
and inspiration. birch is a veryamazing tree, it's generally
(28:39):
safe for external ritual use.And for food use and moderate
quantities like I say they'vemade teas from it. Essential Oil
could from a birch be a possibleskin irritant as anything could
essential oils in general. So besure to dilute those tests that
before putting it straight onyour skin if you use it that
(29:00):
way. And it does contain methylsalicylates, which is the same
ingredient in aspirin. So don'tuse it with any blood thinning
medications or anything likethat. Anybody with bleeding
disorders and whatnot. So thescent profile, as I said, is
kind of like a wintergreen ormaybe like a root beer kind of
(29:23):
Woody and smoky correspondencesare with Venus and the moon or
air and water. And yeah, that isthe magic and magical properties
of one of my favorite things innature, the birch tree. So I
hope that you learn somethingabout the birch there. If you
(29:44):
have any questions about thatagain, or if you want to see
some pictures, let me know. LikeI say in Vermont, there are a
lot of birch trees and I havequite a bit on my own property.
So just let me know and I'll behappy to answer this. I'm going
to take another quick pause andthen I will be right back with
your Tarot poll for the comingweek.
(30:30):
And welcome back. So now we aregoing to do a weekly tarot pull.
This is something that I'm goingto start doing. I do it for
myself. I do a daily Tarot pollfor myself, I do a weekly tarot
poll for myself. Sometimes I doa seven card spread for the
weekly poll. Sometimes I just doa single card that kind of sums
(30:53):
up the upcoming week and what Ineed to look for so really
depends I am getting more andmore into Tarot or Tarot, as my
grandmother would call it. Moreso than I used to be. I've
always been more drawn to likeseances, pendulums, things like
that. And I still do a lot. Imean, a lot of work with my
(31:17):
pendulum. But I do I have alwaysdone Tarot. I've very rarely
done readings for people, someclose friends and family, and of
course myself. But I am startingto do more and more readings.
And I'm kind of liking it, Idon't know. So I started to
incorporate this in season two,I think that it's gonna be cool
(31:40):
and fun. And so basically what Ido is I kind of go into a alpha
brainwave state, I meditate downinto that. And then I
concentrate on just giving me anoutlook on the upcoming week for
my listeners. And then I pull acard. And this is what I came up
(32:03):
with, for all of you for theupcoming week. seven of swords.
So basically, when the seven ofswords card blows into a
reading, kind of a nudge to comeup with some new schemes or new
tactics and schemes. Sounds kindof kind of has a negative
connotation to it, but itdoesn't always mean something
(32:26):
bad. Just come up with a newplan, you know, just something
different to switch it up a bit.Be clever, be creative this
week. It also denotes a smart,resourceful person, somebody who
avoids or evades confrontation,and by doing so shrewdly takes
the wind out of their opponent'ssails. So look at things from a
(32:49):
new perspective, come up with anew solution to the same
problems think outside of thebox, and you're going to
experience a victory and abreakthrough. So your key words
are takeaways for this week foryour tarot card poll. new ideas,
new solutions, thinking outsidethe box relying on your street
(33:11):
smarts, your common sense,evading confrontation being very
cunning, insightful andforesight false. So there you
have it, your weekly tarot cardpoll, the seven of swords.
(33:51):
And we are back everybody. So asthe title denotes, and as I've
said, and as I've teasedslightly on Instagram this week,
and by the way, if you're new tothe show, welcome. Go ahead and
catch yourself up when you havetime on season one, particularly
Episode One was the episodewhere I kind of dive deep into
(34:15):
my past, you know, myupbringing, things like that. I
had a Christian upbringing, butalso a witchy upbringing. You
Yeah, just dive into episode oneand season one and you'll find
out more about me than you everwant to know. But I do tease a
lot of times by posts and thingsthat I make on ad set of a which
(34:39):
pod on Instagram, the upcomingtitle sometimes I'll kind of
give you what the upcomingepisode is going to be about.
Sometimes I just use it so it'sa lot of fun, but this week,
because beltane comethapproaches. We are talking about
that beltane is one of myFavorite sabots salwen been the
(35:03):
number one, you'll been probablymy second and a close third
would be beltane. And those kindof swap back and forth from time
to time depending on my mood.
But beltane honors life. It's afire Festival, which we'll go
more into as well. But ithonors life It represents like
(35:28):
the coming of spring, thebeginning or I would say the
coming of spring, but itrepresents kind of the climax of
spring, the coming of summer isthe better way to put that the
energies of Earth are kind of attheir strongest and most active.
Life is just kind of blowing up.There's fertility everywhere you
(35:51):
look flowers and trees andplants are blooming, and
everything else at this timeduring the will of the year. And
on May Eve, the sexuality orfertility of life and the earth
is at its peak. abundantfertility, on all levels is
(36:11):
really the central theme ofbeltane the Goddess has reached
her fullness, she's themanifestation of growth and
renewal. Flora the goddess ofspring, the May Queen the Mae
bride, the young oak King, asjack in the green, as the green
man falls in love with her andkind of wins her hand the union
(36:34):
is consummated, the May Queenbecomes pregnant, and together
the May Queen and the making aresymbols of the sacred marriage,
the union of earth and sky andthis union has been reacted or
reacted reenacted by humansthroughout the centuries, it's
called the night of theGreenwood marriage by a lot of
(36:57):
people. Again, it's just aboutsensuality, passion, joy,
vitality, sexuality, fertility,and conception. It's a really
fun time and the will of theyear it's a great time to bring
ideas, hopes, dreams, andeverything else about and also
(37:17):
just have some fun. As I said,beltane is a fire festival, one
of the eight sabots. Sobasically the for Dark sabots
sourin. And I say dark inquotation marks doesn't mean
evil or anything else. So ifyou're new to witchcraft, that's
not what I mean. Dark sabot saysin light and dark sound when
(37:40):
you'll imbolc and a star or thedark Sabbath, they've kind of
come and gone and it's startingthe light half of the will of
the year. The word beltaneoriginates from the Celtic God
Bell bl, meaning the bright one,and the Gaelic word. Time I
don't know if I'm even sayingthat right, T i n e m, probably
(38:04):
slaughtering that, which meansfire. Together they make bright
fire or goodly fire. Andtraditionally, bonfires were
lit, honoring the sun andencouraging the support of Bell
and the sun's light to nurture,emerging, harvest and protect
the community. pagan cultureshad their own version of a
(38:26):
festival marking the beginningof summer around the same time.
In England, the holiday becameknown as Mayday. And one of the
distinct customs that reallynever died out entirely it did
for a bit, but then it wasrevived, was dancing around the
maypole. It's a tall woodenpole, which was said to kind of
(38:46):
represent virility. Typically,people would gather flowers and
green branches and decorate themaypole, or they would use
brightly colored ribbons, you'veprobably seen images of ribbons
being interwoven around themaypole of all different colors.
Many pagans and witchesincorporate this tradition into
(39:08):
their beltane celebrations nowas well. So being a fire
festival fire is a big focus atbeltane. So much so that lots of
places Eden Berg actually has avery popular festival that
they've been doing for a longtime. They don't classify it as
pagan or about witchcraft oranything like that. Just more or
(39:32):
less than reviving the old ways,I think is how they worded it or
something, but it has a hugeturnout. And so that is
something that goes on and thosego on all over, and ancient
Irish cultures, from which thename savate is borrowed. People
would light giant fires sacredfires on this day to purify and
(39:56):
protect their cattle fromillness. They would walk there
Battle or drive them between twofires to ritually cleanse them
and connect them with the sun.And it was also considered good
blood for people to jump over abonfire at this time. Make sure
you jump higher, that's a lowfire or that may not work out
(40:16):
well for you. But, yeah, I'msure there were lots of mishaps
with that. But yeah, it was goodluck to jump over a bonfire. And
that's another beltane ritualthat you can still find in a lot
of celebrations for beltane tothis day, particularly Wiccan
(40:37):
celebrations. And again, most ofyou know, I don't classify
myself as Wiccan, I practicewitchcraft, I am a witch. But I
am not Wiccan. So I don't dothat, but I have heard of that.
I have seen it. I've neverparticipated in anything like
that. Bill had to be won overthough, through human efforts.
(40:58):
So that's why all these thingswere done. And some of this I
borrowed from a really good bookcalled sacred celebrations by
gwynnie. Kindred. So if you wantto check that out. Now, the word
beltane actually comes from anancient Celtic word. And it
again meant bright fire, so it'shighly appropriate to include
(41:21):
some kind of fire and yourcelebrations. I've been to one I
went to one a year ago,actually, where we had a big
massive bonfire. And they had anold Christmas tree that dried
out, and a whole cannabis plantthat had dried out, and some
other things. And we threw thoseon the fire and I have pictures,
(41:44):
I'll post some of those. Theythe fire got massive. And it was
a lot of fun. We tied wishes toone of the trees before we put
it on the fire. And it had aspecial like potpourri type
incense that one of theattendees had made for everyone.
(42:04):
It was just amazing. We had afun night of just hanging out
and drinking, and celebratingand getting blazed in more ways
than one and just all sorts offun. And yeah, it was very nice.
It was right at the beginning.This is right before everything
(42:25):
really blew up with COVID. So itwas kind of the last time I
remember really getting togetherwith a bunch of people, but we
had a good time. So that was howwe incorporate a fire. But you
know, if you can't do like sayan outdoor fire, or even an
(42:47):
indoor at a fireplace, then youcan still decorate your altar
with images of fire. Or if youhave a mini cauldron, you can
place it over like some scrapsof red and orange paper for like
a symbolic fire you can lightred and orange candles on either
side to symbolize that. You cankit. I've even known people that
(43:08):
have gotten a little sterno canslike you would use for catering
and things to keep food warm.And put that under a cauldron
and do some things like that. Sothere's lots of ways you can get
around that. Another way tocelebrate that was done in days
of yore was going umaine andwhether you were going to hand
(43:30):
fast or not young and old wentumaine a dash m a y i and G
couples spent the night in thewoods and in the fields and if
you watch the chillingAdventures of Sabrina Sabrina,
you'll remember an episode wherethey kind of did this. But
couples would spend the night inthe woods and fields made love
(43:51):
brought back armfuls of thefirst Mayer Hawthorne blossoms
then decorated their homes andtheir barns and buildings.
Hawthorn was never brought intothe home accepted beltane. At
other times, it was consideredunlucky. But during beltane they
would do that young womengathered due to wash their faces
made flower crowns made basketsto give us gifts. And everyone
(44:14):
was just free to enact thesacred marriage of Goddess and
God and there was an acceptedtradition that there would be
beltane babies arriving aroundnine months later. handfasting
as I mentioned a moment ago isthe great wedding. Well, beltane
is the great wedding of thegoddess and God and it's a
(44:37):
popular time for pagan or witchweddings or hand fastings as
they're more commonly known, andit's more or less a traditional
betrayal. It was often for ayear in a day after which the
couple would either choose tostay together or you could part
ways without any hard feelings.Today the length of commitment
(44:57):
is a matter of choice for thecouple And it can often be for
life more like a traditionalmarriage. And fasting ceremonies
are often unique to the couple,but include common elements,
most importantly, the exchangeof vows and rings or a token of
their choice. The act ofhandfasting always though,
(45:18):
involves tying the hands orhandfasting. tying the knot is a
common phrase people say, andthat's where that came from. Of
the two people involved. You dothat in a figure of eight at
some point in the ceremony andthen later unbind it it's done.
Typically with red cord or redribbon, you tie the hands
(45:38):
together, and that symbolizesthat the two people have come
together. And then when youuntie it, it means that they
remain together of their ownfreewill. Another common element
that you may have seen or heardis jumping the broomstick. And
that kind of goes back to whentwo people who couldn't afford a
church ceremony or just didn'twant one would be accepted in
(46:00):
the community as a marriedcouple. If they literally jumped
over a broom laid on the floor.The broom marked a threshold and
it symbolized them moving froman old life to a new one. Other
ways you can celebrate beltaneinclude making a wedding feast
for the god and goddess. You canuse different grains or cereals
(46:23):
or oatmeal, cookies, dairy, anyof those types of things can all
be beltane treats. You caninclude seasonal spring veggies,
if you have any that you'vegrown as yourself if you live in
an area where you can already beproducing veggies even better,
but if not, and you're the storeand get some for a feast, you
(46:46):
can gather flowers and greenleaves decorate your altar with
that meat and cakes are sharedoften as communion and part of
the ceremony. mead is known asthe brew of the Divine. It's
made from a honey, which is alsoappropriate for a love ceremony.
And as far as I know, it's theoldest alcoholic drink known to
(47:08):
mankind. If you know of oneolder, let me know. But I've
done some research and I thinkmeat is the oldest. Many people
like to create a mini maypolefor their altar and they
decorate it with ribbons. If youhave long hair, you can braid it
as a symbol of the union betweenthe goddess and the God. You can
weave in some wild flowers ortree blossoms. Traditionally,
(47:32):
couples would spend the wholenight outdoors romping in the
fields in the forest as wetalked about before. But if
that's not practical, you couldtake a long walk with your
sweetie somewhere out in nature.If you're single, you could just
enjoy a few hours of communingor meditating with the spirit
world in a really nice, naturalsetting. The important thing
(47:54):
though, is to just make sure youspend some time outdoors if
possible, most beltanecelebrations had largely died
out throughout Celtic regionsuntil the mid 20th century, when
some of these were revived bythe emergence of the modern Neo
pagan movement, which I hatethat movement, or the term. I
(48:16):
prefer modern witches even morethan that. But for modern
witches beltane is a celebrationhonoring nature's just really
fertile energy at this time ofthe year. It's I mean, nature's
just stunning in its own way. Ithas a natural ability to just
(48:37):
rip reproduce, to rejuvenate torepair itself. And it's
important to honor the powerthat that holds power that we as
humans also share as caretakersin a way of the earth. So right
now it's just bursting withfertile energy. And it's time to
(48:57):
acknowledge and celebrate thatour modern culture has kind of
developed a really extremelycomplicated and just messed up
view of sex instead of honoringit our cultural views. It is
shameful, immoral, something tokeep hidden. It's not something
(49:18):
that's commonly discussed, letalone celebrated. But beltane
reminds us that, that as well.The sexual aspect of our
humanity is not only a crucialcomponent of life, but it's also
a really divine and sacred one.It's a powerful time of the year
to reconnect with your ownsexual energy. It's not simply
(49:42):
that it has the power to createlife, but it's also that it
brings pleasure it's amazing andsacred and you should enjoy it.
And that was a little cert fromthe seasonal soul calm so that's
another cool site that you cancheck out. But I just really
liked the way that was wordedSome things you can do, you can
(50:03):
light a beltane firetraditionally, fires were lit at
beltane there was a special firelit for belting itself with all
other fires extinguished, andthen they would be re lit with
the beltane fire. couples havejumped through the fire as an
act of a union hoping that itwould bring blessings and
fertility. So you could light afire in your fireplace or if you
(50:26):
have room outdoors to make abonfire, you could do that. If
not, again, we talked aboutdecorate your altar with a
symbolic fire. eat fresh springfoods, think about things that
you want to bring into beingwhether it be a new idea, a new
venture, you know, arelationship, a baby, anything,
(50:49):
you know, kind of energize eachother's plans and dreams
listening to each other and thentake turns jumping the fire if
you have a safe way to do that.If you're in a relationship, we
can renew your intentions oryour vows with one another. Just
goes without saying that youshould enjoy this time and
celebrate it in every way thatyou can. You can create things
(51:12):
together. That's another way tocelebrate it. It's a festival of
fertility. So it's a time ofgiving thanks for that. So you
could harness that by doingsomething as a family, you could
plant a garden, write a story,you could work on an art project
together just bring somethingnew into life and being at that
(51:33):
time, you could seek out the FEjust as souren is a time when
the veils are thin so as beltaneIt's a time of magic a time of
wonder, when miraculous thingsseem to happen. So you might
like to set off on an adventurelooking for the fairies. With
your children. You could seekout discarded fairy hats or
(51:54):
acorn caps on a riverbank orsoft bedding or moss in the
woods. You can make little fairyhouses, they'll enjoy it, you'll
enjoy it and you'll appease theFE in the process. So you could
also go camping, getting outsidethis time of year is also good
if the weather permits, or justlying on the back in your yard
(52:18):
and gazing at the stars or theclouds roasting some
marshmallows telling stories.Watching a sunrise just enjoy
life to its fullest. So thoseare just some ways you can
celebrate. I will tell you someWoods being that I told you I do
make ones from some of the birchwood I have that I have found to
(52:41):
be associated with beltane threeof the major ones and then I'll
give you some others too. ButHawthorne is a really magical
tree. We mentioned Hawthorneearlier. It's the I don't know
it's just very magical. You canlook it up a little more in
depth but traditionally beltanebegan when the Hawthorn
(53:02):
blossomed it's the tree ofsexuality and fertility and it's
the classic flower to decorate amaple with it was both worn and
used decorate the home atbeltane. birch, as we talked
about earlier is regarded as afeminine tree are a goddess
tree. And the deities associatedwith birch are mostly love and
(53:24):
fertility goddesses. It's one ofthe first trees to show life and
spring and birch twigs weretraditionally used to make
bosoms or a new broom that yousweep things clean width, and
maples are often made from birchand birch reeds are given as
lovers gifts. Rowan probably mysecond favorite tree or closely
(53:47):
tied with birch fir first is atree of protection and healing.
branches of Rowan were placed asprotection over the doors of
houses and barns at beltane toprotect from increased FAA
activity as they work from theirwinter slumber. sprigs were worn
for protection also and Rowanberries have a tiny five pointed
(54:08):
star on the bottom that isreminiscent of the pentagram.
Also the apple grapevine Hazeloak and Willow are woods that
are also associated withbeltane. So we've talked a lot
about beltane. Hopefully youhave a better idea of it. The
(54:28):
reason I wanted to do this andI'm going to do it for each
sabbat going forward until we'vecovered them all is because I
have found that especially ifyou're new to the craft, you may
not be up to speed on a lot ofthings yet. The Wheel of the
Year is not something thateverybody closely follows. Some
(54:50):
are very adherent to it some notat all some in the middle, I
fall more in the middle, thereare certain sabots that I really
go all out for and some that IJust kind of honor. But I do
honor them all in some way. Andit's important to whether you
celebrate or observe them or notto at least know of them. You've
(55:10):
heard me if you've listenedsince the beginning, say before,
and I'll say again, it's thesame with the history of
witchcraft and witches, you needto know the history of where
you're from, before you reallydive too deep into anything. I
am a witch. I am a practicingwitch for many, many years now.
(55:32):
But I grew up in a Christianhousehold as well. I can cite
you scripture from the Bible.I've read the Bible front to
back numerous times. But I'vemet Christians who could not say
either of those things. Soagain, whether it be witchcraft,
whether it be Christianity,whether it be whatever, you need
to know the background, and youneed to know the history and
(55:54):
everything else, instead of justjumping on and going.
So I am going to give you acouple of ideas that you can do
as well to celebrate this habit.So I'm going to give you an egg
charm. This is something you cando at beltane. Now be careful
(56:14):
what you wish for general ruleof thumb is to use a brown egg
for wishes involving animals andwhite for wishes, involving
people in plants. For example,if you want to heal a sick
animal, person or plant youwould use the brown eggs. Eggs
white shells are difficult tocome by now, as chickens are
(56:37):
generally given feed which kindof produces the brown but in
recent years, some of thesupermarket's are making white
eggs available more so. Soeither way for whichever egg
you're using, you're going toblow the egg so you're going to
use a fat needle, Pierce a holein both ends of the egg, making
one hole larger than the other.You're going to use the needle
(56:58):
to pierce the yolk. gently swirlit around a little to break up
the yolk and then place a smalldrinking straw on one end and
gently blow through the otherhole to help gravity do its
work. Now you're gonna paintyour egg talisman or charm. When
your egg is thoroughly driedout, you're gonna place it on
top of a little mound of bluetack or can't find that get some
(57:22):
tape, tape it together, stick itto the table, put it on that to
hold it in place and you'reready to go. Choose a symbol to
represent your wish a heart forlove a coin for prosperity, a
candle for wisdom, whatever youchoose, and then paint the egg
in a corresponding color red forlove green for prosperity,
purple for wisdom and so on.Another way to do it is to stick
(57:45):
rose petals on for love orfeathers for fertility again,
whatever is meaningful to youthat's important to you. When
it's ready, find a suitableplace for it and prepare it for
hanging by threading, thenthread you can use embroidery
thread or you know somethinglike that through the two holes
and secure it with a large not abead or even a match stick at
(58:08):
the bottom to hold it steady.clear your mind and focus on
your desire for the abundanceand fruitfulness of what it is
you're asking and its place inyour life. And say little charm
made of shell as I hang you heremay all be well may all things
grow may all things flow,blessings for the turning of the
wheel. You can use those wordsor any words you're comfortable
(58:31):
with. It's really just all aboutyour intention at that point. So
there you go. You've got an eggcharm that you can do for
beltane. You can also Googlebeltaine wish box that said
another popular wish spell Iguess you could call it that you
do.
And then I'm going to give youthis recipe for beltaine bread.
(58:51):
So what you're going to need isthree mugs of strong white
flour. 500 milliliters ofbuttermilk, one teaspoon
bicarbonate of soda, threetablespoons of clear honey,
three tablespoons of goldensyrup or Kero syrup, something
like that. One pack of driedstrawberries, three drops of
(59:12):
vanilla, one small beaten eggand you're going to use that for
glazing and some soft brownsugar for sprinkling. So you're
going to place the strawberriesin the flour in a large bowl,
make a well in the center andpour in the buttermilk. That
golden syrup or carrier syrup,maple syrup, whatever honey and
vanilla essence and you're goingto pour those all in the center
(59:35):
of that little well that youmade with a wooden spoon or if
with your hands and as you mixyou're going to fill the pulsing
vibrant beltane energy and letit run through your hands and
out through your fingertips. Asyou're mixing this together say
as we light the beltane flameand make this bread and love
sweet name, two halves togetherbound as one beltane stance as
(59:59):
now. Put on, turn the dough outonto a lightly floured board.
And wait, you're not sayingthat.
Turn the dough. Once you've saidthat out onto a lightly floured
board and pat it into a circlewith a sharp knife kind of score
the bread lightly into twohalves to represent the Lord and
(01:00:20):
the lady or the God and thegoddess glaze with a beaten egg
and sprinkle sugar over the top,you're going to bake that and an
oven for about 20 to 25 minutes.And when the bread is cooled,
break it into two halves alongthe score mark, you're going to
repeat the words of the charmand tie with purple ribbon.
(01:00:41):
Purple represents the union ofred or love, and blue unity and
harmony. Now, I didn't find anauthor for this recipe, and it
didn't give the temperature atwhich you would bake this at I'm
assuming it's going to be atabout 350. So I am going to test
(01:01:02):
it this week. And I will updateit if it needs to be changed.
But let's just go with 350 forabout 20 to 25 minutes. And that
is some beltane bread, you canmake that and put it on your
altar as a gift or to symbolizea great wedding feast for the
(01:01:23):
god and goddess, you can make itand eat it in your own
celebrations, however you wish.
But that is all about beltane.So we are right at the hour
mark, we're going to go aheadandcut this and that is going to be
a wrap on season two episodeone. What is beltane
celebrations and origins. So Ihope you enjoyed that. I hope
(01:01:46):
you learned something. And Ihope that you have an amazing
week, please, please continue toembrace that power within you
your own power your innerwitchiness and be that badass
boss, which that I know you canbe and that we all are. I love
you all I hope that you tune inagain next week. If you missed
(01:02:09):
any episodes from last season,go ahead and catch up on those
because we're gonna have a lotmore coming your way soon. Don't
forget, I've got that interviewwith an amazing author come in
next weekend, you're going tolove that. And keep your eyes
and ears open for that bonusepisode all about one division,
(01:02:29):
how witchcraft is coming intothe MCU. With my cousin Shane,
that's going to be a lot of funtoo. I do have some updates
coming to the website, which iswww dot son of a witch pod.com
that I'm going to be working onin the next week or two. So
there's going to be a lot ofdifferent fun things added
(01:02:49):
there. I've also got somehandmade items that I'm doing.
And to get to that for right nowuntil it goes to the website,
you can click the link in thebio of @sonofawitchpod on
Instagram, that's going to takeyou to my link tree and then you
would click Buy me a coffee.You're going to go there and
(01:03:10):
you'll see a link to where youcan buy. I have digital print
outs of a pendulum chart thatI've done. And then I also make
these Tarot mat slash wraps thatyou can wrap your cards in when
you're on the go unwrap them andalready have a really smooth,
soft surface to do your readingon. Those come in different
(01:03:34):
fabrics. So you can check thatout if you want to support the
show. Otherwise, I hope that youall tune in again. It's been
great being back behind thismicrophone making more content
for you. And I hope you have afantastic week.
What do I want you to do?
Stay witchy
Hey everybody, welcome back to son of a witch podcast
season dos, season two. That isright, I am back in the
studio... Holy fucking shit, Iam back in the studio. And I'm
sorry. But I'm going to get alittle crazy because I have been
dying to get behind mymicrophone again, I'm going to
(00:54):
go ahead and do a real briefsynopsis. I'm not going to get
into great detail because I'm apretty private person. And if
you keep up with the show, youknow a lot of this anyway,
possibly, but just want to giveyou an idea of what kept me from
getting back so quickOriginally, I think the last
episode I released was at thevery beginning of January. And
(01:18):
originally the plan was for meto take, I don't know, a month,
maybe a month and a half off,and then come back and start up
season two, I just really at thebeginning wanted a break, just
kind of some downtime. I hadbeen since last August doing a
weekly show and sometimes dailycast and bonus episodes and
(01:43):
things like that non stop untilthe end of the year. And by the
time I looked at it, I was Idon't know 20 something episodes
in total. And see you figureabout a little over five months
straight of every week workingon the show had kind of burned
me out just a little bit notburned me out. I guess that's
(02:05):
the wrong term. I would say Iwas just burning the candle at
both ends. I was extremelytired, because I was also
working my day job that I haveto work so that I can keep doing
the show. And yeah, it was justcrazy. I started that hiatus
right at the beginning of whenmy step mom passed. That was
(02:27):
unexpected. She was in her 60s.And huge part of my life. She is
my brother's mom, my halfbrother technically, but we
don't really look at it thatway. And I just about helped
raise him he's almost 11 yearsyounger than I so I had to go
down south to be with him and tobe with family. And that was
(02:51):
rough man. It was just out ofthe blue. And we weren't
expecting it as I said, and thenshortly after that I had a
family member that had beendiagnosed with cancer. And they
had surgery. And luckily thatwas removed. so far. So good.
Things are looking good. And butthat was a big scare, had to go
(03:12):
down and spend two or threeweeks taking care of that. And
keep in mind every time I haveto do this, I'm having to do the
quarantine thing because I'mtraveling when I come back home.
So if I go down for two weeks,you might as well tack on
another week and a half to twoweeks at the end of that for me
to do that. Because I've beenplaying it very safe. And yeah,
(03:35):
so we dodged that. And then asmost of you may know, or a lot
of you anyway, I guess about amonth and a half ago, my mom had
gone into the hospital downsouth with COVID. And she spent
about three weeks or well fortotal and critical care unit.
(03:56):
The last week of that she was ona ventilator she would have good
days and then she would havereally bad days and then she'd
have really good days and thenit was just back and forth. We
couldn't see her because ofCOVID obviously, and they didn't
have the ability for us toFaceTime with her. My brother
and I didn't keep her on thephone very often because she
(04:18):
would get winded after just amoment or two of speaking. And
sadly in the end, I had flowndown the day they were going to
let us start seeing her I gotdown late afternoon and the way
it was set up. My brother hadalready seen her that evening. I
was gonna go in the next morningbecause you could only do one
(04:39):
person in the morning one personin the evening. And sadly she
lost her fight late that eveningand I'm not going to go too in
depth with it. By the time shepassed, she was free of COVID
but it was complications causedby COVID that in ended up taking
(05:00):
her so that was unexpected. Mymom was in her mid 60s. And
yeah, I don't know what else tosay. It still is kind of sending
me for a loop. It's only beenmaybe just under a month since
(05:21):
it happened. And I don't know,she loved me doing the show. She
loved how happy it made me. Sheloved the fact that I was
reaching other people. And Idon't know she loved it. She
couldn't quite figure out thetechnology for iPhone to how to
download episodes to listen toepisodes. But she did listen to
(05:43):
some and the fact that my otherbrother, Kyle listened a lot as
well and enjoyed it just madeher immensely happy. So
Henceforth, this show isdedicated to the memory of my
mom, rest her soul, she issorely missed, sorely missed, I
still can't believe... we usedto catch up weekly on the phone.
(06:06):
And it's just been rough. I'vehad moments where I've gone to
pick up my phone out of habitjust to call her. And then I
kind of catch myself. So allthat to say there have been a
lot of things going on. Nothingthat can be avoided, and nothing
that anything could be doneabout it was beyond our control.
(06:28):
My mom, I did have myself anddamn near 100 other witches
doing remote healing on her onthe daily. And I'm a firm
believer that that's why shemade it as far as she did,
because she was not doing goodfor the pretty much the entirety
of the time she was in thehospital. So that's that season
(06:53):
two is going to be for her. Andthat's why I went ahead and
jumped back into this I havebeen dealing with, again, things
that are beyond anyone'scontrol, but dealing with things
that have been heart wrenchingand depressing. And I don't
know, I'm just tired of it. AndI'm ready to get back on my
grind. I missed this show. Forone thing, even though it's just
(07:17):
me talking and you listening. Itfeels kind of like a
conversation with me thefeedback I get from it. I don't
know, I just I enjoyed doing it.So this is cathartic for me. And
that's how we're gonna look atthat's where I'm at. Other than
that, everything else is prettydamn good. My partner and I are
(07:39):
doing really well. Our furbabiesare doing good. Our chickens are
double lane. We're talking aboutgetting goats and now hopefully
some fainting goats because fuckall that's hilarious. As I've
said before, I'll say again, ifyou have fainting goats, you
never have a bad day you gethome. Ooh, and the goats does
(08:00):
freeze up and fall. You know,it's hilarious. And yes, I've
looked into it, it doesn't hurtthem. So you know, it's just a
nervous reaction that they have,but they don't get hurt from it.
And it's, I mean, you go Googlefainting goats right now and not
laugh out loud. And we need tohave a serious conversation
because something's wrong.They're just fucking nuts. So
(08:23):
yeah, so things are going goodon that front. The job is going
well, I'm loving that my son isdoing well. He's down south,
he's actually getting ready tomake a move. His mom is getting
transferred. And they are movingstill in the state of Georgia,
but due to a different part ofthe state. And he's kind of
(08:44):
excited and a little nervousabout that. So that's cool. Now
to get back to the show. I'mgoing to catch up on a few
things and let you know what'scoming up. First of all, I've
been kind of teasing that I havesome episodes in the can as I
kept saying, and I do I've gottwo other episodes besides this
(09:05):
one that are already done justwaiting to release one of those.
I'm going to probably go aheadand do as a bonus episode this
coming week, probably mid week.And that is because that is
about one division. It's mycousin Shane and I if you'd
listened to last season and youcaught sound special part one,
you would remember it because wetalk about seances with our
(09:27):
grandmother ,we talk aboutJapanese ghosts and monsters
we've talked about Charleston,South Carolina goes to monsters
we we've talked about theSuicide Forest, all sorts of fun
stuff. So that was one of mymore popular episodes. It's one
of the ones that I enjoyedrecording the most to because
Shane and I have grown uptogether. We're almost like
(09:48):
brothers and we are family Pope.We're almost like brothers. And
so it's a lot of fun just tokind of hang out I had to out of
that episode last season. I hadto edit probably a little over
two hours worth of stuff out.versus just getting off on a
tangent having fun jokingaround. But all that to say that
(10:10):
we did an episode about onedivision and kind of tied in how
Marvel is now getting intowitchcraft and magic a little
more so than they did with Dr.Strange. I mean, that kind of
touches on it a bit, butwandavision actually delves into
witchcraft as an art. And sothat was kind of cool. We tied
(10:33):
in what was real, what wasn'tgave her thoughts on the show,
because we're a couple of comicbook nerds. And that was a video
interview. So you're going toget to see Shane in front of his
wall of comics. And you'll seewhat I mean, when you see that,
and you'll get to see a lot ofhis memorabilia and stuff that
(10:53):
he's got at his house. And itwas a lot of fun. So I'm gonna
go ahead and release that thisweek. So by now if you haven't
finished one division that's onyou. So if you get spoilers,
I'll let you know at thebeginning of the episode, but if
you get spoilers, that's yourfault. So having said that, I'm
going to try to do one aboutFalcon and Winter Soldier now
(11:15):
that that's over, we're gonnaput our heads together and give
our thoughts on what we feltabout that show. I personally
loved it. I'll get more indetail with him. But yeah, it
was an amazing show. And I'mgonna start trying to do a
little, maybe a bonus episode oneach of the shows. The next one
I think to come out is Loki inJune. And so that'll be fun,
(11:38):
too. They've already announcedthat that will have more than
one season. So Excuse me. That'salways something to look forward
to. As most of you know, ifyou're new to the show, he won't
but I am a huge comic book geek.I love comics, particularly
Marvel, but all comics and yeah.So that's that. And then I also
(11:59):
have another episode. It is alsoa video interview. And it is
with a major author. This authorhas over 30 books published and
is a huge author in ourcommunity. And I've been a fan
of theirs since before I evenstarted this show since mommy
(12:22):
for years, I've followed theirwork and admired their work. And
through happenstance people thatwe both were mutual friends
with, we got together kind ofget to chat, get to pick their
brain about you know whatbrought them into the world of
(12:43):
writing books and lecturing andtraveling, talking and things
like that. So many of you willknow exactly who it is, I am
going to keep you guessingthough, it is going to be so
much fun. So for right nowyou're going to have to keep
guessing, but that episode willair this coming week, today is
(13:04):
going to be Sunday. So that willcome out hopefully next
Saturday, this episode wassupposed to come out yesterday.
But I had to work and they endedup keeping me there longer than
I was supposed to. So by thetime I got home, I crashed, I
was exhausted. That's just alittle bit of what's to come.
I'm also going to be starting aYouTube channel with my brother.
(13:30):
So that's not going to bewitchcraft related, it's just
going to be more or less, moreor less like you get into see us
just how we are when we justhang out, we end up talking
about current events, popculture, just riffing on each
other roasting each other andother people and just
(13:52):
observational comedy and it'sjust hilarious. So it's gonna be
both of us when we're blazed.Just sitting in front of a
camera, shooting the shit andhaving a hilarious time. We have
tested it with some of ourfriends and family. And it has
been very well received andgotten lots of laughs So we're
(14:14):
gonna do that. It's kind of likeour way. It was strange enough
that my brother lost his mom atthe beginning of the year. And
then three months later, I losemy mom, and both of them way
before their time. So we decidedto do this to have fun. And
that's what we're gonna do. So Iwill keep you posted on how
(14:36):
that's going. I'm going to keepdoing this show every week of
course, and I'm hoping I can'tmake promises depending on my
schedule, but I'm hoping in thenext month, I will be able to
get the daily cast back. Ifyou're new to the show. The
Daily cast are were a 10 to 15minute little blurb that I would
post daily for a while givingyou a tarot card. for the day,
(15:01):
giving you just some witchy tipsand advice and things like that
current events, that sort ofthing. So I'm hoping to get back
to that I had a lot of fun doingthat. But even though it's only
10 minutes, there's a lot oftime that goes into making that
little 10 to 15 minute blurb,so, got to find the time to do
that. But without further ado,I've given you enough of a
(15:24):
recap, we're at about the 15minute mark now. So I'm going to
go ahead and cut this short,take a quick pause, grab
something to drink, and then wewill be right back with the
magical item of the week.
(16:03):
Alright, everybody, we are back.And I promised you a magical
item of the week. And I am goingto deliver on that. The magical
item this week is something thatI'm really like myself, I have
some in my yard. I am veryattached to them. And I don't
(16:25):
mean that in the literal sense,but I do have a relationship
with them. I make ones withthem. And I'll get more into
that. But what I am talkingabout is called the white lady
of the woods. birch. birch is atree of just insane strength and
(16:47):
beauty. It's one of the firstplants that sprouts new leaves
in the spring. So it's long beenassociated with renewal. It's
also extremely important inCeltic, European and Native
American folklore. It's a mediumsized, straight green tree that
(17:08):
tends to grow in groups orstands some people will say
groves, but the traditional wayof referring to it is stands.
It's a slender, graceful, veryhardy tree. It's bound all over
the northern hemisphere thrivesin all but the coldest areas of
(17:28):
the North. And most people willrecognize it by its white paper
a bark marked with gray orbrown. Now it says that it
typically doesn't grow in thecoldest parts of the north and
that may be true but I know thatI am in Vermont and there are
birch trees everywhere I havesome in my yard use the wood
(17:48):
from some to make ones andthings like that. I said that
I'm very attached to them I willgo up and literally converse
with this tree and ask for itspermission much as you would ask
for permission before removinggrave dirt things like that. I
asked for permission from thetree. And if it I don't feel
(18:12):
like it's wanting me to then Iwon't I have had some trees
where I've felt that way. Thebirch trees in my yard I do not
get that impression from I'venever had that. But I do love my
birch trees. They are amazingand they are beautiful. And it
talks about the white paperybark. I mean if you've ever seen
one, you know it literally lookslike paper pulling off of the
(18:35):
tree. It's It's really amazing.It's a natural diuretic. Some
people would drink Birch tea tocleanse and detox the urinary
system. It's also usedexternally as a skin tonic and
remedy for sore muscles at birchextract be exact has a fresh
wintergreen kind of aroma andwas once a popular flavoring for
(18:56):
chewing gum and soft drinks. Ifyou don't believe me ask your
grandparents they'll tell youbirch sap, there used to be
birch beer county root beer.birch sap is a reliable winter
food source for a lot of Nativepeople in Siberia. And even in
North America. It's hard andsmooth the wood is and it's got
(19:18):
kind of, I don't know a veryfaint yellowish white color. You
can get it in many differentforms from freshly gathered
twigs, which can be used to makebosoms or brooms and I have done
that. You can also get firewoodof birch. Even fine furniture
(19:39):
veneers is prized as firewoodhowever because it burns without
popping even when you harvest itfresh and it's not completely
cured or dried. It won't poplike a lot of other Woods wood
and the bark and the wood piecesare available as well from like
natural health suppliers.Speaking of it as a fire wood,
(20:00):
that kind of ties in to whatwe're going to be talking about
here in a bit, which is thetopic of this week and I'll get
into that. As you've seen thetitle, it is beltane. So beltane
is a fire festival. We're goingto talk more about that in a
moment. But talking about it asa firewood, it is a wood that is
burned a lot during beltane. So,the birch paper as they call it
(20:25):
in quotation marks, or juststrips of the dried bark is very
valuable and spellcraft. Becareful though when you buy it
because craft stores sometimescarry imitation birch paper or
bark, the essential oil frombirch is also available. It's
usually steam distilled frompulverized bark, and synthetic
(20:48):
birch fragrances don't Well, Iwon't say don't but very rarely
ever get it right. Most smellkind of like minty mouthwash,
sandalwood, things like that.And that's really not what
captures the birches kind ofWoody, almost spicy smell. So
(21:08):
that's just my own personalopinion though. The magical uses
of birch You know, a lot ofpeople in earlier times would
have been amazed to see birchgroves sprouting in barren
northern lands kind of onlyrecently occupied up until that
point by glaciers and thingslike that. They're also
(21:29):
considered a pioneer species,brap and Lee colonizing the land
that was leveled by fire andclear cutting. They sprout fresh
green leaves in early spring, asI was saying, so it's widely
associated with renewaltypically, just as the first
thought begins, hence, birchesage old association with those
(21:50):
things. And magic per se Burj isassociated with Inception and
fertility and sometimes withpurification. So again, very
closely tied in with beltane.birch has a natural antiseptic
property, and it's traditionallyused as I was saying, for a
witch's besam you can use it forbeltane fires, you can use it
(22:13):
for maypoles, Yule logs. birchinto the fire goes in sign of
what the lady knows, is kind ofa traditional Wiccan rhyme
virgin to the fire goes in signof what the lady knows. I
couldn't tell you I'm notwicking. So I don't know that
rhyme. But that's just what thisparticular passage that I got
(22:36):
says. So it also does reallywell in rough acidic soil, cold
climates, which is odd becauseit does said earlier that it
doesn't do well in very coldclimates, but places where
larger deciduous trees cannotgrow. Although it appears
fragile. It's actually extremelystrong. And the spirit of birch
(23:00):
offers kind of courage orprotection to those that kind of
live outside the safe and thenorm, so to speak. A secondary
use of birches for protection,especially psychic protection,
birch groves provide shelter forthe psychoactive fly agric
(23:21):
mushrooms submerge is also apatron of sorts for
hallucinogenic journeyers. Wherebirch is the Guardian, the
wander is said to be safe frommadness, and tricks of the Fae
even it's got the freshinnocence of like the mother,
same generosity, that maternalfeeling, and the silent courage
(23:46):
of the crown. So, you know, ifyou look at the innocence of the
maid and generosity of themothers courage of the Crone,
it's kind of the triple goddesskind of associations is largely
associated with the virtue aswell. It's got long relationship
with humans as like a guide or aprovider. It's got really, in my
(24:12):
opinion, a very positive energy.Very strong though. You can
invert, or invert. Wow, Mike,that was fucking stupid. Smoking
a little too much. You caninvoke the birth spirit for a
start to a new venture. You canmeditate sitting under a birch
(24:33):
for you know, resilience, youcan incorporate it into charms
for love and protection andwisdom and all sorts of things.
birch is kind of associated as agoddess tree with links to the
Goddess Freya, therefore a lotof people associated with Venus.
It is a beautiful tree. One ofmy favorite trees if not the
(24:54):
favorite. It's not really Idon't know. I I mean just the
color of it the white kind ofgrayish, brownish colors, it's
just got a really strong energyof just renewal change. It's
short lived, it's fast growing,it's very flexible. So a lot of
(25:19):
times it's associated with theelement of air. Scott Cunningham
and some other sources kind ofsay water perhaps thinking of
the trees, abundant SAP, or itsplanetary attributions, you do
have to be careful and I knowthis personally. As I said, You
know, I do ask for permissionbefore I take a branch or
(25:41):
something for a wand orwhatever. And sometimes about
once a year, I typically have toprune my trees anyway, just to
keep them healthy. But I willtell you that when you prune a
birch tree, if you cut even asmall branch off, you will think
that it is just straight waterpouring out of the tree. birch
(26:02):
trees SAP is very, theconsistency is a lot lightwater.
slightly thicker, but not much.And it does even look like water
doesn't really have much of asmell to it's not very sticky,
like traditional SAP. So you dohave to be careful if you're
going to do that to make sure toput something on the spot where
(26:25):
you cut at just to kind of sealit up protect it from any kind
of disease or anything likethat, but also keep it from
losing too much of it SAP that'sjust my own thing. That's not
anything I have seen on theinternet. I have seen people
talking about how abundant thesap is. And in abundance, it
also pours out so just be verycareful with that you want to
(26:48):
take care of our friends innature, it also corresponds
Burt's does to the color white,the number one and a lot of
times the time between y'all andimbolc on pagan calendars. So as
far as things that you can domagically, with birch you can
write wishes on birch paper andburn them to make them come
(27:10):
true. It's long been hailed as aprotective charm against bad Fey
and Ireland to cradle made frombirch was said to protect the
sleeping baby from being carriedoff. You can also carry a birch
charm in your pocket to ward offhexes and tricks. a broom or
bezel made from birch twigspurifies the home or ritual
(27:33):
space. You can sweep the dustout with birds at yield tide so
that blessings can flow in forthe needle for the new new year.
I can't fucking talk everybody.birch rods are used and European
folk magic rituals to drive outevil spirits. A birch tree bow
or carving near the front doorwill prevent evil wishers from
(27:55):
entering the home. You can burnpieces of birch bark as a
purifying incense. Essential Oiland infusions of birch may be
added to the cleansing floorwashes and a birch log burned at
your will bring luck andprosperity for the arrival of
spring. If you're in like say anapartment, condo or a place
(28:18):
where you can't have a fireplaceor a fire going, you can use a
White Candle wrapped in birchpaper or scented with birch
essential oil as well. And lastbut not least, as I said that I
do a magic one made from birchis ideal for protective magic
and inspiration. birch is a veryamazing tree, it's generally
(28:39):
safe for external ritual use.And for food use and moderate
quantities like I say they'vemade teas from it. Essential Oil
could from a birch be a possibleskin irritant as anything could
essential oils in general. So besure to dilute those tests that
before putting it straight onyour skin if you use it that
(29:00):
way. And it does contain methylsalicylates, which is the same
ingredient in aspirin. So don'tuse it with any blood thinning
medications or anything likethat. Anybody with bleeding
disorders and whatnot. So thescent profile, as I said, is
kind of like a wintergreen ormaybe like a root beer kind of
(29:23):
Woody and smoky correspondencesare with Venus and the moon or
air and water. And yeah, that isthe magic and magical properties
of one of my favorite things innature, the birch tree. So I
hope that you learn somethingabout the birch there. If you
(29:44):
have any questions about thatagain, or if you want to see
some pictures, let me know. LikeI say in Vermont, there are a
lot of birch trees and I havequite a bit on my own property.
So just let me know and I'll behappy to answer this. I'm going
to take another quick pause andthen I will be right back with
your Tarot poll for the comingweek.
(30:30):
And welcome back. So now we aregoing to do a weekly tarot pull.
This is something that I'm goingto start doing. I do it for
myself. I do a daily Tarot pollfor myself, I do a weekly tarot
poll for myself. Sometimes I doa seven card spread for the
weekly poll. Sometimes I just doa single card that kind of sums
(30:53):
up the upcoming week and what Ineed to look for so really
depends I am getting more andmore into Tarot or Tarot, as my
grandmother would call it. Moreso than I used to be. I've
always been more drawn to likeseances, pendulums, things like
that. And I still do a lot. Imean, a lot of work with my
(31:17):
pendulum. But I do I have alwaysdone Tarot. I've very rarely
done readings for people, someclose friends and family, and of
course myself. But I am startingto do more and more readings.
And I'm kind of liking it, Idon't know. So I started to
incorporate this in season two,I think that it's gonna be cool
(31:40):
and fun. And so basically what Ido is I kind of go into a alpha
brainwave state, I meditate downinto that. And then I
concentrate on just giving me anoutlook on the upcoming week for
my listeners. And then I pull acard. And this is what I came up
(32:03):
with, for all of you for theupcoming week. seven of swords.
So basically, when the seven ofswords card blows into a
reading, kind of a nudge to comeup with some new schemes or new
tactics and schemes. Sounds kindof kind of has a negative
connotation to it, but itdoesn't always mean something
(32:26):
bad. Just come up with a newplan, you know, just something
different to switch it up a bit.Be clever, be creative this
week. It also denotes a smart,resourceful person, somebody who
avoids or evades confrontation,and by doing so shrewdly takes
the wind out of their opponent'ssails. So look at things from a
(32:49):
new perspective, come up with anew solution to the same
problems think outside of thebox, and you're going to
experience a victory and abreakthrough. So your key words
are takeaways for this week foryour tarot card poll. new ideas,
new solutions, thinking outsidethe box relying on your street
(33:11):
smarts, your common sense,evading confrontation being very
cunning, insightful andforesight false. So there you
have it, your weekly tarot cardpoll, the seven of swords.
(33:51):
And we are back everybody. So asthe title denotes, and as I've
said, and as I've teasedslightly on Instagram this week,
and by the way, if you're new tothe show, welcome. Go ahead and
catch yourself up when you havetime on season one, particularly
Episode One was the episodewhere I kind of dive deep into
(34:15):
my past, you know, myupbringing, things like that. I
had a Christian upbringing, butalso a witchy upbringing. You
Yeah, just dive into episode oneand season one and you'll find
out more about me than you everwant to know. But I do tease a
lot of times by posts and thingsthat I make on ad set of a which
(34:39):
pod on Instagram, the upcomingtitle sometimes I'll kind of
give you what the upcomingepisode is going to be about.
Sometimes I just use it so it'sa lot of fun, but this week,
because beltane comethapproaches. We are talking about
that beltane is one of myFavorite sabots salwen been the
(35:03):
number one, you'll been probablymy second and a close third
would be beltane. And those kindof swap back and forth from time
to time depending on my mood.
But beltane honors life. It's afire Festival, which we'll go
more into as well. But ithonors life It represents like
(35:28):
the coming of spring, thebeginning or I would say the
coming of spring, but itrepresents kind of the climax of
spring, the coming of summer isthe better way to put that the
energies of Earth are kind of attheir strongest and most active.
Life is just kind of blowing up.There's fertility everywhere you
(35:51):
look flowers and trees andplants are blooming, and
everything else at this timeduring the will of the year. And
on May Eve, the sexuality orfertility of life and the earth
is at its peak. abundantfertility, on all levels is
(36:11):
really the central theme ofbeltane the Goddess has reached
her fullness, she's themanifestation of growth and
renewal. Flora the goddess ofspring, the May Queen the Mae
bride, the young oak King, asjack in the green, as the green
man falls in love with her andkind of wins her hand the union
(36:34):
is consummated, the May Queenbecomes pregnant, and together
the May Queen and the making aresymbols of the sacred marriage,
the union of earth and sky andthis union has been reacted or
reacted reenacted by humansthroughout the centuries, it's
called the night of theGreenwood marriage by a lot of
(36:57):
people. Again, it's just aboutsensuality, passion, joy,
vitality, sexuality, fertility,and conception. It's a really
fun time and the will of theyear it's a great time to bring
ideas, hopes, dreams, andeverything else about and also
(37:17):
just have some fun. As I said,beltane is a fire festival, one
of the eight sabots. Sobasically the for Dark sabots
sourin. And I say dark inquotation marks doesn't mean
evil or anything else. So ifyou're new to witchcraft, that's
not what I mean. Dark sabot saysin light and dark sound when
(37:40):
you'll imbolc and a star or thedark Sabbath, they've kind of
come and gone and it's startingthe light half of the will of
the year. The word beltaneoriginates from the Celtic God
Bell bl, meaning the bright one,and the Gaelic word. Time I
don't know if I'm even sayingthat right, T i n e m, probably
(38:04):
slaughtering that, which meansfire. Together they make bright
fire or goodly fire. Andtraditionally, bonfires were
lit, honoring the sun andencouraging the support of Bell
and the sun's light to nurture,emerging, harvest and protect
the community. pagan cultureshad their own version of a
(38:26):
festival marking the beginningof summer around the same time.
In England, the holiday becameknown as Mayday. And one of the
distinct customs that reallynever died out entirely it did
for a bit, but then it wasrevived, was dancing around the
maypole. It's a tall woodenpole, which was said to kind of
(38:46):
represent virility. Typically,people would gather flowers and
green branches and decorate themaypole, or they would use
brightly colored ribbons, you'veprobably seen images of ribbons
being interwoven around themaypole of all different colors.
Many pagans and witchesincorporate this tradition into
(39:08):
their beltane celebrations nowas well. So being a fire
festival fire is a big focus atbeltane. So much so that lots of
places Eden Berg actually has avery popular festival that
they've been doing for a longtime. They don't classify it as
pagan or about witchcraft oranything like that. Just more or
(39:32):
less than reviving the old ways,I think is how they worded it or
something, but it has a hugeturnout. And so that is
something that goes on and thosego on all over, and ancient
Irish cultures, from which thename savate is borrowed. People
would light giant fires sacredfires on this day to purify and
(39:56):
protect their cattle fromillness. They would walk there
Battle or drive them between twofires to ritually cleanse them
and connect them with the sun.And it was also considered good
blood for people to jump over abonfire at this time. Make sure
you jump higher, that's a lowfire or that may not work out
(40:16):
well for you. But, yeah, I'msure there were lots of mishaps
with that. But yeah, it was goodluck to jump over a bonfire. And
that's another beltane ritualthat you can still find in a lot
of celebrations for beltane tothis day, particularly Wiccan
(40:37):
celebrations. And again, most ofyou know, I don't classify
myself as Wiccan, I practicewitchcraft, I am a witch. But I
am not Wiccan. So I don't dothat, but I have heard of that.
I have seen it. I've neverparticipated in anything like
that. Bill had to be won overthough, through human efforts.
(40:58):
So that's why all these thingswere done. And some of this I
borrowed from a really good bookcalled sacred celebrations by
gwynnie. Kindred. So if you wantto check that out. Now, the word
beltane actually comes from anancient Celtic word. And it
again meant bright fire, so it'shighly appropriate to include
(41:21):
some kind of fire and yourcelebrations. I've been to one I
went to one a year ago,actually, where we had a big
massive bonfire. And they had anold Christmas tree that dried
out, and a whole cannabis plantthat had dried out, and some
other things. And we threw thoseon the fire and I have pictures,
(41:44):
I'll post some of those. Theythe fire got massive. And it was
a lot of fun. We tied wishes toone of the trees before we put
it on the fire. And it had aspecial like potpourri type
incense that one of theattendees had made for everyone.
(42:04):
It was just amazing. We had afun night of just hanging out
and drinking, and celebratingand getting blazed in more ways
than one and just all sorts offun. And yeah, it was very nice.
It was right at the beginning.This is right before everything
(42:25):
really blew up with COVID. So itwas kind of the last time I
remember really getting togetherwith a bunch of people, but we
had a good time. So that was howwe incorporate a fire. But you
know, if you can't do like sayan outdoor fire, or even an
(42:47):
indoor at a fireplace, then youcan still decorate your altar
with images of fire. Or if youhave a mini cauldron, you can
place it over like some scrapsof red and orange paper for like
a symbolic fire you can lightred and orange candles on either
side to symbolize that. You cankit. I've even known people that
(43:08):
have gotten a little sterno canslike you would use for catering
and things to keep food warm.And put that under a cauldron
and do some things like that. Sothere's lots of ways you can get
around that. Another way tocelebrate that was done in days
of yore was going umaine andwhether you were going to hand
(43:30):
fast or not young and old wentumaine a dash m a y i and G
couples spent the night in thewoods and in the fields and if
you watch the chillingAdventures of Sabrina Sabrina,
you'll remember an episode wherethey kind of did this. But
couples would spend the night inthe woods and fields made love
(43:51):
brought back armfuls of thefirst Mayer Hawthorne blossoms
then decorated their homes andtheir barns and buildings.
Hawthorn was never brought intothe home accepted beltane. At
other times, it was consideredunlucky. But during beltane they
would do that young womengathered due to wash their faces
made flower crowns made basketsto give us gifts. And everyone
(44:14):
was just free to enact thesacred marriage of Goddess and
God and there was an acceptedtradition that there would be
beltane babies arriving aroundnine months later. handfasting
as I mentioned a moment ago isthe great wedding. Well, beltane
is the great wedding of thegoddess and God and it's a
(44:37):
popular time for pagan or witchweddings or hand fastings as
they're more commonly known, andit's more or less a traditional
betrayal. It was often for ayear in a day after which the
couple would either choose tostay together or you could part
ways without any hard feelings.Today the length of commitment
(44:57):
is a matter of choice for thecouple And it can often be for
life more like a traditionalmarriage. And fasting ceremonies
are often unique to the couple,but include common elements,
most importantly, the exchangeof vows and rings or a token of
their choice. The act ofhandfasting always though,
(45:18):
involves tying the hands orhandfasting. tying the knot is a
common phrase people say, andthat's where that came from. Of
the two people involved. You dothat in a figure of eight at
some point in the ceremony andthen later unbind it it's done.
Typically with red cord or redribbon, you tie the hands
(45:38):
together, and that symbolizesthat the two people have come
together. And then when youuntie it, it means that they
remain together of their ownfreewill. Another common element
that you may have seen or heardis jumping the broomstick. And
that kind of goes back to whentwo people who couldn't afford a
church ceremony or just didn'twant one would be accepted in
(46:00):
the community as a marriedcouple. If they literally jumped
over a broom laid on the floor.The broom marked a threshold and
it symbolized them moving froman old life to a new one. Other
ways you can celebrate beltaneinclude making a wedding feast
for the god and goddess. You canuse different grains or cereals
(46:23):
or oatmeal, cookies, dairy, anyof those types of things can all
be beltane treats. You caninclude seasonal spring veggies,
if you have any that you'vegrown as yourself if you live in
an area where you can already beproducing veggies even better,
but if not, and you're the storeand get some for a feast, you
(46:46):
can gather flowers and greenleaves decorate your altar with
that meat and cakes are sharedoften as communion and part of
the ceremony. mead is known asthe brew of the Divine. It's
made from a honey, which is alsoappropriate for a love ceremony.
And as far as I know, it's theoldest alcoholic drink known to
(47:08):
mankind. If you know of oneolder, let me know. But I've
done some research and I thinkmeat is the oldest. Many people
like to create a mini maypolefor their altar and they
decorate it with ribbons. If youhave long hair, you can braid it
as a symbol of the union betweenthe goddess and the God. You can
weave in some wild flowers ortree blossoms. Traditionally,
(47:32):
couples would spend the wholenight outdoors romping in the
fields in the forest as wetalked about before. But if
that's not practical, you couldtake a long walk with your
sweetie somewhere out in nature.If you're single, you could just
enjoy a few hours of communingor meditating with the spirit
world in a really nice, naturalsetting. The important thing
(47:54):
though, is to just make sure youspend some time outdoors if
possible, most beltanecelebrations had largely died
out throughout Celtic regionsuntil the mid 20th century, when
some of these were revived bythe emergence of the modern Neo
pagan movement, which I hatethat movement, or the term. I
(48:16):
prefer modern witches even morethan that. But for modern
witches beltane is a celebrationhonoring nature's just really
fertile energy at this time ofthe year. It's I mean, nature's
just stunning in its own way. Ithas a natural ability to just
(48:37):
rip reproduce, to rejuvenate torepair itself. And it's
important to honor the powerthat that holds power that we as
humans also share as caretakersin a way of the earth. So right
now it's just bursting withfertile energy. And it's time to
(48:57):
acknowledge and celebrate thatour modern culture has kind of
developed a really extremelycomplicated and just messed up
view of sex instead of honoringit our cultural views. It is
shameful, immoral, something tokeep hidden. It's not something
(49:18):
that's commonly discussed, letalone celebrated. But beltane
reminds us that, that as well.The sexual aspect of our
humanity is not only a crucialcomponent of life, but it's also
a really divine and sacred one.It's a powerful time of the year
to reconnect with your ownsexual energy. It's not simply
(49:42):
that it has the power to createlife, but it's also that it
brings pleasure it's amazing andsacred and you should enjoy it.
And that was a little cert fromthe seasonal soul calm so that's
another cool site that you cancheck out. But I just really
liked the way that was wordedSome things you can do, you can
(50:03):
light a beltane firetraditionally, fires were lit at
beltane there was a special firelit for belting itself with all
other fires extinguished, andthen they would be re lit with
the beltane fire. couples havejumped through the fire as an
act of a union hoping that itwould bring blessings and
fertility. So you could light afire in your fireplace or if you
(50:26):
have room outdoors to make abonfire, you could do that. If
not, again, we talked aboutdecorate your altar with a
symbolic fire. eat fresh springfoods, think about things that
you want to bring into beingwhether it be a new idea, a new
venture, you know, arelationship, a baby, anything,
(50:49):
you know, kind of energize eachother's plans and dreams
listening to each other and thentake turns jumping the fire if
you have a safe way to do that.If you're in a relationship, we
can renew your intentions oryour vows with one another. Just
goes without saying that youshould enjoy this time and
celebrate it in every way thatyou can. You can create things
(51:12):
together. That's another way tocelebrate it. It's a festival of
fertility. So it's a time ofgiving thanks for that. So you
could harness that by doingsomething as a family, you could
plant a garden, write a story,you could work on an art project
together just bring somethingnew into life and being at that
(51:33):
time, you could seek out the FEjust as souren is a time when
the veils are thin so as beltaneIt's a time of magic a time of
wonder, when miraculous thingsseem to happen. So you might
like to set off on an adventurelooking for the fairies. With
your children. You could seekout discarded fairy hats or
(51:54):
acorn caps on a riverbank orsoft bedding or moss in the
woods. You can make little fairyhouses, they'll enjoy it, you'll
enjoy it and you'll appease theFE in the process. So you could
also go camping, getting outsidethis time of year is also good
if the weather permits, or justlying on the back in your yard
(52:18):
and gazing at the stars or theclouds roasting some
marshmallows telling stories.Watching a sunrise just enjoy
life to its fullest. So thoseare just some ways you can
celebrate. I will tell you someWoods being that I told you I do
make ones from some of the birchwood I have that I have found to
(52:41):
be associated with beltane threeof the major ones and then I'll
give you some others too. ButHawthorne is a really magical
tree. We mentioned Hawthorneearlier. It's the I don't know
it's just very magical. You canlook it up a little more in
depth but traditionally beltanebegan when the Hawthorn
(53:02):
blossomed it's the tree ofsexuality and fertility and it's
the classic flower to decorate amaple with it was both worn and
used decorate the home atbeltane. birch, as we talked
about earlier is regarded as afeminine tree are a goddess
tree. And the deities associatedwith birch are mostly love and
(53:24):
fertility goddesses. It's one ofthe first trees to show life and
spring and birch twigs weretraditionally used to make
bosoms or a new broom that yousweep things clean width, and
maples are often made from birchand birch reeds are given as
lovers gifts. Rowan probably mysecond favorite tree or closely
(53:47):
tied with birch fir first is atree of protection and healing.
branches of Rowan were placed asprotection over the doors of
houses and barns at beltane toprotect from increased FAA
activity as they work from theirwinter slumber. sprigs were worn
for protection also and Rowanberries have a tiny five pointed
(54:08):
star on the bottom that isreminiscent of the pentagram.
Also the apple grapevine Hazeloak and Willow are woods that
are also associated withbeltane. So we've talked a lot
about beltane. Hopefully youhave a better idea of it. The
(54:28):
reason I wanted to do this andI'm going to do it for each
sabbat going forward until we'vecovered them all is because I
have found that especially ifyou're new to the craft, you may
not be up to speed on a lot ofthings yet. The Wheel of the
Year is not something thateverybody closely follows. Some
(54:50):
are very adherent to it some notat all some in the middle, I
fall more in the middle, thereare certain sabots that I really
go all out for and some that IJust kind of honor. But I do
honor them all in some way. Andit's important to whether you
celebrate or observe them or notto at least know of them. You've
(55:10):
heard me if you've listenedsince the beginning, say before,
and I'll say again, it's thesame with the history of
witchcraft and witches, you needto know the history of where
you're from, before you reallydive too deep into anything. I
am a witch. I am a practicingwitch for many, many years now.
(55:32):
But I grew up in a Christianhousehold as well. I can cite
you scripture from the Bible.I've read the Bible front to
back numerous times. But I'vemet Christians who could not say
either of those things. Soagain, whether it be witchcraft,
whether it be Christianity,whether it be whatever, you need
to know the background, and youneed to know the history and
(55:54):
everything else, instead of justjumping on and going.
So I am going to give you acouple of ideas that you can do
as well to celebrate this habit.So I'm going to give you an egg
charm. This is something you cando at beltane. Now be careful
(56:14):
what you wish for general ruleof thumb is to use a brown egg
for wishes involving animals andwhite for wishes, involving
people in plants. For example,if you want to heal a sick
animal, person or plant youwould use the brown eggs. Eggs
white shells are difficult tocome by now, as chickens are
(56:37):
generally given feed which kindof produces the brown but in
recent years, some of thesupermarket's are making white
eggs available more so. Soeither way for whichever egg
you're using, you're going toblow the egg so you're going to
use a fat needle, Pierce a holein both ends of the egg, making
one hole larger than the other.You're going to use the needle
(56:58):
to pierce the yolk. gently swirlit around a little to break up
the yolk and then place a smalldrinking straw on one end and
gently blow through the otherhole to help gravity do its
work. Now you're gonna paintyour egg talisman or charm. When
your egg is thoroughly driedout, you're gonna place it on
top of a little mound of bluetack or can't find that get some
(57:22):
tape, tape it together, stick itto the table, put it on that to
hold it in place and you'reready to go. Choose a symbol to
represent your wish a heart forlove a coin for prosperity, a
candle for wisdom, whatever youchoose, and then paint the egg
in a corresponding color red forlove green for prosperity,
purple for wisdom and so on.Another way to do it is to stick
(57:45):
rose petals on for love orfeathers for fertility again,
whatever is meaningful to youthat's important to you. When
it's ready, find a suitableplace for it and prepare it for
hanging by threading, thenthread you can use embroidery
thread or you know somethinglike that through the two holes
and secure it with a large not abead or even a match stick at
(58:08):
the bottom to hold it steady.clear your mind and focus on
your desire for the abundanceand fruitfulness of what it is
you're asking and its place inyour life. And say little charm
made of shell as I hang you heremay all be well may all things
grow may all things flow,blessings for the turning of the
wheel. You can use those wordsor any words you're comfortable
(58:31):
with. It's really just all aboutyour intention at that point. So
there you go. You've got an eggcharm that you can do for
beltane. You can also Googlebeltaine wish box that said
another popular wish spell Iguess you could call it that you
do.
And then I'm going to give youthis recipe for beltaine bread.
(58:51):
So what you're going to need isthree mugs of strong white
flour. 500 milliliters ofbuttermilk, one teaspoon
bicarbonate of soda, threetablespoons of clear honey,
three tablespoons of goldensyrup or Kero syrup, something
like that. One pack of driedstrawberries, three drops of
(59:12):
vanilla, one small beaten eggand you're going to use that for
glazing and some soft brownsugar for sprinkling. So you're
going to place the strawberriesin the flour in a large bowl,
make a well in the center andpour in the buttermilk. That
golden syrup or carrier syrup,maple syrup, whatever honey and
vanilla essence and you're goingto pour those all in the center
(59:35):
of that little well that youmade with a wooden spoon or if
with your hands and as you mixyou're going to fill the pulsing
vibrant beltane energy and letit run through your hands and
out through your fingertips. Asyou're mixing this together say
as we light the beltane flameand make this bread and love
sweet name, two halves togetherbound as one beltane stance as
(59:59):
now. Put on, turn the dough outonto a lightly floured board.
And wait, you're not sayingthat.
Turn the dough. Once you've saidthat out onto a lightly floured
board and pat it into a circlewith a sharp knife kind of score
the bread lightly into twohalves to represent the Lord and
(01:00:20):
the lady or the God and thegoddess glaze with a beaten egg
and sprinkle sugar over the top,you're going to bake that and an
oven for about 20 to 25 minutes.And when the bread is cooled,
break it into two halves alongthe score mark, you're going to
repeat the words of the charmand tie with purple ribbon.
(01:00:41):
Purple represents the union ofred or love, and blue unity and
harmony. Now, I didn't find anauthor for this recipe, and it
didn't give the temperature atwhich you would bake this at I'm
assuming it's going to be atabout 350. So I am going to test
(01:01:02):
it this week. And I will updateit if it needs to be changed.
But let's just go with 350 forabout 20 to 25 minutes. And that
is some beltane bread, you canmake that and put it on your
altar as a gift or to symbolizea great wedding feast for the
(01:01:23):
god and goddess, you can make itand eat it in your own
celebrations, however you wish.
But that is all about beltane.So we are right at the hour
mark, we're going to go aheadandcut this and that is going to be
a wrap on season two episodeone. What is beltane
celebrations and origins. So Ihope you enjoyed that. I hope
(01:01:46):
you learned something. And Ihope that you have an amazing
week, please, please continue toembrace that power within you
your own power your innerwitchiness and be that badass
boss, which that I know you canbe and that we all are. I love
you all I hope that you tune inagain next week. If you missed
(01:02:09):
any episodes from last season,go ahead and catch up on those
because we're gonna have a lotmore coming your way soon. Don't
forget, I've got that interviewwith an amazing author come in
next weekend, you're going tolove that. And keep your eyes
and ears open for that bonusepisode all about one division,
(01:02:29):
how witchcraft is coming intothe MCU. With my cousin Shane,
that's going to be a lot of funtoo. I do have some updates
coming to the website, which iswww dot son of a witch pod.com
that I'm going to be working onin the next week or two. So
there's going to be a lot ofdifferent fun things added
(01:02:49):
there. I've also got somehandmade items that I'm doing.
And to get to that for right nowuntil it goes to the website,
you can click the link in thebio of @sonofawitchpod on
Instagram, that's going to takeyou to my link tree and then you
would click Buy me a coffee.You're going to go there and
(01:03:10):
you'll see a link to where youcan buy. I have digital print
outs of a pendulum chart thatI've done. And then I also make
these Tarot mat slash wraps thatyou can wrap your cards in when
you're on the go unwrap them andalready have a really smooth,
soft surface to do your readingon. Those come in different
(01:03:34):
fabrics. So you can check thatout if you want to support the
show. Otherwise, I hope that youall tune in again. It's been
great being back behind thismicrophone making more content
for you. And I hope you have afantastic week.
What do I want you to do?
Stay witchy
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