When I started working on Season 2, I knew I wanted to narrow down the focus from Cosmic Witchcraft to Star Magic specifically, mostly because there really isn’t a lot about it out there.
The theme of working with light and darkness came to me naturally: we only have stars from our perspective because the sky is dark. They’re there when we don’t see them, but their light only shines when the Sun doesn’t outpower everything else in the sky.
And that really resonated with me because a lot of spiritual spaces have this tendency to be positive vibes only and it’s trickling down into the mainstream, and I think that’s such a narrow understanding both of magic and of the human experience itself.
I think we need to stop treating the darkness as a bad thing, and you’ll see this mindset woven through my conversations with a group of awesome guests, and of course in the solo episodes.
Light and Shadow Work
A lot of season 1 was things I learnt at the beginning of my journey in 2020 to 2021, when I eventually shifted away from Christianity (while I know other witches remain in that fold). It is my belief (and I have had it corroborated by other people I know) that I have quantum leaped in that time.
The accepted definition of quantum leaping is an abrupt change, sudden increase, or dramatic advance. There is nothing specifically woo about it except for the loose appeal to physics. I became a different person overnight. However, a part of me did not know how to handle this change, so I ended up holding on to an identity that didn’t really fit me for a while.
That, in essence, is what Shadow Work is about. In a quest to distance myself from my religious background, I misunderstood the nature of magic in the eyes of a whole chunk of occult practitioners, and made myself wrong for my less materialistic feelings. The season was born out of the studies I did to integrate that.
Natural Magic
In this episode, I share my research into Renaissance magic, and the long-winded debate about the definition of magic and what magic could be potentially acceptable in a Christian society. I talk about the differentiation between natural magic and ceremonial magic, and how it was an accepted intellectual proposition that we are capable of manipulating imperceptible phenomena.
The Power of Dreams with April Dawn Scheffler
In this episode, I dive deep into the world of dreams and the symbols of our subconscious with dear April Dawn, aka the Dream Interpreter. Dream interpretation is likely the most obvious form of shadow work, and an underrated powerful one, especially for the type As like me who have an eager Inner Critic swooping in when using modalities that rely on the conscious mind.
Cosmic Witchcraft 101: Eclipses
Eclipses are a contentious topic among witches. More traditional folks advise against doing magical workings during those times, since the energy is too volatile, while chaos magicians and others would ride that wave just fine. At times, what you actually desire is a good Tower moment to give you a clean slate to build on! Here, I cover all the bases of what eclipses are and how to find what works for you in relating to them.
Star Magic: Fixed Stars and Meteor Showers
Fixed Stars have to be one of my favourite aspects of Medieval and Renaissance magic, as well as being a lesser known aspect in Astrology that has existed in the discipline for far longer than the more popular asteroids. In this episode, I also talk about meteor showers, which are powerful star-related energetic phenomena taking place within the constellations, including those of the Zodiac. Reading your birth chart and planetary transits are not the only way the energies of the signs can play out in your life!
The Possibility of Life with Jaime Green
In this episode, I interviewed the science writer and fellow Carl Sagan lover Jaime Green about her then-new release “The Possibilty of Life”, which is all about the interception of science and the imagination. As someone raised to see the imagination as bad for not being about the strictly material world we experience with the senses, to find out so much of how scientists work relies on it was healing for my inner child.
Applied Astrology for Transformation with Dana of Self-Help Witch
I did not plan to take a turn towards the shadow part of the season theme right at mid-season, but the timeline for Dana’s course worked out that way. She came on the show to talk about her approach to using Astrology for shadow work, and how to come out of having our chart read more empowered people than it’s often the case. Too many look at astrology as prescriptive rather than descriptive, but Dana is all about the latter approach and that’s what I love about her.
Hades, with Angelica Cresci
As someone who talks about the relationship with the Divine Feminine a lot, and especially someone who left a highly patriarchal religion, it may seem surprising that my main deity is a male god. However, in this conversation with High Priestess Angelica, I discussed how a big part of my journey to my own Feminine was in healing my relationship with the Divine Masculine, and how Hades had a big role in that.
Goddesses of Light and Shadow
And, of course, I could not have a discussion about a god without having one about goddesses.
Most women alive today were raised in a patriarchal society with Good Girl conditioning, and the darkness that is associated with the goddesses in this episode is something that has been relegated to our shadow and feared for centuries.
Since witchcraft is first and foremost about self-empowerment, it’s important that we get back in touch with these aspects of our personality and integrate them.
Existential Kink by Carolyn Lovewell (formerly Elliot)
A firm fan favourite to this day, in this episode I talk about the book Existential Kink, and its juicy approach to shadow work through the lens of power dynamics in BDSM playing out within ourselves. The premise of Existential Kink is that we find a kinky kind of pleasure in the things that our conscious mind says we don’t want. In this episode, I talk about my experience with the shadows of hyper-independence and scarcity in my relationship with wealth.
The Asteroids in Astrology
For the season finale, I decided to dive into Modern Astrology for a change, and look at the Asteroids. The most famous ones are taken from Greek Mythology, and not only give us further refinement on feminine themes in our charts, but also cover themes of deeper inner healing and shadow work.
