The Wytch Files Ep. 14: SALEM Season 1 & 2 (TV 2016)

3.5 / 7.0



"IN THIS UGLY REIMAGINING OF SALEM, THERE ARE NO HEROES."


All Hallow's Eve is upon us! The blood moon wanes and the dead rise! We call to the ancestors and to those that perished in Salem, Massachusetts some three hundred twenty four years ago. We stand by the victims that were condemned because of ignorance, fear, paranoia and bigotry. We call their names in honor and remembrance. Know that your courage, pain and suffering were not in vain! Hail Hecate!

ON this episode, we dig into history and the wicked world of WGN's horror series SALEM!

A little history of the Salem Trials of 1692 kicks thing off. We discuss the politics of the town, the Puritan obsession with stamping out fun, and the rise of the moral panic. Check out this timeline or read the trial transcripts and other surviving documents. Read the very books that shaped their witch-plagued Puritan world: Cotton Mather's "Wonders of the Invisible World" and "Daemonology" by King James I of England.

Then we devour Salem witch by witch, but you may need a string antacid! We savor the flavor of Mary Sibley and her home made witch cake. Here is her recipe, if you ever want to diagnose bewitchment through baking. We taste the bitter tale of Tituba on the series, made all the more tragic when served along side her true history. Then we choke down the questionable treatment of the unnamed  Native Shaman and his daughter Sooleawa.

For dessert, we saved the spells of Salem. This series is chock full of magic morsels: There are some sweet familiars, some gooey, rotten night hags, a pinch of necromancy, a dash of dream walking and splash of spirit intercourse. Yummy. Want a larger helping? Take a look at the books that inspired the writers of the series. Enjoy the legend that became the spell chanted in season two's 4th episode, "Book of Shadows." Also, Carlo Ginburg's The Night Battles is not to be missed. The creators also relied heavily on the book "Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt" by Bernard Rosenthal which represents the first comprehensive record of all legal documents pertaining to the Salem witch trials in chronological order. They were further inspired by Emma Wilby's book "Cunning-Folk and Familiar Spirits" which draws parallels between the experiential familiar lore of Early Modern Britain and visionary mysticism of tribal shamanism.


And if you can stomach it, get ready for SALEM season 3, premiering Wednesday, November 22!

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The Wytch Files Ep. 13: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

6.0 / 7.0

"Hide the wenches! Witcher's coming!"

Our bad-ass heroes from left to right: Yennifer, Geralt, Ciri, and Tris

Join us as we step into the world of The Witcher 3:Wild Hunt and our bad-ass reluctant hero, Witcher Geralt of Rivia.  The Witcher 3 is the critically acclaimed action role-playing video game developed by CD Projekt RED and based on the fantasy novel series by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The game is available for PC and all consoles, including the new and equally awesome expansion packs, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. In the episode, we discuss a few of the many magical parallels found between the game and the real world.

There is quite a variety of magical practitioners, including druids, mages, sorceresses, and a Peller. We dig his chicken feet necklace. He's a fashion trendsetter! The historical Peller is from Cornish witchcraft and folk healing. For more information on the Cornish Peller tradition, check out the Cornish Witchcraft site and The Traditional Cornish Witchcraft site for this very interesting path. 

There are also a lot of poisonous plants used by Geralt for potions and blade oils. As any witch on the Poison Path knows, in order to heal, one must also know how to poison.  A great example of a modern practitioner of the Poison Path is Sarah Anne Lawless.  Her website is a treasure trove of witchy goodness so be sure to check it out along with her online shop Fern & Fungi Botanicals. If you can find a copy, check out Veneficium: Magic, Witchcraft, and the Poison Path by Daniel Schulke if you want to go deeper into the history of this path. The stellar occult publisher Three Hands Press is sadly sold out with a second edition schedules for 2017. Be sure to support your small local magical & mundane bookshops!

Original art from the game available @ Cook & Beckar.com

The most memorable characters were The Crones of Crookback Bog. These witchy sisters were inspired by Baba Yaga of Slavic folklore.  The wonderful Myths and Legends podcast created by Jason Weiser has three episodes featuring Baba Yaga that are great listens! Check out episode 5A-Slavic Folklore: Tried and Died, episode 16-Russian Fairy Tales: She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and episode 43-Slavic Folklore: The Wasteland.

The Great Norse Goddess Freya is featured prominently in the game.  Diana Paxson's article Freyja: Lady of Love and Life provides information on the Goddess.  Ms. Paxson's group Hrafnar is a good resource for Heathenry and her website on Oracular Seidh is invaluable for information on the modern practice of Seidh based on the pre-Christian Norse system of divination, magic and shamanism.

And last but not least, check out the lovely ladies of the Sirens of Scream, the geek podcast focused on all things Horror!! We are thrilled to be making a guest appearance this October. Stay tuned for details. They can be found on the Mega Nerd Media network and through the usual iTunes and such.

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The Wytch Files Ep. 12: The Craft: Witch Wars!

5.0 / 7.0



Witchcraft, teenage hormones, high school bullies
and rivalries, magical revenge and witch battles! Yes, folks, this episode is all about the 1996 cult movie favorite The Craft!  We explore the movie and some of the behind the scenes information to bring you what we feel is a well-rounded critique of the film.

The film does a good job of incorporating Wiccan elements into the story including ritual inspired by both Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca.  The Sacred Texts website has a copy of The Gardnerian Book of Shadows by Gerald Gardner which is a MUST read for anyone interested in Gardnerian Wicca.  Likewise, if Alexandrian Wicca is more your taste, check out A Witches' Bible by Stewart and Janet Farrar.  In addition, Gerald Gardner's books The Meaning of Witchcraft, Witchcraft Today and High Magic's Aid are still in print today and available for purchase.  If you are looking for a beginner's book on Wicca, Thea Sabin's book "Wicca for Beginners" is a good book to start with.

The film also makes excellent use of books as ritual tools and educational guides for the girls.  For instance, a page from The Book of Ceremonial Magic by Arthur Edward Waite makes an appearance in the film during one of the occult shop scenes.  See if you can spot the page.

The three-fold law and the Wiccan Rede are very important thematic elements in the story.  Jason Mankey wrote a great post at Patheos about The Wiccan Rede. You can also read Lady Gwen Thompson's Green Egg article titled "Wiccan Potpourri" that contains the Rede of the Wiccae here.  Wren Walker from The Witches' Voice discuses The Threefold Law in her post here.

Hexing and magical intimidation occur quite a bit in the film as the girls get magical revenge on their tormentors and eventually turn on each other.  The characters also use oath-breaking as justification for magical attacks.  Storm Faerywolf's blog post "Beyond Toil and Trouble" addresses the ethics of hexing in modern witchcraft.  Chris Orapello's blog post Witchcraft, Initiation and Sovereignty addresses the topic of initiations, oaths and personal sovereignty in witchraft.

Despite all the magical attacks that occur in the latter half of the film, the first half of the film is filled with some great scenes of sisterly and magical bonding between the girls. They play a children's levitation game with morbid origins, they have a memorable summer ritual bless with butterflies, and Sarah performs a healing spell on Bonnie that greatly resembles the Japanese healing practice of Reiki.  The International Association of Reiki Professionals is a great resource for information on Reiki.  For circular breathing techniques, check out our video playlist below.  And to help save the monarchs, visit learner.org.


Wren Walker provides her review of The Craft here at The Witches' Voice - a free, proactive online educational network providing news, information services and resources for and about Pagans, Heathens, Witches and Wiccans. They have given us decades of priceless community resources and we thank them for their great work! Lastly, this cheeky rundown on young teen viewer's reactions is worth a laugh.


A sequel of The Craft is scheduled for release in 2018 with female director Leigh Janiak at the helm. For more information and reactions to the planned sequel, check out press for it here, here and here.

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The Wytch Files Ep. 11: Promethea or How to learn magick from comics!

7.0 / 7.0



PROMETHEA, A GODDESS FOR OUR AEON.

We are simply delighted to bring you our in-depth analysis of the comic book series Promethea written by the legendary Alan Moore. The book's stunning art is by the phenomenally talented J.H. Williams III and Mick Gray. It also boasts incredible artwork by Charles Vess and colors by Jeromy Cox. The comic book series was originally published as 32 issues by America’s Best Comics from 1999 to 2005.

Alan Moore is every bit as fascinating as any character he penned for the page. For some interesting insight into the mind of Alan Moore check out our Promethea playlist containing not only the documentary "The Mindscape of Alan Moore" but also several interviews with the writer.

A huge part of Promethea's magick is delivered through it's art. Be sure to check out the artwork of J.H. Williams III, Mick Gray, Charles Vess and Jeromy Cox.

The pages of Promethea are dripping with mythology and Western esoteric magick! Hermeticism and Hellenic Egyptian magick play a central role in the series. The "Corpus Hermeticum" are the books purportedly written by Hermes Trismegistus and provide the foundation for hermeticism. An excellent book on Hermes Trismegistus is Gary Lachman's book "The Quest for Hermes Trismegistus". Gordon White from Rune Soup has a great podcast episode called "Talking Hermeticism and Magical Egypt with Aaron Cheak". The "Sacred Texts" website has some of the above mention hermetic texts that you can read for free along with many others. Also, check out "Esoteric Texts" another wonderful resource to read many classic Western esoteric texts for free.

If you are interested in the Hermetic Kabbalah, check out "A Garden of Pomegranates" by Dr. Francis Israel Regardie and "The Mystical Qabalah" by Dion Fortune. A much more recent and accessible book on the Kabbalah is John Bonner's "Qabalah: A Magical Primer".

Aleister Crowley's Thelema also figures prominently in the series. If the story has piqued your interest in this path of ceremonial magick, please be sure to check out the books of Lon Milo Duquette. Mr. Duquette's books on Thelema are great primers and much more accessible for the beginning student than Crowley's books. "Living Thelema" by David Shoemaker is another wonderful choice for the beginner. Mr. Shoemaker's old podcast of the same name is a great starting point for the new seeker. However, we would be sorely remiss if we did not recommend that you begin with the book that started it all: "The Book of the Law". Once you have a decent grasp of the basics of Thelema, then dig in and read the rest of Crowley's books. Speaking of Crowley, an excellent biography of the Master Therion's life is "Perdurabo, The Life of Aleister Crowley by Richard Kaczynski.

If Goetic and Enochian magic are more your speed, we again recommend Lon Milo Duquette's books on the subject. We also recommend the books of David Rankine and Dr. Stephen Skinner.

Tarot pathworking is used extensively in the Promethea comic and we wholeheartedly recommend Rachel Pollack's book "Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Book on Tarot" as a good starting point for learning the tarot. A good companion deck for the book is the Rider-Waite deck.

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"Joe Golem, Occult Detective" review (WITH SPOILERS)

 “Joe Golem, Occult Detective” is a Dark Horse comic book series written by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden with art by Patric Reynolds and colors by Dave Stewart with cover art by Dave Palumbo.  The comic book is a five issue miniseries broken up into two story arcs.  The first story arc titled “The Rat Catcher” is told in three parts and the second story arc titled “The Sunken Dead” is told in two parts. 

The comic book, which launched in 2015, was not the first time that Golden and Mignola collaborated on a story.  The Joe Golem comic book was preceded by a short story called “Joe Golem and The Copper Girl” followed by an illustrated novel called “Joe Golem and The Drowning City” both published in 2012.  Golden and Mignola also collaborated on writing the Lord Baltimore series also published by Dark Horse that began with an illustrated novel in 2007.  Mike Mignola of course, is most famously known for creating the comic book series Hellboy and all its related spin-offs including Abe Sapien, Lobster Johnson and B.R.P.D. among others.

“Joe Golem, Occult Detective” is a comic book that can be read as a stand-alone series and you do not need to read its preceding short story and illustrated novel to enjoy the story.  I have not read the two preceding stories and was able to enjoy the story without feeling lost.

The comic book, which takes place in 1965, tells the story of Simon Church and his partner Joe Golem who are two private detectives who solve cases with occult and supernatural undertones.  Simon and Joe live in an alternative version of lower Manhattan, which has mostly been submerged underwater due to a cataclysmic earthquake that caused rising sea levels and submerged portions of New York City under 30 feet of water.  As a result, portions of Manhattan have turned into Venice-like neighborhoods with water canals traveled via water taxis.

Joe who has the outward physical appearance of a normal human male is unaware that he really is a golem.  A golem in Jewish mysticism and folklore is an anthropomorphic creature fashioned from clay and/or stone that is brought to life through magic.  Simon, who is aware of Joe’s true nature, prevents him from remembering his past by giving him a memory-inhibiting potion, which he tells Joe, is for helping him with his nightmares.

The authors use Joe’s nightmares to slowly unfold his past as a golem.  We learn that Joe was created by a Christian monk, in Croatia during the 15^th century in order to protect his village from demonic-like witches who were slaughtering the villagers.  This brings to mind the story in Jewish folklore of a 16^th century Prague Rabbi who creates a golem to protect the Prague ghetto from anti-Semitic attacks.  Joe, a simple-minded creature, was controlled by his creator Brother Goran and proved to be an effective weapon in the fight against the evil witches.  However, we also learn that Brother Goran used forbidden occult magic that he stole from his Order to create the golem.  I don’t want to tell any more of the story as I want people to read the comic and still be able to enjoy it.

The comic series, which as of this writing is five issues long, is a delightful combination of pulp detective story-telling flavored with steampunk, occult and horror elements.  Joe is a hardboiled detective in the tradition of Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe.  He’s a brave and morally upright “man” who is devoted to his job and to his partner Simon Church.  Simon, on the other hand, is an elderly Nero Wolfe-type detective who the story intimates might be quite ancient.  He is a magician who apparently has kept himself alive with a clockwork heart using what he calls biomechanics magic.  There is a scene in issue #5 that indicates that his magic might be of a Germanic origin.

The series dabbles in magic, which seems to be steeped in western esotericism and while you see Simon Church speak a few incantations in Latin and German and see him mix potions, we do not yet have an explanation of the universe’s magical system and how it works.  It would be great to see a good development of the biomechanical magic used by Simon Church and of the other occult elements of the series.

The comic also relies on the same tired tropes of witches as evil creatures that are out to eliminate and/or enslave mankind although they do balance it a little with one of the monks mentioning witches who are earth worshippers and herbalists, which are distinguished from their evil counterparts.

The art by Patric Reynolds does an excellent job of depicting the grimy, decaying and horrific atmosphere of the submerged city and effectively conveys the moods of the characters and the pathos that seems to permeate some of them.

If you are a fan of occult detective stories and of horror in general, I definitely recommend this series especially since the ending of the last issue indicates that there is a larger underlying menace lurking in the shadows that promises to enrich the story.  If you are a fan of occult pulp stories be sure to check out our episode review of the Showtime series Penny Dreadful, which you can find here.

The Wytch Files Ep. 10: Penny Dreadful

6.0 / 7.0

The twilight of the demimonde beckons, prodding and awakening the monster inside.  So come, you creatures of the night and step into the shadowy gothic world of Victorian London.

Join us as we discuss the Showtime Original Series Penny Dreadful, seasons 1-3.

The Victorian era gave birth to the horror, death and romance of Gothic Literature and to the delightful sensationalism of penny dreadfuls.  We have found free copies of some of these wonderful stories online, so check them out:

“Dracula” by Bram Stoker, 1897, “The Vampyre” by John William Polidori, 1819, “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, 1818, “Wagner the Wehr-wolf” by George W. M. Reynolds, 1847, “The Portrait of Dorian Grey,” by Oscar Wilde, 1890, “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, Varney, The Vampyre, The String of Pearls, and Carmilla, 1872.

The Victorian occult scene was rich and varied and included groups like The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Theosophy, and the Spiritualism movement. Gordon White's Rune Soup Podcast Episode 27  with Mitch Horowitz has some wonderful discussion about Spiritualism and it's origins in upstate New York and its connection to the Women's suffrage movement in the United States.

If the tarot is more your speed, you can actually own the Penny Dreadful tarot deck by ordering it through the Showtime store.

American writer David J. Peterson created the Verbis Diablo language for Penny Dreadful. He also created the Dothraki and Valyrian languages for Game of Thrones and many others languages for television shows.  You can see all his translations and phonetic spellings for the Verbis Diablo in Season 2 here. The Penny Dreadful Archives also has more information.

In the episode, we spoke briefly about some Devon County traditional witchcraft lore and if you'd like to read some more about their customs & superstitions check out Nummits and Crummits by Sarah Hewett.

Season 2 of the show is rife with creepy dolls used in diabolical magic.  The Smithsonian has an interesting article on The History of Creepy Dolls.  In addition, read about Robert the Doll and eleven more creepy dolls here.

Well, we hope you enjoy the episode! We leave you with a quote by the wonderful Ms. Ives:

"Etsi an oge tu werbimaat wedem rag dissiteero tene’aku." 

("I speak these words to dispel the darkness")

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The Wytch Files Ep. 09: Comics! #1 (Black Magick, Scarlet Witch & Shaman)

6.0 / 7.0

"Black Magick," issues 1-5. Published by Image Comics, Inc., written by Greg Rucka, art by Nicola Scott.

 

3.5 / 7.0



"Scarlet Witch," issues 1-5. Published by Marvel, written by James Robinson, art by Vanessa Del Rey, Marco Rudy, Steve Dillon (of Preacher fame), Chris Visions, & Javier Pulido.  Cover art by David Aja.

3.5 / 7.0



"Shaman," vol.1. Published by Locust Moon Press, written by Ben Kahn, art by Bruno Hidalgo.

Three comic book magicians, how realistic is their magic?

We are very excited to be doing our very first comic book review episode!  In this episode, we review "Black Magick," "Scarlet Witch," and "Shaman."

In our review of "Black Magick," we mention that the Mabon ritual depicted in the book makes use of a brief passage from the Mabon ritual in The Witches' Bible, written by modern witches Janet and Stewart Farrar.  Sadly, Stewart Farrar is no longer with us but you can find more information about Stewart and his partners Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone at their official website.

Janet and Stewart Farrar were initiated into British Traditional Wicca by Alex and Maxine Sanders.  The two most prominent traditions in British Traditional Wicca are Gardnerian Wicca, founded by Gerald Brousseau Gardner and Alexandrian Wicca, founded by Alex Sanders. If you are interested in the difference between Wicca and Traditional Witchcraft, take a look at Sarah Anne Lawless' blog post "Introduction to Traditional Witchcraft".

We briefly mention the use of runes in spell craft. Want to go deeper? Check out the mentioned book by "Runelore" by Edred Thorsson,  "Taking Up the Runes" by Diana Paxton and Freya Aswynn's "Northern Mysteries and Magick."


We also discuss our disappearing occult shops, independent businesses that function as centers for our communities. If you are in the NYC area, visit Enchantments in Manhattan's East Village, Catland in Brooklyn, and Magickal Realms in the boogie-down Bronx. Not in the Big Apple? Find local shops (and events, classes, workshops, and peers) near you on The Witches' Voice local page listings.


The Scarlet Witch faces off against the Minotaur in issue two of the comic.  The Theoi Greek Mythology website explores the mythology of the Minotaur and is a great resource for exploring mythology in classical literature and art.  Theoi also has great information for the Great Goddess Hekate.  Two additional great websites for the Goddess Hekate are The Covenant of Hekate lead by its Keybearer Sorita d'Este and The Temple of Hekate by Tara Sanchez.

If "Shaman" has whet your appetite for some information on modern shamanism, a good podcast to listen to is Why Shamanism Now? hosted by Christina Pratt. We can also recommend the book Trance-Portation by Diana Paxton for developing good foundational trance skills and basic other-world etiquette.

The use of tobacco and smoking blends in spirit work is mentioned in our review of Shaman. More info on tobacco and other herbs can be found in this blog post from Sarah Anne Lawless. Want to try some out? Visit Highwinds Herbs, a fair trade, certified organic, and wildcraft farm located in upstate New York.

Shaman's daughter LL performs defensive magic using her tattoos.  Tattoos have a long connection to shamanism and magic.  In his article Shamanic Skin: The Art of Magical Tattoos, Lars Krutak takes us through the tattoo art of indigenous cultures around the world and their magical uses.  The art and magic of tattoos is continued today in our modern world through the talents of artists like Jessica Mascitti Ellis.  For more wonderful pictures of her tattoo art, follow her on Instagram @jessmachete.

We'd like to thank the wonderful creators behind the above comics for their creative visions of magical workers!  Please be sure to follow them on their respective websites, blogs and other social media.

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The Wytch Files Ep. 08: The Wicker Man

The Wicker Man (1973)

 6.0 / 7.0


The Wicker Man (2006)

0.5 / 7.0

In today’s special Beltane holiday episode, we review the much beloved, 1973 cult classic film, The Wicker Man directed by Robin Hardy and starring Christopher Lee and Edward Woodward.  We also review the 2006 remake, by the same title, directed by Neil LaBute and starring Nicolas Cage and Ellen Burstyn. This episode also features songs from Damh the Bard, a remarkable musician, Druid and podcaster! A HUGE Thank You to Damh for letting us share these! The songs played are as follows:

The Wicker Man - Sabbat (2015)
Gently Johnny - Herne's Apprentice (2003)
Under a Beltane Sun - Antlered Crown and Standing Stone (2012)

The original 1973 film was very loosely inspired by the novel Ritual by David Pinner.  The filmmakers also used Sir James G. Frazer’s The Golden Bough as a resource for the creation of the film’s central pagan religion.  We also mention Julius Caesar's The Gallic Wars as containing a reference to The Wicker Man.

Despite the ancient Roman army's best efforts, Druid orders are thriving today!  For information on modern Druid orders, check out the Ancient Order of Druids in America, Ár nDraíocht Féin and The Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids.

If you like The Muppets and The Wickerman, why not combine your two loves by reading A Muppet Wicker Man a comic book by Paul O'Connell.  It's got all your beloved Muppets reenacting the events of the movie with Statler and Waldorf heckling the whole thing in their best Scottish accent (okay that part might be a fib). 

Thanks for listening!

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The Wytch Files - Ep.07: Like Water For Chocolate (1992)

3.5 / 7.0

Hello, in today’s episode we review the 1992 film “Like Water For Chocolate” directed by Alfonso Arau and starring Marco Leonardi, Lumi Cavazos, and Regina Torne. The film is set in 1910 Mexico at the start of the Mexican Revolution. 

We discuss the wonderful food magic and kitchen witchery depicted in the film. The film features exquisite traditional Mexican recipes: Chocolate Mole, Quail in Rose Petal Sauce. Roasted Poblanos with Walnuts Sauce & Pomegranate Sauce, and the divinatory King Cake.

Need Something more basic? Try some rich Hot Chocolate. It's like a mug full of love! For some more delectable kitchen witchery and recipes, check out Cucina Aurora. "But what if I can't even boil water?" you ask. Don't worry - there's help!

We discuss the magical uses of some of the herbs used in the film’s recipes and the emotional intent that drives the food magic.  We also very briefly discuss indigenous Mexican curanderismo. Curious Curandera provides information in their library (some of it free) on healing via curanderismo, so check out their website.

The website Gather provides information on gathering wild foods and magical cookery. If you’d like to take an online course on herbalism, Learning Herbs offers courses. Carolina Gonzalez, a Curandera from Tenerife, Canary Islands, has a wonderful blog Connected With Life and a website Bruja Carolina with good information on herbs, healing and magic.  She also offers tarot and spiritual services, so check out her sites.

If you’d like to learn about Mexican brujeria (witchcraft), Brujo Negro provides some information for your reading pleasure.

Thanks for listening!

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The Wytch Files - Ep. 06: The X-Files, Part 2 (1993-2002, 2016)

   2.5 / 7.0

Welcome back! Today, we bring you Part 2 of our X-Files review.  In this episode, we cover the remaining five episodes of our eight episode review arc.  These five remaining episodes, were in our humble opinion, the weaker episodes of the bunch.  So, in no special order, those episodes were:


1) Fresh Bones (Season 2, Ep.15)

2) Tesos Dos Bichos (Season 3, Ep. 18)

3) Sanguinarium (Season 4, Ep. 6)

4) Kaddish (Season 4, Ep. 15)

5) Home Again (Season 10, Ep 4)

Haitian Vodou is featured in the episode "Fresh Bones". Vodou is a beautiful spiritual path with a long and rich history.  For some stunning photographs of Vodou in Haiti, check out a photographer's 20-year exploration of Haitian Vodou.

For some information on the Vodou Lwa Simbi Andezo, please visit here.

In the episode, we mention Bufotoxin secreted by toads.  Please check out our recent blog post on toads for additional information.

Yahe, Ayahuasca is referenced in "Tesos Dos Bichos".  Listed in the YouTube playlist below a wonderful documentary on this topic, "DMT: The Spirit Molecule."

The "Sanguinarium" episode caused some controversy in Neopagan circles when it first aired.  Check out these two posts from The Witches' Voice here and here. And here is some more info from NPR on the outrageous number of deaths medical malpractice deaths in the USA.

Lastly, episode "Home Again" from new min-series Season 10 deals with a street artist/magician (played by Rancid's Tim Armstrong) who creates thought-form servitors. Here is an interesting article by Chaos Magician Phil Hine on servitors. What would a season 11 have in store? Let's hope they listen to fan feedback.

Thanks for listening!

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The Wytch Files Ep.05 - Witching & Bitching (2013)

3.5 / 7.0

Welcome to Episode 5 of The Wytch Files, where we review the 2013 Spanish comedy/horror film "Witching & Bitching," directed by Alex de la Iglesia.

 In this episode we discuss radical feminism and real history of Zugarramurdi in the Pyrenees mountain region of Spain. Learn about the mythology of the ancient Basque people that resided there and the infamous witch trials of 1611.

Feeling adventurous? Plan a trip to the caves for the El Dia de la Bruja celebration at the Summer Solstice and visit the witchcraft museum of Zugarramurdi.

Sing the Basque Barbarous words  of power below along with us! This song is a 1969 Basque mythology-based folk song by Mikel Laboa. While the first few words translates to numbers 1-9, the rest doesn't seem to translate into anything coherent. 

"Baga, biga, higa, laga, boga, sega, zai, zoi, bele, harma, tiro, pun!"

Thanks for listening!

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The Wytch Files Ep. 04 - The X-Files, Part 1 (1993-2002, 2016)

3.5 / 7.0


Hello and welcome!  In today's episode, we take a trip back in time to review a T.V. show very dear and near to our hearts.  This special show is the X-Files!  We combed through ten seasons of the show to find episodes that featured some form of magic or magical worker(s).  We chose 8 episodes (including one episode from the recently aired Season 10 of the show) that met this criteria.  In part 1, we cover three episodes that we felt were the best out of the chosen eight episodes.  So without further ado, the three best episodes were:

1) Die Hand Die Verletzt (Season 2, Episode 14)

2) The Calusari (Season 2, Episode 21)

3) Theef (Season 7, Episode 14)

For further reading on Satanic Panic look at Michelle Remembers - Part 1, Part2, and Part 3. For more information on Satanism visit The Church of Satan, The Satanic Temple, and this article on Theistic Satanism and all about Azazel! Or maybe plan a road trip to the American Stone Henge?

Here is more on Romanian folk beliefs discussed in the Calusari.

We have a lot of goodies on magic discussed in Theef, including a three part article on Appalachian folk magic from New World Witchery. Delve into Hoodo and Conjure, and learn what to do with goofer dust, poppets and chicken's feet.

Thanks for listening!

Theme music X-Files Theme Parody by Mallon Khan. 

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