The Witch Wave

Cat Willett is a Brooklyn-based artist. She has written, illustrated, and published two full-length books. The first is The Queen of Wands: The Story of Pamela Colman Smith, the Artist Behind the Rider-Waite Tarot Deck. Her newest book, Women of Tarot, An Illustrated History of Divinators, Card Readers, and Mystics is out next week. Cat is fascinated by tarot as a facet of art history, and her work aims to elevate the women behind its evolution. She’s dedicated the last few years to telling these magical stories in her published books, both of which feature her own research and gorgeous artwork.

Cat also makes illustrated comics about parenting, motherhood, gender, and animals, and she is a regular contributor to The Washington Post. Other clients and publications include The New York Times, Apple, Doc Martens, the Museum of Arts + Design, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and she is available for select freelance work and projects as well.

On this episode, Cat discusses visionary tarot artists such as Pamela Colman Smith and Lady Frieda Harris, the illuminating power of illustration, and the divinely feminine history of divination.

Pam also talks about tarot’s impact on the arts, and answers a listener question about witchly concerns regarding a religious pre-school.

Our sponsors for this episode are Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, Sphere + Sundry, BetterHelp, The Queer Witches of Maude’s Paperwing Gallery, and Snowy Owl Tea.

Please consider donating to Pam’s fundraiser for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund

We also have brand new print-on-demand merch like Witch Wave shirts, sweatshirts, totes, stickers, and mugs available now here.

And if you want more Witch Wave, please consider supporting us on Patreon to get access to detailed show notes, bonus Witch Wave Plus episodes, Pam’s monthly online rituals, and more! That’s patreon.com/witchwave

Yugen Blakrok is a critically-acclaimed hip-hop artist who hails from the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Her occult-flavored rhymes draw from world mythology and an eclectic blend of various spiritual systems, while sounding entirely unique and future-forward. Her 2013 album, Return of the Astro-Goth caught the attention of musical maestros such as Chuck D, who makes a cameo appearance on her newest album, Anima Mysterium (2019). Many might recognize her from her blazing performance on the Black Panther soundtrack via the song “Opps” which she did in collaboration with Kendrick Lamar and Vince Staples. Yugen has toured throughout South Africa and Europe, and has opened for hip-hop icons such as MC Lyte and performed alongside such legends as Public Enemy. Her music is a mix of sci-fi soundscapes, meditative melodies, and trip-hop beats thanks in large part to her collaborator, Kanif the Jhatmaster, who also makes an appearance during the interview.

On this episode, Yugen discusses the occult elements of her songs, her lifelong quest to balance shadow and light, and how she’s used music as medicine during tumultuous times.

Pam also speaks about the sacred practice of reconciling opposite forces for Spring Equinox, and answers a listener question about participating in a ritual to help with the coronavirus.

Our sponsors for this episode are Ethereal Visions Publishing, Foxglove Pharm, BetterHelp, and Mithras Candle

Brooklynn is an Atlanta-based singer, songwriter, and producer who makes magical pop music. Her latest album, My Shadow and I, is an introspective excavation of her multidimensional identity as a queer, black woman and witch.

She is also an accomplished visual artist and designer, who runs the online shop Bébé Vaudou, which carries her jewelry and clothing line and other mystical merch, including her viral WITCHES AGAINST WHITE SUPREMACY t-shirts, posters, and stickers. And she is donating 100% of the profits of the WITCHES AGAINST WHITE SUPREMACY collection to Buy From A Black Woman, a non-profit which supports black woman business owners. Brooklynn also hosts the Witches of Atlanta podcast, where she speaks with local witches about spiritual practice, economics, and culture.

On this episode, Brooklynn speaks about art as activism, music as spellcraft, and how we can best support the black community during the current protests and beyond.

Pam also speaks about antiracism as spiritual work (including reading Anchor & Star’s zines about whiteness, cultural appropriation, and paganism), and answers a listener question about techno witches.and how we can best support the black community during the current protests and beyond.

Pam also speaks about antiracism as spiritual work, and answers a listener question about techno witches.

Our sponsors for this episode are the Magic And Realism Jungian Archetypal Dream Journal and BetterHelp

Susan L. Aberth is the Edith C. Blum Professor of the Art History and Visual Culture Program at Bard College, and a world-renowned expert on occult art and surrealism. Her 2004 book, Leonora Carrington: Surrealism, Alchemy and Art (Lund Humphries) helped introduce Carrington’s magical work to the masses. She also recently co-authored The Tarot of Leonora Carrington (Fulgur Press, 2020) with Mexican curator Tere Arcq, which is an analysis of Carrington’s tarot paintings and original major arcana deck.

Susan has also contributed to Surrealism and Magic, Guggenheim Venice (2021); Not Without My Ghosts (2020, Traveling exhibition in England); Agnes Pelton: Desert Transcendentalist (Phoenix Art Museum, 2019), Juanita Guccione: Otherwhere (Napa Valley Museum, 2019), Surrealism, Occultism and Politics: In Search of the Marvelous (Routledge Press, 2018), Leonora Carrington: Cuentos Magicos (Museo de Arte Moderno & INBA, Mexico City, 2018), Unpacking: The Marciano Collection (Delmonico Books, Prestel, 2017), and Leonora Carrington and the International Avant-Garde (Manchester University Press, 2017), as well as to Abraxas: International Journal of Esoteric Studies, Black Mirror, and Journal of Surrealism and the Americas. She received her B.A. from UCLA, M.A. from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and her Ph.D. from the Graduate Center, City University of New York.

On this episode, Susan discusses her groundbreaking scholarship on Leonora Carrington’s occult art oeuvre, the newly discovered Carrington Tarot, and how bewitching women change the world.

Pam also speaks about gratitude magic, and answers a listener question about how to give thanks for a priceless gift.

Our sponsors for this episode are Luna Lux Botanicals, BetterHelp, Clarissa Eck Ceramics, Mithras Candle, Zouz Incense

Jodi Wille is a director and producer of the critically acclaimed documentary The Source Family and her brand new feature documentary Welcome Space Brothers which is about The Unarius Academy of Science. Her work explores people whose extraordinary true stories and creations leave us with new ways of seeing, and she has a special interest in so-called outside artists, alternative spiritual seekers, and radical intentional communities.

Jodi has a background in commercial, editorial, and rock band photography, as well as music video direction, working with artists like REM, Sparks, and Vincent Gallo. She also cofounded the book publishing companies Dilettante Press (1998), Process Media (2004), and Otherworld (2022), to explore otherworldly and countercultural realms, and she has editing several award-winning books, most recently co-authoring the illustrated book Family: The Source Family Scrapbook (2022, Otherworld with Sacred Bones).

Jodi has curated art exhibitions for The American Visionary Art Museum, Deitch Projects and others, and she’s curated numerous film festivals and cultural programs at institutions across the globe.

On this episode, Jodi discusses the radical visionaries behind the Unarius Academy of Science, the development of new religions, and how filmmaking has helped her explore mind-expanding ideas and experiences. (Make a tax-deductible donation to help fund Jodi’s film Welcome Space Brothers here)

Pam also talks about the difference between cults and positive alternative spiritual groups, and answers a listener question about a group ritual happening during the solar eclipse. (And you can check out details about the ritual here)

Our sponsors for this episode are Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, Mithras Candle, BetterHelp, Snowy Owl Tea, and Sphere + Sundry

We also have brand new print-on-demand merch like Witch Wave shirts, sweatshirts, totes, stickers, and mugs available now here.

And if you want more Witch Wave, please consider supporting us on Patreon to get access to bonus Witch Wave Plus episodes, Pam’s monthly online rituals, and more! That’s patreon.com/witchwave