The BS-Free Witchcraft Podcast
A monthly witchcraft podcast, minus all of the usual BS. Trae, a practicing witch for over twenty years, talks about the history, practices, and current events of the modern Witchcraft movement without sugar coating any of it for you. It’s fun?
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54. A Conversation With Aidan Kelly
Back in September of 2021, we put out an episode all about Mabon and the person who named it, Aidan Kelly. This last October, just over after that podcast episode was released, Aidan Kelly reached out to me having listened to it and wanted to set the record straight. Thankfully he let me record the call for the show, and this is that conversation. Consider this episode a part two to that earlier episode, and if you haven't listened to it lately, you may want to do so again.
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53. Modern Witchcraft History (at CritWitchCon 2022)
This episode of BS-Free Witchcraft is actually a panel from CritWitchCon 2022 this last October. Spend an hour with Alex Wrekk, Bree NicGarran, Lozzie Stardust and myself as we talk about the history of modern witchcraft. Also you get to listen to me speed run like 130 years of history in under five minutes. It's a lot of fun, and I think you'll like it.
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52. Another Spooky Episode
It's October, and that means we're in the spookiest of seasons! With that in mind we continue the podcast's long standing tradition of doing a ghost stories episode! This year Trae is joined by Jodie Haas, co-host and co-creator of Nerd & Tie Podcast Network Shows Cool & Unusual Punishment and Pour Man's History, as they take a moment to talk about the nature of "ghosts," the folklore that develops around them, bears as cryptids, and a particularly dark tale from Wisconsin's history. It's a fun ride.
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51. Consumerism and Witchcraft
Consumerism has been a driving force in the witchcraft movement since the beginning, but in the age of social media it's only gotten more visible. Is this a good thing? I mean... no. No it's not. But we probably wouldn't be talking about it if it was, would we. Also, it's entirely possible that WitchTok hates poor people.
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50. Witchcraft and Social Media
On this episode we're talking about the general tone of witchcraft discourse on social media, including Tumblr and TikTok. Is Witchtok the actual problem in our community, or is it just that the short form video format eliminates any possibility of nuance?
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49. Feedback/Q&A Special 2022!
It's July! You know what that means -- it's time for our annual Q&A special! Where you the audience send in your questions for the show, so we don't have to research anything for a month... or something. In this supersized episode, we talk about what you wanted to talk about, instead of this month's random whim.
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48. What Is a Witch?
Can you believe we made it this long without doing an episode answering a question this basic? I mean, yeah, sure, I cover it a little in episode one -- but after running across something online, I realized I really wanted to do something more complete on the matter. So that's the question we're answering this month. Mostly. Sort of. You'll find out.
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47. Political Witchcraft
On this month's episode of BS-Free Witchcraft we're talking about political witchcraft. Should your witchcraft be political? What's the history of the modern witchcraft movement and political action? Should your political action end with your witchcraft? For that last one... the answer is no. It's a definite and clear no.
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46. Don’t Be Racist
We've talked before about the white supremacy issues in the modern witchcraft, neopagan, and norse heathen communities, but today we're dealing with something a little more insidious: the racism that might be coming from inside the house. Because what happens when someone who doesn't think they're racist does something racist is important, and there are lots of little things so many of us do in the modern witchcraft movement that, frankly, too many people let slide. But, uh, I promise I'm at least a little funny in this one? Probably should have done a Beltane episode instead...
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45. Burnout.
Burnout is something that every witch will likely experience in their lives, and it's just something we sort of have to deal with. So, in this episode, that's what we're talking about. And it's mostly because, uh, a certain someone is currently burned out beyond all belief.
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44. That Crystals Episode
On this episode of BS-Free Witchcraft it's finally come time for an episode on crystals. Yep, almost three and a half years into this witchcraft podcast, and we're finally going to talk about the shiny rocks we all like to hoard. But here's the thing -- this might not be the episode you expect, because there's a dark side to crystals. A dark side we all need to deal with and be aware of. The entire second half of this episode is a content warning.
