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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43. “Lilith”
As long as I can remember, people have been debating whether or not it's okay for non-Jewish witches to incorporate Lilith into their practices. Is Lilith closed? Is it cultural appropriation? There's so much misinformation in new age and poorly written witchcraft books on Lilith, it's hard for some witches to get a clear picture. Like I've run into folks on social media talking about Lilith as a "Goddess," which she very much isn't. Let's dive into the origins of the folklore surrounding this figure, and I'll let you decide whether or not it's okay to work with Lilith. But, uh, spoiler - I don't think you should.
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42. The Myth Who Stole Christmas
On this (very last minute) episode of the podcast, we're looking at the myths surrounding paganism and Christmas... and how some of the claims that circulate this time of year don't really have a lot of historical grounding. Or, in some cases, any at all. Frankly I just needed to do something that isn't depressing to talk about after last month.
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41. Predators, Abusers, and Cults
On this episode of BS-Free Witchcraft we're talking about manipulators, predators, abusers, and cult-ish behavior in the modern witchcraft movement. From online spaces to real world ones, we need to know how to recognize and identify these behaviors. This episode focuses on trying to identify the issues to look out for, and Lee Bradford (creator of The Sweeney Tarot) appears to talk about their experience with a particular individual in real life as well. It's a darker episode, but a necessary one.
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40. Let’s Get Spooky-ish!
Well, we've reached that special time of year where it's time to talk about ghost stories on the podcast! Sort of! This year, Trae is joined by Lee Bradford (creator of The Sweeney Tarot), who returns to the podcast after three years. We talk about ghosts, cryptids, and legends that don't quite pan out. This year it's a much more general episode with a lot more fun debunking of weird cryptids and legends, and less ghosts... but there are still ghosts? There are still ghosts. I promise there are still ghosts.
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39. Mabon and Aidan Kelly
In the last few years there has been some minor push back against using the name "Mabon" for the Autumnal Equinox. In this episode we're going to talk about how Mabon got its name, who came up with the name, and why exactly a small group of British Traditional Wiccans are so mad about it. Spoiler: it's because a bunch of Gardnerian Wiccans are mad at Aidan Kelly.
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38. Biases, Research, and Doing Better
This month we're talking about how we, as a community, need to actually verify that something is real before we start sharing it. Time and time again, something gets passed back and forth within the witchcraft community before someone actually bothers to ask the question "is this something that's really happening?" Because sometimes it isn't.
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37. Feedback/Q&A Special 2021!
It's July, so that means it's time for the annual BS-Free Witchcraft Q&A episode! Listeners like you sent in questions, and I'm going to do my best to answer them. Could it be a complete disaster? Maybe! Only one way to find out though.
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36. Fight a God.
So a few weeks ago I made a joke post on my Tumblr where I said beginner witches should "Fight a God." This led me through a series of events which made me want to discuss how we relate to gods in witchcraft, the difference between worship and belief, and frankly whether or not we should fight a god. That, and, we've all agreed that Apollo has an OnlyFans.
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35. Social Pressure and Performative Behavior in Witchcraft
In any movement or group there's always a pull to do certain things to fit in. There's an unspoken (or I guess sometimes spoken) peer pressure to do certain performative actions to conform. The modern witchcraft movement isn't immune to this phenomenon either, and so that's what we're going to talk about this month. But, like, in a fun way.
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34. Paganing in Public
On this episode, I sit down with Hex Positive's Bree NicGarran to talk about openly being a Witch in the modern world. How accepted are witches really these days? What challenges do we face being open about our craft? What are the odds that an old lady with a murder-van is going to harass you in a gas station parking lot? ...they're surprisingly good apparently.
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33. The Wheel of the Year
After two fairly depressing episodes, it's time to move on to something a little less bleak. This time around we're talking about The Wheel of the Year! Well, at least the basic idea. Where did it come from, who slapped these eight holidays together, and are they really something every witch needs to give a crap about? Minor spoiler, the answer to that last question is a firm "no."
