The Cauldron Conversations

insight, sharings and magic to wake the witches Table of Contents

page 1 Welcome, Witches! by Lisa Lister page 2 Deepen the Connection by Maya Hackett page 10 Start with True Self-Love by Sarah Faith Gottesdiener page 13 The Witch Spread by Victoria Maxwell page 16 Root. Grow. Flower. by Jenny Gibbons page 20 The Magic of Yoga by Adriana Rizzolo page 25 Words are Wands by Sarah Starrs page 27 Teen Witch Baby by Heather Blanchard page 30 Dirty & Divine by Alice Grist page 33 From Maiden to Mother by Sarah Durham Wilson page 35 Grounding & Clearing Your Energy by Kristen Wingeier page 38 Remember Your Roots by Angelique Arroyo page 44 Simple Lunar Rituals by PJ Superior page 48 Closing with Lisa Lister Welcome witches!

We’re currently in ‘interesting’ social + political times right now, never has it been more needed for women to wake + reclaim the word Witch + the power that’s associated with it.

The Witch represents the part of each of us that has been censored, ignored, punished + demonised, which is why it’s time to wake. To re-member (integrate all the parts of ourselves that have been dis-membered by patriarchy + put in the dark) and become whole.

For ourselves and for the planet. Wake the witches is a movement. A collaboration. A collective. For a LONG time now the patriarchy has tried to keep us separate. Why? Because they KNOW the power that rises when women gather + magic.

Yet, it’s this gathering of women to discover their magic in sisterhood + collaboration (don’t get it twisted, that doesn’t mean we have to like and love everyone, but it does mean showing a woman support when she’s willing to speak up and out - even if you don’t agree with her) is what the world needs more than ever right now.

It’s why I’ve written WITCH. To support the waking witch in each + every one of us.

Now, while I was writing the book, I gathered some of my most favourite witches around the collective cauldron to share their insight + magic, the conversations were originally for the book, but they were SO filled with potency, that they called for a publication all of their own.

The Cauldron Conversations are a direct transmission from each Witch.

Each woman has different thoughts and beliefs about what being a witch means to her - some have very distinct hereditary traditions that they follow, while others have discovered their own path + are still very much paving the way - the whole point is, and I make this SUPER clear in the book, that the call is to be your own witch. None of us are telling you HOW to be a witch, we’re sharing stories, thoughts + ideas to help support + guide you as you create your own.

Together we invite you to: • Remember all the parts of your wild and feminine nature that have been placed in the dark. • Reconnect with mumma nature, your body and truth. • Reclaim what’s rightfully yours, starting with your menstrual cycle, and declare that shit sacred. • Revere it all. The mess. The truth, the polarities, the paradoxes, the Mystery and EVERYTHING in between.

Be the woman you were here to be this lifetime. Witch: Unleashed. Untamed. Unapologetic.

Love + fierce magic, Lisa x

Deepen the Connection

A CAULDRON CONVERSATION WITH MAYA HACKETT

Maya is a woman who moves towards life, beauty and magic. Her grandmothers and theirs before them were medicine keepers of a Filipina tradition – visionary women who live and work in the unseen worlds.

She gathers people together, facilitates real connections and she’s offered me up some of my most potent medicine – truth and realness – by basically being a Pinay Mama. She’s someone who makes magic by cooking up a little sumthin’ sumthin’ with lots of food, lots of laughing and lots of swearing.

Follow Maya on Instagram.

When did you first know that you were a Force of Nature?

“Look where you’re going! I don’t like this! Do you? Do you? You do!”

“What? What Grandma? What the hell?”

I was 24, with my four-month old on my lap. My grandmother, Aurora Legasca Fernandini Jundis, was gripping my hand tightly, and her huge eyes flashed back and forth as she watched my 2017 adventures unfold in the lines of my palm.

She had Alzheimers Disease, and she wasn’t totally sure who I was anymore. But she declared, back in 2002, what would unravel until I followed my wanderlust into Europe’s icy fjords, before landing squarely in the lap of my husband’s massive commitment to my magic, self-expression and sovereignty.

She told me how I would walk out of the trappings of my traditional Western mama role, and evolve my own fierce fire to include freedom, fearless exploration, and unconditional support. She told me how to feed my Self, after a lifetime of giving my energy away to everyone else, before I had

The Cauldron Conversations 4 even begun to go weak.

Where does your own personal tradition come from?

I’m a hereditary witch. I come from Vasayan Baybaylan, a matrilineal tradition of clairvoyant service and leadership, interceding for community and individuals. I bring together visionaries, and co-create healthy micro- economies.

What does living with the knowledge that you’re a force of nature mean to you?

There’s a word in our culture for a possessed heart.

Bathala: masculine and feminine, intermingled in an enchanted atmosphere.

It’s also the name of the Eternal. It includes life’s 10,000 joys and 10,000 sorrows. And that has been my work in the world. Fertilization. Birthing. Magic. Chaos. Global collaboration. I’m a curious, grateful and delighted pollinator. I move towards life, beauty and magic.

I keep my head on Earth, listening for what’s needed. A home birthing, urban steading, unschooled mum of four life learners: Mahal, Lake, Mekhi and Saki. A goat, turkey and chicken keeper, but also a half-time islander, who sometimes sleeps at sea for clarity and support.

My heart is endlessly wandering towards great open expanses, so I’m a bit of a selkie, who cannot bear the pain of sitting inside the systems, structures and boundaries of this colonized world.

I’m no rebel, though. I don’t have the double middle finger swag of my mother and favourite clients. I simply live outside the grid; and everything I do is about purification, regardless of the rules.

My life is spent gratefully collecting minute bits of grace, then spinning it out as community caramel. With the blessed help of thousands, I live On Purpose.

I know for certain that we have all the answers we need for a just, thriving planet. There are millions working for good, every single day. I understand that lifelong communal, financial and emotional sustainability results from

The Cauldron Conversations 5 strategy based on biomimicry. The natural world has figured everything out for us. The most important product of any business, community or initiative is the wellbeing of the community landscape.

I love a woman with big vision! How do you balance that vision with your everyday work?

I taught myself that leadership is the capacity to hold difficult space. And so my life, my magic, has been to joyfully and faithfully hold the gap between the genius of others, and their ability to fulfil on their brightest self-expression.

It’s excruciating for them to hold on their own. But I see the symbolic, archetypal need for their work in the world. It often leaves me starry-eyed and jaw-dropped; but also makes me broken on my studio floor, because it’s not always easy for me to let go of the creative processes, strategic implementation and collaborative connections I want to make to see their paths through.

If women want to experience what this is like, how can they do it?

That’s both easy and difficult at once.

Our challenge, opportunity and first nature is to multiply, forward, and magnify life force. First we must purify ourselves by decolonizing our spirituality, shedding inherited beliefs, ancestral trauma, and cell-level fears of being tortured, abandoned and killed for using our voices and bodies as instruments.

So as a *healthy* force of nature, we move in this magnifying gesture.

Purification, Nature Immersion and Personal Practice => You, As Conduit of Pure Life Force, Act as a Force of Nature => Impact the World with a Distilled, Distinct and Directed Gesture => Multiply and Magnify the Eternal as Goodness, Truth and Beauty => The World and Community Responds in Kind, Supporting Each Other =>

We do this best with a cyclical lifestyle, paired with a daily practice of pausing at the heart floor and touching bare skin to the Earth’s surface.

They are the same, and we all share these spaces. So if you need to

The Cauldron Conversations 6 commune with another who isn’t accessible to you, you can do it here. You can meet your ancestors, your lost loved ones and beloved teachers here. This is where we practise the sacred PAUSE. Goodness, truth and beauty, all hallmarks of the Eternal, can be found on the heart floor and Earth’s surface.

How can we bring more of this to our roles as women in the world, re-wilding yet part of it all?

Leadership requires charisma, or deep presence to each task. It requires bringing our full force to each moment.

How does one do this? Well, humbly, because it’s not about the ego! So it’s a bit by trial and error, but it’s the most accessible possible thing.

We become All In by immersing ourselves in nature, living with the cycles of our bodies, the Earth’s seasons and the astral cycles. By eating whole foods, drinking plenty of water, and staying well-rested, we support our human animal.

By moving from your womb wisdom and heart floor, not your brain (which is incapable of multitasking), you support triumphs of the human spirit. Birthing and moving conversations, businesses and organizations requires being a literal force of nature.

: Live as naturally as possible deepen the connection

Get outside Visit the horizon every single day, so that you can be right-sized. When we include the Eternal in our perspective, we realize how small we are, and how short life is. Doing this allows us to play full out, take broad strokes and be vulnerable to making big, huge mistakes.

Move your body as an animal outside, and bask in the sun. Fill up on that massive masculine energy source so that you can fertilize your own damn projects. This results in fearlessness, impeccable details, structure, decisiveness and clear measures.

The Cauldron Conversations 7 Become intimately engaged with the internal, seasonal and astral cycles. Do this as an act of devotion to your larger service, your personal promise to forward life. Ask yourself:

• Who am I as a contribution? • What is my natural expression of service? • What is my dream for my Self, for my Beloveds and for Earth? Learn to make peace with sequencing, giving only what you have, and not borrowing from your future, your sleep or your organs. Men can move in a linear line. Women hurt themselves when they do that for too long.

Sit still Your body tells you when to rest, and when to go. If you can’t put the pieces together, have faith in that. Something precious within you is being protected.

One day you’ll wake up, and bam, all the pieces will come together. Similarly, one day you’ll wake up, rage and poof! all your work will come undone.

This is all correct.

Bring nature into your home In your home, pick up a few plants and sing them your hopes, wishes and intentions. They’ll grow those wishes for you.

Select a different plant for each thing. Ask them - and the Earth, Sky, Sun and Soil – for insight. Then get curious. Love them up.

Do your work, but also pay close attention and listen. They’ll tell you so much about your season and reasons – about what’s forced and what’s natural. They’ll show you how to lean towards the warmth, and when to retract or give up or bolt. They’ll tell you how much light to let in, and when you need the retreat of shade.

They’re very clear about needing flow, resources or nutrition, and whether there’s a pest or predator in the area. Sometimes, a little neglect is intolerable; but oftentimes you’ll see ease and hardiness, fruits and extra blooms.

Do this with your Beloveds and clients too

The Cauldron Conversations 8 Observe how they relate to it. Listen to the plants – for your own learning as a culture-keeper. There’s so much we miss; and the plants will show you how to meet them fully in their games, or at least to really see them in their seasons and their reasons.

Remember to pray Your wishes, your longings, your hopes and yearnings are prayers. They live in the vibrational memory of the water within us, and move back out to every corner of this planet. Take care to keep thoughts worthy of tides, travel and *magnification*

When you pray in tragedy and violation, don’t pray to undo the moment. Don’t pray for revenge. Pray for an awakening. Pray for those sleeping to wake up. Pray for them to re-connect to themselves. Pray to the Earth. To the Eternal. To love. Pray for them to honour their words as themselves, and then to take good care of themselves.

Do you have a final word to say to women just waking the witch, the force of nature, within themselves?

Finally, in a matrilineal culture, healthy aging is a natural evolution into the Empress archetype: Mother, Temptress, Liberator, Medicine Keeper and Queen. To embody these archetypes is to build movements, to unlock flow, to support and be supported emotionally, creatively, physically and communally.

Their embodiment is your birthright.

Thank you so much. These are the ways of my grandparents, my parents, and those before them. We bow deeply to you, Sister. Head-to-floor.

The Cauldron Conversations 9 - Start with True Self Love

A CAULDRON CONVERSATION WITH SARAH FAITH GOTTESDIENER

I first discovered Sarah, creatrix of the Gottesss, and her magic when I bought a copy of her Many Moons workbook. I loved how she made the ‘craft' of the witch accessible and relevant to modern women without watering down its potency and power.

Her Many Moons workbooks come out every six months: they’re a guide to the moon phases for the months ahead, and include spells, tarot, astrology and rituals. Sarah is an artist and designer who bases her work in the spiritual, feminist and mystical (that’s why it’s so damn pretty).

She also teaches Moonbeaming workshops to help people connect and work with the power of different phases of the moon to manifest.

This witch rocks.

Visit her website or follow her on Instagram.

Who are you and what magic do you make in the world?

My name is Sarah, and I run a tiny business called Modern Women that sells intersectional feminist products.

The magic that I make comes through my design and my artwork: what I create visually. All artists and creators are magicians. I also create magic with others when I’m teaching workshops and seeing tarot clients.

In classes, we come together in the spirit of learning; and everyone gets something different from the experience. In readings, spirit shows up via our intuition and the cards.

My gift lies in reflecting back to people their present truth. It’s useful to have a total stranger tell you accurate information about what’s happening

The Cauldron Conversations 10 to you, internally or externally, and hold space for emotions and release.

What’s your mission, witch?

I believe the more empowered we are, the more we can empower others. I couldn’t do this for others if I hadn’t committed to working through my own serious trauma and issues.

Many of us have been told we are wrong, we are worthless and we’ve been abused in various ways – especially sensitive, empathic people. I wish to help by telling others that they aren’t wrong, they are not crazy and they are so very worthwhile and valuable.

Working with the moon’s different phases has been amazing for me and I teach others so that it might help them as well.

What does the word ‘witch’ mean to you?

For me, the word Witch is synonymous with the word woman. It’s the healer, the medicine maker, the weirdo, the queer, the two spirit, the non-binary, the activist, the artist, the empowered, the person who marches to their own beat.

I can’t think about the word witch without thinking about feminism, without thinking having a reverence for nature, for animals, for the Earth and for one another. Without thinking about how we are all interconnected. How we are working on becoming the kindest, most loving versions of ourselves so that our trauma or abuse is not passed on to others.

Obviously, the incredibly long history of using the word witch as a way to persecute innocent people and control others through violence has to be brought up. For many, the divine feminine is very scary, and the empowered person is a threat. The reverberations of this are still felt today. These tactics are still used everywhere, from the playground to the boardroom.

Personally, I’ve been a sceptic about this stuff my whole life. It took years of just wacky, inexplicable events and things happening in my life for me to acknowledge the unknown. I believe this chooses you. I also believe this doesn’t have to be full-on at all times.

There are so many interests I have: I’ll go in and out with my focus or practice. Then I come back around in some way. The results of my work in this realm speak for themselves – some of them are so miraculous, so

The Cauldron Conversations 11 effective, that it’s jarring.

When you continue with a spiritual or magical practice, you can’t not go deeper inside, you can’t not start healing at the core.

It’s been hard for me to feel connected to the word witch lately, as it’s become so trendy in the United States. A lot of it now seems primarily superficial as well as disconnected from any sort of politics.

My hope is that this is a greater movement, not just a consumerist moment. My hope is that this is linked to a greater change globally. Time will tell.

Can you share your thoughts on magic with us please?

I cannot stress the importance of certain baseline practices enough when it comes to effective magic. One must start with true self-love.

Knowing that this is a process is important too: we aren’t ever going to be perfectly, completely loving to ourselves! Focus on caring for your body – the body/mind/spirit connection is very strong. Make sure you’re getting enough sleep, drinking enough water and eating whole foods.

Meditating, breath work, and some form of physical activity every day is necessary. Taking care of your energy, where it’s going, who/what is in it and where it’s getting drained out of you is important too – even if it just entails a few minutes a day of closing your eyes and centring.

These practices always sound overly simple or trite; but time and time again I have to come back around to them. Usually if I’m feeling off or lacking clear access to channel/ spirit, it’s because I’ve been needlessly stressed, sleeping too little, overly preoccupied with others, or not getting consistent exercise.

Know that this is all a process, a life-long pursuit and practice.

The Cauldron Conversations 12 The Witch Spread

A CAULDRON CONVERSATION WITH VICTORIA MAXWELL

Victoria is an intuitive tarot reader and queen of reiki. She’s also the Headmistress at Woo Woo School (her online school for intuitives and magic makers), and is the creator of New Age Hipster.

I love her for lots of reasons, but the main one is the fact that she’s kicking open the musty old spiritual wardrobe; and bringing the new age into the now by making spirituality accessible to everyone who wants it.

Visit Victoria’s website or follow her on Instagram.

How did you connect with your magic and your mission?

My own journey towards connecting with my magic has been a long and winding one. During high school in the 90s I was a member of a coven and a collector of crystals. I even made my own athame out of a steak knife covered in glitter nail polish. I loved witchcraft and I loved being a witch. But when the things I was asking for actually started coming to me, I kind of freaked out; and even though I kept the crystals, I threw the athame away.

Still searching for that connection to Spirit, a few years later I found myself singing lead vocals in the ministry team of an Anglican church. I fell in love with Jesus big time and was hooked… for a while. I loved so many things about the church, but there were so many things missing. Where was the divine feminine? And the scones were great, but where was the magic?

Many years later, I found the magic, in both the Goddess and the Divine Masculine that I still call Jesus. I like the term #LightWitch for what I do. We are no longer the witches of the dark ages: we are the witches of the age of light.

Helping others to make magic on their own paths through tarot lights me up in a big way. The moment I began to read intuitively, I felt that I wasn’t learning how to read the cards. Instead, I was remembering.

The Cauldron Conversations 13 Tarot has always been connected with the witch; and for many years, it’s been seen as something to fear. But so many of us who are reading tarot at this time are using it for personal development, connecting with our intuition and guidance. We pull cards for healing, and to help us make our future amazing.

What does being a witch mean to you?

My personal ‘mission of the witch’ is to bring spirituality into the now age. All the old school witchy stuff is great. I love working with the Wheel of the Year; and I’m very often found in the garden trimming the lavender and rosemary for magical purposes. Under the shrub at the bottom of the garden are the buried the remains of many spells and prayer bowls.

But the way of the witch is evolving. Emoji spells, affirmation apps and activating your Raybans with magical symbols is the folk magic of the now age.

Being a witch in the now age is all about reconnecting with your power; but more than that, it’s about community. It’s about helping each other to reconnect with our power, the light, purpose, love and magic we all hold within ourselves. A witch’s purpose is not only to heal her/himself and those she/he cares about most, but to help heal the world.

Have you got a slice of tarot magic to share with us?

This spread can be used with either tarot or oracle cards to help you to understand your path as a witch in the now age. The WITCH Spread

Grab your deck, light a candle and make sure you have your journal handy for the insights that flow through.

• Card one – you: this card represents where you are on the path of the witch. Read this card without judgement. Where you are is exactly right for you in this moment. • Card two – Air: the card here will show you what old beliefs and thoughts need clearing and transmuting so that you can fully stand in your power as a witch. • Card three – Earth: how can you ground yourself as a witch in the modern world?

The Cauldron Conversations 14 • Card four – Fire: where is it wise to direct your power at this time? • Card five – Water: what needs healing in your life in order for you to fully embrace the path of the witch? • Card six – Spirit: here you will find messages about stepping fully into your power now from the Goddess, your spirit guides and past life versions of yourself.

The Cauldron Conversations 15 . . . Root Grow Flower

A CAULDRON CONVERSATION WITH JENNY GIBBONS

Jenny and I are joined at the soul. She’s the creatrix of Root and Flower, an online apothecary selling raw, organic, 100% natural remedies and skincare that’s made in small batches using traditional artisan techniques.

Her products look, smell and feel so beautiful (Wonderbalm is my absolute favourite) AND they’re healing. Best combination ever. She and I make magic together via the longest texts, three-hour phone calls and all day lunches.

Visit Jenny’s website or follow her on Instagram.

Who are you and what magic do you make?

I’m the founder of the ‘Root and Flower’ brand, and maker of our raw, organic, 100% natural products.

For over 25 years, I’ve worked as a clinical and creative aromatherapist and craniosacral therapist. I create love-infused, all-natural wellbeing products, which I hope will inspire all towards being the absolute best version of themselves, own their power and feel free to shine.

By using only plants and essential oils, I access the true power of the flower – the essence, the concentrated form of the plant’s potent scented magic.

I believe our bodies are deeply in tune with, and easily accepting of, nature’s healing elements. I blend my potions in small, fresh batches that invite the unique vitality of each ingredient to shine.

The Cauldron Conversations 16 What does the word ‘witch’ mean to you?

Witchcraft for me is humble, soft and feminine. It’s the opportunity of sharing the old healing truths of herbal lore and apothecary, and weaving modern day creations from these traditions.

I believe deeply in the connection between emotional and physical wellbeing. I love the way roots and flowers speak to both the mind and body to support, balance and heal.

In paying attention to our wellbeing – creating habits and rituals of self- care, repeating affirmations and prayer – we give ourselves permission to heal.

Witchcraft is often associated with rituals and spells. I see magic or spellcasting as much the same as an affirmation repeated with good intent, or a clear focused prayer.

We all have a creative magic to share, be it through art, music, healing, writing, baking, listening or making people laugh loudly. It’s anything that’s given freely from your heart with clear and good intent.

I love my studio working space, within which I have a small but very sacred inspirational altar where I can direct my focus, set my intentions and show gratitude. At my altar, there are candles, photos, crystals, seeds, flowers and other significant or inspirational ‘gatherings’.

These are personal and important to me and my work, gently reminding me of my beliefs, learnings, affirmations and gratitudes.

These are a few of them:

• I believe in magic and in the power of unconditional love.

• I believe women are natural born creators. We give birth to babies, ideas, peace and dreams. We are led by the moon.

• I believe everything is compromised by ego.

• I create products to remind us of our beauty; to give permission to shine and to access our own power.

• I love giving every product its own intention and every jar its own life- force.

• I try to always be gentle, forgiving, compassionate, grateful and honest.

• I laugh loudly and listen deeply.

• I share.

• I use my hands as my wand.

The Cauldron Conversations 17 • I trust in the power of the flower.

Can you share your magic with us? A Bathing Ritual for Cleansing and Intention Setting

Sit quietly for a moment and ask yourself, ‘How do I feel? What do I need to shed or cleanse? What is my intention?’

Your body is your story teller. Pay attention to what it tells you. These moments of quiet reflection are important, so listen.

What to do: Run a deep, warm bath and lock the door.

Create your atmosphere by lighting a candle, burning incense, playing music, laying crystals – all as you wish.

Add to the water 2 generous handfuls of coconut milk powder, and 1 tablespoon of Pink Himalayan Salt, perhaps infused with essential oils for extra magic. I love to use rose and frankincense.

You can blend this up in advance and have it waiting by the bath for your weekly ritual.

As you soak in your beautiful water of self-love and acceptance, breathe deeply and remind yourself of your intention. Allow your thoughts to ebb and flow; come and go. Know you have done enough. Know you are enough. Be still.

When you’re ready, wrap yourself in a warm towel.

Trust. Accept. Rest.

Are there other ideas and inspirations witches can play with?

There are infinitely more choices:

• Coconut milk offers luxurious skin softening, hydration and cleansing properties. It’s anti-inflammatory and incredibly soothing for mind and body.

The Cauldron Conversations 18 • Rose is highly effective in encouraging stillness, self-love and acceptance. It reminds you of your feminine power and your divine beauty.

• Frankincense encourages peace, stillness and awareness of the breath.

• Pink Himalayan Salt represents the Earth element and is often found on a witch’s altar. It is protective, purifying and deeply cleansing on all levels.

• Rose quartz calms and soothes the heart, and sets your energy to be ready to give and receive love.

• Clear quartz cleanses and clears away negative energies, allowing space for the new. Root. Grow. Flower.

The Cauldron Conversations 19 The Magic of Yoga

A CAULDRON CONVERSATION WITH ADRIANA RIZZOLO

I first met Adriana on Instagram (it’s where all the best woman crushes begin), and loved her because she said, ‘I find comfort in the wild places’.

She was the co-founder of Awakened Feminine, gathering information on women’s needs and issues around being seen, heard and felt on a deep level. Now she’s a yogi, teacher, healer and guide who supports, creates and nurtures intimacy, community and connection to Spirit.

Also, her chanting? It’s a balm to my soul.

Visit Adriana’s website or follow her on Instagram.

‘You can be who you long to be, you can free your wild heart.’ – Adriana Rizzolo

We all have our own paths that lead us home to ourselves. What has been your path to self-sourcing?

One of the most empowered things I’ve learned to do is connect into the soul energy in my body. I did this through years of intense training with a spiritual teacher and four pilgrimages to India.

That is my path. Each of us has a unique path into that feeling of the soul in the body. In contact with this feminine soul, we don’t just see our beauty, but we feel it. Like when you watch a beautiful sunset or stand on top of a mountain, the feeling inside you is what is informing your experience.

Some of you may have heard how we create our reality. Where we focus is what we get. Yoga makes this teaching an empowered one, because it gets us connected to that beauty and freedom that is within, regardless of where we are and what we’re facing.

The Cauldron Conversations 20 Is there a trick to finding our inner power, our inner source?

Our connection to this power is in what we feel passionate about. We know it when we feel it – just like love.

One trick to finding a tasty soul connection is to look at what breaks your heart – look at what you care the most about – and you’ll find it inside that cracking. If you can get even just your foot in the door, there’s an opportunity to look in.

What techniques do you recommend to access that power?

The magic of yoga – both physical and emotional/spiritual in the traditional sense – can bring us into a whole-body intimacy with life.

Using the ancient practices of yoga passed down from teacher to student isn’t about self-improvement. It’s about a self-unfoldment into the core of our magic inside. About removing the layers that are between you and that radiant Self that lives within (what I like to call the feminine soul) through practices and ritual. .

It’s real and it’s raw and it’s wildly loving. It’s YOU.

Bhakti Yoga is a type of yoga for your inner body – your heart and your mind. It opens the door to tasting the energy of the Divine. It offers an experience of a Love that heals all. It’s all about devotion and transformation for the purpose of helping others.

When we relate to ourselves as souls, the self-love begins to naturally emerge, and we can’t help but start to see ourselves differently. I believe that practices like loving ourselves or being free in our creative expressions are lifelong processes.

In some moments we have it, and in others we don’t; but having the tools to stand back up when we get knocked down or getting fierce about going after support when we need it is a deep, life-changing practice. Because even if we forget momentarily, we have a connection to something much vaster than the body and its limitations.

The Cauldron Conversations 21 How does your yoga help you navigate the ups and downs of daily life while staying connected to source?

Bhakti Yoga focuses our attention on God – or Grace, as I like to call her – and is a constant reminder that we’re here to serve. We develop our own personal relationship with the power that has been within us since before we were born. Grace as a lover, as a friend, as someone we cherish, get angry with, and have by our side at all times.

You become aware that you’re not the one in charge, yet you have command over your life. You practise feeling and acknowledging this power of Grace when you’re feeling in the flow – and when you’re not. You show up exactly as you are and face into the Mystery that is life. It’s a deep, intimate relationship with this Mystery that is, at times, awe-inspiring; and at other times is (as a teacher of mine once said to me) a brutal motherf*cker.

We work to remember that heartache is good, and that as much as we want to empower ourselves to live inside our own wisdom, part of that is knowing that we don’t know the greatness that is possible.

How does that look in your life?

A few days ago, I pulled up to a dusty parking lot to run up my favourite hill in a park nearby where I live on the east side of Los Angeles.

It took me time to finally put my phone down and rush out of the car, following a strong desire I had to connect with the natural world. As I walked, I let my eyes soften and started to take in the energy of the trees and the sky. I’m a sober addict, so I’ve found many ways to get high without using drugs.

As I felt my feet on the Earth, I thanked her for my life and I got this rush of certainty flooding into me that I’d had some years back on a meditation retreat in upstate New York.

This upsurging of energy in my womb reminded me that I’m never alone; and that I didn’t have to do anything to be born into this world. I just arrived, and now here I am.

I felt the angels around me, and the lonely girl inside too. This awareness has come after years of practising going inside myself, and turning towards the natural world for her medicine.

It’s no small thing for me to not want to look outside myself for happiness. It’s a miracle and a Grace-filled path that we walk when we choose to find love within.

The Cauldron Conversations 22 What’s changed in your life since you reconnected to your inner source? How can that help other women who are rewilding themselves now?

Learning how to heal ourselves with the power of Grace makes joy, ecstasy and unconditional love all realistic possibilities. It reminds us again and again that we are held in her arms and that – no matter what – we are good, and we are loved. We taste and rest inside the nectar that lives within the heart, and we practise staying awake when things are falling apart and we’re on fire.

We learn that peace isn’t just about being quiet, but about feeling our passion and longing for connection. That when it comes down to the intensity that life brings, we have a chance to meet it with the strength of our hearts. As Rumi says, “The power of Love came into me and I became fierce like a lion, then tender like the evening star.”

My vagina used to be a place of intense pain and fear. I had no connection to her; and then when I started healing, I felt a lot of pain, some of which was passed down through generations of women in my lineage being physically and sexually abused. But this awareness of the pain over time gave way to a deep connection.

The awareness of this divine feminine power, in the mystical traditions of India, is called Shakti. This creative energy inside us is powerful beyond measure. We can use her to love our bodies for us even when we can’t. We can put our trust in her, and use her to help serve, so that we don’t get drained but filled up when we create, when we give. When we take time to honour, acknowledge and experience this power, we know that no-one can hurt us or take anything away, for we truly have all we need.

I say this because I know the pain of feeling like I need someone or something to be okay. I’ve lost my mind and experienced tremendous hurt. I’ve lost my father and other family members to addiction in gruesome ways, and I’ve lost my sense of power over and over again.

Being a conscious woman in today’s world is not easy. There’s a lot to hold. But I’ve experienced connection and love that heals and transforms. Love that holds us and brings goodness, faith, and trust. I don't have any answers, but I know the power in magic: magic that looks like holding another woman’s hand just for love of it, and shifting the way we see ourselves and one another. Signs from the universe that are so obvious they can’t be ignored. The simple yet life-changing relief when self- judgement falls off the heart.

Using our magic can look like 500 women in the woods drumming around a fire, dancing naked with no inhibitions and a pure heart under the stars or helping one another expand the capacity to hold love to include everything there is, was and ever will be. And it can look like doing your dishes and

The Cauldron Conversations 23 taking care of the people in your family and community.

Learning how to use our magic doesn’t mean everything is going to feel good or even be perfect. It’s a messy willingness more than anything else with moments of juicy ecstasy so potent that they carry you the long mile.

The Cauldron Conversations 24 Words are Wands

A CAULDRON CONVERSATION WITH SARAH STARRS

Sarah Starrs is not only my techno goddess (she makes my websites work AND look pretty and she made these incredible conversations with all my favourite witches into a ‘zine for you all to love on) she’s also a friend + sister who

I love her podcast, the Girl Gang Conversations is one of my favourites + her writing shares the imperfect mess of being human. Sigh.

Visit Sarah’s website or follow her on Instagram.

Who are you + what magic do you make in the world? I’m a witch who wears many hats. I support myself by working as a virtual assistant, but I'm also a writer and podcast host.

I believe that there's incredible magic in the words "me too!" They show us that we're not alone. That we are connected by our fears, dreams, obstacles, successes, and experiences. We’re all feeling these feelings, even when it seems like we’re the only ones.

I don't want to offer advice or how-tos; I want to share the imperfect mess of being human by sharing my story and the stories of others. Conversation is healing. Storytelling is healing. Through all of the work that I share and the magic I weave, I hope to offer reminders that we’re connected even when we feel isolated. That we have all of the answers that we need within. And that there is magic in the present moment.

The Cauldron Conversations 25 What does the term witch mean to you? To me, a witch is a woman who dances the intricate dance between intentionally designing her own life and surrendering to the flow that is moving through all of us. She embraces the mess and contradiction of this life. A witch is anchored into the magic of simple, everyday moments and stays attuned to her power to generate magic. She lives with reverence for her own creative power and for the creative power that is all of us and is greater than all of us.

Can you share a slice of SS magic with us please… A simple practice that I’ve found powerful in my own life lately is to use words as wands through a simple journalling tool.

Each evening, try recounting your day as if it was a chapter in a book by your favourite author. For example, I admire the magic and beauty that Francesca Lia Block finds in simple, everyday moments. I realized that if my life were one of her novels, the enchiladas I ate for dinner would be “stuffed with sunset-orange clouds of sweet potato and studded with jewel-like black beans” and my fingers would “dance over the keyboard, teasing out the whisperings of my soul” during my daily writing practice. This simple spell is so powerful for tuning into the magic that is always all around me in the present moment and for recognizing my own power to create more of it, often just by shifting my perspective.

The Cauldron Conversations 26 Teen Witch Baby

A CAULDRON CONVERSATION WITH HEATHER BLANCHARD

Heather is one of the 8 witches that heard The Call.

The Call I sent out via email to join me on the sacred SHE landscape of Malta and to join me in calling back our power as witches and wise women. The gathering that planted a seed under that big and beautiful full May moon to share the book WITCH: Unleashed. Untamed. Unapologetic. so it seems apt to ask her to share her magic and mission around the cauldron as part of it’s call to EVERY woman.

Visit Heather’s website or follow her on Instagram.

Who are you + what’s your magic + mission? I'm an author of witchy, supernatural novels with a good smattering of folklore and nature added for good measure. Although the witchcraft described in my stories is embellished with fantastical elements, it does stem from real rituals and spells that I have come across, and I like to think that I weave real magic within the pages.

My particular magic is very much centred around being a creatrix and unlocking the creativity which is often suppressed in adulthood. My mission? To help others to discover their muse and childhood wonder, and to add a good dollop of sparkle to their daily lives.

The Cauldron Conversations 27 How did you first get interested in the craft? I first became interested in the craft as a teenager. I was a self-conscious and awkward teen and witchcraft offered me some agency over my life; a little bit of rebellion. At that age I didn't seek spirituality but rather I was drawn to spells and the supernatural. I was a bit of a goth, although, terrified of drawing attention to myself, I preferred to blend right in with everyone else. I think I was also drawn to witchcraft because I found becoming a woman frightening. The attention I started to receive from men was not welcome and it made me feel vulnerable. The witches I had seen in films and television shows could protect themselves, they were sassy and often they were feared. I wanted access to that kind of power.

I also think that witchcraft was deeply-rooted in me from a young age. I grew up in the Scottish Highlands and there is a lot of superstition and folklore there. My grandma had tarot cards and sometimes read tea leaves. I loved anything strange and more than that, I loved nature. I always seemed to be rescuing animals or going off on adventures; hiking in woods or beach-combing.

As I entered adulthood, and all the responsibilities that come with it, my practice waned, although I kept all my witchcraft books and continued to seek out fiction which had powerful witchy characters. I had always wanted to be an author, ever since I was a kid, but it wasn't until I reached my thirties that I started writing what was to become my first novel. I knew from the onset that I wanted to set it in my beloved Scotland, steeped in magic and myth, and I wanted my protagonist to be a witch. Right away I threw myself into research, finding all my teenage books on the craft and seeking out rare books on Highland witchcraft.

How do you create your magic? We are always told to write what we know, and just as someone might go on a research trip to Paris if their novel was set there, I decided to start trying out spells to see how they worked. From then on I was hooked, but I was completely unprepared for the spiritual side of this path. I learned more about myself, I felt my anxiety recede and my creativity flourish. Creativity is my great passion. I not only love writing stories, but poetry and creating art also. I had never previously realised that witchcraft could allow me to tap into that so powerfully. I start new projects on the new moon and light a yellow candle on my desk. I carry a citrine crystal with me. I smudge my work area and often incorporate tarot or oracle cards for inspiration and guidance. I like to brew teas like they are mini spells, choosing herbs with the properties I need. Starting a new creative project, I often plant seeds in my garden, and I make sure that I get out into nature every day, even when I lived in London I went to a nearby park.

The Cauldron Conversations 28

What does the term ‘witch’ mean to you? Being a witch has also made me more aware of feminism and caring for the environment. In the 90s, when I was a teen, feminism was a dirty word, often associated with men-bashing rather than equality. Feminism and witchcraft are so closely interwoven. As feminism has garnered more attention and respect in the media, and in our culture at large, witchcraft has also become more popular. I am so glad that this practice is coming out of the shadows and giving women and men alike, a power and agency over their lives. It is so important, also, that we fight to make positive changes to the world we live in, and not take it for granted. It is, after all, our legacy.

Witchcraft has brought a real sense of community and sisterhood to me. When I was a teen witch baby I knew no-one else who shared my interests and that felt isolating in many ways. Through social media I have met so many amazing people and friends, who I never would have known otherwise. We share our magic and wisdom with each other and for me, that is one of the most sacred practices I have ever experienced. These women are so inspiring to me, and I so wish I had had this network and support in my youth.

Being a witch means to me that I stand up for what I believe in, that I'm unapologetic for being a woman and all that that entails. That I cheer on and support others and take care of this planet that we call home. It means that I embrace light and shadow, that I feel all the emotions and take control of my life. The word 'witch' is still used as a derogatory term towards women and I would love for that change, as well as the slut-shaming and the body image negativity. We have a long way to go, but I like to think that us witches are paving the way.

The Cauldron Conversations 29 & Dirty Divine

A CAULDRON CONVERSATION WITH ALICE GRIST

Alice is not only a friend, but she’s also been my go-to woman for tarot readings for years now, because her truth, knowledge and wisdom are the REAL DEAL. Initially taught by a Wiccan High Priest and Priestess, she’s read and taught tarot for over 25 years.

Visit Alice’s website or follow her on Instagram.

What is your magic + mission? When I was a youngster, my Dad was a Vicar, and I was all about light of Jesus and the spooky dark of the graveyard next door. I figured I was famous, and I felt pulled to magic.

I experienced my first angel when I was about five. He turned up dressed like an ordinary guy, in our private garden, and stopped my brother and I from sticking our fingers in the wheels of a spinning upturned bike wheel.

When my mum and dad split up things changed. My mum became gay (as I'm sure she always was), and my dad quit the church and became a Goddess-worshipping Pagan.

I learned tarot, healing, meditation and spiritual thought as an angsty teenager visiting my dad and his wife at weekends. Then I studied Women's Studies at university; and over the early adult years of my life, I twisted it all into what felt right for me.

These days I’m a feminist, tarot-reading, book-writing, spiritual mother of two daughters, three cats and one tortoise. I'm here to empower

The Cauldron Conversations 30 women to recognize their own magic and mission; and part of that is via the use of tarot cards. Not in a fortune telling kinda way, but more an archetypal, look-at-yourself-through-these-pretty-pictures kinda way…

What does being a witch mean to you? It's simple. Being a witch means accessing the magic and miracle of this world, and the intuitive power that lay within me. It involves seeing through the smokescreen that’s set up by a heavily patriarchal lineage that wishes to keep things short and shallow.

We’re prescribed a life. It involves a limited education, and a brief understanding of that which is around us. We’re forced into our roles early on, and distracted throughout our days by work, rule-governed religion, consumer products and warped self-perception.

The witch helps us to remove all of that, and start to feel the tickle of something more. She’s the sense that underlies the strife of this world. And when you take her hand, and walk forward with her, everything changes.

The witch is you. It always has been. She is your birthright, your very being.

Please share a slice of your magic with us…

The Dirty & Divine Guidance Spread

You can use tarot cards, or any other guidance/oracle card pack. What matters is the intent and a willingness to focus your perception on what the cards bring about. It’s very simple. Maybe do this reading in tandem with a friend so you can feed back to each other!

To do it, set the scene, listen to some soulful tunes, light a candle and burn some incense. Make the moment revelatory and ready. Shuffle your pack, thinking gently on your life and any particular situations and questions. When you feel right, pick two cards

The Cauldron Conversations 31 and lay them face down. The left one is your ‘Dirty’ card. The right one is your 'Divine'. Then pick a third and place it above the two.

Turn them over one at a time.

Your Dirty card... This card represents your humanity, the everyday grit that sits under your nails. The life events that irk you. The emotion of it, the fear and the feelings. All the feelings. It reflects back to you where you are in your daily existence.

Your Divine card... This card is the guidance and sense that’s being sent from your highest intuitive self. It reflects spiritual knowing. Perhaps what you already know, deep down. Maybe it mirrors back your own intuition: That voice, the one you keep ignoring: feel her here.

These two cards may sit in opposition to each other, or they may marry and meet quite well, reflecting different aspects of your current position in life. Take some time to really connect to the images, the colours and the details.

Finally. Turn over the third card... This is the card that brings your Dirty and your Divine together. It offers healing and wisdom; and beyond that, probably a heap of common sense. This third card shows how you can combine your two aspects, your Dirty (your humanity) and your Divine (your spirit), together for the highest resolution of your current life situation.

You may wish to set these cards out in a little DIY altar, alongside some crystals or a favourite image that represents your desires. Leave them in your sight line for a week, so that you might stew on them and allow their magic and message to infuse as your days go by.

The Cauldron Conversations 32 From Maiden to Mother

A CAULDRON CONVERSATION WITH: SARAH DURHAM WILSON

Sarah + I have walked this witch path MANY times together.

It’s why we feel each other’s pain AND joy. The wounds, the initiations ALL. OF. IT.

I have fierce love for this witch, priestess + woman. Visit Sarah’s website or follow her on Instagram.

Who are you + what’s your path? I’m Sarah Durham Wilson. I was a witch, and then a priestess, and then a woman, in that order. First I was a rock journalist, and then an addict, to pills and wine, the sedatives that helped me sleep, that sedated my wild woman. She scared me because she had no place in Patriarchy, not that I knew what that was, I was too programmed, I was the sedated Maiden under the glass, I was sleeping beauty, waiting to be rescued. Then I went through a break up. To break me down to wake me up. Then I reclaimed my witch, the power of the feminine healer and the wise woman and the woman aligned with the power of the earth. And in taking back the word ‘witch’ I took back the power of being a woman.

How did you handle that power? Then I went public, held retreats, taught the wisdom that had been reawakened in my bones. This is the work of the Priestess, the right hand woman of the Goddess. I learned to hold ceremony and space. I learned how badly it burned, to abuse your power, to take your power for granted, which is abuse. Guess what? If you abuse it, you lose it.

The Cauldron Conversations 33 That goes for every single thing. It felt like Goddess sent me back to the army, way back to the rank of soldier, and I knew I deserved it. I went back to the lower ranks, far from the glory of the throne and I held my head high.

All the way from here, I will serve you, I said to Great Goddess.

I will serve you from anywhere. Kinda like when Brian Krakow writes a letter to Angela Chase disguised as Jordan Catalano "If you want to hate me, go ahead. If you want to burn this letter, do it. You can burn the whole world down. You could tell me to go to hell, and I'd go. If you wanted me to. And I'd send you a letter from there."

That’s how I felt about the Goddess finally having enough of my bratty behavior with my power, abusing the honour it was to walk in her name.

I will now serve her from anywhere. She could tell me to go to hell, and she has, many times, sent me to the Underworld to learn her lessons, and I serve her from there.

As we’re talking, you’re pregnant, how has that become an act of service to SHE? I’ve been initiated into Mother. That's where I am now, in that extremely humble ego shattering initiation. This path, if you ask me, is all about humility. And brutal grace. And surrender. And so here I learn that no one else is coming but me.

Here I learn the loneliness of the throne, that there is no one else to call out for, that the world is dying, crying for its mother. And we, the empowered feminine in the fullness and wholeness of Mother, not in the seeking, attention and approval needing Maiden, are the answer.

What’s your medicine, woman? THAT is the medicine I am offering to women.

That is what the Goddess asks of me now. To rise her Maidens into Mother. And it can be lonely, and it can be hard, but it is what the world needs. It’s Mother.

The Mother, embodied in her women. The strong loving boundried woman

The Cauldron Conversations 34 & who has answered her own cries, and now rises to answer the cries of the world.Grounding Clearing Your Energy

A CAULDRON CONVERSATION WITH KRISTEN WINGEIER

Kristen and I met in LA. In Topanga in fact. At a beautiful new moon gathering organized by our sister, Maya Hackett. Kristen is a woman of the moon + stars. She’s an astro guide and offers the most incredible insight through reading the feminine within you + how she moves through you + your chart, it’s womb wisdom of the cosmic kind.

Visit Kristen’s website or follow her on Instagram.

What does the term ‘witch’ mean to you? To me, being a witch means claiming your own power. You don’t have to cast spells, wear certain clothes or even do rituals. All you need to do is KNOW that you are a daughter of the Goddess and allow her to awaken inside of you. All you have to do is listen and trust that voice that remembers.

Sometimes, this isn’t as easy as it sounds. Patriarchy has done everything in it’s power to bury the Goddess & to silence your voice. There is a belief in the supremacy of linear thinking and we are prepped from an early age to check in with our heads first - ignoring our hearts, guts and wombs. Yet this is exactly where you will find both your truth and your power. It isn’t outside of you - it is in your female form. Being a witch means becoming embodied and claiming yourself as Sacred Space.

Because there is so much information available at once, it is super important to keep your energetic field as vibrant as possible, so that you can receive the messages you need to hear from your own intuitive self. Learning how to ground and clear your energy will create strong energetic

The Cauldron Conversations 35 boundaries. Each time you cultivate a clear & present state of being you are calling back your power.

Could you share some of your magic with us, please… Here is a simple visualization you can do as often as needed to keep your energetic field clear and humming. I recommend doing this practice at least once a day. If you identify as an empath or HSP you will probably want to do it more often. When done on a regular basis, grounding and clearing will help you to trust your inner knowing.

YOU ARE SACRED SPACE // Grounding & Clearing Your Energetic Field Find yourself in a comfortable position. You can be sitting, standing or lying down.

Allow your eyes to gently close. Become aware of the surface beneath you and where your body touches this surface. Allow yourself to soften as you feel the unconditional support of the earth beneath you.

As you relax, begin to notice your breathing. There is no need to try to manipulate your breath into any particular pattern, but I invite you to fully release each exhale, maybe even making some noise as you do so, clearing and releasing any distractions.

Now bring your awareness to the space beneath your belly button, into your pelvic bowl. Feel your own power source, noticing the quality of energy you are carrying here without judgement. Welcome yourself home with a few deep breaths.

Once you have are ready, begin to move your awareness downward from this space. Visualize a grounding cord or root growing out of this space, allowing it to drop down into the earth beneath you.

Now that your grounding cord is anchored deeply in the earth, sense or feel or imagine a switch that you can turn on. As you do so, any energy that is not yours begins to move down your grounding cord to be composted into healing energy by the earth. You don’t need to know what you are releasing, just let any and all unwanted energies & thought forms move

The Cauldron Conversations 36 down your grounding cord, clearing the way for you to call back your own life force energy.

When you feel complete, turn the switch off in your minds eye. As you do so, you will notice that the current switches directions as the earth begins to send her energy up through your cord, filling your legs and root space with her strong, grounded presence.

While you are feeling this grounding energy filling you from below, bring your attention to the top of your skull. Imagine that you have a beautiful crown made of sparkling jewels resting securely on your head. Notice that there is a light coming from above that fills these jewels with a clear, healing light.

As you breathe in you are able to pull this light down from your crown through your head, moving this light down your throat, letting it pour over your shoulders and down your arms all the way to your finger tips, surrounding your heart and belly with this clear, healing light. Notice how this light shines throughout your entire being, radiating into all of the spaces inside of you, filling you with your own life force energy.

Now that you are filled with healing light and vibrating your own life force energy, become aware of how this light shines out from your heart to surround your body in a protective bubble of light. Take a moment to use your minds eye to make sure that there aren’t any rips or tears in your energy bubble as you continue to fill it with whatever color light is feels best to you today.

Allow the following words to move through your body: I am Sacred Space. You might even want to say them out loud. Call back your power in this moment and know that you are safe to shine your light. Allow yourself to remain here, grounded to mother earth and surrounded in your protective bubble of healing light for as long as you like. Whenever you are ready, gently open your eyes and return to the room.

The Cauldron Conversations 37 Remember Your Roots

A CAULDRON CONVERSATION WITH ANGELIQUE ARROYO

Let me introduce you to my sister witch, Angelique Arroyo.

Angelique and I have never met; yet I know her. I feel her truth in every word she writes and speaks. When you KNOW realness and truth in yourself, you know realness and truth in another. You just do. You FEEL it.

Despite having never met her, I often want to just curl up in Angelique’s lap and have her stroke my hair and tell me stories. Or drink gin shots and eat soul food with her. Or work spells with her that will save the world.

This particular Cauldron Conversation is an invitation and a call to action for us all as we take each other’s hands, wake and call back our power.

Visit Angelique’s website or follow her on Instagram.

What’s your story? What’s your gift to the world?

The gift I want to give you in both my story and the words that follow are the things your soul whispered when you first entered the world. Before any tradition or naming of the witch that you are, you were already.

See, I ran from myself for years, I didn’t want to accept the responsibility I felt, or the calling to show up and take my place in my lineage. I was afraid of my power and the responsibility of supporting others in their healing and unfolding.

I’d seen way too many leaders hurt, rather than heal. I didn’t want to own who I was. I thought the cost would be too large and the ask too much. Before I had language, the ways of my ancestors – Tainos, Jews and Africans – were already imprinted by design in my DNA.

The Cauldron Conversations 38 Before another named me, I was. And so are you.

What does being a woken witch mean?

We are a collective here to heal ourselves and the world. We are needed in each generation and in each time.

Whether we’re kitchen witches, green witches, and so on, we are. We’re the ones who live in the in-between, pulsing the galaxy and listening to the Earth. Our ancestors, guides and all the unseen and seen are rooting and supporting our unfolding.

Before language, you were. From making tea to the way you make people feel, from your silent witness or joyous company, you are.

A witch must understand that before the labels, before the traditions...you are.

What do witches need to be willing to do today?

You must be willing to stand alone in a crowd. You must be willing to evolve to what is emerging, whilst always remembering that you are.

A witch to me is a unique being-ness with a complexity of seasons and cycles. The guardian and warrior of a people. The schooling may vary, and the initiations as well. Gifts and skills are unique to each witch, and their manifestation unparalleled.

It’s about recognizing that we live in a time where we can either be part of creating space for our expressions, or we continue to allow the oppression to keep us in the shadows. Don’t they know? We see in the dark!

How can the woken witch bring all of this together in her own life, to re-member her roots?

So what I’d like you to do is write your story, your geniuses. I want you to name for posterity your journey and legacy. I want you to own who you are for yourself. You represent your generations, so I want you to write as if the seven generations after you will read this and gather strength from it. I

The Cauldron Conversations 39 invite you to get some of your peeps to be sacred witnesses as you read your declaration out loud.

If you have a tradition, by all means follow its protocol for ceremony. If you don’t, I invite you to practise following your intuition around what’s needed. Maybe you make an oil to anoint yourself, a bath mixture or an incense to burn.

As I’ve grown, it’s become important to connect to the tools and medicines my people used, so I’ll make oil blends with coconut oil to amplify its ancestral connection to me. I use it as my base oil, and generally add an Earth scent with an Air scent.

Play with your tools connectively with your ancestry to amplify its impact.

Maybe your ceremony is on a new moon or full moon. Outside is best: let Heaven and Earth be your witness as well. If not, inside is fine.

Declare yourself and your unique expression! And remember, the lives of witches after you depend on it. Save this document, treat it as sacred, and if you ever have the good fortune of teaching or initiating another witch... first is first, ownership of their story.

We need all the stories to create space for the different ways it looks to be witch, so we must be careful with too narrow of a way. That is the structure of exclusivity that later manifests in oppression. His/Her/Our stories have shown us that. It must end: there’s space for us all and we’re all needed in big ways.

I send you blessings, mi amor, that you may know your name and remember your being-ness.

The Cauldron Conversations 40 Simple Lunar Rituals

A CAULDRON CONVERSATION WITH PJ Superior

I found PJ Superior's work on Etsy. It was the Maria Rosa Divine Feminine print and that piece? It called to me. My heart and womb aligned and told me to contact the artist, so I did. I basically girlcrushed all over her + we've become friends ever since. Her work hangs in my house + I think a piece of her 'craft' should hang in every woman's house to remind her of her own divine power.

Check out PJ's Etsy shop or follow her on Instagram.

Who are you + what's your magic?

I am the artist known as PJ Superior.

Art is my craft, and my spell craft, too. Crafting has long been thought of as woman's work, and practical crafts have been construed as witch craft. Where crafts of weaving, of herbal medicine, of kitchen work yields the creation of comfort and survival, so does what we reclaimed witches call spellcraft, weaving and fermenting the psychic or psychological sphere of being. In my art work, I reclaim esoteric symbols especially that of the Divine Feminine to downright vulvic depictions in order to deploy a craft of healing

The Cauldron Conversations 41 ages old social trauma related to the suppression and exploitation of the feminine such as the witch hunts from centuries ago to the rape culture being confronted today. It sounds grandiose but it's all really very practical. The sights and symbols we encounter every day shape our reality and I seek to feminize our current reality in order to restore balance to a too far leaning patriarchy, just as "women's work" and crafts have in all practicality shaped civilization as we know it.

I love your work because it features spirituality + vulvas + shows that both are to be connected and revered TOGETHER - tell us more about it...

Some of my farthest reaching work includes depictions of vulvas divined from every day shapes such as the halved fruits in the centerfold of my Divine Feminine coloring book. I use a variety of traditional media to create my pieces from plain old pencil and paper to acrylic paints and my own menstrual fluid with watercolor among more. I believe so fervently in the power of art being accessible to all that I wanted to make line drawings of my work available for others to complete with color. Although I have been rather the solitary witch in my eclectic and very modernized practice, gone from little secret hillbilly Appalachain sorceress to blown-out-of-the-broom closet urban witch woman, I am ever confirmed in my vision, craft, and mission by connecting with others of the magical mind. My happenstance coven finds me, and that puts the color in my lines. Afterall it was the vision of my Maria Rosa I dared to put out into the greater world that brought the solidarity and craft of The Sassy SHE into my life. I made that image to empower the feminine and in attempt to heal myself and she ended up finding Lisa who came bearing her own outspoken visions of the Divine Feminine, or SHE power which has indeed contributed to helping me keep on a healing path, reinforcing my craft. See how practically the magic works? And it's still completely magic, crafted, casted, worked. I implore you, my sister witches to be so bold as to share, to sow what your craft may be, and see what magic you reap.

The Cauldron Conversations 42 How would you describe your craft? Please share some of your magic?

Although much of my craft incorporates the symbol of the womb, I also connect to my inner She power to that of the greater design of life through astronomical consciousness, most closely with the moon. Indeed the moon is our closest heavenly body. The moon does have its association to the womb yet with the monthly menstrual cycle. Even in my busiest times when I'm telling myself I have to just push through and get everything done, I can use the moon phase as an excuse to give myself some sort of break, some self care, a little magic.

Lunar rituals don't have to be overtly elaborate.

Again I make my assertion that magic is practical and there is magic within the practical. I once took the time, used the moon as an excuse in her new phase, to give myself a facial mask which would take 45 minutes, just to give myself the space to meditate during an otherwise demanding time. I looked into my own eyes in the mirror as I finger-painted the sticky black mask across my cheek and said, "When the moon's face is covered, so shall mine be. Just for a little while."

Through this action, this simple affirmation, I was able to give myself the permission to cleanse and relax and recouperate for just a little while. I have since been able to keep up with my new moon masks, even if falling a day early or short. Other times I paint my nails and the drying time gives me time for self reflection. We can transmute what are considered acts of feminized vanity into healing space, centering ones self as to better serve in the world. The simple, the common, even the brief can add up to be very powerful- afterall look what the Divine Feminine does throughout nature exemplified by the womb with that most common of acts even however brief.

Life comes forth.

The Cauldron Conversations 43 Closing Witch, our stories, our magic and our power - not just mine, or the women that are gathered here - but yours and the global cauldron collective, are necessary.

It’s our responsibility as women who live in this time + this place to make sure that the babies we make, the art we create, the action we take is a response to ALL that is called up in us.

It’s time to gather in circles in order to remember your truth + the power that comes from being part of a collective.

It’s time to connect with Nature, with momma earth and her cycles, and with the mystery between it all.

It’s time to connect with SHE, the divine feminine. To remember that SHE is us, and we are SHE.

Come join me in circle, because women, it’s time.

THIS is the witching hour.

Lisa x

Share your magic on social media: @wake_the_witches #wakethewitches

© Lisa Lister 2017

All rights reserved. This publication has been created to support your waking. We'd love that if something moves you, you share it on social media/on a blog, but please be sure to state the publication 'The Cauldron Conversations' as well as acknowledging the author. No part of this Cauldron Conversations may be copied or reproduced without the express permission of both Lisa Lister and the woman who's words you wish to reproduce.

The information given in this book should not be treated as a substitute for professional medical advice. Any use of information in this publication is at the reader's risk + discretion. Neither the publisher or the authors can be held responsible for any loss, claim or damage arising out of the use, or misuse of the suggestions made, to failure to take medical advice or for any material on third part websites.

Photo credits: Sarah Faith Gottesdiener - photo by Megan McIsaac Maya Hackett photo by Thea Coughlin

The Cauldron Conversations 44