

The Witch Wave
Phantasmaphile LLC
The Witch Wave is a podcast for bewitching conversation about magic, creativity, and culture. On each episode, host Pam Grossman speaks with a leading visionary about art and Craft.
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 4, 2022 • 1h 14min
#91 - Lindsay Heather Pearce, Star of Broadway's WICKED
Lindsay Heather Pearce is an actress and singer who is currently starring as Elphaba in the hit Broadway musical, Wicked. Lindsay was also one of the runners-up on The Glee Project, which gave her a guest starring role on the TV show Glee. She has since been in productions of everything from Spring Awakening to American Idiot, and in February 2020 she made her Broadway debut in Wicked, which she’ll be in through the end of this month May 2022. It was also just announced that she’ll be moving on to star in the touring production of Mean Girls. Lindsay was born in Modesto, California, and she currently resides in NYC.On this episode, Lindsay discusses the yellow brick road that led to her Broadway debut, ways she slays the demons of self-doubt, and how she manifested the bewitching role of her dreams.Pam also talks about the power of dressing wickedly, and answers a listener question from a green witch in an ethical quandary.Our sponsors for this episode are Blessed Be Magick, Viridis Genii Symposium, Sarah Faith Gottesdiener’s Better Boundaries online course, Mithras Candle, BetterHelp, Jessica Globe Coaching, and The Path 365 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

Apr 20, 2022 • 1h 34min
#90 - Charm Taylor, Enchanting Emcee
Charm Taylor is a musician who sings and raps about her ancestors, her devotion to Yoruban deities known as orisha, and the pain, joy, and eternal hope that comes with being a Black American woman. Her Bandcamp page describes her thusly, “One part heaven one part earth. One part ancient one part future. Presently, the supernova, vocalist, song writer, and universe whisperer gifts us fresh melodic emcee energy and soul stirring content hovering somewhere between the collective essence of Ms. Lauryn Hill, Sun Ra, Fela Kuti, and the unknown.” Charm was the frontwoman for the punk rock-n-soul band, The Honorable South, for many years. As a solo artist, she has released albums including a gorgeous EP called The Road Within, which celebrates her connection to her ancestry and African spirituality, and her newest LP called She Is The Future, which is an Afrofuturist ode to divine feminine power. Charm makes music and magic in New Orleans.On this episode, Charm discusses her sonic spiritual awakening, the power of Black visionary magic, and the creative and economic promise of NFTs.Pam also talks about the spiralic energy of spring, and answers a listener question about using spellcraft to stop a copycat. Our sponsors for this episode are Blessed Be Magick, Viridis Genii Symposium, Jessica Globe Coaching, Luna Lux Botanicals, BetterHelp, Zouz Incense, and The Path 365 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

Apr 6, 2022 • 1h 10min
#89 - Madame Pamita, Slavic Sorceress
Madame Pamita is a Ukrainian diaspora witch, teacher, author, candle maker, spellcaster, and tarot reader. Her new book, Baba Yaga’s Book of Witchcraft is filled with Slavic spells, rituals, and stories, with a specific focus on Ukraine. She has also written The Book of Candle Magic and Madame Pamita’s Magical Tarot. Madame Pamita has a popular YouTube Channel for teaching witchcraft, two podcasts, and she is the proprietress of the online spiritual apothecary, the Parlour of Wonders. She lives in Santa Monica, California.On this episode, Madame Pamita discusses the witchcraft and folklore of Baba Yaga, the beauty of Slavic spell craft, and how we can use our magic to support Ukraine.Pam also talks about the trickster energy of April, and answers a listener question about impending disaster and protection spells.Our sponsors for this episode are Blaspheme Boutique, Blessed Be Magick, Zouz Incense, BetterHelp, and The Path 365 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

Mar 23, 2022 • 1h 14min
#88 - Rithika Merchant, Visual Mythmaker
Rithika Merchant is a visual artist from Bombay (Mumbai), India. Her work explores myths, stories and ideas shared by different cultures, featuring creatures and symbolism that are part of her personal visual vocabulary. Nature plays a pivotal role in her work and is emphasized by the use of organic shapes and non-saturated colors. Her paintings and collages are made using a combination of watercolor and cut paper elements, drawing on 17th century botanical prints and folk art, to create a body of work that is visually linked to our collective pasts.Rithika received a BFA in Fine Arts from Parsons School of Design, New York. She has exhibited extensively since her graduation including a number of solo exhibitions in India, France, Spain, Germany and the United States. She has also collaborated with Chloé, a French fashion house on multiple collections for which she was awarded the Vogue India Young Achiever of the Year Award at its Women of the Year Awards 2018, as well as named one of Vogue Magazine’s VogueWorld 100 Creative Voices. Rithika is also the winner of the Sovereign Asian Art Prize - Vogue Hong Kong Women’s Art Prize for her painting “Saudade” as well as Le Prix DDessin Paris '21. Born in Bombay, she now divides her time between Bombay and Barcelona.On this episode, Rithika discusses her cross-cultural and cosmic inspirations, crafting feminine art spells, and the power of painting new myths. Pam also talks about spring flight, and answers a listener question about incorporating elements of a complicated religious past into her witchcraft.Our sponsors for this episode are Blessed Be Magick, The Disco Dolls Studio, Witchy Washy Bath, Baby Bushka, ZOUZ Incense, BetterHelp, Bonearrow, and The Path 365And 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

Mar 9, 2022 • 1h 22min
#87 - The Money Witch, Jessie Susannah Karnatz
Jessie Susannah Karnatz, aka the Money Witch, brings capitalism-critical, shame-free education to healers, hustlers, and creatives in order to catalyze change in their financial lives. She believes healing our finances will bring blessing to our lives, our lineages, and our communities. She offers education, Money Magic products, and Intuitive Financial Coaching online and in the Bay Area (unceded Ohlone land). Her new book, Money Magic: Practical Wisdom and Empowering Rituals to Heal Your Finances, is out now.On this episode, Jessie Susannah discusses the magical aspects of financial wellbeing, ways to slay money demons such as shame and guilt, and how to reconcile the tension between spirituality and capitalism.Pam also talks about being a business witch, and answers a listener question about confronting an oppressive ancestral past.Our sponsors for this episode are Blessed Be Magick, The Disco Dolls Studio, Aesthetic Magic, ZOUZ Incense, Tarot for the Wild Soul, BetterHelp, Mithras Candle, and The Path 365And 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

Feb 23, 2022 • 1h 19min
#86 - Darla Teagarden, Phantasmagorical Photographer
Darla Teagarden is a self-taught artist and mixed media photographer with a phantasmagoric, otherworldly bent. She creates portraits (most often self-portraits, either faceless or in-character) in theatrical vignettes handcrafted out of wood, paper, chalk, and plaster, and which are rife with sacred symbols and occult imagery. Her widely celebrated work has been exhibited in galleries including Roq La Rue (Seattle), Last Rites (NYC), and The Convent (Philadelphia) and it has been published in magazines and books including Black Forest (Candela Books, 2014) and Series of Dreams (Skeleton Key Press, 2018). Altars, her glorious first monograph, is out now.On this episode, Darla discusses the therapeutic effect of fantastical imagery, her many magical mentors, and why photography is the weirdest medium of all.Pam also talks about having a mature belief in magic, and answers a listener question about witchcraft and the wellness community. Our sponsors for this episode are The Disco Dolls Studio, Blessed Be Magick, The Haunts Curiosity Shoppe, Sarah Faith Gottesdiener’s Resourcing the Creative Self online workshop, Luna Lux Botanicals, BetterHelp, Lindsay Mack’s Rewilding Our Intuition online course, and The Path 365And 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

Feb 9, 2022 • 1h 8min
#85 - Nina MacLaughlin - Author of "Wake, Siren: Ovid Resung"
Nina MacLaughlin is the author of Wake, Siren: Ovid Resung, a re-telling of Ovid's Metamorphoses told from the perspective of the female figures transformed. She is also a frequent writer for The Paris Review, where she writes lyric essays on such transformational entities as the dawn, the solstices, and the moon. Her book Summer Solstice: An Essay, is a collection of her summer solstice essays, and it is a wonder. Her first book is the acclaimed memoir Hammer Head: The Making of a Carpenter. Formerly an editor at the Boston Phoenix, Nina worked for nine years as a carpenter, and is now a books columnist for the Boston Globe. In addition to the The Paris Review Daily, she has written for The Virginia Quarterly Review, The Believer, The New York Times Book Review, Agni, American Short Fiction, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the Wall Street Journal, Meatpaper, and elsewhere. Nina lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.On this episode, Nina discusses the power of giving voice to mythic she-creatures, the allure of transformational writing, and the changes that can occur when one writes about the moon.CONTENT WARNING: This episode focuses on Greek and Roman myths, and there is a bunch of sexual abuse, rape, and incest in them. Pam and Nina don’t go into graphic details in their conversation, but they do discuss those topics at some length so just a heads up.Pam also talks about the (super)natural magic of metamorphosis, and answers a listener question about a book manuscript that has yet to find its home.Our sponsors for this episode are Aesthetic Magic, That Witch Life Podcast, Blessed Be Magick, Mithras Candle, BetterHelp, Crystal Garden Creations, and The Path 365And 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

Jan 26, 2022 • 1h 15min
#84 - Karen Rose, Spiritual Herbalist
Master Herbalist Karen M. Rose has dedicated her life’s work to empowering individuals to reconnect to their own ancestral traditions. Over the past 20 years, she has created several outlets to offer her teachings and healing modalities to women, people of color, Black, and LGBTQX communities including the opening of her three Brooklyn shops, Sacred Vibes Apothecary, Sacred Botanica, and Sacred Spice. Karen also has a new book coming out in February called The Art & Practice of Spiritual Herbalism: Transform, Heal, and Remember with the Power of Plants and Ancestral Medicine.Karen has trained over 400 herbalists through her Spiritual Herbalism Apprenticeship program and she is also the founder of the Sacred Vibes’ Annual NYC Spiritual Herbalism Conference, the Global Virtual Apprenticeship Program, and much more. In addition to offering herbal consultations, she also incorporates astrology and divination into spiritual guidance sessions. Karen has been featured in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Black Enterprise, Refinery29 and Allure Magazine, and has partnered with brands like BET and Squarespace.On this episode, Karen discusses the power of holistic herbal healing, the importance of ancestral wisdom, and plants that are particularly supportive in times of turmoil. Pam also talks about why witches are so often depicted as green, and answers a listener question about witchcraft and grief.Our sponsors for this episode are VERAMEAT, That Witch Life Podcast, Sanctuary, BetterHelp, Plum Deluxe Tea, and The Path 365And 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

Jan 12, 2022 • 1h 16min
#83 - Veronica Varlow, Bohemian Witch
Veronica Varlow is the last of a line of Bohemian Witches, a fourth-generation intuitive, best-selling author, and international burlesque showgirl. She is the author of the absolutely gorgeous book, BOHEMIAN MAGICK: WITCHCRAFT AND SECRET SPELLS TO ELECTRIFY YOUR LIFE. She is also a confidence and sensuality coach who has been featured on the Tonight Show, Playboy, CNN, and MTV in 150 countries worldwide. Veronica and her husband, David Varlow, established the branch of Witchcraft known as Spectaculus, an intersection of the Bohemian magick legacy of Veronica’s grandmother Helen, and Varlow’s rock-and-roll pagan practices, which stem from natural mysticism and instinctive creativity. Veronica is also one of the cofounders of the infamous Chelsea Hotel Coven in New York City and the founder of Witch Camp held at the Magick House in Woodstock, New York. She has performed and done love rituals of many flavors all over the underground art scene including at House of Yes, Shanghai Mermaid, and Dances of Vice, and her client list includes Chanel, Tiffany & Co., Vogue, Marc Jacobs, Creative Time with David Byrne, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. On this episode, Veronica discusses the magic of both Bohemias, the power of communing with creative ancestors, and how to unleash your inner wild.Pam also talks about community connection as a winter tonic, and answers a listener question about being an atheist witch.Our sponsors for this episode are VERAMEAT, Blaspheme Boutique, Sanctuary, Mithras Candle, BetterHelp, Plum Deluxe Tea, and The Path 365

Dec 15, 2021 • 1h 9min
#82 - Christi Johnson, Stitch Witch
Christi Johnson creates mystical garments that blend elements of botanical dyes with handcrafted stitches. She is the creator Mixed Color, a collection of textile goods made with natural materials and plant dyes, as well as an educational resource for textile artists. She is also the creator of Stitch Wish, a collection of hand embroidered talismans designed as a form of metaphysical enhancement for use in ritual. Christi is also the author of Mystical Stitches: Embroidery for Personal Empowerment and Magical Embellishment. All of her work with textiles and talismans honor the body, its boundaries, its extensions, and its relations to the world and cosmos around us. As a teacher, she also offers workshops in natural dyeing and embroidery and has created kits and booklets for students and DIYers. Her garments, booklets, kits, and embroidered artwork have sold at maker studios and boutiques across the US.Raised in tropical Florida, Christi studied Fashion Design at Otis College of Art and Design. She worked in the fashion industry in Los Angeles for nearly a decade, before starting her own line of mystical garments and stitched artwork. On this episode, Christi discusses talismanic fashion, why we should push past creative perfectionism, and the meditative magic of making.Pam also talks about string spells, and answers a listener question about building a witch-friendly art therapy practice.Our sponsors for this episode are VERAMEAT, Witch Baby Soap, Kate’s Magik, Snowy Owl Tea, BetterHelp, Lindsay Mack’s THRESHOLD course, and Fat and the Moon


