A slight detour from our normal programming - let’s chat about the final episodes of Love Is Blind season 6! I know not everyone here will care about reality TV but as a total sincere sappy person who loves authentic love… I can’t help myself. Spoilers galore, be warned!
Read MoreYes, another witchcraft documentary! This time, here are my thoughts - I could not help myself as someone who absolutely loves documentaries! I even wrote a paper about the representation of witches in documentary film back in my undergrad - the short version is, at the time, back in probably 2009, witches were presented as either silly or sexy. This documentary falls into neither trope, but still completely misses the mark with its focus on identity and reincarnation, rather than witchcraft and magic itself. In this episode I give my full thoughts on the documentary “Coven” which you can watch for free on CBC Gem.
Read MoreGuess what? Despite the self-important activists thumping around on social media, virtue signalling in every which direction, you are absolutely NOT a narcissistic and self indulgent spiritual bypasser if your witchcraft is undoubtedly local instead of global. A lot of witchcraft - including the kind I practice - has always been rooted (literally and figuratively) in the unabashedly local: healing ourselves, undoing inter generational traumas, protecting our homes and families, and cultivating deeper connection with heritage, land, and environment. If you wanna do global political witchcraft, go for it - but stop shaming any witches who are keeping their practice closer to home.
Read MoreHi friends! I hope you’ve enjoyed these first few days of March. It’s sunny as hell here in Toronto, and I’ve begun by doing a complete reset and reorganization of my space. In this episode I talk about spring cleaning as a form of magic and energetic refresh and reset, and I also get into a little of what disturbed me so much last week that I couldn’t do my weekly tarot over on YouTube. The TLDR, radicalism and the celebration of hurting one self has disturbed me so much, and I share some thoughts on that as well.
Read MoreSince I was 17, I was pro-Palestine, largely due to the work of my still-comics-hero, Joe Sacco and the graphic novels he made about that region and that conflict. However, with what has come to light around Hamas, tunnels, UNWRA, and the vitriol and hatred on the left, the ignoring of mass rapes and extreme violence against women - and learning more about what’s been happening on the ground now - my opinion has shifted, become more nuanced and complicated. Back in the first few months of this conflict, back when I was still pro-P, a 5 years long friendship ended because I wasn’t in the streets rabble rousing and waving flags. Since then, I’ve seen the most insane vitriol online, and insanely hateful things thrown about by leftists. What the hell is that about? What is with this mass excuse making for bullying and hatred? In this episode I discuss not only my own shift in perspective but how the left has come to treat the Palestine topic/issue as a “rage room” of sorts - smashing everything and everyone around them, with no regard for complexity, reality, or other people.
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Read MoreHi my friends! In this episode of the podcast I talk about a trend that has been disturbing me lately… women in their late thirties and early forties positioning their paranoid delusions and psychotic breaks as genuine spiritual enlightenment. That don’t fly with me. Listen to the episode to hear about what I’ve observed and why I think it’s dangerous for the spiritual community and society as a whole.
Read MoreIn this episode I talk a bit about the impact the current Middle East conflict has had on discourse in the west, political and otherwise. We have become a people who have a low tolerance for difference of opinion. In this episode, I explain why this isn’t in our best interest.
Read MoreThis is a niche episode, especially for my fellow coaches and people hiring coaches and anyone who spends a lot of time online. Let’s use our critical thinking skills. I explain the psychology of “let me be the mom you never had” marketing, why it’s predatory, and what coaching can be instead.
Read MoreHave y’all seen that insane new Netflix documentary, Escaping Twin Flames Universe? It’s an insane whirlwind of an online spiritual cult and shares some testimonies of people who have escaped it. Unfortunately, this group operated online. In this episode, I talk about the cult and how fucked up and crazy it is - that isn’t really something to doubt - and I also talk about how these folks give a bad name to online courses, online course creators, and online coaches like myself and many others who do good and honest, authentic, heart felt work in the spiritual space. This will probably be the first episode of a few where I talk about this. I share a bit about how online communities were life changing for me both as an adult and a suburban teen, and how every industry has its insane people, scammers, and charlatans.
Read MoreWe are in an era of war. The violent images are endless and, in this episode, I argue that none of it does any good at this point. I’m sure my political opinions are no surprise to folks who have been here for a while, but whatever your political stance, it’s important to consider what the point is of sharing violent imagery. Is it really to raise awareness about the conflict at hand, or is it to raise awareness of ourselves as highly woke and moral?
Read MoreI hate to be that person who is like, “but LOGIC!” I feel like I sound like a 13 year old boy who just took his first philosophy class, lol. But alas, I am someone who is finishing up my PhD in Philosophy of Science, and who found myself shifting over the years from politically far left to being more conservative and on the right. I noticed a left steeped in identitarianism and tribalism, who mobilize emotions like shame, embarrassment, and fear: fear of being wrong, fear of being called this or that, fear of being contaminated by perspectives that are framed as evil or bad, just because the left says it is. In this episode I share my experience of attending last night’s Munk Debate on the Crisis of Liberalism, held at Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto. I talk about my impression of the speakers, what they had to say, their rhetorical style, as well as who “won” the debate by swaying more people in the vote, as well as my troubled reflections and observations on why I think they won, and how the winning rhetorical style is, unfortunately, becoming more and more common. A reflective and political discussion.
Read MoreHi friends! In today’s episode of the Secrets of a Witch podcast, I talk about the importance of reading books we are a little wary of reading, whether that’s because they’re banned, or because we may think or be afraid that the content is heretical or offensive. I’ve observed so much fear in the past few days around certain ideas, and the idea that being around or in contact with certain books/ideas is contagious in a bad way, infecting the ideologically “pure.” I think it’s important for all of us to explore, experiment, expand our minds, and challenge ourselves to experience a diversity of perspectives. Only then are we really able to figure out what we ourselves actually think! Listen to this episode to learn my perspective on all this, and I share a few recommendations to get started on what is currently “heretical.”
Read MoreIn this episode I riff off of a nasty review of this podcast, where someone basically said I sound like a dumbass due to my “valley girl accent.” Topics of discussion include: code switching; voice, class, and regionality; the performance of intelligence and how that intersects with respectability politics; and of course, I discuss my first book Witchbody and why it was (and still is) so important for me to make academic ideas accessible to every day people.
Read MoreIn this episode, I share a bit about how and why I am extremely over the age of identity politics. Over the last decade, the focus on identity has shifted from inclusive and positive, to nasty, essentialist, and exclusionary, with an emphasis on rewarding victim mentalities and with identity being a fast-track to being right, and also as a replacement for any actual argument. I talk a bit about what I’m interested in right now instead of identity: character and values.
Read MoreHi friends! In this episode of the Secrets of a Witch podcast, I discuss some of my initial thoughts about the Barbie movie (I know, I’m also shocked I watched it)! A lot of analyses have been circulating but in my own commentary I focus on the widespread scapegoating and hatred of beauty, and symbols of beauty, whether they be dolls or real life human beings. I also discuss triggers, and how strange it is that people will deal with their own triggers or insecurities by hating a doll or by hating women they are threatened by or would like to be. I discuss a few other elements of the film as well. I hope you’ll listen, and that what I say will be at least somewhat thought provoking!
Read MoreGuess what! It’s election day in my home city of Toronto: Yes, we are electing a new mayor. In this episode I talk a bit about my own political journey over the last 10 years, how I turned from a leftist social justice warrior to a normal (Canadian) conservative, and why I think it’s important to read multiple books by people you assume you’re going to disagree with. Today’s North American political climate is very bizarre, full of thought police and cancel culture, and in this episode I outline what I hope we can all be and do for ourselves and each other instead: to move from curiosity and openness, and to be responsive to the current situation and present moment. Your politics may not be what you think they are, but you will never know that if you don’t give yourself permission to explore.
Read MoreOkay, rant ahead! Consider this your warning! It hit me today that I’ve been teaching Magic Without Bullshit for 4 years, and I’ve heard the same excuse the entire 4 years - “I’ll do it next time.” Well, guess what? There may not be a next time. In this episode, I explain how this “later” attitude comes from a place of entitlement, complacency, and also taking creators for granted. I also relate this to how people take the clean environment for granted - while today Toronto has the third worst air quality in the world, and I wore a N95 outside to go get a coffee. My eyes stung like hell. When we expect things to always be around for next time - whether it’s the environment, our spouse, or a small business… we reveal some of our own mental weaknesses, and shoot our selves in the foot. We also are deluding ourselves - if we keep telling ourselves, “I’ll do it next year,” and it’s been 4 years. Step out of the delusion, and admit you really don’t care. Or maybe you do. If the time is now, email me - I’ll see you inside.
Read MoreThe extremely online culture of excessive over validation needs to vamoose. I am over it! In this episode I discuss why no, not everything is valid, not all advice is valid, and no, not all feelings or thoughts are valid; why it’s ok (and even hopeful) that this is true, and how (and why) to come to terms with and ground ourselves in reality, and live an empowered emotionally sober life that isn’t reliant on being validated by others.
Read MoreUnfortunately, I’ve seen a lot of people so eager for signs, omens, and spiritual validation that they get scammed, hoodwinked, and fooled. It makes me so upset! It’s possible to be spiritual, follow your intuition, pay attention to the vibes, AND keep your connection to logic and emotional sobriety. In this episode I give some examples of when people fuck this up and talk about how to reconcile our desire for spiritual validation with our ability to use our brains.
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