Agnostic, secular, Florida SASS witch | They/Them | 36 | sigil and button maker | pansexual | spoonie I Kidney donor | Pro-science and modern medicine | Main blog is @DarkPhilosophe.
Today, we’re diving into the concept of local magick, what it is, how to start practising it, and why it’s such an essential part of a grounded and sustainable magical practice.
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We’re lucky to live in an age where magickal knowledge is just a few clicks away. With the internet, we can learn about Norse runes, Irish folklore, Appalachian magic, or Hellenistic practises, no matter where we live.
This access is beautiful and necessary, especially for those whose ancestral or cultural traditions were lost or stolen. But it’s also created a subtle shift: more and more practitioners are reaching for herbs, tools, deities, and rituals that are far removed from their physical environment. We have people learning such a standardised form of witchcraft.
Many of us can name the “staple” magickal herbs like rosemary, mugwort, lavender, and sage, but how many of us know what wild plants grow in our backyard, park, or nearest forest? Do you know what flowers the bees near you rely on? What spirits live in your city or town?
These are what the magickal energy around you is formed on. If you live in Florida, you can’t expect Irish spirits and magickal creatures to be living there. You need to learn about the creatures, energies, and spirits that reside around you.
This can greatly strengthen your magick since you’ll be using it in a way that makes sense to what’s around you. Using the wrong magick for your region can cause things just not to be very useful. The magick follows the same rules as actual physical tools. If you read that in Northern areas, lots of clothing is used to protect against the weather, then you use a winter coat to protect from the harsh heat it won’t be useful at all. The same goes for using sunscreen as protection against the cold.
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Connecting with local magick deepens your connection with the land. When you learn the names and properties of local plants you’ll begin to feel the natural rhythms of your specific seasons. You’ll start to notice changes in the weather, the wildlife, and signs from local spirits and ancestors. This awareness grounds your practise and will give it a deeper meaning.
It will also help teach you what are actual signs and what are mundane. If you know about the local wildlife’s habits, you will know what’s supposed to be there and what is unusual.
If you know that a specific species of bird Always migrates through your town in October, then you’ll know it’s mundane. If you didn’t know this, you might think it’s a sign when it isn’t, just because you don’t often see these birds.
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Local magick also supports sustainability. Importing herbs and tools from across the world can damage ecosystems and exploit workers. Locally sourcing your herbs and tools keeps your money from going to major corporations, supports local witches and business, and prevents the overharvesting of sacred plants.
As well as local plants and tools, working with local spirits can be very helpful as well. There is a unique energy, consciousness, spirit, or whatever you want to call it that belongs to every place. Get acquainted with this. Learn about the energy of the local places themselves as well as the spirits that abide in them. This can open new doors in your craft. Local spirits appreciate offerings, attention, and care. They are watching and can become powerful allies.
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**How to begin practising local magick**
Take walks in your local nature.
Begin learning the names of plants and animals in your area. See how many you can identify on each walk.
Keep a seasonal journal. Record how your area changes throughout the year: what flowers bloom when, how the light shifts, what animals come and go.
Look into your region’s history and folklore. Research Indigenous beliefs if you can do so respectfully, and learn about past settlers, urban legends, and local superstitions.
Connect with local spirits. Leave offerings at old trees, springs, crossroads, or natural spots that feel “charged.” Introduce yourself. Ask permission to gather.
Use local materials in your spells. Wild herbs, stones, shells, stormwater, dirt from your yard. These are potent, personal, and often more powerful than imported tools.
Talk to elders or locals. Folk knowledge often lives in small stories, gardening tips, or offhand comments about the weather. Pay attention.
Meditate in nature. Spend your time in it and learn the energy of your space.
Recognise that there are many different areas within larger spaces all with different energies and spirits. The park, a nature preserve, the river, downtown, all of these will have different magickal feelings and spirits. Learn to tune into them and work with them.
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**Important Things To Be Aware Of**:
Make sure to be respectful of nature. Do not take anything that would not be respectful or necessary to take. Learn about what is endangered, what is in abundance, what is protected, and what is invasive.
Do not leave anything behind. Do not put salt in the soil, do not leave trash, and research what can be put in the soil and what can not.
There may be local practises that are not open to you. Be very aware and respectful of this. *However* there is a lot of nuance in closed practises, this nuance is not often recognised in online spaces. For example, if you live in an area with a lot of indigenous people such as Mexico who have local practises, they may be closed, but they also may happily invite you into it. You do not need to refuse this just because people online tell you that you cannot join if you’re not indigenous. Listen to the people who are in the practise, not the people online.
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Local magick isn’t about limiting yourself, it’s about deepening your roots. You can still work with other traditions respectfully, especially ones that are part of your heritage or calling. But grounding your craft in the land around you gives you a steady foundation. It makes your magick personal, sustainable, and powerful
Hex Positive, Ep. 055 - Fact-Checking In Witchcraft Spaces with Daylina Miller
Now available on your favorite listening app!
Our quest to sharpen those critical thinking skills returns with a lesson from none other than Daylina Miller, NPR journalist, LGBTQ+ activist, and CritWitchCon veteran. We chat about fact-checking in witchcraft spaces, red flags to watch out for, how to vet resources, and where to go to find good information in a world full of AI, SEO, and an endless parade of tiktoks and memes.
(Technical issues in this episode led to some crackling and distortion during parts of the audio. It’s all still audible, just letting the listener know in case of sensory or auditory processing issues.)
Make sure you check out more tips from Daylina on their substack: DaylinaMiller.substack.com.
Visit the Critical Thinking Witch Collective! CritWitchCon 2025 is September 26-28. Follow the socials for event updates and registration links!
Visit the Willow Wings Witch Shop on Shopify and check out this month’s featured items and Upcoming Events. Make sure you also visit the Redbubble page for even more cool merch!
Check my Wordpress for full show notes, as well as show notes for past episodes and information on upcoming events. You can find me as @BreeNicGarran on Instagram and WordPress, or as @breelandwalker on tumblr. For more information on how to support the show and get access to early releases and extra content, visit my Patreon.
Proud member of the Nerd and Tie Podcast Network.
MUSIC CREDITS
Intro & Outro – “Spellbound” & “Miri’s Magic Dance”
Host-Read Ad – “Danse Macabre”
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
PODCAST RECS - Debunking and Fact-Checking for Witches & Witchcraft Spaces
A collection of podcast episodes fact-checking, debunking, or just providing some clarity on modern myths, misinformation, and conspiracy theories that are frequent flyers in witchcraft and pagan spaces, both theories mistakenly touted by community members and some of the utter drivel spouted by non-witches that still affects us today. Check out these shows on your favorite podcast app!
(Updates to be made whenever I find new content. There will be some crossover with my Witches In History Podcast Recs post and some of the content will be heavy. Blanket trigger warning for violence, abuse, bigotry, sexism, antisemitism, and mistreatment of women, queer people, and children.)
[Last Updated: April 16 2025]
This post is broken into three basic sections:
Historical Misinformation
Modern Myths and the People Who Create Them
Conspiracy Theories and Moral Panics
List of Cited Podcasts, in alphabetical order
American Hysteria
BS-Free Witchcraft
Dig: A History Podcast
Hex Positive
Historical Blindness
History Uncovered
Morbid
Occultae Veritatis
Our Curious Past
Our Fake History
Ridiculous History
Stuff You Missed In History Class
The History of Witchcraft
Unobscured
You’re Wrong About…
Recent Additions:
American Hysteria, S5 E97 - The Paranormal Entertainment Industry with Sapphire Sandalo and Jim Perry
A discussion about the paranormal entertainment industry as it exists today and dream of breaking away from the Christian-influenced "ghost bros" formula to tell a broader range of more nuanced stories.
BS-Free Witchcraft, Ep. 74 - Homeopathy Is Bullshit
Host Trae Dorn dives into the history of homeopathy, what it is, why it's bad, and how it wormed its' way into modern witchcraft and paganism.
Hex Positive, Ep. 049 - Satanic Panic? In MY Witchcraft Community? (with Trae Dorn)
Bree NicGarran and Trae Dorn of BS-Free Witchcraft sit down to discuss the stubborn traces of Satanic Panic rhetoric that still linger in the modern witchcraft movement….and have somehow become an accepted part of the lore.
History Uncovered, Ep. 131 - The Satanic Panic: Inside The 1980s Hysteria Over All Things Demonic
Beginning in the early 1980s, wild theories about ritual abuse, widespread occultism, and devil worship dominated news headlines and created a moral panic that led to unfounded accusations and even wrongful imprisonments.
Historical Misinformation
General History of Witchcraft
Historical Blindness - A Rediscovery of Witches, Pt 1 & 2
Oct 13, 2020 & Oct. 27, 2020
A discussion of the early modern witch craze and the myths, misconceptions, and theories about witches spread by academics. Topics of discussion include the works of Margaret Murray and Charles Leland, the founding of Wicca, the emergence of the midwife-witch myth, and folk healers as targets of witchcraft accusations. Sarah Handley-Cousins of “Dig: A History Podcast” supplies guest material for both episodes.
Hex Positive, Ep. 36 - Margaret Effing Murray with Trae Dorn
July 1, 2023
Margaret Murray was a celebrated author, historian, folklorist, Egyptologist, archaeologist, anthropologist, first-wave feminist, and the first woman to be appointed to the position of lecturer in archaeology in the UK. So why so we get so annoyed whenever her name is mentioned in conversations about witchcraft? Well, it all has to do with a book Margaret wrote back in 1921...which just so happened to go on to have a profound influence on the roots of the modern witchcraft movement.
Nerd & Tie senpai and host of BS-Free Witchcraft Trae Dorn joins Bree NicGarran in the virtual studio to discuss the thoroughly-discredited witch-cult hypothesis, Murray's various writings and accomplishments, and why modern paganism might not have caught on so strongly without her.
BS-Free Witchcraft, Ep 03: The History of Wicca
October 06, 2018
On this episode, Trae digs deep into the history of Wicca, and tries to give the most accurate history of the religion as they can. I mean, yeah, we know this is a general Witchcraft podcast, but Wicca is the most widely practiced form of Witchcraft in the US, UK, Canada and Australia… so how it got started is kind of important for the modern Witchcraft movement. (And trust me, there aren’t any pulled punches here.)
BS-Free Witchcraft, Ep. 28: The Burning Times
May 30, 2020
On this installment of the podcast, we tackle probably one of the more controversial topics in the modern witchcraft movement: The Burning Times. What were the actual “Burning Times,” where do we get that phrase from, and what really happened? Also, how has this phrase been used in modern witchcraft? It’s a heavy one, folks.
Dig: A History Podcast - Both Man and Witch: Uncovering the Invisible History of Male Witches
Sept 13, 2020
Since at least the 1970s, academic histories of witches and witchcraft have enjoyed a rare level of visibility in popular culture. Feminist, literary, and historical scholarship about witches has shaped popular culture to such a degree that the discipline has become more about unlearning everything we thought we knew about witches. Though historians have continued to investigate and re-interpret witch history, the general public remains fixated on the compelling, feminist narrative of the vulnerable women hanged and burned at the stake for upsetting the patriarchy. While this part of the story can be true, especially in certain contexts, it’s only part of the story, and frankly, not even the most interesting part. Today, we tackle male witches in early modern Eurasia and North America!
Dig: A History Podcast - Doctor, Healer, Midwife, Witch: How the the Women’s Health Movement Created the Myth of the Midwife-Witch
Sept 6, 2020
In 1973, two professors active in the women’s health movement wrote a pamphlet for women to read in the consciousness-raising reading groups. The pamphlet, inspired by Our Bodies, Ourselves, looked to history to explain how women had been marginalized in their own healthcare. Women used to be an important part of the medical profession as midwives, they argued — but the midwives were forced out of practice because they were so often considered witches and persecuted by the patriarchy in the form of the Catholic Church. The idea that midwives were regularly accused of witchcraft seemed so obvious that it quickly became taken as fact. There was only one problem: it wasn’t true. In this episode, we follow the convoluted origin story of the myth of the midwife-witch.
Dig: A History Podcast - Cheesecloth, Spiritualism, and State Secrets: Helen Duncan’s Famous Witchcraft Trial
July 3, 2022
Helen Duncan was charged under the 1735 Witchcraft Act, but her case was no eighteenth-century sensation: she was arrested, charged, and ultimately imprisoned in 1944. Of course, in 1944, Britain was at war, fighting fascism by day on the continent and hiding in air raid shelters by night at home. The spectacle of a Spiritualist medium on trial for witchcraft seemed out of place. What possessed the Home Secretary to allow this trial to make headlines all across the UK in 1944? That’s what we’re here to find out.
The Conspirators, Ep. 63 - The Last Witch Trial
Nov. 26, 2017
England’s official laws regarding the prosecution of witches dates back to the 1600s. Those very same laws would also remain on the books until well into the 20th century. In 1944, a psychic medium named Helen Duncan would gain notoriety by becoming the last woman to be tried under England’s witchcraft laws.
The History of Witchcraft Podcast, hosted by Samuel Hume
Witches didn’t exist, and yet thousands of people were executed for the crime of witchcraft. Why? The belief in magic and witchcraft has existed in every recorded human culture; this podcast looks at how people explained the inexplicable, turned random acts of nature into conscious acts of mortal or supernatural beings, and how desperate communities took revenge against the suspected perpetrators.
Unobscured, Season One - The Salem Witch Trials
Welcome to Salem, Massachusetts. It’s 1692. And all hell is about to break loose.
Unobscured is a deep-dive history podcast from the labs of How Stuff Works, featuring the writing and narrative talents of Aaron Mahnke, horror novelist and the mind behind Lore and Cabinet of Curiosities.
As with his other series, Mahnke approaches the events in Salem armed with a mountain of research. Interviews with prominent historians add depth and documentation to each episode. And it’s not just the trials you’ll learn about; it’s the stories of the people, places, attitudes, and conflicts that led to the deaths of more than twenty innocent people.
Each week, a new aspect of the story is explored, gradually weaving events and personalities together in chronological order to create a perspective of the trials that is both expansive and intimate. From Bridget Bishop to Cotton Mather, from Andover to Salem Town, Mahkne digs deep to uncover the truth behind the most notorious witch trials in American history.
Think you know the story of Salem? Think again.
Witchcraft and Other Magical Practices
BS-Free Witchcraft, Ep. 43 - “Lilith”
Jan. 29, 2022
Host Trae Dorn discusses the ongoing debate over whether or not it’s okay for non-Jewish witches to incorporate Lilith into their practices. Is Lilith closed? Is it cultural appropriation? There’s so much misinformation in New Age and poorly written witchcraft books on Lilith, it’s hard for some witches to get a clear picture. It’s common to run into folks on social media talking about Lilith as a “Goddess,” which she very much isn’t. Let’s dive into the origins of the folklore surrounding this figure, and we’ll let you decide whether or not it’s okay to work with Lilith. But, uh, spoiler – we don’t think you should.
Historical Blindness, Ep. 106 - Lilith, the Phantom Maiden
November 22, 2022
Host Nathaniel Lloyd explores the evolution of the figure of Lilith, from Mesopotamian demon, to the first woman created by God, and back to a succubus mother of demons. It’s a tale of syncretism, superstition, forgery, and a dubious interpretation of scriptures.
Hex Positive, Ep. 19 - The Trouble with Tarot
August 1, 2021
Tarot and tarot-reading have been a part of the modern witchcraft movement since the 1960s. But where did these cards and their meanings come from? Are they secretly Ancient Egyptian mystical texts? Do they have their origins among the Romani people? Are they a sacred closed practice that should not be used by outsiders? Nope, nope, and nope.
This month, we delve into the actual history of tarot cards, discover their origins on the gaming tables of Italy and France, meet the people who developed their imagery and symbolism into the deck we know today, and debunk some of the nonsense that’s been going around lately concerning their use. The Witchstorian is putting on her research specs for this one!
Stuff You Missed in History Class - A Brief History of Tarot Cards
Oct. 26, 2020
How did a card game gain a reputation for being connected to mysticism? Tarot’s history takes a significant turn in the 18th century, but much of that shift in perception is based on one author’s suppositions and theories.
Hex Positive, Ep. 23 - The Name of the Game
November 1, 2021
Bree delves into the history, myths, and urban legends surrounding Ouija boards. Along the way, we’ll uncover their origins in the spiritualist movement, discover the pop culture phenomenon that labeled them portals to hell, and try to separate fact from internet fiction with regard to what these talking boards can actually do.
Our Curious Past, Ep. 20 - The Curious History of the Ouija Board
August 18, 2023
Host Peter Laws explores the history of the “talking board,” which was wildly popular in the early 1900s, until something happened that would tarnish its’ reputation for good.
Ridiculous History - Brooms and Witchcraft, Pt. 1 & 2
Oct. 13-15, 2020
Most people are familiar with the stereotypical image of a witch: a haggard, often older individual with a peaked hat, black robes, a demonic familiar and, oddly enough, a penchant for cruising around on broomsticks. But where did that last weirdly specific trop of flying on a broomstick actually come from? Could the stereotype of witches on broomsticks actually be a drug reference? Join Ben, Noel, and Casey as they continue digging through the history and folklore of witchcraft - and how it affected pop culture in the modern day.
Historical Blindness, Ep. 116 - The Key to the Secrets of King Solomon
May 02, 2023
Host Nathaniel Lloyd continues his occasional series on the history and mythology of magic. In this installment, he looks at the development of the story that the biblical King Solomon was actually a flying-carpet-riding, magic-ring-wielding wizard and alchemist who bound demons to do his will. The origins and content of the legendary Key of Solomon are also discussed.
Hex Positive, Ep. 049 - Satanic Panic? In MY Witchcraft Community? (with Trae Dorn)
October 7, 2024
Bree NicGarran and Trae Dorn of BS-Free Witchcraft sit down to discuss the stubborn traces of Satanic Panic rhetoric that still linger in the modern witchcraft movement....and have somehow become an accepted part of the lore.
Holidays
Hex Positive, Ep. 28 - The Easter-Ostara Debacle
April 1, 2022
Host Bree NicGarran puts on her Witchstorian hat once more to delve into the origins of both Easter and Ostara and to finally answer the age-old question: which came first – the bunny or the egg?
Historical Blindness, Ep. 28 - A Very Historically Blind Christmas
Dec. 18, 2018
An exploration of the origins of Christmas traditions, with special guest Brian Earl of the Christmas Past podcast. (There is also some mention of Christmas witches!) Further installments of this series explore additional Christmas traditions and iconography which have been falsely claimed to have pagan origins as well as the myths surrounding the history of Christmas itself. (Eps. 47, 63, 84, 132, & 163 in December of subsequent years)
(An Easter-focused episode of Historical Blindness is coming out soon!)
New Age Nonsense
BS-Free Witchcraft, Ep. 55 - Lucky Girl Syndrome and the Law of Attraction
January 28, 2023
Trae takes a look at one of New Age spirituality’s most toxic philosophies - The Law of Attraction. The history of the idea is discussed, where it came from, and how this dangerous combination of prosperity gospel, purity culture, and victim-blaming has come back in a major way to a whole new generation as “Lucky Girl Syndrome.”
BS-Free Witchcraft, Ep. 74 - Homeopathy Is Bullshit
August 31, 2024
Homeopathy is harmful in addition to being complete and total bull. Host Trae Dorn dives into the history of homeopathy, what it is, and why it's bad.
Dig: A History Podcast - Plastic Shamans and Spiritual Hucksters: A History of Peddling and Protecting Native American Spirituality
July 24, 2022
In the late 20th century, white Americans flocked to New Age spirituality, collecting crystals, hugging trees, and finding their places in the great Medicine Wheel. Many didn’t realize - or didn’t care - that much of this spirituality was based on the spiritual faiths and practices of Native American tribes. Frustrated with what they called “spiritual hucksterism,” members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) began protesting - and have never stopped. Who were these “plastic shamans,” and how did the spiritual services they sold become so popular?
Historical Blindness, Ep. 145 - All Is Number: Pythagoras and Numerology
May 28, 2024
In this installment of the ongoing Encyclopedia Grimoria series, host Nathaniel Lloyd talks about a cult leader who is remembered as a great mathematician, whose real lasting contribution to the world is the nonsensical divination "magic" known as numerology.
Modern Myths and the People Who Create Them
Ed and Lorraine Warren
You’re Wrong About…Ed and Lorraine Warren w. Jamie Loftus
Nov 8 2021
Special Guest Jamie Loftus tells Sarah about Ed and Lorraine Warren (of The Conjuring and Annabelle fame). Topics of interest include Connecticut as a locus of scary happenings, New England uncles, and psychic communication with a tearstained Bigfoot.
Dig: A History Podcast - The Demonologist and the Clairvoyant: Ed and Lorraine Warren, Paranormal Investigation, and Exorcism in the Modern World
Oct 3 2021
In the 1970s, Lorraine and Ed Warren had a spotlight of paranormal obsession shining on them. In the last decade, their work as paranormal investigators–ghost hunters–has been the premise for a blockbuster horror franchise totaling at least seven films so far, and more planned in the near future. So… what the heck? Is this for real? Yes, friends, today we’re talking about demonology, psychic connections to the dead, and the patriarchy. Just a typical day with your historians at Dig.
History Uncovered, Ep. 92 - The Enfield Haunting That Inspired "The Conjuring 2"
Oct 25 2023
The Enfield Haunting began with a bang. Literally. From 1977 to 1979, an unassuming North London home was the site of near-constant paranormal activity, from knocking sounds and moving objects to disembodied voices and the terrifying alleged possession of one young daughter of the Hodgson family. But how much truth was there to these happenings? And since the Warrens got involved briefly and subsequently touted themselves as experts on the case (and made money from talking about it), how much of what we think we know reflects the actual events?
Hex Positive, Ep. 042 - Extended Warren Tea with Jenn the Ouija Girl and Lorelei Rivers
Jan 01 2024
Discussions about the careers and rhetoric of the Warrens make the rounds regularly in conversations about the paranormal among members of the witchcraft community. But who were the Warrens? Why do they inspire such ire even as the Conjuring franchise gains steam? How much of what we think we know about the supernatural comes from them? And why is it important to recognize - and refute - their rhetoric when we encounter it? Bree NicGarran sits down with Jenn the Ouija Girl and Lorelei Rivers to spill ALL the tea.
"Paranormal" Literature & Media
You’re Wrong About…Winter Book Club - The Amityville Horror, Pts. 1-3
Dec 20 2021 - Feb 6 2022
Sarah tells guest host Jamie Loftus about the Amityville Horror, how it’s a Christmas story, and buying murder furniture might not be such a great idea. Further highlights include Jodie the Demon Pig, poor insulation and terrible parenting as evidence of a haunting, lots and lots of sunk cost fallacy, and how the book kind of debunks itself.
MORBID, Ep. 610 - The Amityville Horror Conspiracy
October 17 2024
The supposed experience of the Lutz family at 112 Ocean Avenue served as the basis for the iconic haunted house story, “The Amityville Horror,” and the countless films adapted from or inspired by the original novel. However, unlike most other stories of paranormal experiences, “The Amityville Horror” became a phenomenon that influenced everything from Ronald DeFeo’s criminal defense during his murder trial to the American public’s belief in the supernatural. Yet for all their talk of it being a genuine story of demonic activity, in the years since the publication of the popular novel, a large body of evidence from skeptical evaluations to court records and interview transcripts suggest that America’s most notorious haunted house might not have been quite so haunted after all.
American Hysteria, Ep. 125 - I Was A Teenage Poltergeist
October 14 2024
Sarah Marshall, host of “You’re Wrong About…,” transports us to the old world of British Hysteria to reveal the mysterious story of the Enfield Poltergeist and joins host Chelsea Weber Smith at the seance table to discuss the great unknown and the ghosts they know.
You’re Wrong About… - Michelle Remembers, Pt. 1-5
March 26, 2020 - April 30, 2020
Intrepid hosts Sarah and Mike delve into one of the foundational texts of the Satanic Panic - “Michelle Remembers.” A young woman spends a year undergoing hypnosis therapy, which uncovers repressed memories of shocking and horrifying abuse at the hands of a Satanic cult. The book became a foundational text for both mental health professionals and law enforcement attempting to grapple with an alleged nationwide network of insidiously invisible child-abducting cults. The only problem is…none of what Michelle remembered ever actually happened.
You’re Wrong About…. - The Satan Seller, Pt. 1-5
June 28, 2021 - August 9, 2021
Sarah and Mike return to Camp You’re Wrong About for another Satanic Panic story hour. This time, the summer book club explores Mike Warnke’s 1972 “memoir” about joining a demonic cult, rising through the ranks of Satan’s favorite lackeys, his sudden downfall and redemption, and the California hedonism that made him do it. This is followed by a discussion of the Cornerstone Magazine exposé that brought the facts to light and thoroughly discredited Warnke’s story.
American Hysteria, Eps. 64-66 - Chick Tracts, Pts. 1-3
March 20 - April 03, 2023
In his own lifetime, Jack Chick was one of most prolific and widely-read comic artists in history. His company, Chick Tracts, published hundreds of millions of copies of pocket-sized bible comics, filled with lurid illustrations of cackling demons, wicked witches, and sinister cults, all hell-bent on corrupting any hapless mortal they could get their hands on. These tracts were meant to be left where they might be found by a sinner in need of salvation, with a scared-straight morality-play approach to Christianity that contributed in no small part to the period in the late 20th century we now call the Satanic Panic. (There’s also a follow-up two-part episode about one of Chick’s “occult experts,” who claimed to be, among other things, a real-life vampire.)
History Uncovered, Ep. 95 - Roland Doe, The Boy Who Inspired "The Exorcist"
November 15, 2023
In 1949, priests performed an exorcism on a boy referred to as "Roland Doe," aka Ronald Hunkeler, in a chilling ordeal that became the real-life inspiration for William Peter Blatty's 1971 book, "The Exorcist," and the movie adaptation released in 1973. But what really happened during this alleged exorcism and was there any proof of the claims of alleged demonic paranormal activity surrounding the events?
You're Wrong About... - The Exorcist (with Marlena Williams)
December 27, 2023
Marlena Williams, author of "Night Mother: A Personal and Cultural History of the Exorcist," joins host Sarah Marshall to discuss the little possession movie that changed America forever. Was the set cursed by Satan himself, or plain old 70s misogyny? What makes a country going through a cultural upheaval embrace stories about the Devil? And - the most critical question of all - do Ouija boards really cause possession?
Frightful, Bonus Episode - Is the Paranormal Like A New Religion?
June 25 2024
Since the early 2000s, paranormal content has exploded in popular culture. It seems we can't get enough of ghosts (and hunting for them). What could be behind this enthusiasm for spooky things? Host Peter Laws shares a theory - that the paranormal is a clever way for us to be religious...without being religious.
(This is less a debunking than a discussion of a personal hypothesis, but it deals with the pervasiveness of cultural religious themes, the influence of social media on modern mythmaking, and the sense of community surrounding paranormal belief.)
American Hysteria, S5 E97 - The Paranormal Entertainment Industry with Sapphire Sandalo and Jim Perry
January 22, 2024
Host Chelsea Weber-Smith is joined by paranormal correspondent Jim Perry of the podcast "Euphomet" and Sapphire Sandalo of the podcast "Stories With Sapphire" (plus various paranormal TV shows) to talk about paranormal entertainment. Topics discussed include the different kinds of projects in the sphere, behind-the-scenes stories from classic reality ghost shows, the the dream of diversifying the genre away from the formulaic industry of ghost bros and Christian-influenced endings in order to tell a broader range of stories.
Conspiracy Theories and Moral Panics
Ancient "Mysteries"
Historical Blindness, Pyramidiocy, Eps. 146-151
June-July 2024
Host Nathaniel Lloyd delves into the great pyramids and the various myths and misconceptions surrounding them, some of which, despite vast amounts of historical evidence to the contrary, endure to this very day.
Further related segments on this topic may be found on the show's Patreon, including a highly interesting July 2024 minisode regarding "Books of the Dead," which examines claims about H.P. Lovecraft's "Necronomicon" and its' supposed relation to the Egyptian Book of the Dead and the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus.
History Uncovered, Ep. 117 - The Real History Behind the Mythic City of Atlantis
June 12, 2024
First mentioned by Plato in Timaeus and Critias, the lost city of Atlantis later became a widely debated topic among historians. But is Atlantis real? (Spoiler: No. No it is not.)
Hucksters, Secret Societies, and Antisemitism
Historical Blindness, Ep. 14 - Bloody Libel
December 12, 2017
An exploration of one of the most destructive myths in history - the blood libel, or the false accusation that Jews of the Middle Ages and beyond ritually murdered Christian children, a lie that host Nathaniel Lloyd traces back to its’ roots in medieval England and the murder of one Young William of Norwich.
Historical Blindness, Eps. 56-57 - The Illuminati Illuminated
September 15-29, 2020
A contemplation of the modern conservative conspiracy theory of a “deep state” leads host Nathaniel Lloyd back to the dawn of the modern conspiracy theory, the Enlightenment, when the ultimate conservative conspiracy theory was born as an explanation for the French Revolution: The Illuminati!
Historical Blindness, Eps. 38-40 - Nazi Occultism, Parts 1-3
July 2-30, 2019
An exploration of the dark roots of Nazi occult philosophies, from a neo-paganism preoccupied with the Nordic Pantheon, to a folksy back-to-the-land movement that evolved into a nationalist sentiment, to an ideology of racial supremacy all tied up with contemporary myths and pseudoscience.
(The host is careful to note with clarity and vehemence at the start of each episode that this series IN NO WAY approves of, promotes, or supports this ideology and Nazism is roundly condemned at every turn. It’s not an easy listen, but understanding how and why this bigotry continues to be a problem in pagan spaces and how to recognize it is very important.)
TL;DR - Fuck Nazis. No tolerance for genocidal fuckwads.
DIG: A History Podcast - Werewolves, Vampires, and the Aryans of Ancient Atlantis: The Occultic Roots of the Nazi Party
Oct 17, 2021
Modern movie plotlines which portray Nazi obsessions with occultism might be exaggerated for dramatic effect, but they aren't made up out of wholecloth. The NSDAP, or the National Socialist Worker's Party, was a party ideologically enabled by occultist theories about the Aryan race and vampiric Jews, on old folk tales about secret vigilante courts and nationalist werewolves, and on pseudoscientific ideas about ice moons. In this episode, the hosts explore the occult ideas, racial mythology, and 'supernatural imaginary' that helped to create the Nazi Party.
Our Fake History, Eps. 66-68: Who Was the Mother of the Occult?
May-June 2018
An exploration of the life and works of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, self-described sage, medium, guru, author, and one of the founders of Theosophy.
The Satanic Panic
American Hysteria - Satanic Panic, pt 1 & 2
Dec. 10 2018 - Jan. 07, 2019
This two-part episode covers perhaps the most mystifying moral panic in US history, the 1980s and early 90s ‘Satanic Panic.’ For this episode, Chelsey covers the rise of organized Satanism beginning in the late 60s, as well as the adversarial countercultures of the hippies and the metalheads, and their apparent Satanic crimes that would be hailed as proof of their evil, as well as proof that teens, as well as children, were in serious moral peril. Satan was allegedly hypnotizing the youth with secret messages in backwards rock songs, teaching them occult magic in Saturday morning cartoons, and causing suicides through a popular role-playing games, all while helping religion blur into politics for good.
For part two, Chelsey will cover what came next, a serious investigation into an imagined network of Satanic cults ritually abusing children in daycare centers all over the country. Chelsey will try to understand this shocking decade in history, why it really happened, and the cultural issues it was really about.
History Uncovered, Ep. 131 - The Satanic Panic: Inside The 1980s Hysteria Over All Things Demonic
January 08, 2025
Beginning in the early 1980s, wild theories about ritual abuse, widespread occultism, and devil worship dominated news headlines and created a moral panic that led to unfounded accusations and even wrongful imprisonments.
BS-Free Witchcraft, Ep 10 - The Satanic Panic
April 27, 2019
The Satanic Panic of the 70s, 80s, and 90s shaped the Modern Witchcraft Movement in a lot of unexpected ways. Its effects still ripple through a lot of our sources, so in this installment of the podcast we’re digging into this extremely weird part of American history. It’s a bit of a doozy, after all.
BS-Free Witchcraft - Ep. 32: A New Satanic Panic?
February 27, 2021
A couple of years ago, we did an episode on the history of the Satanic Panic of the latter half of the twentieth century, but recent events have led us to ask - could it be happening again? It’s very possible that we are at the start of a new wave of satanic panic, and QAnon is just the latest symptom of a larger problem.
Occultae Veritatis, Case #014: Satanic Panic of Martensville
Jan. 28, 2018
Today the hosts cover one of the various Satanic ritual abuse scandals that happened close to them. Is it full of hot air and false allegations? Yes. Yes it is.
Occultae Veritatis, Case #097A & B: Dungeons, Dragons, and the Satanic Panic
Dec. 07, 2019 - Dec. 15, 2019
Dungeons & Dragons, introduced in 1974, attracted millions of players, along with accusations by some religious figures that the game fostered demon worship and a belief in witchcraft and magic.
You can also check out the May 2025 episode of Hex Positive, where I discussed this topic with queer activist and journalism industry veteran Daylina Miller. 😊
PODCAST RECS - Debunking and Fact-Checking for Witches & Witchcraft Spaces
A collection of podcast episodes fact-checking, debunking, or just providing some clarity on modern myths, misinformation, and conspiracy theories that are frequent flyers in witchcraft and pagan spaces, both theories mistakenly touted by community members and some of the utter drivel spouted by non-witches that still affects us today. Check out these shows on your favorite podcast app!
(Updates to be made whenever I find new content. There will be some crossover with my Witches In History Podcast Recs post and some of the content will be heavy. Blanket trigger warning for violence, abuse, bigotry, sexism, antisemitism, and mistreatment of women, queer people, and children.)
[Last Updated: April 16 2025]
This post is broken into three basic sections:
Historical Misinformation
Modern Myths and the People Who Create Them
Conspiracy Theories and Moral Panics
List of Cited Podcasts, in alphabetical order
American Hysteria
BS-Free Witchcraft
Dig: A History Podcast
Hex Positive
Historical Blindness
History Uncovered
Morbid
Occultae Veritatis
Our Curious Past
Our Fake History
Ridiculous History
Stuff You Missed In History Class
The History of Witchcraft
Unobscured
You’re Wrong About…
Recent Additions:
American Hysteria, S5 E97 - The Paranormal Entertainment Industry with Sapphire Sandalo and Jim Perry
A discussion about the paranormal entertainment industry as it exists today and dream of breaking away from the Christian-influenced "ghost bros" formula to tell a broader range of more nuanced stories.
BS-Free Witchcraft, Ep. 74 - Homeopathy Is Bullshit
Host Trae Dorn dives into the history of homeopathy, what it is, why it's bad, and how it wormed its' way into modern witchcraft and paganism.
Hex Positive, Ep. 049 - Satanic Panic? In MY Witchcraft Community? (with Trae Dorn)
Bree NicGarran and Trae Dorn of BS-Free Witchcraft sit down to discuss the stubborn traces of Satanic Panic rhetoric that still linger in the modern witchcraft movement….and have somehow become an accepted part of the lore.
History Uncovered, Ep. 131 - The Satanic Panic: Inside The 1980s Hysteria Over All Things Demonic
Beginning in the early 1980s, wild theories about ritual abuse, widespread occultism, and devil worship dominated news headlines and created a moral panic that led to unfounded accusations and even wrongful imprisonments.
Historical Misinformation
General History of Witchcraft
Historical Blindness - A Rediscovery of Witches, Pt 1 & 2
Oct 13, 2020 & Oct. 27, 2020
A discussion of the early modern witch craze and the myths, misconceptions, and theories about witches spread by academics. Topics of discussion include the works of Margaret Murray and Charles Leland, the founding of Wicca, the emergence of the midwife-witch myth, and folk healers as targets of witchcraft accusations. Sarah Handley-Cousins of “Dig: A History Podcast” supplies guest material for both episodes.
Hex Positive, Ep. 36 - Margaret Effing Murray with Trae Dorn
July 1, 2023
Margaret Murray was a celebrated author, historian, folklorist, Egyptologist, archaeologist, anthropologist, first-wave feminist, and the first woman to be appointed to the position of lecturer in archaeology in the UK. So why so we get so annoyed whenever her name is mentioned in conversations about witchcraft? Well, it all has to do with a book Margaret wrote back in 1921...which just so happened to go on to have a profound influence on the roots of the modern witchcraft movement.
Nerd & Tie senpai and host of BS-Free Witchcraft Trae Dorn joins Bree NicGarran in the virtual studio to discuss the thoroughly-discredited witch-cult hypothesis, Murray's various writings and accomplishments, and why modern paganism might not have caught on so strongly without her.
BS-Free Witchcraft, Ep 03: The History of Wicca
October 06, 2018
On this episode, Trae digs deep into the history of Wicca, and tries to give the most accurate history of the religion as they can. I mean, yeah, we know this is a general Witchcraft podcast, but Wicca is the most widely practiced form of Witchcraft in the US, UK, Canada and Australia… so how it got started is kind of important for the modern Witchcraft movement. (And trust me, there aren’t any pulled punches here.)
BS-Free Witchcraft, Ep. 28: The Burning Times
May 30, 2020
On this installment of the podcast, we tackle probably one of the more controversial topics in the modern witchcraft movement: The Burning Times. What were the actual “Burning Times,” where do we get that phrase from, and what really happened? Also, how has this phrase been used in modern witchcraft? It’s a heavy one, folks.
Dig: A History Podcast - Both Man and Witch: Uncovering the Invisible History of Male Witches
Sept 13, 2020
Since at least the 1970s, academic histories of witches and witchcraft have enjoyed a rare level of visibility in popular culture. Feminist, literary, and historical scholarship about witches has shaped popular culture to such a degree that the discipline has become more about unlearning everything we thought we knew about witches. Though historians have continued to investigate and re-interpret witch history, the general public remains fixated on the compelling, feminist narrative of the vulnerable women hanged and burned at the stake for upsetting the patriarchy. While this part of the story can be true, especially in certain contexts, it’s only part of the story, and frankly, not even the most interesting part. Today, we tackle male witches in early modern Eurasia and North America!
Dig: A History Podcast - Doctor, Healer, Midwife, Witch: How the the Women’s Health Movement Created the Myth of the Midwife-Witch
Sept 6, 2020
In 1973, two professors active in the women’s health movement wrote a pamphlet for women to read in the consciousness-raising reading groups. The pamphlet, inspired by Our Bodies, Ourselves, looked to history to explain how women had been marginalized in their own healthcare. Women used to be an important part of the medical profession as midwives, they argued — but the midwives were forced out of practice because they were so often considered witches and persecuted by the patriarchy in the form of the Catholic Church. The idea that midwives were regularly accused of witchcraft seemed so obvious that it quickly became taken as fact. There was only one problem: it wasn’t true. In this episode, we follow the convoluted origin story of the myth of the midwife-witch.
Dig: A History Podcast - Cheesecloth, Spiritualism, and State Secrets: Helen Duncan’s Famous Witchcraft Trial
July 3, 2022
Helen Duncan was charged under the 1735 Witchcraft Act, but her case was no eighteenth-century sensation: she was arrested, charged, and ultimately imprisoned in 1944. Of course, in 1944, Britain was at war, fighting fascism by day on the continent and hiding in air raid shelters by night at home. The spectacle of a Spiritualist medium on trial for witchcraft seemed out of place. What possessed the Home Secretary to allow this trial to make headlines all across the UK in 1944? That’s what we’re here to find out.
The Conspirators, Ep. 63 - The Last Witch Trial
Nov. 26, 2017
England’s official laws regarding the prosecution of witches dates back to the 1600s. Those very same laws would also remain on the books until well into the 20th century. In 1944, a psychic medium named Helen Duncan would gain notoriety by becoming the last woman to be tried under England’s witchcraft laws.
The History of Witchcraft Podcast, hosted by Samuel Hume
Witches didn’t exist, and yet thousands of people were executed for the crime of witchcraft. Why? The belief in magic and witchcraft has existed in every recorded human culture; this podcast looks at how people explained the inexplicable, turned random acts of nature into conscious acts of mortal or supernatural beings, and how desperate communities took revenge against the suspected perpetrators.
Unobscured, Season One - The Salem Witch Trials
Welcome to Salem, Massachusetts. It’s 1692. And all hell is about to break loose.
Unobscured is a deep-dive history podcast from the labs of How Stuff Works, featuring the writing and narrative talents of Aaron Mahnke, horror novelist and the mind behind Lore and Cabinet of Curiosities.
As with his other series, Mahnke approaches the events in Salem armed with a mountain of research. Interviews with prominent historians add depth and documentation to each episode. And it’s not just the trials you’ll learn about; it’s the stories of the people, places, attitudes, and conflicts that led to the deaths of more than twenty innocent people.
Each week, a new aspect of the story is explored, gradually weaving events and personalities together in chronological order to create a perspective of the trials that is both expansive and intimate. From Bridget Bishop to Cotton Mather, from Andover to Salem Town, Mahkne digs deep to uncover the truth behind the most notorious witch trials in American history.
Think you know the story of Salem? Think again.
Witchcraft and Other Magical Practices
BS-Free Witchcraft, Ep. 43 - “Lilith”
Jan. 29, 2022
Host Trae Dorn discusses the ongoing debate over whether or not it’s okay for non-Jewish witches to incorporate Lilith into their practices. Is Lilith closed? Is it cultural appropriation? There’s so much misinformation in New Age and poorly written witchcraft books on Lilith, it’s hard for some witches to get a clear picture. It’s common to run into folks on social media talking about Lilith as a “Goddess,” which she very much isn’t. Let’s dive into the origins of the folklore surrounding this figure, and we’ll let you decide whether or not it’s okay to work with Lilith. But, uh, spoiler – we don’t think you should.
Historical Blindness, Ep. 106 - Lilith, the Phantom Maiden
November 22, 2022
Host Nathaniel Lloyd explores the evolution of the figure of Lilith, from Mesopotamian demon, to the first woman created by God, and back to a succubus mother of demons. It’s a tale of syncretism, superstition, forgery, and a dubious interpretation of scriptures.
Hex Positive, Ep. 19 - The Trouble with Tarot
August 1, 2021
Tarot and tarot-reading have been a part of the modern witchcraft movement since the 1960s. But where did these cards and their meanings come from? Are they secretly Ancient Egyptian mystical texts? Do they have their origins among the Romani people? Are they a sacred closed practice that should not be used by outsiders? Nope, nope, and nope.
This month, we delve into the actual history of tarot cards, discover their origins on the gaming tables of Italy and France, meet the people who developed their imagery and symbolism into the deck we know today, and debunk some of the nonsense that’s been going around lately concerning their use. The Witchstorian is putting on her research specs for this one!
Stuff You Missed in History Class - A Brief History of Tarot Cards
Oct. 26, 2020
How did a card game gain a reputation for being connected to mysticism? Tarot’s history takes a significant turn in the 18th century, but much of that shift in perception is based on one author’s suppositions and theories.
Hex Positive, Ep. 23 - The Name of the Game
November 1, 2021
Bree delves into the history, myths, and urban legends surrounding Ouija boards. Along the way, we’ll uncover their origins in the spiritualist movement, discover the pop culture phenomenon that labeled them portals to hell, and try to separate fact from internet fiction with regard to what these talking boards can actually do.
Our Curious Past, Ep. 20 - The Curious History of the Ouija Board
August 18, 2023
Host Peter Laws explores the history of the “talking board,” which was wildly popular in the early 1900s, until something happened that would tarnish its’ reputation for good.
Ridiculous History - Brooms and Witchcraft, Pt. 1 & 2
Oct. 13-15, 2020
Most people are familiar with the stereotypical image of a witch: a haggard, often older individual with a peaked hat, black robes, a demonic familiar and, oddly enough, a penchant for cruising around on broomsticks. But where did that last weirdly specific trop of flying on a broomstick actually come from? Could the stereotype of witches on broomsticks actually be a drug reference? Join Ben, Noel, and Casey as they continue digging through the history and folklore of witchcraft - and how it affected pop culture in the modern day.
Historical Blindness, Ep. 116 - The Key to the Secrets of King Solomon
May 02, 2023
Host Nathaniel Lloyd continues his occasional series on the history and mythology of magic. In this installment, he looks at the development of the story that the biblical King Solomon was actually a flying-carpet-riding, magic-ring-wielding wizard and alchemist who bound demons to do his will. The origins and content of the legendary Key of Solomon are also discussed.
Hex Positive, Ep. 049 - Satanic Panic? In MY Witchcraft Community? (with Trae Dorn)
October 7, 2024
Bree NicGarran and Trae Dorn of BS-Free Witchcraft sit down to discuss the stubborn traces of Satanic Panic rhetoric that still linger in the modern witchcraft movement....and have somehow become an accepted part of the lore.
Holidays
Hex Positive, Ep. 28 - The Easter-Ostara Debacle
April 1, 2022
Host Bree NicGarran puts on her Witchstorian hat once more to delve into the origins of both Easter and Ostara and to finally answer the age-old question: which came first – the bunny or the egg?
Historical Blindness, Ep. 28 - A Very Historically Blind Christmas
Dec. 18, 2018
An exploration of the origins of Christmas traditions, with special guest Brian Earl of the Christmas Past podcast. (There is also some mention of Christmas witches!) Further installments of this series explore additional Christmas traditions and iconography which have been falsely claimed to have pagan origins as well as the myths surrounding the history of Christmas itself. (Eps. 47, 63, 84, 132, & 163 in December of subsequent years)
(An Easter-focused episode of Historical Blindness is coming out soon!)
New Age Nonsense
BS-Free Witchcraft, Ep. 55 - Lucky Girl Syndrome and the Law of Attraction
January 28, 2023
Trae takes a look at one of New Age spirituality’s most toxic philosophies - The Law of Attraction. The history of the idea is discussed, where it came from, and how this dangerous combination of prosperity gospel, purity culture, and victim-blaming has come back in a major way to a whole new generation as “Lucky Girl Syndrome.”
BS-Free Witchcraft, Ep. 74 - Homeopathy Is Bullshit
August 31, 2024
Homeopathy is harmful in addition to being complete and total bull. Host Trae Dorn dives into the history of homeopathy, what it is, and why it's bad.
Dig: A History Podcast - Plastic Shamans and Spiritual Hucksters: A History of Peddling and Protecting Native American Spirituality
July 24, 2022
In the late 20th century, white Americans flocked to New Age spirituality, collecting crystals, hugging trees, and finding their places in the great Medicine Wheel. Many didn’t realize - or didn’t care - that much of this spirituality was based on the spiritual faiths and practices of Native American tribes. Frustrated with what they called “spiritual hucksterism,” members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) began protesting - and have never stopped. Who were these “plastic shamans,” and how did the spiritual services they sold become so popular?
Historical Blindness, Ep. 145 - All Is Number: Pythagoras and Numerology
May 28, 2024
In this installment of the ongoing Encyclopedia Grimoria series, host Nathaniel Lloyd talks about a cult leader who is remembered as a great mathematician, whose real lasting contribution to the world is the nonsensical divination "magic" known as numerology.
Modern Myths and the People Who Create Them
Ed and Lorraine Warren
You’re Wrong About…Ed and Lorraine Warren w. Jamie Loftus
Nov 8 2021
Special Guest Jamie Loftus tells Sarah about Ed and Lorraine Warren (of The Conjuring and Annabelle fame). Topics of interest include Connecticut as a locus of scary happenings, New England uncles, and psychic communication with a tearstained Bigfoot.
Dig: A History Podcast - The Demonologist and the Clairvoyant: Ed and Lorraine Warren, Paranormal Investigation, and Exorcism in the Modern World
Oct 3 2021
In the 1970s, Lorraine and Ed Warren had a spotlight of paranormal obsession shining on them. In the last decade, their work as paranormal investigators–ghost hunters–has been the premise for a blockbuster horror franchise totaling at least seven films so far, and more planned in the near future. So… what the heck? Is this for real? Yes, friends, today we’re talking about demonology, psychic connections to the dead, and the patriarchy. Just a typical day with your historians at Dig.
History Uncovered, Ep. 92 - The Enfield Haunting That Inspired "The Conjuring 2"
Oct 25 2023
The Enfield Haunting began with a bang. Literally. From 1977 to 1979, an unassuming North London home was the site of near-constant paranormal activity, from knocking sounds and moving objects to disembodied voices and the terrifying alleged possession of one young daughter of the Hodgson family. But how much truth was there to these happenings? And since the Warrens got involved briefly and subsequently touted themselves as experts on the case (and made money from talking about it), how much of what we think we know reflects the actual events?
Hex Positive, Ep. 042 - Extended Warren Tea with Jenn the Ouija Girl and Lorelei Rivers
Jan 01 2024
Discussions about the careers and rhetoric of the Warrens make the rounds regularly in conversations about the paranormal among members of the witchcraft community. But who were the Warrens? Why do they inspire such ire even as the Conjuring franchise gains steam? How much of what we think we know about the supernatural comes from them? And why is it important to recognize - and refute - their rhetoric when we encounter it? Bree NicGarran sits down with Jenn the Ouija Girl and Lorelei Rivers to spill ALL the tea.
"Paranormal" Literature & Media
You’re Wrong About…Winter Book Club - The Amityville Horror, Pts. 1-3
Dec 20 2021 - Feb 6 2022
Sarah tells guest host Jamie Loftus about the Amityville Horror, how it’s a Christmas story, and buying murder furniture might not be such a great idea. Further highlights include Jodie the Demon Pig, poor insulation and terrible parenting as evidence of a haunting, lots and lots of sunk cost fallacy, and how the book kind of debunks itself.
MORBID, Ep. 610 - The Amityville Horror Conspiracy
October 17 2024
The supposed experience of the Lutz family at 112 Ocean Avenue served as the basis for the iconic haunted house story, “The Amityville Horror,” and the countless films adapted from or inspired by the original novel. However, unlike most other stories of paranormal experiences, “The Amityville Horror” became a phenomenon that influenced everything from Ronald DeFeo’s criminal defense during his murder trial to the American public’s belief in the supernatural. Yet for all their talk of it being a genuine story of demonic activity, in the years since the publication of the popular novel, a large body of evidence from skeptical evaluations to court records and interview transcripts suggest that America’s most notorious haunted house might not have been quite so haunted after all.
American Hysteria, Ep. 125 - I Was A Teenage Poltergeist
October 14 2024
Sarah Marshall, host of “You’re Wrong About…,” transports us to the old world of British Hysteria to reveal the mysterious story of the Enfield Poltergeist and joins host Chelsea Weber Smith at the seance table to discuss the great unknown and the ghosts they know.
You’re Wrong About… - Michelle Remembers, Pt. 1-5
March 26, 2020 - April 30, 2020
Intrepid hosts Sarah and Mike delve into one of the foundational texts of the Satanic Panic - “Michelle Remembers.” A young woman spends a year undergoing hypnosis therapy, which uncovers repressed memories of shocking and horrifying abuse at the hands of a Satanic cult. The book became a foundational text for both mental health professionals and law enforcement attempting to grapple with an alleged nationwide network of insidiously invisible child-abducting cults. The only problem is…none of what Michelle remembered ever actually happened.
You’re Wrong About…. - The Satan Seller, Pt. 1-5
June 28, 2021 - August 9, 2021
Sarah and Mike return to Camp You’re Wrong About for another Satanic Panic story hour. This time, the summer book club explores Mike Warnke’s 1972 “memoir” about joining a demonic cult, rising through the ranks of Satan’s favorite lackeys, his sudden downfall and redemption, and the California hedonism that made him do it. This is followed by a discussion of the Cornerstone Magazine exposé that brought the facts to light and thoroughly discredited Warnke’s story.
American Hysteria, Eps. 64-66 - Chick Tracts, Pts. 1-3
March 20 - April 03, 2023
In his own lifetime, Jack Chick was one of most prolific and widely-read comic artists in history. His company, Chick Tracts, published hundreds of millions of copies of pocket-sized bible comics, filled with lurid illustrations of cackling demons, wicked witches, and sinister cults, all hell-bent on corrupting any hapless mortal they could get their hands on. These tracts were meant to be left where they might be found by a sinner in need of salvation, with a scared-straight morality-play approach to Christianity that contributed in no small part to the period in the late 20th century we now call the Satanic Panic. (There’s also a follow-up two-part episode about one of Chick’s “occult experts,” who claimed to be, among other things, a real-life vampire.)
History Uncovered, Ep. 95 - Roland Doe, The Boy Who Inspired "The Exorcist"
November 15, 2023
In 1949, priests performed an exorcism on a boy referred to as "Roland Doe," aka Ronald Hunkeler, in a chilling ordeal that became the real-life inspiration for William Peter Blatty's 1971 book, "The Exorcist," and the movie adaptation released in 1973. But what really happened during this alleged exorcism and was there any proof of the claims of alleged demonic paranormal activity surrounding the events?
You're Wrong About... - The Exorcist (with Marlena Williams)
December 27, 2023
Marlena Williams, author of "Night Mother: A Personal and Cultural History of the Exorcist," joins host Sarah Marshall to discuss the little possession movie that changed America forever. Was the set cursed by Satan himself, or plain old 70s misogyny? What makes a country going through a cultural upheaval embrace stories about the Devil? And - the most critical question of all - do Ouija boards really cause possession?
Frightful, Bonus Episode - Is the Paranormal Like A New Religion?
June 25 2024
Since the early 2000s, paranormal content has exploded in popular culture. It seems we can't get enough of ghosts (and hunting for them). What could be behind this enthusiasm for spooky things? Host Peter Laws shares a theory - that the paranormal is a clever way for us to be religious...without being religious.
(This is less a debunking than a discussion of a personal hypothesis, but it deals with the pervasiveness of cultural religious themes, the influence of social media on modern mythmaking, and the sense of community surrounding paranormal belief.)
American Hysteria, S5 E97 - The Paranormal Entertainment Industry with Sapphire Sandalo and Jim Perry
January 22, 2024
Host Chelsea Weber-Smith is joined by paranormal correspondent Jim Perry of the podcast "Euphomet" and Sapphire Sandalo of the podcast "Stories With Sapphire" (plus various paranormal TV shows) to talk about paranormal entertainment. Topics discussed include the different kinds of projects in the sphere, behind-the-scenes stories from classic reality ghost shows, the the dream of diversifying the genre away from the formulaic industry of ghost bros and Christian-influenced endings in order to tell a broader range of stories.
Conspiracy Theories and Moral Panics
Ancient "Mysteries"
Historical Blindness, Pyramidiocy, Eps. 146-151
June-July 2024
Host Nathaniel Lloyd delves into the great pyramids and the various myths and misconceptions surrounding them, some of which, despite vast amounts of historical evidence to the contrary, endure to this very day.
Further related segments on this topic may be found on the show's Patreon, including a highly interesting July 2024 minisode regarding "Books of the Dead," which examines claims about H.P. Lovecraft's "Necronomicon" and its' supposed relation to the Egyptian Book of the Dead and the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus.
History Uncovered, Ep. 117 - The Real History Behind the Mythic City of Atlantis
June 12, 2024
First mentioned by Plato in Timaeus and Critias, the lost city of Atlantis later became a widely debated topic among historians. But is Atlantis real? (Spoiler: No. No it is not.)
Hucksters, Secret Societies, and Antisemitism
Historical Blindness, Ep. 14 - Bloody Libel
December 12, 2017
An exploration of one of the most destructive myths in history - the blood libel, or the false accusation that Jews of the Middle Ages and beyond ritually murdered Christian children, a lie that host Nathaniel Lloyd traces back to its’ roots in medieval England and the murder of one Young William of Norwich.
Historical Blindness, Eps. 56-57 - The Illuminati Illuminated
September 15-29, 2020
A contemplation of the modern conservative conspiracy theory of a “deep state” leads host Nathaniel Lloyd back to the dawn of the modern conspiracy theory, the Enlightenment, when the ultimate conservative conspiracy theory was born as an explanation for the French Revolution: The Illuminati!
Historical Blindness, Eps. 38-40 - Nazi Occultism, Parts 1-3
July 2-30, 2019
An exploration of the dark roots of Nazi occult philosophies, from a neo-paganism preoccupied with the Nordic Pantheon, to a folksy back-to-the-land movement that evolved into a nationalist sentiment, to an ideology of racial supremacy all tied up with contemporary myths and pseudoscience.
(The host is careful to note with clarity and vehemence at the start of each episode that this series IN NO WAY approves of, promotes, or supports this ideology and Nazism is roundly condemned at every turn. It’s not an easy listen, but understanding how and why this bigotry continues to be a problem in pagan spaces and how to recognize it is very important.)
TL;DR - Fuck Nazis. No tolerance for genocidal fuckwads.
DIG: A History Podcast - Werewolves, Vampires, and the Aryans of Ancient Atlantis: The Occultic Roots of the Nazi Party
Oct 17, 2021
Modern movie plotlines which portray Nazi obsessions with occultism might be exaggerated for dramatic effect, but they aren't made up out of wholecloth. The NSDAP, or the National Socialist Worker's Party, was a party ideologically enabled by occultist theories about the Aryan race and vampiric Jews, on old folk tales about secret vigilante courts and nationalist werewolves, and on pseudoscientific ideas about ice moons. In this episode, the hosts explore the occult ideas, racial mythology, and 'supernatural imaginary' that helped to create the Nazi Party.
Our Fake History, Eps. 66-68: Who Was the Mother of the Occult?
May-June 2018
An exploration of the life and works of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, self-described sage, medium, guru, author, and one of the founders of Theosophy.
The Satanic Panic
American Hysteria - Satanic Panic, pt 1 & 2
Dec. 10 2018 - Jan. 07, 2019
This two-part episode covers perhaps the most mystifying moral panic in US history, the 1980s and early 90s ‘Satanic Panic.’ For this episode, Chelsey covers the rise of organized Satanism beginning in the late 60s, as well as the adversarial countercultures of the hippies and the metalheads, and their apparent Satanic crimes that would be hailed as proof of their evil, as well as proof that teens, as well as children, were in serious moral peril. Satan was allegedly hypnotizing the youth with secret messages in backwards rock songs, teaching them occult magic in Saturday morning cartoons, and causing suicides through a popular role-playing games, all while helping religion blur into politics for good.
For part two, Chelsey will cover what came next, a serious investigation into an imagined network of Satanic cults ritually abusing children in daycare centers all over the country. Chelsey will try to understand this shocking decade in history, why it really happened, and the cultural issues it was really about.
History Uncovered, Ep. 131 - The Satanic Panic: Inside The 1980s Hysteria Over All Things Demonic
January 08, 2025
Beginning in the early 1980s, wild theories about ritual abuse, widespread occultism, and devil worship dominated news headlines and created a moral panic that led to unfounded accusations and even wrongful imprisonments.
BS-Free Witchcraft, Ep 10 - The Satanic Panic
April 27, 2019
The Satanic Panic of the 70s, 80s, and 90s shaped the Modern Witchcraft Movement in a lot of unexpected ways. Its effects still ripple through a lot of our sources, so in this installment of the podcast we’re digging into this extremely weird part of American history. It’s a bit of a doozy, after all.
BS-Free Witchcraft - Ep. 32: A New Satanic Panic?
February 27, 2021
A couple of years ago, we did an episode on the history of the Satanic Panic of the latter half of the twentieth century, but recent events have led us to ask - could it be happening again? It’s very possible that we are at the start of a new wave of satanic panic, and QAnon is just the latest symptom of a larger problem.
Occultae Veritatis, Case #014: Satanic Panic of Martensville
Jan. 28, 2018
Today the hosts cover one of the various Satanic ritual abuse scandals that happened close to them. Is it full of hot air and false allegations? Yes. Yes it is.
Occultae Veritatis, Case #097A & B: Dungeons, Dragons, and the Satanic Panic
Dec. 07, 2019 - Dec. 15, 2019
Dungeons & Dragons, introduced in 1974, attracted millions of players, along with accusations by some religious figures that the game fostered demon worship and a belief in witchcraft and magic.
Put simply, a desire path is a strip of soil or land that's was eroded overtime due to animal or human foot traffic. The primary goal of these paths is to create something that is shorter and easier to traverse rather than the original path. Sometimes, when done by cars on a strip of veld, it's called Bundu Bashing. They could theoretically be considered crossroads as they connect to the main path but also go off route to cut the distance the path usually takes.
Example of a Desire Path
Since they're made by activity (I.e. erosion by movement), they can be considered more active. Their convenience also places a slight Mercurial aspect relating to the quick effect or the desire for quicker effects, alongside the movement of energy from a set path.
As with typical crossroads, one might understand this as an opportune place to leave offerings. One could theoretically also assume them to be tied to social magick and "attacks on reality" as they are more closely tied to people and animals moving on them rather than the fixed route.
Possible affinities can also include cutting time for petitions, blockage removal, revealing new pathways to the same object and so on.
Depending on the colour of sand, further ideas might be taken. The sand in my area is red due to oxidized iron, so red sand would obviously carry the connotation of Mars and protection, while also emphasizing Mars as the Dominator and Overcomer of Obstacles.
So I read this post https://in-her-broomcloset.tumblr.com/post/160210641160/witch-tip-making-your-sigil-look-better and I took it too seriously/misunderstood what it meant. So here are the results of what I thought she was saying, lol.
Feel free to make your own sigil wheels and stuff like that. You can encircle the sigils in a circle or in the shape of the sigil wheel used (whichever you prefer).
Happy sigil making! ^^
Sigils were the first magic I ever learned. As an artist, symbolism and aesthetic are things that are incredibly important to me. I have used multiple ways of crafting sigils, but I have created my own personal way of creating sigils using a method writers have used in poetry- the stream of consciousness technique.
I put my pen to paper, call upon what I wish to make a sigil about, and let the pen create what I need.
These are the sigils that I use the most frequently (you may use them if you wish).
You may notice that my sigils in the form of arrows. Arrows are a symbolic representation of aiming and shooting for something, and I love the vertically long look because I like to draw these sigils on my forearms.
I created all of these with stream of consciousness drawing.
It is almost like a form of meditation for me. Allowing myself to simply create what I think “focus” or “protection” looks like visually makes the end results beautiful and meaningful for me.
I do have a few running themes. Here are a few symbols I love to throw in.
These are used a ton in my art.
So here is a step by step of what to do-
1. Clear your mind for meditation. (Tip- if you have crystals that symbolize your intent, surround yourself with them. And example would be having a rose quartz for love on you or near you.)
2. Put your writing utensil to your paper. (I recommend using paper before digital.) Have your energy flow from your body to the focus of the tip of the pen/pencil, repeating the intent you wish the sigil to have.
3. Make a first draft of your sigil by allowing your hand to simply move as you think of your intent.
4. Make as many reiterations you wish until you have something you feel satisfied with. (Editing is a big part of writing as well.)
5. After a few tries making different sigils, make a list of your own common symbols you see popping up in your sigils.
And there you have it. If you are not comfortable, try mixing this technique with others to find what works best for you, or simply only use other techniques and make sigil arrows. I think using the look of an abstract arrow helps with directing intentions.
You can also request a sigil from me if you so choose in my inbox, for I shall be making them for anyone who asks for free.
I hope you find yourself using this technique of stream of consciousness to create wonderful sigils.
Set up an altar for Pride month and included my grandfather and his partner of 37 years, plus some queer community ancestors.
It never hurts to have a little extra love, devotion, and protection in June. Whether you celebrate at the big rainbow-festooned events, at home in your own private way, or through acts of protest as pride month is rooted, may you be safe, and happy, and healthy.
My ancestors would have wanted pasteurization, vaccines, antibiotics, disinfectants, birth control, psychiatric medications, pain management, anesthesia. My ancestors would have wanted to be able to keep their loved ones around longer, and not lose them too early/too soon to childbirths, injuries, bacterial infections, mental illnesses, and diseases that are curable and/or preventable in our modern day life.
A community of secular, agnostic/atheist, skeptical and science-seeking witches.
Made a SASS witchcraft community since there wasn’t one. I know this is a new feature so I thought it would be fun to experiment with connecting folks in that way.
When you say you're anti-CAM what does that mean? Like what does CAM mean in that context? I genuinely haven't seen that acronym before and I'm assuming you aren't anti-camming as in like the form of sex work
Complimentary and Alternative Medicine.
I am capable of turning off my inner annoying atheist, I am incapable of turning off my inner annoying quackwatcher.
I have had real life fights with people I genuinely love about this and I do not regret it. I will absolutely not regret shitting all over someone's $500 herbalist certification.
The nice thing is that I will probably never bring this kind of thing up. I'm never going to go out of my way to figure out if the people around me are, like, really into homeopathy. The less nice thing is that if you bring it up with me I am never, ever, ever going to shut up about it and if you attempt to show me a *study* on the healing power of prayer or the use of chiropractic to treat asthma we are forever enemies and I probably won't talk to you again but I will use the several hours of furious debunking that I did after our conversation to make arguments against your beliefs in the future. You are already a lost cause to me but other people are less stupid about the way that ice crystals form and I can work with them.
I *loathe* medical woo, it kills people and the people who engage in it are shitty human beings who are hurting other human beings.
I don't think that there's a proponent of science-based medicine alive who doesn't understand that plant compounds are important in medicine and it is important to research them. We *DO* get a lot of medicine from plants.
But "medicine from plants" and "herbalism" are not the same.
The example that most people like to bring up is aspirin and willow bark tea. You can use willow bark as a painkiller, you can collect your own and brew it up when you've got a headache.
What you can't do is control the dose. You can't do this for a number of reasons, including having little control over the conditions the tree grew in and variations in preparation technique. If you're measuring very exactly you can control for some of these things, but even if you were in charge of the willow tree you collected the bark from it's not going to be the same at different places on the trunk or in different seasons.
That's not a huge deal if you're using aspirin for a headache, it can be a much bigger deal if you're using aspirin as a bloodthinner.
And the example that people LIKE to use is aspirin because it *isn't* a big deal. The example they *don't* like to use is foxglove (digitalis, which produced digitoxin, which can be used to treat heart failure) because that's a medicine from a plant that you can't fuck around with using herbalism, it needs extremely careful extraction and preparation because if it's done wrong it'll just straight kill you.
And then you get into herbal treatments that are generally safe and largely not harmful even if they may not do anything, and it can feel totally reasonable to recommend red raspberry leaf tea to a friend who is having cramps. As long as that friend isn't diabetic because red raspberry leaf interacts with insulin. And as long as your friend isn't on an anticoagulant because red raspberry leaf can ALSO act as an anticoagulant.
And those are just examples of what can happen if you know you are actually getting the plant that you think that you are getting and that it is unadulterated with fillers and uncontaminated with anything else and is properly prepared (or is prepared the same way as the last batch you bought and so it can be dosed the same way).
There are two ways that Kava Kava can be prepared; do you know which of those two ways is associated with more deaths and liver transplants? Do you know not to take Kava if you have a history of liver issues or if you are on antidepressants? (ctrl+f for "Hema Ketha" for the study from that overview that goes in depth on that; for whatever reason you can read the whole article in the overview but if you click on the link you only get the abstract)
Are you attempting to take therapeutic doses of turmeric? There's some evidence that it can help relieve joint pain. However you need to take really, really high doses because the medicinal compound in turmeric has low bioavailability. And because you're taking high doses you may be swapping out the risks of NSAIDs for the risk of lead poisoning, because it is unfortunately very common for turmeric to be contaminated with lead.
One of my big, big problems with CAM - including herbalism - is that people turn to it because they think it is safer than "allopathic" medicine. They think "it's better to drink raspberry leaf tea than it is to take midol because midol is full of chemicals and raspberry leaf tea is just tea." But midol doesn't interact with insulin, and most people are *aware* they're taking a blood thinner when they take NSAIDs.
There's this tea shop I go to that has maybe a hundred different kinds of herbal teas, some of which are clearly supposed to be medicinal, but the one that always stands out to me is the St. John's Wort tea that has "NOT FOR PREGNANT" on the label. It's good that they're recommending that pregnant people don't select that tea, but that tea is also not for people on antidepressants, triptans, birth control, warfarin, stantins, protease inhibitors, or people who have had solid organ transplants.
But it's just tea. And what could just tea do, right?
(It could make your anti-rejection meds so weak that it kills you. That's what just tea can do. But maybe one cup of older tea, or one cup that is more leaf than flower, or one cup that wasn't steeped as long doesn't hurt, so you drink it and you think it's fine, it's not a problem, and it isn't a problem until it is but you don't know the difference between one cup of tea and the next because this shit is impossible to dose)
This is also why I'm extremely leery of the "you can try CAM as long as you are using it alongside your doctor's care and you do what the doctors say" thing because that is relying on:
People reporting every supplement, tincture, tea, etc. that they are taking to their doctors (which they often don't do because what's the big deal it's green tea extract and billions of people drink green tea every day)
The ingredients in the supplements being exactly and ONLY what is on the label (which is a long shot - it seems like every three years there's a study or a report that finds that supplements - usually in the US but also around the world - don't contain what they are supposed to and often contain stuff they are not supposed to)
Doctors being aware of all of these possible interactions (which is a stretch; pharmacists are likely to have a better handle on it but even then, there are all kinds of supplements being labeled all kinds of things all the time; medical woo scammers LOVE to rebrand their supplements)
So long story short I'm not particularly bothered if you try herbalism on yourself after looking into things that you think will help you. I do have a problem with people who *recommend* herbal treatments without A) a full medical background understanding of the person they recommend the treatment to and B) comprehensive knowledge of whether the thing that you're recommending will interact with any medications they might be taking or exacerbate any conditions that they might have and C) some kind of accountability mechanism in place - like a malpractice suit or the loss of license - like a doctor might if they prescribed a medication that was dangerous to their patient.
Because that's the other infuriating thing - CAM practitioners often aren't held to the same standards as medical professionals. Patients who trust CAM practitioners often think of them like doctors, but they don't have the same protection from CAM practitioners like they would from doctors. If your herbalist tells you to treat your cancer with apricot pits or black salve - even if that's in addition to chemotherapy - it could end up seriously injuring you and they're not committing malpractice because there's no legal standard for their practice. Nobody can remove their license because there's no such thing as an herbalist license, so whatever harm they did to you can be done to other people after you with no professional consequences.
I have pretty much limitless tolerance for things that people want to do to themselves. If you want to take valerian because you think it helps you sleep (in spite of essentially no evidence that it does so and more adverse reactions among natural sleep aids than things like camomile - which also has no evidence that it's an effective sleep aid) I don't care, just make sure to check for drug interactions first.
If you want to replace your elderly parent's NSAID painkillers with clove oil, fuck you.
“Oh but herbal medicine has been around for thousands of years old.” Indeed it has. And then we tested it all, and the stuff that worked became ‘medicine.’ - Dara O'Briain
