Participant #1:
Welcome to episode 17, everyone. If you just joined, I’m Maria at Maria the Arcane on Instagram, and this is Robin Avenue tired Witch on Instagram. Hello. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning.
Participant #1:
So if you are new here, every single week we talk about upcoming lunar phases. If you listen to last week’s episode, we talked about the blue moon because there was overlap and crossover because it’s been eight months and we finally had to talk about something else. But we’re back on track, we’re back on the game. And upcoming lunar phase is on October 16, which is the new moon in Libra. The new moon in Libra is a pretty balanced new moon. It’s a time where we can bring kind of a new level of maturity, balance level headedness to things in our life that need new beginnings, like partnerships. And I’m thinking the word here legal matters. And so essentially, Libra is a very balanced sign in general. It associates heavily with the justice card, that is their Tarot card. And with it is the same sort of thing. It’s about things being mature, level headed, going our way. And with the new one in Libra, we can bring this energy of focusing on finding balance within kind of earthly matters. Now, that being said, there’s a very real situation going on for this poor new moon, which is the pure chaos that is the current astrological, I don’t know, weather report, the climate. Yeah, so we’re still in Mars retrograde. First of all, that doesn’t end until American voting day, November 3. And as we call from before, that is really kind of breaking down, repressed anger, I guess you could say. I know we’ve talked about this before, but it’s basically any kind of resentment untoxed about anger and just kind of how we express ourselves is going to be more vitriolic because of that. Now I know what you’re saying, okay, so that’s going to be angry for Newman Libra. We’ll try to avoid it, but on Tuesday of this week, today is what? Today is the 14th. Yeah, according to the 14th. So it would have been the 13th. Mercury retrograde also started, which also lasts until November 3. I find it not coincidental that both of them end on American voting day. It sounds like pure hell for all of us. Mercury retrograde now brings in another layer of communication issues where we can find that how we communicate with people is broken down and so things like mail getting lost, computers breaking, which is so great. So great for election day. So great. Yeah, it’s like this layer of poor expression met with actually having like lost communication issues all while we’re trying to maintain a balanced new beginning. So all I’m going to say is set great intentions, but be realistic about it. Yeah, it is an astrological hurricane. I do feel, though, that while crazy stuff is happening externally, ever since Mercury retrograde happens, it seems like to be counteracting, like some of the Mars aggression. I don’t know if that might just be me, but it’s a lot calmer. That’s very strange. Yeah, I’m hoping that you’re right about that. I had not actually yesterday paid attention to the Internet at all, so I actually have missed any kind of like Mars aggression counter balance. But I’m hoping you’re right because it has been a month. So many angry people. So many angry people. Everybody needs to just breathe.
Participant #1:
So if you just started listening to us, every podcast, we talk about a random tarot card. We go over the universal meaning and then our own interpretations of the cards. Hearing others opinions helps beginners form their own opinions, or even those who have been practicing for a while, expand their views on other meanings. So this week, we’re talking about the High Priestess. On the rider waitsmith deck. You see our lovely priestess sitting on a throne. Behind her is a body of water which seems to flow from the back of the car to the front because her dress is part of the water. There is a curtain decorated with forbidden fruit full of knowledge, and two pillars, one light and one dark. Our High Priestess wears a crown representing the moon cycles and the mother maiden, and the crown and a crescent moon lies at her feet. The universal meaning of this card is about using our hidden knowledge to our benefit and to trust our instincts. For myself, I think this card is far more spiritual than the higher fant. The higher fant, which I’m sure we will go over in the future, is a figure who has received his knowledge from outside sources. Well, the High Priestess is a figure that turns her past experiences and traumas into knowledge. To help guide herself forward on her spiritual journey, she forges her own unique path. Just like the higher fantasy, she shares her knowledge and experiences with others because she realizes there is power and truth in those experiences, even the bad ones. She’s rolled by the moon. So she acknowledges life’s ebbs and flows, that life and its cycles are a learning process. And each aspect of life, each cycle, has something new to teach us. Her darkness, sadness and anger and loss is as much part of her as her happiness, joy and success. These experiences have shaped her into who she is today. She knows no matter what, even if she’s ebbing or flowing, that she is magic and powerful and capable of change and inner strength. You see these fruit behind her, which represent the forbidden fruit. There are so many forces out there not wanting you to step into your power or to reclaim your power from situations that have taken it from you. And the High Priestess says, basically, screw that. Reclaim it. It’s like very big queen of Swords and Emperor energy. So how do you get the card? Robin Deer so you say like the Emperor, the Queen of swords. All that was kind of what I was going to touch base on, is that for me, the High Priestess is the divine feminine to the higher fans. Divine masculine, where the divine masculine gets his information from outside sources, from God, his community, whatever the divine feminine that is high Priestess, the intuition is there. It’s already within it’s within us. And that essentially we just need to listen. So whenever I get the hype precious in a reading, it’s very much so that you already know the answer. You’re just not listening. Oftentimes when I have clients and they ask me questions about things and I get the High Priestess, it’s like you already know, you know what I mean? You already know what the correct answer is here. And I get that you’re coming to me for clarification and validation on that. But the High Priestess has shown up to tell you that I am not needed in this equation. You already have all the answers that you seek. You just need to believe in yourself, listen to yourself and trust yourself. I believe that because there’s so many answers from our past experiences and things that we have learned along the way. You just have to believe in yourself. I totally have transportation regardless of you identify as a witch, homistic, anything like that. I think intuition is within all of us. And yes, some of us are more tapped into that than others, but the intuition is within all of us. Some of us just choose to listen more than others. And so, yeah, the answer is already there. You just got to open your eardrums up. Open them up.
Participant #1:
So this week we are talking about a topic that I’ve actually been talking about on Instagram a lot this month. Budget friendly witch tips. And before I get into this, I know those of you who follow me on Instagram are probably like robin, really? We’re talking about this again? And the answer is yes, we are talking about this again. I never in a million years thought that I was going to be dragged so mercilessly for suggesting that poor people, or not even poor people, just people on a budget deserve to have access to witchcraft. And although I know that I oftentimes stand on a soapbox of being ethical and trying to get as much ethically sourced stuff as we possibly can, the ethically source things and being as mindful as humanly possible does come at a point of privilege. And there is no denying that. For example, like the crystals I sell in my shop, that is a privileged thing to have more expensive crystals because they are ethically sourced. And we have to recognize that that is a privilege and that it’s okay to have that privilege, but not everyone has it. And shaming people because they can’t afford the handpoured small business soy wax prayer candle is not only deplorable, but unacceptable for our community and we need to raise the bar higher than that. Yes, buying things from botanica, buying things that are ethically sourced are so important. But the fact of the matter is that is not always accessible for every single person and that doesn’t mean that they should not get to be a witch or be practicing their spirituality because it doesn’t fit your sort of idea of what is good and what is bad. Because, for example, how can they help themselves get out of a situation potentially with magic that would put them to a position of being more financially secure if they can’t afford the candles to begin with? Exactly. I completely agree. I really think, as you said, be as ethical as possible. But not everything is possible. Just you doing your part is doing the best that you can. Exactly. Don’t discredit other widget when you do that and you say, oh, you shouldn’t do that because you should just not practice at all if you can’t afford it, that’s coming from, as you say, like a place of privilege.
Participant #1:
We’ve talked about ego over and over again and you need to make sure you keep that ego in check because you’re going to make newer witches feel like they can’t practice because they’re on fire. But I feel like it makes you, the person saying it, look very ugly and it makes anyone who’s associating with it look very ugly because you talk about things like we have to do this and we have to do that to be respectful. And I understand that and I don’t disagree in the slightest bit. There are things that you have to tread a certain way to be respectful and not be appropriate, for example. However, there is a big difference between respecting people’s cultures and shitting on people that don’t have money. And when I find it completely deplorable and I never in all my years did I think I was going to have to sit here and talk on a podcast about treating people of a lower income with respect. It’s unacceptable. It is not okay to shit on people like that and it is absolutely not okay to use that as some sort of soapbox to project a you have to do this, you have to do that because as we’ve talked about many times, magic in general looks different for all people. There are no quote rules and low key fuck you for making people that are of a lower income feel bad because they can’t go spend $50 on a candle. Fuck you on that. Little asterisk. What are some budget tips you want to share? So I am a big fan of thrift shopping, especially for all decorations. I mean, you can find like handle holders and you can find shelves, anything. And sometimes you can find a cauldron, an offering, cup a serving. But most Goodwills and thrift shops actually sell candles that people haven’t used
Participant #1:
this is a great way to pick up some dirt cheap candles. Also, sometimes, you know, sometimes string is involved in different spells. Like if you were making a witch’s ladder or doing a not spell. Thrift shops actually sell yarn people have leftover from projects, so you don’t have to go out and buy a whole thing of yarn of a certain color for a cell, you’re going to do what’s that stuff, too? The embroidery thread, usually, yeah. Is that what it’s called? Thread? I think it’s just thread, right? It’s like the same thread, though, that has like eight different chords in it. Yeah. Anyway, I know what you’re talking about. We usually have that too. And I’m a big fan of reusing jars. I save almost all my food jars for spells, even reuse jars. After spells, I rarely bury a whole jar. Instead, I like to bury the contents of the jar so the spell will continue to grow. Yeah, and I just rent it out and use it for a new spell eventually. And we have spoken time and time again about utilizing library. You do not have to buy all your books. Take advantage of the library’s online ebook system. Just make sure you’re taking notes of the important bits or parts that resonate deeply with you so you have it on hand in the future. Yeah, I agree 100%. For me actually going off what Maria just said with the library, researching local foliage, local plant life. And this isn’t to suggest that you need to go trekking through the woods and like forage wild onions to use, but your backyard, your local park probably has a bunch of foliage in it that is 100% free and that you can utilize and magic. So why aren’t you I know we’ve talked about this before, but building your own correspondence comes off of learning the land and learning what’s in your area and how we can utilize that.
Participant #1:
Yes. How was it used? Maybe magically, but also, does it have medicinal properties? If it has medicinal properties, what were those for? And can we apply that to magic? The original settlers of that land or the original native people of that land, use this plant for anything particular, like building a house or something like that, that then you can utilize that is okay, so I don’t know. This shrub was used to fill the insides of houses for shelter, so now I can associate it with protection, let’s say. And these are the sort of things that you need to start researching because not only does it make it accessible and make it free, but in my personal opinion, building your own correspondence off of the land that you live on is always going to be stronger than something you read in a book 100%. And there’s nothing wrong with what you read in books. I personally think that baseline correspondence is super important to know. But as we evolve as witches, learning the land, learning how to utilize that is super important. I completely agree. Not all witches will agree with me on this, but I feel that if you are really good at visualization and meditation, then you can always make your own altar. When meditating, like in that space of meditation, you can not only create a special place for you to practice, but also when you can do spell work this way, you can also do spell work this way as well. But as I said, you have to be quite adapt at visualization to get this down path. But it is an option. Yeah, absolutely. I know that our friend, our mutual friend Steven, I believe has talked about doing exactly that before in the past in his own practice and I think that’s absolutely brilliant. And it’s also really good for people that are in the closet. In the broom closet, yeah, exactly. Actually, I do it quite often for on the ghost spells if I’m out and about and I need a spell real quick and I’m pretty good at Visualization, so why not? She’s a prepared queen. I am. I know that I talked about this in my Instagram post, but the Dollar Store is your best friend. Every single Dollar Store, Dollar Tree, Pound Land, all that, they’re all slightly different. And so I know that when I posted my videos about the Dollar Tree, people were like, yours is so nice. And really, I think that just because we live in a really small town so there’s less people to destroy it.
Participant #1:
Because I know when I lived in San Francisco, you would not catch my ass in the Dollar Store because I was not trying to get hepatitis. But luckily, also the Dollar Store, you can actually buy stuff kind of in bulk on their site. Yeah, you can get like seven day candles for I think it’s a ten pack for $10. I don’t know, especially right now for people that are listening to this episode, like at the same time that it’s live or whatever. Currently the Dollar Store has got black seven day candles, whether you get that online or you go into your local shop, whatever, because of Halloween. So like I say, go buy like five of them. You’re not going to need them right now, maybe, but you’ll have them if you do need it because Black 70 candles are really hard to find and I’m actually already regretting only buying one and I’m probably going to go back and buy some more.
Participant #1:
They have black seven day candles right now. You can’t beat it. Like ten out of ten. But yeah, the Dollar Store, the Dollar Tree, Pound Land, all that are incredible. And I know that the top comment that I got about the spice section at the Dollar Tree was that it’s not organic. And while that is true, first and foremost, again, not everyone can afford organic in life in general, but you’re also not consuming these, or at least you shouldn’t be. Let’s talk about that. I know I’ve said this before with the oils I sell in my shop. Please don’t consume some of these things. Please make sure it’s safe. And especially if you’re just doing things like burning it, dressing your candles, these sort of things, why can’t you use the accessible kind? The fact of the matter is, our ancestors did not have botanicas, did not have supermarkets, did not have mercados, did not have any of these things to go to and just, like, pick up whatever spice they want or herb they want. The modern herb trade didn’t even exist until 1910.
Participant #1:
This ideation that you have to buy only organic and it has to be the greatest thing in the whole wide world is kind of disrespectful to our ancestors, to be perfectly honest with you. Yeah, I really agree, because most of the time, you’re also buying the name of the brand. And I think that shitting on people because they’re buying an affordable kind is ugly. It looks ugly on you, and it is really disrespectful to any kind of spiritual practice that came before us in your ancestry wheelhouse. It just is not a thing. I know that Maria and I both follow somebody named Sabrina Scott, and she had a whole thing for a while. This is, like, a year ago that I loved, which was trash roses. Like, saving flowers out of trash bins that were, like, not dead dead, but clearly somebody was given it as a gift and threw it out the next day. Yeah. And raising that on their altar, and I loved that. That’s such a good idea, especially if you live, like, in a city and you actually see it. I had never thought about that before, and as soon as Sabrina had mentioned it, it was like it clicked for me in my brain. Does that make sense? Oh, also, I think I just called Sabrina. She, and Sabrina goes by them, so I want to correct myself on that if I did say it. So my mistake. Sorry.
Participant #1:
Yeah. So overall, I think it’s about utilizing what you have available to you and being resourceful, and there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s what our ancestors did, regardless of their spiritual background. Yeah. And be kind. Be kind to lower budget witches who have to stick to a budget. There’s nothing wrong with it. Shitting on them because they have to stick to a budget. Only makes you look like a fool, a clown. Enough.
Participant #1:
So, Maria, what’s? During your cauldron this week? So I have been loving making spell jars, and I literally just talked about this on my BuzzFeed interview.
Participant #1:
Before you continue telling us about how much you love soldiers, everyone listening to this. You know that Maria was just interviewed for BuzzFeed video. Very exciting. Everyone kissed her on the nose. Anyway, spell doors. What? Yeah. I’m usually really into candle magic. But I have felt like this pool to create these little magical worlds filled with my intention and glass jars that I have laying around the house. I love the whole ritual of putting together one, cleansing the bottles with incense smoke and writing out intentions, adding herbs and oils that correspond with the spell and covering it with moon water, storm water, or more oil. It’s just so meditative and calming and, you know, like, unlike candles, which burns down and there’s nothing really left of it with the jar, you actually have proof of your spell work and it gets a set up on your altar, which is honestly such a great reminder to keep, like putting your external energy into the spellwork. Overall. It’s just like a very personal experience making one. And I’m here for it. I love that. I love these wall jars, too. I think it’s fun. Yeah, you can make them look so pretty and they’re not expensive. Just as I mentioned and the previous thing we talked about, use food jars usually have like olive oil. Use olive oil as one of the oils. If you don’t have EOS, I guess go to the Dollar Store. Yeah. We love you, Dollar Store.
Participant #1:
So Robin, what is not stirring your call during this week? Well, bitch, I’m so glad you asked. So I’m going to talk about someone without saying their name. And I feel like if those of you are listening are on Tik tok, you will know exactly who I’m talking about without saying their name. So that’s all that matters. There is in general, a growing number of older witches, and by older, I mean in their fifty s and sixty s that are desperate for attention and validation from minors on the internet within our community. And there’s a reason, for example, that this particular person I’m thinking of has had to have like seven accounts at this point because they keep getting banned. Because not only are they trying to get validation from minors, but they are being hostile and bullying minors within our community. And I find it completely deplorable and disgusting. I know Maria and I have talked about this before in the past about predators within our community. And although when you hear the word predator, you might think of somebody who is trying to sexually take advantage of somebody else. But predators come in a variety of forms, including taking your energy. Taking your energy. Trying to be within your community and manipulate you emotionally. Yeah. Trying to make you join like one of those witchcraft cults 100%. And this particular person that I’m thinking of is an older woman who has started a bunch of shit on TikTok. I believe that they’re on other platforms as well, but they have really taken off on TikTok and all of their followers are or the majority of them are very young. And all I want to say is if a grown adult is starting shit with literal teenagers online. Perhaps this is not something you should be going to for any kind of advice, mentorship or otherwise. I think it’s completely fucking disgusting. I have this particular person blocked because I was sick to my back teeth of seeing them on my For You page, because that is not for me. I’m not here for teenage drama coming out of the mouth of a 55 year old woman. I find it deplorable. And all I want to say is predators come in a variety of shapes and sizes in our community. It’s not one size fits all. And somebody who is manipulating you, being argumentative with children and also seeking the validation exclusively from children should be a massive red flag. And similarly, if they keep getting banned, it’s not because they’re a witch. I’m a witch. Maria’s a witch. I’ve been on TikTok for over a year now. It seems like we’re pretty darn close. And I’ve never been banned because yeah, I am not starting fights and bullying actual children. And somebody who is doing that is not somebody you should be taking spiritual counsel from in any variety. I don’t with people like our age or older, it’s just like, how do you have the time or the energy to be that’s all they know. It’s crazy. I just cannot imagine it’s so wrong. And we should be helping cultivate people to be doing their practices in the right way and not like overly positive way, but in a positive way. Does that make sense? Right? Yeah. I mean, I debated saying this particular person’s name on the podcast, and I decided against it because they thrive on drama. And if I don’t need more attention to come up and I’m sure they search themselves and then they’re going to send their little 200,000 literal children to attack the podcast, to attack us, and they have that right to do that. But instead, I would like to implore you guys who are listening to consume your guidance, your help, et cetera, with a critical eye. And if somebody keeps getting their stuff blocked, keeps starting drama, keeps being manipulative, this particular person who is a fucking turf, keeps doing shit like this, perhaps they’re not someone to take any form of advice or mentorship from because there is something fundamentally wrong with someone in their 50s who bullies a child or I’m sorry, many children. Horrible. It’s horrible and disgusting. And if you’re listening and you’re on TikTok and you know who I’m talking about, I just recommend taking it in stride and potentially just ignoring them. I have them blocked because I don’t want to see their stuff. And I’m not saying you should block them, not trying to tell you what you should do, but I do think that you should consume with critical eye. Oh, yes, definitely. I mean, go follow accounts like Robin or Glitter in the Dirt. You guys are amazing and you make amazing content. I don’t want to tell people that they can’t follow this person because I think that that would be manipulative of myself after I’m sat here preaching about this person being manipulative. But I do feel like we should all consume content on the internet with a critical eye. And that doesn’t mean that you need to go and be vitriolic on their page. Just quietly observe and decide, you know, maybe this person keeps having their account deleted because they’re being abusive. And that’s something to just consider, is all I’m saying. Yes, completely.
Participant #1:
If you just joined us with this episode. Every week we talk about creators that we are loving in this moment, people that we’ve organically found on the Internet. And with that comes my every week disclaimer of Don’t DM us asking to be on here. These are people that we’ve just found on our own that we think that you might enjoy. They’re not paid ads, they’re not paid promotions. Please stop. Stop asking us. Every week I say, don’t do this. Every week, people go, hey, do you want to put me on your podcast? I’ll pay you. No, stop me now.
Participant #1:
Maria first. So you have something special coming out? Are you special? Something special coming out? We’re still going to talk about other creators. I don’t want to make it about me, but I am really excited because I finally got to announce my book, Magical Tarot, which is a deep dive into the esoteric symbolism in the major arcana and how we can apply that knowledge to use it as a magical tool. And actually going back to budget friendly witch tips. If you only had a tarot deck. That’s kind of the whole point of the book.
Participant #1:
Yeah. And I’ve got pre orders, so if you are listening and you want to preorder my book, it comes out May 11 and it’s in my bio on Instagram. You can click it. I’m so proud of you. So proud of applause. Thank you. I’m very excited about it. I should not be too annoying about it now because it does come out on May 11, so I’m going to get more annoying, I know, as time goes by, so I promise I won’t bring it up again for a few months. Everyone, don’t believe her. She’ll bring it up every time. I’m just kidding. Okay, let’s get back on track. Thank you for letting me say that. Maria, who is the shop that you are loving right now? Okay, so I am actually loving the deck that I just recently got and it’s Madame Lydia Wilhelmina Tarot. I think I said that correctly. Maybe we’ll see. But it’s by Addict cardomancy. They’re on Instagram and they have a website and all that. It’s a beautiful deck. It has Halloween influences and it’s vintage imagery. I really love collage art. They take from other art pieces and make it like something spooky. I mean, it’s just beautiful. And I love it. She sent me one too. It’s like literally so pretty. It’s so pretty. It is like a perfect collage of Victorian yeah, me too. It’s a perfect collage of Victorian imagery with like spookiness. And it reminds me a lot of what’s it called the Haunted Mansion. Like, you know, the paintings in the Haunted Mansion 100%. That’s why I love it. So pretty. My favorite card in the deck is the three of cups. I think. It’s so pretty. It’s so pretty. And I love that each suit kind of has like a color coordinated theme, but it’s subtle. Do you know what I mean? Oh, yeah. Pentacles. Everything is kind of got like a brownie vibe. Cups has like a blue vibe. Is it swords or wands? One of them has like an all red vibe. I really like it. Maybe. I really like it. It is. Now the card stock is a little thin, but I have shuffled with it and have how I normally shuffle. I can normally shuffle it. And it’s not like bending the cards overly. It’s holding up right, but it’s definitely thinner. But not the thinnest I’ve ever used. Yes, it’s definitely like anatomy.
Participant #1:
Literally the thinnest deck in the world. You exhale on antique anatomy. And it’s like I’m bent.
Participant #1:
I don’t own that one yet, so I can’t say anything towards it. But who are you loving? I am actually loving a photographer on Instagram called Light underscore which I am obsessed. It’s like this 60s kind of grunge vibe that is very 60s inspired. There’s nudity. Yeah, like love, which there is nudity, but it’s done in a really tasteful way. But tasteful nudity, but make it art. It’s really beautiful. It’s so pretty. I’m obsessed with it. I have to take some photos for myself soon. And I was telling my husband, I was like, can we do them better? Inspired by this account? And he’s just like, we can try, I guess. So beautiful. I love their choice of color play. I love the fact that they are using images that are kind of classically occult without being over the top. You know what I mean? I’m just obsessed with it. I want framed prints and I honestly want to buy something like I might of their artwork so I can put it in my house because I’m just absolutely obsessed. It is stunning. Like ten out of ten, every single image. So beautiful.
Participant #1:
We hope you guys enjoyed this episode and we hope to see you on October 30 or 18th episode where we will have a special guest for Salon. We’re going to have Raven from Magic Memes on who we both love so much. Love her. So keep an eye out on our Instagrams and on our Twitter. If you don’t already, follow us on Twitter. We are Coffee Cauldrons. For more information or even better, joining us on our Discord tier, which is first coven on Patreon so we can answer your questions next time you’ll even get to hear our lovely voices for an additional 30 minutes for being on our patreon tier, the casting tier. And up again. This is Coffee and Cauldrons with Robin at A Tired Witch on Instagram and Maria at Maria the Arcane on Instagram. Are you ready?
Participant #1:
Yeah. Even with the lag. We’re going to get it. One, two.