Speaker 0
Into the wild, I'm going into the wild, I am. It's been a wild freedom child, since I left my roots back home. Into the wild I'm good. Into the wild I am. It's been a while, freedom child, since I left my roots back home.
Speaker 1
Welcome to the Free Birth Society podcast. This is a radical space for women who are ready to celebrate their autonomous choices in birth, motherhood, and beyond. Together, we'll learn about wild birth through personal narrative, we'll explore the politics of birth, and we'll analyze everything that relates to our lives as women from a feminist perspective. Here's your host, Emilee Saldaya.
Speaker 0
It's been a wild freedom since I've left my rules back home.
Speaker 2
Hi, women. We have a special episode today to celebrate Samhain coming up up this weekend. I'm so excited to bring this conversation to you. It's with my dear friend Kate Barsava, a k a your local mid witch. And the announcement that we have today is that her new course, Womancraft, A Witch's Awakening, is officially available. In this episode, we discuss the witch as the wise woman, birth as a catalyst for remembering, and debunking so many patriarchal lies that have been fed to us about our history as powerful women. If you wanna reclaim your intuition and connect to your lineage, this episode and our new course are the perfect entry points to open the portal of the witch inside us all. You can get this course at free birth society courses dot com slash womancraft. Enjoy, and happy Samhain.
Speaker 3
Alright. We have a fun special episode for everyone today. I'm here with my friend Kate from Canada. Why don't you tell us a little bit about who you are on this special, special day that we'll be releasing this, which is the the couple of days prior to Samhain, and this is gonna be our our witchy Halloween episode. We've never really covered this topic on, on the show before. So, yeah, I'll pass it to you in a second. But today, we're gonna be getting into, what does it mean to claim your inner witch? We're going to be introducing and celebrating, FBS's new course launch, which is Kate's course, women craft, witch's awakening. And, yeah, we're gonna get into all sorts of interesting stuff around, how to integrate your inner witch into modern life and, kind of the history of Samhain and how we can play with all of this symbology that we're gonna talk about, this weekend. And, yeah, there's so much so much I wanna talk about. So welcome, and tell us a little bit about who you are and and maybe give us a little background of of, you claiming your your inner witch.
Speaker 4
Thank you. Yeah. I'm so happy to be back here chatting with you. This time about, you know, this parallel passion of mine, birth, traditional midwifery being one, and and then, witchcraft and and women's history being being this parallel passion of mine. So thanks for thanks for having me. Yes. I'm Kate, and I'd love to introduce myself through my maternal lineage since we're here talking about ancestors, you know, on the verge of Samhain, talking about witchcraft and I think such a big part of that is acknowledging our ancestry. And so I come from a long line of Celtic witches who lived in Ireland and Scotland, and some came from Scandinavia as well. Those those cultures all mixed. And, so, yes, I'm Kate, daughter of Robbie Lee, daughter of Robbie Lee, daughter of Florence, daughter of Almeda, daughter of Amarilla, daughter of Beulah. And like I said, we are Celtic witches. And so, yeah, the lineage that I come from hails from the Celtic Isles, and, I really was attracted to this, from a very, very young age. I think a lot of women are. A lot of women are attracted to, the concept of the witch, the icon of the witch, and, you know, potions and spells and divination from a young age. And then it's kinda like, poo pooed as being silly or or magic not being real.
Speaker 3
Or being straight up evil.
Speaker 4
Or being straight up evil. Yes. Absolutely.
Speaker 3
There's that whole piece.
Speaker 4
That whole piece is actually very, very real. Very real. So, you know, it gets it gets beaten out of women, you know, figuratively or literally. And, luckily, it wasn't luckily, it really wasn't, you know, pushed out of my life by anyone other than myself really from just, like, pressure of the culture, but I was attracted to this from a very young age and and started making potions at a young age and, formed a coven with three older girls when I was, like, eleven years old. I don't know how old are you in grade six.
Speaker 3
K. So, like, are you making potions of, like, sticks and Kool Aid?
Speaker 4
Yeah. Well, like, sticks and leaves and lotions and and probably Kool Aid and, you know, stuff like that in any tiny bottle that I could find in my mother's bathroom.
Speaker 5
Isn't that funny how we're drawn to that?
Speaker 4
So drawn to that. And, yeah, like, this coven that I formed when I've okay. I've never seen the movie The Craft, which is crazy. I'm I'm gonna I know. I like, I need to watch it. Literally. Maybe I'll watch it this year. I gotta watch it. But even at, you know, that age, like, grade six, I was, like, gathering some other other girls. None of the grade six girls would do it with me, so three grade eight girls formed a covenant with me. And, you know, very naturally and instinctively, I guess, like, I knew there should be four of us. And, you know, we would go out and stand in fields and conjure the elements. You know? Oh my
Speaker 5
god. They
Speaker 4
would play
Speaker 3
with their friends. Right?
Speaker 4
We would have had so much fun and, like, play Ouija and, like, scry and and, you know, really,
Speaker 3
Hey. You don't play Ouija.
Speaker 4
Yeah. That's true. We were doing
Speaker 3
You channeled
Speaker 4
the Ouija. Channeled spirits with the Ouija board. Yeah. So I was so attracted to it from a young age. And I think, interestingly, I was also very attracted to this my maternal lineage, that Celtic side, the Irish side of my family. And somewhere around puberty, which I think is very a very interesting piece, I kind of, like, pushed it away. Totally. And didn't want anything to do with that maternal lineage anymore. You know? I had to, like, I had to be my own person and and, like, succumb to the pressure of the culture and do all the teenagery things that are going on in my hometown. Kiss. And there were boys to kiss. And, like, you know, there were boys to kiss.
Speaker 3
I wanna go back to to your maternal line for a second. Mhmm. Because you said that you were from a line of Celtic witches. Does that imply that the women knew that they were Celtic witches? Like, does your mother and grandmother identify as witches? They do.
Speaker 4
I don't know about my grandmother. Actually, I'm not sure about my maternal grandmother. She actually died when I was quite young. I was only four or five when she died. But my mother very regularly when I'm one of four kids, but I I have two brothers and a sister, and very regularly when we were growing up, my mother reminded us that we were witches and that we came from witches.
Speaker 0
Woah. That's
Speaker 3
so cool. Yeah. And she always said,
Speaker 4
but good witches. You know, we were good witches. But, yeah, that we came from witches.
Speaker 2
Wow. That's really special.
Speaker 4
Yeah.
Speaker 3
So, yeah, take us more through through your personal tale, and then and then maybe we can weave that into, I think kind of a cool place to start would be to break down some of this symbolism and this you know, for for anyone interested in what we're talking about, we have a little freebie giveaway from Kate, that is about reclaiming and kind of a a refresh look on this witchcraft symbolism and how it's been, yeah, just totally, very intentionally, and very successfully taken from us and misinterpreted and weaponized against us, really. So who are you as you travel through your life coming back into claiming this title and practicing witchcraft again?
Speaker 4
Yeah. Like I said, I kinda pushed it away in puberty, and then it really didn't come back until after I had begun my my, journey into midwifery. And I think that, you know, midwifery was like a it was like someone said the word midwife to me at some point in my early twenties. And in that moment, I remembered, oh, yes. There are midwives. Oh, yeah. I'm a midwife. And then began my journey of, you know, finding mentors and gaining some education and some experience in midwifery. And then a few years into that journey, when I totally left the medical system, for real, like, traditional authentic midwifery, that's really when this path, into reclaiming, myself as a witch happened. And I think that's because, you know, birth is that, like, ultimate raw power where the veils are thin. And then being present in a space like that over and over really, it it just reminded me and and reopen and I see reopen me up because I really think, like, all of us all of us women have this in us, and it's just been shut down. And it's a remembering when it comes back to us. And so being in that world of traditional midwifery, I was reminded of the magic in life and the power beyond that veil. And, midwifery being such a huge piece of who some of the witches were that were burned at the stake, of course. Midwives were a huge part of that demographic as were many otherwise women. So, you know, with traditional midwifery then comes back herbalism.
Speaker 3
Right.
Speaker 4
Then comes back, of course, like healing through food, then comes back psychospiritual work. And, you know, from that, then all of a sudden, you know, the meditation practices become more potent. And being in nature, we're tuned back into the subtle vibrations of of the world that are drowned out by city noise really in modern living. You know, and then from that, the familiarity with the wild plants and with the wild animals, and the gathering of women, of course. So all of that kinda came back slowly through those first those early years of of my traditional midwifery journey, and it just built and built and built because, it was like an exponential, you know, accelerated re re reacquainting with with this wise woman way of living.
Speaker 3
Yeah. So maybe before we talk about the symbology then and what you might have to offer around that, maybe we could just I mean, you just did a pretty beautiful job of explaining it. But what what is a witch? What does that mean when we use that word?
Speaker 4
Yeah. That word's so loaded. Right? And it's also, like, hot. It's hot. It's, like, popular right now. So the witch really and it's in in her essence, though, the witch is the wise woman. The witch is the woman unto herself, the woman who is self assured, the woman who is self reliant, the woman who is, is connected into her intuition and uses it. Uses it, believes in it, trusts it. It guides her life. And the witch is someone who other is a leader in the community, is someone who other people turn to for healing, for, understanding of life's processes, and for, like, a touch of magic because really, the witch is a holder of a space of transformation, and that transformation could be you know, like, for me, it started out with birds. But then as my journey continued, that that transformation happens so many times throughout life. You know? We can we can transform just by changing our diet. We can transform by opening up to one herbal medicine. We can transform through one breath practice. And when we transform, we're tapping when we change ourselves, we evolve, we learn, we grow. We're like we're tapping into some magic there. And so the witch is that icon who holds that space of magic where transformation is possible. And she knows it's possible through our own innate, capacities, but she has the skill of, showing people, leading people into that capacity and and, bringing them into the space where they believe it's possible and can make it happen. Mhmm. So she's she's a wise woman, and she's a holder of, the the possibility of transformation.
Speaker 3
Yeah. Yeah. Like a catalyst for magic.
Speaker 5
Mhmm.
Speaker 3
And so much of the magic is how to wield nature. Right? How to work with what is here, work with the seasons, work with the plants, work with, like you said, the the rebirth, you know, the life cycle and finding not just the wisdom in it, but how to actually use it. Right, and be with it. Yeah.
Speaker 4
Yeah. How to totally embody it in this life and, because we, like, we are a universe unto ourselves. So we contain all this stuff that we see in nature. You know? The all of it. If we're looking at the elements, you know, the elements, the wind, the water, the fire, the, the earth, like, the spirit. We have all of these elements in us, but then we get we can see it reflected outside of us as well. And so the witch, she knows how to, you know, weave metaphor for understanding of ourselves as a whole being as well. And she understands those reflections in nature. And for women, especially, this is why, like, you know, in the witch trials, and we we go I go a lot more into this in the course for sure in much greater depth, but, definitely men were murdered in the burning times, but the reason that it was mostly women is because women are innately more tuned into this through our biology, because we are cyclical beings through our cycles, and because we give birth. We go to the brink and come back. We're holders of life and death. And so, of course, there are wise men out there, and some men were killed in the burning times, and some men are more in tune with this stuff than others, and they can hone it. But women women have a a dense capacity for for, for understanding our cyclical nature and natural being, that's, like, very easily embodied because of our biology. Mhmm.
Speaker 3
Yeah. Yogi Bhajan used to have a famous quote that said, women are sixteen times more intuitive than men. And I Yeah. Always thought that was just such a funny like, obviously true, but a funny, very specific equation. Sixteen. Specific. Yeah. Yeah. Because a lot of my awakening happened through Kundalini yoga. And and I have a similar story where I you know, when I was a child, I had so many experiences with spirits and and sometimes dark spirits and scary ones. I used to have this one kind of shadow that used to visit me at night in this one specific house I lived in, and and it it finally occurred to me to tell it to go away. And I never told anyone about that. You know, I was going to Catholic school. My mother's Irish Catholic, and, it just was very obvious, I guess, in my household that this wasn't to be talked about, or somehow. You know, I caught that. I did not have a mother walking around saying we're witches.
Speaker 5
I wish I had. That's really sounds so cool. Anyway and so, yeah, I
Speaker 3
used to have these experiences with energies and and get feeling like things would get stuck on me. And and yeah. Especially in the nighttime, you know, feeling stuff that sometimes felt dark and scary. And around third grade, I started to, try on that I could actually, like, talk to it. And I remember this one specific kinda shadow thing, that would hang below. I had this aqua, like, seafoam fan, and it would just, like, hover. And, yeah, one night, I would just was like, you know what? Go away. I don't want you here. And it was like, and it never came back. And I was like, oh, that's interesting. But I didn't have anyone to, like, talk about this with. And so same similar stuff around middle school, doing the seances, doing the Ouija boards, watching the craft, doing the calling in the corners, learning about paganism, doing ceremony. And then I just lost it for years. And not for, I guess, that that long because I started doing Kundalini at seventeen. And and why I'm bringing this up was that for me, I remember having this realization throughout just getting so deep with Kundalini yoga where the mantras like, realizing the mantras were spells. And when I realized the mantras were spells, it, like, opened my mind back to my childhood. And so I started to have a very devoted practice of working with the spells. You know? And they don't call them spells in Kundalini Yoga. They call them mantras, but it's the same type of thing. And so I used to play and, like, go around Los Angeles and, like, be working with certain mantras, you know, shooting them from my third eye to get people to do stuff or to get people to look up or give me things. And I was, like, orchestrating magic throughout my day. And it was just so fun, and I got so lit up by it. And the Kundalini yoga, you know, then like you said, then in Watts' birth, and I start portal dwelling, and I start learning about the veil. And, you know, I had a longer, more challenging time putting that all together than you did because I worked in the system. And so it really I didn't really figure out that space holding as a part of witchcraft until I stopped attending with medical providers. And then when I became the woman that was holding the the real full space in the room, yeah, then I started to get it, but that took, like, ten plus years. So, anyway, yeah, I really relate to that journey, and I think a lot of women will that listen Right? Because so many Oh, yeah. Of our friends today are like, fuck. I wish I knew you. I was trying to rally all the neighborhood kids too. You know? Yeah. Totally. Imagine
Speaker 4
the power of all of us together. Right.
Speaker 3
And women you know, I firmly believe that women are psychic, you know, and perhaps all humans are. But but women are very finely attuned to their environment and to the energetics of not just the people, but the animals and the plants. And like you said, you know, we get it dumbed down in us. We get it numbed out. And and everything, you know, in our society seeks to do that, and then perhaps our own hormones in puberty. I don't know. But, you know, we part of, of course, what we're gonna touch on in this episode is the very real historical context for beating the witch witch out of us and the fear that, I think many of us have to contend with around claiming this in the public sphere and outing ourselves, in a really authentic way to our community. And even working with this word brings up a lot. It really, like you said, is a very loaded loaded word, and it's, yeah, such a personal relationship to it, and there's so much freaking history. Both you and I are Irish Catholic descendants, and so there's a lot in all of that. Yeah. So let's get into some of the symbology. I think that would be really, really interesting.
Speaker 4
Yeah. Yeah. I was just thinking, you know, my mom reminding me that I was a witch, also Irish Catholic, which I think is so interesting. I do think, that's an interesting piece in and of itself. The the hidden, the personas that that people that oppressed people have taken on throughout history to escape oppression and kind of hiding under, under the identities of whoever's in power in order to pass. And I think the Catholic community, the Catholic community, the Catholic church, you know, institution, you know, evil, whatever, you know, evil, fucking institution of spirituality, religion, evil, but doing all kinds of bad things. But then the the community that is there and that is kinda, like, passing under the identity of of Catholic is very interesting. And Ireland is a really interesting case study of that because, hello, Celtic paganism, you know, like European, European witchcraft. Central
Speaker 3
mysticism. Yeah.
Speaker 4
So much mysticism. Oh my god. So much magic going on, and very Catholic. Yeah. Covered up being bailed in that Catholic. And I think especially in the, you know, the takeovers that have happened, by religious institutions throughout history, a lot of symbology has been skewed. And the the symbols are powerful, and, they're they're given power by people working with them properly and understanding them properly and and integrating them into their day to day life. And so then, like, you know, the miseducation and misinformation around the symbology that goes out from, you know, the powers, the the religious institutions which controlled the education system, which controlled everything, that skews the power and takes away the power that those symbols hold. So I think, yeah, reclaiming these symbols is is a really powerful thing to do to, like, find that power inside the self. Yeah.
Speaker 3
When it, like, demonizes it. There's this real right? Like, if you think of any kind of Halloween movie, you know, any anytime media depicts witches, they are so ugly. They're covered in warts.
Speaker 4
Yeah.
Speaker 3
Stuff. They have this pointy hat. They ride on a broom. They're they're largely dangerous to children. It's, like, literally the exact opposite of a wise woman. They're, like, the shadow of a wise woman. It would be like the literal opposite. Right? A scary old lady that can use dark magic to hurt kids. Like, that's the narrative.
Speaker 4
That's the narrative of a witch.
Speaker 5
Trap. Yeah. It's so wild. So, yeah, what
Speaker 3
do you wanna share around, like, some of your transformational rememberings of of, like, some symbols?
Speaker 4
Some of the symbols that I think are especially you know, as you mentioned the broom, and that's, like, especially, connected to the witch, of course. She's riding up her broom, and I really love the the, like, the very practical symbology, actually, that that links the witch to the broom and the broom is a symbol of the house, the home. The broom is a symbol of cleansing and of clearing a space and preparing a space with intention. And, that is the the fact that that then became, you know, attached to this, like, evil woman who's gonna eat your children is really it's kind of funny to me, you know, because, like, it's it's literally sweeping the floors of your home and creating a welcoming space. And, there is some other, like and the householder, the home holder, you know, the, like, welcome, honey. Welcome, honey. Come and have a pot of soup, rather than, like, you know, you are the soup. Jump in the cauldron. You are the soup.
Speaker 3
And then, like, riding away. Yeah. Like, maniacal, scary laugh.
Speaker 4
Exactly. I mean, maybe she had a hilarious joke. She probably did. So you were probably laughing hysterically. But, a really interesting, bit of history about the riding the broom comes from, pagan traditions around, harvest planting season in the spring and then harvest season again when women, householders, who had a vested interest in having a a good yield from their crops would, would kind of, like, ride on their brooms, would be on their brooms, and would jump. And to encourage, it was a it was a ritual in encouraging the plants to grow and encouraging, an abundant bounty. Yeah. So, you know, there were these moments when there were women on brooms kinda like maybe some were really good jumpers, and it kinda looked like they were flying. But it came from this, you know, peasant peasant traditions out in the fields during harvest seasons honoring the cycles of the year and then got skewed into, you know, evil women riding around. What about the pentagram? Oh, yes. The pentagram is such an interesting one, and I really love it because it's it's this very, like, whole symbol. And, the witch, of course, is is, understands the complexity of nature and the complexity of living this physical life and and understands the whole and sees the whole picture. And so the pentagram is, you can picture it, I'm sure, for anyone who's listening. It's a star surrounded by a circle. And so the star in and of itself, is is representative of a union between sacred masculine and sacred feminine. The sacred feminine piece are are the are three of the points. The triple goddess is represented, and then the other two points are the duality of the sacred masculine and come from the the green man who's celebrated, celebrated at Beltane in the spring, and then sometimes he's called the Holly King at winter solstice. So celebrated again in the winter, but he's a very dual creature and he has two horns because he's a wild beast living in the woods. And so the two horns in his very dual nature combined with the triple goddess, the three forms, the maiden, mother, and crone, give you five points, which gives you a completion. So the the union gives you a completion, and the circle around it encases that hole in a sacred space. So the circle is, a symbol of protection and a symbol of wholeness and a circle of a completion of a cycle. And so the pentagram is this actual is actually this beautiful representation of, protection, of wholeness, of of the union of sacred masculine and feminine, of fertility of life, and then was skewed and was, you know, completely usurped actually by religious institutions and made evil made you know, actually was told to be a symbol of evil Mhmm. When it is actually a symbol of protection and of health and fertility.
Speaker 3
Yeah. That's so wild.
Speaker 4
Yeah. So wild. You know, it's usually any, like, witchcraft movie. Right? It's like burning pentagram, devil worship. Yeah. Exactly. And there is I think also there is some interesting you know, if you wanna, like, take a deep dive into magic, you know, you, like, really see the magic and you get into this. It's worth noting that, of course, those vibrations that the witch is tapping into like, you were talking about, you know, walking around LA, Kundalini queen. Like, you're, like, monitoring and vibing out exactly what you want to come in, and it's totally the same thing. Like, that's the witch. She knows she understands the vibrational nature of existence, and she understands how to work with it and how to manipulate it for good and for evil. There is, like, vibrational force can be manipulated for for, like, you know, bad purposes for sure. Sure. And, the pentagram is an interesting one because also in that, you know, if you can picture the five pointed star, the the top point is spirit, and the other points are, the the four elements and matter, physical the physical realm and matter. And so it's also a representation of spirit rising above physical form and matter and spirit being, really the place to tap into. And then, really, if you, you know, if you're into dark magic and if you're not educated on all this stuff or if this has been skewed and, like, you know, you're remembering of what it represents and how to use it has been taken away, it can be used for dark forces because flipped upside down, it is tapping into the the darker shadow side of vibrational manipulation potentials. Mhmm. And so, you know Of course.
Speaker 3
I mean, if you're gonna open the the portal into working with all of this, you gotta be real flipping clear which side you're asking to play with.
Speaker 4
Yes. And when you start to tap in, yeah, you know, you you're gonna you might get answers, and you might get communications coming through. Like, I think it's so interesting children have so many spirit encounters because, like, we're so open and clear as children before we get, like, bogged down by the, you know, crushing culture around us. And because children are so clear, like, spirits and other entities were you know, whatever they are, whatever your belief is around it, come through for children. And then again, if you're like you know, you're working on your you're working on your mantras, you're working in your meditations, you're working to clear yourself, entities can come through absolutely, and messages can come through. So being clear about why we're tapping into these practices and what our intentions are, that's very important when we're working with vibrational, potentials.
Speaker 3
Yeah. Not just being like an open, no bound greed. Yeah. Open vessel.
Speaker 4
No way. That circle around
Speaker 3
the bend.
Speaker 4
Sound read.
Speaker 3
Yeah. Totally. So do you have any particular thoughts around, like, protecting your children as these energetic beings? Like, I feel so excited to bring conversation, you know, as my children age, you know, that that to bring conversation into the household around this stuff. But I wonder, yeah, I wonder what that would look like to help facilitate protection of their spirits and their openness as well.
Speaker 4
Mhmm. That's so interesting. I think, I mean, there's a whole piece on, like, what the culture of parenting does to us as children and how we can we can really honor them under like, we can honor them. And by honoring them, they learn how to honor their own boundaries because, like, they're so tuned in. You know? You like, my three year old will just be like, no. Stop. You know? Like, she has no problem, like, expressing what she wants and where her boundaries are. And then it's really, like, my job to not be like, fuck your boundaries.
Speaker 3
They're you. You need to respect me.
Speaker 4
Respect your mother and do what I I mean, sometimes, you know, I am like Totally. You it's important to do what your mother
Speaker 3
asks you. Literally literally the other
Speaker 4
day, Suni I don't know what
Speaker 3
I was saying to her, but Suniye literally just put her fingers on my lip and just went, she just stopped me mid sentence and went, I wish you'd stop talking. I was like, got it. I'm gonna leave.
Speaker 4
Alright. Alright.
Speaker 3
Yeah. Totally. Right. I mean, I think I think for me, if I had just, like, been able to talk about it with someone and, like, you know, maybe I would have liked to bring in a little ceremony or had some direction. I mean, obviously, I figured it out, but I do think it's probably the case that part of why part of why I didn't deal with this for years was because I didn't have the guidance or the protection.
Speaker 4
Absolutely. And I really relate. And I mean, since this is, like, you know, Pau and podcast, I think, like, ghost stories are always fun to tell in the dark season. And I also had a lot of a lot of spirit encounters, as a child and then again as a teenager, and I really didn't same. I didn't know how to deal it was very scary. I didn't know how to integrate it. I didn't know really know how to deal with it. And, it also, for me, actually was Kundalini yoga and having, like, a dedicated Kundalini yoga practice that, like, I think upgraded my nervous system to be able to understand those encounters.
Speaker 3
Yeah.
Speaker 4
And then I had a a couple of encounters with that kind of, like, upgraded nervous system. Mhmm. And that for me was so healing in my journey to understand what I had experienced as a child. Exactly. And I didn't even though my mom was like, yeah, we're witches and we're good witches, she wasn't she was like, yeah, we see ghosts and I talked to my dead mother, but she we didn't, like, have regular conversation about that, like, integrated those experiences for me, and it wasn't until really I was much older that I was able to understand those experiences and, like, unpack some of that fear around it because we do kind of we have this, like, tendency as humans to, like, everything behind the veil. Someone else said this, and I think it was so brilliant. And I don't remember exactly who it was. So I'm sorry if you're out there and you happen to be listening. You're brilliant. I love you. But someone said, everything beyond the veil, us humans, we tend to either fear it or wanna or worship it. And so I think, like, understanding those experiences allowed the fear to dissipate and, like, there to not be a need to worship it either and to just, like, like,
Speaker 3
Totally.
Speaker 4
Yeah. And it did then make, like, for spirit encounters that I had in my adult life, it was much easier to be like, I acknowledge your presence Mhmm. And I ask you to leave goodbye. And they they take off. You know? Like, generally, it's it's pretty rare that there's, like, a purely nefarious spirit out there who wants to torment. You know? Like, for the most No.
Speaker 3
Those fuckers are all still alive. Those fuckers are around.
Speaker 4
You know? They're doing their stuff from this side. So from the other side, if we, you know, acknowledge there's just, like, there's a desire for points of connection, I think. Totally.
Speaker 3
But you're also you're you're not, like, a victim when you are in your power. So you are deciding what's allowed and what's not and getting rid of stuff. And, you know, that's what's helped me so much. And and, you know, working with Ayahuasca has taught me so much around what it means to, you know, for lack of a better phrase, like, be a light being and be oriented towards the light of of love and god consciousness. You know? And realizing again and again as I worked with darkness and as darkness has attempted to infiltrate me or my life, you know, really realizing on a deep level that light always wins. It's set up that way. And so where there is light, there cannot be dark. If you walk into a dark room and turn a flashlight on, now there's light, you know, for just a practical example. But anytime in in my ceremonies that I have felt darkness come in, which is really scary and, yeah, very freaky. And and then I can't really put words to it. You know, I've been able to access that and and remember that I'm in charge of my reality, so to speak. And so I could send it away, and I could chant at it, or I could pray at it, or I could just tell it to get the fuck out of the room, and it literally always has. I've never been taken over by it. And it feels weaker than me. You know? And and that that has carried me through so many different aspects of of my life to turn to what does it mean to, like, be in my light, and and that requires on a on a a social level that requires me knowing how to speak truth. You know? That requires a lot of courage. It requires not hiding. It requires, you know, spiritual practice. It requires a relationship to nature. It require requires boundaries and and, you know, ridding myself of toxicity. And and, you know, I think of it as this, like, mesh net. Like, my org field is like a mesh net. And and anywhere where there's gaps of weaknesses is where the darkness can come in. Right? And so how do you have a practice essentially of taking responsibility to tighten that shit up? And that could look like altars and a spiritual practice, that could look like a nature based practice, it could look like divination, it could look like women's circles or some you know, I mean, it could look like so many different things, which is one of the so one of the things I'm so excited about with your course because it is it is the, like, entry point for so many women who are resonating with what they're with what we're saying and are like, oh, yeah. That was totally me, and I don't know how to open that door again. Or there might be fear or resistance or patriarchy in your ear. And maybe we should just take a moment to talk about your course because, yeah, that's what it is. It's it's it's called Woman Craft, a witch's awakening, and the whole point of why you wanted to make this and why I then wanted to support it through Free Verse Society is is because there are so many women who know and are aching to connect with their witch, you know, I e wise woman, I e powerful woman, I e medicine woman. And there are very tangible, real ways to reframe so much of the historical context and how to look at your past spiritual experiences and call in to your life right now. Yeah, a practice of this. So tell us a little bit about, I guess, like, the syllabus and and what what women are gonna get out of this course.
Speaker 4
Sure. Absolutely. And just before I say that, like, there's a there's a reason that that we that women have a hard time speaking their truth, that women have a hard time standing in their power, that women have a hard time trusting their intuition, and that that really is the witch wound. And, I mean, I guess that's I set myself up for a perfect segue, because that's what the course is about. Really, the course is about healing that witch wound, and it's about remembering. Because in order to heal, we we need to first remember what happened and where we've come from and why we are in this current context. So we in the course, we dive into, a a herstory of women. I I focus on the European burning burning times, but, you know, if you're interested in exploring burning times globally, you know, this is not this didn't only happen in Europe. It happened on a very large scale in Europe in our quite recent history. But it it still takes place today, and it has happened all over the world. So we dive into remembering first where we've come from and what happened, and then we come into reclaiming, language and and reclaim and understanding our intuition. So practices to start to feel, to embody what intuition feels like, what intuitive messages feel like in our body for understanding, and then we practice that so that we can trust it. And then we start to work with that intuition and work with, that knowing that's inside of us all of the time, but there are these cool practices, you know, divination being one of them, that can tap us into getting answers from our specific answers from our intuition, not just the intuition that pops up like, oh, danger. Oh, boundary. You know, not just that intuition that keeps us in, like, serve keeps us surviving, but the intuition that really, like, gives us the deep answer that's true to our soul. So then we dive once we remember where we've come from and we start to trust our intuition, reclaim that personal power, then we start to get into divination practices and the practices that tap us in to hearing answers. And then we talk about, once we've worked on that kind of like personal practice, then we get into how we integrate this into community life because we can be solo witches and there is a lot of power in that, absolutely, but there's also a lot of power in gathering with other women who identify in this way and, and and and combining our intentions because that vortex of power is just like it's unstoppable. That's why women have been separated. That's why we have been separated. That's why there's no village. That's why Why we're all separate. Why we're all separate. That's why we live in the nuclear family units. That's why institutional religion came in and, like, outlawed nature based spirituality. The reason is all those things are a source of power.
Speaker 3
Yeah. And keep women locked up in the home with no power resources. Otherwise, patriarchy would crumble.
Speaker 4
Otherwise, it crumbles. There's no stopping a woman and her power, much less a group of women in their power. Like, watch it. You know? So, yeah, we kinda we move through remembering, and then developing the self and developing the self even more and then working together in community.
Speaker 3
Awesome. Yeah. And then we all get together and watch the craft for a sleepover. Yeah.
Speaker 4
Mine was okay. When I was really young, Hocus Pocus. That was, like, my favorite. Avi. Avi. And then Practical Magic. Have you seen Practical Magic?
Speaker 3
Yeah. I never got into that one. I don't know why. Maybe I'll revisit it this season.
Speaker 4
That's a good one.
Speaker 5
Yeah. A good one.
Speaker 3
So okay. So let's talk about Samhain. What is it? And what do we what should we know as witches about it and about Halloween? And, like, why did Halloween get taken over? And what do you wanna tell us about that?
Speaker 4
Samhain. Oh my god. Just like the witches new year. This is like high holy celebration, really. So Samhain. And there are other ways you can say it. Samhain would be the Irish way of saying it. Samhain in Scotland, Sabin. It it's it's said all kinds of ways. And, but Samhain is how I say it. That's the Irish way. And it means end of summer. So, Samhain is the end of, we've gone through high summer, late summer, we've gone through harvest season. The final stores have been put away for winter, and now everyone gets to kick their feet up for a little bit and enter this darker half of the year. So Samhain means end of summer, and it is the end of the wheel of the year. So in the wheel of the wheel of the year, doesn't start on January first, but that is, you know, that's an important time in the wheel of the year, but the wheel of the year actually starts the day after Samhain. So that's the beginning of a new cycle, and Samhain is actually that eve before the beginning of the new cycle. So, that's why it's celebrated on October thirty first, that last day of October before we go into the new year. And, pagan high holy days are always celebrated from, like, midnight the night of you know, the night before. Actually, usually sundown the night before and then through the next day. So that's why the celebrations really kick up in the dark on October thirty first. And, at that end of the year and entering the dark season, this is a time when, traditionally, people made gave thanks and were grateful and honored their ancestors and honored where they came from. And it was noted as the time of the year that where the veils are the thinnest. So the veil meaning that kind of, like, that shroud between, like, our physical reality and the spirit world or the other world. At at Samhain, that's when that's the thinnest, so we can tap into the other world, and we can communicate with our ancestors, and we can commune with the spirits on the other side, and and we really dive into the darker parts of ourself as well. You know? It's like outside of us, but also inside of us. So we also tune into our intuition deeply for what we need going into this next cycle, what we can release going into this new cycle, what we wanna cultivate going into this new cycle. And it's not the only time of the year when the veil is the when the veil is thin. Beltane is also a time of the year in the springtime when the veil is is thin and the other world can be tapped into, in a different way, but it's it's the time of year when it's the thinnest because it's a bit dark. And so that's why, ancestry is a big theme around, at this time of year. And that's, I think, like, that's the segue into, like, death. You know? That, like, kinda takeover of, like, the death as a as a dark thing at Halloween and the, you know, the skeletons and all that stuff.
Speaker 3
And day of the dead.
Speaker 4
Yeah. Day of the dead. That's another day yeah. That's another celebration of honoring ancestry. And because, like, in, you know, in the witch's world view, death is only a rebirth. You know? It's not it's not finite. That's for sure. It's not final. It's just a part of the natural order of things of birth, growth, decay, degeneration, death, you know, decay, and fertilization so that rebirth can take place.
Speaker 3
And and, you know, as I've been reading this, matriarchal societies book do you have that too?
Speaker 4
I don't have it. But you said it's great. I gotta
Speaker 3
find it. Really gotta read it. Yeah. As I've been reading this book about matriarchal societies, past and present, one of the common denominators is the spiritual practice of honoring ancestors and their take on death. And I'm gonna do my best to to to to do this justice. But one of the things that has struck me about learning about historical matriarchal societies and their spirituality is that part of why women were centered large, large part actually of why women were revered was not that they were the birthers, but that they were the rebirthers. And so ancestors are an integrated part of matriarchal societies the world over, and and it was believed that ancestors would return through the children. And so they would even often look for commonalities in the children's features, for proof of that. Right? So it wasn't that they believed like, oh, grandpa Joe is now my son Charlie. You know? It wasn't that direct, and it wasn't to ever be, you know, perceived that way, but rather the, you know, the spirit of the, of the ancestor is is continually rebirthing through the women. And so I thought that was really cool because the the men were honored as, I wonder I wish I could remember the exact word, but they were they they could transform life into death through hunting. And so they were honored as, powerful in that way to to, yeah, turn life into death, to be, you know, food for the communities, but the women were rebirthers. They could turn life into death, into life, into death, into life, into death, into life, and and to continually bringing the ancestors here. And so even you get into, you know, through the the largely Christian, you know, patriarchal lens, it's often said that matriarchal societies were, barbaric and that they did human sacrifice and all of this, like, stuff that sounds really crazy for us to hear about. But as I've been learning about it through this textbook, yes, there was human sacrifice, but it was, like, the highest honor to sacrifice, be chosen. It was all voluntary, which is never mentioned in the patriarchal lens. But it was completely voluntary, and it was an honor to be chosen as a sacrifice, but there was no fear in it because, of course, he was coming back. And so they would sacrifice, a male, and then later, it would turn it turned into being an animal, a male animal. But for some period of time, it was a male in the community who voluntarily gave his life. It was not, usually someone who had children, although fatherhood was, like, largely unimportant in in many of these societies, which is pretty interesting. But anyway, that, yeah, that part about ancestry just really struck me because growing up in a Catholic in a Catholic household and feeling pretty disconnected from my lineage for all sorts of different reasons, but just really not being raised in a family or society that ancestry mattered
Speaker 4
Yeah.
Speaker 3
Beyond death. And I know that it gets deeper than that because some some lineages of Christianity actually find that quite evil to honor dead or to bring the dead in and all of that stuff, which that wasn't really outright said to me. But regardless, I have felt a great disconnect from my Irish and Welsh, you know, and some some German ancestry, and almost the sense of, like, I'm not allowed to have it. And, you know, we've mentioned this before we were recording, but I wanted to just kind of bring in that that conversation around connecting to our ancestors. And I know that this is something that many women I know crave and are very interested in, but don't know where to start. And, yeah, I would just love to hear you talk on that. And I was further inspired reading about in this book that women centered, women led communities. Ancestors were not just a part of their spirituality. It was a central integrated focus, of of, like, worldwide of societies all over the world that this was an an innate aspect of spirituality when women lead. And so hearing it through this context of, you know, what it means to be a witch and when wise women are leading a community, of course, being with the thinness of the veil and being with the ancestors, and, of course, in in the matriarchal lineage, you know, having the ancestors return again and again through these women of their community, that just, like, got me really excited. Like, what would that be like? What would that feel like to have that kind of a arena
Speaker 5
to play with?
Speaker 4
Oh, it's so powerful. And, that's why it's that's why we work with the ancestors when the veil is the thinnest because the ancestors have wisdom to give us. And they they need to be honored, because, you know, they paved the way for us getting to where we are. And they have wisdom to share with us even, you know, beyond their physical death. So that's why we we tap into the ancestors in such a you know, that's like a high focus of Samhain, but ancestor the honoring of ancestors absolutely would be a part of, you know, the whole year, the whole the spirit the daily spiritual practice. But then at Samhain, you know, there's this extra opportunity to, like, really hear the messages loud and clear, and that's why we take the opportunity to honor them and and invite them right to the table and hear them. When we tap into our our ancestors as well, then we receive our own lineage. And we we have messages on, on our own, you know, an authentic inherited spiritual practice, I think, as well, which is really important for today's context of a lot of women feeling like they don't get to tap into their ancestors or they don't, like, get to have a spiritual practice or they don't, you know, other than maybe Christianity that they inherited. But, like a really simple way to invite the ancestors in and and to start to form a relationship with ancestors is just to bring pictures of them onto an altar. So you mentioned having altars before, and altars absolutely are so important. You know, they're portals in in your home, around your land, in places that you visit. They're they're these, like, physical embodiments of intentions that we set and they're also portals to place our intentions to be supported and to release at and, to dive into ourselves. Like, it's it's a gateway where we can go we can look at it and and be transferred to a place of being able to dive into ourselves in a deeper way outside of the context of our day to day doings, you know? So just integrating, pictures of ancestors, loved ancestors, ancestors you're interested in onto the altar is a really simple way of bringing them in. And then another thing that I really love to do at Samhain, gatherings is to, always when whenever we feast, you know, we have a ritual and then we feast afterwards, we always make a plate for the ancestors first. And we, we place on Samhain would place that plate for the ancestors on the doorstep so that they know that they're welcomed and they know that they'll be honored and that they're provided for. So I think, like, physical acts of of, of, like, claiming our ancestors as being a part of our life, not just a part of our past, but a part of our present life is a really great way to welcome them in and to start to form a relationship with them. And then when we start to form that relationship with our ancestors, we tap into our lineage and we tap into our personal herstory and we tap into where our people came from and we tap into what their spiritual practices were because everyone all over the world, you know, like you said, ancestor worship matriarchal societies, this is global. This was not like, oh, there were some in Africa and some in Asia and some in North America. This is this was global. This was just the way of the world before it was derailed by power power hungry people. So when we tap into our ancestry and our own lineage, we can we can start to familiarize ourselves with the spiritual practices that we come to. And if there's any feeling, you know, cultural heated cultural context right now of, like, you're not allowed, only so and so is allowed, cultural appropriation, all of this stuff going on, a lot of people feel like, oh, I'm not allowed, and then cut themselves off from having a spiritual life, which is so sad because everyone has ancestors. Everyone comes from a people who had earth based spiritual practices. Everyone everyone's ancestors were oppressed at some time by someone. Every everyone has a right to, to to spirit and to accessing their own spirit and to having a spiritual practice. And and if we wanna do that in an authentic way, tuning into our own lineage is a great you know, that's the way to go. That's the way to find, find the practices that that will probably resonate with us. And, I mean, I think practices from other cultures resonate as well. I real I really am a believer of that that, like, spirituality isn't necessarily only for some people and not for others. It's for everyone and what resonates, I think, can be practiced in a way that honors the practices. But our ancestors will lead us to, you know, the practices that we come from, and those are a great access
Speaker 3
point. Yeah. I'm feeling so much curiosity around, like, who were the women of my lineage before Christianity. You know?
Speaker 4
Yeah. Welcome them at the table. You know? Like, the next time you're at your altar, the next time you're holding circle, like, ask them who they who they are. Welcome them into the space. I really like I speak it out loud in a circle. I speak out loud. All well ancestors are welcome here, especially my maternal lineage, and I name their names as far back as I know them. But I I I put out there, I say out loud, all the rest of you out there, all you well ancestors, you know, the midwives I came from, the witches I came from, the healers I came from, you are all welcome here, and I wanna hear what you have to say.
Speaker 3
Wow. That's so interesting to, like, observe what's happening for me. Yeah. Because, like, I can feel so much, like, resistance and fear and excitement and, yeah, I know that I've cut off a huge part of this in myself around, yeah, making up a story that, like, because I come from these patriarchal, oppressive, yeah, Christian people, which actually may or may not even really be true. Right? Like, what do I know a couple generations back? Like, I know the names of my maternal line pretty far back because they were all Katherine.
Speaker 4
Rock on. I'm a Katherine too. Very very do
Speaker 3
you remember? It's like Katherine, Kathleen. It's like Kath Kathleen, Kathleen, Catherine, Catherine, Catherine, Catherine, Kathleen, Catherine. It's like that for a long way back. But, anyway but that would still be under the the Christian time frame. Yeah. So I I I'm interested in exploring like, I've made up the story that they they don't they must not have anything to offer me because they were, of this way that I am not. You know? But that's not true, and I'm just making that up. And I I think I've felt, yeah, a lot of fear or or resistance for sure to opening up what's there. But I know there's so much curiosity, and I just got such a beautiful image of creating a living altar on our land next door where, you know, the women come. And and I hadn't even thought about that of a of an altar that's actually outside in nature. And, like, of course of course, I
Speaker 0
can do
Speaker 3
that, and it doesn't have to just be other places that I've seen it. Like, of course, I can do this. And, yeah, that feels exciting and interesting to Those are the
Speaker 4
altars, wells, like, wells springs where water came out of the earth, you know, emerging of elements, oak trees, hawthorn trees, holes, trees with holes in them, trees that were woven together, like large rocks. Like, those were the original altars. They were all in nature.
Speaker 3
That's what the this book is talking a lot about that right now around anywhere there's headwaters and where particularly where there's two waters coming together, there would always be a shrine. And yeah. Like, oh, it's so freaking cool. Yeah. Oh, it's so interesting.
Speaker 4
Yeah. Yeah. Like, you know, Celtic tradition, like, a Hawthorne tree, next to an ash tree with an oak tree nearby, and there's a spring coming out of the earth. It's like, fairy portal. You know? You go there. You're very respectful. You don't wanna mess with the fairies, but you go and magic is gonna happen. This is ultimate, ultimate energies coming together.
Speaker 3
Love it. Alright. Cool. I love it. I'm inspired.
Speaker 4
Awesome.
Speaker 3
Yeah. That's good. Okay. So today is the day that Kate's course is out on the date of of the release of this podcast. So it's called Woman Craft, A Witch's Awakening, and there's so much more in this course beyond what we covered today. You can go get it now at freeware society courses dot com. And, yeah, thank you so much, Kate. And, oh, I've I had to say your Instagram because it's so perfect with with all of this. So why don't you go ahead and say any any other places you want people to find you at besides buying your amazing course.
Speaker 4
Yeah. Buy the amazing course. It's awesome. And, already, there's so much inspiration for our part two, of course, because there's, you know, there's so many depths to go to. And you can find me at yourlocalmidwitch dot com, and you can find me on Instagram at yourlocalmidwitch. And if you happen to live in Nova Scotia, you can find me somewhere in the in the woods communing with spirits, gathering with women. Making potions. Potions. Gathering herbs. Carrying a baby on my back.
Speaker 3
Yeah. Exactly. I love it. Thank you so much. Happy Samhain.
Speaker 4
Happy Samhain. Blessed New Year. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2
And that's it for today, my sisters. Check out everything we do, including one on one and group coaching. Learn about our private membership, in person retreats, and more on free birth society dot com. Our online courses are on free birth society courses dot com, including our flagship course, the complete guide to free birth. Don't miss the radical birthkeeper school if you're ready to become the authentic midwife that women are searching for. Together we rise and the revolution starts inside each of us. I'll leave you with our free birth society theme song, Wild Woman by Aruba Red.
Speaker 6
I honor you for the wisdom you held, the ancient traditions of plant medicine and womb magic. I feel the spirit
Speaker 4
of the ancestors as
Speaker 6
I place my hands upon my belly. I will not allow the separation of our young to be forced upon me. My sisters will no longer birth in captivity. The picket line redefined from burning our wild women to paralyzing us and drugging our babes. Strapped down in a clinical white bed, drying up the milk from our breasts, keep your needles. My family will never again be doomed to chase those dragons or your poison. We reject your fear, your fear.
