0:01
Welcome to Demystify Magic with Molly and Madison.
I'm Molly, a former skeptic turned full time energy healer and teacher.
And I'm Madison, a born and raised witch running my family's crystal shop.
And we're here to explore all things woo through the lens of both science and spirituality, so that you can find the moments of magic in your everyday life and create an intentional spiritual practice.
0:20
So if that's what you're into, find a cozy spot, take a deep breath, and let's demystify some magic.
Howdy Doody friends.
Howdy Doody.
How are you duty ING?
We are back in the studio today.
It is my first time back in my house in six days.
0:40
Well, I've been in the house.
It's my first time in the house with power.
For six days.
So I.
Am dutying.
You're dutying.
You are.
I'm also dutying.
We are howdying and dutying.
How are you?
I'm I'm howdying and dutying.
I, I had a very long weekend.
0:56
My bestie, my short distance as opposed to long distance bestie became a long distance bestie.
So I helped her move all day yesterday and clean her apartment.
And then I stood in a cemetery in the rain for rehearsal.
I'm tired.
1:13
Which, if you don't have any context, sounds a lot Whittier than it is.
Yeah.
Anyways, we're going to do AQ and A today, so we have 6 questions here.
We pulled on our Instagrams, collective Instagrams.
We also looked through the form that is always in our show notes.
1:31
So if you ever have a question when you're listening to the pod, you can pop that in and maybe we'll answer it.
We do read them all and often times we come up with episode ideas from there, so that is always available to you.
But before we dive into the Q&A, Madison, what was your magic moment?
1:47
I promise I'm not trying to turn this podcast into The Weather Channel, but I like, it feels very weird to like not talk about what has happened.
So for those who don't know, obviously in our last episode I talked a lot about Hurricane Helene and or in two, two episodes ago, whatever, one sometime in the distant for the not so distant past, I talked about Hurricane Helene.
2:14
Please show me some grace in this moment.
And you might think to yourself as I start talking about another, about hurricanes again, that you've already heard this before and you have, but there was another one.
In 13 days, there were two hurricanes that heavily impacted the Tampa Bay area Hurricane Milton.
2:34
And I like, don't even really have words for like what all has occurred here.
I am safe and I'm fine.
The stores are OK.
But my magic moment is that I have never, ever experienced so much like love and care from so many people as I did in the past 13 days.
2:58
People who listen to this podcast messaged me and offered me their homes, like people referenced my partner and my pets by their names and said everyone is everyone is welcome here.
And I was just like not prepared for that level of support.
3:21
And so my magic moment is just like a, a real true thank you and in like its purest form of what a magic moment is like.
I've never felt gratitude for the floor beneath my feet like I have.
I have never felt grateful for running water because we the water was shut off in some parts of Saint Pete.
3:41
I have never felt, I've never felt gratitude for electricity like I have.
You know, I've never felt gratitude for the ability to go home.
That was very Taylor Swift.
I can go anywhere I want, anywhere I want, just not home.
It was very, very scary.
3:59
And we are still in, like, a period of rebuilding.
It feels also very strange to be here.
Like, in my house has power and the store has power.
And so, like, we're open.
But like, down the street, like, looking out my window, I can see a massive oak tree.
Yeah.
4:15
In the street, it's just like, it's, it's a very disorienting experience.
And I'm very, very grateful for all of the support that you guys have sent me.
And I've been brought to tears multiple times.
If you go on our Instagram, there's a little highlight for Helene and Milton relief of people who listen to this podcast who are either like distributing resources or are in need of resources.
4:38
And people like responding to those Instagram stories and be like, thank you so much for sharing and like seeing you guys like help each other.
Yeah.
I promise I'm Doug crying on this podcast, but it is like, there's no magic like that magic.
And I'm so, so grateful to you guys for being a part of it and for everything that you did for me and for us.
5:01
And I love you guys.
So that's my magic moment.
I promise I'll go back to normal one soon.
As long as the fucking Gulf of Mexico does not stop hammering us, then I promise I'll go back to normal.
I love that it was, it was pretty wild.
5:17
I've been listening to an audio book called Fantastic Land.
Are you familiar with Fantastic Land?
No.
OK, don't listen to it.
OK?
I mean, anyone else can.
Taking it off the list.
It's a thriller about a like amusement park in Florida that gets hit by a hurricane.
5:39
Oh, so it's just me who shouldn't listen to it right now?
It's like it's a good book.
OK, I thought you were saying it was bad.
No, it's traumatic.
Oh no, it's an excellent book.
It's one of my favorite audiobooks.
Got it.
Got it, Got it.
OK.
But it's about it's about a a fictional amusement park in Florida that gets hit by a hurricane and 200 something employees are trapped there and it turns into like a Lord of the Flies situation.
5:58
It is very Lord of the Flies up in here.
People are fighting in gas stations like it really.
It really does show you how fragile our society is.
Yeah, well, I, I literally started listening to this audio book when Helene was coming through.
And I was like, oh, this is like hitting like, it really.
6:16
I know it's a fictional book.
It didn't actually happen.
It's very like, it's told through a series of interviews.
And I highly recommend the audio book of it because the narrators do such a good job at like, creating different characters that I was able to track with it.
But there were points where I forgot I was listening to fiction and I thought I was listening to like Helene Milton after Bath.
6:37
And it really was like such a weird time to be listening to it.
But me up in Maine where like we don't get that kind of weather, it really helped me like understand the severity of those types of storms.
Yeah.
And I think what is so interesting about it is that, like, we moved to Florida when I was like 4 years old.
6:58
So I'm not native, but I'm also not really a transplant, you know, like it's like in that weird image, it's like I grew up here and it really has like, sobered all of us.
And, like, 'cause you'll see the jokes online of like, Floridians, Floridians staying through a CAT5 hurricane, like sitting outside with their beer or whatever.
7:18
Yeah.
And it really, like, especially in the Tampa Bay area, like, I cannot stress this enough.
The Tampa Bay area has not been hit.
Like has not.
It technically still hasn't received a direct hit because it hit like, I think maybe 20 or 30 miles South of Saint Pete in over 100 years.
Yeah.
And so this, like, feeling of immunity really, like, culminates, like, we all kind of feel like, oh, there's no way.
7:39
Like, even when they're coming straight for us, they always turn at the last second.
It's very strange actually.
I'm pretty sure there's like a geographical reason for it, but I'm not sure what it is.
I was going to say it's because you're a witch and you put a force field up also that.
People do say that the land has been blessed by indigenous people, but I've always been in the camp of that, like the indigenous people would probably want the white man in Florida wiped away.
8:04
Yeah.
So I don't know, like the spirit of the land, maybe I don't know.
Regardless, it really seeing people like take it seriously and like all of us really realize how severe it is has been really interesting to watch.
8:19
But anyways, I'll add that to my list for after Hurricane Susan.
Yeah, yeah.
If anyone wants to understand the gravity of that, listen.
Listen to Fantastic Land.
Yeah, listen to it.
It's worth it.
It's so It was so good.
There were times when I thought I was gonna throw up in my mouth, times where I cried, times where I laughed.
8:38
Is it short enough that you can listen to it with the what you get for free with Spotify?
I don't think it's on Spotify.
Well, that's fucked up.
I know, I know, I know.
Pay for it.
It's honestly, it's worth it.
So I took out a Libby loan for like the book, like the digital book, the Kindle book and I started reading it and I was like and someone told me in my DMS they were like you have to listen to it.
9:03
It's so much better.
It's like 200 and something pages.
So I was like, oh, just fly through this.
And I literally usually when I want to fly through audiobooks, I put them on 1.7 times speed and I clean my house.
This one I literally didn't go above 1.2 X because I really wanted to savor it and listen to it.
9:20
I think it's like the first audiobook that I actually like, want to go back and listen to again.
Like it was it was worth it.
It was.
It was worth the whatever I paid inaudible credits.
All right, well, if you live above North Carolina, listen to that world or to that.
9:36
I'm sorry, listen to that book anyways.
All right, Molly, what was your magic moment this week?
What was my magic moment?
Oh, I mentioned being in a cemetery.
This is something I do every year.
I figured I should let the podcast in on this piece of lore.
9:54
I posted like a picture from a couple years ago of me in the cemetery dressed up like a little old lady and someone responded to my DM saying this is my favorite Molly lure and like half my DMS were like what the fuck is going on?
This is.
So this is niche Molly lure.
10:10
Yeah, this is Niche Molly Lure.
So every October for the last almost 10 years now, I have done a play in the East End Cemetery of Portland, ME.
It's the oldest cemetery in Portland.
The play is different every year.
It's written by a local playwright.
10:26
And essentially we tell the story of Portland's history through monologues of people who are buried in that cemetery.
So this year we're doing a show all about the rum riots and, and it's always fun.
And it's a fundraiser for the nonprofit that cares for the headstones in that cemetery.
10:44
So it just feels like a really lovely way to celebrate the seasons.
And I realized my magic moment is that I realized I'm way witchier than I give myself credit for.
So yesterday I was helping my friend move and I was telling her, I've put, you know, I've been so busy this season.
11:03
I don't feel super confident that I have my monologue memorized, even though I mentally know I have it memorized.
You know, like, I haven't done it enough to have it in my bones.
And she was like, are you going to be OK?
Like, what?
What are you going to do?
And I was like, you know, I always feel this way until I get to the cemetery.
11:21
And my first performance of my monologue is always to the spirits.
And I just said that it's like totally straight faced.
So I was like, yeah, I greet the spirits.
I do my monologue for them.
And if they approve, then I know I'm going to be good for the run.
And then I realized I've been doing this for 10 years, just greeting, greeting the spirits, just being like, hello, spirits.
11:41
Like like I have this.
I have a walk that I do where I like greet the different headstones in order.
And then I do my monologue for the headstones and the spirits.
And then I feel their approval.
And then I'm like, OK, I'm good.
Like all the nerves go away.
But until I do that, I feel like, Oh my God, can I do this?
12:00
Am I going to be able to do this?
Am I going to?
And I didn't realize that like ten years ago, I was like just coming out of my like skepticism basically.
Like I was just stepping into like I'm on a rock and it's shiny and it's supposed to help me with my luck.
12:17
And yet every October I was like, OK, spirits, here's what I got for you, you know?
And it just, it just was so interesting that this like one extremely witchy sounding experience I didn't even realize was witchy and had been doing it for the last decade.
12:33
And now I just fully appreciate that like, yeah, yeah, I'm, I'm here.
I'm an actor, but I'm also a witch.
I love that that's like your oldest, most foundational practice.
I know, isn't that cute?
That is cute.
I don't really like, I don't do a big sawin ritual.
12:51
I think mostly because I'm like usually doing that show, it's two weeks and we do Thursday through Sunday and we usually do four or five performances a night.
So it's like it takes a lot of energy and time.
And so by the time Sawin comes around, I'm like.
That literally is a sawin ritual though.
13:08
You're like, I know you're giving.
That's what I was just thinking.
You're commuting with those spirits.
You're entertaining them.
You're holding space for them, you're telling their story like that is.
I would argue that's a month long sawin ritual.
I know.
And so now I'm like, OK, take that pressure off myself.
13:25
This is my Sawin ritual period.
That's kind of how I felt with like we've have a lot of events on the calendar for October at the store, which another separate magic moment is that we haven't had to cancel any of them.
Like we've been able to.
We've been able to reschedule and like make it all work.
13:41
But I'm like, oh, holding space and like inviting that energy in is a part of a larger ritual.
I actually also have an old foundational witchy cemetery story.
Tell us.
Tell us.
So niche Madison lore is that this isn't niche, but my parents are divorced.
14:01
We knew that, and my dad moved to North Carolina very shortly after my parents got divorced.
She's laughing.
It's not funny.
It's my traumatic event.
Just the way that you said that, we all knew that.
Like, yeah, we did.
I mean, I talk about my stepdad all the time.
Whatever.
Regardless, my dad would keep me in the summer, but he still had to work.
14:21
And so like I've always said that my family has never been really like, my mom raised me this way and my mom raised me separately from my dad.
And like, they live in North Carolina.
Like they're not religious, but also like, I just feel the need to to qualify this because I'm going to tell you something that might surprise you when you hear that I was raised witchy, which is that I went to vacation Bible school.
14:45
Oh my God.
In North Carolina in the summer when I was a kid, because my dad didn't know what to do with me.
Like he was working and I couldn't be left.
Like I couldn't be left alone.
You know, like it was in the like, the few years that it was to give my grandparents a break or give him a break.
You know, what did the kids do?
15:00
They go to Vacation Bible School.
So it says the church.
I don't remember anything about it except for that you had to wear a different, like everybody wore the same color every day.
And the snack's really great.
There was a water slide at the end of it, like they threw a party and there was a cemetery outside the church.
And when we had independent play time, I would go sit with the headstones.
15:23
I.
Would like skip around and I would talk to them and I would like make up stories about their lives.
And that's so.
Tender.
And I'm like, look back and I'm like, of course, yeah, I was the weird girl who, like all these other kids knew each other, you know, because they all went to school together and this was like their church.
15:44
And my dad just fucking dropped me off in the color coordinated T-shirt.
This girl from Florida who's sitting in the graveyard, those poor, poor people who are like, what the.
Fuck is happening here.
I love that though.
Niche lore this episode niche lore.
16:00
So good.
This is the perfect segue into our first question which someone asks all the suggestions you give.
How much are y'all doing?
And my answer is it fucking depends.
So it's been like, out of everything that we give like in a like in a low effort, whatever episode, how many of those things are we actually doing?
16:21
Yeah, I guess.
Or maybe we can interpret it as like, what is our spiritual practice actually look like?
Like what practices are we doing on a day?
To day, yeah, everything that we give you guys as a suggestion, unless you like hear us come up with it in the moment of like, oh, this would be a good idea.
It's things that we've done.
16:39
Yeah.
I wouldn't say that there are always things that I do all the time, but it's kind of the same way that we've talked about like making the, making the menu, they're all things I think that are on our menu, right?
And so we're kind of doing what feels good in the moment, but.
16:56
Yeah.
It's very rare that I'll recommend something that one of us hasn't done.
Yeah, yeah, Without qualifying it at least as being like, I've heard other people do this or whatever.
I would say it really is like it depends on the season for me, And I don't mean nature season, I mean like internal Molly season.
17:15
Right now I'm in a season where my mundane life has to take priority because I'm moving, I'm doing a play, I'm leading a Reiki training and I'm writing a book all in the same month.
It's totally fine.
Just one or two things going on.
17:31
All in the same season.
And so I that because of that, I've really neglected the part of my practice that's like, OK, I'm going to sit down and do a big ritual or I'm going to channel or I'm going to do whatever.
And it's been more OK with all the things that I'm doing.
How can I pull my practice into it?
17:46
So it's like yesterday when I was cleansing my friend's home, this is a really good example.
I was literally mopping her house and I was, I was internally thinking about like like helping her release her spirit for this move, like helping her find new new roots in her new space and like having that be the intention while I'm like mopping and cleaning the space.
18:08
Or for instance, like when I'm packing my house, the last thing I'm going to pack is my altar.
But like, my candles are packed, a lot of my crystals are packed, a lot of my tarot decks are packed.
I just have like one or two things left out.
Like I have one deck out and I have my altar and like 1 candle on it.
18:28
And so yeah, I would say like maybe we could break down like in a day.
What?
What did?
What does a usual day look like for you ritual wise?
Oh God, honestly.
So I'm kind of in a similar boat right now where like everything from my practice is all over the place.
18:46
I will say like, so the store was able to open yesterday.
So I'll walk you through that because that yesterday felt like the first day that things felt like, OK, again, you know, or I was like, OK, we're going to get through this.
And so a cleanse is always like a part of my morning.
19:05
So I got to the store and I, I usually will use incense for this because I like the way it makes the shop like feel and smell.
And you know, when you walk in and it smells like incense, you're like, OK, yeah, I'm in the right place.
I've found, I've found the spot.
But I always will cleanse myself before I cleanse my space.
19:24
Get rid of my own bad fucking vibes before I get rid of everybody else's, you know, put my life vest on, put my gas mask on.
It's not a gas mask.
It's a.
Oxygen mask.
That's the one I guess.
Oxygen is a gas Regardless, Put my oxygen mask on before I put on everybody else's.
19:42
Have some tea.
I choose my tea kind of.
It's sometimes it's an intuition test.
Sometimes I'm like really looking at the label of like, what do I want and need?
Yeah.
I have altar candles that I light every day.
That's, that was like really how I stayed connected to my practice through the storm, too, is Anthony made us a candle for protection, which was very sweet.
20:04
And I took it to my mom's house where we were staying.
And had a candle for the Morgan and Archangel Michael and we lit those and let them burn all day.
We do that at the store too.
We have like offering candles or like candles for specific deities.
20:20
And that was probably the nicest part about like being stuck at her place is that I'm never in one place long enough to light some of my candles.
And so getting to sit and have those burn all day and like really give those as an offering.
And I really will just like spend some time in that space, like keep the candles close to where I am, have my tea, set my intention for the day, like put my feet on the floor.
20:46
If I can go outside, that's like peak top tier.
I'm doing the most for myself.
I can sit and do all those things on my back porch.
That's like my Primo setup for success.
But outside of the morning, like my day-to-day is very mundane.
21:04
And something I've really been focused on recently is like trying to bring my psychic senses into the forefront and like letting them coexist along with my like mundane senses, my normal senses.
And so kind of trying to like tap into those senses in places that I normally wouldn't.
21:21
Like sometimes I'll do it in my workout class of like call them forward of like, OK, what am I experiencing?
Like what am I smelling?
What am I hearing?
What am I, what do I know?
You know, see if anything's coming through in kind of like unexpected moments.
But really, like mostly it's in the morning.
21:40
I give myself some time and then in the evening I always Reiki myself to sleep.
That's like if I've done nothing else.
I lay my hands on my chest before I go to bed and let Reiki pour through.
I love that.
What about you?
For me, definitely morning time.
21:57
I always stir a sigil into my coffee so I always check in with myself.
Like while I'm I do a pour over coffee so while the water is pouring over the prawns.
OK.
Hipster Molly, I didn't know that about you.
OK, all right, here we go.
Let's back up.
22:13
I I have been using a pour over coffee for the last decade.
I have because no one else in my house drinks coffee and I don't like Keurig.
I love that you're responding to me calling you a hipster by doubling down on the I was doing it before it was cool.
I did not do it because it was cool.
22:29
I did it because it was convenient.
I know you did it before it was.
Cool, I was throwing out half a pot of coffee every day.
OK, whatever.
I'm not coming for you.
I love it.
Coming for me.
I'm just I'm making observations.
OK, all right, ten years ago when I started my pour over coffee, I Pavlov D myself to every time I smelled coffee grounds, think of three things I'm grateful for.
22:57
It was my mindfulness cue that I set up when my teacher said you should come up with a mindfulness cue and I was like, OK, bet.
So now I open my grounds and I just instantly I'm like I'm grateful for my dogs.
Usually it's I'm grateful for coffee.
That's always one.
Of course, of course it's linked to your queue.
23:15
Obviously you're going to be great for your coffee.
It's my favorite part of my day.
And then I I pour over my coffee and while I'm pouring over my coffee, I'm doing like a check in, like how do I feel?
What's the energy?
What do I got going on today?
What do I need?
And then I choose one of the Reiki symbols that would bring me closest to balance and I stir that into my cup and then I drink my coffee.
23:36
It's the best part of my day.
It really is.
And then I usually do the same thing with my second cup, whether that's sometimes it's coffee.
Lately it's been coffee because as I've said, I'm I'm very busy and stressed out this month, but it's either tea or coffee and I now have a an extensive magic hour tea collection.
23:58
And so I'm like, OK, what do I need today?
And sometimes it's like I need coffee, but I don't want to be jittery.
Like this morning I was like, I need coffee, but I'm like not ready to eat breakfast yet.
So I'm going to go with the Bohemian breakfast blend tea, like close enough.
Yeah.
Or like some days it's like, OK, I need to like chill.
24:17
OK, I'll grab the amethyst tea or whatever.
Or it's like I have a lot of communication I need to do.
I'm, I'm leading a training or whatever.
OK Mercury retrograde tea is good for communication.
I'll grab that.
So that's a big part of my ritual.
And then I tend to do Reiki for myself midday, like before I have a meeting or before I'm leading a meditation or before I'm doing a training or whatever.
24:39
I'll do a couple minutes of Reiki and then the end of my day is like a very like internal practice.
Like it's not like outwardly I'm not like lighting candles or like, you know, chanting or doing spells or whatever.
24:55
But it's like when I'm making my dinner, it's like, you know, if I'm making a soup, I'm like, OK, I'm, I'm throwing in basil because that's what the recipe says.
But also that's good for, you know, prosperity and abundance and whatever.
I'm sort of like mentally going through like, OK, salt for protection, pepper for protection, onions to banish the, you know, the stress in my home or whatever.
25:16
Like I'm kind of like motivating myself to cook by making it witchy.
And then to be honest with you, all of the mundane magic that I share comes from like my own practice.
The only reason I'm at my house is because I want to make a witchy potion.
I'm not going to lie to you, that's the only reason.
25:34
Like those things are not randomly generated.
Those are things that I need to do.
So whenever I'm cleaning something, whenever I'm doing something like that, I'm like pulling in my practice.
And then really the end of the day, I don't, I don't know if I do anything like extensively witchy.
25:51
I do have a sleep altar on my night stand.
Like that's my sacred place.
It's kind of a mess right now, but it's my sleep altar.
So I have like a little sleep bowl.
I have sleep crystals.
I have like my lip balm, my cuticle oil, my smut book and I just kind of like sit and read.
26:17
Yeah, I feel like everything, like we're both kind of in a phase of life right now where we've almost like put our spiritual, like not, I don't wanna say on autopilot 'cause that feels like it has a negative connotation.
But there is like a we've, we've put so much work into making it easy.
26:35
You know, it's like we've done a lot of the hard stuff in advance.
It really does feel like autopilot, but I think usually we think of autopilot being like mindless and like just going through the motions.
But for me, autopilot has begun OK.
26:51
When I smell coffee, I think of gratitude.
When I make soup, I'm running through like what the intentions are while I'm adding them.
Like that has become my autopilot.
Like my autopilot has become.
More mindful.
Add intention.
Yeah.
And so like, it really does feel like autopilot, like I don't have to think about it.
27:08
I'm just like, yeah, I'll just add a little moon water in with my laundry.
Yeah, great.
Oh, it's the full moon this week.
I know what I'm doing.
Yeah.
I in my shower curtain.
Put that thing in the washer.
I know how to do it now.
It really is true.
27:24
Like what people think your practice will look like in 10 years is not at all like people think that it will like grow and become this huge complex thing when really like what becomes complex is your own spirit.
27:45
And what comes with that is an opportunity to make things, make your autopilot more mindful.
It's it's so much more simple.
And I think that's like a big stumbling block for a lot of people is feeling overwhelmed and then feeling like you can't take what this practice will become, you know?
28:04
And so it's like it's going to be too much, so I won't even get started.
And really, it becomes easier and easier.
And there are more opportunities to simplify and pare down the longer that you've been in the practice.
Yeah, and I will say I have a rule for myself that I only do like elaborate rituals, quote UN quote, whatever elaborate means to me, like outside of what, you know, the mundane when I feel excited to do it.
28:31
So like the other day I was like, oh, I have all these herbs and I have like a big jar of grapeseed oil.
I'm gonna make oil infusions.
And I just like went ham on that.
You know, it's very like ADHD hyper focus.
Yeah.
But I was like, you know, I may never do that again.
And that's OK.
28:46
You know, like usually around Reiki training season, I'll do like some sort of like candle magic crystal grid, like something a little bit bigger than my my usual.
But outside of those times, I'm like, if it's the full moon, honestly, I like woke up today.
It was three days before the full moon.
29:02
I woke up today and I was like, I'm tired.
I gotta cleanse my bed, you know, like that's it.
Yeah.
It's like, OK, take the sheets off, run the incense vacuum under, you know, and I know I'll feel better, but like, that's an elaborate ritual for me all.
29:20
Right, next.
Well, that's our episode.
We just talked on that for so long.
OK, next, if you could pick one witchy book recommendation, what would it be?
You first.
OK, I'm going to recommend a book that I have not finished yet because I really want everybody to read it with me.
29:37
But I'm going to recommend Brujas, The Magic and Power of Witches of Color by my friend Lorraine at Witchy Heights, which is another Saint Pete witchy spot.
We host a book club together at Spellcrafter.
That was our only event.
29:55
Well, no, it was our second event.
Regardless, whatever was, it's an event that we thought we were going to have to cancel and it was just able to be rescheduled because we got power and I'm really excited about it.
And she gave me her book, which was so sweet of her and I really want to read it.
And so I'm giving it to you as a recommendation so that you guys will hold me accountable to finishing it.
30:12
I love that, I love that.
Can I also recommend one I haven't finished yet?
Sure, this is this is our podcast.
We make the fucking rules.
These are witchy book recommendations that we haven't finished.
I love we don't recommend things that we haven't done and we're like, here's some books we haven't read that we think you'd like.
30:30
I've read part of it, to be fair, it's called Missing Witches Recovering the True Histories of Feminist Magic by Risa Dickens and Amy Tarock.
And I, I know this is, this is me coming in as like someone who knows next to nothing about witchy history and has my mind has just been blown open by the first couple of chapters of this, like how much.
30:56
And and it's helped me like make so much sense around like some of the reactions I've received since like calling myself a witch and like outwardly posting about it on the Internet.
And it's just, I really love the lens that I'm learning this history through because, you know, as we know, there's a lot of not great lenses that you could learn about witchy history through.
31:23
So yeah, that's the one that I would recommend.
Also, like if anyone's looking for reference books that I use, they're not like explicitly witchy, but I do use them in my witchy practice.
I am posting a YouTube video of like the books that I reference most often.
So if that's what you were looking for, you can go to my YouTube for that next.
31:43
All right.
How did you handle transitioning from corporate work to full time spiritual entrepreneurship?
For me, I took an in between job.
And by that I mean, so when I knew I wanted to go into this full time and I sort of started to feel the momentum underneath my wings.
32:02
I was working at a retirement community in the middle of COVID.
It was extremely stressful and completely depleting my energy.
And I basically told myself I'm going to take a job that has more flexibility in the schedule and that feels easy, like feels easier than what I'm doing right now, like mentally less draining.
32:28
And so what's so interesting is I, I don't think I've ever, I don't think I've told you this story, but about six months prior to deciding I wanted to do this full time, I really decided that I wanted to be promoted to regional director.
32:46
Like that was my goal.
I wanted to be the regional director of operations at this retirement community.
I had just been promoted to assistant general manager.
I was really, really connected within the corporate.
Like I was really, really well respected in, in the, in the like company as a whole.
33:06
And then my tech dock blew up and I was like, Oh my God, this dream that I thought was a crapshoot could be possible for me.
And I basically had to decide, am I going to go for this easy track of being the director or am I going to go for my like dream I've had forever?
33:27
And so I took this job that I was more flexible closer to home, the less life or death pressure, less, you know, less absolute chaos, smaller company.
And I, I had this moment where I was like, Oh my God, what, what have I done?
33:46
Like now I've, I basically committed myself to spending a year working my business up to the point where I could work for myself.
And while I was having this like, Oh my God, what have I done?
Freak out.
The regional director of operations from my, my old job called me and offered me a promotion and said, will you come back?
34:10
We will promote you to general manager, which is like the next step before regional director, he said.
We'll do whatever we have to, whatever you want is yours if you come back.
And I was like, no, sorry, like I have to see this out.
34:31
And I really, that felt like that felt like a commitment I had to make in order to take this step into entrepreneurship.
So for me, as soon as I made that decision, I was like, OK, we're, we're going in on this.
And mentally I sort of had to shift where I started thinking of my job that paid me as like my hobby and my business as my job.
34:54
Whereas before it was the opposite.
Not that I was like phoning it in at work, you know?
I still, you know, doing the damn thing.
If Molly's previous employers are listening.
But I wasn't like, you know, I wasn't willing to put all of my energy and I wasn't willing to deplete myself.
35:11
I wasn't willing to, you know, whatever.
And I was really strategic about how I use my PTO.
Like I took the day off before I did a Reiki training weekend so that I could recover and I would do those Reiki training weekends on three day weekends that I had a day after to recover and that kind of thing.
35:30
And honestly, it was like, that was the biggest thing.
And then just getting really scrappy.
I was like, OK, I just need to get out of my job.
I just need to figure out how I can cobble together the income to leave my job.
And then I will have the space to to mold it in the way that I want it to look.
35:46
And that's exactly what happened.
Yeah, I have a very different situation in that I have never really worked a corporate job.
I actually like the universe did everything that it could to keep me from a corporate job.
So I graduated from College in 2020.
36:05
Nothing big going on in that time.
It was super normal, super normal.
But the year before I had landed my dream internship.
I interned at a publishing house in London that is actually owned by Penguin.
36:25
So fun connection to me and yeah, full circle to Molly now with her book.
But like worked my dream job every day, what I thought was my dream job.
And what's so funny is like I look back and I would take the tube to work in the morning and I would walk like 5-10 minutes in the wrong direction to go buy a Red Bull.
36:55
Like the largest Red Bull that you can buy and I would drink it like so I could drink it and finish it and throw it away before I got to the office so my Co workers wouldn't see me because like for some reason everybody was really weird about energy drinks.
Like you, I'd show my ID to buy it.
I don't know if that's still the case, but it was like the same as like buying a beer in terms of like, you know, and the the guy who worked at the Tesco would always look at me like is this person?
37:20
Well, and it was because.
And the cognitive dissonance here is crazy because I was like loving, I thought I, like, loved my life, right?
And I was chugging this Red Bull on the way to work because I was falling asleep at my desk.
Sure.
And a lot of that had to do with the fact that, like, you know, they didn't have as much work for me as like, I could have done.
37:41
You know, one of my tasks, this is when I was falling asleep was because my job was to I had like the physical copy of a book and I had the PDF copy or like the Word document.
Which is so weird to see like books that have been published for like 10-15 years as word documents because it was like this older book that was being re republished and my job was to make sure that the copies matched exactly.
38:06
No, that's an ADHD nightmare.
And that's what I did every day for months.
I like and I had there were it was an incredible.
I loved the people I worked with.
Everything was great.
Like this is not me talking shit.
I really did have the best time despite the the need for constant caffeine because on the other side of that is like when I finished the things like that in between, because it was like a four or five book series I had to do.
38:29
It was so bad.
But in between that they would like let me read acquisitions and like bring my opinions to their meetings.
Like it was very much a a give and take of like I did what was what I had to do.
And then they let me kind of like dip my toes in the other stuff.
38:46
And right as my internship was about to end, this was the summer of 2019.
I graduated a year later, my boss like, sat me down.
I had just like written a children's book for them and she asked me if I would, if, if they would sponsor my visa, if I would move and I would live in the UK and I would work for them.
39:06
And I, I mean, it was like, obviously like, yes, came home, told the program director because it was like through my college, you know, told my roommates like, I was just losing my marbles.
I was looking at flats like, you know, in love.
39:23
This is going to be the best thing ever.
Obviously.
Then COVID happened.
They weren't exactly, the publishing industry wasn't exactly in like sponsoring visas territory.
Yeah.
And it was a gut punch.
Like I was so upset.
39:40
And so I actually started working retail after school through COVID.
And so I really only have ever had the three month stint in corporate work.
Wow.
And after the gut punch had worn off, it really did like, settle in for me of like, oh, people who like their jobs don't have to drink a 32 ounce Red Bull on their way to work and pray that their Co workers don't see them.
40:08
And so I guess I don't really have any tangible advice for someone who's transitioning.
But all that to say, I really, really don't think that what is for you can be kept from you.
Yeah.
And I think that that's like also a testament to even though with you, Molly, it was like a lot more intentional choices.
40:28
It also with hindsight, it's much easier to see that the path was already laid out.
And I think you just have to trust that it's there.
All right.
Next.
Next.
Question, I want to find a Reiki practitioner in a hypnotherapist for healing goals of mine.
40:46
Are there tips or signs you can share in how to find the right person for you Slash avoid scams?
OK, you guys know I have talked about this, my hypnotherapist that I saw to stop biting my nails like non-stop.
And a lot of people asked me how I found her because she was the only person that I saw.
41:06
Mm hmm.
And what was so amazing to her about me that I really think a lot of, if you have a spiritual business I think might be a good idea to implement is a consultation.
She did a consultation with me and it was life changing, not in terms of like what was provided, but like all of the anxieties and fears that I had were immediately calmed.
41:36
There was no expectation, you know, when you remove that level of like pressure to buy or whatever.
Yeah.
Or to like close the sale when you don't feel like you're like, and this is also how she was.
And so that's a green flag, I guess is if you don't feel like you're being sold to when someone's explaining how it works, that's a ground flag.
41:57
But someone who is willing to sit down with you and talk you through what what they do, what it will look like and what how they think it will impact you.
Yeah, that is incredible.
And it's like, now my biggest suggestion is to provide that if you're doing something like hypnotherapy.
42:21
Yeah, yeah.
Or even like through DMS on Instagram.
Like often times if people, if people have questions about like especially about Reiki training, I'll just hop into my like voice note and I'll just like someone called it their own personal podcast and I'm like, that's what I'll be calling it from now on.
42:39
Yeah, someone who is willing to answer questions and someone who is willing to talk to you, even if it doesn't look exactly like a oh, you're going to come to my office and we're going to talk for half an hour.
But like, that is the biggest green flag to be someone who will tell you what they stand for.
Because she she literally sat me down and she was like, OK, this works for two reasons.
42:56
It has I can tell you the science or I can tell you the the woo.
Which one do you wanna know or which which more aligns with you?
And I was like, I wanna hear it all.
I wanna hear them both because the I have my feet pretty firmly planted in both places.
I like, yeah, I understand how those things work together.
43:12
And so paying attention to that, like that person's social media, paying attention to that person's website, people who will tell you about their values, I think that is what I've learned is more important to me than anything else.
43:28
Yeah.
Even with people like readers like, not to say that it's not hard to read tarot, because it is.
It's a skill that you develop.
But there are so many people who have developed that skill.
Yeah, so many people that I believe could give me a good reading.
I wouldn't know who I want to be in a room with for an hour.
43:46
Yes, yeah.
Do I like this person?
That's the biggest yeah, I think red flags to look out for in terms of scams.
So I one of my niche special interests is watching commentary about scams and the coaching and and spiritual.
Spaces, yeah.
44:02
That's what I spend a lot of time on and look out for high pressure tactics.
So high pressure tactics are someones putting the squeeze on you to say yes right now even though you haven't had time to sleep on it.
So that could look like you have to sign up now, otherwise the price is going up by an astronomical amount or you have to sign up now because I have one spot left, even though they have a lot of spots left now.
44:30
I will say some people like I, I have limited spots in my training, but I always explain to you why there's limited spots in my training because I give you individualized attention in the attunements, right?
Versus someone who's like there's limited spots in the training and they don't give you a reason why.
44:45
And then magically they have more spots when you're ready, right?
Or like the other scams that I look out for is if you say no and they try to twist it like I, I was reading a thread this morning where someone was like, there's their spiritual coaching person was like, sleep on it.
45:06
TuneIn, If it's a yes, let's go for it.
But like you need to, you need to feel like steady in it, in your own body.
And I was like, OK, great green flag.
Then the person said no.
And they said, I really think this is an opportunity for deeper, deeper healing for you.
45:23
Like, let's look at what's holding you back.
If it's just finances, let's figure something out, right?
Like they don't take no for an answer.
I I honestly I'm going to compare it to a first date.
The parallels are so like, it really is.
If you wouldn't want to hear what this person is like if your friend said my boyfriend when I said no to him, Yeah, like said that this would be an opportunity for healing for me.
45:48
You would say dumb as us.
Yeah, or like if you look at someone's Instagram and it's very like, like I always tell my students, if you want to do Reiki professionally, if you want to get clients, you need to share about yourself.
46:04
You need to share your experience, your passions, what brought you to Reiki?
Because that's what's going to make people say, oh, that's the person I want to work with.
Right.
And so if you see just kind of like vanilla, generic, like Reiki benefits, but you don't see any like testimonials, you don't see anything about their personality.
46:23
You don't get a good feel on like, who are they?
Right?
Like would you, would you want to spend an hour or with this person?
I think ultimately when it comes to like any sort of energy healing practitioner, you have to go with the gut check.
You have to, you have to go with the gut check.
46:38
And also sometimes you have to kiss a couple frogs big time.
And there's no shame in that.
Like I always say, like I've gone to sessions with people like my one of my first mentors really fucked me over, really truly fucked me over publicly and I was so hurt by that, but it made me feel so much clearer.
47:01
I saw all of the red flags after I saw all of the red flags after I was like, oh, this person actually just like roped me in and blindfolded me.
And now that the the blindfold is off, I am, I see all the red flags now and, and it's helped steer me away from others like her.
47:20
So I'd say like sometimes like avoiding scans is easy and sometimes it's not.
But you know, learning from that is is helpful always I think.
And no reputable person will ever slide into your DMS and offer you a reading.
Yeah, those are always bot accounts.
47:39
Yeah, that have stolen content from another person.
Sometimes us.
And just please practice discretion and discernment.
Yeah, yeah.
I think any reputable like anyone in the spiritual healing session, it's always gonna be an invitation rather than a shove it down your throat like those bots that go into your DMS are always like I was feeling a sense from you that you need a reading like PayPal me versus like, you know any like reputable spiritual persons gonna be like my readings are open if you feel called.
48:11
Somebody messaged us the other day and said that somebody was impersonating our account and offering clearings, energetic clearings from us.
Wild.
So we are not offering that service and we are certainly if we were, we would not be sliding into your DMS about it.
48:29
No, no.
Love, you mean it.
Love, you mean it.
OK, our last question, goals aside, what are the top five herbs and crystals you would tell a new witch to have?
We have taken very different approaches to answering this question.
I have written a list.
48:45
Madison.
Has very intentionally not thought about it until this moment.
Do you want me to go first or do you want to go first?
I think you should go 1st.
I'm going to go. 1st, I don't want to prejudice the jury.
OK.
For herbs, we're doing mugwort, we're doing Rosemary, we're doing rose petals.
49:05
Is salt in herb is my question I don't think.
It is.
I put salt on my list.
OK.
Well then I'm also putting salt on my list, specifically black salt.
Oh wow, yeah.
Which you can make using the crumbs of incense is what I use.
49:20
Yes, the crumbs of incense.
And also, if you want to step it up a notch, graveyard dirt.
All right.
I'm getting some of that this weekend, yes.
Please can you get me some?
Can I have some ask?
Before you take it, yeah, I just have to ask.
Those are the rules, but the dirt in Florida is so sandy.
49:38
I would love some real dirt.
And this again, kind of not an herb, but what else?
What else does it fall under?
Egg shells.
Oh wow, we have a very different lists.
49:55
I knew we would.
OK.
Are we doing herbs and then crystals?
Yeah.
OK.
You do your herbs.
OK.
My list I I have rationale behind each of them.
I mean, I do too, but like.
All right, no, I'll just share my list.
Salt, cinnamon, mint, lavender, Rosemary.
50:13
Cinnamon's a good one.
Mm hmm mm hmm.
I love mint if I could just choose one and salt is the obvious one.
But the second obvious is mint for me.
Yeah, I wouldn't even have thought to put Mint on my list.
That's a good one too.
Mint is so fucking good because you can make it into a tea, you can put it in a simmer pot, you can cook with it, you can use it in a money bowl like you can spread it around.
50:36
You could grow it in your garden, in a pot, in a container.
Why?
Oh my God.
Wait is this OK?
Mint is an invasive herb, so if you plant it not in a container, it will take over your entire garden.
50:53
It'll choke everything out.
That's why it's connected to abundance.
Is that what I should plant to combat my neighbor's overgrown yard?
Should I just replace everything they've got going on with Mint?
Yeah, you should.
Now it will probably creep into your yard.
Natural ground cover?
51:09
I've been looking for a grass alternative.
There you go, Mint.
Anyways, and now between the two of us, you've got 10 crystals.
OK, crystals, Clear quartz, obviously.
Yeah.
Citrine, fluorite, black tourmaline and selenite.
51:28
Did we do the same list?
Oh my God, Four out of the five, Yes, I said clear quartz, fluorite, citrine, black tourmaline and red Jasper.
Though now that you said Selenite, I'm like I.
Thought Selenite for sure would be.
51:44
Oh man, I should have put selenite on my list.
Well.
But I needed one for the root so I was like red Jasper, black tourmaline.
I know, great for the root, but I love red Jasper.
Red Jasper.
We needed two for the root.
Yeah, we needed two for the root, but Selenite.
51:59
I think that's so now you've got 6 between the two of us.
Wow, wow, that was fun.
That was impressive.
That was really impressive.
I I know I want more.
Make us do more rapid.
Fire.
Yeah, make us do more top five lists.
What else do we have in common?
Yeah, let's see.
52:14
All right.
Did we do it?
We did it.
That was quite the episode.
You've been listening to us, Yap for quite a long time.
All right.
Well, thanks for yapping with us.
We love you.
Bye.
Thanks for listening to Demystify Magic with Molly and Madison.
52:30
If you want to learn more about us, you can find all our links in the show notes.
We'd love to know what you think of today's episode, so drop us a review or give us a shout out on social media.
And don't forget to let us know your magical moment of the week.
OK?
Love you.
Bye.
