Show Notes
When it comes to exploring animism and the magic of and with place, I like to borrow a term from the world of wine: terroir. Terroir is generally understood in the wine world as the sense of place – soil, geography, seasonality, and even culture – that can be expressed in a glass of wine. When it comes to "magical terroir," we are referring to how all of those same factors develop into unique and co-creative spiritual practices. There are many unique features to the land I'm living on that converge to form a magical sense of place. A crow's fly away from Mount Shasta, I live in the middle of a rain shadow that divides the region into dense mountainous forests and desolate prairielands. Although abused and unforgivably wounded, the native tribes of the region are deeply present with strength and resilience. The Shasta, Karuk, Wintu, and Modoc are very much alive, telling stories and carrying traditions that were co-created with this place over millennia. Although Mount Shasta is more often thought of as a UFO hotspot, it was also arguably the birthplace of Neo-Paganism in the United States on May Day in 1915, when the self-proclaimed Druid, Ella Young, brought the notion of the "wheel of the year" along with other Celtic Revival reconstructions with her from her native Ireland to her newly founded Fellowship of Shasta. An hour to the North and fifteen years later, in Ashland, OR, Victor Anderson (who co-founded the uniquely American Traditional Witchcraft Tradition called Feri) was initiated into a secretive group called the Harpy Coven, which would profoundly influence the foundation of his own order. Zooming in on my personal home, backyard, and the bioregion it is situated in, reveals the distinct influence of an alpine terroir. We live in a valley on the edge of a forest of cedar, fir, pine, and maple. Jutting 5,000 feet above us are the Marble Mountains, which are some of the last to give off snowmelt each year that flow into – sometimes rugged and sometimes bucolic – creeks and streams that eventually feed the Klammath River Basin. In the darkest months of winter, the snow lingers in our valley sometimes weeks longer than in the neighboring valley just twenty minutes away. The summer begins with morels and wild dogwoods in bloom, and gives way to a foraging season of Elder flowers and Elder berries, feverfew, mugwort, blackberries, and rum cherries. All this is to say that my magic is deeply influenced by this alpine land and the spirits that inhabit it. One of my favorite magical rabbit holes is looking into the folk magic practices of other Alpine cultures to find ideas and inspiration that I can fold into the mystical soup of these California Alps. Christian Brunner has made it a personal project to translate and collate the magical terroir of the European Alps and share it with the rest of the world. In his new book, Alpine Witchery, Christian dives deep into the witch trial records of the Alps – which he translated himself – to mine for the lore, ritual, and spirituality that paints a fascinating picture of the folk magic of its day, and possibly exposes elements of the survival of an even older and deeper Alpine magical terroir to explore. SHOW NOTES: Get the book: Alpine Witchery Christian's Website: Services and Author Page Christian's IG: @christianfbrunner_author
More from Radical Elphame
I'm excited to welcome Morgan Daimler back to the show. We settle into the Autumnal season with an appropriately spooky conversation about the globe-spanning phenomenon of "The Wild Hunt," and speak about their upcoming release on the Irish Goddess Macha. We explore the complex constellations of triplicities within the Irish Pantheon, and Morgan shares some of their UPG surrounding The Morrigan sisters and their complementary magical roles. SHOW NOTES: Morgan's Books: Author Page The Fairy Courts: Moon Books Feed the Fairies Podcast: Spotify Link Morgan's Patheos Blog: Patheos Pagan Morgan's Classes: Irish Pagan School Morgan's Instagram: @morgandaimler
I'm excited to usher in the Fall season and share this fascinating conversation that I recently had with Amanda D. Paulson of Pretty Fn Spooky fame. We chat about her novel approaches to ghost hunting, born out of her mediumship abilities and Witchcraft practice, and when a ghost might actually be something more. We also go deep on her Paranormal Emotive Touchpoint theory, which explores the roles of nostalgia, déjà vu, liminality, and synchronicity in our encounters with the Other.
Enjoy a Patreon preview of the fourth episode of The Imbas Transmissions. This time, we chat about initiation as a translator of the ineffable, the perennial influence of Austin Osman Spare well beyond chaos magic, and ergodic literature as Imbas transmission. You can receive full episodes of The Imbas Transmissions by joining the Radical Elphame or Chaise Levy Storyteller on Patreon, or by subscribing to Chaise's Inspiration, Move Me Brightly Substack. Radical Elphame Patreon Chaise's Patreon Chaise's Substack: Inspiration, Move Me Brightly The Hagstone Podcast Theme Song: "Move it" by Dunham
Further evidence of just how small a world it is: nestled here in my tiny rural valley, amongst the deer, the evergreen forests, and the bucolic mountain streams, is not just one Occult Podcaster, but two. Today I'm thrilled to sit down with that other Occult Podcaster in my yard with some tea, and share our chat with you. Robyn Valentine is a writer, teacher, "witchfluencer" (whether she likes it or not), and one of the hosts of the delightful Coffee & Cauldrons podcast. We talk about the moment witchcraft went from being a hobby to a practice for her, the trials and tribulations of giving tarot readings for a living, the role of the Witch in the dying process, and we discuss future plans to summon Bigfoot. SHOW NOTES: Robyn's upcoming Tarot course Robyn's Website: tiredwitch.com Coffee & Cauldrons Podcast Order Robyn's Books @atiredwitch on IG
I'm thrilled to share my recent chat with Malachas Ivernus. Malachas is an excellent Irish Poet, writer of magical fiction, and frequenter (if not an orphan) of the Otherworld. We explore the creativity inherent to operative magic, the spiritual gauntlet of initiation, and the dance of divine inspiration. If you haven't, you must check out Malachas' wonderful work over on Substack under: The Hollow Behind the Hearthstone. SHOW NOTES: Malachas' Substack: The Hollow Behind the Hearthstone The Best thing Malachas has ever done: O Beautiful Ungovernable World Malachas' YouTube Channel: MalachasIvernus Malachas' Occult Thriller: Unreal City Malachas' Website: thehollowbehindthehearthstone.com Malachas on IG: @the_hedge_school