Sacred Community as a Spiritual Container for Transformation - (S9E6)

In this heart-opening episode of The Magick Kitchen Podcast, Leandra Witchwood and Elyse Welles reunite in person to share powerful insights on building spiritual community through retreats, mentorship, and sacred containers. From immersive pilgrimages to Earth Priestess initiations, they explore how online and in-person spiritual spaces can transform your path. Tune in for stories from Delphi, riverside rituals, guidance on finding the right teacher, and tips for navigating spiritual groups with discernment. Whether you're seeking deeper connection, curious about witchcraft communities, or considering your next spiritual retreat, this episode offers grounding and inspiration.

✨ Topics:

•  Spiritual containers & how they work
•  Retreats, pilgrimages & sacred space
•  Online vs in-person community
•  Choosing aligned mentorship
•  Creating ritual through rhythm, rivers & ritual tools

🎧 Join us in circle — and discover what it means to belong.

Support the Podcast!

🔮 The Witch’s Reset - A Five-Day Audio Program to Clear the Noise and Transform Your Practice. Join HERE- https://leandrawitchwood.com/witchs_reset

🌙 Join The Rebel Mystic Coven - a private online coven and academy with FREE monthly online lessons.  Join for free HERE - https://leandrawitchwood.com/coven

🌳 The Rebel Mystic Witchcraft Skill Trees -  a modular, intentional way to learn witchcraft without overwhelm. Explore the grove HERE -  https://leandrawitchwood.com/witchcraft-skill-trees

🫖 The Witchwood Teahouse! Check out Leandra's uniquely hand-blended teas - www.thewitchwoodteahouse.com 

✨Get Your Free Resources HERE - https://leandrawitchwood.com/resources

🌒🌕🌘

🗝️ 🕯️CLICK HERE for Elyse's free Guide to Energy Protection. 🌟🧙‍♀️

Follow Elyse @seekingnumina, & join Seekers of the Sacred Wild, a free group...

Transcript

I'm Leandra Witchwood.

And I'm Elyse Welles. Welcome to The Magick Kitchen Podcast, where we talk about magick, witchcraft, herbs, and everything in between.

The Magick Kitchen Podcast is funded and supported by the Witchwood Teahouse — WitchwoodTeahouse.com — offering a variety of hand-blended loose-leaf teas, as well as loose herbs for all your ritual, spellwork, wellness, and everyday enjoyment needs. If you’d like to support this podcast while sipping a cup of tea, head over to WitchwoodTeahouse.com and find the magick that’s in store for you.

So, I feel like everybody needs an update.

Yeah. And for those who don’t know, this episode is being recorded in person — together, at one microphone. That’s very exciting!

We’ll have the videos up in our respective communities. I’ll have this up on Patreon, and it’ll be up on Rebel Mystic as well if you want to watch us for this episode.

Definitely. An update is required. It’s been a crazy few months. I don’t even know where to begin.

Well, I got back from Greece about a month ago. As of recording this, though, it was two days ago.

Exactly. And so we haven’t hung out in a while, obviously, because I’ve been overseas. I had an amazing retreat. Everybody who came to Delphi with me had a life-changing experience. I don’t say that lightly. It really was such a transformative opportunity. The way the people who came just trusted the energies and opened up to what can happen in sisterhood — I can’t believe it was only five days. It felt like a lifetime of connection.

Yeah. And I can validate that because one of my students went too, and she came back like, "Oh my gosh, I have so much to process." It was meaningful. There was depth to it. It wasn’t just a vacation.

Yeah. Which is why next year I’m marketing them as immersive pilgrimages.

Exactly. It’s not just a vacation. A retreat kind of implies rest and relaxation, and truthfully, you’re doing really deep work. It’s heavy stuff sometimes, and it’s also time-warping. You know, five days, three days, four days — it’s a lifetime of change.

You’re tapping into other timelines. You’re not just working on the one you’re walking. You’re tapping into your higher self timeline. That’s where the deep work really comes in. Where you’re like, "What did we just do? I can’t remember it." But then later you reflect, "Oh, that’s what that was."

It’s forever. It really rearranges your cells. When I went to my first retreat in May 2024, I was mind-blown at how much it changed my life. I stopped biting my nails on that trip and haven’t bitten them since. I also learned from a fellow attendee about Louise Hay’s You Can Heal Your Life — those simple manifestations for healing have actually worked every time.

That retreat was also where I released my fear of being seen, which allowed me to lose weight I’d never been able to before — shedding what I had used to protect myself. Retreats are truly transformative.

And it’s not a one-and-done thing. You come home, you do the work, you continue the work, and you go on another retreat which reinforces that work.

Yes, exactly. I’ve made it a priority to spiritually travel every year. That includes going to new countries, visiting sacred sites that are harder to get to, more rigorous… but the biggest goal everyone should have is to do one in-person spiritual community event every single year.

Maybe it’s the same one each year, maybe it’s a one-day thing, but I think everyone should do something yearly in person for their path.

We’ve already started the episode without announcing the topic — because this is what we wanted to talk about: community. How do you immerse yourself in it and find the right teachers?

Both of us have been leaning into this. We’re the priestesses leading these communities. You’ve been doing it with retreats; I’ve been doing it by supporting other teachers like Wendy Mata and with my own retreat coming up in October for my members. We’ll be in the Adirondacks for five days in nature — with moose! (Hopefully!)

The land where the retreat will be held has a powerful story. It was decimated by a family land dispute and logging. I visited to help begin the healing process. I spoke to the trees and the land, and since then, the animals have come back — birds, foxes, and we’re manifesting a moose! The landowner now calls me Snow White.

We’ll be staying at the Hudson House, doing rituals right on the river — the Hudson River, sister to the Susquehanna. I call rivers elder spirits: Susquehanna feels like a grandmother; the Hudson, like a playful auntie.

While I was there during the full moon, the river had finally receded enough after heavy storms that we could stand on a rock in the water and leave offerings. That’s where my October retreat will be — for my Sanctuary One graduates.

This connects to what we wanted to discuss: how community is built, what good teachers and good groups look like. If you haven’t listened already, go back to season two where we talked about red flags in spiritual teachers — it’s a great companion to this episode.

We also wanted to talk about online versus in-person. My current container — Sacred Wild Priestess — is a 12-week initiation course that ends with an in-person retreat at the Susquehanna. Most of this year’s students came from my retreat, so they met in person before joining the course. It’s fascinating to see how both online and in-person can build equally deep kinship.

When you do it right, joining an online container can be just as sacred as in-person. We use Zoom, and everyone’s camera is on — we share, we connect, and I love that my memories don’t feel like they happened "on Zoom" but like I really spent time with those people.

We need to consciously use technology for connection rather than letting it use us. I use WhatsApp for communities, Signal for family, Messenger occasionally, and I’ve set up Focus Modes to protect my peace. I turn off social notifications. Neuroscience even shows we experience phantom vibrations from stress. We have to reclaim our nervous systems as part of the spiritual path.

And when someone in my community is in crisis, I don’t respond immediately. I pause, I hold space — because otherwise, I’d be responding in their stress instead of in calm alignment.

A good teacher won’t give you all the answers — they help you find them. They’re a mentor, a guide. Voice notes have changed the game for me in mentorship. People know me by my voice, from this podcast, from Seeking Numina, from Cosmic Theater. That connection is real.

We don’t have a script. We decide what we’re talking about right before we hit record. And that’s why it’s real.

Back to containers — a facilitator should have a clear intention of who they are calling in. If you’re interested in joining one, it’s not rude to ask what kind of people are in it already. It helps you feel into the group’s energy.

For example, Sacred Wild Priestess is for people willing to show up: you need a frame drum, beeswax candles, you’ll be doing Earth Priestess practices and sharing weekly. It’s involved. But it’s also sacred sisterhood — we lift each other up.

If you’re signing up for a course or container, ask if the facilitator does free calls. If they don’t, that’s a red flag. I always offer 30-minute vibe checks, especially for new students.

A great example is Chloe, who joined Witch Codes in 2024. She admitted she didn’t read the description in detail — just knew she needed to be there. Now she’s a shadow work coach and co-hosts the Mythical Mermaid Lounge. Sometimes that call is all the clarity you need.

You might be doing other things too, and that’s beautiful! Sacred Wild Priestess students are also doing Native traditions, in-person frame drum work — it all supports your growth. Spirit-led paths are never random.

And here’s some big news: I (Elyse) have moved back to the U.S. for most of the year! Still part-time in Greece, but I’m now here for more in-person community, more presence. America has problems, yes, but it is a place worth protecting. The land loves us back.

We’re here to create sacred space, to be in community. And that’s what we wanted to share with this episode.

If you have questions about containers, covens, or what it’s like to be part of a spiritual group — ask us! We’d love to answer them in future episodes. There are no dumb questions. If you’re wondering, someone else is too.

If you’re curious about what type of witch you are, take the Witch Archetype Quiz — link in the description. And if you want to microdose community, join Leandra’s Rebel Mystic Coven. Free monthly lessons, regular gatherings — it’s a taste of what the big containers are like.

And sign up for my (Elyse’s) newsletter at SeekingNumina.com — that’s Seeking Numina, — to be the first to hear about my upcoming offerings.

Witch Codes opens November 4th. Early bird pricing is live. Book your free call now if you’re curious.

Blessed be — and thank you for being in our circle.

Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again.