How A Canadian Witch Turns Voice, Community, And Intuition Into Real-World Magic

We welcome Leah, a witch and singer from Quebec, to explore identity as a choice, the ethics of modern craft, and how voice can be a healing tool. We share stories of burnout, boundaries, warning dreams, and the power of community to amplify magic and keep us whole.

• land acknowledgment for Jojage and First Nations stewardship
• choosing witch as identity and living gender fluidity
• intuition as data in divination and daily life
• fluid practice without pressure for rigid routines
• energy access alone versus in group ritual
• burnout lessons and putting the mask on first
• ethical magic and avoiding white sage and Palo Santo
• cultural context, respect, and non-appropriation
• early spells to present work and channeling energy
• teachers who shaped voice work and energy practice
• dream warnings around death and how to hold them
• Release ritual show using song, breath, and body

Follow Leah here!

Transcript

Kimothy: 0:04

Welcome back to Your Average Witch, where once a month we meet a new witch and talk about witch life, witch stories, and sometimes a little witchcraft. This episode, I'm talking with Leah, a song witch from Canada. We talk about choosing your identity, introspection, and Leah shares a story about death. Before we get started, I just want to let you know about a giveaway happening with the other podcast I'm on, The Witch Bitch Amateur Hour. We are celebrating the rebirth of WBAH, and you can enter by following the Witch Bitch Amateur Hour Instagram account and liking and commenting on the reel. It's the one with Charlye and me and the word “stuff” in the middle. It's right before the invitation to Ask Me Anything. So if you have always wanted to ask me something, either about myself, my practice, or witchcraft in general, there's your chance. Just head over there and drop a question on the appropriate post. Now let's get to the stories. Leah, hello, welcome to the show.

Leah: 1:01

Hi, thank you for having me, Kim. I am so excited to finally be here. 

Kimothy: 1:06

Me too. I'm so excited to finally talk to you here. So can you please introduce yourself and let everybody know who you are and what you do and where they can find you? 

Leah: 1:19

Of course. So my name is Leah. I use they/them pronouns. I am a certified witch. I'm kidding. There's no certification for it. I'm a witch. 

Kimothy: 1:23

I'll certify you for$75. 

Leah: 1:24

Oh my God, not even for free in this economy. Um so yeah, I'm a witch and I'm also a singer, and I like to combine both of them. So this is how I use my craft with people outside of my regular daily life. And you can find me under the name Achillae, which is A-C-H-I-L-L-A-E. And I exist on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. Do not be surprised, there is almost nothing there for now. Because I am not great at social media, but we're getting there. Social media is hard. It is. It requires so much time and energy, and I I love it and I don't.

Kimothy: 2:14

Shall we have story time as to how we actually started interacting? Absolutely. Because it still makes me laughl. It's still hilarious. So I'm sure a lot of people know about Anahata's Purpose. And um at this point, if you don't, how? 

Leah: 2:28

Yeah, I know, especially listening to this podcast. I would be impressed and I would have genuine questions. 

Kimothy: 2:30

So in 2024? Yeah, 2024. Was it 24? Yeah. Yes, okay. In 2024, uh there was a hive house cabin. And so that's where everybody was. And you weren't in the cabin, right? 

Leah: 2:59

No, I wasn't in the cabin. It was the Airbnb before.

Kimothy: 3:00

But someone was in the cabin. Yeah. That was a blonde that I didn't know.

Leah: 3:05

Yeah.

Kimothy: 3:06

And I met that person for maybe 35 seconds at night. Oh, yes. The best. And all I registered was, I don't know you, and you have blonde hair. And then uh that was like at the the first, I think that was like Friday night. So then Saturday and Sunday happened, and I saw you, this person with blonde hair, long blonde hair, interacting with the Hive House a lot. And I thought, oh, there's that person again. And so then Anahata's finished, and there's even pictures of us next to each other. The big group picture at the end where everybody's doing that giant hug. You're in that picture. 

Leah: 3:39

I know. And we so both have no clue who each other is. 

Kimothy: 3:43

Yeah. And so I was at the airport getting ready to go, and there's a big come-down at the airport. It's pretty sad, and I was by myself. And then you walked up to me and we were eating, and or I was, I was eating like I had a cheesesteak because it was Philadelphia. Hello. And you sat down and we chatted, and I said something that you didn't remember. And I thought, oh, that's strange. Maybe you just had had a lot of pot. 

Leah: 4:13

Girl, I wasn't there. What are you talking about? 

Kimothy: 4:15

And then we made a Marco to Hive House and we said, and we were having fun and we interacted and then we said goodbye. And I realized, and like in some point in there, I realized and you it came up that you were from Canada. And so I was like, oh, that's interesting. So then I went home and went into Hive House and said, Hey, what was the name of the girl who was in the cabin? Because I met them at the airport, I met them at the airport. And I want to invite them into Hive House. And so they did. And that person had the same last name as my maiden name. Oh, which I thought was weird. And then I looked them up on Facebook and they weren't from Canada. 

Leah: 5:01

And they weren't me. 

Kimothy: 5:02

And they weren't you. And I thought, what's happening? And then it turns out you're a completely different person. And I was really confused the whole time. But anyway, then I did find you and invited you, and now you're my friend.

Leah: 5:37

I am! But the funniest part of it is that the exact same thing happened on my side at the same time. Because I kept okay, I ended up in the Hive House Airbnb before and after Anahata’s out of complete like randomness on Facebook. 

Kimothy: 5:50

What?!

Leah: 5:51

 Yes. I was just like, hey, I'm looking for like an arrangement. 

Kimothy: 5:55

I wasn’t even in that house!

Leah: 5:57

No, you weren't. It was Adoree who invited me. And that's amazing. She was like, sure, we have one spot left. And turns out that everybody in that Airbnb was of Hive House. And then I just kept meeting you guys one by one over the entire weekend. And then the more I talked to people, the more each of them were like, yeah, we're in the Hive House. I'm like, why, why, how? How? Who are you people? Are you- why do I keep finding you guys? And also them asking, who are you? And where do you come from? And when I saw you at the airport, I saw you from the back. And I think in looking down, I thought you were Adoree. And that's why I approached you without hesitation. Because I was, I for sure thought I knew you and had full conversations with you. And then I was like, hello. And then you looked up and I saw your face. I was like, oh no, that's Kimothy, the PERSON of Hive House. Too late to go back now. Having a little freak out in front of you. Being like, I just randomly approached this very like respectable and central pillar of the community and podcast person, like you were the person I knew. And you weren't.

Kimothy: 7:03

I had no idea. This is news to me. I had not heard that story until just now. That’s amazing.

Leah: 7:10

That's why I found it so funny when you told me about your side, I guess.

Kimothy: 7:19

That is my favorite thing to happen this entire week. Anahata’s. That story. Oh my great place. That's amazing. I love that so much. I love that so much. Now I don't know what I'm doing.

Leah: 7:34

I don't know. We're doing an interview.

Kimothy: 7:36

I forgot we're giving an interview.

Leah: 7:37

We're talking about witchcraft, maybe.

Kimothy: 7:42

Anyway, that's how we met, everyone. Leah, do you call yourself a witch? 

Leah: 7:45

I do, absolutely. I also wanted to go back just before, um, because I forgot, and it is important to me, that you suggested in your first question to um mention whose land you are on, and that was such an important part of the introduction. And I was really happy to see it actually in the questions. And it is an acknowledgement that I've heard many times in my life, but the first time that I am doing it, which feels kind of special. And I'm proud to be part of this process of recognizing where our land comes from and whose it is and still is today, and uh the different cultures that are a part of it and make it what it is today. And so, as Kim mentioned, I am from Canada, I am from Quebec actually, and live in the great region of Jojage, which is now today known as Montreal or Montreal in French. And the um island of Jojage and the surrounding areas is actually a historical meeting point for First Nations, um, because it is right in the middle where the big uh St. Lawrence River goes from the ocean and then becomes small, and then it trickles into a river that goes much further into the continent. And it's a perfect meeting place because all the territories kind of gathered around there. And so the culture that is like the nation that is the most uh associated with Jojage is Geningahagas, which are known as Mohawk in English. Um, but they are many, many nations that actually uh were part of Jojage's history and still are today. And so I wanted to take the time to acknowledge that that we are on unceded land from First Nations.

Kimothy: 9:24

I love that. Oh, I love the little history lesson.

Leah: 9:30

Yes, I love learning it in university. That's cool. Way too late to learn about it, but still glad that I did.

Kimothy: 9:38

I'm on Tohono O’odham land. That's the people who lived here. 

Leah: 9:40

That's a beautiful name. 

Kimothy: 9:42

And I think the Pima. Because I live in Pima County, and that's where they got the name, I imagine. Most likely. At least a derived, they version of it. Well, thank you for going back.

Leah: 10:00

Thank you for giving the opening to do so.

Kimothy: 10:04

Can you please tell everybody what it means when you call yourself a witch?

Leah: 10:07

Absolutely. Okay. I've done a lot of thinking, so we're gonna keep thinking out loud. Walk with me. For me, okay. What what is so fun about your podcast is that every person has a different answer, right? Every person has a different path of life and ways to give a definition or explanation to what it means to be a witch. And I think that that's the beauty in it. Um, I was just reading a French witchcraft magazine that we have here in Quebec that mentioned that there is a long history behind witchcraft and so many definition, as many definitions as there are people who are witches, and that the main part is that we can't minimize it, we can't summarize it to one thing because the witch has always wanted to be one thing, and that is herself. And I love that, I truly do. And so I kept thinking, then what can I boil it down to? And what it comes to me is to be a witch is an identity, and it is a path that I've traveled many times in my brain to define what is an identity and what are the parts that make myself me, mostly because I'm trans. And when you're trans, you go on this journey of discovering gender and asking yourself the big hard questions of what even is gender? And if I take away my body and my hair length and the the organs that I have and the clothes that I wear and the jewelry that I wear or that I don't, and the mannerisms that I use or that I don't, what is left? And what's left for me is a feeling, and a feeling that you choose to embody to me is an identity. And so I feel that I am gender fluid because when you boil it down, it's what it is, and then I choose to add on, on top of that, certain markers of gender expression, such as clothes or hair or things, because I want to and I play with it and it's fun, right? But whatever I look like doesn't change who I am and who I decide to be. And to me, being a witch is the same thing. I see yourself. I'm glad that she likes this because this has been years of thinking, okay? Years and I'm sure that other trans people can relate to it and being like realizing that nothing is real and what even is are you as a person if you take away society and all of our cultural influences, what's left. And so witchcraft for me is the same because it can be anything that you choose it to be. It can be a feminist identity, it can be a pagan identity, a wiccan identity, it can be part of a practice, a tangible visual things that you can see and that you can do, or it can be a part of who you are and a lifestyle and how you perceive the world and connect with the world. And all of those different options are still valid, right? They all make sense, and sometimes you combine them and you pick and choose. Um, and so it is something that you wear, an identity. And you have identities that are given to you, you have some that are perceived, uh, and you have others that you choose. And for me, being a witch is something that I chose. Um, not because I think that I am more special or different than anybody else, like anybody can be a witch, regardless of gender, that is important to me. Even though there is a major feminine power related to witchcraft that is beautiful and incredible to honor, and that I love exploring, you can be a witch no matter your gender. And for me, it's more about how I perceive myself and the world around me. Like I recognize that I'm part of a world that is made of the earth, the material, physical world around me, and something else that I perceive but do not see that is made of energy, right? Um, the intuitions we get, the vibes we get, the all all the intangible, but we still know it's there. Um, and I call that the universe, some people call it spirit or just energy. And I recognize that I am at the junction of these things and that I am inherently part of it. And so I have a responsibility to take care of this world and also listen to it, and I know it can bring me things as much as I can bring to it, and so this connection, this like nexus point between myself, the earth, and the universe is being a witch. Does that make any sense?

Kimothy: 14:58

All I could think about while you were talking is what amazing sound bites this is gonna be.

Leah: 15:06

Yay! I'll take that as a win.

Kimothy: 15:11

And that I need you to do a podcast and say these things.

Leah: 15:17

I listen, I'm here for a reason. You invited me and I said, can I please do it?

Kimothy: 15:22

I need you to. Holy fuck, dude.

Leah: 15:31

I'm glad. Like I'm happy this is making some kind of sense outside of my brain and into my mouth and out into the world.

Kimothy: 15:38

So beautifully expressed. Thank you. My feelings.

Leah: 15:46

Yeah, well, okay. I'm a triple cancer, so you're in for it right, I guess.

Kimothy: 15:50

Oh, yeah.

Leah: 15:51

Yeah. Yes, for those who don't know me, I am a cancer sun, cancer rise, and cancer moon, cancer mercury as well. Uh so here's your option. This is your moment to talk with a very cancer person. If you want to feel what that's like, I can share. You're gonna feel a lot. You're gonna feel a lot, man. It's a beautiful, devastating thing.

Kimothy: 16:09

Holy moly! Oh my gosh. You gotta run. I you really gotta run it. When you come back to Anahata’s, you gotta run a class.

Leah: 16:22

I would love to. I would I would love to have. I have an entire show that I've been building and making, and like the the goal of that show was to do it at Anahata’s. And it the idea of it started at Anahata’s, and I've been doing it here in my home. But like, when am I gonna be able to come back and do it with you guys? Because it's gonna be so great. But I have to be patient, and that's okay, because that means it's just gonna be better by the time I get there. It's not gonna be patient. First draft of a show, it's gonna be like the seventh draft of a show.

Kimothy: 17:01

Can you introduce us to your practice, like what it's like if you have deity, or if you don't, if you do anything consistently, or if you do anything, if you're just whenever.

Leah: 17:16

I am in the whenever club. Uh I'm just here for the vibes. I'm saying I I am too fluid of a person to have any kind of consistent practice. It just doesn't make sense to me. And that's okay because I don't think you need to have a consistent practice to be like a valid witch. I don't think that that's a prerequisite. I think the only prerequisite is to call yourself a witch. Um, and for me, it's following the rhythm of the seasons and how I feel about what I need or what the people around me need. Um, I like sharing my practice with others. It is easier to share my practice than use it on myself, which is a whole other situation. And we're we're gonna explore that at some point in our lifetime, but not right now. Um and so what I use the most is uh divination and crystals because it's all based on intuition, and I think intuition is my strongest um power, if I can say, sure. Uh quality, I guess. Um I received a lot of information through my intuition, uh, whether it be in like daily life and in my work as a social worker, I we use intuition on a daily basis. It's actually taught in university to recognize the signs of your body and take them into consideration when you're meeting with a client. And I found that fascinating. Yeah, it's actually something that we talk about in our classes because it is information and it is most of the time relevant. Um, so even if you can't follow that in the sense of like treating it as fact, you can treat it as a path to explore, right? So if I am getting the feeling that there is tension around this subject, how about I go around this subject a little more, you know? And so I get a lot of information from intuition and in witchcraft-related things, and so I love using tower cards in our call, obviously. Because it's all about feeling the cards and feeling which card it wants me to pull. Often my decks will drop cards um because they all are very chatty and want me to know things, or I just they kind of the card kind of sticks to your fingers, right? It kind of feels different in your fingers and the others that you're shuffling, and so I'm like, oh okay, this is the one, right? And the same goes with crystals, holding it in your hand and having a conversation with that crystal just based on what you feel at that moment and the words that pop up in your head, and again, that's information, and then I choose to use that information or not, and so do my friends, and that's where your power resides. The universe doesn't decide for you, it provides you with tips and tricks and understanding, and then you get to go on and decide what you do with it.

Kimothy: 20:18

This is so not how I expected this interview to go. I don't know what I expected, really, but it was not this. I was not prepared.

Leah: 20:33

I'm a wacky witch.

Kimothy: 20:35

I was not prepared for the level of introspection this is pulling out of me.

Leah: 20:43

Listen, I love thinking, okay, and humans. And so that interest started very young within myself and be like, wow, my mind is so fascinating, and then evolved into wow, other people's minds are so fascinating. And then why do you think I decided to be a social worker? Because I will never get to learning.

Kimothy: 21:04

I'm just glad you walked up to me at that airport, homie.

Leah: 21:07

Yeah, me too, man. Me too. It's been two years and I have friends, and we still talk, and I love it.

Kimothy: 21:16

What or who gave you the best advice you've ever gotten? And will you share the advice?

Leah: 21:22

Okay, see, that's the thing with this one. You don't have to. I no, it's not that I don't have to or want to, it's that I don't know which one to pick. Oh. Because how how could you pick one good advice when life is so complex and different and individually defined and just one? Just one? Um okay, well, it's a generic advice, and I know that other people have heard it many times in their lives, but I do believe it is the one that sticks the most to me. It's the one when you're in a plane and they tell you. To put the goddamn oxygen mask on first. Yep. Yep. And people are like, yeah, it's such a great sentiment. And like, wow, uh, to consider yourself to be able to be uh in a position to help others, but do you apply that? Do you truly do you truly apply that into your day-to-day? And as a helping professional, it's a constant learning curve of putting myself first when all of my being and my work pushes me to put everyone else first, especially as a perceived woman. I said perceive because I'm not, but hey, people read me as one. And so you have this expectation of care, and as an eldest daughter, with anxiety, yeah, and that's not even something that my parents put on me necessarily. It just came to me naturally to care. Care for my younger brother, care for my parents, care for my friends, care for the people I meet at work, and da da da. And at some point, you just realize that there is absolutely no energy left to care for you, and then you hit a wall and you crash, and you do what's called a burnout. Me in 2024. You you really do hit a wall, and that's when you met me in Anahata’s. I was uh getting ready to go back to work at the end of a six-month break. Yeah, I wasn't at work at the time. That's why I could be on Marco at any time of the day. Different time, different lives. And I am incredibly that this is gonna sound weird. I am incredibly grateful for my burnout because I needed to stop. And at that point, I gave myself the permission, and my doctor gave me the permission to stop. And the only thing I could and had to do in those six months was take care of myself. And suddenly I had friends around me who I am incredibly close with and have always been a part of my life uh in a major way, just pulling through, just like true heroes, carrying me through these months, coming to my house, hanging out, helping me like just organize and do some chores and talking and having full-on Discord conversations as I am working through all of these emotions and this grief and this rage and this sadness and this joy and this discovery of myself. And these people are still here with me on the other side. And you guys are part of that. You were on the tail end of that process, but you are part of that, and you carried me through going back to work and to a different rhythm of life. And they saw me at what has been so far one of my worst, right? Where I needed to rely on other people to function and get better. I had no choice to do so, and they were there for me, it worked, and they're still there with me on the other side. And that I think was the biggest teaching of that moment is that you can rely on them. You are allowed to, you need to, and they will not resent you for it, they will not see you differently for it. On the contrary, we've grown even closer since. And now that they are sometimes having rough times as well, they can lean on me because we've built that trust, right? And I am so glad that I get to help these people because I know that I am a born helper and healer, and I get to have that because I trusted them with my own healing first. So put your goddamn oxygen mask on first.

Kimothy: 25:40

Yes. To everything you said. It's so good!

Leah: 25:50

Yay!

Kimothy: 25:51

Like, I hope everyone gets to at least once in their life feel that kind of friendship and love around.

Leah: 25:55

Yeah, me too. Because it's so powerful.

Kimothy: 25:59

Yeah.

Leah: 26:00

Yeah. Shout out to High Powers. High False! 

Kimothy: 26:02

What would you say is the biggest struggle in your practice?

Leah: 26:15

Okay. This is a genuine question. This is something that, like, if people are listening to this episode and have opinions, I want to hear about them. Uh what I think is the hardest, and what I felt was so completely different at Anahata’s, which is this, you know, spiritual retreat where you are completely focused on your energy and your own path and the people around you, and you're creating this big bubble of buzzing energy, right? And you're centered into it all. I it was fascinating to see in Anahata’s how easy it was for me to tap into my magic and use it because it's never been this easy when I am on my own. It feels like instead of connecting to the energy around me, I am using my own, perhaps. And it depletes me quicker. I've I've gotten better at like asking to be a conduit rather than a giver of energy, but I sometimes feel that it is harder on my own to connect with that um source and feel that traveling of energy through me than when it is in the context of a group practice or even my shows, that that comes a lot easier. And when I do these kinds of conversations with the universe and the energies around me, I'll get this kind of feeling that my breathing is kind of limited, as if I can't take a full deep breath. It is, yes, it's fascinating. And I have to explore every time I'm like, okay, what do I need to do to be able to breathe freely again? And sometimes it's thanking the energy that I had a conversation with, or sometimes it's um allowing the energy to flow into me instead of just asking, you know, and have giving the attention, it's welcoming it back, or sometimes it's making space for it, letting go of things to be able to get anything else inside me because it's just it's just too full. There's just not enough space. Yeah. But that's that is a work in progress, man. I'm hurting my brain. And if people have tips and tricks or if you feel the same, I am listening. And I'm curious to explore dot blockage and what it's like.

Kimothy: 28:26

So if you went and we both listened to WBAH, we both are in that that big group. If you went in there and said your initial feelings, I bet everybody would say, Oh, you need to ground, you need to ground, you need to ground. Probably. But what you were just describing, it's not just grounding.

Leah: 28:51

Right? Like the energy thing is grounding, that makes sense.

Kimothy: 28:54

But but the breathing you said your yeah, stuff like that. Well, I mean, that can be help you ground, but I mean it's not gonna it's not gonna make it worse. You were asking the universe. Maybe we need to add that to just ground too. Maybe even maybe. We should. We should be asking these questions.

Leah: 29:18

I'm gonna try. It's not gonna make it worse. Holy crap.

Kimothy: 29:21

So go back to you with an update in a couple of things. Holy crap. Please tell me about your favorite meal, what you ate, why was it your favorite, and who was there with you, and why did you end it uh end up eating that meal at that time?

Leah: 29:52

Okay, so here's the same thing. Why just one, Kim? Why just one?

Kimothy: 29:57

There are lots of food conversations happening further down the list of questions.

Leah: 30:01

I know, I know. God. Um I th I okay, here's what I have to say. It was at the Metropolitan Restaurant, Metropolitan in Quebec City, and it was sushi. And the reason why that specific meal is so clear in my mind is because, first of all, we were on a family trip. So the four of us, my parents, my brother and I, um visiting Quebec, I think probably for the first time or something. I was quite young, and also getting introduced to sushi as a concept for the first time. Oh, they made a mistake that day, my parents, because then we would ask for sushi on our birthday instead of like pizza. And it is still to this day the best sushi I've ever had. And the green tea ice cream at the end. God, and I'm just so excited to go back and try it again as an adult, having had sushi many times since, and to be able to compare. But I just know it was so fresh, and uh yeah, and so since then we've had sushi at our birthday, so started a tradition by accident. That's nice though. Family time and good food, fresh fish, man.

Kimothy: 31:27

What is something you wish was discussed more in the magical community? Several things they're wrapping their hands together.

Leah: 31:39

Okay, I wrote three words because I think they're the most important. They are talked about, but I don't think they're talked about enough or advertised sufficiently for people to get into contact with these concepts early on in their practice. And mostly that is for me um nature, the respect of nature in our practice. Like, we as a community have probably heard about the white sage and the Palo Santo debate hole in the Americas because we use them uh profusely for witchcraft and uh esoteric uh selling pieces, and they are in endangered because of that, and these are all herbs that belong that were historically used and are still used by indigenous communities, and we're depleting their resources for our own white version of it. And um it is mind-boggling to me how many witchcraft stores casually sell white sage still, still, still like I don't know about the conversation in Europe or in or in other continents, right? But in America, if you don't stumble at least once on this information, it's almost as if you you're willingly closing your eyes to it. But again, is it that, or is it just because it's not sufficiently accessible of an information or discussed, or you know, who I don't think it is, I think it's out there and people just choose to ignore it, but yeah, you know. Um, and having that conversation that there are other options, there are substitutes available that do the job perfectly well. Like just common sage, smells delicious, you can eat it, uh, and you don't have to be destroying the environment, which makes no sense for a practice that is grounded in a recognition of the earth and its resources and taking care of it, being custodians of the space that we live in. And so there's this aspect of respect of nature that I think can be pushed much further into um our modern wish craft practice, and also the respect of um culturally uh related practices to indigenous peoples or different cultures. Like these are sacred, have existed for a very long time, and do not belong to us. It's not another thing for us to steal and appropriate. We can learn from. Obviously, it's fascinating to learn from other cultures and have cultural exchanges. And if you get, you know, um, the permission from people of that culture to truly learn from it and understand the basics behind it and not just the basics, but the basis behind it and the foundation and the cultural relevance around a certain practice. Looking at you, yoga, um put it in context. These are things that are born within cultures and history, and they they just don't exist on their own. It makes no sense to use them taken out of their context. Um, because what's the point then? What's the point? And I think that as witches we have this responsibility to learn from others and also learn our own boundaries of practice, and that doesn't mean you can't hear about it, you can't witness it, you can't learn about it, you can't practice it in certain contexts. It's not uh it's not a no-stop sign, it's an exchange and respect sign, right? And the last aspect that I wish was explored a lot more is the gender aspect of witchcraft. Because of course, like we need it, it obviously is based in feminism, because historically, witches have been women for the most part and killed for it. Um and it is about reappropriating that feminine power and not only reconnecting with it, but also celebrating it and recognizing how powerful and inherent to life it is and the community that it creates. Um but beyond that, I think there's an inherent fluidity to witchcraft that goes beyond gender, right? Because first of all, witches can be of any gender. Um, magic, the energy, the universe, the earth doesn't have a gender. They're all mixed together, right? The moon is perceived as feminine today, used to be identifying as a male by some people. By some people. So hello, moon, trans women, we love you. Um, and even the idea of divinity that we work with in witchcraft sometimes. There's plenty of gods and divine energies. Uh, if I'm thinking of Apollo, for example, who I do work with, who is the god of queers and days. He's recognized in Greek mythology have as having made trans people and being a notorious bisexual. Um, and so there's uh these identities that have always been queer. And even in um Aztec and Mesoamerican mythology, there are gods of the gays.

Kimothy: 36:45

Norse has it, Norse pagan, Norse, like yes, Norse pantheon has it. Hello, Loki, gender fluing king. India, like Hindu, they have it.

Leah: 36:55

Yes, yes, it's always been there, and we've always included what for a long, long time included it as our perception, something that is part of our perception of the world and humanity and divinity, so the distinctly non-human. Um, and I don't think you can limit that today either. It it doesn't make sense to put it in a box when all it wants is to be what it is. Fluid, a spectrum. Exactly. It wants to be what it is, which is whatever it chooses to be.

Kimothy: 37:24

Think about the first spell you ever can recall doing and compare it with the most recent one.

Leah: 37:32

You asked that question to me in the airport. And I I I know that my answer was the first conscious spell or the first unconscious spell? The ones that I knew I was making a spell, or the ones I didn't know. Both. Because that's often something you'll hear in witches' stories. When I was a child, I used to pick up bits and pieces and make potions with them. Um, and I did, I absolutely did. I remember I still have them. Pieces, oh no. Oh no, I don't know what they're called in English. Um, okay, so when you go into a park, usually there's sand, right? But sometimes it's not sand, it's kind of like pieces of wood. What'd you call that? 

Kimothy: 38:16

Mulch?

Leah: 38:18

Uh maybe. I guess. 

Kimothy: 38:19

Like on the playground where to look for like padding cushion? 

Leah: 38:25

Yes.

Kimothy: 38:26

I would call it mulch. 

Leah: 38:28

Okay, sure. So mulch. So there's these tiny pieces of wood, right? And we had collected some of them that had peculiar shapes, and would shake them and throw them to make decisions. And that's basically runes for the it's basically runes, but we lots, yeah. And we would just use that to make decisions about where to go play or where the story would go. And holy crap. Yeah. And I had a flash much later, discovering myself as a witch in the pandemic, being like, oh my god, we did that. And I still have some of those pieces with me. That's cool. That is cool. Yeah. So that was probably one of my first unconscious spell. Um, and I think that the first conscious spell I did was during the pandemic, discovering witchcraft and me being a witch. Uh baking. I bake a lot to express my love. You have seen my baking Marcos, uh, because I love to do it. I can't cook, but I can bake. Um the opposite, but yes. Yeah, I know. It usually is the opposite, but hey, here I am, sugar master, and cannot handle chicken. Uh and so I made these lemon cookies, and I still have the recipe, and it's a recipe I found in one of the Facebook witches group. And there are these lemon rosemary cookies, if I'm not wrong, and they're basically a carrier of joy. And I made them in the summer for my friend's birthday, who we were able to see outside on my patio with the social distancing, and uh, because she was quite alone on that day, so I made her these cookies and made the classic mistake of pouring my own energy instead of the energy around me into the cookies, and was so tired for three days after the spell, I was empty, man. I don't do that anymore. I obviously don't pour myself like this because it makes no sense. But hey, she loved them, and I still make those cookies. So, compared to the latest spell I've done, right? I think that the latest spell, full-on blown spell, I don't do a lot of spells. Um, but the full on blown spell I've done was with a friend who uh works in the animation industry and lost their job uh in the past year because of the mess of uh cuts and AI arising, um, which I need to say I profoundly hate. Thank you very much. And then we will not move. Thank you. I I hate it so bad. Uh, because the point of art is to express humanity. And so, why are you asking robots to make art? That makes no sense, anyways. Tangent. Um, and so we made a spell with her, a candle spell, to find a new job that would be good for her on the long term. And so I brought a candle, I brought my stones, I explained to her how it would go. We anointed it, and she picked herbs to put on for creativity and longevity and prosperity, and she applied stem with a paintbrush. It was so cool. I hadn't told her how to put the oil, the herbs on, she just casually grabbed a paintbrush and started painting the candle. And I was like, girl, you are putting your you are absolutely putting your artistic intentions in that spell, and you didn't even know about it. It was just spontaneous, and it was so cool. And I thought it was a tall candle that we let burn the entire day. I was like, this is a long-term spell. It's not gonna be for a tomorrow job, it's gonna be for the job that makes the most sense to you on the long term. And she ended up getting several jobs, one of which she has at the moment, that are all leading her to explore um her art directing skills, which is what she wants to do, but she never had the opportunity or the portfolio to apply directly to those jobs. She had been an art director in a studio that knew her, uh, but not outside. And so she taught art directing classes, uh, became a teacher in a program, and now she has two different projects that she's art directing. And I'm very happy for her.

Kimothy: 42:41

Ta-da! You did it!

Leah: 42:45

It was freaking cool. That's awesome, and I was not exhausted.

Kimothy: 42:50

Woo!

Leah: 42:51

Yay! Win.

Kimothy: 42:57

What two people have had the biggest influence on your practice?

Leah: 43:02

Okay, again, two because obviously how many do you need? Oh man. Okay, as an entity, I'm gonna just shout out Hive House because obviously duh. Yay, us, yay, because we talk about magic on a regular and daily basis, and it makes magic accessible, right? Because it's all the daily little things that happen. Like, you know, you remember the Marco you sent me? You were like, I was like, oh my god, I don't have money and it's really a problem. Good lord, I need to find something else. And you were like, I wish you more money. I wish you like a job that gives you a lot of money, not more work. You sent me that specific Marco. Yo, I kid you not. Like 24 hours later, I was getting a text from the princess company I work at, and she was like, Hey, we've got a contract for you to be Elsa at a Christmas parade for 700 bucks. For an hour of animation, I was like, girl, that's awesome. It was so cool. I think I texted you ran out, so I was like, Kim, you will not believe what happened to that. It worked. It worked. And it's just this fun casual reminder that magic is around us and is a part of our lives and it's still there, even when you're not doing the full-blown things, right?

Kimothy: 44:25

Just wish real hard for your friends.

Leah: 44:27

Wish well seriously. Sing the biggest hug and they'll receive it, you know. But other people that I have to mention that I have to include, I think has to be uh Edenspore. So Robin.

Kimothy: 44:41

Yeah. Yeah.

Leah: 44:42

So I did not see the show that everybody talks about in 2023 at Anahata’s where she was improvising songs. Um, I haven't seen that one. However, she was back the next year, so in 2024, and she gave this workshop on I think it was Friday morning. We were by the water, and it was a full exploration of your body moving through chakras, starting from the lowest to the highest, and each chakra was associated with a note, and so we would go up the do scale, I think. Um, so the major scale, the oh no, I have no clue what you call it in English, but um…

Kimothy: 45:03

The do rey me fa so la ti do?

Leah: 45:05

Yeah, that one, right? I think that that's what it was, and so each note was associated with a chakra, and so she would start and be like, Okay, so here this is where we are in our body, this is what the chakra is about, this is what you might want to bring into what kind of energy, and then we would all vocally improvise on that note. It was so cool. So we would start hmm, and then everybody starts at the same note and then improvises and yes, it was so cool, and it was this association of you know, like the first the root chakra being about grounding in the earth, and so we were in lower notes, lower tones, something more solid, tranquil, and long, right? And then as you move with the chakras, you see you hear the sound evolving to express different energies and emotions. And we got to the heart chakra, and it was all about crying out that I made sounds with my voice that I've never made, and she pushed us to explore our voice in such new and spontaneous and free way, uh, with like 20 people singing at the same time. Like Kacie was sitting right next to me, and I remember clicking and I barely knew Kacie at that point, and it was it one of the most memorable workshops of the weekend, and it just clicked in my head and was like, Oh, this is what I want to do with my own singing, right? And I went to speak with her at the end and was like, I'm a singer, and you've made me do sounds I have never done before. And she said, Me too. I was like, Whoa! That's so cool. And I've taken this idea and transformed it into something that makes sense as a travel through the body and emotion about releasing these and feeling and releasing these emotions to build my own version of that, my own show. So yeah. Hi, EdenSpore. You've inspired me greatly.

Kimothy: 47:22

She didn't come last year. Now I want to take that class. I don't remember ever having heard about that class before.

Leah: 47:34

It was only on the schedule, it wasn't even in like the workshop description. I checked earlier this morning to remember what it was, and it was called The Morning Flow. And she did it with her partner, uh Zo. Yeah, he was on the guitar accompanying.

Kimothy: 47:48

I want to do that. I want to do that. It was so cool. Because I use my voice in mine too.

Leah: 47:53

Yes, yes, yes. It was so powerful. I was buzzing for the entire day.

Kimothy: 48:00

Anyone else?

Leah: 48:02

Um, I think I have to mention. Oh my god, so many. Okay, more generally, there's two there's two answers to that, but I think I'm gonna go with like WBAH. First of all, hi hello. Of course, you've taught me a lot of things and how to be curious about things and how to read energies from seemingly common and uh mundane things, but mostly Krystal again from Anahata's. I took her Intro to Energy class on the first day, and I am still using those techniques to this day, whenever I need to get my energy flowing and step into a magical space. And she walked us through this meditation about discovering your own energy and feeling it, what color it was, what was the temperature, what was the texture, how it moved through your body, and then connecting it with the earth and feeling the earth energy going into you and exchanging uh through the root system and going up, up, up, up, up and connecting with the universe and having the information and the messages come back to you and meet with the earth in the middle of you. And I still use that meditation every single time I need to connect myself and uh step into a magical space. I used it this morning before the podcast. 

Kimothy: 49:16

That's awesome! Yeah, that's Krystal of Energy Ripple, who was on the show. I don't remember which season episode. Just look up Krystal Energy Ripple, K-R-Y-S-T-A-L, I believe. What a beautiful teacher. Yeah, look up Energy Ripple. Krystal's great. Can you tell me about a time when someone was the most kind to you?

Leah: 49:44

I think I already answered it in the way that what my friends did for me in 2024 would be the kindness. And I was trying to think of a way to explain it. Um, and what popped in my head was that I can't name a single specific moment because the kindness and the power in it was the fact that it was continuous over a period of time and part of daily life. Smaller gestures, but permanent gestures, right? Or continuous gesture rather. And so the longevity um and the the constants of it was the kindness in itself.

Kimothy: 50:27

That's good.

Leah: 50:30

Oh, that's kind of I think tiny kindnesses are more powerful than one big kindness. The one big kindness is is relevant and is very nice, but if it's not accompanied with the tiny kindnesses, it kind of loses its meaning.

Kimothy: 50:44

You don't get the longevity, probably.

Leah: 50:47

Like then what was your intention for the one kind, but you can't be the small kind of self. Exactly.

Kimothy: 50:53

If I just go do one workout and wear myself out, and that's I'm done for the week. That's not gonna do me any good. I mean, it's good for your body, yeah. It's not gonna make it worse.

Leah: 51:04

The long-term effect is not gonna be there. Yeah.

Kimothy: 51:10

Who do you think I should have on the show? 

Leah: 51:12

Edenspore!

Kimothy: 51:13

Okay, we get it right. When you were done talking, I was like, that's who I'm gonna ask next.

Leah: 51:19

Thank you. She's wonderful and incredibly interesting to listen to, has a lot of knowledge and lend knowledge, and follow her on Instagram. Her, I they I have blanking. Well, Eden Spore on Instagram.

Kimothy: 51:36

Spelled the way it sounds, E D-E-N-S-P-O-R-E. Go look them up. Is there anything else you wanted to bring up? Anything I didn't ask, anything you just wanted to talk about? Anything you wanted to ask me?

Leah: 51:54

Well, there now there's so many things because I was through questions in one. Um okay. I think the one the thing I would like to promote, if I may, is um my singing practice. Because I haven't talked a lot about it and I'm very excited about it. And I've had a chance of doing two shows in 2025, and I am excited to start again and do more, uh, or at least the same amount in 2026. Um, and so I am a witch singer. I don't know the term, I I'm I'm undecided. Um, I use my voice and singing to bring uh healing and a place of peace and safety to feel emotionally vulnerable. And so the show that I am running at the moment is called Release, and the whole concept is moving through your body, so starting from your feet and then going up, up, up to your abdomen and your heart, and your head, and feeling the emotions that are stored and associated with different kinds of body parts, uh, and having one song through each moment, right? Or a few songs, and the songs move you through this journey, through your body and your emotions to have the space to really go deeper and feel them. And if you need to let them out. And so it's I call it a ritual show because there's a very meditative aspect of it. We start with a meditation, we start with this just centering ourselves and welcoming the space and feeling our energy and the energy of the others around us, and then we start traveling, right? And I am incredibly excited to do it more. And I know I am based in Quebec, so if by any kind of chance you are someone in Quebec listening, or even Ontario, I'm not that far from the border. Um, and you have an event or a space, I think would be interesting to bring this kind of event, um, this kind of ritual, I would love, love, love to do it. And I will continue building it this year and adding this feminine celebration element to it because it keeps coming back in the team. And I, even though it's all about release, there's more to it, and it just wants to come out. So I'm changing a couple songs, I'm adding it, I'm tweaking it, uh, and I'm gonna apply to events to keep it doing it this year and bring it further because I can feel the power of it and how much it brings me joy and how much I need singing. And I think that this is like the way right now for me that makes sense to sing and share my singing with others.

Kimothy: 54:35

So remind people how they can contact you for that.

Leah: 54:38

Yes, Achillae is the singer name that I use, and you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. And you'll find in my bio this also a Gmail uh address. So achillae.contact at gmail.com, and you can send me an email to contact me.

Kimothy: 54:53

I also show links in the bottom for this. They're look down in show notes for the links.

Leah: 54:58

Thanks. I also have not done uh virtual events yet because I know that most listeners are gonna be in the US. Am I open to it? Absolutely. Probably gonna need some technology tweaking, but I think it could be done. I think there's something to be done there.

Kimothy: 55:14

Yeah, I'm in Arizona. We can work this out.

Leah: 55:17

Yeah, we'll figure it out.

Kimothy: 55:20

So the last two things are thing number one, recommend something to the listeners that does not have to be magical or witchcraft related in any way. Just whatever you're into this week, tell everybody what they should check out.

Leah: 55:39

Okay, there's like seven things that went through my mind. Um big one, big one, big one. Okay, Amelie Frarin is a singer, and she recently has a new album that came out. She only had a couple songs before, and now she has a full album, and it is a piece of majestic, brilliant music. She is so good at expression, like at expressing very specific emotions and taking you on a journey with her. You can have like whole character hallucinations on her songs and and feeling deeply, and she's a great writer of melody. Um, and so Amelie Farron is definitely a discovery, I think, for any people who is musically inclined. She's incredibly uh fun to discover and interesting to listen to. Nice. Amelie like the movie. Yeah, she has an accent, I think, too. On her on the E.

Kimothy: 56:34

Okay, thank you. And finally, will you tell me a story?

Leah: 56:53

Sure. Hmm, a story. There's something about my practice that I haven't even mentioned, and yet that is central to it, and it just hasn't popped up, and that's okay. I think that's that's the place to do it. So the strongest intuitions that I have come through my dreams, and they relate to death or illness or you know, major events, major life events happening. They started when I was in high school, and they don't feel mean, they're not scary. That's the thing. I will have a dream about a person, and it the dreams feels different, it has a clarity to it that is not the same, and a depth of emotion that's not the same. And I know when I wake up that I will hear news about this person in the following days or weeks, and it might be that they're they've passed away, or something major has happened to them, like an illness, or someone in their entourage has passed away. And I am not sure where this comes from or why it happens. Um, I do think that my grandmother who passed away when I was about 10 and I was quite young, and she was very spiritual and worked in a meditation um and Christian community. And I feel like she probably has a hand in it, and it's not even it's not a scary thing. It's not like, oh my god, I dream of you, you're gonna die. That's not that's not the thing. It feels like a gentle warning: like, hey, something's gonna happen. When it comes, you'll be ready for it because you'll know that it's gonna happen, right? And I think that the first time it happened, it was about my grandpa. He was sick, we knew he was sick. Um, and I had this very clear, clear dream. And when I woke up, I was like, oh, I'm gonna learn, like, I'm gonna learn about something, right? And effectively, like in the day of or a couple days later, we learned that he had passed away. And at first it was incredibly scary, right? Because what the hell? Like, I have this capacity. You almost question where's the cause and the effect. Is it me? Is it because I thought you were gonna say, yeah, is it because I dream of this person that they're gonna die? And the but the more I explored it, the more it did not feel like that. It was it was warm, it is warm, it's a warning, it's a hey, you got this. And so now what I do is that I dream them, wake up, don't tell anyone because I know I for me it's a warning, but for others it can be anxious and distressing, and also it's not I know that something's gonna happen, but I don't know what, right? And so I keep it to myself, and when I learn about the thing, I'm like, oh, I knew, and that makes me the more ready and equipped to deal with the situation after that, right? Because it's not a shock, it's not a surprise, and so I'm more disposed to take care of myself and take care of the others around me who are dealing with the situation, and so the story that happened the last year, actually, was that the team of grief kept coming back. We guys we talked about it on Marco, it just was there. I had friends talking to me about grief of their own, and when I was reading, even it just kept coming back, and there and I had one of those dreams. And if anybody else has those kinds of dreams, please reach out because I have questions. I want to talk about it, I want to explore it. I don't know how quite yet, but I'm very curious and intrigued. And I I had one of those dreams, but there wasn't any one specific in the dream, it was just a concept of grief and grieving and death, and I could not for the life of me figure out what it was about until I learned that my father's father had passed away. And this person is not someone I knew, I had no relationship with. Still do, for what he did to my father and uh my aunts and uncles. And we were in no contact since I was, I don't know, six, seven, or something like that. And so the universe was clearly trying to send me the same warning it usually does, but had no goddamn clue how to pass the message because I didn't know the person. There was nothing tangible to attach the warning to, and so instead, and it wasn't gonna be something that was related to me, right? That grief had made no sense to me. I would barely feel it even. It was gonna be around me in a weird way, perhaps, but not mine. And so the universe was like, hey, general concept, hopefully you figure it out. I didn't. Uh after, yeah. And I think that that was the one time that this gift has manifested itself in such a peculiar and interesting way so far.

Kimothy: 1:02:32

I remember that conversation or those conversations.

Leah: 1:02:36

Yeah, yeah, because I kept coming back. It was like, hey, you guys, I can't figure it out. It keeps it's there, but what what does it mean? What do you want?

Kimothy: 1:02:47

That was so interesting. 

Leah: 1:02:48

Thank you for opening the space for me to share it. 

Kimothy: 102:50

Thank you for sharing it with the listeners.

Leah: 1:02:55

Thank you.

Kimothy: 1:02:58

Will you craft a spell with me? Absolutely in public this time, not just on Marco.

Leah: 1:03:07

No, yeah, because we've done that a couple times.

Kimothy: 1:03:14

So what are we gonna do? 

Leah: 1:03:31

I have a suggestion. Tell me if it makes sense. And it's not related to any specific body parts or any specific emotions, it's more of a grounding and welcoming and centering moment. And so I thought maybe we could use it as a sort of short meditation to just center ourselves in where we are and yeah, have a moment with ourselves. Okay, does that make sense? What do I do? So I'm gonna guide you through it, and also I haven't sung in months because of chronic illness. And so, if I am rusty, this is not my show quality vocals, okay? But it felt important, it came to my mind this morning, and it felt important. Okay, so take the time to close your eyes. We're gonna start with just three deep breaths. In by the nose, and out by the mouth. Let everything out. Another one, and out by the mouth, let everything out. Last one go deep, deep, deep, take it all in and let it all out. Take the time to feel your toes, say hello to your feet, feel how they feel in your shoes or your socks, in whatever surface they're on, say hello to the ground beneath it. Feel little tendrils connect to your feet and go down, down to the earth and come back up. Little bubbles of energy carrying through. Take your time to say hello to your legs, your cows, your thighs, they go up to your hips, they carry you, they work hard. They make you stand up straight or go to sleep. Lie down, sit with your kiddos. Say thank you to your legs. Say hello to your hips, center point of your body, go up to your stomach, where you get nutrition, where you feel your emotions, a lot of them. Go up to your chest where you breathe, where your heart is, where you feel where you live, where you laugh. Where you love. Feel the center of it all. That's where you are. Go up to your shoulders. Feel the current of energy carrying up with you. Up, up, up your torso, up your chest, up your shoulders, down your arms. Down your elbows. Down into your hands. Your hands do a lot too. Thank you, hands. You can feel the warmth, or whatever it feels like, energy traveling. Go up to your neck. It carries a lot. Your head, your thoughts, your pressure. Up to your head. All the thinking, all the receiving that you do is here, all the expressing. Up to the tip of your head. And then imagine a thread going up to the universe. Into the stars, into the atmosphere. Hello to the sun. And it comes back down on you. It comes back down and it travels through your head, through your neck, through your arms, through your toes. So it connects with the earth at the middle of you. Down your legs. You're here just for a moment, okay? You're in your body, you're in your mind, you're in your soul. And we're gonna take this song, which is infections of a different kind, by Aurora, just to say hello to the moment.

Leah: 1:07:55

Like restless in the leaves coming down. The world is a whole and we all seem to fall down and down and the universe is growing tall and we're all caving into dreams of the space unfolding her arms cannot do any harm Violent contractions And if there is a God would we even know his name And if there is a God I think he would shake his head and turn away So belong to a soul be God in the shape of a girl who walks this world and I beg I beg to be drain from the pain I've soaked myself in so I can stay okay and more than okay for why for why infections of a different kind The world is being attacked by your pain if I am the world then why would I hurt all that is living and if there is a God would he then believe in us? If there is a God I think he can't hear all of us belong to a soul be he God in the shape of a girl who walks this world and I beg I beg to be drained from the pain I've soaked myself in so I can stay okay more than okay for one for one for one of the biggest breath this is the breath and open your eyes you are back You're back Thank you Thank you I hope that was a nice little moment of peace and soaring 

Kimothy: 1:12:30

Okay now I don't know what to do with myself.

Leah: 1:12:33

 I've disconnected Kim 

Kimothy: 1:12:34

The end okay everyone Thank you Thank you Will you please tell me your favorite quote?

Leah: 1:12:45

There's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo… [fades out]

To hear more of the members only episode head over to CrepuscularConjuration.com. The monthly magic tier gets access to the Marco Polo group and the written monthly spells. You also get bonus podcast episodes, coloring pages, guided meditations, spellcrafting videos, printable downloads, and a lot more. There's even free stuff. The Witchy Wonderment tier will give you free samples of everything I just mentioned. You can also visit my shop, Clever Kim’s Curios, to get spell boxes one at a time or by monthly subscription, intentional handcrafted jewelry that I make especially for witches, and handmade altar tools. You can even listen to the full Your Average Witch Podcast library, including show notes and transcripts. Check it out at crepuscularconjuration.com. Thanks for listening to this episode of Your Average Witch. You can find us all around the internet on Instagram at Your Average Witch Podcast, at www.youraveragewitch.com, and on your favorite podcast feeder. If you'd like to recommend someone for the podcast, like to be on it yourself, or if you'd like to advertise on the podcast, send an email to youraveragewitchpodcast at gmail.com. Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next Tuesday.