Interview: Dave Gaddy and the Simple Magic of Remembering Who You Are

“Just start it and get it done.” 

Cecilia interviews Dave Gaddy, the Weathered Wiseman, a Southern Male Wytch (he explains the spelling in the episode) and author.

He shares his wisdom on the freedom of the magical path, the importance of boundaries, and how to pick yourself up and deal with the current difficult times. We also talk about writing, creating spells, and magical paths.

Follow Dave on Instagram.

Connect with Dave on Facebook.

Read Dave's book The Simple Magick of Wild Things: The Journey of a Southern Male Wytch

Preorder link for his next book - coming soon!

Dave's (auto)biography (lifted from the 'zon): "I am a southern male wytch, deep fried and dirt grown. Growing up in this unique blend of culture and magick has made me who I am today. Just as the South is known for its rich flavors and hospitality, I’ve found a deep richness in the world of wytchcraft, where intuition, nature, and spirituality intertwine. Like the secret recipe for a beloved dish, my path as a wytch is my own personal journey, filled with family traditions and the magick of the land. So, I embrace who I am, rooted in my heritage and the legacy of those before me."

Gradh got internet in his grove and is now on Blue Sky as Gradh the Druid.

You can find out about Cecilia and her steampunk and urban fantasy books at: https://ceciliadominic.com

If you'd like to know more about Cecilia's journey and current witchy practices, check out her Witch of the Words Substack: https://witchofthewords.substack.com/

And finally, here's the podcast Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/newmoonpodcast/
 
Please follow us there to get more info about podcast episodes and tips from both of us. 
 
Credits:
Our awesome editor: Casey Miller
 
Intro and Outro:
Now We Ride by Alexander Nakarada | https://creatorchords.com
Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Transcript

Cecilia 0:20

Hello, and welcome to New Moon Collective, a podcast of conversations between a witch and a druid on magic and psychology in midlife. I am your witchy host, Cecilia Dominic, and instead of a druid today, I have another witch with me, Dave Gaddy. I met him at Mystic South now last year, although it will be a couple years before this drops, year and a half. And as it turns out, we have we already had some connections in common, so it's been fun finding out about that. And yes, I met your lovely partner at an event recently. So I'm going to read a little bit of his bio and then you can let me know what I'm missing. So hailing from North Carolina, which explains the awesome accent, and currently living in Atlanta, Daddy blends his ancestral roots with the ancient craft, infusing his practice with a unique southern charm. With a deep connection to nature, he navigates the realms of folklore, spell work, and a passion for ancestral magic, sharing his insights in a way that resonates with the soul. And I can definitely say that, at least from you know, talking to you and then reading your first book, which I have here, The Simple Magic of Wild Things. Like seriously, reading this book is like sitting on a front porch on a lovely summer evening with a nice cold drink of you know, whatever kind you prefer, and just sitting and telling stories. And it was, it's just so much fun. So today we're going to talk a little bit about your journey, about your writing journey, and then also talk a little bit about your next book, too.

Dave Gaddy 1:57

Okay.

Cecilia 1:58

So yes. And so is there anything else you'd like our readers to know about you?

Dave Gaddy 2:02

No, I mean, I like the way you described my book just simply because that was the goal. Awesome. I wanted it to be like sitting down and telling stories, just like you would on an old front porch. That's how I grew up. Um, I can remember even when I was little, sitting on my grandma's front porch at in Fairfield and her breaking off a branch of what she called a toothbrush plant and using that to brush snuff around her teeth. So yeah, I have very vivid memories of sitting around telling stories on the front porch.

Cecilia 2:38

Very nice. And I know you mentioned your grandmother in the book. And as I recall, she didn't necessarily call herself a witch, but was she one of the early influences on your magical path?

Dave Gaddy 2:50

Very definitely. Um, which that's where you can see a lot of the Appalachian folk magic creep in because a lot of her beliefs were very much Appalachian folk magic, and she did incorporate the Bible, superstitions, you name it, everything that she could she could do. I mean, that was just the way it was in that time. Um, and I can still remember until the day she died, she would she'd go to church every Sunday. And I I I kind of think about Dolly Parton when I think of her because Dolly Parton has always said that she is very spiritual, not religious, not anything else. And I feel like my grandma was the same way. She incorporated a lot of that spiritual without having a broomstick up her butt just to be blunt.

Cecilia 3:41

Nice. I know broomstick just they never really seemed like they would be that comfortable to ride on.

Dave Gaddy 3:47

Yeah, exactly.

Cecilia 3:48

I was like, who came up with that? Well, and then tell so your grandmother was your early influence. And so, you know, tell us a little bit about your own magical journey because it sounds like you know, just like the roads through the Appalachian Mountains, which you know, we drive, we drive up that way to go to my parents' cabin in the North Georgia Mountains. It's it sounds like it was pretty twisty and turny.

Dave Gaddy 4:10

It was very twisty and turny. Um I've always wanted to live my life so that I'm not sitting around at 80 saying I wish I had. And thankfully I did most of that in my youth. That way now I can settle on some of the the easier goals. Um, but that's just it. And I did do a lot of things. I mean, at 18, I left Monroe, North Carolina, and went up to New York City to pursue acting.

Cecilia 4:39

Um, I didn't know that.

Dave Gaddy 4:42

Oh, yes, I was an actor for a year. I worked off off Broadway, did commercials, nice things like that. But there were also six of us in a house in Queens, so we're in an apartment in Queens. But um that was one of the things. I've been a florist, I've been a pastor. Um, I've sang. Um, I've even done my own concerts and things like normally this time of year kind of brings that back to memory because you were always brought in front of like the last church I was pastor of, it was maybe 2100 members. And we always did a con a Christmas concert, and we had one solo male soloist, and that was me. And it always seemed like I was doing the Dave Gaddy Christmas show.

Cecilia 5:37

Yeah, how many times did you have to sing Oh Holy Night?

Dave Gaddy 5:40

Oh, more than I can count. More than I can count.

Cecilia 5:45

Yeah, that seems to be the one for the male soloist. You never hear a female soloist do that one.

Dave Gaddy 5:49

Yeah. But oh my gosh, too many times. I probably still remember all the words.

Cecilia 5:58

So that brings me to my next question, which you know, you were an ordained minister, and I have been in a presentation of yours where yes, that ordained minister energy, she definitely came out. So, how do you go from ordained Christian minister to male witch? And yes, readers, he's he spells that W Y T C H.

Dave Gaddy 6:18

And I know that a lot of people get so tied up in titles and things like that. I spell it that way because I like it. That's it. Nothing, nothing theological, nothing fancy, nothing powerful, just I liked it. But um, yeah, the it was actually an easy transition because I had grown up with all the, like I said, the superstition, the folk magic, and all the and and the Bible intertwined. So it was just kind of a natural progression for me. So even working in the church, and that came about in a unique way too. I had actually gone into my pastor's office at the time to come out to him. And he's like, I know why you're here. And I went, Oh, you do? He went, Yeah, you're called to the ministry. And I went, Okay. And that's what started my trip to the ministry.

Cecilia 7:11

But did you come out to him in the other way as well?

Dave Gaddy 7:15

I did it at eventually, but not in that that trip. But um I actually I started in the United Methodist Church and befriended a group of charismatic Christians. And the energy was very similar to witchcraft, honestly. I can see that it's very, yes, it's very vocal, very um a lot of movement, things like that. So I felt really comfortable there. And like I've told a lot of people, I never had the negative experiences in the church. Um, I've never been treated badly because I I'm gay. I've never been treated badly, even when I exhibited witchcraft behavior, and yes, that did happen. Um in the church is where I learned how to best call down energy energy and how to manipulate energy.

Cecilia 8:17

Um that's cool.

Dave Gaddy 8:19

It's also where I learned to meditate. It's also where I learned to listen to spirit. Um and call it what you will, I mean two sides to the same coin. It's just that with one, it tends to be a little freer. Um, and yes, I've seen some groups become very churchy. Um, but still, I mean, religion's religion. It's always gonna have those issues, but it's uh but with witchcraft, there's a freedom that the church never offered.

Cecilia 9:01

Yeah, tell me a little bit more about that freedom.

Dave Gaddy 9:04

A lot of it was even within the freedom of, and I eventually worked in the assemblies of God, which is a Pentecostal church, even within the freedoms that those churches offer, like the speaking in tongues, the falling in the spirit, the the singing, there are still rules. A lot of rules. I mean, like if one person speaks in tongues, there has to be an interpreter, dah da da da. I mean, all these all these rules and regimens that you have, and like I said, I'm not saying that's not in witchcraft, it's just more prevalent in the church. And it wasn't so much that I felt like I needed to lead the church, it's just I felt like that time was over.

Cecilia 9:50

Oh your chapter was done.

Dave Gaddy 9:53

Exactly. Exactly. I mean, as we as we walk our path in the craft anyway, think about how many times our craft changes. As we change our for lack of a better word, our fate changes. The way we look at things change. Um when I was 20, I wasn't mature enough to think through things critically. I had to learn that. And thankfully, when I was in seminary, I was taught tear the Bible apart but put it back together. So critical thinking was a big part of that training, and I'm glad it was because it's allowed me to work it into my craft. I don't just just because you feed me something doesn't mean I have to swallow it.

Cecilia 10:46

Yes, I totally agree. And yeah, that is also a big, that is a big difference between what we do, our spiritual path and traditional religion. Yes, I came out of being Catholic, but you know, the joke is that you know, when it comes to ritual, there's not that much of a difference. But yes, it's, you know, if you are fed something, you are not supposed to question it. Whereas, yes, I like you, I definitely enjoy the freedom of questioning and being like, you know, that's not for me. I'm not gonna do it that way. And yeah, I was going through a a book and was going to start working more seriously with that path, but then it got to the okay, you need this, this, this, this, and this. And I'm like, I don't need a shopping list to connect with spirit. I can, yeah, I can do it my way. And I don't need to do it at a certain time. And yeah, you decide what you're going to work with, whether, okay, are you going to take into account the phase of the moon? Are you not? Are you going to, you know, work with certain plants on certain days as I'm studying herbalisms? Like, are you not? And it's, yeah, I definitely do appreciate the freedom.

Dave Gaddy 11:53

And that just and like one that goes along the lines of one of the classes I'm taking at teaching at Sacred Space this coming uh in February. Um, it's called raw magic. And we've gotten to the point that sometimes we can schedule the magic out of witchcraft. Um, we just get to the point. I mean, if you think about our ancestors, our ancestors had to do things spur of the moment with things that they had on hand. I mean, they weren't able to order from Etsy and get the perfect herb for whatever they needed for this. They had to make do with what they had. And I think a lot of us have forgotten how to do that. I think it's the same way, even going back to the church, it's the same way in the church. There wasn't all these rituals when they started. When they started, it was hiding in houses, hiding in tombs, hiding in wherever they could hide to teach. So, I mean, things evolve, and I think sometimes we need to devolve through evolution.

Cecilia 13:04

Yeah, like you said, you have to sometimes you have to pull things apart and then put them together in a different way.

Dave Gaddy 13:09

Mm-hmm. Exactly.

Cecilia 13:13

And is that what your writing process has been like as well?

Dave Gaddy 13:16

So have mercy, yes.

Cecilia 13:20

Okay, so let's go back to the very, very early origins of the simple magic of wild things. And so what was that first, you know, lightning bolt or whisper of inspiration that prompted you to become an author?

Dave Gaddy 13:35

I have always wanted to write. That's just something I always did. In in college, I took writing classes. Um, I even had a blog for a while called The Weathered Wise Man.

Cecilia 13:45

Um, okay.

Dave Gaddy 13:47

And it tells some of the stuff that's in in the book. Um, but there's also some things, my own personal journeys as I'm walking through the craft. But um the evolution of the simple magic of wild things, honestly, I didn't want the stories to be forgotten. And that was a big part of it. And I never thought that anybody would ever want to hear what I said. And I was talking to a friend of mine, and they're like, your stories need to be told, and they need to be told in your voice. So I sat down and I started making an outline, and it actually started as one of the chapter titles. It was gonna the book was gonna be called Deep Fried and Dirt Grown. But as I was talking to my publisher about that, we realized that would work better as a chapter. And that the simple magic of wild things kind of covered the whole the whole of the book.

Cecilia 14:53

Yeah, definitely. And well, I'm so glad that you decided to write that because yeah, one thing that gets in the way of a lot of aspiring authors is yeah, nobody's want to hear or read what I have to say. And these moments do crop up, you know, through the writing process, through the editing process, through the publishing process, and even after. And so, how have you, you know, thinking about the chapter in your book about fear and overcoming it? So, yeah, how do you manage these moments of doubts as an author?

Dave Gaddy 15:25

It's kind of like one of the things that my grandma used to talk a lot about, pulling up your big girl panties and just doing it. I mean, and that's a big part of it. Sometimes you just you gotta do it in spite of the fear. And with that, I could have published it and not one copy sold. Lesson learned. I go back to doing my day job.

Cecilia 15:50

That's always a risk, yep.

Dave Gaddy 15:52

Exactly. But the thing is, and and it's hard putting yourself out there too. I mean, that's a level of vulnerability that I just didn't know if I was prepared for.

Cecilia 16:02

Oh, totally.

Dave Gaddy 16:04

And I mean, these people know my family now. These people know the ones who are reading my book know some of my deepest fears, some of my deepest hurts. And I had to stop and think, was I prepared for that? Or was I prepared for the reactions of people who it resonated with? So there was a lot going through my head as I'm writing this. And especially with this next book, if you're writing something, teaching something, be better to be prepared to be tested on something. Every step of this next book has been a test.

Cecilia 16:51

Can you give us an example?

Dave Gaddy 16:53

Um one part is remembering who you are essentially. Um, and this year we've had to deal with my aunts had many brain surgeries. So it's that part of me that tries not I have to let myself feel the feelings too. I don't I can't go into pastor mode when that happens, even with my family. So I've had to learn how to feel what I'm feeling, but also be there for my family, but not to the point that I'm the one everybody's leaning on.

Cecilia 17:36

Yeah, that makes sense. And so are you talking about those boundaries in that particular chapter?

Dave Gaddy 17:41

Oh, definitely. Definitely. Um, and that's just it. This is a book of this is a book about boundaries, it's a book about remembering your power. People seem to think that as they move into different areas of their life that magic can get knocked out of you.

Cecilia 18:06

Not so much. We just kind of forget.

Dave Gaddy 18:12

And think about it. The more you're told you're not something, the more you'll believe it.

Cecilia 18:19

Yep, because we believe things that come at us externally more than we do things we generate internally. Yes, things like talk about with my psychotherapy patients, totally. And yeah, so tell us a little bit about this next book. A little more.

Dave Gaddy 18:33

This next book is called Um Be the Witch That You Are, Calling Back Your Power. Um, and it it essentially talks about remembering who you are. Um, there's a couple of different chapters I've got in there. One is called When You've Been Forgotten, and that talks about a relationship that I was in where the the guy was in a fire and got amnesia. So I really was forgotten. So then you have to rebuild yourself after that because even though I am who I am as a person, when you're a couple, you become an extension of each other. And then all of a sudden that extension's just wiped out from under you. So we have to learn in magic that things happen like that too. And it's a matter of learning to even when the wind's knocked out of you, stand up.

Cecilia 19:38

And so it is your I guess what is your favorite method for doing that? We'll say maybe not in the in the major case like you talked about, but you know, in those day-to-day things, those day-to-day challenges that happen.

Dave Gaddy 19:51

The biggest part is reminding myself who I am. We forget to do that. And my roommate is really good about reminding me, you know this stuff. I mean, I do payroll taxes or I work on payroll tax. And sometimes I have to remember, yeah, I do know that stuff. And it's even on a day-to-day basis with myself. I mean I can psychoanalyze myself better than most therapists can, but I don't know the answers. Or not all of them anyway. And I think a big part of that is just remembering who we are, where we came from, what we set out to do to begin with. There's one thing that I always like to remind people remember why you fell in love with magic to begin with. It doesn't have to be witchcraft, doesn't have to be druidism, it doesn't have to be anything special. But why did you fall in love with magic to begin with?

Cecilia 21:03

Yeah, and then I guess back to the the freedom and all of that that you were talking about. And so how like what does your writing routine look like currently? And how, if at all, do you bring your magic into it?

Dave Gaddy 21:17

My writing routine, if you saw the notes on my tablet, is a nightmare. I end up sorting, resorting, regrouping, re-outlining all of it completely. Um I'll correct my own grammar. Even my editor told me he's like, You'll edit it to death before I even get it. But um it it's a jumble, honestly, it can be. But I try to stick with an outline and allow that flexibility for the outline to change if it needs to. I mean, I've changed challenges. Name so far. I've changed layout, I've changed even some of the guts of the chapters multiple times. And it's yeah, that's it's part of the creative process, it's part of putting who you are in order.

Cecilia 22:19

I totally agree. Yeah, and there's no one right way or one wrong way to do it. And so do you have a time of day or a day of the week that you like to write?

Dave Gaddy 22:33

No, it's just whenever it hits me, honestly. I mean, I wish I could say I'm one of those people that, oh, I'm so disciplined, I get up at 5 a.m. and I write for two. No, uh-uh.

Cecilia 22:46

I've never been one of those either.

Dave Gaddy 22:48

No, I typically write on my tablet with the TV on in the background and headphones on.

Cecilia 22:54

Okay. Yeah, whatever works. No, like you, I'm pretty chaotic with my writing routine.

Dave Gaddy 23:01

Mm-hmm. I don't think it it wouldn't sound like me if it were any other way.

Cecilia 23:10

There you go. And then when you start your writing, do you you know say a prayer to a muse or to spirit or invoke spirit?

Dave Gaddy 23:18

Mm-hmm. I go into my altar for um a bit and um typically work with the ancestors when it comes to that. Because I mean, a lot of that is their memories.

Cecilia 23:32

Yeah, and do you have any ancestors that you know of who were writers or bards or all of them were bards.

Dave Gaddy 23:39

I mean, I got to listening to some YouTube videos the other night, some old timey gospel music, and that was another thing I can remember as a kid. We'd go to my grandma's, people would sit on the porches, they'd either have banjos, fiddles, guitars, and he will set your fields on fire, was a big one that was done. And I mean, it was that old-timey country sound. I can remember my grandma standing up and buck dancing when they were playing it, even though it was a church song. She'd get up and buck dance. Um, but everybody'd sit and harmonize, things like that. So, I mean, it was it's always been a part of us. I mean, when the family got together, the ants would tell stories. Oh my gosh, you'd end up hurting you for laughing so hard, or scared to death. Because they'd tell you stories that would make you scared to death to sleep.

Cecilia 24:40

Not the ideal pre-bedtime routine, it sounds like.

Dave Gaddy 24:43

Oh no, but I mean, to them, and that was just it too. Most of the time it was the adults talking and me eavesdropping in the background when I shouldn't have been.

Cecilia 24:51

Uh-huh. Okay. But yeah, that's how you get to be a good storyteller.

Dave Gaddy 24:56

Exactly. I mean, I was sitting there listening to them. There were nights I was scared to death to crawl in that bed, but loved listening to the stories.

Cecilia 25:08

Yeah, because up there in the mountains in the hollers, you got some interesting critters.

Dave Gaddy 25:14

Some you don't talk about and some you can.

Cecilia 25:17

Yep. And so you mentioned your editor. And so what was your publication decision process like? You know, because people can often get really overwhelmed with, well, do I self-publish? Do I get a publisher? But if I do that, then what do I have to do? So, yeah, what was that process like for you?

Dave Gaddy 25:36

It actually happened really quickly and really easily. Um, I had actually friended Sven through a mutual friend on Facebook and um reached out to him and just said, I've got this idea for a book. What do you think? Next thing I know, I'm signing a contract and uh working with deadlines. So like I said, it was really easy.

Cecilia 26:05

Oh, you can thank your ancestors for that one then.

Dave Gaddy 26:07

That's the truth. That is the truth. And and and that's just it. Sven's been amazing to work with. Um just he's even added some of my work into some into his books.

Cecilia 26:19

So and so what publisher, what publishing company is this?

Dave Gaddy 26:25

It's Rebel Satori Press.

Cecilia 26:27

Okay.

Dave Gaddy 26:30

And they do have a witchcraft division.

Cecilia 26:34

Good. I would hope so.

Dave Gaddy 26:36

Yes. They have a they have a I don't want to say regular, but they have one publishing house, and then they have a witchcraft division.

Cecilia 26:45

So they've got the Muggle division and the witchcraft division.

Dave Gaddy 26:48

Exactly.

Cecilia 26:53

And you know, you you didn't go into it knowing that you had an audience, but yeah, how has the reception for your book been? And like, and how are you connecting with readers now?

Dave Gaddy 27:02

It's been really, really good. A lot of Facebook connect, a lot of social media action. Oh my gosh. I try to post at least once a day during the week. Um, I have the weathered wise man page, I have my personal page, I have Instagram weathered underscore wiseman underscore real. Um, I'm working on a Patreon. Uh I've got my my blog was through WordPress, so I'm working on a website through WordPress now. Um so that's in the near future, and hopefully the Patreon sometime this year, too. Um, but I do two conferences a year right now, and I'm looking at maybe increasing that by one more. Um I do Sacred Space, and that is actually in February, and this year in 2026, it will be um combined with Between the Worlds. And then in July, I normally do Mystic South. Um, but there are a couple that I'm interested in. Um one is Matt Venus's um conference in Salem, and another is SassyCon in New Orleans. So quite a few that I'm interested in and probably will be reaching out in the next year or so.

Cecilia 28:26

Yeah, conferences are fun. So what do you like the most about it?

Dave Gaddy 28:32

That it forces me out of my comfort comfort zone. Um, I guess you would say I'm an extroverted introvert. I can fake it real good. Um, but when I get around a ton of people I don't know, I get really, really uncomfortable. So it's forced me to get used to people.

Cecilia 28:56

Yes, that it does. Yeah. I've been doing conferences have definitely scaled back, but yeah, it really forces you to get out. And it's also nice because once you go to the same ones over and over again, you meet the same people and you make friends.

Dave Gaddy 29:10

Mystic South has been progressively easier for me. My first year, I was that one that you'd see standing in the corner, barely socializing. Um, but yeah, uh over the years, Mystic South's become that way. I've become more comfortable. And then um Sacred Space is another one. Um, the more I've been there, the more I learn who's there and who's coming. And some of the regulars and people that I know from like, and I've gotten to know a lot of other authors that way too. And it's been really nice.

Cecilia 29:44

Yeah, and so if somebody is thinking about writing a book in the witchcraft space, like what exact what advice would you give them?

Dave Gaddy 29:51

Do it.

Cecilia 29:52

Just do it.

Dave Gaddy 29:53

Do it. Well, the thing is, most people are like, Well, what if somebody else has that book? Have you been out into the like Barnes and Noble? They're 50 million of one type of book. I mean, my take on Ancestral Magic's not gonna be the same as Ben Stimson or Byron Ballard, any of them. It's gonna be mine. So my book is gonna be in my voice, just like theirs is gonna be in their voice.

Cecilia 30:25

Yep. And yeah, just think about it. Like, how many of these books do you have on your favorite topics? It's like exactly tons, and they have overlapping information, but it's yeah, each author explains it in a way where you understand it differently.

Dave Gaddy 30:36

Mm-hmm. And not everybody's gonna like it. I mean, that's just it. It's kind of like pagan authors nowadays is kind of like a banquet. You can pick and choose what you like and what you don't like, leave what you don't, give it to somebody else. I mean, nothing's gonna suit everyone. That is true. I mean, I think that's life in general.

Cecilia 31:04

Yeah, and yeah, that gets back to this great spiritual path that we're on, is that yeah, it doesn't have to.

Dave Gaddy 31:11

It doesn't. And that's just it. I don't have to agree with you your your path, you don't have to agree with mine. But we still practice magic one way or another, so we are still part of that community, and we need to act that way, like a community.

Cecilia 31:31

I agree, especially now. And so, yeah, how do you now especially now? So, yeah, how do you keep your your motivation and your energy going in these tough times?

Dave Gaddy 31:44

I'll be honest with you, it was hard at first, it was depressing, especially when everything and everything was being posted on social media nonstop. We were being bombarded with it, we were being bombarded with it on YouTube, news, radio, conversation, everything was about it. And I think we just at some point you just have to get to like me and my roommate, we'll go to a certain point, and then it's like, okay, we're done. No more talking about it. What it is is what it is. So I think again, it has to do with those boundaries. You've got to keep those boundaries up, and it's about remembering that you're bigger than this. I mean, even though it's a shit show right now, and that's just blunt. Me curling up into a ball is not gonna accomplish anything. I'm gonna have to live my life no matter what. I have to get up, go to work just like every other day. But I have to do what I have to do. And part of that is keeping my own mental health in check. Part of that is being a support system for other like-minded people without carrying that for them.

Cecilia 33:21

Yes, we've got those energetic boundaries.

Dave Gaddy 33:24

And I think too, as far as even being an author, um, you come in contact with a lot of people who want help. But I've learned that as an author, if I can point them in a direction rather than rather than spoon feed them, they're gonna learn more. That's one part of this next book. Do the work. I refuse to spoon feed somebody no matter what. If I'm training you on something, I'm gonna make you do it because that's how you're gonna learn. I'll be there side by side with you every step of the way, but you're gonna do it. And it's the same thing with mentors and mentees within the craft. It's not gonna do me any good to mentor anybody if I do the work for them. They're not gonna learn anything, they're not gonna learn how to think for themselves. It's gonna be, and that's why it drives me crazy on Facebook to say, to see somebody say, in a group, especially, does anybody have a spell for this? Why be it?

Cecilia 34:37

Yeah, make your own.

Dave Gaddy 34:38

It's gonna be more powerful coming from you.

Cecilia 34:41

Yep.

Dave Gaddy 34:43

So, like I said, it it's about teaching people to put legs to their belief.

Cecilia 34:52

Yeah, and it can be so easy to get caught up in that. I'm just going to consume and consume and consume and read and read and read before I actually do anything. And yeah, that's the case, whether it's magic or, you know, I was mentioning before we started the recording that I'm making some tea for a mutual friend of ours. It's going to be based on his astrological chart and specific needs. And it's like, yeah, it wasn't until I started doing things with herbs that it really connected. And so do you have methods that you use for writing spells, or do they do you just allow them to come to you? Or both?

Dave Gaddy 35:29

A little bit of both. Like if I know what I want for a spell, I'll start by putting a title down, spell for whatever. Um, and then if it needs ingredients, I'll work on that. And then essentially it's just I'm old school, I like for mine to rhyme.

Cecilia 35:50

I was gonna ask if you were a rhyming witch.

Dave Gaddy 35:52

I am a rhymer. Um but the thing is typically it'll just come to you as you're as you're writing through the process. So it's just like if I start one line, one line of the next line's gonna flow off of it, and then the next one off of that, and then on and on. So it's just it's it's more of just a start it and get it done. Kind of like I do most everything. Just start it and get it done.

Cecilia 36:23

Just do it. Yeah, I I sometimes rhyme, sometimes not, but I will say that all of my spells have a certain rhythm to them. So even if they don't rhyme, there is there is a rhythm.

Dave Gaddy 36:37

Exactly.

Cecilia 36:38

And and yeah, with you.

Dave Gaddy 36:39

That rhythm comes from you. I mean, that's your own personal rhythm.

Cecilia 36:45

Yeah, it's your it's your own heartbeat within the the heartbeat of the universe. Well, this has been so much fun talking to you and learning about you. And is your next book available for pre-order yet?

Dave Gaddy 37:03

Not yet. Um it's probably I'm hoping to possibly get it out by sacred space uh between the worlds next year, but not quite sure.

Cecilia 37:14

Okay.

Dave Gaddy 37:15

Like I said, this has been a process.

Cecilia 37:18

The creative process, yes. It's just like magic. You can't always predict how it's gonna go.

Dave Gaddy 37:24

You can't rush it.

Cecilia 37:26

Nope. And well, I'll definitely put the the links to your the one that's out in the show notes. Okay, thank you. And you're welcome. And so we are recording this actually on a on a new moon, new moon in Sagittarius. And so what are what is one intention that you're carrying forth into the new year? Oh my gosh.

Dave Gaddy 37:51

Healing.

Cecilia 37:53

Healing, okay.

Dave Gaddy 37:55

In so many ways. I mean, we need it as a country, we need it all over.

Cecilia 38:06

Well, so mote it be.

Dave Gaddy 38:08

Exactly, so mote it be.

Cecilia 38:11

All right, and then tell us where we can find you online.

Dave Gaddy 38:15

You can find me online on Facebook. Um, the Weathered Wise Man is my author page. Um, Dave Gaddy is my regular Facebook. Um my uh Instagram is weathered underscore wiseman underscore real. Um and it's the same thing on threads. And like I said, I'm working right now on WordPress. Uh there may the old blog may still be out there. It's the Weathered Wise Man or Word uh WordPress. And then I'll be hopefully getting at the website in the next couple of months.

Cecilia 38:51

Excellent. Well, I look forward to all of that. And yes, I'll put all of those links in the show notes as well. So yeah, I think the Instagram is where I found you after Mystic South last year. Yes, guys, he's got a great Instagram. If you if you enjoyed his wisdom during the podcast, definitely check it out there as well. Well, thank you so much for speaking with me today. And I wish you all of the great healing in the year to come. And I look forward to seeing you at Mystic South.

Dave Gaddy 39:16

Thank you. I look forward to seeing you.

Cecilia 39:19

Thank you. All right, have a lovely rest of your day.