Into the Light Podcast
Mediums Melanie Smith and Laura Hillkirk are sharing their weird every day lives with you. From spirit encounters to their healing journeys that led them to the place they are today. Together they will discuss healing, haunted locations, traveling as a medium, energy work, fairies and so much more. Join these besties as they share it all.
Into the Light Podcast
Magic in the Everyday: Rediscovering Witchcraft's Misunderstood Power
What exactly is witchcraft, and why does it carry such a negative reputation in Western society? In this eye-opening conversation, Melanie Smith guides co-host Laura Hilkirk through the misunderstood world of magical practice, revealing striking parallels between witchcraft and more widely accepted spiritual traditions.
Melanie shares how her childhood connection to plants, trees, and water elements was actually the beginning of her witchcraft journey—though she didn't recognize it as such until much later. She explains how different branches of magical practice (from Celtic witchcraft to folk magic to shamanism) all share common foundations in intention-setting and earth connection. Most fascinating is the revelation that many religious practices actually originated from pagan traditions, with altars being just one example of witchcraft elements that were absorbed into mainstream worship.
The practical applications of witchcraft prove surprisingly accessible and beneficial. Spell jars—glass containers filled with protective herbs like rose petals and mugwort, crystals like black tourmaline and selenite, sealed with personal intention—create powerful protective boundaries. Melanie recounts how gridding her entryway with salt and crystals literally prevented an unwelcome ex from crossing her threshold. Meanwhile, water magic harnesses the unique properties of different water sources: thunderstorm water for immediate action, waterfall water for forward momentum, and ocean water for cleansing and protection.
Whether you're curious about witchcraft's ethical boundaries, wondering about the difference between black and white magic, or simply seeking to understand practices you may already be drawn to, this conversation offers a thoughtful exploration of an ancient tradition that continues to empower practitioners today. Ready to discover the magic that might already be part of your intuitive practice? Listen now and expand your understanding of this powerful earth-based tradition.
This is Into the Light.
Speaker 3:Podcast with Melanie Smith and Laura Hilkirk. Welcome back, hey everybody. Today we're going to talk witchcraft and I'm excited about this episode because I am going to be a student with all of you today.
Speaker 2:This will be interesting. We'll see if I can be a good teacher and ask and answer Laura's questions, because she's telling me she's like fully loaded with questions right now, so I'm a little scared.
Speaker 3:I'm excited because witchcraft is a. It's a touchy subject for some because there's all of these um, preconceived notions when it comes to witchcraft. My interaction with witchcraft has not been positive, only with you. You have done many various witchcraft things that have helped me in jams with things like if something's attacking me or doing something, your crows. Jams with things like if something's attacking me or doing something, you know your crows. Your coven is coming quite handy but very beneficial for me. But I kind of wanted to start. If you're cool with this is just the ways you use it, or maybe you can just kind of start telling me your connection to witchcraft.
Speaker 2:Okay, so I'll start with my connection with witchcraft because, honestly, I didn't know that's what I was doing until much later in my life, because when I was a child I was always drawn to herbs or plants, or I'd sit with trees a lot or I'd put my hands in the dirt. I would have this. I had this huge connection to earth and as I got older I started using candles or I would collect water In my office space. I probably have I don't know 15, 20 bottles of various water that I've collected either from streams, rivers, lakes, the ocean, waterfalls, or I've just collected water when it rains or snows and I keep it because they have different vibrations. But I didn't realize I was keeping these things because of their properties until I started looking into what witchcraft or paganistic practices are, or even folk magic.
Speaker 2:And also I just want to say the word witchcraft. It kind of rubs me the wrong way, like I don't feel. I feel like it has such a negative connotation in Western culture. I mean, you can see it in movies where you know the witch is the one who's haunting the location, or the witch is the one who put some like weird curse or spell on people, or it's just a different type of belief system that's been made to see me, made to made to be evil by basically and I'm just going to say it religion. Um, because my, my people, my guides are Celtic witches. So there's different sectors of witchcraft or magic that you can use. I mean you've got voodoo, hoodoo, you've got folk magic, you've got Celtic witchcraft, you have black magic, you have white magic, you have all different sorts of things that can be utilized and they can all be incorporated into one. I mean, shamanism, in my opinion, is a form of witchcraft. It just doesn't get that name because you're using some of the same tools.
Speaker 3:So I don't know. When you said Holly, you said like movies and stuff, and I immediately think of Hocus Pocus. I love the movie Hocus Pocus and there are witches not behaving very nice. I mean, they want to eat children. So you know that's what you think of with witchcraft. And then when you said voodoo, you know there's a lot of that in New Orleans, down in the corner there's a lot of this voodoo things with voodoo dolls and you know like a dark, a darker sort of attachment to it in that. But I'm sure that there's just like anything, there's light and dark and anything. And I think your intention is probably the the main importance in what you're doing.
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely. Intention is everything I don't practice. If I'm mad or angry, I don't practice. I refuse to do it because my intention is never to hurt anybody or to put any type of negative energy towards another human being or living thing. I just won't use it at that time. If I'm chaotic inside, I'm very careful of what my intentions are. A lot of times I'll use witchcraft to help heal myself or to heal the earth. I rarely use it against somebody, and I say rarely because I have done it, but it was to protect myself. And it's there. You need to be careful when you delve into the world of witchcraft or folk magic, magic in general.
Speaker 3:So when you say folk magic, what is folk magic? I don't know.
Speaker 2:Folk magic is kind of a broad spectrum term for other type of magical practices, broad spectrum term for other type of magical practices. So you have like the big hitters, where you've got witchcraft, you've got Wicca, you've got voodoo, you've got hoodoo, you've got various types of Eastern Chinese medicine, and then you've got folk magic which comes from smaller communities, I would say like more smaller communities, up A lot of African-American tribal practices. I would consider folk magic Okay, native American, not so much. That's more of a big hitter because you've got shamanism that gets incorporated with that, shamanism that gets incorporated with that. But when you start looking at how different cultures practice witchcraft, folk magic, whatever you want to call it, they all somewhat have the same underlining theme, the same with religion.
Speaker 3:So yeah, I was just thinking of that. And in religion and so is this sort of a thing where everybody's doing the same thing but they're calling it something different or something similar, just like, like I think of intention, you're going to set up an intention which is part, a big part, of witchcraft. Your intention in, like what, what you're going to do, but that to me intention and prayer. The same thing. In religion they call it prayer, but in prayer you're setting an intention for someone's healing or whatever. So would you say it's along the same lines as that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because in witchcraft, we call it a spell. Yeah, so it's like that's. That's why, like, I'm very careful with spoken word, because I really believe that when you, what you speak is a spell, it's magic and what you put out there it can really manifest into something. So it's the same thing with prayer. If you're praying for somebody to go away, you need to be pretty careful with what you mean by go away. You want them to die, you want them to get in a horrible accident and be left? You know, a vegetable.
Speaker 2:What do you mean by that? So you have to be very intentional with your spoken word. And it's the same thing with when you're practicing witchcraft, when you're doing some sort of spell magic or you're making a spell jar which I love spell jars you have to make sure that you're extremely intentional with what you're making a spell jar which I love spell jars you have to make sure that you're extremely intentional with what you're speaking into the practice that you're doing, because I usually write it down exactly what it is I'm trying to do and I'll repeat it maybe three times. Three is a big number in witchcraft, so I'll usually repeat that three times and put that spoken word into the spell jar or whatever kind of magic performance. I don't, I'm going my mind's.
Speaker 3:I need to know more about these spell jars. Tell me, like, give me an example of a spell jar that you would do and what you would do to create that I'm very familiar with the spell jar.
Speaker 2:I love them. I love, love, love them. So for spell jars it's, I usually use glass. I'm very picky. I don't like using plastic. I like glass because glass has more of like an earth basedbased texture where plastic's got a lot of chemicals in it and I'll grab like a combination of herbs and crystals, essential oils, salt all different kinds of salt. The most my favorite spell jar that I make is a protection spell jar. So what I'll do is I'll gather protective herbs, I'll gather protective crystals which you know like I'll use, like black tourmaline or obsidian.
Speaker 3:What are protective herbs Like? What are some of the protective herbs that would be an example of a protective I love rose petals.
Speaker 2:Okay, Roses are very powerful plants and they're used a lot in different variations of plant magic. So one of the properties of roses is that they're protective. So my my home on south field. I have roses planted all around my house and that was intentional. A lot of witches utilize roses to protect their homes. So what I'll do is I'll go out and I'll collect the rose petals and I'll dry them out and then I'll put them in the spell jars and I'll layer. I usually layer roses and then I use mugwort, which I love. Mugwort because mugwort is it can be used to expel evil energies, Like if you're, if you're, doing an exorcism. A lot of people will burn mugwort and use it to protect the space, to repel negativity. When it's not burned, it does the same thing. I'll use rose petals, mugwort, rosemary, and then I'll take a calendula.
Speaker 3:I'm going to get it wrong, oh the flower, the orange flower, calendula, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Yes, I always pronounce it wrong, but I know what it is and I'll put that in there also. And then I'll grab selenite black obsidian and then I will put drops of lavender inside the spell jar and I'll fill it to the brim. I mean you can do a little, baby one or you can do a big one, and I'll seal it with the cork lid. Well, before I seal it I'll speak into it and the intention of what the spell jar is and then I'll seal it with the cork lid and then always use wax, um, to put the top. I put a sigil on top of it.
Speaker 2:So sigils are symbols that are used in witchcraft, that have different types of purpose. So there's the metatron's metatron symbol, which you're familiar with because it's used a lot in crystal gritting. So I'll use that to seal the top of it because that is Metatron's very powerful. He's a protective archangel and he'll come in and kind of put that energy into the spell jar and then I'll wrap twine around it because the twine will help also seal the magical intention in there. And then I usually hang a charm from it, whatever kind of charm I feel called to, either angel wings or I'll use the five point star, which I also gets a bad rap, but I'll use the five point star or something like that to seal it and then that's placed wherever I feel like protections needed. I mean, I have them in my car, I put them in homes, office spaces, wherever and it does help repel negative energy from people, places or things. So I love them.
Speaker 3:I don't think I've. I've heard, like I've heard, of that, but I don't think I've ever, I mean, even seen one. So yeah, a spell jar, so that is like fascinating to me but makes sense. That makes complete sense to me because we're putting the intention of protection. It's no different than me putting out various crystals or gritting or doing whatever. Like I mean, I got crystals all over my house gritted. I mean my window sills have selenite logs and and, uh, black tourmaline, and I have crystals buried in the corners of my yard and same I've gritted, my whole yard's gritted as well, and that is a form of magic.
Speaker 2:It just depends on how, how you're using it. I, so I have to tell this story. I have to tell this story because it makes me laugh. It just brings me great joy when I tell this story. But I made so when I first got, when I first got divorced. This is why this is great.
Speaker 2:So when I first got divorced, my ex-husband would always try and come to the house, like I didn't want him there. So I was like you know what? I'm going to test the waters with my witchcraft practices and I grabbed some black salt and some white salt and I grabbed some selenite and a black tourmaline tower and I gritted the front part of my house Okay, so the doorway because I didn't want him walking past a certain point. I didn't want him in my living room, my kitchen, nowhere, because I worked really hard to cleanse my space from that energy and it was just a violation at that point when he was coming over. So it just bothered me. Just a violation at that point when he was coming over, so it just bothered me.
Speaker 2:So I gritted like the entryway and I put the intention out there when I was gritting it that he could not step into my living room and that was the intention and I I black salted the living hell out of the front step and I was, like you know, saying these, these words, and I didn't do it in a hateful way, I did it in the form of protection, because in witchcraft what you do to somebody else comes back to you times three and I truly believe that.
Speaker 2:So if you have ill intentions, like you'll end up with health issues or whatever. So I'm gritted the whole front because I was like I just don't want him in here. Well, he came over and this man tried three or four times to step into my living room and you could see he'd step forward with one foot and then he'd step back and he'd step forward again and then he'd step back, he'd step forward again and then he'd step back and it literally looked like someone was pushing him back and what was? What he was feeling was that energy grid that was placed in the front of my house with the intention of protecting my space and my boundaries, and he could not and he stayed, for I want to say it was like two minutes and he's like I feel like I have to leave. I'm like okay, all right.
Speaker 2:But that's the power of harnessing that energy because you're putting an intention and a will to it. Everyone has this and I always think it's interesting because some people are born I call them organic witches where you just have it in your bloodline, whether it's physically from this world or it's some sort of spirit DNA because we talked about that before with spirit DNA versus like your physical DNA here. So some people organically have this and then some people learn it Like they teach themselves. Either way is fine, but when you have like an organic background, I really feel like you can harness that energy a lot more naturally and easier. You don't have to overthink it. And that's where people, I think, get deterred because they're like well, I'm not psychic or I don't. I don't, I'm not empathic, I don't have mediumship qualities, you don't have to. You don't have to to practice those things.
Speaker 3:I love. Okay. So the reason I love that we're talking about this topic is because there is so much negativity around it. But but and I am the first admit I also have felt this way many times and I don't know much about it. But even as you just told that story, it again brings me back to the shop where it's gritted. It has intention and I think I've talked about this before in the podcast where people would come into the crystal shop and couldn't come above the ramp, because if your vibe and intention isn't in a certain place, you can't even come in. My crystal, like you can't even come in. And so I'm again like thinking OK, well, that's still very similar, it's just what I resonate with, right, like, it's just like in religion. Ok, you resonate with a certain thing, that's what you go with. But if we were to line up and take the names and the faces off religion, there's so much that's the same across the board, it's just called something different.
Speaker 2:It is, and religion has taken and I'm going to even use the word stole and you know this might not make me very popular with some people, I really don't care, because it's history and if you look it up you will see but religion has stolen a lot of paganistic practices and incorporated them into church settings. It's just a fact. Like I have an altar, so does a catholic church, yeah, and that was taken like when they started invading different communities and made them change from paganism into Catholicism or else. So a lot of those ideologies merged together through, like invasion tactics. So my altar looks very different.
Speaker 2:Like I have a piece of driftwood that I found on Lake Erie, where I literally walked right up to it and I picked it up and I could feel the vibration of it and I asked if I was allowed to take this and they said yes. So that's on my altar. I've got seashells on my altar. I have a tree statue, because I do a lot with tree magic. I have water on there, I have crystals, which I love, love, love. You know we love our crystal and I've got my candles on there.
Speaker 3:So my altar looks very different from a Catholic church altar, right, so, but it's the same thing, yeah, and I have like an altar in my Reiki room and I've got like they're my special favorite things. I've got a statue of Jesus and I also have Native American you know carvings. I've got a Hopi medicine man doll, I've got, I have a lot of things Medicine.
Speaker 2:Man doll is the same thing as voodoo dolls. They're just the intention. But voodoo dolls, they're just the intention, but voodoo dolls in the movies it's always used to harm somebody, which you totally can, but they're also used to help people, or their charms, or their use for positive energy collectors or storing of energy Right. So it just depends what you're using it for.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm just. I'm loving the stories and things that we have that we've even talked about so far. I want to ask you about black magic. Okay, what is black magic If you can tell people and what? What are your feelings on black magic? Is this, like, can it be used for God? Is this only evil, like? Give us the scoop on it, okay.
Speaker 2:So black magic to me is where you're utilizing dark forces or dark entities to harm someone or you're inviting them into a space. So there are certain types of rituals that can be done where you're calling in negative entities. You're calling in negative entities, you basically invite them in to your home to yourself, and what you're doing when you do those rituals. The purpose of that is to collect power. So with black magic practices, usually the intention is to become very powerful magically and you're utilizing dark forces for that intention. And when I say dark forces, I'm basically talking about demonic entities. When you do that with black magic, you don't have control, and that's one thing that I, that people really do need to understand is when you're practicing magic and you're inviting other entities in, you immediately lose control because you can't control them. Once they're invited in, they start calling the shots. So if you curse somebody, if you utilize a curse and you use a dark entity for that curse, there's always something to be paid back. There's always a bargaining chip, there's always a barter there, because they're not doing you a favor for free. These are very evil things.
Speaker 2:I've never understood why people practice black magic. I don't know if it's ignorance or if it is just this want of being powerful, but I've always stayed away from it and I don't ever really read anything that has to do with black magic, because it's something that I have a healthy respect for, in a way where I know that it's something that I don't want in my life or to have anything to do with. Some people do practice black magic, unknowing what they're doing. I feel like, yes, yeah, and it's an unknowing thing, like demons are not going to be your friends, like they're they're they're not going to be like you're calling in the wrong coven.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean yeah, exactly, you're calling in the wrong thing here. So it's like where white magic or I mean I'll just say white magic, because it has other names, whatever but you have black magic, you have white magic and where white magic is more utilizing earth magic, you're using positivity. There's a lot of angelic beings that you're utilizing. You can also use other deities when you're practicing magic. You just need to know what their temperament is. You need to do research on them. Some of them toe the line between good and bad and they get temperamental and they can get annoyed with you, especially if you're bothering them too much. So you just need to make sure that you are using someone that resonates with you.
Speaker 2:I always, when I practice, I'll always use Morrigan. She is the Celtic goddess of death and I she has crows and ravens around her all the time and that resonates with me, because I do use crows and ravens in a lot of my magical practices. I'm still praying that I find a raven feather. I just want to be gifted one. That's like what. I would probably cry, but I just have a very strong connection with that. So a lot of times I'll reach out to her, but I have a healthy respect for her and I don't ask her more of what, more of her than what I think that she would want to give.
Speaker 2:So I rarely communicate with her, but it's only when I really need like some sort of movement or push in my life. I'll ask for her to help guide me or I'll do some ritual where I'm asking to be shown what I need to do. So that's where I work with her. But black magic is. I mean I've cleansed spaces where people utilize black magic and I'm just like you know you basically cursed yourself. I don't know how to even help you with this, like I'm sure you could reverse it with some sort of magic, because usually when you're dealing with curses from witchcraft, a priest isn't going to be able to help you. You need somebody else who practices witchcraft to come in and try and reverse what was done.
Speaker 3:And that can be tricky, yeah, and I, um, I feel like there's a lot of people that dabble in witchcraft and it's not black magic but we'll just say just regular old witchcraft, and they don't know what the fuck they're doing and so they're sending things. So I've been on the receiving end. I have people that don't like me not new news here or don't like my success, or get upset about this because maybe they want to do the same thing and whatever, and I don't care who does what I mean. Obviously you and I are a great example of that. We do the same freaking thing and it has nothing to do with the other person, success or otherwise. You can be happy for people, but anyways, I've been on the receiving end of some witchcraft.
Speaker 3:I've had to come to you before. Like there was somebody that doesn't really know what they're doing and isn't super powerful, but they did. They tried to put a spell or something on me or whatever, and the thing is I'm intuitive, so like I could instantly feel something was happening, and I could feel something with the prep, and so I had to do some things. My guides came in and they weren't powerful enough to like, hurt or harm me in any way, and I was so aware of it I could feel it. But it's like some of these people are out there just doing stuff. It's like you have no idea what you're doing, yeah, and I believe it comes back on you Like I do believe you know, and I'm seeing it the one person that did it's very around here and I'm watching that unfold. It's like you can't try to send something to destroy somebody and expect that that isn't going to come back on you in some really bad, karmic way.
Speaker 2:No, it certainly does, and that's why you have to be responsible. When you're practicing witchcraft, it's protection of yourself and like people that you love. Also, because it's like if you're doing something out of anger, it's the same thing. When you're doing it's like if you're doing something out of anger, it's the same thing when you're doing Reiki, like if you're sending Reiki to someone cause you're angry, that is a magical intention that's being sent there. You are sending something to somebody with the intention of harming them, not helping them, and that always comes back to you. I have I mean, I've dealt with people before where they've done this and they end up with some sort of mental illness or they go insane, Like I've seen it happen.
Speaker 3:And why are you trying to send something so awful?
Speaker 2:anyways, Because I think people they get retaliatory and they want you to feel the pain that they think that you gave them, or they're jealous of you and they're trying to prevent you from going forward with your purpose. It's something that they need to work out with themselves, and witchcraft can be very healing, but it can also be very harmful. So it's like you have to be responsible with how you utilize it and what you're doing. I have books and books and books and books on witchcraft. Before I do something, I read about it and I make sure that I understand what it is I'm doing, because ignorance, just like in the law, is not an excuse. You'll still get a ticket if you're speeding, if you don't know, it's 55, and you can still get your ass in trouble with witchcraft whether or not you know what you're doing. So you just might as well do the research and save yourself some grief. Right, like?
Speaker 2:I use a lot of candle magic, like white candles bring in a lot of positive energy, angelic. You've got blue candles for psychic connection. You've got red candles for love, things like that, and I never use love spells. I'm a big and some people might disagree with me, but I am a big non-believer in that. I don't think you should ever utilize love spells to try and manipulate somebody into seeing you a different way, because it's not authentic or real and you're messing with somebody's emotions, so I don't do that. I do make love jars, though, if you want a little spicy spice in your bedroom love jars, though.
Speaker 3:Do you want a little spicy spice in your bedroom?
Speaker 2:I think of my favorite lotion from the early two thousands love spell my love. I mean it's no different than like that kind of stuff, but it's it's just putting that energy and that intention into the space. But I don't like bewitching people, like that's kind of how I see that is you're veiling somebody and in witchcraft it's called a veil. It's where you make them believe something that is not really there. It's not their own emotion, you're manipulating their emotion and it's called being veiled.
Speaker 3:So I have been veiled many a time. Yeah, I mean, I can think of three instances where somebody veiled and I thought that this person was like amazing and I literally had to set intentions like that that type of witchcraft and spell work could not work on me anymore. Like I set specific intentions for that to not happen anymore, because I really got hosed a couple times with that yeah, you.
Speaker 2:I don't know what it is with you, but it's, you get the.
Speaker 3:I piss witches and fairies off. Yeah, I, my existence and my, I think, it's my light, it's whatever I'm putting off. They're all like everyone's coming.
Speaker 2:I'm always like Laura, what? What is happening right now? I don't understand.
Speaker 3:Cause, I mean I practice witchcraft. I pissed another fucking fairy off. Here we go.
Speaker 2:That's a part of my life and it's like I don't understand. I don't have an issue with you and I'm like why do all these practitioners think it's got an issue with your ass? You're like I just had this happen and I'm like what the fuck? Laura?
Speaker 3:Like what happened Having a normal day and then ba-bam.
Speaker 2:And you can usually tell when somebody practices black magic versus white magic, because their demeanor is going to match their practice and the energy they're putting out there. It just is.
Speaker 3:I feel like it was sort of this naive side to me and now it seems pretty clear I can see it coming in a different way. But I think, and you know this, I think when you're somebody that just genuinely loves to help other people and build them up, it's hard to imagine people being so awful in this work because it's the spiritual. You think a spiritual community would be like really awesome. But I feel like I run into so much competition and ego and things like that and so I don't know. I see it coming now Like I can see your intentions with things like words and what your face is telling me mean nothing anymore. I'm reading the energy, because the energy doesn't lie to me. All those situations I can look back and had I not ignored the energy, I would have known the answer to that and seen that coming.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's I mean. But that's veiling like some people can veil their energy or they can. Just it's veiling Like some people can veil their energy or they can. Just it's a manipulation. So I think once you got past, once you figured out that's what was happening to you, it's easier for you to go through the veil and be like, okay, let me look at the person. Yeah, let me look at the person here. Yeah, not the bullshit that they're projecting out. So it's like I mean, people who don't even practice witchcraft do that shit. I mean, you can take any narcissist and you're like, oh, yeah, you're totally, that's exactly what you're doing. But with witchcraft it's more of a magical thing because they're manipulating your feelings for them. That's what the intention for availing is doing. So you're not, you're not getting like the whole picture. I mean, I've done. I've done a couple things to people, but it was more to protect myself, like I said before, like cause I use a lot of water magic too.
Speaker 3:Well, and that's not my question, that's one of my last questions is water magic. You refer to water magic all the time and I want you to talk about water magic and like the power of the different kind, because you collect water. So if Melanie goes places, she collects water, whether it's from the like, does geographical location. You know that kind of thing? What? What does that mean to you?
Speaker 2:So well when we went out west. Like geographical location is a huge thing because you've got water running through mountains versus water running through just like flat land in Ohio where we're at. So when it goes through the mountains you have different intensity of the water, where it's like a really heavy, heavy flow, like a waterfall. When you collect that kind of water it's fast moving energy. So I'll use waterfall water if I need to get my ass in gear to cook, to complete like a goal or to get myself in forward motion, because that's what that energy of that water is doing. It's always moving, it's always going forward, it's constant, constant energy. So I'll use that water property. Sometimes I drink it, sometimes I put it on my skin, sometimes I spray it and I'll mix it with other things. But or I'll just use it in a ritual. But whatever the property that the water carries, I'll know what I need to use it for.
Speaker 2:So, like waterfalls, forward moving. So rainstorms, like thunderstorms, those carry a very different property. So that is very intense property Energy. So thunderstorms carry this property of almost like anger. That makes sense, it's almost like anger Intensity want to give a spell, a kickstart, I use a thunderstorm water. So if I need to, if I need something to happen instantaneously and I don't use it a lot because I've done it before and it's totally backfired in my face and I'm like, oh shit, this is not what I wanted. That was a learning curve.
Speaker 2:I'm like learning curve, but I'll use like thunderstorm water for that Um, but I collect it everywhere. So, like I'll go to Cuyahoga falls. Now there is a, there is a uh waterfall at Cuyahoga falls, which you've been to also, where you climb down. Yes, love it, love it. So I have like a giant jug of that water.
Speaker 2:But I use that water for healing because I was told when I was, when I climbed down there, I was told that that water has healing properties and it's related to um Elvin healing magic, so so, so, and I know what that sounds like to people listening, but it works. So I'll use that water, like if I don't feel good or if I feel sick, I'll put it like across my forehead or on my throat or wherever I'm not feeling well, and I'll just let it absorb into my skin and a lot of times it helps. Now I've also used that water and mixed it with rose petals to make a rose water, which most people are familiar with. Um, and I'll use that to help with if I'm feeling anxious or if I'm having some sort of panic attack or I can't seem to get my mind to stop. I will spray that shit all around me and I've even taken a bath with the elven water and with rose petals and just soaked in it and it does help calm my energy down because what the water magic does is you're, we're, we're compromised of like we're, we're mainly water as humans, right, so water's programmable. Therefore we're programmable. So if I'm using water that already has its own natural base and intention and I take a bath in it, it's going to help my body go to whatever programming that water is.
Speaker 2:And people can use water magic. Anybody who makes moon water is using water magic. Anybody can do this. So but yeah, I love water magic so much and I do. I am a freak when it comes to water. Like we're going to the beach this summer and I'm gonna bring like a couple of gallon jugs and I'm totally collecting the ocean water because it has it has a cleansing property to it and the salt visual of you trudging back up with your gallons of water.
Speaker 2:Oh, and it's like what's great is my boyfriend's so supportive. He'll probably be carrying some of it for me to help me out, so it's just going to be awesome. I'll be able to get more than I've ever gotten before. But salt I mean ocean water has salt in it, and salt's a huge thing in witchcraft also, because it's protection, it's cleansing, it's all the things. So to have it incorporated already in water, just naturally, is really really powerful.
Speaker 3:Well, and again, I'm looking at the parallels as you talk about things and pulling the things I resonate with and, like my friend that brought me water from the Sea of Galilee when I was looking for holy water and you and I had this big conversation and I was like, what makes it holy water? You know, I don't. I don't care if some priest thinks he's magical. That to me is not holy. And then she brings me this water from the Sea of Galilee and I use that. I'll put it in the palms of my hands before certain sessions when I'm asked to. The Portage River, which is like, doesn't look super beautiful, is magical to me. The water of the Portage River is pure magic. For me, that river is where my friends live, my Eagles friends, not my friends that I hang out with, you know in my yard, but it's like my, my, my earth friends, and so I do, I resonate with this water stuff, this, this water stuff.
Speaker 3:That makes sense to me, totally, yeah.
Speaker 2:Water magic. I mean, a lot of people are drawn to water. They find it to be a calming place. They can think better there, they have clarity, they ground. Water is very, very important for anybody who's got anybody living, really. I mean. Some people are scared of water, though, but that's usually past life trauma, but water is. I mean you can do a plethora of things with it. I don't know if I should tell this story or not, but I might.
Speaker 2:So there is a person in my life, who shall never be named again, who was just a complete asshole to me like asshole, and I took there's.
Speaker 2:There is a practice you can do, and this is one of the times where I did use magic against somebody, but it was for my protection and it wasn't with the intention to harm them ever. I don't, I don't wish that harm on anybody, but I just wanted them to leave me alone. So there was a ritual you can do with water and somebody's picture, and you take their picture and you put it in water and you put it in the freezer and you freeze it, and what it does. The intention of that is to freeze them in their tracks so that they can no longer contact you. They can no longer harm you, they can't really have any access to your energy ever again. And let me tell you what it freaking worked, because as soon as that water froze the next day, I never heard from that person again, ever, ever to this day. And they better not come around now because I'm talking about it. So never, they never came around again.
Speaker 3:That's hilarious, honestly, um, because I felt like I was seeing pictures. Um, so, as we wrap up this episode, I want if, if there are people that are interested and really resonate with witchcraft, where would you suggest they start with this? Are there books Like where's the place to go For the people that listen to this? There's going to be some people that listen and go okay, I don't resonate with that. The ones that are like oh my gosh, I need to know more about this. Where do you suggest they start?
Speaker 2:My suggestion has always, always, always been research and books. I am not a big person on Googling because I don't feel some resources are valid or anybody can write anything and put it out there on the Internet, where I feel like with books you have more of a solid foundation. There is a book on water witchcraft that I love. It's literally called Water Witchcraft, Magic and Lore from the Celtic tradition. So most of the things I study lore from the Celtic tradition. So most of the things I study are from Celtic, the Celtic side. But there's different ways to practice, so you have to go with what you're drawn to Like. If you, if you are not into Irish folk magic, Celtic witchcraft, that's fine. If you're more into Native American shamanism, then start in that direction. I just saw an orb fly right by your head.
Speaker 3:I just saw it go like this. Yeah, I did just see that in the video. I just I was like holy shit, I guess you're talking about shamanism.
Speaker 2:It just like your little like Native American guides are like hey, Melanie, what's up, girl? But yeah, I definitely suggest books. Do your research before you even start doing any kind of magical practices, and I'd also recommend that you get an altar space for yourself if this is something you're serious about, and altars just have to be what you're drawn to. So if you like bells like you can use. So there are things called witch's bells, but you don't have to go to a store and spend 50 bucks on something that's labeled a witch bell. You can make your own bell. If you go to a thrift store and you find these bells that you're attracted to, then grab them, put them on your altar.
Speaker 2:There is broom magic, there is flower magic, there is water magic, there's earth magic, there's tree magic. There's all different sorts of magical avenues voodoo, hoodoo, Chinese, Japanese, Buddhism, it's so much. Just go with what you're drawn to first and then from there go in and look at what sort of books you can get. I know most people are boycotting Amazon right now, but you could go to Amazon and just kind of Google witchcraft and a whole bunch of books will pop up like a plethora of books, and just read the back of it, and if you're like no, I don't like this, then move on to the next one. But I I am a book person. I think those are the most important. That's where you need to start. You need to research.
Speaker 3:Well, I hope everybody took some info. I learned a lot, so thank you. You're welcome and I know I love also getting to just roll her.
Speaker 2:I'm glad that I'm your only witch friend.
Speaker 3:Well, you're the only one that's not trying to take me down Chinatown. So, yes, I have a witch friend. Yes, this, um, this was a really good episode. I love us learning about things and I like to learn about new things. So, and people had a ton of questions about this, so, um, I think you did fantastic, oh good.
Speaker 2:And we can always. And if you do have more questions about this or any other episode, um, there is a form that Laura created that you can go onto our Facebook site and click on it and fill out the answers and write in your questions, and we're going to do a whole episode dedicated to answering a lot of those.
Speaker 3:There was just another orb that flew by my head. Oh shit, I missed it. So I'm in my house today, so, and I asked for a lot of extra protection. So I got a lot of things around me because of the topics we're talking about today, but I'm in my bedroom today because I'm not at the shop. So, yeah, I just saw another thing fly by my head. I look horrendous, or I would maybe take a shot of that to send to to show you on the page. We'll see how brave I am. Thank you for joining us. Come back next week, and thanks for listening. Hi everybody, we'd love to hear from you. Email us your questions at ITL podcast 1212 at gmailcom.
Speaker 2:You can find us on Facebook at Into the Late Podcast © transcript Emily Beynon.