30. Spiritual Activism and What We Can Actually Do with Kelly Stegman

In a world that feels heavy, chaotic, and — at times — genuinely unreal, it’s easy to swing between two extremes: doom-spiraling until your nervous system shuts down… or trying to “love-and-light” your way through realities your body knows are not okay.

This episode lives in the middle path.

I sat down with Kelly Stegman (aka The Boho Witchery) for a conversation about spiritual activism — the meeting place between inner work and real-world change. Kelly’s approach to witchcraft is one of the most grounded, accessible, and empowering perspectives I’ve heard in a long time. Here she reminds us of something we’ve been conditioned to forget: You already have what you need.

Witchcraft, in Kelly’s world, isn’t reserved for the “gifted,” the initiated, or the people with a perfectly curated altar. It's intention. It’s sovereignty. It’s the quiet power of choosing what you believe, what you’ll protect, what you’ll build — and then taking steps that move the needle.

Sometimes it looks like lighting a candle or setting a simple intention. Sometimes it looks like putting that intention behind a donation, a conversation, a boundary, or a decision. Sometimes it looks like saying: I refuse to stay numb.

Through this conversation, we explore ideas like:

If we can manifest safety, love, and expansion for ourselves… why wouldn’t we include our neighbors?
If we’re brave enough to ask the universe for guidance… why wouldn’t we also ask for justice, truth, and protection — collectively?

This is where Kelly’s work becomes powerful in a way that feels radically human: she’s building community-based spirituality through monthly community circles (free to attend) and her Patreon — spaces where people gather to set shared intentions, co-create energetic momentum, and then pair it with real-world action.

Because intention without action can become performance. And action without intention can become burnout. The medicine is in holding both.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Signs and intuition (and why specificity matters when you’re asking for guidance)
• How to tell the difference between intuition and fear in the body
• Why “spirituality” that ignores reality isn’t spirituality — it’s avoidance
• How community circles work, and why shared intention is a form of collective power
• The simplest way to start practicing: intention as everyday magic
• Why witchcraft is, at its core, about self-empowerment + sovereignty
• And why every person has gifts — we’ve just been trained to doubt them

More than anything, Kelly offers this reminder -

The first step to getting started happens exactly where you are — with what you have — when you choose connection over collapse.

Because the truth is: we shift the world the same way we shift anything — one coherent choice at a time.

Connect with Kelly

https://www.threads.com/@thebohowitchery

https://www.instagram.com/thebohowitchery 

Patreon is Witchery13

If this episode spoke to you, it would mean the world if you took a moment to leave a review or share it with a friend who needs it. And make sure you hit follow so you never miss an episode of Conditioning to Consciousness.

You can connect with me on Instagram @jesscallahan_, join my Substack community at conditioningtoconsciousness.substack.com, or explore more of my work at jesscallahan.com.

My Back in the Body Nervous System Healing course is now available! Find it here.

Thanks for listening — I’m so grateful you’re here.

Transcript

Jess Callahan 0:00

Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of Conditioning to Consciousness. And welcome to another day living in the Twilight Zone. I am so just like dumbfounded, but not at how our country is responding to everything going on right now. I think that, you know, we're we're still living in this space where there's this pull for so many people to just allow things to go back to normal and to just say, like, oh, it's gonna get better. This two shall pass. And, you know, if it's not impacting me directly, then I don't need to pay attention to this. And um, you know, there's still there's just so much cruelty happening still. There's so much happening. And I think that, you know, there's this feeling by many that like they, you know, we don't want to follow it too closely because, you know, it's all doom and gloom, and it's like, is that fear-mongering? And like, no, like staying informed is so important right now because there are, you know, there's legislation being introduced that further limits rights. There's, you know, US citizens and immigrants alike like being treated really like brutally, and these detention centers are awful, and all of this is happening. There's so much chaos that it's really hard to tune into like any one thing. But, you know, if we want a better world, we have to be part of the shift. We have to take part in the change. And so today I had a really great conversation with Kelly Stegman. She is, she's a tarot reader, she has a Patreon group where she brings community together to use the power of like intention and the power that each of us has like deep within ourselves to create change in our own lives and to shift the collective. So our conversation is about this like space where spirituality and activism meet and how, you know, you can um use your, you know, your spirituality, your deep connection with yourself to shift the world around you, and how you know, bypassing it is really damaging, but that when we, you know, reconnect and we live in community with one another again, we're able to start to really create the change that we seek. So, you know, I hope um I hope you find this episode as just like I don't know, healing as I did. Sometimes I think it's just so important to have these conversations, like, and so Kelly will speak to all of that. And um, you know, just just keep tuning in, keep doing the hard thing, which is showing up every day and you know, still performing normalcy to some extent, and not because we want like to ever call this normal. I think that you can like still go through your routines on a day-to-day basis because that's what keeps you whole and balanced and standing in your own light, um, but also just holding space for everything else that's going on, holding space for the heaviness of the world and knowing that like little by little, by making the choice to tune into ourselves, by having the hard conversations with our kids, by, you know, building community around ourselves, by just like speaking up, these are the things that create the ripple effect. And the ripple effect creates the wave, and that's you know, where change really starts to happen. So even if it feels like, you know, the small acts are not making a difference, they are, they they do make a difference, and and change isn't, it's not a quick fix here. It's not um, there's no like savior, there's no like there's not a person that is coming to save us. But this and the sooner we realize that like tuning in, finding our own like inner guidance systems and living by that, standing up for what we believe in, like as soon as we start to do that, um, you know, I think on a collective level, the world starts to shift. So without further ado, here is my conversation with Kelly. Cool. So thanks for being here. I I'm really excited to have this conversation. I think it's just very timely given everything that's going on in the world right now. And so I think, you know, before I start just like firing questions at you, and I'm just I'm so curious about all that you do, I want to just start with like, you know, what what is it that brought you to where we are today?

Kelly Stegman 4:31

That's like a loaded question. I know, I know. I from a very, very early age just always I always believed in magic. I wanted to be, I wanted to be Sabrina the Teenage Witch. I wanted to be Samantha Unbewitched. I wanted magic so badly, um, for whatever reason. And it just somehow became a part of my life that I didn't even realize I was doing it until I was already doing it. It was the intentions that I, you know, put into the food when I was preparing it for my family. It was setting intentions when I was, you know, folding laundry. But then there was always the the element of control where it was like, okay, can I control the outcome? Not necessarily controlling the process, but can I make something happen? Which, you know, when I was a child, I didn't realize was manifesting, but basically manifestation. And then as I was growing, growing up, I just realized that you know what, you can apply intention and your own empowerment and manifest what you want. So witchcraft, skill work, um, intention, manifestation, spirituality, it's just kind of all the same. And then as we've gone through the last few years, I've realized that we can apply that on a global scale. We can, if we're gonna manifest for ourselves, if we're gonna manifest a good job for ourselves, we might as well manifest good jobs for our neighbors and good pay and and equality for our neighbors and our communities. And it kind of just grew from that. Um, I feel like I'm babbling now. No, you're no, I'm always always rooted for the underdog. And I just kind of naturally fell into this. And now we, you know, humanity is the underdog.

Jess Callahan 6:26

Yeah, yeah, seriously. I think it's interesting because I think that sometimes when we have those early pulls towards like, like as you're saying, like you felt connected to magic from when you were little. I feel like there's like these like threads woven within us that like, you know, we're just waiting to recognize, waiting to see. And then when you turn in that direction, it's like the whole world opens up for you. It really does. When were you like when did you first, what were some of the most like like the moments you can remember when you were young that you started to be like, wow, I'm really like like powerful. I'm really capable of of like just manifesting or making things happen or magic.

Kelly Stegman 7:08

I remember being very young, I'm not even sure how old, but I was always the one who could find lost things. My grandma's clip on earrings would fall off, and she'd be like, you know, she'd ask me to get on the floor and crawl around under the table to find it, but I could find it without really searching. Like I always kind of just knew where it was. Um, so I was the finder of lost things, and there were, you know, situations that a lot of people have. Like you think of somebody and then they call you out of the blue. Um, you know, you're humming a song for no reason, and the next thing you know, it's on the radio. And I started to pay attention to when those things happened. And honestly, I can't remember if I recorded them then or not. I record them now just so I can kind of track how I'm doing. Um, you know, I keep like a manifestation journal kind of or a signs journal where I notice those things, especially if I'm asking for a significant sign.

Jess Callahan 8:06

So, okay, that was one of my next questions, as you're mentioning signs. Like, I think that the the understanding that we have the ability to communicate with the universe is really important. And, you know, it lives within every single one of us. We just have to like, you know, tune in and look in that direction. What are some of the ways that like in your practice that you communicate with the universe or whatever you call it, you know, whoever, whatever is on the other end.

Kelly Stegman 8:32

Universe as the generic term for whatever you believe in as the higher source. Yes, yeah. Um, I ask for signs all the time. And the thing with signs is you need to be specific, just like manifestation, you need to be specific but open. So if you're, you know, if you live near a park and you ask, you know, show me a squirrel, of course you're gonna see a squirrel all over, you know, they're all over the place. If you ask to see a black squirrel or a white squirrel, that's different. Then you know, like it's a sign showing up. So I always ask for a sign. Sometimes I ask for it to be shown to me three times over, you know, within a certain period of time. Sometimes I just say, like, listen, if I'm on the right path, I need to see XYZ. And you know, and then I give it a day or two. I don't expect it to show up immediately, but I also, you know, eight months later, can't have that sign because that by then it's too late. So I ask for signs all of the time. Um, I trust my intuition. I really just pause and just, you know, how does this feel? Am I feeling it in my stomach because that's anxiety, or am I feeling it in my chest? And that's where I know, like, okay, it feels comfortable. It doesn't, it might still feel a little bit scary, but it's not true fear.

Jess Callahan 9:53

Yeah, that's so interesting. I love that you're using the that language because I use I use that language a lot myself. And I, you know, just noticing that it's like different for us. So, like for me, if I feel it in my stomach really like solar plexus chakra area, you know, right under my ribs, um, that's intuition for me. And if I feel it um in my like upper chest and my throat, that's fear for me, um, which I think just goes to how it's so important for each of us to like tune into our bodies and figure out, you know, where intuition lives and speaks. Yeah, so interesting. So, okay. I have a friend actually who has been guiding me through signs. I've always loved signs. I've I get fox signs, I've gotten them for years and years and years. And it has, you know, I started by looking up like, what does the, you know, like spiritual meaning of a fox. And then I just started to realize that um, you know, it's my own, like the fox means something very unique just for me. A fox for me is a yes, but it's gonna take some digging deep and some courage. It's like that kind of yes. Um, but it was funny, she was like talking to me just about like the specificity. I was having trouble getting signs and, you know, I was trying having trouble getting guidance on something I was following. And she's like um, you know, talking me through the level of specificity needed. And I think this sign I used, um, she shared with me this like tool you can um screenshot, you know, it's like something rapidly going. And it was five, five, five was like the thing that showed up. So I'm like, okay, this we're gonna play with it. We're gonna see. And as soon as I shifted the question I was asking to be more specific, I got five, five, five three times within like 20 minutes. It was like I pulled up uh my email and I had a flight alert that was like, your flight is now five hundred and fifty-five dollars. And you know, it's just it's it's wild how when you like tune in. Yeah, it was fun. Okay, so you mentioned always rooting for the underdog. Um I think that's a really important part of like, well, what I'm really excited to talk to you about, just like at this at this moment in time where you know, it's in the United States, but the world is feeling it, um, it's it's heavy and you know, people are either tuning in or not, really. Like, how do you see living spiritually and this idea of like activism? How why do you think that they're like directly linked and so important to go hand in hand?

Kelly Stegman 12:28

When it comes to spirituality, you can be connected to the universe, you can be into the crystals and the tarot decks and you know, do making a spell jar. You can do all of that, but you cannot ignore what is happening in the world, no matter how happy your own personal little bubble is. So maybe things aren't affecting you, but eventually things that happen throughout the world and the universe will ripple back. And you know, it hits wherever it hits out there and it comes back. So you can't you can't be um you can't live in that rose-colored bubble forever. You need to be aware of what's going on. And I think for me, what happened was it was more of a, well, if this is going on, like how can I change it? And that's where it was like, well, if I can change my own life, how come I can't help other people change their lives too? And then if we all do it together, maybe we can create change, and that's what happens. You know, you hear about you know, a drop creates a wave, or like one snowflake becomes a blizzard. It it's all of that. So if we all work together, so we we take our spirituality and we combine it with making everyone's life better, not just our own life better. And that's where it ties into activism. And of course, the history for me personally, the history of witchcraft, witchcraft has always been political. Um so it's all of that kind of combined, and yeah, and it's just using our own power.

Jess Callahan 14:11

Yeah, I think the spiritual community sometimes, like I say this as somebody who, you know, comes, I approach the world through you know, at a place where like spirituality and science intersect, you know, and I'm always kind of I always have fun in both worlds, and I see that you know, there's different uh like microcosms of like spiritual groups right now, and you have the groups that are like um love and light, it's gonna be fine. This too shall pass, it's gonna be better. It's we're birthing a new world, and like, sure, we like the new world, yes. I think that's something new is starting, but like there's a lot of really hard work that stands between where we are now and the new world. And I think what I'm hearing you say is like that's the space that you're living in where you're like, we can use our spirituality for the greater good when we like when we root for the underdog, when we see how interconnected we all are, when we, you know, you you feel the undercurrent of it subtly, maybe subconsciously of like the cruelty that's happening. It's still impacting all of us. So what do we do about it?

Kelly Stegman 15:20

Yeah, I mean, I I agree. I do think we are on the cusp of a huge transformational change. Whether that's for the good or whether that's the other way, I think remains to be seen and what and what we as humanity do about it. Um birth is birth might be beautiful, but it is also kind of painful and a little rough, right? It's not an easy birth, usually is not an easy process, whether you're out of a human being or coming out of an egg or you know, just a cell dividing. It's not it's not an easy process. It's it's rough waters that you travel there. And we are in that right now. And this is where we can we can make the changes. Like if we're gonna if we're gonna have something new, let's have it be something that works for everyone. That's a big thing for me. It's it it needs to be for everyone, it can't just be for the select few anymore. It can't just be for the oligarchs, it can't just be for the white people, it needs to work for everyone. If we're gonna have new systems, let's create, let's create the really good ones instead of the you know, so-so and even the crappy ones that haven't worked for so many, for so many years.

Jess Callahan 16:37

But that's and that's I agree with you so much. It's such a hard thing, I think, too, though, because there's so many people who have been living so disconnected from themselves, so disconnected from each other, you know, where like of like living in villages and communities was like um a way of being, right? Like that's how we're supposed to be living. But we've been living in like disconnection from ourselves, disconnection from each other. We we don't even know. I think we, I say we, I think you and I know what we want. But like we, the collective, like we don't even know what we want. You know, we don't even know what a future looks like. We're so used to just being like, okay, this is just the way it is. Like, that's just you know, it's like apathy gets us, apathy brings us to this point. And so, but each of us can do something in our own way to make a change, right?

Kelly Stegman 17:27

Exactly. And it's not just apathy, it's the fact that this is what we've been told.

Jess Callahan 17:31

Yeah.

Kelly Stegman 17:32

The whole level that has been telling us, well, this is the best you can ever have. And that is simply not true. Yeah, isn't that the truth? Yeah, completely honest, it's scary. All right, if we get rid of the capitalistic society and capitalism, what the heck else are we gonna use? And that's sorry to make that change to like, you know, and it's not it is not something that's gonna happen overnight, it is not something that's going to happen with just one change of the presidency. It's it's an evolution. We are in an evolutionary stage right now. So for me, everybody should use what they have. Do what you can, you know. Do what you can, help where you can. Everybody can do something. Um, but most importantly, become empowered. Recognize that thoughts become things. I mean, that's just the way it is. That science, you know, an idea eventually can become a product or a service or something like that. Thoughts become things. So start to have thoughts about what our new world can look like and use your own power, your own sovereignty, your own magic to start to create that. And start with yourself, start with your family and let it bubble out to your community.

Jess Callahan 18:48

Yes, it is. It's like we want this quick fix, but the but change happens when each of us makes the choice to go inward and shift our world. Like talk to your kids, get real with yourself, like the people around you. Um, but I think like you said something that was actually just like another aha moment, I think for me is like, I know, so we have been really robbed of like our connection with intuition, right? It's been like systemically, um, we've been systemically disconnected for centuries and centuries until we like the idea of intuition is woo. And you know, we're like, okay, so I think on that same note, as you're talking about how like we have to create this world that we want, we have to be like dreaming about the world that we want. I think that creativity is also something that's been so we've been disconnected from. And like, you know, for the creative thinkers and people who are intuitive, like I think we need those gifts now more than ever, because if we're going to reimagine what a new world looks like, it's not something that's that's in our programming. It's something new. And you need that creativity and innovation and, you know, all of that stuff being in community and creating is just it's important now more than ever, I think, too. Like just knowing who you are and what gifts you can offer.

Kelly Stegman 20:03

Yep. And everybody has gifts. That's that's the other thing. It's not just a select few of us that have superpowers or something like that. Every single person has intuition. You see it with you know, you see it in babies. How you know it's also called like instinct in some sense, you know, and it kind of overlaps a little bit. But you know, you see it in young children who have their imaginary friends, who talk to the fairies, who communicate with nature, and we lose that, you know, it gets it gets stamped out, and we go into the school systems. I'm not bashing school systems at all. I'm just saying, like, you know, we go to places where where the creativity isn't always encouraged anymore, and we're told to fall in line and toe the line, and that's what we do.

Speaker 20:51

I mean, override our bodies and our inner knowing.

Kelly Stegman 20:55

I've I've did everything, well, more or less by the book, you know. I got married at a year's age, I had my baby, I had my job, I did everything I was supposed to do. And then I don't know, a few years ago, it was probably right after COVID, um something clicked, and I was like, why am I constantly running on someone else's treadmill? I'm getting nowhere, and the rest of the world is by the rest of the world, I mean like the oligarchs and the billionaires are getting richer and richer, and we're the ones doing the running.

Speaker 2 21:28

And yeah, it's like it's by design. That's when I turned off of all of it, and I was like, that's it. Now I'm an anarchist.

Jess Callahan 21:36

Yeah. Good for you. Good for you. It's, I mean, really like to have that to have that like awareness build somehow and click, like takes a deep level of tuning in. I think for a lot of us, for me, it took an entire, you know, fibromyalgia diagnosis to really like reconnect. I was deeply intuitive growing up and you know, really connected and then just like lost myself over the years. And it was like, wait a minute, like this is not how we're supposed to be living. Like, this is just total burnout and depletion. Who's winning here? Like, not not me.

Kelly Stegman 22:08

And it's it's so common. You always hear, like, oh, you know, I connected with the universe or with God or you know, whatever after, you know, in a near-death experience or some big horrible, tragic thing. Like, oh, it shouldn't have to take that for us to recognize that we are all interconnected and that there is there is a powerful energy behind or within all of us that we can use to help ourselves, to help other people.

Jess Callahan 22:38

Yeah, yeah, that's it, it is so true. So, okay, so I'm excited to hear about the work that you're doing. Like what? So, how are you actually blending like witchcraft with activism to well, I don't even I I want to say like to impact the greater good, but like, you know, keep that open-ended. Like, just how are you blending them? What's what's alive for you?

Kelly Stegman 23:00

I I have a Patreon, which I started. I had a membership subscription where I was helping people with their intuition and to learn like some basics of witchcraft and stuff. And it I realized the more I became involved in wanting to change my community and the world around me, and less about like one-on-one work that Patreon was the way to go because people could pop in when they wanted to pop in and like they could follow along at their own pace. They didn't always have to show up for something or like, oh, you know, like we're doing a live, everybody be here. Like it was just more overwhelm, more things on people's plate. So it came to me one night. I was scrolling on my phone, doom scrolling, and I realized, like, hey, what if we all imagine this? Like, what if we all set the same intention at the very same time? And from that idea, my community circle was born. And I hold a community circle once a month, and uh, it's free for everyone to attend. It's virtual, you don't have to put your camera on or anything. And people can come there and we set an intention and we manifest whatever that intention is. So we've done truth, we've done justice, we're doing protection coming up. Um, you know, we circle through some themes. So I hold it once a month, and from there, people wanted more. So I started the Patreon, and you can follow along, and I apply witchcraft to activism. So it's not just manifesting the protection, it's what can you do for it? Well, it's using eggshell powder and salt circles and you know, setting your intentions, but then it's taking it one step further and it's you know, ordering the red whistle so that you can warn your neighbors when when ice is coming. It's sharing information on on social media, which is really one of the easiest ways for everyone to be an activist. You know, share the protest, share, share the videos of what's happening out there, just you know, keep the information flowing. Information is is one of the key things. So it's doing that. You know what? You want to do a little spell work to maybe like, you know, shake up shake up the business world a bit, then that's that's what we're gonna do. And that's called financial and financial justice. We want that for everyone. So we're applying witchcraft to everyday activities to turn it into activism and to boost the activism that's already happening.

Jess Callahan 25:29

And you're doing it in community, like shared power through shared intention, which is something I think we need so much right now. I think we just like social media gives us an illusion of being connected. But if that's your main source of like connectivity, you're connecting with people, but like it's like one or two sentence like responses. And if you're engaging with anyone in deep back and forth, it's probably a bot. Maybe it's not, but like, you know, are they even always real people? Sometimes, yeah, for sure. But like I think that we've all we have lost touch with physical community in the spaces around us and being in places where you just feel like seen, witnessed, held, like other people who want to come together and use the power of like their intentions and their hearts and you know their thoughts for the good.

Kelly Stegman 26:22

Yes, yes. And it's helping people recognize you know what, your ideas and your thoughts and your your like good ideas can connect with other people's. And when everybody is doing that, that's when the change really happens. It's one thing if I sit here and I go, Well, I want ice, let's just say I want ice cream, and you're sitting there going, I want ice cream. Well, when we all want ice cream together, eventually somebody goes, Let's go, let's go get some, and we'll move along with it. So that's how the connection, you know, we're all sitting here with our own ideas on what should happen in the world, but when we can connect in community and have those have those conversations as well as setting the intentions and doing the magic behind it, it's the discussion around it too. Um, you have to be open to everyone's ideas. Like I am by far not a guru, I am not an expert in this at all. So, you know, I've had community members make suggestions. Um, one of our members, whenever she's out for a walk, she takes a rock and she sets an intention on the rock and then puts the rock in a new place to hopefully spread that intention. I mean what to do that.

Jess Callahan 27:34

So But I think that's like a sign of a great like like um community leader is like that humility of like knowing that like I'm not the one that's going to give you all the answers, but I can create this space and I can share my process and you can share too, and we'll learn together. Yep.

Kelly Stegman 27:50

I will absolutely hold space for you and give you a place to share and learn and grow. And I will point you in the if I don't know, I will point you in the right direction, but we are all going to do it together.

Jess Callahan 28:01

Yeah. It's I think there's just something so beautiful about these like spaces that are popping up or growing further, where like, okay, so it last um in the in the recent weeks, you know, I've seen posts that are like these people that are like, what are we doing about this? Like we ride a dawn. And it's like, okay, cool, but where and who and when, and who's leading this voyage? Like, cool, cool gesture. But if you haven't surrounded yourself, and if a message like that isn't coming to a group that feels some level of like unification or shared morals, like nobody's writing anywhere. You know, nobody's, but like you said, like one person eventually might speak up and say, Hey, maybe we could like do something about this together. Like we are strength in numbers and we've built trust together. So we feel cohesive, you know, we feel like there's a coherence. Let's do this. But it comes from real connection.

Kelly Stegman 28:58

It does. It does. It comes from real connection and then the ability to pull magic into it and control the outcome or to manifest the outcome, not necessarily control it, is that just adds a whole other layer to it.

Jess Callahan 29:13

What are some like intentions? Like, what are some things that you could like work with in this time in a space like that?

Kelly Stegman 29:20

Um, I think you can set a positive intention behind whatever you're doing for the cause, so to speak. So if you're um making a monetary donation, you want to set an intention that that multiplies tenfold. Just something simple like that you could do. If you're making a clothing donation, you could say, like, oh, you know, like I'm gonna set an intention that this, that whoever comes up with it ends up um, you know, they're safe and they're warm, and you know, it's really helping somebody. So you could set your intentions behind things like that, and you know, you can take it a little step further and do like more magical things, like light your candle to set the intention. You know, you can carve into the candle, you can use herbs and crystals, and of course, there's the words that you say, but just I I think intention is probably is probably the strongest and the easiest thing for people to do because it really requires no expertise, no extra knowledge, nothing. You're just you're setting a positive intention behind what you're doing.

Jess Callahan 30:26

Yeah. So okay, shifting gears to talking about witchcraft specifically. Um, I think that, you know, many of us in past lives were witches who were burned or hanged, or, you know, we are like it lives in all of us. And even if, you know, it's like even if somebody doesn't believe in like a past life, you know, eternal consciousness, um, the wounds of the witch still live in us, like epigenetically, you know, they're passed down from our ancestors. Why do you think that embracing witchcraft is so important right now, especially say like for women? I'm sure I know anyone can do it, but like you see these movements of like women embracing that like wildness about them. And I'm interested just in learning more about that from you.

Kelly Stegman 31:10

Yeah, I think um overall, women as a whole, I think we have just had it. I I think there's that. We're just kind of like, you know, forget witchcraft for a second. Just women have had it. We are done. We have seen what the men have done to this world, and we are tired of it being so messed up. Aside from that, witchcraft for me is all about sovereignty. It's about self-empowerment and recognizing recognizing the power that you hold with really that you hold within yourself, and then you can use that power to create change. So even if you never do anything like on an activist level or anything to help your community, just knowing that you are a powerful being is witchcraft. So when you take that, and you know, a lot of times most people associate witches with covens so that you're working with other people. I for the most part practice alone, but I do come into community for things like my Patreon community and community circles and you know, sharing on social and that sort of thing. But for me, I mostly practice alone and it's all about knowing that I can create what I want using my intention, using spell work, calling on the elements, you know, all of that. So it's it's really all about becoming an empowered being. And you know, then you get the fact that women are fed up, and now it's like, wait, I can be empowered, and that's where those two things connect. So, yeah.

Jess Callahan 32:49

I mean, there's a reason that so many women were um, you know, burned at the stake or hanged because women, like we it is a feminine archetypal energy, like intuition is and connection with nature and creativity, and all of those things that over time, you know, we were disconnected from through, you know, uh, well, a lot of different like tactics. But today we might still think that some of these things are irrational or frivolous or not rooted in logic. And so those like threads are still there that keep us like questioning that like inner sovereignty. But that's the thing that the system is designed to keep you disconnected from. Because as we're seeing women step into their power, they're doing that by going inward and finding that source of power, right? I think that's like one of those connections you're naming is like when you reconnect with all of that that lives within you and like let the rest of it just fall away, like you're unstoppable. Like, really, like you can you can shift your entire life, your entire world. Like you have so much power for change for yourself and the collective.

Speaker 34:00

Exactly.

Jess Callahan 34:01

You just have to you just have to find it, you know, you just have to be willing to, I think, like go go there and see it.

Kelly Stegman 34:09

And that could be, you know, and that can be scary for somebody who has never done that. Or, you know, there's there's a thing about you know being independent and being able to, you know, rely on yourself. Now, that doesn't mean that you don't need the support of your friends and your family, and it doesn't mean that you don't give support back to those people, but it's it's knowing that you know what, like I'm okay, I'm okay with who I am, and you know, then then using that, using that okayness to like take that next step and be like, all right, well, if I'm okay, maybe I could be a little better than okay, and and just stepping into that, into your magic.

Jess Callahan 34:49

Yeah, yeah. And you it is, it can be scary, I think, because sometimes when you've built a life around who others expect you to be and who others are like just, you know, like just like standards that you abide by when you start to step into your own truth. I think that you start to shed a little bit of maybe, you know, there there may be people or situations around you that aren't built to hold who you actually are. And so that can be a hard process, but the deeper you go in and find that power, the more, like you're saying, you are okay. You know, you find that like home is in you, home's nowhere else. Like you you have home that lives within you, you are your source of home. And when you find it, it's just like I think it makes speaking up, as you know, speaking up easier too, because you're just like you know what your truth is.

Kelly Stegman 35:39

No, it's about being um, it's like your sacred self. When you find that home place, that's your sacred self. And that's that's the connection with your higher self, kind of all the same, like your soul, your higher self, your sacred self. It's kind of all the same thing. Um, and from there you can create sacred boundaries. So, you know, what's okay for you, what's okay for people not to do, you know, and you set that and you can create your sacred spaces, and then from there you can just allow your magic to blossom once you know that you have that. When I say sacred space, it doesn't necessarily have to be like an altar or anything like that. It could be, you know, the the chair in the corner where you like to read your book at night. Like that's your place. And we all kind of have them. I think we just don't we just don't call it witchcraft, and we don't, and we don't call it the you know, the words that maybe I use for it. But we, you know, we all have that. So it's recognizing that all of that stuff is what makes us magical and what gives us our power.

Jess Callahan 36:41

Yeah, I'm so glad you named that because it is like it's true. We have different names, we all resonate with it differently. A lot of times we're all talking about the same things, and your words and my words may not blend, but it like on so many levels, it's about just continuing to go inward. Know what's yours, know what's not yours, create those boundaries, as you said, that are like this is like it when I'm in this space, I can really thrive and I built, you know, capacity to go outside of it. And I, but I know how you know the world around me is impacting me. Yeah, yeah. So okay, so so people that want to find you on your Patreon, what like what's the best way to connect with you originally? And then, you know, how would they look into that?

Kelly Stegman 37:26

I am on all major social channels as um the Boha Witchery. And then on Patreon, I am the Witchery13. Okay. One three, they can find me there. Or if you if you connect with me on social, I'd be, you know, all my links, of course, are in my profiles and that sort of thing. I'll put them in there. They can join a free community circle and just see what I'm all about. You know, you want to jump right in with Patreon, but there's different levels there too. So you can, you know, follow me in different ways depending upon what what fits your needs right now. You know, if you're just dipping your toe in, you might not want to like start with cauldron work. So you know, I respect that. Everybody's got to start somewhere.

Jess Callahan 38:07

Yeah. I follow you on um, well, threads originally, and I'll say, like, over the past couple of weeks, every time I see one of your posts pop up, I'm like, I feel so seen. Like, just like, yeah, just it's um you have just like a really good way of just naming what's going on what's going on and how to how to stand in your light through it, which I think is important.

Kelly Stegman 38:28

It's a little unhinged every once in a while, but for the most for the most part, I try to stay, you know, in my lane kind of.

Jess Callahan 38:35

I think that's the beauty of it, though, is like, you know, you live through love and it's like it's we're all a little unhinged right now. We're all a little, you know, that's what they'll tell you, right? Unhinged, irrational, or maybe just like standing in your power and naming the chaos that is happening, you know, like it's just um it's real. So you know, because I go through every single day like WTF, like what is happening?

Kelly Stegman 39:03

Like, is this your life? Like sometimes, you know, and I'm sure all so many of us are questioning that like every day. We're like, what is happening? And yeah, it's it's time. Like instead of what's happening, it's what's going to happen, and we're going to create that change.

Jess Callahan 39:19

And yeah, yeah. Okay, so actually, I do have one more question for you. Oh, sure. For somebody who's standing here saying, I want to do more, I'm I'm losing my mind, I want to do more, or maybe they're just like, maybe I should start speaking up, and you know, like what are some what are some easy ways that somebody can make meaningful change in their lives and for the collective?

Kelly Stegman 39:44

The easiest way is to stay informed, following independent journalists on, you know, social platforms, on on Patreon, on Substack, you know, follow them so that you know what's going on, what what's really going on. And you know, it's a fun. Line there finding the balance between you know sensationalism and real news. But once you find it, you'll be okay. And then get it, you can get involved at a local level. Just and by get involved, I don't mean you don't have to go out and run for mayor, but you know what? Attend your town board meeting, see what's happening. Are they building a data center 10 miles away that you didn't hear anything about? Um, the same with your school board, you don't have to have children in school to go to school board meetings, just find out what's happening around. And if you want to get further involved in organizations, you could do it at that point. But um mutual aid doesn't always have to be monetary. Babysit for a neighbor while they're going to do something. Do a swap. My favorite thing to do is swap. I will watch my neighbor's kids and then they will pick up, you know, like two or three things at the grocery store for me so that I don't have to make that extra trip. You know, you can do things like that. You know, you cat sit for somebody and maybe they'll dog sit for you next week when you when you're away. Um, so it's and it's really get to know your neighbors. It's you know, yeah, build community for everybody, you know, like and and I totally understand, especially if you're an introvert or if you live in a big city, you don't want to know everybody. It doesn't hurt to say hi when you pass somebody in your neighborhood, you know, give a wave when you drive past them on the street, but get to know your neighbors, get familiar with you know what your community is really about. Those are the those are probably the easiest ways to get involved. And like I said, sharing the information on social media, talk to people about it. I think I think we were all quiet for so long because none of us wanted to be that person, and none of us wanted, you know, you don't want to get accused of being nuts or or whatever. We were all fear mongering and quiet for centuries. Yeah. Not not all of us. When I say we've been quiet, white women have been quiet for centuries, and it is time for us not to be. Yeah, yeah.

Jess Callahan 42:03

And and that's one way on social media, I think it's an important thing to name is that it's not it's not fear-mongering if you're if you are sharing things from like reliable sources, right? Um, and you're, you know, you're thoughtful about how you want to share things for me. My guiding light is I I if I can say that it is rooted in my own love, I'm sharing it that way, then it feels very aligned. You know, it's not um when it steps out of that, you know, for me, like if it's into like wishing harm on someone else, like I, you know, but you find your guiding light, you share through that. And it's it is not fear-mongering, it is helping other people see the world. I can't tell you how many people in the past week um have made some kind of comment to me about not knowing like what's going on in the world. Like one of my medical providers was like, Yeah, the world feels heavy right now. There was like that ice thing that happened, and then did you hear about it? And I was like, wait, you know, like so.

Kelly Stegman 43:04

Sometimes I'm not like I come across somebody and I'm like, have you not heard?

Jess Callahan 43:08

And they're like, heard what? I'm like, oh right, but it's but it is like the mainstream media isn't you have to, as you said early on, you find the independent journalists that that you trust. And so for sure, like as you're talking about like the importance of staying informed, truly, like it's not just about like turning on CNN or ABC because that they're not they're not telling you what's actually happening. Like you have to go online, you have to find the news sources, and you have to really do a little bit of digging, but it is genuinely the way through this, is by tuning in.

Kelly Stegman 43:41

Sometimes I watch um or I read international news because they're telling me what's happening in our own country. So there's that. And that's why I did want to tell people call your senators and representatives, even if they are on the opposite side of the aisle from you. It truly, truly does make a difference. You don't have to call being all angry and screaming your head off like I do. You could be very rational about it. Um you'll ask for your zip code, they'll take your name, and then just tell them what you want. Tell them you want to defund ice, tell them you want to touch the billionaires, tell them, you know, that you want control over the data centers, whatever, whatever's important to you, call about. If you have trouble, you can use um fivecalls.org. They have scripts that you can just, you know, you can hit the phone number and dial it right from your phone and then read the script from your phone. You don't even have to be thinking. So, but let your reps know that you are not happy, whether Democrat or Republican. Because they can all make a difference.

Jess Callahan 44:44

Yeah, yeah. That's that's isn't that the truth? Yep. Yeah, wow. Well, thank you. Thank you, thank you so much for being here with me today. I mean, like for having me.

Kelly Stegman 44:56

This was I love this conversation.

Jess Callahan 44:57

This was so I would love to have these conversations just like every day. It's just it's good for the soul to just remember that like this isn't normal. We are not crazy, and together we can make change. Yeah, yeah, thank you.