That Witch Life – A Podcast on Living as a Witch in Today ...



Courtney 0:00 (Intro music) 20 years ago, three young friends who realized they were witches. They scattered to different parts of the world, following magic and spirit. Now they're back in their hometown to share what they've learned. Welcome to That Witch Life podcast: Your home for for living as a Witch in today's world.Hilary 0:48 Hello, everyone. Welcome to That Witch Life podcast. I'm your host Hilary. Today I'm joined by my two co hosts Kanani-- Kanani 0:56 hello Hilary 0:56 and CourtneyCourtney 0:57 Hello.Hilary 0:58 This episode we're Focusing on the spring equinox and prosperity magic, all things that are really important and valuable this time of year. So we're excited to have you here. How's everyone's week been?Courtney 1:10 Mine has been really good in a very strange way. We had the demo crews come in and start removing the mold and the drywall and the lead paint from my house. So it's like as I was saying to Kanani's daughter, it is an ultimate spring cleaning and she said, 'Wow, you're having your ceilings removed? That IS the ultimate spring cleaning. I had a lot of fun last night. I went to a mead hall with my husband. Hilary 1:36 Ooh, how was it? Courtney 1:37 It was so good. Hilary 1:38 And where is it? Courtney 1:39 It's in a town where I live McMinnville, Oregon, and all these really delicious meads that are made by local farmers, but also some that come in from abroad. And a lot of pagan witchcraft groups meet there. I understood that the Wild Witches of the Willamette will be there for their next their next meetup. So I'm going to crash it. Hilary 2:00 Yeah, that'd be super fun. Courtney 2:01 Yeah. But no, my husband I played this game called "Odin's Ravens." Hilary 2:05 I saw you post a picture of that Courtney 2:07 It was so much fun. So the myth is that I, I'm sure I'm going to screw some of this up. So just forgive me in advance people who are obsessed with Norse mythology. So the great God Odin has these two ravens that circle the globe every day and bring him back the news of what they find as to what's going on in the world. And so you have it's only for two players this game and they have to get to the end of the world and then back and you know, you can throw Loki cards to throw tricks at your opponent and I won four rounds with my husband. And then the mead guy warned us that this could potentially bring out some serious competitive vibes in us and I asked him about halfway through what I'm getting these glaring looks for my husband, I said, "Does this game come with marriage counseling, or at least extra mead to handle this and apparently not, but it's So fun. So that's happening and getting ready to go to Paganicon. By the time this episode's released, I'll be just a few days away from that. So I'll be presenting on the Morrigan out in Minneapolis. So if any of our listeners, if you're going to be there, please come up and say hi. Again, this is Paganicon in Minneapolis and I am very excited to get out there and run my mouth.Hilary 3:20 That's super exciting. Is this mead hall open all the time?Courtney 3:23 Yes, only open all the time. Are you still on the mead hall?Hilary 3:26 I mean, like, I mean, your book is exciting and everything but I mean, mead. I just like didn't even realize that that existed and you're not that far away. So I'll definitely be crashing at your houseCourtney 3:37 it was being in there was a combination between being a at a pagan gathering like a festival and The Enchanted Forest in Salem, Oregon. So the music and the vibe and it's it's still really small and super, super, kind of it's still very clean and new and things like that. They don't have a lot of stuff up on the walls. Kanani's making this weird face. Do you not like mead or something? Kanani 4:00 No I'm looking at a bird that's outsideCourtney 4:04 is it a raven?Kanani 4:04 No, it was not a raven. I was just completely distracted by a bird out the window.Hilary 4:08 What about you, Kanani? How has your week been?Kanani 4:10 My week has been good. We've been doing a lot of spring cleaning at our place and been something about spring and spring equinox makes me obsessed with thinking about gardening and outside and I'm also been reading "The Green Witch" by Arin Murphy-Hiscock. Courtney 4:31 Yes. Kanani 4:32 And so the whole combination so now I'm just like completely obsessed with I redid my patio and and replanted everything and got it all fancified and we got some food for the birds outside and have been kind of rereading some of my books on the fae and I'm just all in spring fairy garden mode.Courtney 4:54 And then you're coming out to my house and helping me weed and plant my garden Kanani 4:57 yes, next weekend. the kids are very excited to come Courtney 5:00 Yeah, there's a native plant sale happening right in my county and so there's this one area I've been trying for a year to get a pollinator garden growing in my yard so far it's just been basically like ragweed and grass. So this week I'm going to go out there every day and try to pull this stuff up so that when my helper crew my little children that are going to help get dirty and things Hilary 5:23 Will you be using child labor? Courtney 5:24 a little bitHilary 5:25 okay Kanani 5:25 that's why I had them. that's why they exist in the world. Primarily for myself, but I can totally lend them out to help others.Courtney 5:36 I said I'd feed them and wouldn't make them work more than like 12 hour shifts. Kanani 5:40 Right.Hilary 5:41 That made me choke on my tea.Courtney 5:44 You can come too, Hilary. I invited you but you didn't respond.Hilary 5:47 I'm going to be in Oakland, rehearsing for a show I have at the end of March in LA. So this is my like, kind of one rehearsal chance so I'll be gone counting up the next weekend, but Yeah, things have been busy. For me work has been really crazy. And working towards this show in LA and I co-officiated a friend's wedding. Right at midnight on the 29th it really beautiful super intimate ceremony,Courtney 6:17 like Leap Year wedding. So that that's, that's crazy. I don't think I'm think about that. Kanani 6:23 That's kind of a fun idea. Courtney 6:24 Yeah, it's a great idea. Like, you would celebrate every year, but then you would super celebrate every four years. Hilary 6:31 So you'd be like "toasts!" it's you know, like, though, but then you're like, Okay, whatever. And then four years later, you're like, throw a big party. Courtney 6:39 I actually heard something about leap year where we were we are recording this on March 1. So we just finished that. And it was an interview with someone who is a leap year baby. And she has so many challenges when it says like, enter your birth date on some online forum because February 29 isn't an option. So frustrating. And so then somebody, I actually thought of Kanani, because they said, "Well, have you ever thought about just changing your birth day? But no, it's my birthday. It's awesome.!"Hilary 7:08 Also, can you even change your birthday? Courtney 7:10 I don't know. I don't know what they can do. Maybe they make some kind of edit to a birthday. I don't know. I don't make birth certificates. I don't produce those things. So yeah,Hilary 7:19 yeah, I feel like if you're born on Leap Year, they I mean, they should just have a 29th option and things because it is a day that exists that some people are born on. Yeah,Kanani 7:28 I actually heard there was a restaurant that for people who had you know, for the driver's license, you could prove you were a Leap Year baby they would give you for free desserts.Courtney 7:39 Yes, I saw thatKanani 7:40 every year. You can't go in, right, because you don't have a birthday. So every four year when it's your birthday, they'll give you four desserts instead of one dessert. I was like, ah, the only time I've ever wanted to be a leap year baby.Courtney 7:50 And it's probably the only time you ever consider getting a fake ID too.Kanani 7:53 Right?Hilary 7:55 Is it dairy queen. And did you order a fake ID yet? Kanani 7:57 No.Courtney 7:58 Although we figured out that the Dairy Queen next your house, Hilary, is hiring.Kanani 8:02 And Courtney is gonna work there. Courtney 8:04 I said Kanani wants me to get a job there. And I said, but you'd be so mad if you rolled up the drive through and saw me there. You wouldn't trust it. Like, 'I don't want you touching my ice cream. You're going to mess it up.' And I'll say, yeah, I'm just sit there. Kanani 8:14 Actually you said *I* should work there. And no, I would never make my own. That's not going to happen. I want someone to hand it to me.Courtney 8:24 What if it were me handing you a Blizzard? I did work at Baskin Robbins one summer. You had no problem taking my ice cream then Kanani 8:33 That was one of my best summers when you worked at Baskin Robbins. Courtney 8:36 That was a summer that you and I started hanging out, Hilary. Hilary 8:38 Yep. I do remember. Courtney 8:40 Yeah. And that was like we were doing some kind of joint spell. While I had to go into the back while I was working at the Baskin Robbins and like, expel what we thought was a demonic force from someone's house. Hilary 8:50 Oh that's right. Oh my god...I forgot about that! (laughs)Courtney 8:54 I'm in my little Baskin Robbins apron and I go in the back storage room and I'm like raising this incantation to drive out whatever we summoned through the Ouija board like two days before (laughs )Hilary 9:04 Yeah, we really messed up the Ouija board. It was bad.Kanani 9:10 I just remember you would show up at my house with with buckets of ice cream. And it was phenomenal. That was amazing. Courtney 9:17 yeah, back when you were nice to meKanani 9:20 That's right. Well, it was funny because there was one time I was sick. And both my boyfriend at the time and Courtney rolled up with Baskin Robbins quarts of ice cream. And I have two favorite flavors. I like the peanut butter chocolate, and the world class chocolate. And each of them had gotten one of each. So I actually ended up with both of my favorite ice creams on the same day. They each bought one and luckily instead of both of them buying the same, they bought separate ones. And it was one of the greatest days of my life. Courtney 9:50 and this was this was in the days before....Kanani 9:53 This was when I was 17! Courtney 9:54 This was far before cell phones so we couldn't like coordinate with each other. I just showed up Kanani 9:58 we had pagers! Wait, did we have pagers? Courtney 10:01 I did not have a pager till I was 18. I got a pager at 18.Hilary 10:05 I think I got a pager. I think I was like, I want to say I was a junior in high school when I got a pager.Kanani 10:13 I love the fact that some of our listeners are like, "What's a pager?"Courtney 10:15 Pagers were a nightmare because someone would page you and you'd have to go find a payphone and call the number. Now if this was somebody that also had a pager, they would like page you the number of a phone booth. So you think so then you'd like call this random phone booth. And if you miss them, you might get some stranger that would pick up or the phone boothor they would stand there waiting for you. And that phone booth did not accept incoming calls. And they'd be mad at you. Like "why didn't you call them" like I did call but it went it just went went into? Yeah, so like, it used to drive me crazy. Because when I had a pager, my parents used to, like I was working for my dad at the time. And he would page me and I'd be like, "Okay what is it?" and I go, you know, find quarters, go find the pay phone, call him and he'd be like, "your paycheck's ready." That's, that's great, thank you. But it was like, always ready. But he just wanted a reason to call. Kanani 11:08 It was such a process.Hilary 11:10 and my parents my parents were like, "we're going to get you this pager. But then you have to call us within X amount of time when we paged you." So then you're like, running around looking for a freaking payphone. like trying to, you know? Courtney 11:21 Yeah. And then you we all had that, like that one friend who had the early cell phone. And it was like, 59 cents a minute. Oh, yeah. It's like, "Can I please call my mom?" They would stand there. I remember one guy, like, called someone for me, and would like relay the message because he didn't want to hand me his phone, because I might run off with it.Hilary 11:38 Oh my god. Courtney 11:39 Those were the days....Kanani 11:40 I remember. I remember when my dad had a car phone. Or I didn't know what it wasn't a car phone. It was just a cell phone. And it had been given to him from his work and it was like a brick. Yeah, like this but it was so big. But I remember we all looked like "That's so cool.!" But it was like a the size of a brick.Hilary 11:56 Yeah, my dad had one of those too and I remember when he got it because the hospital, He works in he's a he's a doctor he's now retired doctor but the hospital was like "you know this we have this new thing so now when we page you you can call us or we can call you in an emergency, right?" And my sister and I were just in awe of this thing like "What? It has no cords! How does this even work?" Courtney 12:18 Zack Morris cell phones the (laughs)Hilary 12:22 The size of your whole headCourtney 12:24 you look at that only the really rich kids and wherever Bayside high wherever the Bayside high was supposed to be, who'd have the giant phones that they could glue to their faces. I would love to have one of those now and walk down the street talking on it. You know how many people would freak out.Hilary 12:39 I wonder if we can build one and just put our actual cell phone and then just be like, I bet there are cases out there because there are cases that are all sorts of things like cassette tapes, like whatever. I think it'd be hilarious to build a case that looks like one of those giant brick cell phones and just walk around like an idiot. That would be amazing.Kanani 13:00 That would be fun.Hilary 13:02 Kanani, you've been watching The Good Witch, I hear? Kanani 13:04 I have. It was something actually...so I actually have a friend who, when I watched the movie "Bell, Book and Candle," she heard about it on the podcast about me watching it. And she laughed because she said she was watching a sitcom called The Good Witch. And the the woman's store that she owned was called Bell, Book, and Candle. And so she didn't know that there was a correlation there, you know. And so it made me want to watch the show. So I started watching the show. It's super cute. It's on the Hallmark Channel. So it's like kind of the Hallmark Christmas movie vein, like where everybody's just, everything's good all the time and there's a minor conflict and then they have to fix it and then everyone's happy and a better person afterwards. And it's just adorable. And so I really like it. And I started watching it with my daughter who really likes it and...the thing that I like about it is that although she does make tinctures, and stuff like that in her store, so that is kind of you could consider that kind of spellcraft, her magic is really her intuition. And that she knows things and kind of when she meets someone she instinctively knows, like, what they're needing from her. And so she kind of sets them up in situations that they themselves are solving their problems. But one thing that she's famous for is like, she'll hand someone something and be like, "Hey, could you take this here?" And they're like, "Oh, yeah, sure!" And they think they're running an errand. And really, they're going to run into someone who's gonna have the answer. You know what I mean? That kind of thing. So it is kind of a, in some ways, a true to life version of magic, because it's not all Abracadabra, you change something from one thing to another,Courtney 14:51 It's not "demonic." Step aside, Cinderella.Kanani 14:53 Right. So it's not crazy. Exactly. She works more with energy and intuition and things like that. So I actually like the way that they are, I mean, it's Hallmark, they're going to do it as nicely as they can but I actually like the way that they approach magic in general because it's not very it's not a spectacle it's very intuition and thought, you know, thoughtfully done so I think it's adorable.Hilary 15:17 I would hate it, wouldn't I? Kanani 15:18 It's my new jam. I think you would like itHilary 15:19 Really?Kanani 15:20 Yeah, cuz it's not...I don't know. I know Courtney can swing with itHilary 15:24 because you said the word Hallmark and then like, I just went, ugh..Kanani 15:29 yeah, I don't know if you could. Courtney could swing with it. It was pretty cute. It's It's cute enough that you like it.Courtney 15:37 So it is recommended. It is nice nice gentle watch because sometimes I think we do need a mental rinse with so much panic as yes what's going on in the world but we still want something magic and let's be fair, Witches love Hallmark Channel. Kanani 15:52 (whispers) THEY DO!!!Courtney 15:53 I don't know what it is, but like my feed come around Christmas time. All of my witchy friends are just stocking on the Hallmark movies.Hilary 16:01 I mean I think maybe we have different Witch friendsAll Three 16:07 (cackling laughter)Hilary 16:08 maybe maybe Courtney and I should watch an episode and review itKanani 16:14 that would be super fun Hilary 16:15 Listeners, go on our Facebook page. Let us know if you want Courtney and I to watch and review an episode of The Good Witch.Kanani 16:29 I'm going to pick the episode. I'm going to pick one. Courtney 16:31 Okay, Kanani picks the episode Kanani 16:33 Yes. This is happening.Hilary 16:35 And FYI, we know what a review is and how to give one. Wink wink nudge nudge, no I'm kidding. Kanani 16:42 Okay, now I'm going to go home. I'm gonna pick which episode you guys get to watch. I love it.Courtney 16:44 So for our next episode, when we come back, Hillary and I will have a full fledged review ready. (Courtney and Hilary laughing). If Hilary can breathe because I think she just inhaled something.Kanani 16:55 It's on Netflix.Hilary 16:56 I just spilled tea all over myself (laughing)Kanani 16:59 It's now on Netflix so you can watch it. Oh I love this.Courtney 17:03 We need our own streaming service just for Witches (Hilary: "Tea is everywhere") that's all Witch flicks, and and it's just Witch movies and Witch TV shows.Kanani 17:09 That'd be so greatHilary 17:10 yeah I might maybe I'm gonna you know how you can make different profiles? I'm going to make a Witch Flix profile. Kanani 17:16 You totally could!Hilary 17:18 Can you share Netflix channels or profiles like you can on Spotify? where you can be like oh this is my like blah-blah profile or whatever? Courtney 17:24 Let's fine out. Let's create Kanani Witch flicks with all the movies that you review, including The Crow. That has to go in there Kanani 17:32 I can do that because I have my own profile my kids have a profile so when they go on it only shows kid kid movies. But you can create different profiles so I could create a Kanani profile where only shows Witch movies.Courtney 17:44 But the question is if it can be shared to the general public. Like Spotify. ,Let's find out. That'd be fun. Hilary 17:55 Courtney!Courtney 17:56 Yes? Hilary 17:57 Did you want to talk about the spring equinox? Courtney 17:59 (Singing) O-KAY! Alright, so Spring Equinox is coming up. And I'm very excited because a lot of the magic I've been telling our listeners not to do over the last couple of episodes especially love magic, your time is coming. Spring Equinox is all about new beginnings. Now. That sounds like a cop out because I feel like every frickin witchcraft meme and every frickin witchcraft association is "it's time for new beginnings!" But literally, this specific Spring Equinox the planets are aligning for new beginnings. In just Spring Equinox or Ostara as it's often called by many Wiccan traditions. It tends to lend itself to New Beginnings anyway, because the earth is coming back to life. Trees are starting to bud. We're all starting to want to get out of our houses a little bit more Hilary 18:49 for real. Courtney 18:50 Yes. So if you're going to be doing some spring magic, it's a really good idea to do a good cleaning first. So over the next couple of weeks Between now and you know, as spring continues, any if you start giving away clothes or books just take a moment before releasing them to honor the time in your life in which you obtained them. So similar to what Marie Kondo does where she says 'thank the item.' But I also say thank what happened, and some of those things are not comfortable. And so we're trying to take a moment and remember the lesson that came out of it. I know as some of my deep spring cleaning, I came across some stuff that belonged to people, and I wanted to give it back to them, which meant that I kind of needed to connect with these people. And I wasn't all that excited about it. But instead of dwelling on that and getting angry about it, I gave thanks to the specific lessons that I got out of that period. And, you know, because it's brought me to where I am today. And so then by giving these things away, I'm releasing that time but be careful, you're not leaving that energy in those objects. It's like you're saying to this book, this shirt, this trinket from whatever vacation that went badly you know your time is done and letting you go and you're no longer attached to this item before you give it away.Kanani 20:05 So are you referring to when you're reminded that drinking a lot of wine and shopping on Amazon prime is not the best idea? Courtney 20:14 When did I do that? Kanani 20:15 No, I'm saying that's what I do. I look at my things and I go "How did that get...oh...."Courtney 20:21 No, but you barely remember those times.Kanani 20:24 It's true. I think i manifest things but really it came in an Amazon box two days after I drank a lot of wine and watched a lot of hallmark movies. Suddenly things are in my closet and they weren't in my closet before Courtney 20:37 And you decide you're going to start a tea shop just like The Good Witch and then you get all these teas and you remember you don't drink tea?Kanani 20:41 See? That sounds like so much work. Courtney 20:45 Well, there's something that a friend of mine says, who a soon-to-be Ocha initiate, and she says one of the traditions she learned is "don't keep what you don't use." And honestly when you're looking at your magic supplies and you have a use for everything single one of them, and you know what they're for, that strengthens your overall magic. So keeping stuff around and I wrote a blog post about this about getting rid of magic stuff that you no longer are using. And some people get hard about that, like, "well, it had magic in it once so maybe I should keep it." No, don't don't if you're no longer using it, or you don't see yourself using it again in the future, like, truly don't see yourself using it again, not convincing yourself you might, then it's time to let it go. And you're not shaming overall spirits by doing that, especially if you're intentional and say "I'm letting this go." And once you let go of things you think you need, it brings in the stuff that you actually need. We were talking about this just before we sat down, we were talking about my ex boyfriend, and how heartbroken I was when that didn't work. And I felt like I needed to have that relationship. But as soon as that was gone, I met my husband. Yeah, so I really needed to let something go. Um, and so so the planting energy of the Spring is really naturally going to influence the things that you want to bring into your life or strengthen the things you already have in your life. Like if it's a new relationship and you want it to flourish, the springtime energies, if they're directed properly can help that relationship grow. So the spring equinox is on March 19. This year, just a couple of days after we release this episode. This is also the same day when the sun is entering Aries. By the way this is more geared toward those of us the northern hemisphere. I'm giving up love to those in the Southern hemisphere who are experiencing the fall equinox. But Aries being the first sign of the zodiac is a great time to bring in new beginnings. It's frequently known as a warrior sign as well as a fire sign. So it's an excellent time to bring in opportunities or doing blockbuster or road opening work. On one of our future podcasts we'll get really deep into what blockbuster and road opening spells are. But a very simple way to do something like that is just write down what the obstacles are and light them on fire. I mean Aries and Spring loves this kind of energy. Consider drawing or printing out the sigil of Aries to put on the paper as well. So if say you're having a hard time writing that novel, you really want to you're creatively blocked write down 'my creative block,' draw the sigil of Aries on it, and then burn it and get rid of, of that that mental block. So also on the 19th, the moon is squaring Uranus, which tends to bring in some erratic energy and it's can be a challenge with focus. So it's a really good idea to have your plan in mind ahead of time. So if you're listening to this podcast on the 16th or 17th take some time today to write down some of the things or meditate on some of the things you want to bring in. So when the erratic energy starts to come in on the 19th you can still harness those new energies without becoming distracted. The sun is sextile Saturn, so it is an excellent time to do money spells. Now the new moon on March 24 is a really great what I call it all purpose New Moon because the sun is conjunct the moon so it's literally all about new beginnings, as is the spring equinox, as is the new moon so you've got in then of course this astrological situation so you have three things lined up for you to bring in something new. If you've been waiting to do love magic because last few episodes I said "don't it's a bad time," now is the time to do it to bring in a new relationship. So, all right, y'all, if you're looking for someone, this is the time. Go for it. I saw a video about a single rose growing into a rosebush by sticking it into a potato and soaking it in water or something. We'll find the video and put it on our website.Hilary 24:37 Is that a real thing? Courtney 24:37 I don't know if it's a real thing.Kanani 24:39 (whispers) IT'S NOT A REAL THING!Courtney 24:40 Well, the video said it WAS.Hilary 24:44 The internet said it, so it's real!Kanani 24:47 if it was on the interwebs it must be true.Hilary 24:50 Everything there is true.Courtney 24:51 But anyway, I don't know if this works, but if it does, this would be a really wonderful way to bring in love magic by imbuing this rose with love energy and then if it grows into a love bush....to a love bush (laughs)Kanani 25:04 Oh dear. This is a child friendly show. Well, I don't know if it's a child friendly show.Hilary 25:10 What are you talking about? Kanani 25:11 You can say bush. That's fine. Let's talk about bush. Courtney 25:13 Love bush. (laughs hysterically)Kanani 25:16 And we're there. Courtney 25:17 Then we went there. All right. Anyway...(laughs)Kanani 25:20 Uranus and love bush. That's where we are. (Courtney still laughing)Hilary 25:23 Hi we're 12, everybody. Welcome to our podcast. We're in middle school.Courtney 25:28 Those parts are helpful when you want a new relationship right? So anyway, we encourage this love Bush to blossom and flourish (starts laughing again).Hilary 25:37 We have officially lost it, folks. Courtney 25:39 Oh God, I was trying so hard to be professional in this one. All right. All right, I'm coming back. Okay, got it. So, anyway, um, if you don't want to use the rose spell. My thought is (starts laughing again)Kanani 25:54 Are you referring to the bush?Courtney 25:56 Aren't you the one that told me I was laughing too hard and I need to control myself on our podcast?Kanani 26:01 No.Courtney 26:01 Yeah, it was her. Kanani 26:02 It's only funny when I make you do it.Hilary 26:04 Bush. Let's go.Courtney 26:05 Stop it! Okay, people are trying to learn from us here for some reason. Okay, so my thought is that getting what they call a seven day candle. So these are some of the bigger candles that come in jars and you're meant to burn them every day for seven days. Ideally, if you were to burn them 24 hours, they would be gone in seven days. However, I don't recommend ever burning candles when you're out of the house or when you're sleeping. So do put them out when you sleep and when you go to work or the grocery store or whatever. But if you start a seven day candle on March 19, and you burn it every day, through Tuesday, March 24, really powerful things can happen so you can carve your intentions into this candle. If a candle comes in a jar and can't be removed, you could paint the sigils on the outside of the jar or you could put it on a piece of paper underneath the candle. And I really think this is a time to be doing some candle magic. So make use of this entire week. between the 19th and 24th for the things you really want to bring into your life,Hilary 27:04 I will also sometimes put, and I say do this very carefully, very finely ground herbs like that I've done in a mortar and pestle just at the very top of the candle. Yeah, just be there when you light it because sometimes they'll smoke a little bit or they'll catch fire so just make sure you're watching but once the wax heats, it'll sink into the candle and you'll be fine.Courtney 27:24 Um, since we're talking about money spells today, one of my favorite herbs for money work is basil. Basil has I believe was actually used by sex workers back in the ancient days as a way to, they believed it would attract customers. And I think it's because basil is delicious.Hilary 27:41 it's delicious and it smells amazing,Courtney 27:42 smells amazing. And so we're drawn to it so basil is is a very good plant for drawing in money and someone again, I'm always on Team lemon balm but my high priestess calls lemon balm, the money plant. So you knowHilary 27:55 I love lemon balm. It's such a great plant and very easy to grow, too.Courtney 27:59 It is invasive so it is great thing to harvest from your area because it helps local wildlife and it helps your magic. Hilary 28:06 I will say that if you are planting it I highly suggest you planting it in a pot or it will become a very big problem for you. So you can transplant it to bigger and bigger pots, but it will stay contain. You can go start and start with a small pot and grow the pot but you definitely don't want to just put it in the earth or it will become an overgrown nightmare in your garden.Courtney 28:26 Yeah. And for the local wildlife.Hilary 28:28 It's not great. So I also find that in asking for anything, whether it be love, money, it's important to be very specific, because if you're just like, "give me the money!" you're like, it may come to you in a really weird way and it may result in you getting all of this work and maybe that results in more money but you didn't expect to suddenly have your plate overflowing.Courtney 28:49 I think it's also making sure that you're being specific about your intention, but not too specific. Like you're trying to shortcut to the end. I know that for a couple of witches in my Coven back when I was running one in New York, they were trying to bring some more money into the house. And what they wanted was this couple to move in with them and be their roommates, because that would bring an income. It was very specific. And they said, "We want this couple to move in." And I said, "Why?" And they said, "because we want the money." I said, but what if the money came without this couple having to move in? But she couldn't get it out of her mind. She's like, "Yeah, but that's the answer" and I said "not necessarily." And so they didn't. It was funny because they also had a big home protection spell, which meant that the roommates just could not figure out a way to move in. I said, "change the spell. let that one go. And say you want prosperity in the home." And so it didn't work out with the roommates. But then it turns out that their power company came back and said, "Oh my god, we've been overcharging you. All your bills are now half off for the time being and here's a rebate."Hilary 29:52 I think I think you're totally right and good call out. It's good to be specific. You don't want to box yourself in. But if you don't want to just be like "Send me money!" that like really doesn't you know if there's an area, so sometimes I'll be like, I really need income from the source or I'm looking for more opportunities here to bring myself more opportunity or income. It's good to be to have clear intentions but not spot yourself. And I think that's a really good point.Courtney 30:17 Yeah. Kanani 30:18 Is anyone doing anything special for Ostara?Hilary 30:22 I haven't had much chance to plan anything because of the car accident and a really heavy workload at the moment. I really love using bath magic this time of year. So I'll probably do a combination of herbs and oils in the bath. And I have actually a mix that I already have together that I'm excited to use so I'll probably do something like that. And then I usually I usually use candles for prosperity magic is my go to. So I'll probably do something like that too. But I really like I have I'm so far behind the planning curve. Just because life has been threw me a little bit of a curveball soCourtney 30:58 well, my husband and I tend to plan our holiday magic on the whim. So we'll do something for the spring equinox but I don't know what it is. We'll probably do something outside, it will be our first ritual outside since maybe last summer. So that'll be nice but we tend to remember that morning that it's time to do a celebration, or that evening, and it's a work night so we both have very demanding jobs. So we'll be doing something simple.Hilary 31:30 Yeah, I think that it's, I always try and remind myself I think in my head because I really like it's the like event planner and me that wants to build something huge and like do something really over the top. It's a really nice reminder to that it doesn't have to be huge. It can just be simple. You know, your ritual or what you do as part of your ritual doesn't have to be this big, complex, giant show. It can be something really simple.Kanani 31:54 We're probably going to do something. I usually do something outside with the kiddos. I always joke that my kids are probably some of the only kids that can explain why there's bunnies and eggs at Easter. The stories that I've taught my children, that was one of the ones because of course, there's all kinds of different versions and stuff, but I kind of thought it was the most, the easiest to explain and the most fun is Ostara, the goddess of spring was walking through the forest, and she came upon an injured bird. And the bird had fallen out of a tree and it had broken its wing, and a bird with a broken wing she knew would not survive. And so she picked the bird up in her hands, and she gave it a blessing and turned the bird into a bunny. Because the bunny doesn't have wings, and it was still cold outside, so she knew it would be safe. And she set it down on the ground and the bunny was so grateful that it followed her around, and it became her little familiar and the bunny because it was once a bird laid eggs. And so she would then paint the eggs and offer them up as offerings to the gods to thank them for everything that she had. And so that's kind of the story that the kids and I kind of talked about and do and that's kind of part of our spring equinox Ostara celebration and so they get bunnies and eggs when other people don't quite get bunnies and eggs.Hilary 33:32 So I'm very, very excited to welcome Reverend Dr. Queen Mother Imakhu Mu Neferet. She is phenomenal. And I want to introduce her by reading by far one of the most impressive bios and some background info info on her so that our listeners know all the amazing things that you've done. Rev. Dr. Queen Mother Imakhu Mu Neferet is a cultural educator, scholar, motivational speaker, Khametic elder high priestess and queen mother, initiated water priestess, water priestess, storyteller, poet, writer, vocalist, musician, dancer, yogini, artist, arts administrator, filmmaker, and multimedia producer. Dedicated to cultural preservation, cultural reclamation, and creating uplifting, truthful media for Black & Brown people, she is founder/director of AKERU MultiMedia, and UHEMU Black & Brown Storytellers. Former columnist for FIRST WORLD NEWS African American Newspaper Newspaper. Host/producer of ASHE! radio and TV shows. Founder/director of The Zawadi Collective performance ensemble. Founder of AKERU NuAfrakan Network. She is also co-founder of Newark Latino Film Festival and Newark Latino Artist Collective. Queen Mother Imakhu is founder/director and chief instructor of SHENU Art & Yoga Sanctuary (Khametic Temple). Creator of the Drums of Compassion drumming and dance program, which she has taught throughout the U.S. to children and adults since the late 90’s. Queen Mother Imakhu has taught African Arts Education for Philadelphia’s Point Breeze Performing Arts Center, Boys & Girls Club of Trenton, The Garvey Charter School of Trenton, City of Trenton, NYC Department of Juvenile Justice on behalf of Afrikan Poetry Theatre of Queens, Newark’s Ironbound Community Corporation, Montclair State University, and Orange, NJ Board of Education. Queen Mother was recently Yoga instructor for City of Newark Recreation Department; executive director and co-founder of the Newark Latino Film Festival. Queen Mother’s most recent film project, “I’ve Got a Vision,” produced for fellow filmmaker Nancy Vazquez, was highlighted by director Ava DuVernay on February 2019’s special online edition of TIME Magazine. A respected poet and writer, Queen Mother Imakhu has emceed spoken word events in Philadelphia, PA and Newark, NJ. Queen Mother is founder of AKERU MultiMedia, and Uhemu Black & Brown Storytellers of NJ. Queen Mother Imakhu's newest compilation downloadable music/spoken word CD,“The Very Best So Far,” was released on December 19, 2019. Her new documentary series, "The Wisdom Keepers," begins production in 2020. Her new one woman stage show, "The Water Brought Me Here,” begins touring in 2020, and is booking for schools, theaters, and events. Spiritually, Queen Mother Imakhu was initiated as an ankh carrying high priestess and queen mother through the Shrine of Khpra in Brooklyn, NY. She is an ordained interfaith minister, and is a member of the Newark Interfaith Clergy Alliance. She was also active in NYC Auburn Seminary. She is immortalized as Queen of Cups in the Tarot of the Boroughs contemporary photographic deck. As a Khametic scholar, her research connecting European Elder Futhark Runes to Nile Valley origins, has been considered ground breaking. Her newest book, KHESU DUAU MENI: Khametic Daily Prayers & Rituals, was released in late November 2019. While teaching the importance of maintaining cultural traditions, Queen Mother Imakhu is constantly breaking new ground by redefining practical new applications for today's world. Queen Mother Imakhu's proud family lineage includes her maternal ancestor, Billy Artis, who fought in the Nat Turner Uprising, her father, the late Tommie J. Lloyd, first African American American accepted into the New Jersey Tool & Die Association, former South Carolinian Congressman George Washington Murray, former enslaved African who was the only African American Congressman serving during the 53rd and 54th congresses, and her living relative, her cousin James Clyburn, current South Carolina Congressman. Queen Mother Imakhu has been celebrating Kwanzaa since 1989. The Nguzo Saba helped to deepen the Black Consciousness she was raised in, and provided a strong framework to raise her children with. She stands by the foundations that have shaped her, and that she proudly shares with community. She has also recently formed the SHENU Harmonious Living Institute. My god woman. That is incredible work. I'm so blown away by everything that you've done. Courtney 38:07 Hardest working Witch in Witch land Hilary 38:09 Ever!I thought I did a lot and not even close.Courtney 38:18 Also one thing that the bio didn't say is that she was the lead ritualist at Portland Pagan Pride two years ago. And that was one of the most beautiful Pagan Pride rituals I have ever seen. Even complete with a bald eagle flying over at the end.Hilary 38:35 It was phenomenal. It was such a beautiful thing to witness.Queen Mother Imakhu 38:39 We had a good time. We had a lot of fun.Hilary 38:41 Oh, it's so great. So Queen Mother, I wanted to start with this question that we asked everyone when they come to the podcast. This is where we start which is when did you first realize you were a witch or a magical person.Queen Mother Imakhu 38:54 I was a kid. I truly felt in sync with all of nature when I was a child. Absolutely. And this was encouraged by my maternal grandmother who would let me play outside in the rain and would let me be outside barefoot in the grass. And would encourage us as kids, my cousins and I we were all girl cousins with the exception of the one boy who got treated special because he was a boy. You know, he came along later but still, there were a lot of we were all girl cousins, you know, we were encouraged to go and play up on in Blackbrook Park, where with all the little teeny froggies little teeny peeper frogs and the big bull frogs, in spite of the fact that up on the hill, where the water tower was, the the Ku Klux Klan burned crosses, we still were encouraged to go and in the wake of that, and go and play amongst the ashes of on that, that hill, and going once the nature where the where the pond was, and where the little where the water would run over the rocks, we were taught to not be afraid, to not to fear any man and to still enjoy nature. And in enjoying that oneness. With all of life, that's where I felt the power of nature and learned how to, to will, things to be, I don't want to say at my command, but to learn how to be in sync with the Divine Presence of what I now call N'CHUR in my tradition. My grandmother taught me how question things that were in so-called religion. She taught me how to question what was in Christianity, and to not just accept what was told to me in traditional religion. And so I would say when I was very small as a child. Hilary 41:19 That's beautiful.Kanani 41:20 I think that's one of honestly the most impactful and important things that if anyone can instill in your child to instill in them the knowledge to question. And it doesn't mean that knowledge to be disobedient. It means the knowledge to question: why am I doing this? And that's one of the things that, you know, I attempt, hopefully to be able to do with my own children, because my thought process is I'm not always there. So I need them to think about things before they make a decision, you know, and be able to come to a conclusion on their own without me having to tell them yes or no,Queen Mother Imakhu 41:56 Yeah, that's a really important point that you made. That doesn't necessarily mean to be disobedient. You know, because we certainly were respectful and obedient children. And, you know, it's really ironic that I mentioned my cousins in this because Lord knows they are truly staunch Christians. You know, I'm the rebel. You know, I mean, I went my period of being staunch in my Christianity when I got to be a teenager when I was taught to later be afraid. When I stepped away from that natural flow for a while for a little while, and you know, when I became scared of going to hell, and when I learned to to become selfish in that way, you know, because when you start doing things because you're afraid that something's going to happen to you in the afterlife and you start doing things to garner brownie points from a God that is different than the one that you first come To know when you're in touch with the divine and so that you can curry favor so that you won't end up burning in some eternal so called eternal lake of fire that differs from the lake that you knew as a child that was beautiful and had wonderful, beautiful currents and beautiful life. And it's, it's sad, it's it's, and again, there's an element of selfishness in it because now you're doing it because of what's in it for you. You know, you start doing things that are nice for others, just because of what's in it for you. So that so that God will be happy with you and so that you won't end up going to hell, you know, and then that's it. It's selfish. Kanani 43:46 Yeah, it's kind of doing something nice to be nice for this. You're doing it for all the wrong reasons. You're doing it because you think it's going to help you to get into Heaven.Queen Mother Imakhu 43:56 Right instead of uplifting, uplifting humanity. Yeah. Yeah, it's sad.Hilary 44:03 I mean, I loved your book. I thought it was incredibly insightful and it and I thought it also really explained things in in such a clear format. You know, sometimes I think when you read through books there, you leave and you're kind of like, what did I even just read? I don't even understand, you know, and I left, I left really seeing your practice and understanding it and I thought it was just beautifully written. Queen Mother Imakhu 44:26 Well, thank you. Thank you.Hilary 44:29 For our audience, can you tell us just a little bit about the basic tenets of the Khametic faith? Queen Mother Imakhu 44:34 Sure. Ma'at is the concept of harmony, reciprocity, balance, order, justice. Divine love. These are the basic tenets that we base our beliefs on. These concepts are matriarchal. And the idea is that it's mindfulness. These are the concepts that The Golden Rule is based upon and that all basic religions are founded upon, ideally. It is said that all world religions are based on this and are highly influenced by these tenets because all world religions came out of, basically came out of ancient Egypt or Khamet.Courtney 45:59 I think that many of our listeners may not even realize that that the original name for what they know is ancient Egypt was Khamet. Queen Mother Imakhu 46:10 So let me explain that. Because Khamet was the original name of ancient Egypt. Khamet, which means Land of the Black. Now some people believe that to mean that this talks about the origin of the people who lived there who had dark skin. Kham means black. Now, this also refers to the silt that comes out of the, the soil that comes from the, the waters of the Nebt Het, or the Nile during the time of the flood. Either way, it refers to the word black and the richness of the soil that came from the floodwaters that nourished the land. As the land was nourished, this meant that the crops would be able to grow. The land was irrigated. As the land was irrigated, that meant that that there was a flourishing because people would be able to eat. There would be the crops would be able to grow there would not be starvation. So, it was important then for the floodwaters to bring this rich dark soil because that meant there would not be starvation. Okay, so, Khamet was a rich civilization. The people lived according to a high standard. And as people visited and traveled through the Nile Valley civilization, they observed the high standards that the people lived by and it influenced the many who traveled through there. They brought what they observed to their cultures and the high standards affected many, including the religious traditions, okay? So what does that mean--that meant that it ended up affecting the Hebrew traditions, it meant that it affected the Islamic traditions. And as the Khamites traveled, and they were world travelers, they were experts, navigators as they traveled the waters and they traveled throughout the world. They had influences on the Asiatic traditions. It is said also that the Buddhists and the Buddha Buddhist traditions were affected in fact that it said that the teachings of the Buddha were actually the priesthood of Ptah. Ptah traditions that came out of the Nile Valley traditions and it goes on I explain more about this in my book. So now in our temple, our temple is a Water Temple. The word for Mer, the word for love is Mer. And Mer is also one of the many words for water. Now, I've been sharing recently, my observations about the fact that the people who were actually closest to the water were everyday people, not the people in the palace. The people in the palace were separated from the water. And they had people who brought water to them. They had irrigation systems that were built so that water was able to flow into the palace. Okay. And you also had people who were royal butt washers, okay? Now I mean, how close can you be to the water if you're not gonna wash your own behind? You know?All Three 49:50 (laughing)Kanani 49:52 I tell that to Courtney all the time.Hilary 49:58 So true. I mean, I guess I I think that's so valid because that is so that you know when you're up in this palace when you are that level of wealth there is there is there is a fortress around you. You're not connected everyday life you're not connected to everyday people or any of the resourcesCourtney 50:17 The top down billionaire 1% crushing all...this is an issue we've been dealing with for thousands of years. Hilary 50:23 forever!Kanani 50:23 Yep.Courtney 50:24 Think about this. Now think about your ancestors. Your ancestors, who were the everyday people who had to go to the water to wash their own clothes, who had to fetch their own water, okay? Who had to deal with the dangers of the water. Crocodiles, snakes, dysentery. The ones who are closest to the water were the ones who knew the dangers of the water and had to build a relationship with the water, the water animals, the water spirits. They were the ones who knew the water and had to build a relationship of oneness with the water. Who developed their own avenue of prayers, bargaining with the water and the water spirits, okay?Hilary 51:22 That makes I mean, that makes sense to me. It's like, I feel like it makes sense to me that those people would have that deeper connection because they were there. They weren't up with other people. There was weren't a number of people, between a person and the resource. It was the person and the resource there together. Courtney 51:41 I'm just upset that from now on, Kanani's just going to say that I'm the descendant of a butt washer.Kanani 51:48 That's NOT what I said. What I said is you need to wash your own butt.Hilary 51:51 We literally like we're having like a historical conversation and it's it just falls apart to butt washing?Courtney 52:01 Oh Queen Mother. It'll make sense when you hear the first part of the podcast.Kanani 52:04 This is why Queen Mother and I get along so well.Hilary 52:08 Speaking of ancestors, one of the things that popped up in the book for me. You said that one of the ways that you I mean, there were many ways to honor our ancestors. But one of the ways that I just didn't even, you know, there wasn't something I think that I thought about was, you said that doing acts of kindness to honor ancestors is a part of the way that you honor them, that you give you thank them by giving to others. And I thought that was so amazing, because I think we often think, okay, we're going to buy this thing or put this food out. I mean, I cook food for my ancestors, I'd give water to my ancestors, too, not that those aren't important, but this is something that I guess I didn't think of it. I thought of it as an act of kindness, but not as an act of kindness that honored ancestors and I thought, What a beautiful way to honor them to give to others as a form of gratitude. So I just wanted to call that out because I just thought it was so beautiful.Queen Mother Imakhu 53:04 Yes, I mean, listen, our ancestors do appreciate the fact that we remember them and we cook for them. I know that my ancestors, my grandmother in particular appreciates, and does something immediately for me when I cook succotash for her because she, it shows that she remembers the try the time that I tried to cook a meal for her. And I made her favorite succotash you know, and I tried to cook this fried chicken for her. It was a disaster. When I moved in with her to get away from my mother, I moved in with her my grandfather, and as an act of gratitude in life, I tried to cook this fried chicken, and it came at all bloody, you know, and she was all so quiet and humble, you know, and she cut into it and she was like, "Your mother didn't teach you how to fry chicken?"Courtney 54:00 I love that your grandmother automatically gave you a pass and she didn't criticize you. She criticized your mother like it's your mom's fault.Hilary 54:10 So I want to make sure that we leave since we since the topic of episode is prosperity magic. And I wanted to leave some space for that because I'm really interested to hear from you. First of all, how you incorporate prosperity magic into your own practice. Queen Mother Imakhu 54:27 Well, let me just segue into that by finishing, talking about this whole thing about cooking for my grandmother, because I put out a small plate and you know, I make sure that I thoroughly cook a piece of chicken for my grandmother, okay. And, and I cook the succotash you know, because it always that memory to that time from when I was 18 and you know, the chicken didn't come out good, but the succotash came out, you know? But let me just tell you, every time that I do within like a half an hour or so, then I get a phone call from somebody who wants to order something big. Like somebody wants to order like a, like a reading or a chart like something that's big from me, and in a really timely fashion when I really need the money, okay? And my grandmother was the one who held the purse strings in our family, okay? It used to be that when, and this was before I was born, in my family, because my grandma, my grandparents were sharecroppers and they came up north and made themselves business people. And so in the family, because grandma was Miss Got Rocks, if someone needed a loan, my grandfather would always say "You got to talk to Selma," okay? And so she would be the one who decided if somebody would get the money, all right? Because she was the bookkeeper in the family. So to this day, on my altar, I pour libation to her and to her sisters because they were the ones who were the the money manifestors. So it's important to know who in your family you should pour libation to, when you need money. You should not pour to just anybody, okay? Now, this is really important to understand. Because as we are resurrecting our traditions, we feel that we should just pour to anybody just because they died. That's not true. Death does not make you wise, it does not automatically mean that you've got wisdom, okay? You have got to get that straight. You're gonna be messing yourself up royally. Pardon the pun, okay, pardon the backwards pun here. But truly, you could be messing yourself up because you were just assuming that because somebody died, that means that they deserve a place on your altar. There is a distinction between who goes on your altar and who goes in your memory book, who goes in the photo album, who goes in the drawer, who should not even be mentioned. Okay? There are people that you pray for. There are people who go in the photo album, there are people who go on your altar. There are people you call upon for money help. Okay? You have to be very, very clear about that. All right? Kanani 57:31 I just have to stop you real quick to say something that's kind of it's on the ancestral altar talk topic. I have some people that I have been feeling like I need...because they're ancestors, that I need to put them on my altar, and there has been something that has prevented me from doing that. And I feel like you just gave me permission to not do it. Which I appreciate because there's just been that thing of me going, I just don't think that they belong there. It felt like something I was supposed to do not something I wanted to do or felt that they it was appropriate for them to be there. So I feel like it was powerful what you just said, in not everyone has to be there.Queen Mother Imakhu 58:17 Yes, you do readings and then you go to somebody else and you get the pendulum, okay? You get back up, you get a council of three, just to make sure because you also want to make sure that they're not creeping in and getting that pendulum going. Okay? You make sure, okay? You get absolutely clear on that, all right? Listen, this has been the topic of conversation of late, where people have come to me and asked "who's supposed to be on my altar?" Because people's lives have been jacked up royally. Listen, we have fond memories of many. And that's fine. And you pray for them because many of them want to ascend, they want to move forward. There's some people who were stuck. You can pray for them. All right? You can even you can pour libation for them outside in a park away from your house, okay? Some place else. You don't want them in your personal space where they can jack up your energy, okay? Especially when it comes to your finance. Your finances are important because that's how you move forward in this world. You need money to live in this world, all right? Now, in terms of other ways that you can move forward with your finance. In our tradition, we use Hekau those are words of power. This is this is all important because these are your in our tradition, these are our incantations. Okay? Now for us as a science, because for us we learn the Netcheru these are the gods and goddesses for lack of better term. We kind of veer away from those terms, because we understand them to be energies. But for lack of a better term, these are forces of nature. Sometimes it's just a matter of understanding the energy properties, but there's a science to it. And it's a matter of also understanding which correct order they go in. Okay? So, as you come to know them, then you put them in the proper order, and then you chant them. Now we also write prayers. Now, there's so many different words that we use for prayer. But we write prayers that we use. There's a prayer that we use, Khepri, that we use for money. We also come to understand a certain cycle as well. Now for right now, we are in retrograde cycle. We have learned not to fear retrograde it used to be where like I had a friend who used to call me all the time: "Queen Mother! Retrograde's coming! It's coming. Get ready! Oh my god get ready!"Kanani 1:01:11 You can say it was Courtney. That's okay. Queen Mother Imakhu 1:01:16 Oh my god, this was this was my friend from the metaphysical church that, you know, it just came to be a common thing. And man, oh my goodness. And I used to be like, "Oh no!" You know, listen, then I came into the Khametic tradition. It'd be like, "Listen, chill, okay?" And so now we know who to work with. During retrograde cycle, we welcome it, okay? Because now we know to work with Thoth. Listen, in our temple especially we work with all of these ***Necheru*** dealing with timing, okay? Or, you know, Gods and Goddesses, for lack of a better term, dealing with timing. So that's Nuit. That's Thoth. Akeru. Wow, there's so many...Hu and Huit There's so many. And we also know, all right, so it's coming. So we know there's certain things that we wrap up. We also know we look forward to the different things cropping up, but we can bring closure to, or that we have an opportunity to re-address. This is an opportunity for us, okay? So we shouldn't be afraid. We also expect that there are certain things that are just going to break down because that's what's going to happen. It's just part of the cycle. We deal with cycles, it's part of a life cycle. Alright, so we now welcome the retrograde cycle. It's just an approach to life. You know, so now when it comes to money, we also know that there's an opportunity for some lost, or not lost, but we can make money during these cycles, okay? Opportunities that had been forgotten about can now be re-addressed. So we don't necessarily look at it as being a lot money that will be lost. We can look at it as an opportunity for money to be gained. Okay?Courtney 1:03:29 That's the kind of energy you can pull from during the retrograde, is that what I understand?Queen Mother Imakhu 1:03:33 Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. It's just a matter of knowing who to call on, all right? And let me just say--this is a chance for restoration. So you would say Tchebu which means restoration, okay? So in your meditations, you would say "Dua Tchebu, okay? Thank you for restoration." And so you will call in that restoration energy. Anybody who owes you money? Come on! Bring it! Bring it!Hilary 1:04:04 That's a really good point. I guess I I think we probably don't think about like, not just asking for new money but also pulling in money that's that people are owing us. One of the things that I was really curious about is so when you're at so we I think we often ask we like we create prosperity spells, or we asked for prosperity magic to help us. And it's often like, more money here, more money here, money, more money here. But what part does financial responsibility play into that? Like, how do you balance? Like, how do you work in both asking and the responsibility? And is that something that works together in prosperity magic, or is it or are they two totally separate things? Am I crazy thinking that? Queen Mother Imakhu 1:04:50 No, it is a good point. It's a very good point because you know, we can we kind of get slipshod with that too, because it is an opportunity for us also to restore because that word ****shey-bu*** It also means restoration. It's a chance for you also to restore. If there are times where you owe something and you've kind of forgotten about it, it's a chance for you to, to do your own restoration, too.Hilary 1:05:13 When you're asking. So when, for our listeners, you know, when, when they're asking for money or for financial success, what's a good way to do that respectfully and like without asking, I mean, how, I guess how do we ask how do we ask respectfully? Is there a good way? You talked about obviously syncing with an ancestor that you think is was particularly fiscally responsible? Or who held the money purse? You know? Is there anything that you think is good to offer them outside of the things that they individually like? Is there something that you do in your practice that that you find?Courtney 1:05:55 I think a question to add on to that as if a person didn't know their ancestors personally. Maybe they were adopted or their ancestors passed away many years before they were born, what sorts of things would be kind of more all purpose gifts to give an ancestor you didn't know, in life? Queen Mother Imakhu 1:06:11 That's a good question. If I can just kind of hold that for just a minute because I do want to address something about the restoration thing. I want to say also, we believe in what's called restoring Ma'at. This is where if you have offended someone, or again, you owe something, you have to restore the balance. We call it restoring Ma'at. And that's where you have the opportunity to go, if you have offended someone and apologize to someone and you have a chance to fix it. Okay? That's really, really important. Having that humbleness of heart and being able to go and the humility piece is huge. You know, because it all begins with being able to...we always hold a mirror to our ourselves and ask, "What can I do?" What have I done? You know, is there something I need to do in order to restore the energy because it can't it should not it cannot be a thing where you just look at the universe as this big gimme, gimme, gimme factor, okay? That's why it's important to go and make sure that you go and do for somebody. Okay? That's why we, you know, go and do a kind act for someone.Hilary 1:07:32 That's, I mean, that when you said that immediately, it was like, Oh, right. It's honoring your ancestors with those acts of kindness. It's going and, and, and spreading kindness as as a as a form of gratitude,Queen Mother Imakhu 1:07:43 Right and not just, you know, putting a plate down before your ancestral altar. You know, it's not always about that, you know, because it's better to, you know, occasionally honor them with something but then go and actually give something to someone in need. Because, you know, it's like someone was telling me that they put a plate of meat down in front of this particular guardian? Well, as I said, I would I know that the Guardian would really prefer for you to go and give a meal to someone who was hungry, as opposed to putting this plate of meat down in front of the statue.Hilary 1:08:16 Yeah. I think that's a really good point. I think, I think that I think sometimes we forget, because we are so focused on the individual ancestor, what they like and what they what they would want. And while that, you know, and in your book, you said, You know, "I pour libations regularly, I do that regularly, but the the food is from time to time." So it's like, I think it's a good, a good way to honor them every day, you know, we have opportunities to give back to people every single day, whether it's, you know, stopping and helping, whether it's, you know, you know, I mean, it's endless, right, you can you can help people in a bajillion different ways. They don't have to cost money, they don't have to, and there are many ways that you can be kind and show kindness.Queen Mother Imakhu 1:09:00 Right. I pour water every day, you know, to make that connection and and show to show gratitude. But for food, there are people hungry every single day who need food in their belly, you know? Go back to the other point please again when we stuck that pin and again. Courtney, please remind me again what what was it you just asked me.Courtney 1:09:19 What might be an appropriate offering if you didn't know your ancestors? Queen Mother Imakhu 1:09:24 Yep. Yes, yes. Okay. So we have for the ancestors that we don't know. They're the high ancestors of light. But then again for even those you don't know you know, we say "the Named and Unnamed, the Known and Unknown," you are still able to pour libation to them. And to just say those that are named and for the name, your name for the known and the unknown, okay? You were still able to acknowledge them. And those are the invisible hands. It is important to acknowledge them and to ask for help. Because certainly if you were adopted, and it's certainly it's fair to reach out to them, that doesn't mean that you, you're cut off from them because they know you. They know you. And if you have relatives who are jealous at the notion of your asking them for help, and that's not fair. But certainly you're not...how are they to know if you're praying to ask for their help, you know? I always say that if you had someone who you never met, show up at your doorstep and ring your doorbell and and say, "I'm your long lost Ancestor, and I'm standing here to give you a million dollars." Would you turn it down? I don't think so!Hilary 1:11:01 I'm like, not me. Queen Mother Imakhu 1:11:04 You know? So it's certainly fair to ask for help from those that you do not know. And they are more than willing to help you.Hilary 1:11:14 That's fantastic. I mean, that's like such good advice, because I think there are a lot of people out there that don't, that don't know. And I think that's a good way to call them in and also for all of us even even, even those of us that know our ancestors like to still recognize that we can still honor those that we didn't know and ask for help. So, one of the things we do as we're kind of rounding out the episode one of the things we do is we and we have a little thing that we call "As below, So above," rather than, "As Above, So Below" and what we do is is at the end of the episode, we say something that we want to release so something that we are getting rid of or something that we are letting go of, and then and then we in return ask something that we would like to bring in. Something that we would like to call in, we would love, if you would like to participate, to have you participate. We're happy to go first so that you can see kind of how we do it. Courtney 1:12:11 I nominate Kanani. Hilary 1:12:12 Kanani's going to go first.Kanani 1:12:13 This is this is kind of a this is an easy one for me this time because I am actively trying to bring in the energy and the finances of trying to purchase a new house. And so that is what I'm trying to bring in. And I'm actually going through my house right now. And thinking going through all of our stuff and thinking to myself, "Would I want to pack this in a box?" And if not I am I'm giving it to someone who needs it and or I am I am donating it and so I'm trying to get rid of the stuff that no longer serves me and that is taking up space and energy and and I'm trying to get rid of that and I'm trying to bring in the finances and the energy to get a new home. Courtney 1:13:06 So mote that. Hilary 1:13:07 So mote that! So for me, I'm what I'm trying to let go of is financial anxiety. I just had to purchase a car because I was in an accident. My car was totaled and I've worked really hard to be in a place of financial stability but signing the car loan was very...I was like completely like almost hyperventilating so I'm letting go of...I think that comes from a place of the past where I wasn't as financially stable and I've worked really hard to pay off debt and and become a financially stable person. So I'm letting go of the anxiety of the past that is interpreted into the anxiety of today and I'm bringing in confidence in in the stability in my life and and a realization that I've worked really hard to get to where I am and it's okay to be proud of that.Courtney 1:13:59 Mine is similar. We're staying on this whole money finance theme. I'm also wanting to let go of financial anxiety. We had a lot of different costs racking up. Queen Mother that mold problem in the bathroom, turned into a whole demolition and we have a crew in there right now. It's okay! But I welcome that we're going to have a very fresh fresh look to the house Hilary 1:14:22 And safe! Courtney 1:14:23 And safe! No more lead paint in the ceilings. No more mold in the bathroom. So I am embracing the fresh new energies of a fixed house.Hilary 1:14:32 Absolutely. Queen Mother Imakhu 1:14:33 Mm hmm. Okay. I am releasing all blockages to my financial security. And releasing all blockages to my global success. Releasing all blockages to happiness, all blockages to good love, all blockages to good power. All blockages, oh yeah, get my license. All blockages to good health. And I am welcoming the new in all avenues of my life for my higher good and for my success and financial wellness. Hilary 1:15:48 So mote that! Courtney and Kanani 1:15:49 So mote that.Hilary 1:15:51 So we wanted to take a moment to reiterate to our listeners that your book is amazing. They should go buy it immediately. In case you missed the title it is Khesu Duau Meni: Shenu Khametic Daily Prayer Rituals by Queen Mother Imakhu. Queen Mother, what's the where's the best place for people to order that?Queen Mother Imakhu 1:16:14 Well, . I want to thank you all so much for having me. Courtney, thank you so much. My spirit child, my dear friend forever, who has always had my back. I just thank you so much. And I miss you and Brian. And look forward to seeing you so much. And thank you ladies.Hilary 1:16:45 Yes. Thank you!Kanani 1:16:46 Thank you!Queen Mother Imakhu 1:16:47 I can't wait to get up there on the west coast and see you all again, wrap my arms around you all.Hilary 1:16:52 Yes, you do. Please come out here. Well, thank you so so much. We really appreciate you coming on. I know our listeners are going to love hearing all of the history and all of the suggestions to bring in prosperity and financial success. So to our listeners, we hope it's successful for you. So for those of you that haven't already visited our Etsy shop, we have our spell cards are large stickers, our small stickers. You can actually go to our Facebook page which you should go and follow anyway. And there's a Shop Now button on there that you can click that will take you right to our Etsy store so that you can purchase those items. The spell cards are great. They're nine different spells each one of us wrote three and you won't get the same one we make sure that you don't get a duplicate. If you like listening to us, and you've enjoyed our episodes, we'd love to have you go over to Facebook and give us a rate or review Courtney 1:17:47 Or on Apple podcasts Hilary 1:17:48 Or on Apple podcasts because that lets other listeners know that you like what you're hearing and let other people know about us. And then of course, we are on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. So please go follow us. We post really ridiculous things and some really informational things as well. And we love hearing from our fans. So as always reach out if you have any questions and we look forward to you joining us next episode.Courtney 1:18:11 Yeah Bye everybody! All Three 1:18:12 Bye. (Exit Music) 1:18:13 Join us on the first and third Mondays of the month for Magickal tools, tips and stories about living as a Witch in today's world. Find us at for archived episodes or to ask your burning questions for us to answer on a future podcast. So mote it be!Transcribed by ................
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