Demystify Magic | Science + Spirituality + Low Effort Witchcraft

Today we’re talking about Gerald Gardner, why he’s called the father of modern Wicca, and how a prescription for nudism somehow became part of the origin story. Along the way we sort out a big misconception, why Wicca isn’t the same thing as witchcraft, and how witchcraft existed long before Wicca ever had a name.We dig into the timeline, Gardner’s rise in the 1950s after the repeal of Britain’s Witchcraft Act, his public “yep, I’m a witch” moment, and the way figures like Doreen Valiente helped shape (and challenge) what Wicca became. Then we get into the messy bits, such as questionable credentials, borrowed material, rigid hierarchy, secrecy, gender roles, and why some of this still echoes in modern “love and light” spirituality.Finally, we unpack the Wiccan ethics everyone argues about online, from the Wiccan Rede (“harm none”) to the Threefold Law, including why it’s often treated like karma… and why that comparison falls apart when you look at karma’s actual roots.Join our Patreon for bonus episodes, magical downloads, and unhinged side quests: https://www.patreon.com/demystifymagicPre-order Molly’s book Mundane Magic A Lazy Witch's Guide to Hacking Your Brain, Building a Daily Practice, and Getting Stuff DonePreorder Mundane Magic & Join the Virtual Book Tour⁠: Celebrate the release of Molly's new book with an exclusive online event on Feb 21, 12 PM EST. Get behind-the-scenes insights, live Q&A, and your SIGNED copy shipped on release day.🔮 Join the waitlist for Reiki 1: The Science of Self-Healing: https://www.mollydonlan.com/reikiwait🛍️Shop our merch here: https://demystifymagic.com/collections/merch🔮 Download the FREE Manifest with Reiki Ritual: https://www.mollydonlan.com/manifestwithreiki🕯Shop spell candles and oils at Spellcrafter https://shopspellcrafter.com 🔮 Shop magical tools to enhance your practice, use code MAGIC to get 20% off your order: https://thehealinghedgewitch.com/🎬 Molly’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@m0dizzl3 Let us know your thoughts:✨ Demystify Magic Instagram: @demystifymagic✨ Molly’s instagram: @m0dizzl3✨ Madison’s instagrams: @madisonlillian.jpeg and @healinghedgewitch  and @shopspellcrafter

We’re swapping traditional New Year’s resolutions for our favorite tradition: the Yearly Bingo Board. Think of it as part intention-setting ritual, part manifestation play, and part permission slip to dream bigger without turning your goals into a pressure-filled checklist.We break down how the bingo board works, why it can feel easier (and more aligned) than a vision board, and how it helps you reflect on what mattered last year vs. what matters now. We also share some of our biggest 2025 “checks,” the squares we didn’t hit (and why that’s still a win), and the ways this practice keeps goal-setting fun, compassionate, and flexible.Grab your markers, pull up a cozy seat, and let’s build a 2026 that feels like you.Join Molly & Jacqui for the 2026 Opening Ceremony: https://mollydonlan.com/2026-opening-ceremonyDownload Molly’s mundane magic meditations: https://mollydonlan.com/magic-meditations Join our Patreon for bonus episodes, magical downloads, and unhinged side quests: https://www.patreon.com/demystifymagicPre-order Molly’s book Mundane Magic A Lazy Witch's Guide to Hacking Your Brain, Building a Daily Practice, and Getting Stuff DonePreorder Mundane Magic & Join the Virtual Book Tour⁠: Celebrate the release of Molly's new book with an exclusive online event on Feb 21, 12 PM EST. Get behind-the-scenes insights, live Q&A, and your SIGNED copy shipped on release day.🔮 Join the waitlist for Reiki 1: The Science of Self-Healing: https://www.mollydonlan.com/reikiwait🛍️Shop our merch here: https://demystifymagic.com/collections/merch🔮 Download the FREE Manifest with Reiki Ritual: https://www.mollydonlan.com/manifestwithreiki🕯Shop spell candles and oils at Spellcrafter https://shopspellcrafter.com 🔮 Shop magical tools to enhance your practice, use code MAGIC to get 20% off your order: https://thehealinghedgewitch.com/🎬 Molly’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@m0dizzl3 Let us know your thoughts:✨ Demystify Magic Instagram: @demystifymagic✨ Molly’s instagram: @m0dizzl3✨ Madison’s instagrams: @madisonlillian.jpeg and @healinghedgewitch  and @shopspellcrafter

We’re back recording for the first time since Chicago, and we’re easing ourselves in with a cozy, slightly chaotic Q&A.We dig into some of the most common questions we receive about deity work, crystals, and the practical side of witchcraft. We explore what it really means to begin a relationship with a deity, why research is always the first step, and how reading mythology and history can help you understand the deeper context behind any spiritual connection. We talk about taking deity work off the pedestal, avoiding ego traps, and building practices that feel grounded instead of performative.We also get into modern approaches to offerings, from translating ancient traditions into everyday acts of care to understanding why correspondences like cinnamon and apples show up so often in spellwork. A listener question about moving countries turns into a surprisingly rich conversation about downsizing crystal collections, choosing the stones that matter most, and thinking about your tools in a more intentional way. And yes, somewhere in the mix, we settle the very serious question of which pasta shape we’d ride into battle.Join our Patreon for bonus episodes, magical downloads, and unhinged side quests: https://www.patreon.com/demystifymagicPre-order Molly’s book Mundane Magic A Lazy Witch's Guide to Hacking Your Brain, Building a Daily Practice, and Getting Stuff DonePreorder Mundane Magic & Join the Virtual Book Tour⁠: Celebrate the release of Molly's new book with an exclusive online event on Feb 21, 12 PM EST. Get behind-the-scenes insights, live Q&A, and your SIGNED copy shipped on release day.🔮 Join the waitlist for Reiki 1: The Science of Self-Healing: https://www.mollydonlan.com/reikiwait🛍️Shop our merch here: https://demystifymagic.com/collections/merch🔮 Download the FREE Manifest with Reiki Ritual: https://www.mollydonlan.com/manifestwithreiki🕯Shop spell candles and oils at Spellcrafter https://shopspellcrafter.com 🔮 Shop magical tools to enhance your practice, use code MAGIC to get 20% off your order: https://thehealinghedgewitch.com/🎬 Molly’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@m0dizzl3 Let us know your thoughts:✨ Demystify Magic Instagram: @demystifymagic✨ Molly’s instagram: @m0dizzl3✨ Madison’s instagrams: @madisonlillian.jpeg and @healinghedgewitch  and @shopspellcrafter

What if the most magical crystal in your collection… is the one you’ve been ignoring?This week we’re joined by crystal scholar, museum specialist, and magical science nerd Nicholas Pearson, author of The Witching Stones. Nicholas shares how he accidentally went from music major to museum earth-science expert, and how that twisty path led him to become one of today’s leading voices in crystal magic.We explore the place where science and spirituality don’t just coexist, they amplify each other. And how treating magic like data collection can make your practice more intuitive and more accurate.Nicholas then takes us into the mind-bending world of flint, the “ordinary” stone that literally changed human evolution, birthed early ritual, and forms in liminal spaces beneath the earth. He also reveals the real history of moonstone, the Roman obsession with jet, and the discovery of a Neolithic emerald crown. His take on emerald as a stone of radical self-worth and world-shifting love is one of the most powerful crystal teachings we’ve ever heard.Whether you’re crystal-curious or crystal-obsessed, this episode will completely change how you relate to the mineral kingdom, and why the simplest stones often hold the most magic.Nicholas’ book The Witching Stones is out now, and you can find Nicholas at @theluminouspearl or theluminouspearl.com. As always, we’d love to know your magical moment of the week.This week’s sponsor is Libro.fm: Support your local bookstore and this podcast by grabbing your audiobooks through Libro.fm. If you're a NEW Libro.fm member you can use the code DEMYSTIFY to get three audiobook credits for the price of one when you sign up. Click here to sign up https://tidd.ly/44l9SdQ (*Note: code only works on one credit a month plan and past members are not eligible.)If you're looking for some witchy books to listen to: Our audiobook recs can be found here!Pre-order Molly’s book Mundane Magic A Lazy Witch's Guide to Hacking Your Brain, Building a Daily Practice, and Getting Stuff DonePreorder Mundane Magic & Join the Virtual Book Tour⁠: Celebrate the release of Molly's new book with an exclusive online event on Feb 21, 12 PM EST. Get behind-the-scenes insights, live Q&A, and your copy shipped on release day.🔮 Join our Patreon for bonus episodes, magical downloads, and unhinged side quests: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/demystifymagic⁠🔮 Join the waitlist for Reiki 1: The Science of Self-Healing: https://www.mollydonlan.com/reikiwait🛍️Shop our merch here: https://demystifymagic.com/collections/merch🔮 Download the FREE Manifest with Reiki Ritual: https://www.mollydonlan.com/manifestwithreiki🕯Shop spell candles and oils at Spellcrafter https://shopspellcrafter.com 🔮 Shop magical tools to enhance your practice, use code MAGIC to get 20% off your order: https://thehealinghedgewitch.com/🎬 Molly’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@m0dizzl3 Let us know your thoughts:✨ Demystify Magic Instagram: @demystifymagic✨ Molly’s instagram: @m0dizzl3✨ Madison’s instagrams: @madisonlillian.jpeg and @healinghedgewitch  and @shopspellcrafter

It’s the finale of our Wheel of the Year series, we’re diving into Mabon aka pagan Friendsgiving and the autumn equinox. We chat about why this sabbat feels like a second, decolonized Thanksgiving: feasting, gratitude, gathering with our people, but without the gross history. We riff on root veggies, delicata squash, Tofurky loyalty, molasses cookies, and apple crisps as actual rituals, not just vibes.We also explore how Mabon is all about balance, slowing down, and abundance that sticks from brown sugar and molasses magic to running in crisp air as moving meditation. Then we get delightfully nerdy about pentacles in the apple core, Persephone’s pomegranate seeds, and how pomegranate juice can stand in for blood in spell work.Join our Patreon for bonus episodes, magical downloads, and unhinged side quests: https://www.patreon.com/demystifymagicPre-order Molly’s book Mundane Magic A Lazy Witch's Guide to Hacking Your Brain, Building a Daily Practice, and Getting Stuff DonePreorder Mundane Magic & Join the Virtual Book Tour⁠: Celebrate the release of Molly's new book with an exclusive online event on Feb 21, 12 PM EST. Get behind-the-scenes insights, live Q&A, and your copy shipped on release day.🔮 Join the waitlist for Reiki 1: The Science of Self-Healing: https://www.mollydonlan.com/reikiwait🛍️Shop our merch here: https://demystifymagic.com/collections/merch🔮 Download the FREE Manifest with Reiki Ritual: https://www.mollydonlan.com/manifestwithreiki🕯Shop spell candles and oils at Spellcrafter https://shopspellcrafter.com 🔮 Shop magical tools to enhance your practice, use code MAGIC to get 20% off your order: https://thehealinghedgewitch.com/🎬 Molly’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@m0dizzl3 Let us know your thoughts:✨ Demystify Magic Instagram: @demystifymagic✨ Molly’s instagram: @m0dizzl3✨ Madison’s instagrams: @madisonlillian.jpeg and @healinghedgewitch  and @shopspellcrafter