Between the Worlds Podcast

68: The Feast of Summer Solstice with Melissa Madara

Episode Summary

Get ready for Summer Solstice in this special holiday episode. We cover the history of Summer Solstice and how you can celebrate it in all your witchy glory. Hint: a feast is involved! Then, join Amanda and her special guest Melissa Madara, co-owner of Catland Books (Brooklyn's favorite occult shop). We take a deep dive into the magic of the kitchen as we discuss Melissa's book: The Witch's Feast. Plant lovers and folks who love to nerd out on magical history will especially love this episode wherein we discuss: -- Where the name Litha comes from -- Divination magic for the Solstice -- Food spells and plant magic -- How to transform your kitchen into a magical house of witchcraft -- How to forage for herbs in urban environments -- Learning to see invasive plants as a voice of the spirits of the land -- How to use kitchen magic to remediate challenging aspects of your birth chart -- And the most important thing for baby witches to do when they begin their practice. We can't wait for you to tune in! Happy Solstice!

Episode Notes

Get ready for Summer Solstice with this episode as we discuss the history of Summer Solstice and how you can celebrate it in all your witchy glory. Hint: a feast is involved! Then join Amanda and her special guest, Melissa Madara, co-owner of Catland Books (Brooklyn's favorite occult shop).  We take a deep dive into the magic of the kitchen as we discuss Melissa's book: The Witch's Feast. Plant lovers and folks who love to nerd out on magical history will especially love this episode. In this convo we discuss:

We can't wait for you to tune in! Happy Solstice!

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REFERENCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

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FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR GUEST MELISSA JAYNE MADARA:

Melissa Jayne Madara is a witch, chef, botanist, and storyteller. They are a partner at Catland Books, Brooklyn's little witch shop, where they serve as an educator, diviner, and curator of Catland's courtyard garden. In addition, Melissa is the editrix of Catland's house-published arts and occulture journal, Venefica Magazine. Melissa's writing and commentary has been published in Venefica (V2 & V4) as well as in Susie Magazine (Issue 1) , Fiddler's Green Peculiar Parish Magazine (Volumes 5 & 7), and in their premiere book, The Witch's Feast.

Melissa's research focuses primarily on plant folklore, ancient religions, herbalism, divination, and the botany of poisonous plants. They are an avid collector of historical formularies, particularly recipes for food and fragrance. Melissa's botanical and apothecary work can be found under the brand Moon Cult Herbs. As a chef, Melissa is most known for hosting sumptuous ritual dinners and full moon feasts in Brooklyn and beyond. Find out more about Melissa here...

Website: thewitchsfeast.com

Instagram: @saint.jayne

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COURT OF PENTACLES: FINDING YOUR GIFT WORKSHOP

If you have trouble identifying your gifts, or knowing what to do with them, this is the right workshop for you!

In this 4-week workshop, we’ll cover how to identify, develop, and protect your gifts, and then how to offer them to the world — all through the lens of the Court of Pentacles in tarot!

THIS WORKSHOP INCLUDES:

FIND OUT MORE 

You can buy this as a one off or, get yourself the gift that keeps on giving throughout the year, and become a member of our coven where you get workshops, monthly tarot studio classes, and lots of other goodies included in the cost of membership.

Become a Between the Worlds Weird Circle Subscriber, click here.

 

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Learn More About Your Host Amanda Yates Garcia, & Buy Her Book

To order Amanda's book, "Initiated: Memoir of a Witch" CLICK HERE.

To sign up for Amanda's newsletter, CLICK HERE.

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To book an appointment with Amanda go to www.oracleoflosangeles.com

 

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Original MUSIC by Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs

 

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MIND YOUR PRACTICE PODCAST

Mind Your Practice - Carolyn's  podcast with arts consultant and author of Make Your Art No Matter What, Beth Pickens - is geared towards artists and writers looking for strategies and support to build their projects and practices (plus loving pep talks).

There’s even a club - “Homework Club” - which offers creative people support and strategies for keeping their projects and practices a priority with monthly webinars, worksheets, live QnA’s, optional accountability pods, and ACTUAL HOMEWORK (that you'll never be graded on. Ever!)

You can visit MindYourPractice.com for more details or listen wherever you stream Between the Worlds.

 

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Get in touch with sponsorship inquiries for Between the Worlds at betweentheworldspodcast@gmail.com.

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CONTRIBUTORS:

Amanda Yates Garcia (host) & Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs (producer, composer). The BTW logo collage was created by Maria Minnis (tinyparsnip.com / instagram.com/tinyparsnip ) with text designed by Leah Hayes.