My (So-Called) Life as a Public Witch
Call Your Coven is new + 3 of my most magical projects
Today on Call Your Coven,
, Meg Jones Wall, and I are talking about coming out of the broom closet—what it means to be a witch in public, different definitions of witchcraft, and its ties to various religions, tools, and modalities.Never in a million years did I ever think I would be known for being a spiritual practitioner, and yet, it’s brought me so many incredible life experiences, relationships, and opportunities for work, growth, resources, and other rewards.
Having this conversation was the first time I put into words just how thoroughly I am who I am, and I love what (and who) I love, and I can’t help but be myself! So I suppose it was only a matter of time before my private practices became public. Still, it was deeply impactful to reflect on just how much of my life I’ve spent on a spiritual path, as well as to talk with Jeanna and Meg about the ways in which the title of witch has dovetailed with their own adventures.
I haven’t done a Friday Five in a while, but below you’ll find three magical projects that have allowed me to use tarot, numerology, and other aspects of my craft in new and exhilerating ways! I’m so grateful to have been called to collaborate with other creators, and hope these examples inspire you to push the boundaries of how to weave your witchy interests into all areas of your life.
New on Call Your Coven — Out of the Broom Closet!
From identifying as “spiritual but not religious” to “witchy” to witch, coming out of the broom closet is an always unique, always individual experience. In this episode, we share our personal journeys out of religion, discuss the witch wound and how we are NOT the daughters of the witches you couldn’t burn, and much more.
If you enjoyed this episode, you can leave us a message at callyourcoven@gmail.com or on Instagram @callyourcoven. As always, honest ratings & reviews are deeply appreciated. And since you are the coven, please share this episode with your own personal coven members and friends!
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts!
From the Column Editor’s Note:
In this exploration of AI and creativity, the authors tackle the big question: Is AI turning us all into predictable parrots, or can we teach these ‘stochastic birds’ to sing a more varied tune? By tracing a historical tradition of artists who have embraced randomness, Johan Ugander and Ziv Epstein reveal how leaning into AI’s inherent stochasticity might just be the key to breaking out of the creative cage in this Recreations in Randomness column article.
Last year, I was approached by Johan Ugander and Ziv Epstein, co-researchers studying creativity, divination and artificial intelligence. They wanted to book a tarot reading with me on Moonlight, and use the session to determine the author order of a paper they wrote on serendipity and creative practice! I immediately said yes, even though I had no idea how we were going to achieve that goal.
What an amazing way to use the cards!
When we met, I started by asking Johan and Ziv to each give a word or a short phrase to describe their collaboration process, or what they felt they brought to the project. Then, they each drew three cards from the digital deck, which were identified through conversation as being connected to each of the authors, respectively. Finally, I drew a card—the Eight of Pentacles—which we all identified as pointing to the cards previously pulled in connection with Johan. Therefore, Johan would be listed first, and Ziv, second.
Their paper, The Art of Randomness: Sampling and Chance in the Age of Algorithmic Reproduction, was published in October 2024 in the Harvard Data Science Review, an open access journal of the Harvard Data Science Initiative published by the MIT Press. Regardless of how you view, use, or feel about AI, Johan and Ziv’s explorations of the history of art-making, and the intersections of data science and divergent creativity, are incredibly fascinating!
I’m so grateful to Johan and Ziv for bringing me on board, and for so generously acknowledging me in their brilliant paper. I can’t wait to see what comes next!
Just last month, Chef Vanda Asapahu of Ayara Thai reached out to see if I would partner with them for a one-day brunch event celebrating women, food, and hope, all in support of the non-profit Regarding Her Food and Women’s History Month! The idea was to create a numerologically-inspired brunch menu, where each dish was paired with one of the nine Life Path numbers, and guests were served according to their calculations. Again, the answer was HELL YES.
What an incredible way to work with numbers!
In addition to helping to craft the menu, I will be in attendance at the brunch, NumHERology, Mixology, and Thai Gastronomy, which will be hosted at Ayara Thai in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 30th, 2025 at 11AM PST. I’ll be leading a talk-shop about the history and practices of numerology, how to calculate a person’s core chart, and what each yearly cycle has in store for 2025. Guests are sure to leave with full bellies, full hearts, and an understanding of the basics of their personal numerology!
Reserve your seat for brunch on OpenTable, and to learn more about the event, watch Chefs Vanda and Kathy on KCAL NEWS | CBS NEWS LA! OH MY GOD, LOOK! THAT’S MY BOOK! ON THE NEWS!
From publisher Weiser Books:
Cassandra Snow's groundbreaking Queering the Tarot helped change the shape of tarot discourse for scores of new readers to reclaim this ancient practice in their own way. Tarot in Other Words opens doors for these brilliant tarotists, offering unique insights and concepts for tarot readers of all levels. Queerness will be a thematic thread running throughout the project, with individual essays tackling a variety of topics that expand on that theme in new and compelling ways.
A couple of years ago, Cassandra Snow asked if I would be up for contributing an essay to a new book they were putting together about queerness and the tarot. For the third, and final time (today), I SAID A WHOPPING YES YES PLEASE PLEASE!
What a scintillating way to be in spiritual and professional community!
I truly love the essay I contributed, called Queerness Has No Timeline: Exploring a Slower Journey with The Magician, the Four of Wands, and the Seven of Pentacles, and it’s such an honor to have my words printed alongside the work of other leading queer tarot writers: Asali Earthwork, Charlie Claire Burgess, Maria the Arcane, Maria Minnis, Junauda Petrus, Siri Vincent Plouff, Taylor Ursula, and Meg Jones Wall. I mean, come on, that’s a dream line-up!!
On May 5, 2025, you will finally be able to read the collection in its entirety, but today, here, right now, you can read from the very beginning of the book through the first essay, on queer and Fool-ish grief, from Asali Earthwork. Plus, if you pre-order the book, we’ve put together some additional tarot materials, gifts, and other perks!
Cassandra is the kind of artist, mentor, friend and editor who continuously puts their hand out and pulls you up and into action with them. Their generosity has legitimately changed my life. BUY OUR BOOK!
IN SHORT - I LOVE MAGIC I LOVE TAROT I LOVE NUMEROLOGY I LOVE CASTING SPELLS I LOVE BEING IN SPIRITUAL COMMUNITY I LOVE WRITING I LOVE CURIOUSITY I LOVE EXPLORING I LOVE RESEARCH I LOVE SEEKING I LOVE MEANING MAKING - I LOVE BEING A WITCH!
This was a JOY to read. Thanks for sharing your wins. The tarot reading to determine author order is pretty amazing, so, I’m going to have to give their article a look.
I’m still super sad I’m not close enough to do the brunch, and more so because our favorite Thai place is only open for dinner on the weekends (a fact we keep forgetting), and I was all set for Thai last weekend and we tried to order takeout and of course: they weren’t open! So, now I’m going to schedule it when I next have a weekday apt near there. Whatever works, right?!