The Queer LBC: Witch Please!

Hey y'all, this podcast contains potentially disturbing content.

Our show includes graphic references to topics such as sexual abuse, self-harm, violence, eating disorders, explicit language, and sexual acts. Listener discretion is advised. This show is from mature audiences only. Good morning and welcome back to another episode of the Queer LBC Podcast. I'm your host, Nino. My pronouns are he, him. Thank you for asking. I have with me here my fabulous cohorts. Yo, it's me, Christophe, your city top liaison. My pronouns are he, him, and that, motherfucker.

Dr. Mikey here, your local licensed and practicing therapist for entertainment purposes only. My pronouns are he, she, all of them. So today we wanted to introduce a very special guest that we have with us today in the studio. We have a speaker to the moon and the stars, a baby witch, a demon boy, demon twink, Manny. I would like you, Manny, to tell us in your own words, who are you? What are you? Why are you? Perfect. Thank you for that introduction.

I am Emmanuel, like to go by Manny, and I am, You said a baby witch. I practice the craft and try to incorporate it into my daily life. Okay, okay. In your daily life. So one of the couple questions. So when did you first realize you had this little witchy streak? So, I feel like this sort of happened a couple years before I came out. So, I, backstory, grew up as a Jehovah's Witness. So, majority of my childhood was very challenged with expressing myself.

So, if you guys are familiar with Jehovah's Witnesses, they don't celebrate any holidays, birthdays. Even with the people you can interact, it's very limited. So it's like the worst environment for someone who's like realizing that they are gay. You just kind of grow up feeling repressed, both from like the religion and then just kind of like the way you like meet and interact with people. It wasn't until I got caught by my dad making out with an ex that my family found out I was gay.

After that moment, I no longer had to attend like the JW stuff. No questions asked. It kind of understood why I stopped going. But I feel like after that moment, I started to kind of discover little parts about myself. I had always had like this allure to like the occult, the supernatural, the metaphysical. Like I've always been obsessed with things having to do with like magic, demons and things like that.

And after I was no longer tied to being Jehovah's Witness, it kind of opened the doors for me to be able to explore that further without judgment and without consequence. So that's kind of how I started. I actually can ask you about Jehovah's Witness. I really don't know what they believe. Okay. Can you give me a little rundown? Of course. So I would say the biggest thing for them is the fact that they use the name Jehovah. So for Jehovah's Witnesses, Jehovah is the name of God.

That's his actual name. It's not just God. And they also believe that God is one entity, one being, and his son, Jesus, is a whole different being. Because I know a lot of people believe in the Trinity, and it's sort of like the same sort of being, different levels. So, which is two separate things. I would say it's the main thing. We're the people who go around preaching, knocking on the doors, trying to give you guys little pamphlets and everything.

But those would be the two biggest things aside from like not celebrating holidays, mostly because they sort of tie every single holiday and celebration to like pagan beliefs or sort of like dark upbringings. So they're very, very strict with a lot of the things. I mean, they're not wrong. Like Christmas pagan based, right?

Like Halloween pagan based. like so they're not completely wrong they're also like very conservative right like in terms of dress because i live around the corner from a jehovah witness church and so they park here and it's like full dresses to the floor yeah so i would say it's probably one of the noticeable things about them is that they dress for like either church like midweek or like on the weekend in full suits yeah dresses like you're

i mean you can show up without it but you definitely get looks from everybody around you judged and for them i think it's sort of like trying to which i can understand to a degree where you want to like present your best self and just like look the greatest for like the preacher the sermon that's going on but they're just very strict about it and just to go into a little further they're very big on trying to make sure you only interact with other Jehovah Witnesses.

They believe that other people outside of the religion are two-worldly and essentially...

I mean, like, to put in not the greatest terms, but the worldly people can corrupt you. So, like, once you're in there. Skanky. Exactly. Skanky-ass people. You're going to rub your vibe on me. Oh, my God. I love that word worldly. I love that too, too. I don't know why. It's just, like, a very polite insult. Like, worldly-ass bitch. That's so funny. I love that too. You're worldly. Derogative. Yeah. But anyway, you know, you stopped going to church.

What are some of the first like witchy things you start dipping into? So I would say like my starter witchy stuff was crystals. I feel like that was my little like gateway drug into the witchy world. Started with crystals. I loved how they looked. And then I started learning more about like the energies they provide, the effect they have on you and just finding out that there's so many.

And it was sort of from there that i took my first step and started diving into like chakras into energies then i went a little further into tarot and then from there like i'm like you know what fuck if all in i got like a demonology book and then like i started researching more and more into actual witchcraft spells rituals and now i'm here can you enlighten me on what the fuck crystals because i feel like that's the one thing that i like don't understand is crystals and like what they do and.

What is crystals? Can you introduce me to crystals? Of course, of course. The best way that I would describe it, and just to give like a little insight, is essentially the belief that everything is made up of energy. Everything vibrates at a certain frequency. So crystals are essentially that. They are like little beings of energy that. Depending on the crystal, vibrate at different frequencies and are essentially able to affect your own energies and your own frequencies.

An example rose quartz it's like a little pink crystal that one's known for like being related to like romance to like love both to others and like self-love and sort of the reasoning for that and i could be wrong on this but this is what i read was that the color pink sort of vibrates at the same color sorry at the same frequency as green which has to do with the heart chakra so that's sort of like how that connection works there you have blue

crystals which are connected to like the throat chakra which have to do with like speaking up for yourself so it's sort of like the little connections and how the crystals themselves can come to affect you okay that's cool okay so it is there is like a standardized this one does this this one does that yes for the most part i would say the only thing is like a lot of crystals have like a lot of uses so the way I like to see it is I like to assign a specific use for each crystal.

Like it might be able to do like all these things, but I like it specifically for this kind of thing. Okay.

Now do you, cause I think I'd, dabble in crystals a little bit however one thing i do try to make a habit is that i recharge them, during the full moon so i'm a little i'm a little baby witch too there you know uh but no like i love to most definitely recharge my crystals just so that they can have that energy but also i don't know if i'm doing it right because i charge it i put it in the window to make sure the moon you know embraces it and then i sage yes the area or

either the one stick that you gave me that y'all gave me i forget it's the palo santo i think so like the wooden stick but like either with that or with sage but yeah so that's something that i do you got the basics down i would say like especially because the way i mentioned that crystals can affect you you sort of do the same thing where like your energies can also go into the crystal so how you mentioned about with the sage and the palo santo a really good thing to always do with your

crystals periodically of course is to cleanse them one of the ways being with smoke so either palo santo sage incense all of those can help clear the energies that the crystal might be holding on to just kind of make sure that's still doing what you want it to do and aside from that sometimes the crystals also get like. Almost like low battery. They like, you know, they get a little dull. So that's where the charging comes in.

The full moon is one of my favorite ways to charge it. Usually when a full moon comes out, I'll go outside and set up like all my crystals and like a little circle. That way all of them get charged at the same time. But there are other ways too. You can charge them by one of my favorites is going to like a river and just kind of having the crystals in a bag and like sitting in the river water and letting like nature charge them up. Some of them can charge like via sunlight.

You can bury them for a little bit for like more natural energy.

So it just kind of comes down because some crystals are like more delicate and some can be like damaged by the sun so you just gotta be careful but yeah that's really important stuff with maintaining your crystals so this is how much of a baby witch I am now I don't know what none of these crystals do, so I'm gonna I'm gonna take a picture of them and we'll see if you could do a little analysis on what they actually do they was just give it to me and then

I collected some so I still don't know what they do but, yeah cool Can I play devil's advocate on crystals? I feel like the reason why I never fucked with crystals is the whole recharging. I'm like, bitch, shouldn't you like be everlasting? Why do I need to recharge you, bitch? You already are beaming with whatever the fuck. Also, like if I did not find this crystal in the mud or no, let's say I found a random crystal in an old house.

I'm pretty sure that I've been already been dusted with that nasty person. Right. But I'm going to find it and I'm going to be it's going to be super powerful, though.

So I feel like it's, you know, I feel like I don't understand this charging part and i don't want to disrespect anybody no i think it's definitely valid i feel like you know that they are an endless supply energy so it's like why would you need to recharge them i feel like it's more to like give them shine like it doesn't sound crazy but like i have some crystals and sometimes you can tell they just look really dull like the color is like

kind of fading from them and they just don't look like happy so i put them out in the sunlight or the moonlight and then like the next time i come around like they actually look a little brighter they look a little bit more.

Happy so i feel like that way you know because i feel like definitely the ones in my house look dusty anyways right because you ain't recharged i feel like maybe they do need recharging because i'm looking at i'm like you look like an old piece of plastic like i literally try washing them off like to make them look clean but i'm like you still look like you're not shining as bright as you could but i think that goes back to the idea that everything is made of energy right Right.

You know, and I think that I think also depends on how you view like crystals. If you view them like as an expert or like this hierarchical perspective, you're going to think that these crystals never get charged.

But if you kind of just like put it like we're all kind of on this this level of energy, then we are our energy, our charge fades. So like why wouldn't these crystals charge fade as well? You know?

True true true i mean one could argue that maybe you need a little recharge too and that's why your crystals are looking a little sad right that's true so i'm like i feel like the crystals are full of my dink energy but i feel also with crystals i feel like it's gotten like really big recently so i'm always worried about like the sustainability or like legitimacy of crystals because it's just like everywhere you know the legitimacy for sure and i feel like i see that

a lot so i'm actually really particular about buying crystals so like and it doesn't sound crazy but if i walk into a shop and like the vibe doesn't feel right i'm not buying crystals from there yeah or like if it's just like one of those little like bougie like downtown la like crystal shops i'm like i'm not going to purchase from here so it's some like bitchy white lady who owns a shop exactly so would you identify more as a witch a practitioner Skinner, spiritual baddie, gay with crystals.

Okay, I started as a gay with crystals. And I feel like now I would most definitely consider myself a witch. Okay. Still a baby witch, but a witch. So, I mean, like, after diving into, like, just the general world of, like, metaphysics and the occult and crystals, I just started diving deeper and deeper. And it wasn't until I realized, one, that I was taking on too many subjects at once, that I took a step back and sort of started from scratch. Thank you.

Because like I mentioned earlier, I grew up as a Jehovah's Witness. For me, I view religion as a very constraining thing. So I wanted to like believe and practice in something that didn't feel so confining.

And to me, like witchcraft and like all these other branches are that for me. So they provide me with like comfort the same way religion does for some people.

They offer guidance, like with my tarot cards, they offer protection of my crystals, like just all these little aspects that i feel like really connect with me okay okay cool so do you have you ever looked into satanism i have not to practice but just to kind of like see what's up, and for the most part i feel like it gets a really bad rep like i i the times i've looked into it like they they believe in free will and it's not so much like worshiping the

devil as like it like is made to seem like but a lot of them do a lot of like humanitarian work oh yeah so it's like they really believe in like doing things like for the greater good and just kind of like being themselves but i don't think i would be able to join the religion but it sounds great you wouldn't summon satan in a sigil i mean like for a little talk like why not.

Like what's for dinner when you came out, Did this also provide you with comfort on that process of like finding yourself as a gay man and just like in regards of like trying to navigate both of those avenues to try to figure out who and what you can become? Um so definitely on that last part and i want to kind of dive into that one so i feel. Like upon coming out and kind of having like this freedom to.

Like really explore like who i am both as a gay man and then just kind of like what i'm actually interested in i feel like it definitely opened those doors for me and definitely provided that comfort especially in a time which so when i came out i didn't have too many gay friends yet okay so i feel like i was really navigating it on my own like i had straight friends but like they can't fully understand like what i'm going through like i love them but it's just it's an experience very unique

to another gay person and at the time i didn't really have any gay friends so i feel like being able to explore this new interest this new side of myself really gave me an outlet both to like sort of express who i'm becoming and also sort of channel the sadness and pain that also came from like coming out mostly because like the impact I had on my parents for a while was very strong like my dad for example didn't talk to me for like a few months even though we lived together but

it was just a very like he's a Mexican man like my chief's not associated the religious side for my mom so it was just a lot for them to take in and then it doesn't help that the way they found out was seeing me kiss another the med so but it definitely gave me that outlet to find comfort in connecting with something higher than myself yeah because i feel like if you notice a lot of i think queerness and. Like witchcraft or like tarot, like those type of things, it go hand in hand.

And I think that most individuals can find that clarity or that guidance that helps them through that hard time of coming out and then finding themselves.

I know definitely and I feel like a big part of that too is the fact that there's so much pain associated with one growing up gay if you're growing up closeted then the process of coming out because a lot of times for a lot of people it really causes a shift in their identity of like who they were growing up before this like truth came out and then like who they now have to be so I feel like a lot of time like they going hand in hand with like queerness and witchcraft I think

it might be due to sort of like that pain that can kind of help you connect with something more in that moment. Yeah. I like that. So is she a good witch or a bad witch? For the most part, I'd say I'm a good witch. Don't test me, though. You be casting spells? All the time. People doing hexes? Okay, so that's why I say I'm a good witch. I've only ever done one hex once. And it wasn't in my strongest moment, but it worked out for the best.

Did it work? It did. So that's how I'm like, okay. Did it make you ugly?

Did it take something from you it took away something i didn't need so i was like thank god it worked but for the most part i practiced like quote unquote like good spells and stuff so like a lot of protection based spells manifestation uh things like like that nature, yeah i'm curious like where do you find these spells right because i remember when i was a kid that would go online and they had like the glamour magic you know so like in my mind i just like imagining all these baby witches

going online and looking up spells but like where do you get your knowledge base like where do you yeah so i can confirm it definitely starts with going online and trying to find as much as possible but you quickly find out that so much of that is not legit yeah yeah so it kind of came down to it and someone once told me too being a witch is doing a lot of research so like at home i have a bookshelf and the entire top row are just a bunch of books related to like magical craft so

i have like multiple books about like astrology about plant magic about herbs crystals actual witchcraft so like a lot of the stuff i learned came straight from the books they do present you with like starter spells like things you could do and whatnot but i think a lot of it does come down to like as as you practice and time goes on.

Instincts and and sort of like intuition like for the most part there'll be like certain ingredients that you can use that essentially do the same thing and you can kind of play with it and tweak it to kind of create it in a way that resonates with you and how you like so like for. The plant rue, a little bit of that in Spanish, it's a really good protection plant and has protection qualities. So you can really easily incorporate that into any sort of protection spell.

My favorite is lighting a candle, dressing the candle in some oil, just kind of rubbing it up on there. Having the herbs surround the candle and letting that burn. And then that in itself is like a good little protection spell. That's cool. I love that. Yeah, what else could you teach a basic bitch witch offhand right now?

I would say manifestation like and and again i like to do a lot of candle magic and it might be because i'm a fire sign but i love candle magic and a lot of the time like i will dress the candle which is just kind of rubbing oil on it put whatever herbs might have properties of manifesting spearmint is a really good one for that and then light the candle and it's almost like sort of praying over the candle like because a lot of it has to do with

your intention and like your focus so the way i like to do it is after i like the candle i kind of like hover above the candle to really emphasize what i want to accomplish i do this both verbally out loud for a little bit and then afterwards i kind of just stand there sit there staring into the flame and just really focusing on like what i want to happen i like that candle magic my friend is also a baby witch and they did one a spell for me which actually worked as

well too when i was applying for a position they did like a candle spell that made me bring my resume over and and i got the job so i was like magic is real there we go. That's fun i want to do some candle magic of my own you have to set intention what are my 11 herbs and spices gonna do. So I do I do, This is about to be really off topic. Okay. However, what's your favorite witch show? Okay, that's a very good question, actually. Oh, okay, good.

See, and I say this because I had a feeling it was going to come up. And my friends are obsessed with Charmed. Nice. Old and Charmed. But I hate to admit that I've never seen it. What? Dude. I got to start. That's Baby Witch 101. Yeah. And you know what? It actually is good.

The older one and the newer one and you have some good content it's pretty good they play it at the gym in the morning so yeah charmed is pretty good yeah i like charmed too um yeah that was the one and then craft the movie also one that they always tell me about that they love which i have not seen, what have you seen then okay yes i was your most iconic yeah my most iconic which okay have you guys ever seen vampire donny diaries no like bonnie bennett

that would be my most iconic witch okay i did want to get into vampire diaries but i haven't yet i want to wait till it like so i mean the series is over so it'd be a great time to start perfect the beginning is really really good and then it gets a little crazy towards the end like really convoluted but it's it's good show it's a good show and then they have a spinoff called the originals which is also really good. Oh, okay.

Oh, okay. I think I've... Okay, I'm gonna fuck with that. Have you seen... Damn, it was just on the tip of my tongue. Damn. If it comes back, I'll hit you with it. Let's see. So what is your daily, or not daily, but what is your average magical day look like? Okay, okay. On an average day, so I want to start off by saying that normally I'll dedicate my Mondays to magical stuff. Ooh, so perfect. Yeah, so this actually falls on the perfect day.

But the reason for that being that Monday has to do with the moon, and the moon has to do with intuition. So I feel like it's the perfect day to really dedicate to things like that. But on a regular day, what I like to do is I like to pull tarot cards. I'm still learning. I'm not the greatest at reading it on their own, but I would say that I'm pretty good at getting accurate messages just on my own.

But I'll start off the day by pulling a card. I try to wake up before work to pull a card, see how my day's going to go, just to kind of keep that muscle memory going. For the most part, though, I would say every other day, I just kind of make sure that the little protection like wards I put up around the house are like still good. I'll light a candle like every now and then if like either I need something done or like I have friends that are like aspiring to get something done.

I also had one who was looking for a job and I tried helping him with that. The market is terrible. So it took a couple of months, but he did get the job. But it's always little things that I think I'd be doing. It's mostly just a Monday where I really dive in into choosing something specific, like a spell to actually do. Okay. And how do you pick those? Or you just. So part of it is kind of what, what I'm needing most in the moment.

So like if I have, let's say like a very busy week at work coming up where I need to like really dive in, lock in, I'll do some type of spell associated with like success. Like I work at a law firm. So like making that settlement would be great. So like, I'll try diving into that.

If in the past, because we're now i'm in a happy relationship but in the past like if there were issues i could try to do a spell to like really help reconnect or there's a spell to cut things off and just really end things that's cool nice do you believe in the power of sage, I do. I don't use it myself anymore because I know that there is a conversation about sage. So I'm like, you know what? Like, I don't need it. It's totally fine. I have palo santo. I'll use that or just incense.

But I do think it's a really powerful herb, especially for cleansing. What's the issue with sage? I think that there's like not enough for like the actual native people who actually do it. The sustainability. Like it's becoming such a thing. Everyone wants like sage sticks that they're like over harvesting it. That, and then there's also a conversation of appropriation of sage because it's like a native practice. So that's also part of the big thing, which I'm like, you know what?

I'm just going to avoid controversy and stay away from that. It's the white crystal shop ladies. They took it all. All the sage. Do you know people who are into like witchcraft other than yourself?

Do you have like a little witchcraft community? I wish I did. One of my best friends does also sort of practice. For him, he loves oracle cards and tarot cards as well.

He also has his crystals and then on his own he's a really strong like manifester he never doesn't have a job like he always has like two or three he's a nurse so he's always like finding like new uh positions and like more pay so i feel like on his own he has something i feel like it's just hasn't been he himself hasn't found like the specific calling for it or like what to channel that what to do with it but other than that yeah i don't have

like any witchy friends which i'm like oh that's sad but i mean like eventually you know just start the queer lbc coven. That's what i was gonna say thank you for saying that word oh that show right have you seen the coven from american horror story oh yes love that okay yeah that's what the show i was gonna talk about i think they're coming back too i did hear that yeah damn it you had me lose my train of thought i know right thanks sorry.

I forgot what I was going to say. Tell him something. So, tarot, and then you said demonology books. So, like, tell us a little bit more about, like, demons, your knowledge of demons and all that. So, for that specific topic, that's part of it. So, I think I mentioned, like, I kind of started diving more and more into, like, all these topics of the witchcraft. That, I think, is the topic that I was, okay, you know, I have too many things.

Let me take a step back. but only because i couldn't really like read it around people because the moment they see the word demonology they're like oh my god get that out of the house yeah like i promise it's not that like essentially it's just like i have a what is it a dictionary of demon names and it lists like all the demon names and the way that i don't really i haven't really dabbled with it recently but the way that i would dabble with it is each

demon can essentially sort of like help with specific things also so the same way that people work with like angels and days and that demons are the same way i have heard that demons are actually easier to work with because they don't like it's a very clear-cut like sort of transaction yeah but i haven't really, dabbled into that too much i feel like i would not even want to read those names i feel like it would be like too much. I'd be like, I could go down that route.

Down that rabbit hole. Fuck myself up. Real quick. Yeah, I don't know about, I don't know about talking to these. I feel like of all the things in like the magical realms, like... Doing that kind of stuff, like demon work, or even like the thought of like angel summoning is kind of like a little too much for me. Like I wouldn't want to go there, even if it was an angel. Yeah, that's definitely like a really overwhelming thing to dive into, I feel like.

And especially if you don't know what you're doing, which is why I put the book down. I'm like, you know what, let me stop saying all these names and just kind of learn what I'm doing first.

It can definitely be overwhelming and i feel like unless you really take the time to one research what you're doing and then to what these demons will be or angels you know will be doing for you maybe don't don't just like jump into it because you thought it was fun because that was cute exactly so you said something about metaphysics yes explain so the way i sort of categorize it and it falls into the same category metaphysics has to do with the study of like things that are

beyond and like so many things fall into this category crystals are one energies chakras then you have other topics like esp meditation yoga so all these kind of fall in there because it it's kind of leaning into like this other realm almost but like a lot of these topics are things that i always found myself intrigued by so i feel like once i had the opportunity to like really start learning and reading and partaking it was it was really exciting and really refreshing mm-hmm.

I'm like, are shadow people part of this metaphysical space? Are they real? See, I have heard of the shadow people. I myself have not encountered the shadow people. Okay. But I do believe that they are real. And I feel like it, I mean, I could be wrong here, but from what I've read, I think you only really encounter them depending on your own state of being.

So if you've either achieved that level of connection, you're able to see them, or if you happen to put yourself like, let's say if I'm doing like a spell or something and like it goes wrong or something and that's when they appear. But I've never really encountered, but I do fully believe that you can encounter the shadow people. I've encountered them here in this place. Oh, in this house. Oh yes, our house is a little haunted. See, now I know you need to charge those crystals.

So what do I do? Because I mean, they're actually, they've been in the windowsill, but it's like you don't get the moonlight in that windowsill. I thought it could never affect it probably so I put it in the dirt do I have to be in the ground ground no like if you have like a plant pot that's totally fine too as long as the plant is alive all my plants is dead.

But Matt back to the metaphysics I feel like that's interesting this like other realm do you know anything else about these other realms. Not too much, but mostly just I feel like even when I dived into these topics, I have like this mental block when it comes to some of these topics because of how I grew up.

So it took me so long to because you like learn to stay away from these like you these topics, these things that they're like evil and like so bad for you and will change your life for like the negative.

So once i was no longer part of like the religion it took me a while to like get comfortable with the idea even though like i was intrigued and was being called to it it still took me a long time to be able to actually interact so i feel like there's certain areas where i'm still sort of learning to step into because of those blocks that i have okay what do you think what do you Think about the spirit. Where does it go when you die?

I like to think, like I mentioned in the beginning, like all things are energy. I like to think that after one passes, that energy, the spirit lives on another form. I don't like to think that that's the end. And that's kind of like what I was taught also, that once you die, you're done. But I don't like to think that. I feel like their life continues.

I don't know if necessarily I believe like in heaven and hell but I do believe that the person's essence will continue on in some shape or form have you looked into the emerald tablets I one of my books I know mentions that but I I'm not too familiar with them you should look up that that's pretty fun. What else tell us something else something you want to see tell us something about your witchy My witchy self? Okay. I know I mentioned that I love or I'm dabbling in tarot.

I feel like that's one of the areas where I'm realizing I might have a little bit of a gift. I'm still not the greatest at being able to read them and memorize all the meanings of the cards. But the reason I feel like I might have a little knack for it is I specifically did a reading for one of my best friends. I hadn't seen her in a couple months. She had just randomly hit me up saying, hey, can we do a reading? I really want some insight. Like I'm looking for some direction. Like, for sure.

She at the time was living out in Victorville. So I told her like, you know, like we'll do like a distance one, a distance reading. Like I told her light a candle. I'm going to light one at the same time, focus your intentions. I'll do the same thing that we can kind of connect. And then I'll try doing the reading.

So I ended up pulling the cards and, I was really confused with what came out because it was talking about her being like in despair and like not being able to essentially move forward. And it was like hinting at like a relationship having ended and she had a boyfriend. So I was really confused and I was explaining to her, I'm like, oh, the cards say this, but like, I don't really like understand because clearly you have a boyfriend.

And then after the reading, she admits that, no, we, we broke up. I'm like, oh, so my cards told me before you did. Right. So I consider that one of my most successful readings just because of how accurate it was without me like knowing any background information. Yeah. So now when I do readings, I always think of that one. If I ever feel like I'm not doing something, I'm like, I'm okay. I'm doing good. Yeah, that's pretty good. That's cool. That's pretty crazy. She's like, shit. I tell you.

Do you have any spirit communication? I, at this time, do not. I feel like that would be one of the things where I've still yet to dabble. Like I haven't tried connecting with like spirits or deities or angels or demons, mostly because of the religion stuff. I feel like it's still, even though I hate it, internally feels taboo that it's really hard for me to try it. And in the times that I have, I feel like I'm forcing it. And I want to,

like, kind of come at it from a place where it's genuine and coming from inside me. Natural. Because when you were younger, did you feel like you had some sort of gift before you actually realized... That you were interested, when you started to look into witchcraft or that, like, did you feel like, I know you felt like you was different because, you know what I'm saying, we all, you know, you're right. But did you feel like you had a gift? Like, you knew you were special.

More than the average gay. Right. Well, I would say that definitely during, like, I noticed the allure right away, like, to all this stuff. Like, even though I was over here, like, being told, like, no, and I was getting scolded by my parents for, like, liking certain things.

I still wanted to get closer to it whether i had a gift i'm trying to think now if there was anything there because obviously i couldn't touch tower cards like those were out of the picture well right you probably couldn't touch a lot of shit i would say maybe like and see in this one i don't know if this is like the gay thing but like the closest i can think of is just kind of like intuition like knowing things about like people like

just getting like a certain feeling are you just reading girls. That's the only thing I can think of and of course like the gaydar was really good but I feel like that might have been because I was gay too oh okay yeah, Right. That's a thing, right? Like to be able to read somebody like when you see them.

Yes. I would say for me, it doesn't really come like, cause I know there are some people who can do it instantly by seeing somebody kind of tell like, Ooh, you're going through this or, you know, whatnot. But I feel like having a conversation with a person like for me specifically, it's a little, it's easier to connect with them. Like, I feel like it just kind of really comes naturally. And in turn, because of that, I'm able to like really understand them.

Because you ever meet somebody who thinks that they can read and it's just like, girl, who the fuck do you think I am? I don't think I have. Like in a magical way. In either. I definitely met people who feel like they can, you know, read you up and down, but.

It's like they're just being a mean ass hoe. yeah definitely those people i've encountered i'm trying to think. Um, is there, what's the most queerest thing that you feel is in witchcraft? I feel like one of the biggest thing, like in all branches of witchcraft is sort of like that notion of like sexuality and like gender essentially being really fluid.

Like there, there's so many branches where it doesn't, it's not really separated into like being like there is feminine energy and masculine energy and like things that come into the craft.

But it's not set where like only women can do this or only men can do this like it's very much like united united united as one like it's a duality of things and sort of like how people are able to express themselves with that is what i would say is the most queerest thing okay have you ever like backed away from someone because their vibe was just too like cursed i was like oh my god this person is just like reeking of like shit energy

and i just gotta get the fuck away from them without even knowing them yes i've definitely had it happen a few times but what i can think about most of where this guy was at a party was just giving really like i mean he was giving energy like we need to leave like he's gonna do something and that's the only time that i know like hey that's like a danger type like i'm feeling but other than that i would say it happens occasionally where like i'll meet somebody like through a friend and i'm not

the biggest fan of the person it's it's rare for me to like not like somebody but sometimes it's like something about them like seems a little like off i can never pinpoint like what it is but i will get like that sort of like feeling and you follow your intuition with those especially yes i'm like okay like they're your friend like cool like i'm not really fucking with them like i'm just gonna take a step back like i'm cool the danger one's like yeah we need to leave gotta go yeah.

Do you follow a lot of, how do you use the word influencers? Or a lot of people online? Online witches. I do actually. And I found the majority of them. So even though I kind of started diving into things like 2019, I feel like I really fully went in like 2020. And I feel like one of the biggest contributors was TikTok. There are so many online witches that I started finding there. And I think it's probably because TikTok, you know, the algorithm and everything.

But I found so many on there that I follow on TikTok and I enjoy their content. I'm like, wait, like I'm learning new things. And like, it's a nice little way to like find out that you're not the only witch. Right. That's good. Cause I follow one called Boots Tarot. I don't know if you have a, you should look them up. That's a good witch. Okay. A queer witch as well. Even better. I didn't realize you were following queer witches. I told you I'm a baby witch. You're a baby witch?

Yes, it's true. It's true. With the universe. I'm not sure I just have questions. I'm only going to say... I'm sorry. How does your partner appreciate your witchery ways? So, thankfully, he's actually really supportive about it. He, on his own, has actually asked me to teach him a few things. Even when we first started dating, whenever I started dating anybody, I feel like that's always a very... Upfront thing. Yeah. Let me slowly bring that into conversation.

Let's watch a scary movie about this or something to really introduce it. Because I feel like a lot of the time, well, not so much now, but a lot of times in the beginning, I would get side-eyed. If I mentioned witchcraft or being a witch or just kind of like... Yeah, I remember. Because I think when we first met, you brought it up and you did you, which is a logical way to move around life is to just be cautious. But we actually had a great conversation about it. You was like,

oh, my God. Like, yeah, like we had a great conversation. Which is actually I was surprised about. Like, usually happens when I get a little bit drunk. I just kind of start to talk about astrology. And then from there it goes on, which is exactly what happened.

But yeah with with my current relationship like he i don't know if maybe on his own he was already kind of like cool about it but he like no side eye like completely supportive about like what i do what i like to practice and it wasn't either like my biggest thing was he didn't ridicule me for it because i've had i've had it happen where like people talking to her kind of like oh like you believe in that or like so with him

it was very like oh like no like definitely like you know like let's do something to do this and like he had me set up like a protection sigil and spell at his place that way like no negative energy gets in there which actually after we set that up people stopped playing his house i'm like well that's kind of right yeah i guess it works.

But yeah like it's it's just a really like interesting thing i feel like okay would you say would you say that straight people and gay people are both like equally like side-eyeing you or more is gay people more open to hearing about it i feel like gay people are more open to it, Because now I think about it, yeah, a lot of the side eyes were from straight people. But, yeah, I think gay people are more open to it. Mostly, I think, I mean, maybe I'm, like, you know, reaching here.

But I feel like it might be, like, having an understanding of, like, not being understood. So, like, right away, like, not jumping to, like, be judgy might be the basis of it. But I do feel like also queer people do enjoy more, like, magical topics and, like, just overall, like, media, for example. Yeah. Like I feel like gay people live in Halloween Town and straight people live in the not Halloween Town. Do you know anything about sex magic?

Yes, I've actually done that a couple of times. Can you explain what that is and all things? So the way that I like sort of utilize it is using the energy that is created during sex. And this includes masturbation too.

Using that energy to perform spells. so it's kind of like like i know i mentioned earlier like your energy intent or like the main factor when doing spells using your emotions amplifies that so like if you're angry channel it's something if you're like sad channel it just really happy channel it sex i feel like is a really like explosive energy to channel so like i've done it where like okay like i need to spell let me let me give it a little like boost and just you

know the shower kind of like help you know get that moving i've done only one sex related like ritual with my current boyfriend where it was a spell that we had found one of the plant magic books that i have where it involves honey like rolls petals and a bunch of other things and like intent as well and the spell essentially has you guys like lather each other up in the honey and like you know and then one thing leads to another sex magic but the purpose of that spell was like really The...

Settle in our intentions with the relationship and that we want this to work like bonding yes exactly i like that that's cute where can we learn more about sex magic honestly probably books i would recommend books i i don't recommend just like randomly looking online you can look online for books but definitely i feel like that might be like the best legit route to go do you have any just in general books that you recommend i have one actually well an author her name is juliet diaz and

i just got a book from her recently which has been helping me sort of really solidify like my own beliefs in the craft moving forward but i actually found out earlier today that i actually have other books from her uh having to do with like plant magic and like plant witchcraft like oh like i already loved her before i just didn't realize it was the same author but i would say her stuff feels really genuine like she definitely talks about magic from a perspective of

it having a lot of meaning to her so one of the lines she has is that magic is unique to every single person both what it means and like how it's expressed and for her magic is unconditional love so it's sort of like where she finds the magic in life and in herself and i thought that was like really powerful to kind of like connect people and really let them No like.

It really is like what you choose to make out of it and how you choose to practice it. Yeah, that's cool. So is plant magic kind of like crystals where like they have their own energies and they do certain things? Yes, especially when it comes to like the herbs. Like all herbs have different properties. And what I love especially about plant magic is that it's not just like metaphysical stuff for spells. Like herbs literally like will do things to like help your body out.

So like a lot of the times those are the properties. So like you can use them to like make teas to like, you know, help with ailments. You can actually make oils and other things like physically help your body. And then the metaphysical stuff is like an added bonus. So it's basically just like learning like plant medicine. Yes. For plant magic. Yes. So it's like, I think the actual term is herbology to like really learn like all the properties and everything,

which is, it's so extensive. I only have like a few memorized, but I'm like, I'm okay with going back to my book and like seeing specifically what they do.

That's cool. so what can you what's like um what's like a plant thing that we all have in our home that we can like instantly do something with what can i do my lemons or my limes the yellow ones or the green ones green one the limes are really good for like because the acidity of them i think for like repelling and cleansing so if anything you could use it for like a protection type spell or protection-type barrier, which I would add, rosemary is a really good warding-off type herb.

So I think most people have rosemary. You can use that. You can use brew. Cloves are really good for protection and for manifestation. Cinnamon is a really good prosperity-type herb. And then if you want it to hex, red chili flakes are really good for that. Really? Mm-mm. Hmm. What is a spell that you think every queer person may benefit from or should know. So one that I can think of right off my head, it's more of a, like, it's like a spell ritual. It's the cord cutting spell.

And essentially the purpose of it is to sever a connection that you have with somebody. And I feel like it can really help with like, let's say you're still in the closet. You have a crush on a straight guy that you shouldn't like that can help with that. Let's say you're stuck in a toxic relationship that can help with that. Or even just kind of wanting to like, let things go and move on, like to be a better version of yourself. I feel like this spell could really help.

Essentially what you do is you have two separate candles, ideally white the color just because it's like neutral.

And then let's say you're cutting off somebody specific. The way that I would do it is I would mark your initials on one candle and then I like to use astrology. So I'll also color like my sign on there. And then the other candle, I'll put the other person's initials, their zodiac sign, just to like really make sure that the universe knows like who I'm trying to, so that you can put the birthday too, if you want, like whatever you have.

And then afterwards you tie them together a lot of the spells i see they use like for knitting what is it yarn yarn because it'll like burn pretty easily so it just depends or i think twine works pretty well too but so you can do that and then dress up the candles and whatever you want like i like to use a little oil some herbs like really help with like letting go and then what you do is you set them apart so that the string is just kind of like hanging there you light both candles and then let

them burn and then you'll kind of based on my experience you when the candles get to that point you can also sort of see like in how they're burning the way the connection existed so like if it's one person who was like holding on a lot more their candle like will either like burn like really crazy and you'll see like the candle holding on to the the twine or the yarn or whatever's before it actually like lets go and burns

sometimes the whole thing's like on fire and it's not until it gets to the middle of the urine that it actually disconnects. So I think it's really interesting to watch. It takes forever. But it's really like- Because it would be a stick candle there, right? So that's what I normally do, but I've seen so many people use smaller candles, which I'm like, that probably goes faster. Mine's going for like an hour. I'm like, okay, I'm still waiting. But yeah, completely up to you.

But I feel like it's a really good one just to kind of like let go of like, let's say toxic exes or moving on from a situation that you just want to really do better for yourself. Awesome. yeah I feel like I've seen that like on the internet randomly recently like the two channels I'm like oh I don't even know what that is but that looks real it's cool very cool. So like i've heard like obviously like when.

You try to like manifest or you're trying to do spells like it's important with specific being specific about what you're going to do because you leave it broad then it kind of leads up to interpretation right like if you want something gone you know and you're not specific about something could be something that maybe you didn't want gone necessarily or maybe that's just perspective as well so it's definitely a little bit of both because i feel like it is important to

be specific because like how you mentioned you don't want to leave it too broad and essentially too up to interpretation to the universe that you kind of manifest the wrong thing but i usually what i like to do is like because i do the candle magic i'll on a separate paper write down exactly what i'm trying to manifest and put it under the candle so it'll be right on top of it so they'll be doing its thing and i'll still do my own little like a chance what i want to like manifest and

my own little like prayer essentially over it but at least i have something solid there to like really sort of direct that energy so that way like the universe doesn't accidentally give me something else that makes sense have you ever done a love spell or i've done any spells that require people to lose their autonomy so love spells not too much only because i feel like i would want the person to like love you for yeah for like on their own Like not affected by me,

but what I do dabble in is almost like, I think you mentioned earlier, Glamour Magic. So the way that I use it is I try to have it affect me where I make myself... Like I present a little bit more attractive and a little bit more alluring. So that in turn can almost act like love magic where it's like, I'm not getting anything specific, but if, you know, if I'm attracting like, hey, like come this way. Manifesting basically. Cool, cool, cool. Did you ever watch that movie, The Secret?

The Secret? It was basically about manifesting. I read the book. What did you think of it? Was that magic or is that just psychological? Well, I think it's all interconnected. I don't think you can. I think it's all connected, you know, like because if you're setting intention and manifestation, like I think you also prep yourself to get prepared for that. And that opens you up for things. So it's not just a placebo.

I don't think it is. And going off that, I actually agree, too, where like even with the spells and, you know, the crystals and everything, a lot of it still falls onto you to put in the work. Yeah. It's not just going to light a spell. Boom. It's going to happen. Like, let's say you want a job, you still have to put out those job applications. You still have to like actually actively look, otherwise nothing's going to happen.

So I feel like a part of it is psychological, but it's sort of like the way I like to see it is like you're getting the universe to give you a boost. Like you're having that energy work in your favor. I like that. Do you think those candles that are like multicolored and say good luck? If I believe. I know which candles you're talking about. I mean, like, I've never used one, but I'm sure that they put in work. I used to use those. The ones that are like, you're going to be rich.

Light the fucking candle. Is there anything that you want individuals to know about witches or practicing that necessarily they wouldn't know or like a misconstrued type of thing that you want to set the record straight?

I feel like the biggest thing being like, not all of witchcraft has to do with Satan. I feel like so many people feel, like initially will think that it's like this demonic thing, which is not to say demons are terrible, but like people will think like it's like this demonic thing that like you're selling your soul to the devil to like get things done and like you have to make sacrifice like actual like.

Remains sacrifices you know but it's not it's not that like a lot of it is you putting in work and utilizing like these tools just to kind of have all this energy work in your favor and what you want to accomplish so it's not a scary thing it's like a hard work kind of thing okay energy, manifestment are there like cultural differences within like witchcraft practices yes so like the one i can think of is so like because i feel like witchcraft

in itself is very broad yeah like it could be so much and there's like wicca as like a religion of practice there's satanism of course, there's paganism and depending like what deities you want to you know worship there, brujería for example is would be another one and santería i think is the other one so they all have like their own separate like beliefs and like what they sort of like lean into in how they practice i feel like finding what works

for you and of course like if it culturally connects to like you practice that i feel like if it works then perfect if it doesn't that you you can definitely try and like figure out what connects with you and what actually resonates and what works for you i don't say what is your background and does that like connect to your so i am mexican. I as of current i'm actually trying to like research and get more into brujeria the only thing is like I didn't have like a lot of.

Like I didn't see much of it growing up, mostly because of the religion thing. And then my parents, even outside of like the religion thing, didn't really go to like the Catholic church. So I didn't get to see like a lot of the stuff growing up. And then my family doesn't really partake in things like that, like curanderos, where you got people who like heal and stuff like that. So I didn't get to experience a lot of that, which I kind of, that's like my biggest regret.

Because I feel like that would have opened both so many doors earlier for me if I had been exposed to that and kind of grew up seeing that at least. And also like i do feel like it kind of hinders the fact that i didn't grow up with it hinders a part of myself so i feel like i practice craft the craft now and it's sort of like.

Not vague but like the work i do is like really energy-based and like there's like all these branches but i feel like i haven't had the full chance to dive into and connect with like brujeria that makes sense it's like colonialism it's like been destroyed all that knowledge and it's like and then the religion of Catholicism is like so extreme that it's like it makes sense that you would never have found any of that because they've just like fleshed it all out.

But a lot of Purugheya got like sucked up by Catholicism because people hid under Catholicism to still practice. So like based off that, the books I do have because I'm like trying to like learn more about it because I want to feel like I feel like I owe it to myself also now to like really try to practice it at least to see if I can connect with it myself. Like I feel like it's part of like my cultural ancestry, like I feel like it wouldn't make sense for me not to.

But one of the things I did notice right off the bat is that Catholicism really is like imbued into it. And I think one of the things that like sort of blocked me from getting into Buhariya earlier also was because of how Catholic stuff appeared, because of like the blocks I had and like previous sort of messages of like, oh, that's like a bad religion really also hindered me from getting closer to it.

That makes sense. It's been so like Christian washed that it doesn't even look like anything relatable. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Hmm. Any other witch questions? Any other witch thoughts? Any other witch thoughts? Witchy message for the audience. I feel like if you feel allured to it, don't be afraid to dabble, to do some research. Just kind of go into one of the little shops, you know, look around, see if anything calls to you.

I feel like it's never too late to just kind of see if this is something that connects to you and something that you want to incorporate into your life sounds good did you like the abracadabra song i love and my favorite part was i i would see so many comments talking about the song how essentially because i think at the time like that the song came out things were getting like this i think before the election so things were just really like bad like i mean it's worse now

but like things were starting to get really bad and people were saying that the song was essentially almost like a protection spell that gaga was doing for us so like that made me like like the song even more and like i just blast it and it's just it's it's comforting mother always protecting mother monster very interesting uh anything else how long we've been going like an hour that's good yeah it's been a, No, but I will be texting you to see what my crystals are. You let me know.

And then also some shows. And then also send me a picture of his crystals so I can see what they are and give him the best way to recharge them and cleanse them. I will. Thank you. Dusty crystals. Well, is there anything else? Nothing else? No other witch thoughts? Do you work with any deities or practice any deities? So I wanted to so bad before.

As of right now, I don't. the only deity that i would consider i feel like is hecate the mother goddess of like you know the knight and witchcraft so i feel like if i did get to that point she is one of the ones that i would want to work with mostly because i feel like it would feel the most right with just the practice, and having some guidance cool yeah do you do anything do you before you go to bed like is,

You know how people will have a face regimen before they go to bed? Do you do like a... Any kind of practicing before bed? Spiritual. A little spiritual get ready with me kind of thing. Or get ready to go to sleep. I think incense would be the biggest one. So for me, it's just like, it's so grounding. I actually, that one before coming here because I was nervous about being on here. Oh, okay.

But I feel like right before bed, it's a really great way to just unwind and just kind of let your body like breathe and relax getting ready for bed.

One thing that I'm incorporating nowadays is making myself a little herbal tea before going to bed just to kind of really like stimulate type of dreams i have and i know i mentioned i will pull like tarot cards in the morning if i don't wake up in time i'll do it at nighttime just to kind of see like what my week is going to look like or have any questions and that kind of helps really tune in right before bed okay nice are you into dream interpretation i was actually a lot in high school which

actually maybe that was where it started from but i feel like nowadays i haven't too much i do have friends that will like come tell me when they have really crazy dreams and i'm like okay i love hearing it tell me all about it.

But i haven't done it recently but i do love to hear people's dreams have you ever been to that website dreammoods.com i have not yeah that is like the best dream like interpretation website ever like if you just use like keyword and it tells you like everything that's going on and a bunch of different scenarios like yeah that he has like five different versions you can read definitely check them oh i'm so interested dream moods.com yeah

dream moods.com okay i mean i have the craziest dream so we'll see if mine's come up there but they say that if you smoke weed you dream less and i feel like that actually has happened to me where i don't dream like ever oh i know there are some people who just don't dream much in general dude is that you i used to dream i used to dream i was. I don't think so. I think we touched the baby witch 101 checklist. We did, we did. I think so. I don't really think of anything else.

The only thing I could think more of would be just to discuss demon summoning. But we're not doing that. Not in this house. Not here. All the demons are already here. Not with me in here.

Well then. Alright everybody. I have had a very bewitching evening. I would like to thank our very special guest, the demon boy Manny. I would like to thank Christoph, Dr. Mikey, and myself. From all of us here at the Queer LBC Coven, you're... What are you? You're... A witch. You're witchy enough. I need some adjectives. You're magical enough. You're spooky enough? No, Spooky Phil's de Rock, too. Right. Spiritual? You're spiritual enough.

You're virtuous enough? No. No. You're something. You're powerful. You're powerful. You're a powerful witch or warlock. Go manifest, bitch. Go manifest. All right, everybody. Thank you from all of us here. Good night. Good night. Good night. Good night. Hey y'all, Christoph here. And we just wanted to say thank you for all the love and support. But don't forget to go ahead and give us a five-star review, a like, a heart, a comment.

You know, they all help the podcast a lot. From all of us here at the Queer NBC, we greatly appreciate you.