Let’s Get Nerdy (and Witchy)
Summary: Cory chats with Heather D. Freeman, host of the Magic in the United States podcast and academic researcher to talk about the road to witchcraft, the role of art and occulture, and why magic is so important to understanding U.S. history.
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You can find out more about Heather’s work through her LinkTree.
We also recommend checking out the Magic in the United States podcast as well, of course!
The transcript for this episode is available on our Transcripts page.
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Discover more from New World Witchery - The Search for American Traditional Witchcraft
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New World Witchery - The Search for American Traditional Witchcraft 
I took the Atlas Obscura class, which I call “my Creepy Christmas Class”, and since then, I’ve been devouring whatever I can find. Today I listened to your podcast with Heather Freeman, which I loved.
One of Heather’s comments about straddling the world of Academia and the world of Witchcraft made me think of something in a book I read recently, The Light Eaters, by Zoe Schlanger. In it, she talks about a Botany researcher who became increasingly frustrated with trying to research plant growth in the sterile environment of a lab, and ultimately packed up and moved to a house in a subtropical forest, where she continued her experiments in a decidedly non-sterile environment. She has now written papers and delivered feminist lectures about the patriarchal nature of “scientific research.” I find that SUCH an interesting point to consider!
These sound like two unrelated topics — Heather’s Academia/Witchcraft and this botanist’s Patriarchal Science/Feminist “pseudoscience” — and yet, I see them as very related. Both challenge us to reexamine what is or was forbidden, and why.
Another line of discussion in this same book addresses the impact of environment on communities and individuals, whether people, animals, or plants. “The traits of the community change, based on the changing environment” (p. 228). This idea, carried forward (which I’ll spare you) leads to the suggestion that plants, trees, have “memory.” When Ms. Freeman talks of connecting with her environment, an environment that has experienced Colonialism, Excile, etc, I think of this. Because I believe the trees have memory, have awareness. They have much to offer us; yet we disregard them. We wipe out 350 year old trees in order to build business “parks” and condominiums, and then plant young, fast-growing trees to replace them, as if a 350 year old black oak can be replaced.
I find myself hoping, hoping Desperately, that the practice of Magic — in whatever form that takes — can help us move toward appreciating and honoring the natural world. Which actually brings to mind your podcast I listened to a couple of days ago on Bones. I have a significant skull collection, all of which I found (or, in some cases, they found me). I don’t use them in any kind of magic practice. I keep them as a way of honoring the Life that was lost. I don’t consider myself Wiccan, or a Witch, or even a Christian. But I DO believe that one person honoring the lives of these trees, plants, animals can make a difference.
In some way, listening to Heather Freeman talk about her work give me hope that witches, who I think by their nature have a connection to the earth and nature, can be instrumental in finding a way to honor, respect, and preserve the varied lives that patriarchal science works so hard to minimize!