Philadelphia – New World Witchery – The Search for American Traditional Witchcraft

Special Update – Philadelphia Meetup and Tours

Hello everyone!

We’re getting extremely excited about our upcoming trip to Philadelphia, where we’re going to be seeing YOU (hopefully)!. We’ve got most of the pieces in place at this point, so here’s what’s happening: We’ll have two events on June 3rd, 2017, where you can come meet with us and take some tours related to magic.

Sign from the Penn Museum’s “Magic in the Ancient World” Exhibit

Event 1: A Meetup at the Penn Museum to take a private guided tour of the Magic in the Ancient World exhibit.

Where: The Penn Museum (3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA at the Group Entrance (Kress)).
When: Saturday, June 3rd, 2017 at 10:30am. The tour and time in the museum will take around 2 hours
Cost: Admission as part of our group is $17 for entrance and the guided tour. You can pay via PayPal in advance OR you can pay with cash, check, or credit card the day of the event. However, as a special bonus treat, we are covering the guided tour part of the admission cost for the first twenty (20) listeners who sign up via our Museum Tour event planner page! So if you know for sure you want to come, sign up there and your entrance cost is only $12!

View of Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA. By Ross Abraham (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Event 2: A private “Spirits and Spiritualists” tour at the historic Laurel Hill Cemetery

Where: Laurel Hill Cemetery (3822 Ridge Ave., Philadelphia, PA)
When: Saturday, June 3rd, 2017 at 3:30pm. The tour will last about 1.5-2 hours, and does involve some walking around the cemetery
Cost: Admission as a part of our group is $15. You can pay via PayPal in advance OR you can pay with cash, check, or credit card the day of the event. Please sign up for the event in advance via our Cemetery Tour event planner page so we can be sure we have enough spots for everyone on the tour.

That means hanging out in Philly with us and other awesome New World Witchery fans, seeing really old magical stuff, and then wandering around a graveyard hearing about ghosts and spirit mediums. You can’t beat that! Well, you can, but I think trying to summon the ghost of Ben Franklin would be frowned upon by the city (but you can throw pennies onto his grave if that makes you feel better).

If you are going to attend, please do make sure you sign up so we can have a good head count, and we will look forward to seeing you there very soon!

With love and gratitude to you all,

-Cory & Laine

Special Update – Come See Us in Philadelphia!

Hello Everybody!

We’ve mentioned it a few times on the show, but we’ve finally nailed down a date for our upcoming Philadelphia meetup! Laine will be coming to visit in Philadelphia for the first weekend in June, and we’re setting aside a day so that we can hang out with some of our listeners. Set aside Saturday, June 3rd, 2017, because we’re planning to meet for a tour of the Penn Museum’s “Magic in the Ancient World” Exhibit, then possibly do a little ghost tour in the evening. There are some other possibilities for some magical fun in the area, too, and one or both of us might be able to swing some of those extra stops (but we’ll have to play that by ear).

So, the short version:

When: Saturday, June 3rd
Where: Philadelphia, PA (specifically the Penn Museum)
Who: Cory, Laine, and You!
What: A day of looking at old magical stuff, making fun of Cory’s fear of bunnies, and having fun!
Why: Because we like you!

We will be putting up some more information as we get a little closer to the date, including a way for you to let us know if you’re coming (we’d love to have a headcount–we might even be able to do a private tour with enough of us!). For now, we are just happy that we have the opportunity to hang out with some of you in the near future on the horizon!

Episode 86 – Local Witchcraft with Chris Orapello

Episode 86 – Local Witchcraft with Chris Orapello

Summary:

In this show, Cory interviews Chris Orapello and his Majestic Consort, Tara, about their work with their local folkloric spirit, as well as their personal journeys into magical practice.

Please check out our Patreon page! You can help support the show for as little as a dollar a month, and get some awesome rewards at the same time. Even if you can’t give, spread the word and let others know, and maybe we can make New World Witchery even better than it is now.

Producers for this show: Corvus, Diana Garino, Renee Odders, Ye Olde Magic Shoppe, Raven Dark Moon, Ivory, The Witches View Podcast, Sarah, Molly, Catherine, AthenaBeth, & Jen Rue of Rue & Hyssop (if we missed you this episode, we’ll make sure you’re in the next one!). Big thanks to everyone supporting us!

Play:

Download: Episode 86 – Local Witchcraft with Chris Orapello

-Sources-

Be sure to visit Chris’ website, Down at the Crossroads (also known as The Infinite & the Beyond) where you can find out more about his podcast, his coven, and just oodles about the occult in general
If you want to hear more lore about the Jersey Devil, listen to our 2012 Special Episode – American Devils (especially the second half of it)
You can also find out more about the Jersey Devil at sites of folklore writer S.E. Schlosser and the New Jersey Tourism Board
We briefly mention Chaos Magick, which is not a common subject on the show, so here’s a nice illustrated primer on the topic (and you should also check out Gordon White’s Rune Soup blog for more, too)
Chris’s Sacred Source Statuary, where you can find his “Witchlord” statue (as well as others to come)
Chris and Tara both are active with various Pagan Pride Days, primarily the South Jersey PPD, but also the Philly PPD, too
Check out Krampuslauf Philadelphia: A Parade of Spirits, too, since Cory, Tara, and Chris all have participated in that event
Some other events you may find Chris, Tara, and/or Cory at: FaerieCon East and the Witches Sabbat at Raven’s Knoll (Ontario)

If you have feedback you’d like to share, email us or leave a comment. We’d love to hear from you!

Don’t forget to follow us at Twitter! And check out our Facebook page! For those who are interested, we also now have a page on Pinterest you might like, called “The Olde Broom.”

Promos & Music

Title and closing music is “Pig Ankle Rag,” by The Joy Drops, and is used under a Creative Commons License (available at Soundcloud.com).

Featured songs are “Tonight,” by Tuatha Dea and “Hymn to Herne,” by S.J. Tucker, used with permission.

Quick Update – Come See Me!

Hi all,

I just wanted to let you all know I’ve got posts coming, really I do (about 1800 words on one post, plus some book reviews and another post in the draft stage). However, I’ve also got lots of other things going on, including editing the August episode, which I hope you’ll enjoy, and getting started with the Ph.D. program. Laine is also very busy baking another human being in her proverbial oven, so please forgive her if she’s not around for a bit (she still gets emails and appreciates them greatly!).

I also wanted to let you all know about some upcoming events where you’ll be able to vent your frustrations with my slow blogging directly to me, in person! I’ll be at two upcoming events in late August/early September for those who want to come see me.

First, I’ll have a booth at the Philadelphia Pagan Pride Day on August 30th (see website for location and details). This event is going to be lovely, with classes on Manx folklore, playing card reading (no, not me teaching, though I’d love to attend), children’s activities, and lots more. My booth will (hopefully) have a small traveling museum of North American magical artifacts I’ve pieced together, and I’d love to chat with anyone about folk magic or other such things. Plus, I’ll be trying to collect some area folklore as well, so if you stop by please take a moment to speak into the mic (though you are not obligated to do so, of course). This year’s PPPD is benefiting the Mazzoni Center Food Bank, Forgotten Cats, Books Through Bars, and In-Reach Heathen Prison Services, so please bring donations for any of those fine organizations.

Next, I’m tentatively planning to be at the upcoming Pagan Podkin Super Moot #5 in Chicago! Fire Lyte, who is hosting the PPSM event this year, has generously offered to share his booth at the Chicago Pagan Pride Day on Sunday, September 14th, in Oak Park, Illinois, and I may try to bring that traveling museum along with me for that trip, too. I’m still waiting for a few pieces to fall into place for this even to be a go for me, but right now it looks very likely that I’ll be attending. Other podkin attending include Fire Lyte, Velma Nightshade, Peter Paddon, Dr. Hob & Dean from Lamplighter Blues, Faelyn from the Kindle Witch. A few other folks are tentative as well, so this is a good chance to meet folks if you live anywhere near Chicago.

So, that’s our current situation. If I get invitations for other events or chances to come out and meet fans and friends of the show, I’ll definitely keep you posted! For now, please stop by if you’re near either of those events, and I’ll look forward to seeing you soon!

All the best,
-Cory