this week we're talking with a couple of ash's creative coven community members about their experience with the latest live round of the #creativecovenchallenge as well as the role that ritual plays in their knitting and making practices! big thanks to jen and carolee for opening up, getting vulnerable, and sharing their experiences and creative sparks with us! you can find the creative coven challenge and work through it on your own time 24/7 in the creative coven community, and take things a step further like jen has with the creative coven online design course.

our guest for episode 11 is yarrow magdalena! yarrow is a queer artist, writer and web designer living their introvert dreams on the east coast of scotland. they are in love with print making, local fibres and art that brings us closer to what matters. you can find them online at yarrowmagdalena.com and on the making app @yarrowmagdalena.

our guest for episode 10 is meghan malcolm! meghan is a writer and owns a community bookstore and library. in both arenas, they focus on fantasy, sci-fi, memoirs, and books about gender and sexuality for all ages. the bookstore also carries compelling literary fiction and non-fiction. they believe in the power of storytelling and education and their career a space for that. meghan conveniently lives a couple blocks away from her bookstore with her girlfriend, two kids, and their dog lion, all of whom are complete forces of nature. you can find them online at willowpressco.com and on instagram @willowpress. use code SNORTCACKLE for your first free month of subscription to meghan's writings at www.willowpressco.com/subscribe.

our guest for episode 9 is lex ritchie! lex is a tarot reader, folk witch, spirit worker, and queer mystic. they are a guide through the misty lands of the liminal and spiritual. lex helps folks connect to their own wisdom and learn to be in conversation with the beyond so that they can set off on their own mystical adventure. they offer tarot readings and folk magical education. you can find them online at thelexritchie.com and on instagram and twitter @thelexritchie. check out their underworld playlist at https://thelexritchie.com/free-underworld-playlist/ and ancestral journaling prompts at https://artisanal-painter-6163.ck.page/6f7122cfde.

our guest for episode 8 is lilith dorsey, m.a.! lilith hails from many magickal traditions, including celtic, afro-caribbean, and native american spirituality. her traditional education focused on plant science, anthropology, and film at the university of rhode island, new york university and the university of london, and her magickal training includes numerous initiations in santeria also known as lucumi, haitian vodoun, and new orleans voodoo. lilith is a voodoo priestess and in that capacity has been doing successful magick since 1991 for patrons, is editor/publisher of oshun-african magickal quarterly, filmmaker of the experimental documentary bodies of water: voodoo identity and tranceformation,’ choreographer/performer for jazz legend dr. john’s “night tripper” voodoo show, and author of voodoo and afro-caribbean paganism, 55 ways to connect to goddess, the african-american ritual cookbook, and love magic. you can find her online at www.lilithdorsey.com and www.patheos.com/blogs/voodoouniverse/.

our guest for episode 7 is melissa vanek! melissa has been called a bee witch, dream witch, and green witch, and while she accepts all of these labels, she is less interested in what she is called than with simply being in, listening to and co-creating with the natural world and those who live within its boundaries. after spending many years teaching young humans about the natural world, she has taken the time and space to settle in to her landscape on east mountain in the mount tom ridge line, nestled into a nook of the connecticut river. her land made itself known as dragonfly hill, though originally pocumtuc land. melissa spends her time on dragonfly hill with her animal, plant, invisible and landscape friends and believes it was through her learnings from the bees that she became more open to all of the beings and communications happening all around. you can find her online at aylatree.com and @whispersfromthebee on facebook and instagram.

listen in for a special offer from our guest today! our guest for episode 6 is lacey prpic hedtke! lacey is a photographer, public artist, spiritualist, witch and astrologer, and runs the future - a shop, studio and residency for witches and weirdos. she lives and works in minneapolis, minnesota on dakota and anishinaabe ancestral territories. she works with traditional darkroom photographic processes and public art exploring the themes of history of place, protection, magic, and remembrance. magically, she works with spirits, ancestors, astrology, tarot, oracles, sigils and processional banners/public altars. she trained to be a medium and perform the laying on of hands energy healing with the greater boston church of spiritualism. you can find lacey online at thefuturempls.com, laceyprpichedtke.com, and freethedeeds.com, and on instagram @thefuturempls, @silverrisingastrology, and @freethedeeds.

our guest for episode 5 is jessie susannah karnatz, aka the money witch! she brings capitalism-critical, shame-free education to healers, hustlers, and creatives in order to catalyze change in their financial lives. she believes healing our finances will bring blessing to our lives, our lineages, and our communities. she offers education, money magic products, intuitive financial coaching, and tax preparation online and in the bay area (unceded ohlone land) and does it all with impeccable business lady style. you can find her (and her new book!) online at healyourfinances.com and on instagram @money.witch.

our guest for episode 4 is heather kiskihkoman! heather is nehiyaw & anishinaabe artist and educator from maskwacîs in treaty 6 territory - in what is currently called alberta. a former schoolteacher, she now focuses mainly on her work as a beadworker & traditional tattoo practitioner. her practice also includes learning porcupine quillwork, moose & caribou hair tufting, smoke/brain tanning animal hides as well as sewing clothing, accessories and tipis. you can find her on instagram @osawayisis.

our guest for episode 3 is siri vincent plouff! siri is a nordic folk magic practitioner who wears many hats. they are a teacher of witchcraft, tarot, and runes, as well as the proprietrix of the northern lights apothecary. their goal is to make learning witchcraft fun, while still maintaining historical depth and making space for queer identities. they are also focused on booting the racists out of heathenry through examining the true cultural root of nordic magical paths. they are a student of kari tauring and johannes gårdbäck. they and their co-author cassandra snow have a book coming out in 2022 called lessons from the empress that is all about living a creative life, and using the tarot to do so. you can find them online at northernlightswitch.com, on instagram @northern.lights.apothecary and @northern.lights.witch, and on twitter @northlightwitch, as well as listen to their podcast heathen's journey.

our guest for episode 2 is farai harreld! farai is a postpartum doula, folk herbalist, urban homesteader, writer, and caregiver. she was born in zimbabwe, raised in botswana, and currently living and loving in kaw and osage land in so-called kansas. her passions include empowering people to build community and reclaim simple herbal medicine as their birthright. farai derives joy and connection to her ancestors through handwork, she is a freelance writer and covers topics ranging from plants, motherhood, food, race, fashion, gardening and much more. you can find her over at @thehillbillyafrican on instagram or at faraiharreld.com. her patreon folk herbalism for everyone can be found here.

we’ve made it to season 3 of snort & cackle! in our opening episode, host ash alberg talks about how showing up as a person and caring for mental health intersects directly with showing up as a #bosswitch/small business owner. they also discuss how therapy and magic have helped them to navigate the pandemmie in a more regulated way. fellow #bosswitch babes looking to start their own design biz can check out this quiz to see whether the creative coven online design course is the right fit for them. you can also find the creative coven challenge and work through it at your own pace 24/7 within the creative coven community.

season 2 of snort & cackle is coming to an end, which means it's time for the #snortandcacklebookclub book review! today ash is joined by their friend mandipa for the first half of the episode and by winifred tannata of awentree for the second half as we go over "orishas, goddesses, & voodoo queens" by lilith dorsey. we'll be back with season 3 next week after imbolc!

welcome 2022! as we near the end of season 2, our host ash alberg examines how tarot has inspired their creative practice for the past several years. they talk about the initial spark of inspiration from the very first #creativecovenchallenge; to an IGTV/vimeo series called swatching the tarot where they combine their natural dye colour palette studies, knitting swatches, and study of each of the tarot cards; to the major arcana socks volumes; and where they envision this creative fire going next. you can join ash for a very special live round of the #creativecovenchallenge from february 21-25! sign-ups can be found at ashalberg.com/live-challenge-sign-up. you can also find the challenge and work through it at your own pace 24/7 within the creative coven community.

as we head towards a new year and close out this one, we’re taking a moment to look at spellcasting and how we can incorporate what can feel very intimidating into our everyday magic practice. what exactly is a spell anyway? our host ash alberg sees likenesses between spells, wishes, and prayers, and invites you to consider for yourself how tiny spells fall out of you each and every day.

happy yuletide to you! this week, we're marking the occasion by asking fellow witches to share a favourite yuletide tradition in their households. we also get the bonus of an in-person yuletide date with my dear one grace boyd and some of our seasonal musings.

it's almost yule! we're taking a break from our regular interview schedule and will be back to normal post-holidays. in lieu of an interview this week, we're sharing a favourite winter solstice story. please enjoy this reading of "the shortest day" by susan cooper, read by your host, ash alberg.

our guest for episode 8 is grace boyd! boyd (she/her/witch) is a ceramic and land based artist living nomadically across canada, turtle island. she holds a BFA from the university of manitoba and is currently pursuing an MFA from nscad. her early life was untamed and mostly lived outdoors, the natural beauty that surrounded her shaped her identity and making practice, drawing her to handmade objects and how they are made. the places she has lived and the wild spaces she visits inspire her work and inform her constant need to connect; person, place, and object. boyd is ever seeking a natural place to rest which drives her to create the world in which she wishes to belong, live and thrive within. you can find her on instagram @gracewboyd.

our guest for episode 7 is benil zamora! by day, benil is a qa and compliance professional in the food, hemp and cannabis industry who makes sure everything follows the rules in their operations to produce high quality product. in life, she's co-owner of abode manitoba - a local business that handcrafts small batch essential oils and hydrosols from locally grown or respectfully wild harvested material. they steam distill them at their farm with copper stills. they are passionate and committed to actively promote and make small batch production of essential oils and hydrosols accessible, to continue to support sustainably and ethically produced wellness products. you can find her online at abodemanitoba.com and on instagram @abodemanitoba.

our guest for episode 6 is amanda crooke (né midkiff)! amanda is the herbalist and plant witch of locust light farm in new jersey. she offers classes both on the farm and online for all levels of experience, and leads rituals and guided experiences for the seasonal holidays. she loves herbal beverages, adores toads, and heartily believes in gnomes. she delights in helping folks connect to the magic and medicine of the plant world. you can find her online at locustlightfarm.com and on instagram @locustlightfarm.