Down At The Crossroads - Music. Magick. Paganism.

Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today’s most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. I am your bewitching, bald headed, host Chris Orapello and tonight we meet with beloved author, witch, and teacher Raven Grimassi to discuss his recent DVD Ever Ancient, Ever New, Witchcraft by the Hearthside and his recent book Communing with the Ancestors available from Weiser books. Raven and I have a great discussion about his work, the making of the DVD and his thoughts pertaining to life, witchcraft, and the ancestors. Raven even shares his plans for a future book that he has been working on for over 30 years which is one text that will surely be sought-after by anyone interested in the history of 19th century witchcraft and that's all I'm going to say about it because I'd like for Raven himself to have the honor of annou

Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today’s most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. I am your bewitching, bald headed, host Chris Orapello and tonight we meet with author, blogger, and podcaster Gordon White to talk about his new book Star.Ships: A Prehistory of the Spirits now available from Scarlet Imprint. Star.Ships is a pivotal book and a must read for any magickal practitioner who is interested in deepening the context of their work through a provocative look into history. Gordon tirelessly lays out a historic narrative which demonstrates the underlining bedrock of human civilization and western occultism while intelligently addressing the issue of academic materialism found in modern archaeology and anthropology. A defining text of the new magical renaissance, Star.Ships addresses the question of who w

Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today’s most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. I am your bewitching, bald headed, host Chris Orapello and tonight we meet with author and teacher Ivo Dominguez Jr. Previously appearing on the show via the two episodes (#062 and #055) recorded at FaerieCon, Ivo is an elder and one of the founders of the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel the very same organization which has given birth to long anticipated New Alexandrian Library, and he's even recently released a book titled "Practical Astrology for Witches and Pagans" available from Weiser Books. Ivo and I have a great discussion about his several involvements and his new book, but we only scratch the surface of his role in the Pagan despite our time together. (The following book information is from Ivo's website) Practical Ast

A short audio announcement about my YouTube channel A Witch in Southern New Jersey. Music "Hallowed Ground" by Rest You Sleeping Giant

Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today's most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. I am your bewitching, bald headed, host Chris Orapello and tonight Tara joins us as we meet with Cory Hutcheson of New World Witchery to discuss his podcast, his path as a witch, his thoughts about witchcraft and we close the show with a chat about Krampus and the annual Philadelphia event known as Krampuslauf. Featured Songs: "The Rakers" by Elephant Revival "Rattle them Bones" by Swallows "Down to the Sea" by Elephant Revival "Girl Into Devil" by S.J. Tucker "Hyme to Herne" by S.J. Tucker "The Feast of Krampus" by S.J. Tucker Related Links New World Witchery Perchten Procession 2015 Philadelphia KrampusLauf (pics) 2014 Philadelphia Krampuslauf (video)  

Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today's most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. I am your bewitching, bald headed, host Chris Orapello and tonight we visit FaerieCon for a panel I moderated titled Reaching the Next Generation, which featured notable authors and leaders such as Ivo Dominguez Jr., Raven Grimassi, David Salisbury, Byron Ballard, and Michael G. Smith. During the panel we discuss the issues and problems of bridging the gaps found within a multi generational, diverse, and every developing religious community. Though we only manage to scratch the surface of this complex issue a lot gets addressed during the one hour panel session. Featured Songs: "Secrets Told" by Woodland "The Skater" by The Owl Service "Cupid's Arrow" by Woodland "Point of You" by Elephant Revival "Hymne der Nacht" by Faun "T

Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today's most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. I am your bewitching, bald headed, host Chris Orapello and tonight I meet with Rune Soup Blogger and Chaos Magician Gordon White about his article, Counting Witches On Pinheads, which he published in November of 2014 on the Rune Soup. Gordon and I have a great discussion about Chaos Magick, his article, and what he thinks the modern witchcraft movement should be doing. Gordon was a great guest and we had a lot of fun during this conversation. Featured Songs: "Tjuren" by Hedningarna "Samhain" by The Owl Service "Gibu" by Wardruna "Witch's Cross" by Woodland "The Call of the Mountains" by Eluveitie "Lyke Wake Dirge" (Black Moon Version) by The Hare and The Moon "Cernunnos" by Omnia "A Puppeteer Came Into Town" by Telling The Be

Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today's most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. I am your bewitching, bald headed, host Chris Orapello and tonight I meet with Hugh Carey who happens to be one of the hard working men behind the online retailer Eclectic Artisans and the popular witchy subscription service Sabbat Box. Hugh and I have a great discussion about his businesses as well as the issues surrounding being a retailer in the Pagan community as well as the misconceptions and backlash that can often happen as a result. Sabbat Box has been in high demand since its unveiling in Spring of 2015 and it doesn't appear to be slowing down any time soon. Below is an excerpt from an article posted on the Wildhunt Blog back in April of 2015 showing some of the backlash Hugh and Tom experienced: ...the problematic

Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today's most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. I am your bewitching, bald headed, host Chris Orapello and tonight Tara and I meet with beloved blogger, artist, and professional witch Sarah Anne Lawless to discuss witchcraft, her blog, entheogens, flying ointments, and the idea and practice of soul flight. We have a great discussion about her work and experience as a non Wiccan witch and her flying ointments that are available online through the Black Arts Foundry website. Featured Songs: “Windflower” by Telling the Bees “Down to Sea” by Elephant Revival “The Golden King” by Witchwood “Sabbat” by Damh the Bard “Girl into Devil” by S.J. Tucker “Kokopelli” by Omnia “No Harm” by Tara Rice “The Devil's Hole” by Swallows Related Links Sarah Anne Lawless.com Black Arts Foundry

Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today's most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. I am your bewitching, bald headed, host Chris Orapello and tonight we meet with beloved singer songwriter, pixie pirate, myth punk, folk rocker S.J. Tucker to talk about her new album Stolen Season, what went into the creation of it, as well as her music, the genus loci, some of her personal path, and her unexpected draw towards Hoodoo and Vodou. SJ is a great guest and we had a rather intense conversation that kind of broke my brain a little by the end of it. In 2014, S. J. celebrated ten solid and joyful years of touring and performing. This year, she’s released a new album called Stolen Season, which explores her Mississippi Delta jazz and blues roots more than ever before. On her plate for the rest of 2015 are such treasur

Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today's most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. I am your bewitching, bald headed, host Chris Orapello and tonight we meet with podcaster, Druid and Song writer Damh the Bard to talk about his new album Sabbat, his work as a musician, and his position as the official Pendragon for The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD). Damh and I have a fun discussion beings fans of each others' podcasts (DruidCast) and I of his music and work. There is a lot of laughing in this episode and in my excitement of speaking with him for the first time I got a little too close to my microphone at times which you may notice. All in all, this chat was a great time and I hope you enjoy it! Featured Songs: "Sabbat" by Damh the Bard "On the Shoulders of Giants" by Damh the Bard "Gibu" by Wardr

Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today's most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. I am your bewitching, bald, and no longer congested host Chris Orapello and tonight we meet with author, teacher, and blogger Shauna Aura Knight to discuss activism, how to get involved, and her experiences with being an activist. Shauna and I have a powerful and eye opening discussion as we put our ears to the ground about some hot button issues while I try extremely hard to not sound as congested as I was when I spoke with her. So, please forgive me for how I may sound in this episode. LOL Featured Songs: "The Wicker Man" by Damh the Bard "Earth Warrior" by Omnia “Stones" by Tara Rice "Zeitgeist" by Faun "King" by Eluveitie "Stolen Season" by S.J. Tucker Related Links ShaunaAuraKnight.com Shauna's Amazon.com Author Page P

Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today's most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. I am your bewitching bald headed host with the most Chris Orapello and tonight we return to the land of the fae for a panel I moderated that pertained to magical beginnings. This was my first time moderating a panel and I look forward to moderating future panels at FaerieCon. This particular panel featured past guest Byron Ballard as well as Ivo Dominguez Jr. and Michael Smith both being of The Assembly of the Sacred Wheel who is the same organization that put on the recent Sacred Spaces / Between the Worlds Convention that we've been talking about on this show recently. Thankfully we get to hear this fun and insightful panel of experienced practitioners as they share their knowledge and wisdom with us about their beginnings of

Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today's most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. I am your bewitching bald headed host Chris Orapello and tonight, we meet with musician and past guest Sharon Knight to see what she has been up to, but more so to learn about Portals which is her next album that she is crowd funding for that will be featuring all of the artists featured in this episode. Sharon and I have a fun discussion about her up and coming album as well as touching upon her last tour, social media, what she has planned in the future. However, just when you think we have the low down on what she has going on, she hits us with a something really impressive that she has been getting involved with and I won't spoil that for you. You'll just have to hear it for yourself. Featured Songs: "Song of the Sea" by

Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today's most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. I am your bewitching bald headed host Chris Orapello and tonight, we meet with past guest Byron Ballard to elaborate on some of the things she brought up during our last discussion with her back in episode #50, specifically her workshop Willful Bane: The Joy of Hex. Byron and I are joined for the first time by my girlfriend Tara as we explore the issues surrounding the magickal and ethical practice of hexing as well as learn about the usefulness of marshmallows. This conversation is definitely a good time with some thought provoking content and a few laughs along the way. Featured Songs: “Stones" by Tara Rice "Bells of Alluria" by Sharon Knight "Rootless" by S.J. Tucker "To The Morrigan" by Sencha the Vate "Cernunnos" by Omni

Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today's most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. I am your bewitching bald headed host Chris Orapello and tonight, we meet with witch, teacher, writer, and healing practitioner Christopher Penczak about his experience being a career witch as well as his thoughts on pagan leadership. We also talk about his publishing company Copper Cauldron Publishing and some of what went into forming the Temple of Witchcraft located in Salem, New Hampshire. Featured Songs: “She” by Tenpenny Joke “Hymn to Pan” by Faun “A Witchesbrew” by Omnia “Witches Rune” by S.J. Tucker “The Art of Magick” by Ralph Buckley “Branwen's Lament” by Damh the Bard “The Battle of Evermore” by Finvarra “Long Black Curl” by Tuatha Dea Related Links Christopher Penczak.com Temple of Witchcraft Copper Cauldron Pub

Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today's most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. I am your bewitching bald headed host Chris Orapello and tonight, we meet with local New Jersey sorcerer and author Jason Miller to discuss his new book Sex, Sorcery, and Spirit: The Secrets of Erotic Magic. Jason and I have an honest discussion about sex magick, what it is, what it isn't, and we learn another reason why it's best to avoid touching someone else's magickal tools. The songs featured in this episode were: “Long Black Curl” by Tuatha Dea “Wild Purple Irises” by Jessica Star “Ereshkigal” by Wendy Rule “Waking Panther” by Mama Gina “Bridge of Birds” by The Familiars “Love in the Forest” by Omnia Related Links Strategic Sorcery.net Strategic Sorcery Blog Between the Worlds 2015 Jason Miller on Facebook

Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today's most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. I am your bewitching, bald headed host Chris Orapello and tonight, we travel to the land of fae once again to attend FaerieCon East 2014 where I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing beloved Appalachian Folk Magic practitioner and author Byron Ballard. Byron and I had a fun discussion about her book Staubs and Ditchwater: A Friendly and Useful Introduction to Hillfolk's Hoodoo as well as talk about her background, experiences, and thoughts in regards to practicing witchcraft and the art and drama of religious ritual in paganism today. Music featured in this episode: "Saltatio Vita" by Omnia "Song of the Witches" by S.J. Tucker "Dark Eyes" by Betsy Tiney (featuring S.J. Tucker) "No Harm" by Tara Rice "Alesia" by Eluveiti

  Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today's most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. Tonight, we travel to the land of fae to attend FaerieCon East 2014 where I had the unexpected pleasure of interviewing beloved author Raven Grimassi and Stephanie Taylor-Grimassi of House of Grimassi in front of a live audience. Raven Grimassi is a Neo-Pagan scholar and award-winning author of over twelve books on Witchcraft, Wicca, and Neo-Paganism including Old World Witchcraft and Italian Witchraft. He is a member of the American Folklore Society and is co-founder and co-director of the Crossroads Fellowship, a modern Mystery School tradition. He lives in Springfield, MA. - Red Wheel / Weiser Online Raven Grimassi is the author of over a dozen books dealing with witchcraft, some of which include his award winning book Wic

Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today's most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. Tonight, we meet with The Crooked Path walking Cunningman himself Peter Paddon to discuss Traditional Witchcraft. Peter and I had a great conversation about witchcraft and his thoughts on deity, the mysteries, his work, and what he had planned in the future. Peter was very big on utilizing technology in his teaching and in making himself available to the rest of the community. However, the heartbreaking reality of this interview is that Peter passed away quietly in his sleep three days after I spoke with him. His family made an announcement online about his passing and an obituary for him was written by Heather Greene for The Wild Hunt. My heart goes out to him and his family during this time. Though he was in the middle of a