Live Recording with Sarah of Flora & Function. Tulsi, clay magic, and changing lives at Anahata's Purpose
First- a heads up. This episode starts out rowdy and full of profanity so utilize those headphones.
This week is a bit different! I went to Anahata's Purpose and for the first time, I recorded an interview in front of a live audience! So the audio quality is a little different, and I left audience noises in because it just made sense. My guest is Sarah of Flora & Function, and she tells us about clay magic, tea, and explains how going to Anahata's last year began a series of events that changed her life.
Flora & Function
flora.and.function instagram
Flora & Function facebook
Be sure to visit this week's sponsor, Prairie Fire Herbal! You can pick up their new Hekate Ritual Kit on October first. Be sure to follow PFH on socials for alerts when she releases new items like this awesome kit!
prairiefireherbal.com
instagram: @prairie_fire_herbal
Welcome back to Your Average Witch, where every Tuesday we talk about witch life, witch stories, and sometimes a little witchcraft. This episode of Your Average Witch is brought to you by Prairie Fire Herbal. This week is a bit different. I went to Anahata's Purpose and for the first time I recorded an interview in front of a live audience, so the audio quality is a little different. I left audience noises in because it just made sense and if I had tried to take them out, it would not make sense, because we interacted with one another. My guest is Sarah of Flora and Function and she tells us about clay magic, tea, and explains how going to Anahata's last year began a series of events that changed her life. Before we get started, I want to talk to you about this week's sponsor, Prairie Fire Herbal. Prairie Fire Herbal has a wonderful new spell kit dropping on October 1st. This collection of plant-focused ritual tools and art is designed to invoke Hecate in her role as the mother of witchcraft and her mastery over plants to both heal and harm. Some of the plants featured have traditional connections to Hecate and others, while not traditionally associated with Hekate, Penelope found them to work well within a Hekatean context. She tries to work with plants bio-regionally when possible, but you'll find things here that she's foraged from a recent trip to Greece that would have been very familiar to priestesses and worshippers of Hekate in the ancient Aegean region where Hekate's cults flourished. And here's where I'm going to tell you, you should be following Prairie Fire Herbal socials @Praire_Fire_Herbal on Instagram because the pictures of the food and the shrines and the plants and the little stories that she told are amazing and I'm envious as heck. Now back to the ad. Every piece in this ritual kit was created with the intent to deepen your connection to Hecate and to enrich and expand your relationship with the plants and herbs that are shrouded under her mantle. Here are just a few things you'll find in the kit coming up. Hand-dipped ritual dressed tapers, ritual oil, purification soap, incense, mulling spices, a perfume, blue lotus ointment, a flying ointment for connecting to Hecate through dream flight. Um, hello, yes please. I want that. A print, an offering bowl, forage plants that she foraged in Greece, come on! Materia Magica for Eastern Red Cedar. I don't even know what that is, but I want it. To get your Hecate Ritual Kit, be sure to follow Prairie Fire Herbal on Instagram @Prairie_Fire_Herbal to get updates and shop drop alerts. And to get your hand-dipped candles, handcrafted oils, intentional soaps and ritual kits, visit PrairieFireHerbal.com today. Now let's get to the stories.
Audience: (coming into room) Woo! Yeah! Woo! Woo! Hello, Cleveland! Detroit! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! I missed it. I missed the whole thing. That is not how we do high fives. Hi! What's up, motherfuckers? We love you!
Kim: What up, Hive House?
Audience: Cacaw! Hive House! Cacaw!
Kim: Hi everybody!
Audience: Hi! (cheering)
Kim: That's weird. (audience laughs) So, I know at least one person in this room has not listened to my podcast, so I'm going to explain a little bit what it is. I talk to witches and ask them nosy stuff about their lives All over the world like South Africa, Australia, the UK because I'm a fancy bitch. International! And my friend Sarah from Flora and Fauna agreed to, she agreed many months ago to be the one that this is happening to.
Sarah: Forever ago! This is how you convince me to do things. You say "Hey, we're going to do this at Anahata's." And I'm like... okay.
Kim: So a little bit of housekeeping first. One, please, please make your phones not make sounds for me.
Sarah: I think it's like dead in this room anyway.
Rachel: Yeah. I have like NO signal.
Kim: Oh okay. Also we are vending, Jayne, Sarah and I are vending down the gift shop, and we would love to see you come give us money. Or just look at it, because the weapons people are there. Those are badass. And I have jewelry and mystery boxes, which is some neat stuff, and some spell boxes from last year. Sarah has...
Sarah: I do handmade ceramics, all crafted with intention with lots of different symbolism. I have bees and snakes and pomegranates and all sorts of things on different functional pieces, like my pipes... and little jars and all sorts of fun different stuff that I'd love for y'all to come see.
Kim: And Jayne's gonna tell us what she has, even though she didn't know.
Jayne: I do fiber arts so I have crochet and hand sewn items, all of them also made with intention. I pick the colors and do kind of a knot magic while I work them. Most of the ones we have here are just community and openness. I should have done some coolness in them. (laughs)
Ashley: You did. They are cool. Did you see the blankets?
Kim: So. Ma'am.
Sarah: Hello.
Kim: Hi. Sarah, will you please introduce yourself and let everybody know who you are and what you do and where they can find you?
Sarah: Okay. Hello, my name is Sarah. Anywhere that I have socials, which is mostly just Instagram and Facebook, it's Flora.and.Function. That's where I am on the interwebs. But yeah, we kind of already said, I make ceramics.
Kim: The end. Bye everybody! (both laugh, audience cheers and applauds) So if you identify as a witch, what does that mean to you when you say it?
Sarah: For me, I'm definitely still figuring it out. I feel like I am very much at the beginning stage of where I'm going with everything. So a lot of when I say I'm a witch, that means I'm paying attention to the world around me. And I'm doing whatever I can to push it in the ways that work for me, and work for my friends, and try and just make it the best place it can be for all of us.
Kim: You're so niiiice!
Sarah: That's what it means to me.
Kim: Do you have any daily rituals or consistent, if not daily, because I don't do things daily.
Sarah: Yeah, no. Not daily.
Kim: Do you have any consistent rituals that you'll share?
Sarah: Um, sure. So uh, Kim, I don't know if you know this, but uh, you kind of started a coven.
Audience: (cheering) Woo! Hive House! Buzz buzz, motherfucker!
Sarah: And so we always shake our ass for Jupiter!
Kim: Eyyyyyyy! (audience cheers) This is, in fact, Thursday.
Sarah: Yes, when we're recording it is Thursday. And so that is probably the most consistent thing that I do.
Kim: Really?
Sarah: (laughing; audience laughs) Yeah. Besides that, like, any simple things. Like I got the Sun and Moon kit from Prairie Fire Herbal-
Kim: Mhmmm, I like that one.
Sarah: ... and the clay that I work with is Helios, and so all of the sun things are Helios, and so whenever I'm having a particularly hard day with my clay, I'll light the sun candle and just be like, please just come on, please work with me today.
Kim: That's cool, I didn't know that!
Sarah: Yeah. I hope you told her. I don't think I have.
Kim: She knows now.
Sarah: Hey, now you know.
Kim: (burps off mic) Pardon me, everyone. (audience laughs) (gets close to mic) Edit that out!
Audience: No, leave it in, leave it in!
Kim: Guess what?
Audience: Chicken butt!
Kim: Also- yes, that, but also I don't remember my questions because I'm in front of a crowd. (audience laughs) And usually I have them on a laminated thing with a dry erase marker.
Sarah: To mark through? That's a good, idea, yeah.
Kim: I'm smart sometimes.
Audience: All the time.
Sarah: You're very smart Kim.
Kim: Oh thanks!
Sarah: Yeah.
Kim: Do you have any family history with witchcraft? Or do you remember anything happening from childhood that even though your family might say, "How dare you? I'm a good upstanding Christian!" but still kind of witchy?
Sarah: So not... I don't know. So I was recently going on a hike with my mom and she was looking around at all the things and like paying attention to the world around her on a nature hike and being like, look how amazing all of this is.
Kim: Good for her.
Sarah: And I'm like, no wonder I'm a fucking witch. (laughter) But she would never even think of going on a nature walk as being anything other than a nature walk. And so, like for her, no, not at all. But for me, that's something that is like very much... I guess, a part of my practice, is, you know, paying attention to the world.
Kim: Yeah. Did I ever tap this? Is this on?
Rachel: (from back of room) It's on!
Sarah: Sarah: That would be funny.
Kim: I know you did it for me, but I'm afraid!
Rachel: I set it up for you! The lights are on and changing. It's on.
Kim: Okay. Now that I terrified myself, what is YOUR biggest fear in witchcraft? (audience laughs)
Sarah: (sighs) Okay. My biggest fear in witchcraft is that I'm not doing it.
Kim: At all?
Sarah: At all. It's that like...
Kim: You mean right or at all?
Sarah: Uhhh... I don't know. Probably the biggest fear is that I'm not doing it at all. It's that I'm doing things and then it's not actually...
Kim: Or making believe?
Sarah: Yeah. Or like that it's all just pretend and in my brain, which also is real, so therefore I talk myself out of it and it's all fine!
Kim: Yay, good! What do you call that feeling when you're doing that?
Sarah: That would be imposter syndrome.
Kim: Ooooo!
Sarah: Is that one of our questions?
Kim: It is!
Sarah: Did I stumble on a question? (laughter)
Kim: That was a great segue.
Sarah: Thank you.
Kim: We win!
Sarah: We won the segue game!
Kim: So you beat it by just saying "Shut up"? (laughs)
Sarah: Pretty much! (laughs)
Kim: Everyone take notes. (laughter)
Sarah: "Tell brain to shut up." Yeah. (laughs) And you know. Sometimes it works, and sometimes I go "Kiiiim, I'm not a witch!" And you go "Go light a candle."
Kim: (audience laughter) Yay me! Awesome. I'm glad I... yay.
Sarah: It helps.
Kim: Good. Would you say witchcraft has changed your life?
Sarah: That's the tricky part is like it's, it's changed a lot in, my life has changed a lot in the past year. And a huge part of it was coming here last year. I'm not gonna fucking cry.
Kim and audience: Yaaaay!
Kim: If you cry, I'll cry!
Sarah: I know, we'll all cry again! I'll have a little cry.
Audience: And then everyone will be crying. Buzz buzz, motherfucker. (laughter)
Sarah: So coming here last year, I was in a very different place.
Kim: Fuck, you're gonna make me cry again.
Sarah: I know! So I was at a terrible studio. They were very mean to me, and very much belittled me and told me multiple times if you can't do XYZ you don't deserve to own a small business. You don't deserve to make and sell your pieces. It tore me down a lot. Ind I came here and I took one of the like healing not good enough classes, and all I could think about during that was these people and how they had made me feel. And with everything else crazy shit going on in my life, that was the thing that was the heaviest on me. And so being able to come here and like have that moment of realizing no, I am worth it! Like I'm worth treating myself well. (tearful) After that, like a month after Anahata's, I got my own kiln, and... (audience cheers) And by December I was able to leave that studio and leave teaching ceramics for now. I may go back at some point, but I need to heal some first. And yeah, and so now I am completely making and selling my work as my only source of living, and spreading my intentions through those pieces, and giving them to people.
Kim: You're a magical witchy self! (audience cheers) I love you.
Sarah: I love you.
Kim: Well speaking of Anahata's, what made you come here?
Sarah: You! (audience laughs) I've already told you this! I told the podcast this last year!
Kim: Shhhh! (audience laughs) You're not supposed to tell them I recycle! (laughter)
Sarah: Fine! No meta-gaming! So, I joined Kim's Patreon a long time ago now, and one of the first questions you asked as soon as I got on the Marco Polo was, "ARE YOU COMING TO ANAHATA'S??" (laughter) It started with hi, hello, and then that. (laughter)
Kim: I like it, I'm excited!
Sarah: And so I had heard about it on WBAH, and then you asked me, and I was like, "How the heck am I gonna make that happen? I don't, I can't do that." And then, you know, the pieces fall into place and you make things happen that are worth it.
Kim: What made you come this year?
Sarah: What made me come this year was that it was a wonderful experience last year and it completely changed my life.
Kim: Mine too.
Sarah: Yeah. (laughter) It's why I'm here.
Kim: I mean, hello. I'm here. I'm doing this. What would you say is your biggest struggle with witchcraft?
Sarah: I think it's that, it's that... thing we just said the word of earlier that I segued and all of that.
Jayne: Imposter syndrome!
Sarah: Impostor syndrome, thank you!
Kim: Oh yay, thanks Jayne!
Sarah: That's part of being up here, you can't think of words! I think it's the impostor syndrome though. It's that a little voice in my brain that sometimes goes like "What the fuck are you doing? This is bullshit, you're not actually doing any of this. This is just happenstance. That's the worst part.
Kim: You're crazy!
Sarah: Exactly. It's that little thing where it's like, are you? It's like, but I can just, it's like, I can just choose to believe it though.
Kim: Here's the next example that I'm gonna use.
Sarah: Okay.
Kim: When we were on the way here, we almost died several times.
Sarah: Several times!
Jayne: So many times.
Kim: Jesus. Fuck a semi. (laughter) My grapes!
Jayne: My grapes!
Kim: I'll explain that later. (laughter) So, I was in the back seat. I don't remember why.
Sarah: Because I get carsick!
Kim: Because I'm the adult. Oh yeah. (laughter) And so we were both like, fuck, that sucked.
Sarah: That's not happening again.
Kim: And And so I said, okay, well we're all witches, hello, why don't we use that? And we made a little bubble in the middle on the console of the car, and then expanded it out, and then we all felt better. And we all had tingles. Well, I had tingles.
Sarah: Yeah it was very strange.
Kim: And I know I on here I usually say I don't work with other witches but I just got called the fuck out by my friend Sarah, who said "By the way dumbass, you have a coven." (laughter)
Sarah: Did you know?
Kim: And so it did do it. We did do a thing.
Sarah: We did a thing. And it *worked.* It kept those...
Jayne: All the times we almost died...
Kim: Like when also a spider suddenly appeared on Jayne and she did not freak the fuck out.
Sarah: That was also the last like...
Kim: Scary as fuck thing.
Sarah: Like that was the last actual close call that happened is after we did that.
Kim: I hated it.
Sarah: Yeah, no, that one was not fun. After we did that, like nothing was that close.
Kim: Yeah, there was that one, but there was an open space and Janie jumped the hell over into it. It was great! We didn't die.
Sarah: We didn't die! We made it.
Kim: What brings you the most joy in your practice?
Sarah: Hmmm. I... seeing when things work.
Kim: Not dying in a car crash.
Sarah: Not dying in a car crash. Well, and when I do offerings to my kiln or offerings to my clay, and all of a sudden it changes and it starts behaving. Because clay has a mind of its own.
Kim: Can you explain that? Because that sounds cool.
Sarah: OK. So sometimes I'm working with clay, and there are literally just days where I'm throwing on the wheel. And I'm trying to pull up the walls and just... I've done this hundreds and hundreds of times, but for some reason now the clay is just like, no I don't want to. It just falls over. It literally just collapses on itself and just says no. (laugh) So I'm pulling up the walls, it's so nice, and then I get to the top and it goes... (bleah)
Kim: Metal does that, but not exactly. But yes.
Sarah: Yeah, and so when that happens I like try and If I try and keep forcing it then it gets worse because I get frustrated, and then the clay gets frustrated, and then we're frustrated at each other. And clay actually has a memory so whatever shape... yeah, I know it's weird. So whatever shapes it goes in it has these all the little particles of the clay. They float around and and they remember the shapes that they go into. I know, it's weird. That's why sometimes you'll see things where it's like a flat thing and then it'll curve up on the edges. It's because it remembers being curved. And so it's trying to get back to the thing that it remembered and it liked the best. So that's why you have to be super gentle with the clay and smooth it out and do all these things with it. It's to say, like, this is the one you want to be. This is the good shape. We like this shape.
Ashley: Is anybody else getting a nature witch vibe because she's describing this clay? I'm sorry.
Sarah: I mean, I definitely think that ceramics is witchcraft, 100%. Like you literally have every element involved in it.
Kim: Oh yeah!! (audience ooohs and laughs)
Sarah: And I'm... Because you start with literally just something that gets dug out of the earth and then you are adding water to it and then I am pouring my intentions and blood and sweat and tears into these pieces. And then they go into the giant fire of the kiln after getting dried out by the air.
Kim: It's giant, I would fit in that kiln.
Sarah: Yeah. A person could definitely fit inside that kiln.
Ashley: Please don't. (audience laughs)
Sarah: No ex-studio members were harmed.
Kim: Maybe. That's so cool. That's so freaking cool!
Sarah: Yeah! Yeah so all of that is poured into it and then sealed in by the fire.
Kim: Hmmm. It turned off, sorry. What brings you the most joy-
Sarah: You already did that one. (audience laughs)
Kim: Hey! This is why I need a marker to mark it off! You're welcome. What's your biggest fear in witchcraft?
Sarah: Didn't we already do that one? (Audience: "Yeah") We did that one too.
Kim: Help meee! (audience laughs) Okay. Someone else ask a question. Yes, ma'am.
Jayne: Me?
Kim: Yeah.
Jayne: How has how has your, either your practice changed your work, or your work changed your practice, whichever way that went.
Sarah: Ooh, that's fun. Because with my work, I explore a lot broader of subject matter in my work than I even do in my own specific practice. Because I'm trying to like, there's so many things that just people don't make. And I want to be able to have things for those witches. Thank you.
Audience: (cheers) Yay! Yay birthday candle holders!
Sarah: Yeah, birthday candle holders! And like, I need to make some more of them, but I made some super specific, like, witches' incense burners that have like a storage container on the bottom that you can pour the ashes into.
Ashley: Oh, that thing is so great. I use mine every day.
Theresa: Yeah, I literally use it every day, multiple times a day.
Sarah: Okay, I will make more of those. Marked in the brain.
Kacie: Yeah, I missed them the first time around. I've been waiting.
Kim: And she did spirit houses!
Sarah: Yeah, I made some little incense, like, spirit houses. You reminded me just in time to make them.
Kim: Yay! (both laugh)
Sarah: But I explore so much more, like, functional things, because that's what I love, is making things with different, specific functions.
Kim: What's the name of your business?
Sarah: It's actually Flora and Function. And the flora is all started because, so the way that I got into witchcraft was through herbs. So I was trying to, I was working at an after school center and I just kept getting sick because it's an after-school center. And so the kids just spew germs.
Kim: They're vectors.
Sarah: They are. It's like the whole thing is just a Petri dish. And so I was just tired of being sick all the time. And so I didn't want to take a bunch of stuff, so I was looking into what herbs could help me. And then I started studying the herbs. And then I was like, these have more energy to them than just healing. There's something else here. And so then I started going into this. And so I made those herbs a part of the ceramics, and a part of everything else. And then I'm adding different symbols to my pieces, and trying to find just as many different things that can go into my pottery as possible. Yeah. (laughs) Can, Can I call?
Kim: Call what? (Sarah points to an audience member with a raised hand) Yes! (laughter) And since this is a live thing and I haven't done it before, you can also ask me stuff if you want, or just her, or both of us.
Sarah: What's your question?
Audience member: Do you have a favorite piece that you use all the time that you've made?
Kim: Ooh, that's a good one!
Sarah: That's a good question! So my favorite is my mugs because... the shape of my mugs, it's kind of, it's very a human shape. It's got like a wider top and then it narrows in and then it's got a big butt.
Ashley: It fits perfectly in, when you grip it it fits perfectly in your hand.
Lisa: It's very feminine.
Sarah: It is very feminine. And so it's just very, it's the most comfortable thing to hold. And I very much have coffee and tea as part of my practice. And the shape of it holds the heat in a little bit longer. And so it's just, it's a comfort thing. And it just feels good. And I hope that that's what other people feel with them. That's what I want to share. Yeah. (laughs)
Kim: (startled) Something bad happened, somebody else ask a question real quick! (audience laughs)
Sarah: (in an announcer voice) Does anybody else have a question? (audience laughs) Ashley?
Ashley: What drew you t ceramics versus any other medium?
Kim: Oh, good one!
Sarah: Oh, that's a good one. So I was in college. Actually when I was in high school, I looked at the ceramics and was like, "That takes too much time." (laughter) Yeah, that was a great ceramics program at my high school and I did not take a single class.
Kim and audience: Wow.
Sarah: Yeah. (laughs) I was like, I don't have the time for that. I know, me too. But when I got into college, I was gonna do art education and so they were just like, take one of everything. And I was like, if I'm going to do pottery or ceramics, I'm going to do the wheel throwing class, because that looks cool. And so I tried it once. And on the first day, we were supposed to be throwing cylinders as our first project. And it's harder than you think.
Kim: That sounds really hard.
Sarah: It's really hard! No curves, just straight. And so they showed us. And I stayed for probably three hours after class until I got one. And after that, I was just hooked. I was like I'm going to get this.
Kim: What is your moon sign?
Sarah: My moon?
Theresa: Scorpio.
Sarah: Thank you. (audience laughs)
Kim: (laughing) Theresa Mariesa, everyone. (audience laughs)
Sarah: We were just talking about it earlier. (laughs) But the first time that I actually finished a piece and used something that I had turned from mud into something functional, and was able to use that... that was magic. Like...
Jayne: Witchcraft.
Sarah: It's witchcraft. It was amazing!
Kim: That's awesome.
Sarah: I love it.
Ashley: And now I'm hooked.
Sarah: Thank you.
Kim: What's something you wish was discussed more in the witch community?
Sarah: So my witch community is WBAH and the Hive. That is my witch community. And we talk about everything. (laughter)
Kim: So much.
Sarah: So much.
Ashley: Sometimes we talk about too much.
Kim: There's some, there maybe some new Jim canon coming out soon by the way. (laughter) I approved it with Macy. (laughter) He only has one leg.
Sarah: Don't ask what the other one is. (audience laughs)
Kim: Or, join us by the fire later for a rousing game of Adult...
Sarah: A million and a half questions?
Kim: Adult Questions That You Just Ask Until You Find Out The Answer. (laughter) And the first question seems to always be "Is it used in porn?" (laughter) A lot of the time it is.
Sarah: Most of the time, it is.
Kim: How often do you work with other witches, though? Because I know you do, like, the Jupiter thing, but really, and we did in the car.
Sarah: Yeah. In person, working with other witches? Not really. Like, through the internet, working with other witches? Every Thursday. (laughter) But, no, like, I haven't found a witch community where I am. Like, I've found people and I've found shops, but like, not that will get together and do things in a way that I'm comfortable. So I haven't yet.
Kim: Me neither.
Sarah: Yeah.
Kim: I just love the internet. (laughter) We're all awesome! That's how everybody got here, I think.
Theresa: You can do it from home with no pants.
Kim: Right?
Sarah: Yeah, see, that's nice.
Kim: I am wearing pants. (laughter) For the listeners, they came in...
Sarah: Today.
Kim: I'm behind a table, wearing a bra. (laughter) So my ladies is out. (laughter) But I do have pants on this time. It's like the reverse of home. (laughter)
Sarah: Yeah, yeah.
Kim: What's something that you did early on in your practice that you no longer do?
Sarah: So I still feel like I am early on in my practice. And a lot of people-
Kim: Don't try to avoid the question. (laughter)
Sarah: But I am! And like I know a lot of people talk about like they started with doing like the very structured, like big ritual magic. And that scared me because I came from a Catholic background, as a lot of people do. And that felt too much like church to me. And I avoided having any kind of altar, even, for the longest time.
Kim: Oh, wow!
Sarah: Yeah, because that word was so tied to that, that I didn't want it involved at all. And so I started with tiny things and slowly building. So I started with tea. And I still try and drink tea.
Kim: You are one of the tea-ing-est drinkingest people I know. (laughter)
Sarah: I like my jar!
Kim: What's your favorite tool in your practice? It does not have to be a physical object.
Sarah: My wheel! Or my kiln. Together, my studio, yeah.
Kim: Yay! How do you use it?
Sarah: How do I use it? I use it to pour my intentions into my work.
Kim: (laughing) Thank you for not saying I make ceramics.
Sarah: (laughing) I make ceramics! (laughter) I turn it on. (laughter) I center the clay... (laughter)
Kim: If you could only recommend one source of information, like a book, podcast, YouTube channel, internet site? I don't know why I said internet, I'm sorry. (laughter)
Sarah: (laughing) I would recommend the internet.
Kim: (laughs) What would it be?
Sarah: (laughing) Honestly, I would probably recommend your podcast.
Kim: Mine?
Sarah: Yeah.
Kim: Over WBAH?
Sarah: I would recommend yours.
Kim: Oh wow, thank you! Why?
Ashley: I love how she always gets so excited, but then goes "Why?" (laughter)
Sarah: It's because of the amount of things referenced on your podcast, like the number of books that are recommended, the number of everything.
Kim: Oh, that's true.
Sarah: Like you can listen to an episode and go so in depth into that person's practice and be thinking the whole time, like, oh my god, yeah, yeah, that's really awesome. Maybe not that for my practice, but that's really cool. And then you can listen to the next one and do the same thing, and so you're just it's a great way to learn different people's perspectives. (audience applauds)
Ashley: We learn from lots of witches.
Kacie: Yeah, a whole variety of people!
Sarah: Exactly!
Kim: But also? Come write my promos. (laughter)
Sarah: Just take that recording, write it down, and there you go! (laughs)
Kim: So you live in Georgia. Yes. But you lived all over, you've been to a lot of different places.
Sarah: I have been to a lot of different places.
Kim: Would you say that if you didn't grow up where you grew up and you didn't live where you live, that your practice would be different, or would you still pull from the same things that you use?
Sarah: Hmmm. So I'm more recently trying to get into more like localized things that are growing in my yard sort of witchcraft. And so based on that, yeah, I think if I lived anywhere else, I'd be using what's there. But as far as... I don't know. Because I feel like a lot of my stuff comes with me. Any house that I've lived in has a very different energy, but I'm trying to bring mine into it and have it become...
Kim: Inhabit.
Sarah: Yeah, like have my spirit talk to my house spirit and figure out how they go together. And so I think I just try to bring some of me to wherever I'm at. (remote high-fives with Kim)
Kim: Excellent!
Sarah: Good.
Kim: Think of the three biggest influences on your practice, whether they be people, stuff, books, a plant, whatever. Clay.
Sarah: Oooo! Wait, I'm like, I had thoughts and then I forgot. (laughter)
Kim: Thank them for the influence and tell them how they influenced you.
Sarah: Okay I would like to thank the plant, Tulsi. I have seeds if you, if anybody would like some. I brought them with me. I would like to thank that plant, because that was the first plant that I felt that energy from, that different feeling from, and it's one of the most like spiritual and physical healing plants that I work with that just makes me feel alive. So thank you Tulsi.
Audience: Thanks tulsi!
Sarah: Um... (makes popping sound) Sorry!
Audience: (laughs) Edit that out!
Sarah: (sings)I make weird noises while I think... (laughs)
Kim: Have you heard this podcast? (audience laughs)
Audience: If you edit that in, I'm gonna be sad.
Kim: I'm leaving it in, it's hilarious. This is going to be a wild one, everyone. (laughs) Hopefully by this point in the show, you know.
Ashley: Welcome to the Hive. (laughter)
Sarah:: And I guess I'd like to thank my clay. I would like to thank it for continuing to work with me, and for all the lessons that it's taught me. Because clay teaches you how to let go of shit. Because it's fragile, it's breakable.
Kim: You had me wanting to work with clay until that. (laughter)
Sarah: No, nothing is permanent.
Kim: I can never let go of anything.
Sarah: It can go wrong at any stage of the process, even if everything looks perfect. (audience laughter) Going into the...
Kim: No.
Sarah: I know, it's awful. Everything can look perfect. Going into the final firing, everything's great. And then you can pull it out, and it's like collapsed in a weird way, or warped in a weird way, or cracked, or something. And then it's like, oh, OK.
Kim: Siiiike!
Sarah: Yep. And so with it, you have to learn those hard lessons. You have to learn how to move on and try again and keep going and not give up. So I'd like to thank clay for that.
Allanah: Thanks, clay.
Sarah: Thank you.
Kacie: Aw, thank you clay! Oh my gosh!
Sarah: Aw, am I gonna make people cry about clay?
Audience: Too late. (laughter)
Sarah: Yay! (pauses) And I'd like to thank you.
Kim: (crying) No, I don't want to cry again!
Audience: Awww!
Sarah: Okay, I'll just say I want to thank you for making me feel like a witch.
Audience: (applauds)
Kim: Ow, you're hurting my feelings! Dammit. (laughter)
Allanah: We love you Kim.
Kim: I love you too. (laughter) (cries) Oh... I was already having trouble figuring out where I was on this piece of paper... (audience laughs)
Sarah: Is it time for me to tell you my story?
Kim: Almost. (laughter) Almost! What advice do you have for somebody just starting out?
Sarah: somebody just starting out, I would say pay attention to your surroundings.
Kim: (still crying) (quietly) Can you hand me a tissue?
Sarah: (laughing) yes. Pay attention to what's happening and see what you observe, because the world is usually a more magical place than we give it credit for being. (pauses, audience laughs)
Kim: I cried and then it just turned off again, man! (laughs)
Sarah: Sorry for making your brain leave! (laughter)
Kim: Would you please recommend something to the listeners?
Sarah: (makes thinking sounds)
Kim: Anything. It does not have to be witch related or magic or anything at all. It could be a sandwich.
Sarah: Okay, I would recommend chickpea salad. It's delicious. I love to do it with feta and cucumbers and tomatoes and some red onion and some Greek dressing. Mix that all up. I like Greek dressing. Do you like Greek dressing?
Kim: I want to eat all of that except the onions.
Sarah: Okay, you can leave the onions out.
Kim: YAY Thanks!
Sarah: That's what I'll recommend.
Kim: Cool. Last. Last...
Sarah: Ooh, or Tulsi Tea.
Kim: Too late! Too bad! (laughter) No, I like Tulsi because you told me about Tulsi and now I love Tulsi.
Sarah: Yay! Good.
Kim: I'll allow it.
Sarah: Good.
Kim: Finally, tell me a story.
Sarah: Okay.
Kim: Yay!
Sarah: I had to think about it because I knew it was coming. And my memory sometimes forgets things.
Kim: Notices that you're talking in front of a bunch of people again.
Sarah: Shockingly. So I'm going to tell you about the adventure I had the first time I ever traveled alone overseas.
Kim: I am already afraid. (laughter)_
Sarah: Yeah, it was terrifying. It was awful. But it was also very funny, and you learn things. So when I, so for... Brain. (laughter)
Kim: It's me! Sorry I gave that to you. (laughter)
Sarah: I'm like, where does it start? Where does the story actually start? I don't tell it all that often, although I should. So I was doing my first year of college as a study abroad student. It's a cool program that Florida State does where you study abroad for a year, and then you get in-state tuition. So that was cool. I know, right? Like, how does that work? I know. It was great. So I lived in Florence for a year, and I know. (laughs) And got to travel around all over the place.
Kim: "I just lived in Florence for a year."
Sarah: I just casually lived in Florence. Worked in a library. It was great. It was in a castle.
Kim: What?!
Sarah: I know! (laughter)
Ashley: And you're just now telling us?
Sarah: I swear I have! I forget I've done things! That's like five stories right there. (laughter) So while I was doing this, I kept getting annoyed because people just wanted to go to different places and just drink. And I'm like, that doesn't sound like fun. I don't want to go to Dublin again and go and drink and not remember anything. So I was like, well, I want to go to Budapest. And so I was like, hey, do you think it would be OK? to my program director, if I went alone, and she was like yeah, you'll be fine. (audience reacts) I did not die this time. So... I may be a ghost, I don't know. Am I?
Kim: (pretends to pass hand through Sarah's body) Holy shit! (laughter)
Sarah: Ahhhh! (laughs) Okay, so I booked this trip. We would fly out of Pisa because that was an easier airport to go anywhere.
Kim: What life are you living?!
Sarah: It was a very weird life for a year. So you would catch a bus to Pisa and then you would take your flight. And so I got on the bus to Pisa. I had left myself like two hours, like an hour to get there, an hour in the airport. The airport's like one room. We were stuck on that bus for about an hour and 45 minutes. And so I sprinted to go get my ticket, because I also didn't have a cell phone because I didn't want to pay for overseas things. So I just didn't have a cell phone that year. Sprinted, got my ticket, was able to somehow make it through the line, and was the last person in line to get on my flight. Like, there were three people left to get on. And I got on the flight, which was great. So flying through the air, I hear the engines cut out. That was terrifying. (audience reacts) Yeah.
Kim: I hate it.
Sarah: Yeah, it was awful...
Audience: *I* hate it!
Sarah: Well, we were all kind of just looking at each other like, did you hear that? There's nothing...
Audience: No wonder you walked all the time! (laughter) This is traumatizing.
Sarah: Yeah! This is just the beginning. This is the intro. (laughs)
Theresa: Was Mercury in retrograde? Probably.
Sarah: Probably. (laughter) It had to have been. So finally get there and I catch like a shuttle that takes me to my hotel. I have a lovely trip. In the middle of it, I message my mom on Facebook or something. And she decides to tell me that now that it's a great time to tell me that I was conceived in Budapest. (audience laughs)
Kim: That's not at all what I was expecting you to say when you told us about this story yesterday!
Sarah: And I didn't tell you the story. This is why, because it's wild! (laughter) So, oh, this was also the trip- So, at that point in Europe, I don't know if it's, I assume it's still like that. I'm not that old. It hasn't been that long. (laughs) Excuse you. This was like nine years ago. I'm a baby, it's fine. I'm sorry. (laughs) You had to, you would just take cash out. You would just go to an ATM and take cash out. That was the easiest way to pay for anything there, because credit card things don't work. So again, mercury was probably in retrograde. And I could not understand the ATM for this one. So I took out too much money. So my options were, I have a really fucking awesome trip and buy a bunch of shit, or I get less money back when I have to exchange it when I get back. So I decided to have some really good food and buy things! And so I got my first tarot deck there. Yeah, it's a little tiny one it's like the size of... what's that? Like an Altoids tin! (laughs) It would fit in an Altoids tin.
Ashley: From now on I'm asking Sarah, what's this? That's going to be my measurement.
Sarah: What's this? I don't know. Altoids tin. (laughter) Yeah, had a fun trip, and then I'm flying back. Everything's going pretty well at this point. I'm like, all right, we're going to get back, and it's going to be fine. And there's a storm that kicks up while we're in the air. And then all of a sudden, the plane touches back down, and I don't understand what they're saying. Because it's in Italian, and I was not fluent. I'm really bad at learning languages. That is a weakness of mine. So I'm trying to find somebody who can translate for me. And they're like, oh, we landed somewhere else. (audience laughs) They just didn't land back in Pisa.
Kim: Whateverrr...
Sarah: They landed somewhere. No, they landed in Genoa. So I was stuck in a Genoa airport. My brain doesn't do maps either, so I'm like, I don't know where I am. And I had to get back because I didn't have a cell phone and everybody expected me back. And I had no way of telling them anything. So I just sat in a Genoa airport for several hours, me and this whole plane full of people until they finally got a bus and bussed us back to Pisa at like... it had to be it was like past one or two o'clock in the morning.
Kim: Stupid o'clock.
Sarah: Yeah, it was stupid o'clock by the time I finally got back and walked my butt from the train station to where I was staying.
Kim: Gross!
Sarah: Yeah. I was a freshman in college, I wasn't paying for a taxi! (laughter)
Kim: But you had all that money!
Sarah: Not any more, I spent it!
Kim: I approve of that.
Sarah: I had like the equivalent of like 20 bucks left. (laughs) I bought good food. Yeah, and when I came back in, all my roommates were like, I thought you were kidnapped or dead. And I was like it's fine! (laughter) So yeah, that was my trip to Budapest.
Kim: Yay Budapest, showing up!
Audience: Did you ever get a cellphone after that?
Sarah: No! I did not.
Kim: Excellent choice. Well thanks for being on the show.
Sarah: Yeah, thanks for having me. Thanks for telling me, hey we're going to do this at Anahata's.
Kim: I did give you an option.
Sarah: There was no option. If you say, hey would you like to do this at Anahata's, the answer is yes.
Kim: Ok good. I agree with that, mostly, even though I cry all the time. So remind people why they should shop with you, where, et cetera. Maybe not why. They know why. But if you want to. Say whatever you want right now.
Sarah: If you listen to this, hopefully you know why you should buy my things, please. (laughter) But you can find me at Flora and Function. There's periods between the words on Instagram and Facebook, I think. And if you Google Flora and Function, you will most likely find my website. Because it's Flora, because of all the plants, and Function, because I like to make weirdly specific things.
Audience: (applauds) Woo!
Kim: Yay, thank you! Okay, bye!
Sarah: Bye!
Audience: (applauds) Buzz buzz, motherfuckers!
Kim: Now we get to go into the good shit. (fades out)
Audience: (applauds) Woo!
Sarah: (fades in) So, I, uh, as we have decided, am cheap. (laughter) From the not using a cell phone in Italy, and I refused to get a taxi.
Jayne: You're frugal.
Sarah: I am very frugal. And so I was doing a market in Savannah and I was staying at an Airbnb and the little old lady... (fades out)
To hear more of the members only episode, head over to crepuscularconjuration.com. The Monthly Magic tier will give you access to the Monthly Magic Marco Polo group, the private Facebook group, and access to the written monthly spells. There's also Crepuscular Conjurations, giving you bonus podcast episodes, coloring pages, guided meditations, spell crafting videos, printable downloads, and more. The free Witchy Wonderment level will give you a little sample of everything I just mentioned. You can also visit my shop, Clever Kim's Curios, to get spell boxes one at a time or by monthly subscription, intentional handcrafted jewelry that I make especially for witches, and handmade altar tools. You can even listen to the full Your Average Witch podcast library including show notes. Check it out at crepuscularconjuration.com. Thanks for listening to this episode of Your Average Witch. You can find us all around the internet, on Instagram at YourAverageWitchPodcast, Facebook at Facebook.com/groups/HiveHouse, at YourAverageWitch.com, and at your favorite podcast service. If you'd like to recommend someone for the podcast, like to be on it yourself, or if you'd like to advertise on the podcast, send an email to YourAverageWitchPodcast at gmail.com. Thanks for listening and I'll see you next Tuesday.