Back on the Broomstick: Old Witchcraft, New Path

While we’re lighting candles for the ancestors, what magick can we make for those of us still on this side of the veil? This week, Laylla and Chelle are talking about Samhain for the living. There’s plenty of room at this season’s table for remembering the dead, but let’s also feed the people who are still here.

We’re exploring the magick of giving people their offerings while they’re alive, preserving the stories and traditions we love, and deciding which inherited patterns have followed us far enough. You don’t need children to leave a legacy, and you don’t need a message from beyond the veil to have a meaningful Samhain. The people you teach, the community you care for, and the kindness you put into practice all become part of what you leave behind.

As the Wheel turns toward the darker months, we’re tending the hearth, protecting our peace, and making room for endings that don’t come with a funeral. A friendship, an old belief, or a version of yourself you’ve outgrown can deserve acknowledgment, too. And you’re allowed to mourn what’s finished without immediately knowing what comes next.

Plus, we’re sharing a simple spell with candles, earth, and a little tombstone to hold a funeral for habits and ideas that have overstayed their welcome. Give them a proper send-off, then turn your attention to the life you’re still making.

This Samhain, honor the ancestor you’re becoming: choose one thing you want to be remembered for, one pattern that ends with you, and one thing you’ll nurture while you’re here.
28: Connecting with our Beloved Dead: Intro to Ancestor Work

This episode is sponsored by The Witches Moon
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Nobody has to be hexing you for your energy to feel completely wrung out. Sometimes you’ve just spent the day in a crowd, read tarot for a lot of people, or had so much fun you forgot to ground.

They’re talking psychic self-defense for situations that aren’t necessarily toxic, just draining. What magick goes into packing? How do you stay open to connection without taking on everything around you? And what happens when two experienced witches forget to follow their own advice about grounding? There’s an ocean reset, a lt of crystals, and a reminder that even the best adventures can leave you needing a little time to come back to yourself.

This week, Laylla and Chelle share how a last-minute trip came together in just three days and took them to Salem, Massachusetts, during October’s witch season. Between a visit to the Haunted Warren Museum, a stop at The Satanic Temple, reading tarot, and connecting with their people, there was plenty to keep their witchy senses busy.

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Samhain is approaching, the nights are growing longer, and we’re making room for some powerful company. This week, Laylla and Chelle are talking about dark Goddesses, the pull toward Hecate and Lilith, and why Their energy feels especially relevant right now. When the world keeps asking us to be quieter, smaller, and easier to manage, there’s something deeply magickal about connecting with a goddess who encourages us to stand in our power.

Chelle shares her personal experiences with Hecate, while Laylla talks about her relationship with Lilith, reclaiming female power, and questioning the patriarchal perspectives that shape the stories we inherit. We explore what “dark” means in our spiritual practice and how these relationships can help us navigate endings, hold boundaries, and trust our own voices as we enter the season of the witch.

We’re also answering your questions about recognizing a connection, making offerings, beginning a devotional practice, and working discreetly while still in the broom closet. Whether you’ve walked with these powerful figures for years or are just getting curious, join us at the crossroads for a conversation about devotion, sovereignty, and the parts of ourselves we’re ready to stop apologizing for.
Laylla's List of Lilith Books
The Book of Lilith by Barbara Black Koltuv

Lilith’s Demons, by Julie R. Enszer

Lilith’s Fire: Reclaiming Our Sacred Lifeforce, by Deborah (D’vorah) Grennv- founder of the Lilith Institute

The Coming of Lilith: Essays on Feminism, Judaism, and Sexual Ethics, 1972–2003, by Judith Plaskow

The Lilith Question by Aviva Cantor Zuckoff (magazine article)
https://lilith.org/articles/fall-1976-29/
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Names have power, witches. But when someone knows yours, what do they actually have access to?

This week on Back on the Broomstick, Laylla and Chelle explore the folklore of true names, secret identities, and supernatural bargains, from Rumpelstiltskin toThe Wizard of EarthSea. Why do so many stories hinge on discovering a name, and how does that idea show up in modern witchcraft?

We’re talking about names as taglocks, the connections they create in spellwork, and why a “true name” might mean something very different from the one on your birth certificate. We also explore the power of choosing a name that expresses who you are or who you’re becoming, and why some names are shared freely while others are kept between a witch and their practice.

Then we get into warding your name. What exactly are you protecting, and how can you put some magick behind the boundaries you set? From private ritual names to the usernames we put all over the internet, there’s plenty to consider about who gets access to us and on what terms.

Plus, two simple spells: one to reflect unwanted energy directed at your name, and one to give your name a magickal cleansing. Because you can’t always keep your name out of someone’s mouth, but you can have a say in what power that gives them.
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Fall is here, whether the weather got the memo or not, and Laylla and Chelle are welcoming the season of the witch with a visit to a local Pagan Pride Day event and four spooky cemetery tales full of curses, cages, shocking encounters, and graves that are rumored to be alive with ghostly witches.
The witches talk about going to CNY Pagan Pride Day on Saturday, September 19! Laylla and Chelle will be there with Back on the Broomstick and Crystal City Circle, helping lead this year’s main ritual, hosting a community table, and presenting workshops. Come say hello, join us in circle, and spend the day celebrating our wonderfully witchy community.

Our spooky stories range from an accused witch escaping Sale, to the Catawissa caged graves to Shamokin’s Witch’s Hat monument, the witches share stories of restless spirits, whispered warnings, and a summoning dare with some seriously questionable consequences. But who were the people buried beneath these unusual monuments, and how did their resting places become the stuff of local nightmares?

After the ghost stories, we turn to the history we can uncover, including grave robbers, grieving families, and the gap between what a monument means and what people imagine it means. We also discuss why these legends take hold, why women so often become the witches in someone else’s story, and how our expectations can influence what we experience.

Plus, a grounding and centering practice for approaching spirit work with an open mind, clear intentions, and room for “I don’t know.”

This episode is sponsored by our friends at The Witches Moon.
Got a question? Send the witches a message here!
Support the show
Want to send us a letter? Witchy things to review?
Our mailing address is:
Back on the Broomstick
PO Box 21
Tioga, PA 16946
Email: backonthebroomstick@gmail.com
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Back on the Broomstick Website