Back on the Broomstick: Old Witchcraft, New Path

Who says your divination deck has to say “tarot” on the box? This week, Laylla and Chelle welcome witch, seer, and Coffee & Divination host JoAnna Farrer, author of The Diviner’s Path, for a conversation about reading the signs and building a practice that speaks your language.

We talk about divination systems, our relationships with symbols, and why Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering cards can be just as powerful as tarot. With their rich imagery and symbolism, a little imagination, and trust in your divination skills, these cards can be powerful tools whether you know anything about the games or not. 

The conversation explores what makes a divination tool meaningful and how familiarity, intuition, and practice shape our readings. Learning a system gives us a place to begin, but developing a relationship with it is where things get interesting. There’s room to respect established traditions while exploring the symbols and tools that make sense to you.

JoAnna’s animist approach also brings us beyond the cards and into relationship with the living world. Her work invites us to pay attention, ask thoughtful questions, and consider how divination can become part of everyday life. We also meet Solomon, her ball python, while discussing the importance of creating your own symbolic dictionary. A snake might represent wisdom to one person and fear to another, which makes Solomon a rather fitting guest for a conversation about how personal our symbols can be.

Grab your coffee and whatever deck you’ve got handy. There’s more than one way to read the cards, and your next useful message might come from somewhere you weren’t expecting!
Website:  Coffee & Divination
Instagram: @coffeeanddivination
The Diviner’s Path, from Llewellyn
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What would you ask if the dead could answer? Would you finally uncover that family secret, find out what really happens after we die, or just ask a ghost why the hell they're still hanging around the same hallway after 150 years?

This Halloween, we're pulling back the veil and exploring the wonderfully spooky world of spirit communication! From ancient necromancy and ancestral wisdom to Victorian séances and modern witchcraft, we're talking about the many ways witches have tried to get a word in with the dearly (and not so dearly) departed.

We'll share some of our own ghostly encounters and experiences with spirit communication, along with practical ways you can try connecting with your ancestors and the spirit world. We're talking tarot, pendulums, automatic writing, dreamwork, and the art of asking a good question. Because if you've only got one chance to speak with the dead, you probably don't want to waste it asking about the weather.

We're also playing One Witch, One Question, One Ghost, a little game where we visit some of America's most famously haunted places and decide what we'd ask their resident spirits. From the White Lady of Union Cemetery to the ghosts of the Roberson, we've got questions, and we're hoping the dead have answers!

And of course, we have a little Samhain homework for you! We're inviting you to choose a question of your own, try a witchy divination practice, and see what wisdom, memories, or mysteries might come creeping through.

So light a candle, pour a little something for your ancestors, and join us for a Halloween conversation about ghosts, magic, the mysteries of death, and the questions we'd love to ask those on the other side.

After all, the veil may be thin, but that doesn't mean the dead are taking questions!
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When the bonfire burns low and the spirits are abroad, you’d better know your way home.

This Samhain, Laylla and Chelle explore the spooky traditions of Nos Galan Gaeaf, the Welsh eve of winter, Samhian here in the Nothern Hemisphere, and the magick we can draw from its folklore today. From encounters with Y Ladi Wen, the White Lady, to the fearsome tailless black sow, these stories have plenty to say about respecting boundaries, keeping your promises, and knowing when it’s time to leave.

With tales of ghostly encounters, bonfire divination, and a look at the Welsh Otherworld figure Gwyn ap Nudd, the witches find inspiration for modern spells to protect yourself and your home as the dark half of the year settles in.
Samhain is also a time to seek messages and glimpse what might be ahead. From marked stones in bonfire ashes to seasonal fortune-telling customs, the witches discuss divination woven into Welsh folklore and how those traditions can inspire our practices today. They also pull an oracle card for the holiday to see what guidance awaits as we enter the dark half of the year.

We talk so much about opening ourselves to ancestors and messages at Samhain. There’s just as much magick in deciding who gets an invitation, what deserves our attention, and when to close the door. Gather close, keep the hearth warm, and remember that a thinner veil doesn’t mean an open invitation.
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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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Our mailing address is:
Back on the Broomstick
PO Box 21
Tioga, PA 16946
Email: backonthebroomstick@gmail.com
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