Delusional Witch Juice

Heather Nations
  • 5.0 (3)
  • History
  • Updated Weekly

Delusional Witch Juice is a weird-history podcast exploring witchcraft, folklore, the occult, paranormal phenomena, strange beliefs, and the stories hiding beneath the stories we think we know. It's part history lecture, part séance, part group chat. Unfiltered, well-researched, and made especially for delusional witches.

  1. 3d ago

    Victorian Séances: Who Answered When They Called the Dead?

    In 1848, according to her mother, an 11-year-old girl in upstate New York clapped her hands at a knocking wall and said, "Mr. Splitfoot, do as I do." And the wall knocked back. Forty years later, her sister walked onto a New York stage and cracked her toe in front of around 2,000 people to show them how she said it was done. In between, the Victorians built a log cabin full of instruments for ghosts, tied mediums up in cabinets, took a spirit's pulse, and turned talking to the dead into a board game you could buy. This week I'm digging into Victorian séances: the rules of the spirit circle, the mediums who got caught (and the ones who didn't), how Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace ended up on opposite sides of a medium's trial, and how the pendulum, the planchette and the Ouija board let people make the call themselves. Plus a modern experiment where the Ouija board seemed to know more than the people using it. So when the Victorians called out to the dead, who actually answered? Chapters(00:00) Mr. Splitfoot, do as I do(01:33) Why people wanted to call the dead(07:14) The spirit room(11:04) Proof in the dark(17:04) Maggie Fox's confession(20:30) The pendulum: who's moving it?(23:25) The planchette(25:04) The Ouija board(27:35) So who answered?

  2. Sep 22

    Mabon: The Kidnapped Baby Behind the Fall Equinox

    The modern Pagan name for the fall equinox belongs to a Welsh man who was kidnapped when he was three nights old, imprisoned for an unknown length of time, and rescued only because one of King Arthur's impossible tasks required him to handle a magical hunting dog. In 1974, a Pagan writer named Aidan Kelly needed a name for the autumn equinox. He built an argument for one — running through the Eleusinian Mysteries, Demeter and Persephone, a baby held in a fire, Abraham and Isaac — and landed on Mabon ap Modron. But the Welsh story does not say what Kelly said it says. Mabon is not dead when he is found, nobody named Gwydion rescues him, and the search that finds him runs through a blackbird, a stag, an owl, an eagle, and finally a salmon. I follow the name back through the stories that built it, and find that the most interesting thing about Mabon is the part nobody can explain: why he was taken at all. Chapters 00:00 Cold open: a baby stolen at three nights old 02:01 How Mabon got onto the calendar 05:10 Demeter, Persephone, and a child in the fire 11:05 Abraham, Isaac, and the ram 14:20 The Helen problem 15:28 Looking for a northern counterpart 16:51 The marriage quest from hell 20:43 Asking the oldest animals in the world 23:14 A loose end: who actually holds the dog?24:41 Who was Mabon before the prison? 29:33 Back to the equinox Sources ​Aidan Kelly, About Naming Ostara, Litha and Mabon (Patheos, 2017) — his own account of the 1974 calendar​Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Evelyn-White translation​Medelhavsmuseet, The Eleusinian Mysteries​Foundation of the Hellenic World, The Eleusinian Mysteries ritual​Apollodorus, Library, Epitome 1.23–24​Genesis 22 (Chabad Tanakh)​Babylonian Talmud, Megillah 31a (Sefaria)​Culhwch and Olwen, Lady Charlotte Guest translation (Robbins Library, University of Rochester)​Pa gur yv y porthaur (“Arthur and the Porter”)​Rachel Bromwich, Trioedd Ynys Prydein, triad 52, via Siân Echard​Roman Inscriptions of Britain 583 — the Ribchester dedication to Apollo Maponus​Peniarth 147 — the woman at the ford Music: “The Box's Secret” — AI-generated via AISong.org If you want another historical rabbit hole with a suspicious amount of mythology attached, follow Delusional Witch Juice wherever you're listening.

  3. Sep 4

    The Real Witchcraft Behind Practical Magic: What TikTok Got Wrong

    When did Practical Magic stop being a movie and start becoming witch lore? The 1998 film gave us the Owens house, rosemary by the garden gate, midnight margaritas, family grimoires, suspiciously perfect hair, and enough cozy witch imagery to fuel Pinterest for approximately three lifetimes. But a lot of what we now associate with the Practical Magic version of witchcraft wasn't an ancient tradition. It was fiction. In this episode of Delusional Witch Juice, we're getting into how a box-office flop slowly became one of the biggest influences on the modern witch aesthetic, and how the internet helped remove the quotation marks around fictional witchcraft. We’re talking about: • Why Practical Magic originally flopped• The very real folklore mixed into the movie's fictional magic• The alleged curse placed on the production• Why the Owens house feels weirdly historically authentic despite never actually existing• How Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram, and WitchTok turned movie imagery into “witch knowledge”• Why repetition can make something fictional feel traditional• And what happens when Practical Magic 2 enters an internet already obsessed with the Owens aesthetic CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold Open02:57 The Movie Did Not Become a Blueprint Overnight05:43 How Repetition Turns an Image Into a Fact08:01 The Movie’s Actual Magic Trick13:24 The House That Looked Like Proof16:08 The Internet Removed the Plot20:09 When the Feed Became the Grimoire24:49 Does Fictional Lore Become Real Lore?27:28 So What Happens When the Sequel Arrives?RESEARCH + FURTHER READING Alice Hoffman — Practical Magic (1995) Claudia Williams — “The Practical Magic House: Unveiling the Design Secrets of This Enchanting Dwelling,” Architectural Digest David Sims — “Thank the ’90s for Practical Magic,” The Atlantic Lila Shapiro — “The True Story of How Practical Magic Got Cursed by a Witch,” Vulture Chris Miller — “How Modern Witches Enchant TikTok: Intersections of Digital, Consumer, and Material Culture(s) on #WitchTok,” Religions Museum of Witchcraft and Magic — “The Witches Hat” Museum of London Archaeology — research on concealed witch bottles and ritual objects Follow Delusional Witch Juice on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, subscribe on YouTube for full video episodes, and follow on Instagram and TikTok for clips, strange history, folklore, and whatever rabbit hole I fall into next. And if you know somebody who owns the margarita glasses, planted rosemary beside the garden gate, or has spent twenty years trying to recreate the Owens kitchen... send them this episode.

  4. Aug 27

    Why Witches Won't Make Moon Water on a Lunar Eclipse

    Why is regular full-moon water considered magical, but eclipse water is treated like the LaCroix of chaos? In this episode of Delusional Witch Stews, Heather investigates where our beliefs about full moons, moon water, and “chaotic eclipse energy” actually come from. We’re talking lunar madness, historically inaccurate werewolves, modern Wiccan esbats, celestial dragons, moon-eating jaguars, Mesopotamian eclipse omens, and the deeply inconvenient question: should you make eclipse water or not? The answer is less about a universal witchcraft rule and more about the story you believe the eclipse is telling. CHAPTERS 00:00 Tonight’s lunar eclipse00:20 The usual full-moon rules01:11 Why is eclipse water considered dangerous?02:08 Why humans think the full moon is powerful04:48 Werewolves and modern moon folklore06:17 Full moons, Wicca, and esbats08:09 Where did moon water come from?10:14 The science of a lunar eclipse11:42 Dragons, jaguars, and monsters eating the moon14:30 Mesopotamian eclipse omens17:28 Why eclipses became symbols of chaos19:02 Is eclipse water actually dangerous?21:12 When magical symbolism meets physics23:12 Should you make eclipse water?24:49 Two different stories about the moon26:09 Closing RESEARCH & FURTHER READING • NASA — August 27–28, 2026 Deep Partial Lunar Eclipsehttps://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5672 • The Metropolitan Museum of Art — The Solar Eclipse and the Substitute Kinghttps://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/solar-eclipse-substitute-king • PubMed — The Influence of the Lunar Cycle on Psychiatric Emergency Consultationshttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41845243/ • PubMed — No Effect of Lunar Cycle on Psychiatric Admissions or Emergency Evaluationshttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17256692/ • Scott Cunningham — The Complete Book of Incense, Oils & Brews If you enjoyed this trip down the lunar rabbit hole, follow Delusional Witch Stews and share the episode with the witch in your life who already has a jar sitting outside.

  5. Aug 20

    The Strange History of Fortune Telling: From Royal Astrologers to Zoltar

    This week on Delusional Witch Juice, I discuss the real history of fortune telling and how the creepy crystal ball fortune teller is way younger than you think. From ancient Chinese oracle bones and Mesopotamian diviners to Queen Elizabeth I’s astrologer John Dee and a celebrity astrologer consulting America’s financial elite, predicting the future was once serious business. Plus the history of scrying, why tarot cards were originally a game, how the Romani fortune teller stereotype developed, the rise of coin-operated fortune telling machines, and why Magic 8-Balls, fortune cookies, cootie catchers, and even modern algorithms prove we still really hate not knowing what happens next. 00:00 — Intro03:39 — The Basics05:47 — Scrying & Other Divination Tools08:12 — Where Did Fortune Telling Come From?11:16 — Advisor to the Queen14:12 — Fortune Telling on Wall Street16:29 — How Dictators used Fortune Telling18:51 — When it Became Illegal22:56 — Tarot and Divination26:53 — Romani Does Not = Fortune Teller30:00 — Woman with The Crystal Ball32:23 — Magic 8 Balls and Cootie Catchers35:23 — The Need to Know SOURCES & FURTHER READING The Metropolitan Museum of Art — “Before Fortune-Telling: The History and Structure of Tarot Cards”The early history of tarot as a card game and its much later association with occultism and fortune telling.Read at The MetThe Metropolitan Museum of Art — Shang Dynasty Oracle BonesExamples of inscribed bones used in ancient Chinese royal divination.Explore the collectionSmarthistory / Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art — “Oracle Bone, Shang Dynasty”How Shang rulers used ox bones and tortoise shells to ask questions about war, illness, weather, hunting and other concerns.Read the articleBritish Museum — Dr. Dee’s Magical MirrorThe obsidian mirror associated with Elizabethan scholar, astrologer and occultist John Dee.View the British Museum objectRoyal Museums Greenwich — John DeeJohn Dee’s work in astrology, navigation, alchemy, his relationship with Elizabeth I and his attempts to communicate with angels through scrying.Read at Royal Museums GreenwichJ. Paul Getty Museum — “Rising Signs: The Medieval Science of Astrology”Astrology’s role in medieval medicine, agriculture, divination and royal courts, including rulers consulting astrologers about marriages and military outcomes.Read at GettyScience History Institute — “Disorderly Persons”The history of fortune-telling laws, witchcraft and vagrancy statutes, Romani stereotypes, gender and the transformation of fortune telling from supposed magic into alleged fraud.Read at Science History InstituteBible Gateway — Deuteronomy 18:10–13One of the major biblical prohibitions against divination, omens, sorcery, mediums and consulting the dead.Read the passageThe Vatican — Catechism of the Catholic Church, Sections 2115–2117The Catholic Church’s distinction between divine prophecy and prohibited practices such as astrology, horoscopes, palmistry, omens, clairvoyance and mediums.Read the CatechismCambridge University Press — Eric Kurlander, “The Nazi Magicians’ Controversy”A scholarly examination of astrology, occultism and so-called “border sciences” within Nazi Germany, including the regime’s complicated mixture of suppression and exploitation.Read at Cambridge CoreThe Strong National Museum of Play — “The Play of Fortune”Fortune telling as entertainment, including coin-operated arcade fortune tellers such as the 1957 Grandma Fortune Teller.Read at The StrongThe Strong National Museum of Play — History of the Magic 8 BallThe strange path from a professional clairvoyant’s device to one of America’s most recognizable fortune-telling toys.Read the historySmithsonian Magazine — “Cracking Open the History of Fortune Cookies”The Japanese predecessors of the modern fortune cookie and how the cookie eventually became associated with Chinese-American restaurants.Read at Smithsonian Magazine

  6. Aug 11 ·  Bonus

    August 12 Is Cosmic Chaos: Eclipse, Planets & Perseids

    This week on Delusional Witch Juice, I discuss why August 12 is being called cosmic chaos—and whether somebody actually left the Lion’s Gate Portal open. From a six-planet parade and New Moon in Leo to a total solar eclipse and perfectly timed Perseid meteor shower, the celestial guest list is much messier than the internet claims. Plus ancient Mesopotamian substitute kings, the gardener who inherited a throne after the real king died from hot soup, the fiery Tears of Saint Lawrence, and what people in the Midwest can actually see in the sky. CHAPTERS 00:00 August 12th Has Entered the Group Chat02:07 The Official Cosmic Guest List04:37 The Planet Parade: Before Sunrise07:30 The Main Event: Total Solar Eclipse09:58 Someone Is Going to Die13:15 Enter the Perseids16:29 Why the 2026 Perseids Are Special18:23 So What Is Actually Happening?20:23 Thank Yous SOURCES & FURTHER READING The August 12 Cosmic Events NASA — August 2026 Skywatching GuideInternational Meteor Organization — 2026 Meteor Shower CalendarNASA — Notable Astronomical Events of 2026The Planet Parade August 12 Planetary Alignment GuideVisible Planets in August 2026The New Moon & Solar Eclipse NASA — August 12, 2026 Eclipse DataNASA — Interactive Eclipse MapNew Moon and Solar Eclipse at 20° LeoEclipses Visible from St. LouisEclipse Omens & Substitute Kings The Metropolitan Museum of Art — The Solar Eclipse and the Substitute KingThe Perseids & Comet Swift–Tuttle NASA — The Perseid Meteor ShowerNASA — Comet 109P/Swift–TuttleNational Geographic — The Grisly Origin Story Behind the Perseids FOLLOW THE SHOW INSTA YOUTUBE

  7. Aug 5

    The Sinister Past of Garden Gnomes: Elves, Fairies & the Folklore Behind Them

    In this episode of Delusional Witch Juice, Heather untangles the weird, messy folklore behind house spirits and the creatures we now casually lump together as “the fae.” From Scandinavian nisse who will apparently commit livestock murder over missing butter, to Scottish brownies who clean your house but absolutely do not want to be treated like employees, these supernatural roommates came with very specific boundaries. Along the way, Heather digs into where gnomes actually came from, why Snow White’s dwarfs aren’t gnomes, the surprising folklore parallels behind Dobby and Harry Potter’s house-elves, why fairy rings were considered dangerous, what Sleeping Beauty teaches us about fairy etiquette, and, finally, where the Smurfs fit into this entire supernatural mess. Turns out the cute little guy standing next to your hostas has a much stranger history than garden décor would have you believe. And if you decide to leave out some porridge tonight, just remember one thing: put the butter on top. Sources: ​Merriam-Webster — “Fairy” / “Faerie”Etymology and historical meanings of fairy and faerie, including the older meaning of enchantment or fairyland. Merriam-Webster: FairyMerriam-Webster: Faerie​Paracelsus — Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and SalamandersSource for Paracelsus’s elemental beings and the earth-dwelling creatures later associated with gnomes. Read via Internet Archive​Brothers Grimm — “Little Snow-White”The older Snow White story explicitly describes the seven dwarfs digging for ore and gold in the mountains, which is why the mining connection matters. Read Little Snow-White​Official Harry Potter Encyclopedia — House-ElvesConfirms that house-elves are bound to households and can be freed when their master gives them clothing. House-Elf Fact File​Thomas Keightley — The Fairy MythologyHistorical folklore collection covering brownies and other household spirits, including leaving cream for brownies and the recurring stories where giving them clothing causes them to leave. Read The Fairy Mythology at Project Gutenberg​Visit Norway — The Norwegian FjøsnisseCovers the traditional barn-dwelling nisse, its connection with farm animals, Christmas porridge, butter and the belief that neglecting the spirit could result in mischief. Meet the Norwegian Fjøsnisse​Swedish Legends and Folktales — “The Missing Butter”Source for the beautifully unhinged story of the tomte discovering his butter was hidden beneath the porridge, killing the farm’s cow and stealing an identical replacement cow. The Missing Butter folklore text​Woodland Trust — Fairy RingsExplains both the fungal science behind fairy rings and European folklore connecting them with dancing fairies, elves, witches and supernatural danger. What Is a Fairy Ring?​Charles Perrault — “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood”Perrault’s version has seven fairies invited as the princess’s godmothers and an older uninvited fairy who believes she has been insulted and curses the child. The supernatural etiquette drama was there long before Disney. Read Perrault's Sleeping Beauty​The Smurfs — Official HistoryPeyo created the Smurfs as characters in Johan and Peewit in 1958. So, tragically, no ancient Smurf mythology. Just Belgium. Official Smurfs History​Garden Gnome History / LampySir Charles Isham brought small German figures to Lamport Hall in the nineteenth century, helping establish the garden-gnome tradition in Britain. History of Lampy and the Garden Gnome

  8. Jul 29

    Lammas: The Three Histories Behind the Pagan Bread Holiday

    Back with another seasonal sabbat episode! Is Lammas really an ancient pagan bread holiday? In this episode, Heather follows the history from Old English “loaf-mass” and church-blessed bread to Lammas grazing rights, the Irish festival of Lughnasadh, and the story of Lugh’s foster mother Tailtiu. The modern holiday turns out to be a blend of three different traditions: an English Christian harvest observance, an Irish mythological and political gathering, and a modern Wiccan sabbat on the Wheel of the Year. Along the way, Heather gets into funeral games, land disputes, protective bread charms, and the ancient festival historians still cannot fully reconstruct. Listen to find out how all three histories ended up inside one modern pagan holiday. Sources Church of England — “The Agricultural Year”https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/times-and-seasons-4 A Clerk of Oxford — “A Little History of Lammas”https://aclerkofoxford.blogspot.com/2017/08/a-little-history-of-lammas.html J. G. L. Richardson — Lammas grazing rights and English commonshttps://journals.univie.ac.at/index.php/rhy/article/download/5762/5699/12153 Ronald Hutton — The Stations of the Sunhttps://academic.oup.com/book/1390/chapter/140717330 CELT — The Metrical Dindshenchas: Tailtiuhttps://celt.ucc.ie/published/T106500D/text033.html CELT — The Annals of Ulster, entry for 916https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T100001A/text486.html Cambridge — “Harvest Shortfalls, Grain Prices, and Famines in Preindustrial England”https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-economic-history/article/abs/harvest-shortfalls-grain-prices-and-famines-in-preindustrial-england/A6BD779A911DD17910EA44DF8ADF7613 Ethan Doyle White — Wicca: History, Belief & Community in Modern Pagan Witchcrafthttps://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv3029rcf Irish pronunciation recordings — Teanglannhttps://www.teanglann.ie/en/fuaim/L%C3%BAnasa 00:00 Pagan Bread Has Lore 04:47 Welcome and Ground Rules 08:08 The Internet Version 10:35 Loaf-Mass and Bread Magic 18:44 Lammas Land 23:30 Lugh, Tailtiu and the Fair 31:02 The Festival We Cannot Rebuild 35:59 Why the First Loaf Mattered 40:35 How It Joined the Wheel

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5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Delusional Witch Juice is a weird-history podcast exploring witchcraft, folklore, the occult, paranormal phenomena, strange beliefs, and the stories hiding beneath the stories we think we know. It's part history lecture, part séance, part group chat. Unfiltered, well-researched, and made especially for delusional witches.

Information

  • Creator
    Heather Nations
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    79
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Heather Nations
  • Show Website
    Delusional Witch Juice