Chats with Aunt Jacki

Jacki Smith
  • 5.0 (1)
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I’m Jacki Smith, but you can call me Aunt Jacki. After thirty years of building a life around being a witch, I’ve learned that magic isn’t an escape from your reality—it’s the way you master it. Chats with Aunt Jacki is a space for honest conversations about how we navigate today’s world using the tools of the magic. We’re talking about the real stuff: the Akashic Records, conjure, candles, and the grit of spell crafting. I’m sharing my own journey, the struggles, successes, and the "notes from the field" I’ve gathered along the way, to help you listen to your own intuition. Each episode, I’ll tackle the topics on our hearts and minds, sometimes joined by fellow practitioners to compare notes on how we stay grounded while working with the unseen. Practical magic for the life you’re actually living. Pull up a chair. You’re already more magical than you think.

  1. 3d ago

    Life Gets Lifey: Ancestors, Healing, and Real-World Magic with Wendy Mata

    Life gets lifey—even when you are deeply spiritual, doing your healing work, and trying to stay connected to your magic. In this episode, I sit down with Wendy Mata, author of Bruja Curandera: Spells and Rituals from a Mexican Healer and Witch, to talk about ancestor work, limpias, spiritual bypassing, and what it really means to become a magical person. We talk about building a reciprocal relationship with your ancestors, setting boundaries with spirits, calling back the parts of yourself that were lost through trauma, and using cleansing work to release what no longer belongs to you. Wendy also shares why magic works best alongside therapy, medical care, practical support, and the very human process of feeling what you feel. We also explore cultural appropriation, closed practices, and the difference between respectfully learning from a tradition and claiming authority you have not earned. This is a grounded conversation about healing, responsibility, ancestry, and remembering that you are the magic.

  2. Jul 8

    Tarot, Fearlessness, and the Flawed Human Condition with Shavonne Readus

    What if confidence is not something you either have or don’t have, but something you practice one honest choice at a time? In this episode of Chats with Aunt Jacki, Jacki sits down with Shavonne Readus, also known as V of Red Light Readings, author of Tarot for the Flawed and Fearless: 22 Keys to Master Self-Confidence. Together, they talk about tarot as a mirror for self-trust, not a crutch for avoiding the messy parts of being human. Using the Major Arcana as a path of growth, Jacki and V explore The Fool, The Tower, Judgment, and The Star as cards that can help us understand new beginnings, collapse, forgiveness, hope, fear, and the courage to keep becoming ourselves. This conversation is for anyone who has ever wondered how to trust themselves again, especially when life is changing, old patterns are crumbling, or the next step feels uncomfortable. Because fearlessness does not mean you are never afraid. Sometimes it means you finally stop letting fear be the loudest voice in the room. Find Shavonne Readus / V at Red Light Readings: Instagram: @redlightreadings Website: redlightreadings.com Facebook: Red Light Readings Find Jacki at AuntJacki.com for readings, blogs, and more episodes of Chats with Aunt Jacki.

  3. Jun 22

    When Family Patterns Surface: Shadow Work with Adult Children

    The hardest family pattern to recognize may be the one where we realize we are part of someone else’s story. In this episode of Chats with Aunt Jacki, Jacki Smith explores family patterns, shadow work, ancestral healing, and the uncomfortable moment when we stop being only the child trying to understand our parents — and become the parent our adult child may be trying to understand. After teaching about inherited beliefs, family legacies, ancestral contracts, and healing family patterns through the Akashic Records, Jacki reflects on the humbling truth that our children may not experience us the way we experience ourselves. This is especially tender in mother daughter relationships, parent and adult child relationships, and any family dynamic where love, grief, boundaries, repair, and old wounds live side by side. We know our intentions. They know their experience. Both can be true. This episode is an honest conversation about motherhood, adult children, impact versus intention, emotional healing, spiritual healing, distance, repair, grief, humility, and the magic of asking better questions before we defend the wound. Because family patterns are not museum pieces. They are living things.

  4. Jun 8

    Are you Making it up? Understanding Akashic Records, Intuition, and Inner Knowing

    Most people imagine the Akashic Records as a giant cosmic filing cabinet — distant, mysterious, and only accessible to the extra-special spiritually attuned. That is not how I experience them. In this episode, I’m talking about the Akashic Records from lived experience: what they are, what they are not, and how they can help us understand the patterns, fears, blocks, and old stories shaping our lives. I share how I first found myself working in the Records, why consent matters deeply in this work, and how to tell the difference between anxious mental storytelling and true Akashic insight. We’ll also talk about intuition, psychic information, mediumship, imagination, grounding, and why the Records are not here to help you spy on other people or bypass common sense. They are here to help you understand yourself more honestly. Because sometimes the wisdom you need does not arrive as a lightning bolt. Sometimes it feels like memory. Sometimes it sounds like a strange symbol. Sometimes it starts with the question, “Am I making this up?” And sometimes, that is exactly where the door opens. You can learn more about my work, book an Akashic Reading, or find my book DIY Akashic Wisdom at auntjacki.com. Until next time, trust your magic and keep your candle lit.

  5. May 26

    The Energetic Purity Trap: Your Pain Isn’t Proof Your Magic Failed

    You were never meant to be calm, perfect, and high-vibe before your magic was allowed to work. What if your pain isn’t blocking your magic, but trying to tell you where the spell begins? In this episode of Chats with Aunt Jacki, I’m joined by Laura Tempest Zakroff for the final conversation in the Protection Magic for Women series. Together, we unpack the energetic purity trap, the damaging idea that anger, grief, fear, overwhelm, or messy human emotion means your vibration is wrong, your magic has failed, or you are somehow the problem. We talk about why “high vibration” language can become another ranking system, how shame interrupts magic, and why real witchcraft brings us back into the body, the land, our tools, our communities, and our actual lives. Laura shares wisdom on sigil magic, embodied practice, magical resistance, shadow work, and why sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is simply do the thing, make the mess, and learn from it. This conversation is about reclaiming magic from perfectionism, purity culture, spiritual bypassing, and the myth that you have to be healed, calm, or perfectly aligned before you are allowed to be powerful. Your pain is not proof your magic failed. Your fear is not proof you are broken. Your mess is not the opposite of magic. Sometimes, it is where the working begins. Learn more about Laura Tempest Zakroff at lauratempestzakroff.com. Learn more about Jacki Smith, book an Akashic reading, or find more episodes at AuntJacki.com. Until next time, trust your magic and keep your candle lit.

  6. May 18

    Protection Magic for Women: Trust the Signal Before the Spell

    Protection magic is not just about what you put on your altar, hang over your door, or carry in your pocket. Sometimes protection begins much earlier than the spell. It begins in the moment something feels off and you decide not to talk yourself out of it. In this episode of Chats with Aunt Jacki, I sit down with beloved author, folklorist, and magical teacher Judika Illes for a conversation about protection magic, women’s power, self-trust, fear, discernment, and what it means to stop apologizing for being a witch with claws. Judika is the author of many essential books on magic, folklore, spirits, and spellwork, including The Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells and Pure Magic. Her work has helped shape modern magical practice by bringing historical, folkloric, and practical magic into the hands of real people living real lives. We talk about: Why protection magic is one of the oldest forms of magicWhat magic can and cannot do when danger is realWhy “harm none” does not apply to every magical pathThe problem with the “good witch” and the declawed version of magicHow women have been trained to doubt their own instinctsWhy fear is not always the enemyHow intuition can be damaged by abuse, gaslighting, and conditioningSimple daily protection practices that help rebuild self-trustJudika’s Protection Spells deck and how portable magic can support people in real-world moments This conversation is part of my ongoing series with magical women about protection, power, and what it means to claim yourself in a world that often teaches women to stay quiet, stay nice, and stay unsure. Because the first protection spell may not be the candle, the charm, or the ritual. It may be believing yourself. You can find Judika Illes through her books wherever books are sold, and on social media. To book an Akashic reading with me, visit: https://auntjacki.com

  7. May 11

    Protection Magic for Women: The Motherline Has Your Back with Cairelle Perilloux

    Where do you go for protection when life gets hard? In this episode of Chats with Aunt Jacki, I sit down with Cairelle Perilloux, author of The Magic in Your Genes and the upcoming Motherline Grimoire, to talk about ancestor magic, the maternal line, inherited survival patterns, and the deep protection carried through generations of women. This conversation is about power, lineage, boundaries, and remembering that you are not starting from zero. When something goes wrong, when you feel scared, depleted, threatened, or unsure, where do you go for protection? A spell? A crystal? Your anger? A trusted friend? Your own stubborn refusal to fold? In this episode of Chats with Aunt Jacki, I’m joined by Cairelle Perilloux, author of The Magic in Your Genes and the upcoming Motherline Grimoire, for a powerful conversation about protection, power, and the ancestral strength carried through the maternal line. Cairelle is a genealogist, integrative RN, and magical practitioner whose work brings together ancestry, DNA, science, magic, and deep spiritual relationship. Together, we talk about the motherline, the women who came before us, and the patterns we inherit, both the ones that protect us and the ones we are here to interrupt. We explore how women have survived through silence, back-channel communication, intuition, endurance, adaptation, and fierce quiet strength. We also talk about what changes when protection stops being automatic fear and becomes conscious choice. This conversation moves through boundaries, inherited compliance, medical advocacy, ancestor altars, mitochondrial DNA, the power of naming your mothers, and what it means to walk through the world aware, but unafraid. Because you are not starting from zero. Your mothers are behind you. Your grandmothers are behind you. Your lineage has already survived more than you can imagine. And maybe the protection you’ve been looking for has been in your bones all along. Learn more about Cairelle at cairelle.com and follow her on social media at I Am Cairelle. You can find me at AuntJacki.com for Akashic readings, classes, podcast episodes, and more. Please like, subscribe, and follow Chats with Aunt Jacki wherever you listen.

  8. May 4

    When the System Breaks, We Build Circles Power, Protection, and Why You Can’t Do This Alone

    When the system breaks, we don’t wait to be saved. We build circles. Every week, another story breaks that confirms what many of us have always known—this world was not built with women’s safety in mind. In this episode of Chats with Aunt Jacki, I sit down with Byron Ballard—folklorist, author, and longtime voice in the magical community—for a real conversation about what’s happening right now. Not in theory. Not in headlines. In lived experience. We talk about “Tower Time”—what it means when the systems we’ve relied on are cracking, and why this moment isn’t about fixing what’s broken. It’s about seeing clearly what was never built to hold us in the first place. This conversation goes into hard territory: the visibility of organized harm against womenthe conditioning that keeps us quiet or compliantthe ways fear, isolation, and distraction keep us from actingAnd then we move into what actually matters. Power. Protection. And the truth most people don’t say out loud: We don’t do this alone. If the system isn’t going to keep you safe, then the question becomes—what does? We talk about grounding, energetic protection, and why community is not a luxury. It’s the work. It’s the protection. It’s how we move forward from here. If you’ve been feeling unsettled, questioning what you’re seeing, or trying to figure out where your power actually is in all of this—you’re not wrong. And you’re not alone. And if you’re at a place where you need clarity, perspective, or help sorting through what’s yours and what isn’t, you can connect with me for a reading at AuntJacki.com Listen in. Stay grounded. And start finding your people.

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About

I’m Jacki Smith, but you can call me Aunt Jacki. After thirty years of building a life around being a witch, I’ve learned that magic isn’t an escape from your reality—it’s the way you master it. Chats with Aunt Jacki is a space for honest conversations about how we navigate today’s world using the tools of the magic. We’re talking about the real stuff: the Akashic Records, conjure, candles, and the grit of spell crafting. I’m sharing my own journey, the struggles, successes, and the "notes from the field" I’ve gathered along the way, to help you listen to your own intuition. Each episode, I’ll tackle the topics on our hearts and minds, sometimes joined by fellow practitioners to compare notes on how we stay grounded while working with the unseen. Practical magic for the life you’re actually living. Pull up a chair. You’re already more magical than you think.

Information

  • Creator
    Jacki Smith
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Jacki Smith