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Northern Witches
489 Plays1 year ago
Moot Loot Episode of #TBWP hosted by Swailes The Friendly Green Witch. In this episode I interview Quinn Green the creative director of Pagans of the North online Magazine and I also as share my floatation therapy experience.
EVERY TIME YOU RATE/REVIEW/FOLLOW A PODCASTER DOES A LITTLE HAPPY DANCE
Fancy being a guest speaker or suggest a topic? Email thebellwitchpodcast@yahoo.com
Produced with love and magic by @Thefriendlygreenwitch
Follow TBWP on Instagram @the_bell_witch_podcast
((DISCLAIMER- swear words, brief mentions of Druid Nazi connections and racism)
With special thanks Quinn Green, Pagans of the North, Recovery Floatation of Leeds and Emma & Dan of Real Life Ghost Stories Podcast.
Music by Geoff Harvy
Made on Wavepad Master, distributed by Zencaster.
#lifestyle #witchcraft #floatationtherapy #ghsotstories #paganism #spirituality
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Transcript
Introduction and Upcoming Interview
00:00:29
Speaker
Well hello, witches and beautiful souls, how are you doing?
00:00:35
Speaker
How the devil are you? This is Swales, the friendly green witch of the Belle Witch Podcast. We are on episode 14, can you believe it? Eh? 14. And this is another Mootloot. My lovely guest is here and I do an official interview which is the first time as well, another first. Such a cool little interview and it gets quite funny towards the end so it's worth hanging on for that.
00:01:01
Speaker
a few of those easter eggs and exclusives who heard it here first. So if you're interested in Pagans of the North magazine, do watch out for those exclusive announcements. It's a really good interview. If I do say so myself with the creative director and organizer and editor and busy witch Quinn.
00:01:25
Speaker
who runs this fantastic online community-based magazine about paganism, magic, witchcraft and all that jazz. And recently I joined the team and the one that's just come out, I've got a written column in it about witching with kids. Worth a look if you want to have a gander and see what you think.
Podcast Equipment and Birthday Reflections
00:01:48
Speaker
Since last episode I've been OD'd on this podcast. Beverly Thornton from episode 10, you remember the pagan photographer, recommended I listen to real life ghost stories with Emma and Dan on the proper down to earth and the talk really normally every day about real life ghost stories as the title may suggest.
00:02:12
Speaker
But they've got a really good chemistry and they're really normal people. Emma's got a really nice Irish accent and obviously runs the show. And Danny, who's a partner, a life partner and friend and funny and tends to say what he thinks and probably what we're all thinking too. So that works quite well. And they just talk normally and really naturally about ghost stories. It is really funny. And I'm on episode 20 now. I'm absolutely loving it.
00:02:40
Speaker
So yeah, I recommend you having a little look-see at that. Since I last spoke to you, don't know if you can tell I sound a little bit more clearer, I sound a little bit more professional. Because for my birthday, which was last week, I was gifted a posh podcast microphone, a toner it's called, and it looks proper, jazzy, and hopefully you'll be able to
00:03:05
Speaker
hear the sound difference but it's amazing the confidence it has given me just having a really nice podcasty microphone that looks the part rather than a gamer headset but not to be turn your nose up at it it did me a good job it sounded all right for a good 10-12 episodes but then i used to get annoyed with myself
00:03:25
Speaker
you could hear me breathing. My cup in the microphone when I took a swig of my wine and all that so there'll be none of that now to edit out which is pretty cool oh my god amazing.
Flotation Therapy Experience
00:03:36
Speaker
For my birthday I had to make a decision with what I wanted to do so it was a choice between going to bills in Leeds which were offering me free champagne for the birthday
00:03:49
Speaker
but it didn't specify the size of the champagne so I was like hmm it's probably going to be them little sort of joke champagne you get you know from muzzles and it's like free for six quid or something or I could have gone to do some flotation therapy a new business that's opened in my side of Leeds
00:04:11
Speaker
called recovery float and I was swung over because they were really active on social media and the business owner was really friendly and responded quickly. I was impressed with my direct message asking for a discount on my birthday. I just really opened to conversations about different ways of life, different beliefs
00:04:33
Speaker
The place itself was clean and tidy and uncluttered, smelt beautiful when I walked in. All these things, you know, a big deal for me. I like the details. I was really excited about it and I was, because I remember the last time I did it, I was pregnant with my second born in 2018.
00:04:53
Speaker
And it was a really beautiful experience. I could feel it, I could lay down and relax on my back, which you're not allowed to do on dry land when you're up the duff. And I could really connect with it, it was beautiful. It was a really, really nice experience. And so I had high hopes. And so when I got there, it was nice chill, chill place. I could have a brew, have a drink of water, then you've got to go downstairs. The tank is underground, which is an instant winner because you get more silence there.
00:05:21
Speaker
than you would if the tank was on ground level you hear passerby and stuff which I remember from the last tank I did. The tank itself is massive, it's like a big white spaceship filled with less than a foot of water. Filled with salt that makes you really buoyant like eps and salts, lights,
00:05:41
Speaker
and it's lovely and warm it's body temperature so you get a shower so you're nice and warm you're getting preferably naked so you don't feel anything on your body and then you lay down and turn the lights off and trust the water to carry you and then go on a jolly little a jolly little meditation i think the last one i got into it quite quickly whereas this one took a bit of time the first one i did which was in 2018 i recalled there were a lot about
00:06:09
Speaker
Drifting in space and seeing colours and I think at one point my teeth felt really shiny and they became jewels and crystals in my mouth and they were like reflecting all over the space that I was apparently floating in. But this one seemed a very different meditation to that one.
00:06:27
Speaker
Now this one, it took me a long time to get into the meditation. I was, you know when you go to bed and you're excited to go to sleep and that just keeps you awake all night because you just can't wait to fall asleep and then by default you don't fall asleep. It was a bit like that. So I laid there for what seemed like quite a while in the dark. I could hear my heart beat beating so loud.
00:06:49
Speaker
And then you get little glitches and stuff and you've got to try and ignore them. So I was focusing on my breath. I think there were one point where I had to go, am I wearing pants? Am I wearing trousers? It feels like I've got trousers on my body. And I think that's your mind, you know, trying to find something that's normal that's everyday. So it's making it up basically. But yeah, I was completely naked. There was no trousers on my body at that time.
00:07:15
Speaker
my mind was quite busy and I was trying to quiet it by just focusing on breath and I find you've made it when your thoughts turn from words to images that that is my official signpost into my meditation that I've made it and when this happened it was all about my heart so I could see my heart in my mind's eye
00:07:42
Speaker
really clear and massive and realistic you know like pipes and veins running through it and not very pretty you know quite a ugly looking heart and it was turning green it was like a vibrant green which of course is the heart chakra and then as i look more closely there were these three swords piercing it like mini little swords in the heart like like your tarot card free of swords as i watched this heart in my head
00:08:13
Speaker
there were eyes all around me so I could see lots of eyes looking at me, looking at the heart. Which sounds kind of creepy but it wasn't really. And then I realised I had a really big old hag eye on my third eye chakra and it was so wrinkled and detailed and it had long donkey eyelashes
00:08:41
Speaker
It was a bit like Mother Willow's eye, you know, from Disney or Mother Shipton or something. It was really, really old. It was beautiful in its own way.
00:08:53
Speaker
And then this eye that was in my head that I developed opened really slowly and looked at this heart. And as it looked at the heart, the swords slowly started to slide out of the heart. And as they did so, they instantly healed. And then I think there were some lights and stuff. It's weird, because when you're in the tank, I didn't feel like I was that deep.
00:09:20
Speaker
The beautiful thing about this place, Recovery Float, is unlike a lot of the similar businesses, it had a reflective space afterwards so that it didn't rush you out. You could sit and I had a green tea, unwind a bit and think about what just happened to you. Because when you get out of the tank, I was a bit wobbly.
00:09:38
Speaker
I needed somewhere to sit down and then you've got to have a shower to get all the salts off you, get dressed and then thank God I could just sit my bum on this sofa for 30 minutes and I had me poetry books so I did a bit of writing in it and all this came out and then on reflection it was obviously quite a deep meditation and it said a lot to me I mean it spoke to me personally about grieving and letting go of stuff and having the ability to
00:10:04
Speaker
trust the universe and my own intuition and heal myself from within that that's why I read from it.
00:10:13
Speaker
I was also trying to connect with spirit guides and the ricky horse and they were very reluctant to get involved they were just hanging around the background like nah mate I am not getting involved this is all you which at the time was a bit like for god's sake this is a fantastic opportunity people come on get on board but they were like nah
00:10:36
Speaker
Anyway, the rest of the day is just kind of a bit blurry because you're tired, it makes you tired. You're meant to go home and sleep well and I did go home and sleep well afterwards. I had a few errands to run and I did some Instagram stories about it which you may have seen and it's probably very similar to this recording but I absolutely highly recommend it and I'm definitely going to go back
00:11:01
Speaker
In fact I'm desperate to go back, I want to do it every week really. Finances say no but if I had all the money on a money tree I would definitely do it at least every month because it is just so good for my body and soul.
00:11:17
Speaker
Honestly. Yes, I do recommend you check it out if that's an unusual thing you want to try.
Special Friday the 13th Recording Plans
00:11:24
Speaker
We were having a conversation about it afterwards and I was telling him I did actually get a bit teary on reflection and he was asking why and I told him all this. Definitely go there. Apparently it's the closest thing you can get to a mushroom trance without actually having mushrooms. That's what he said and I've never done that so I've never done the whole mushroom thing.
00:11:43
Speaker
And I probably never will because I'm just so much of a control freak. I don't really like being drunk. No judgement though, you do you. Grand old age of 38 now. Woo, 38. We're nearly at the end of September. You know what that means, witches? October is coming upon us. This October is exciting because yes, there is a Friday the 13th.
00:12:12
Speaker
And I feel like I should record something special for Friday the 13th and also Samhain. Not Samhain but Samhain. Easy mistake to do. Unknowingly as a dyslexic person I was going around saying Samhain for quite a long time but at least I could spell it right. Please forgive me.
00:12:32
Speaker
You only know what you can do, right? You don't know everything. Right, at the beginning of getting your witch on, you learn and learn in the process and you learn from your mistake. Sorry, I went on a bit of a ramble there, didn't I? And I get back to, oh yes, Friday the 13th. And so me and my friend and tutor Louise, the wicked lady,
00:12:54
Speaker
and another good friend, Lily Rivers. Hi, Lily. She'll be listening. We are going to get together and do a bit of a knees up in the living room with some wine and talk about spooky season and things that go bumping high and maybe some magic and whatever you want to ask a witch. Basically, if you have got any questions you want us to answer, what would you like to ask us? Slide into my DMS on Instagram, the bail witch podcast.
00:13:24
Speaker
separated by underscores. Or you can email me at Yahoo. That's the Bell Witch podcast at Yahoo.com. Let us know what you'd like us to talk about. Ask a witch. Ask a witch if you're liking this podcast, please. Give me a few stars, would you?
00:13:45
Speaker
Would you give me a review on Apple Podcasts? At the moment I've got 18 stars on the old Spotify. It'd be lovely if I could make it up to, I don't know, 25 by Samhain and I'd like to break 50 by the end of the year. That'd be so cool. I think I've got 10 reviews, ratings.
00:14:04
Speaker
on their Apple podcasts and a few reviews but I've been getting lovely feedback emails and DMs sent to me and it just I absolutely love hearing from you I think it makes my heart sing when I get people messaging me going like I love your podcasts and I love your voice which I find a little bit hard to believe because I'm so broad
00:14:29
Speaker
Yeah I love your voice and you're relaxing to hear and thank you for sharing stuff and I absolutely treasure those interactions so thank you very much for them. I've also created the Bell Witch podcast group on Facebook. There's nobody in it as yet, I only set it up the other day but if you search it you can get in and then we can start talking about what you want to hear from
Interview with Quinn: Background and Mission
00:14:53
Speaker
me.
00:14:53
Speaker
for this podcast or just connect with me or bend my ear about something when your stories you mean we could even do the whole sharing which stories on here you can tell I've been largely influenced and inspired by that year amazing real life ghost stories podcast which I've recently discovered
00:15:11
Speaker
They are on it. I am such a pod inspired. A pod inspired. Anyway, without any further rambling from Swales, the friendly green witch, I will now start the official recording of the interview with Quinn. I hope you enjoy it. I'll see you on the other side.
00:15:32
Speaker
Hello and welcome everybody. I am with my second MootLoot guest. I realise I don't know anything about this guest. I've only virtually met her maybe a few weeks ago on a chat. So may I introduce to you Quinn Green, Creative Director of online magazine, Pagans of the North. So welcome Quinn. Hi. Hello. Now, do you want to tell me a bit about yourself? Because I know absolutely nothing.
00:16:02
Speaker
Yeah, of course. I feel like I've always stumped on this question. What's the name? Where did it come from? I'm Quinn. I'm from Newcastle and I'm almost 30. I've been
00:16:17
Speaker
a pagan for 14 years now, so not that long really. I have a background in art, mostly marketing, design work. I've done a bit of singing but I don't like to talk about that. And a lot of exhibitions and just kind of creating stuff around topics such as refugees and political things like
00:16:46
Speaker
equal rights and all that kind of stuff. I spent a lot of my 20s doing that and now I am mostly focusing on Beacons of the North, yeah pretty much. I enjoy doing design work and Beacons of the North is kind of that outlet for me. I like to think that communities should be brought together and sometimes they aren't and I kind of wanted
00:17:10
Speaker
that to be a thing, especially because I started Peagans of the North during the pandemic. I felt like that we were going to be quite separated as a community and I wanted to build those connections. So yeah, so that's what I did. And I thought, well, I'll do it creatively because that is what I like doing. That's so cool. I was going to ask you when it started. So lockdown online magazine and people download it. Is it every sort of sabbat when it comes out?
00:17:38
Speaker
Yeah so because most pagans and witches follow the wheel of the air it made sense to release them following each holiday and so we could theme it around each holiday as well so it made sense really. Y'all's truly is actually in it this this time and I'm just so so impressed by it all when it came out I was like doing a little wah!
00:18:00
Speaker
But Louise Bloomer, the wicked lady, has been saying, oh, you need to write for it. You need to write for it. I was a bit like, I don't know what to write. And I'm dyslexic and I can't spell. And she was going, it doesn't matter. I'll proofread it. Get your ass on there, girl. Like, OK, I will. It didn't take me long.
00:18:17
Speaker
No, I'm glad you joined, actually. I really love having a variety of people joining. I think that was one of the things that when I first started, it was just me and I was like, does anyone want to help me? sort of thing. Thankfully, people did. And I've always said that anyone can volunteer, anyone can be part of it, obviously, you know, as long as
00:18:38
Speaker
you're a pagan or a witch or something obviously but that you can be part of us because it doesn't matter if you're dyslexic or you can't spell properly or I don't know you need some support in some way like that's fine as long as you're interested in writing something then it's a great avenue for you to to do that and that's what I wanted anyways so
00:18:57
Speaker
Yeah, what a nice bunch as well, I find pagans a nice bunch. They can forgive you for the odd spelling mistake. We've got a copy edit as for that reason. So you've done a fair few, then how many have you done so far? We're on to our 29th issue, our older Mequenox issue, that was our 28th.
00:19:18
Speaker
And the pictures and stuff, do you do all them? I do have a background in photography, but a lot of it is really free images. Some of them are, not all of them, but over time, that's kind of easier outlet to do. But I always find ones that I feel like are like the right kind of fit are original cover images. They were very kind of cut and paste, kind of animated, all kind of nice. But when I rebranded,
00:19:44
Speaker
the font and the covers and everything. I wanted it to be very nature focused because I felt like that's a massive part of paganism. Paganism is such a core belief in nature, worship in nature, appreciation and all our holidays are based around nature. So every cover image is based around nature because I think that it's
00:20:03
Speaker
very important in paganism if that makes sense. Yeah absolutely, that's what we're all about looking after the earth and being aware of our input into the world which is your favourite one you've done so far.
00:20:19
Speaker
Is that like your favourite child? I can't remember exactly what issue it was but when we rebranded the cover images in the font it was like a belting issue so it was all like blue bells and it just looked really pretty but I think my favourite one is just the one
00:20:36
Speaker
that's just gone our own equinox one because I really like blackberries. I just thought it was such a beautiful image and I like to find images that really represent the season. That's one of my latest favourites. It is lovely. They look so tasty I must say. There's a bit of all sorts in it. There's like poetry and there's people writing stuff about pagan related topics and there's little classifieds at the back which is really helpful if you're looking for a certain
00:21:04
Speaker
a certain type of witch to do a bit of magic or you're looking for accessories or services. It's awesome. The Bell Witch podcast is also in there. Yes. Are you a witch? Would you class yourself as a witch? Yeah, so I began my journey as a Wiccan
00:21:22
Speaker
originally which i think most people do so i'm a big history nerd i just i'm a stickler for history and so over time i learned more about different pagan religions and the history of magic and witchcraft and i just kind of ended up like separating the two and now i'm like i'm a pagan and i'm a witch and they're like
00:21:42
Speaker
separate for me but that's fine I think. So yeah I do consider myself a witch as well. I don't know which title is like more prominent for me I think they both just kind of sit equally side by side if that makes sense. Yeah or there could be fluids that can change can't there?
00:21:58
Speaker
Yeah, exactly, yeah. I'm a bit like that. Sometimes I'm like, I'm totally agreeing which and other times I'm like, nope, I'm totally awaking. Yeah. And then like, no, no, I'm just a pig and it's just, I've just recycled and it'll be fine. No, no, there's more to it than that. And it just kind of like switches around for me. And that's all right. I mean, we don't. Yeah, exactly. We don't follow any strict rules. We're good. Exactly. And it's a journey at the end of the day and it's your life and it needs to be personal to you. So I think that's what's important.
00:22:27
Speaker
Do you prefer the sun or the moon? Oh, I'm a moon fan. Have you got to say that? I do it. I am. I love the moon so much. That's one of the main things why I ended up stoned to look at a peganism because I'm a massive moon fan. I'm just one of those people that loves everything. Like you can find me
00:22:45
Speaker
researching about the Greeks and then one minute researching about a random country in Europe. Like I love learning stuff so I love the moon and I just started looking up information about deities that worshipped the moon, like things that were associated with the moon and that was when I kind of stumbled across veganism and how they have different like I was like oh my god you're right actually there is goddesses isn't
Quinn's Journey with Paganism
00:23:09
Speaker
there? It was kind of that moment of realizing that it was more
00:23:12
Speaker
There was more out there in the world and it was thanks to the moon really that took me that way. Everybody loves the moon. I love it. I like the sun too. Oh, I love the sun. I'm such a solar witch. Who doesn't feel good in sunshine? Yeah, I agree. I hate being cold. Autumn's on its way so we're gonna have to get used to that. No, I know. It's coming, it's coming. It's like such a witch thing like, oh look, autumn's coming and Samhain and Halloween.
00:23:37
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. And it's like, I'm cold though. Yeah, no, this is true. I think I was born in December, so it's always cold. And whenever I wanted to celebrate anything, it was like, everything's closed for the winter season. I'm like, I can't do anything for my birthday. I hate being cold. I love the sun for its warmth, but the moon is definitely the thing for me.
00:23:56
Speaker
But pagans of the north, do you have any future plans you can share with us, or dreams for where it's going to go in the future? I have quite a few plans. You've joined the chat now, so you see me just throughout the day randomly posting message things like, oh, what about this idea? Or, oh, what about this? Or, oh, what about this? And I'm like, I need to calm down because I love myself.
00:24:19
Speaker
It is a busy group. Brain dump. Yeah, literally. Because I'm constantly thinking of new things. For this year, because it's near the end of the year now, we're focusing on having a physical issue of the magazine. I'm excited about this. I'm excited. Obviously, we've been an online magazine for quite a while now, almost through about three years. And I just thought,
00:24:41
Speaker
What would be really nice is to make an annual issue that contained articles from all the issues of the year, as well as new ones, of course, and put them together as an annual so people can look back at all of our most popular articles throughout the year of 2023. And I'm kind of excited, actually. I'm very excited for it to happen and have a physical copy as well. It's never been in physical form before. And that's due at the end of the year, is it?
00:25:09
Speaker
Yeah, so this is a bit of breaking news, actually, because I've never really said I've put a little Easter egg on the website. If you subscribe to the website, you get free, you get early access to the issues on the subscribers page. There's a little comment soon, physical copy. So if anyone saw it, it's like a little Easter egg, like a little look at this.
00:25:32
Speaker
Just sneaking it in there, past you see the eagle eyes. So I haven't officially announced it but I guess this is a little breaking news. This is like an exclusive? Yes, yes it is. It's gonna be in December so that'll be when we'll have them out but we're gonna do pre-orders. I'll put out more information after our sewing issue so it's gonna be quite exciting.
00:25:55
Speaker
And are you looking for people to apply to that one? We are always open for submissions. I need to figure out the little intricate parts of it, but because obviously we offer free advertising for businesses and creators and things like that. Anyways, so we'll be figuring out how to move forward with our suppliers list for our physical copy as well. Early stages? It is. I know it's almost an idea right now, but I'm very excited.
00:26:21
Speaker
I'll have to try and get some of my poetry in that one. It'd be nice to have something printed because as a poet that's all you're never after really is physical copies that you didn't print off at home and stick together with my glue and all that is awesome. Yeah oh I'm excited to be part of it and thank you for having me I mean it's a really cool big deal to me you know because of my dyslexia and stuff so I'm always a bit nervous about writing and I used to write blogs
00:26:47
Speaker
years ago when I when I was breastfeeding my first born it was called to make the breast of it and I'd just write like a diary and you know I'd have only a few followers but the followers were absolutely mad for it they were always like when are you writing the next one when you're writing the next one I was like wow calm down that's gonna be end of the year do you plan them out in advance or do they just kind of like organically grow
00:27:11
Speaker
the issues. They kind of organically grow. So we obviously have a team of the core team, which you're part of, and we have core articles. So they are the articles that are in every issue. So we have Trader of the Month and Witches Corner and Book Review and
00:27:30
Speaker
we're going to have Witching with Kids as our new one. Also we've just introduced ancient cities, ancient stories and hoping that will be in every issue as a core article as well. So because we have core articles they kind of have to be done, they have to be completed and then whatever happens after that
00:27:48
Speaker
any extra articles, any submissions, that's kind of more organically done and it's really nice because sometimes we have an issue that has one or two articles plus our core articles and then we'll have another issue that's like had so many submissions and it's just like 40 pages long and it's just really nice so they're all so very different to each other which I love. Do you, is this your job? Do you have a day job?
00:28:16
Speaker
This is kind of my day job right now. I'm on a bit of a break. I do social media for an American football club. Oh wow. Yeah, they're called the shield maidens actually. Oh my god, I didn't expect that.
00:28:30
Speaker
Yeah and I've just I've just became the chair of their committee as well which is interesting so that's new for me. I've been with the Shield Maidens for about a year now so well almost a year so it's quite funny because on the other side of my life is the American football team called the Shield Maidens which is obviously kind of a nod at Norse paganism, Norse mythology and stuff so it's quite an interesting mix. It's like uncannily linked isn't it?
00:28:55
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. So recently, so they have like runes on their uniform and stuff. And recently I've had the opportunity to like create new runes for them. So I've been like finding the best runes to like represent who they are and find like which runes represent what. And so I've got like euros for strength and algaes for protection. And it's quite nice to have that kind of pagan background to be able to like influence an American football team a little bit.
00:29:24
Speaker
That is wicked. How cool is that? It always amazes me how the universe will get it there. Even if it's completely not related. Exactly, it's so interesting isn't it? You're meant to do this job because you've got this background and you know these things. And obviously I do design so it just ties in nicely. That is well cool. Do you get up to anything else that's witchy, pagan related? Do you go anywhere?
00:29:49
Speaker
Uh, no, not really. Too busy. Yeah. So obviously pagans are an office mummy and pagan-y thing. But then I think that because of that, and I've built it up for the past three years, it's got so many like opportunities.
00:30:04
Speaker
for the future. There's so much that we can do moving forward
Creating Courses and Combating Racism
00:30:08
Speaker
into the new year. I've got loads of ideas for Baking to the Know. I've got loads of ideas. I'm currently, I'm currently sitting creating courses for our website. So that's what I've been busy doing recently. I'm also writing a book. A witchy book, is it?
00:30:21
Speaker
It's more like a historical book. It's going to be about Eganism and witchcraft from the past and the present. It's going to be called Pagans, Witches and Everything in Between and that's something I'm still currently writing and it's going to go through what paganism is, all the pagan religions that influenced the UK in our past and what modern paganism and witchcraft is today. So that's what I've been writing about.
00:30:43
Speaker
God, there's loads going on. Amazing. What do you do? You do have a social life, don't you? I do. I do. I do. That's good. But I like how you say book. Say book.
00:30:56
Speaker
Oh, I know you were saying book before. Emulated how you said? Book. Book. I like it. Book. Just as silly. I'm drinking wine at the moment and it helps me be a good interviewee. I should have done the same. Yeah, get a couple of wines down your lass. I've only got tea, but yeah. Tea's good. We can't, we can't just tea. Wine is my go-to. A bit of mead, like a bit of mead. Surely you've got mead in the house, I mean.
00:31:25
Speaker
But all you are, I think I might have a bottle of Lindisfarne. Oh, there you go. Yeah, somewhere. I don't know. I'll mix that up for you. Being part of the group and I see all these little tidbits of what's going on. But because I'm relatively new, I'm quite quiet, you know, and just.
00:31:40
Speaker
Yeah. Observing before I open my big Yorkshire gob. No, open it, open it. I love having opinions, like, but what about this? What do you think of this idea? What about this? Just being really nice to, like, go through my brain, because my brain is full of ideas. So if I ever, like, say anything in the chat, please, please pipe in. I will appreciate it. I will. Well, more than happy to have your opinion. I get a lot of imposter syndrome, though, as well.
00:32:06
Speaker
I mean, doing all this, it does get to you kind of go like, what am I doing? Why am I? I know nothing. And it's like you do what you do because you care and you're passionate. I totally get that. I literally, not even like two days ago, I did exactly that. You probably saw it where I did some articles about Mabon and about Mabonos the God. And I had a panic and I was like, did I write right? Is that what I've said right? Is it? Am I being accurate with what I've said? And I was like having a panic that my information was incorrect, even though it wasn't incorrect.
00:32:36
Speaker
And I was in the group chat, like, did I say the right thing? And then all the other members are like, yeah, no, you're fine. Don't worry about it. Carmen is down. And I'm like, oh my God. You're like, oh, palpitations, palpitations. I'm like, am I seeing wrong information here? But I'm not. But just the worry, isn't it?
00:32:55
Speaker
It is the worry. And I guess if you're releasing something out onto like the internet, it can be called upon and used, can I include it? Because especially when I don't know everything and I just try my very best to know what I can and to the best of my knowledge. But there's people out there that are much more experts on things. So for example, Mabon is about a Welsh
00:33:20
Speaker
figure like a legend in Welsh literature and stuff so I'm talking about this figure and legend and I'm not a Welsh person so I'm like obviously wanting to to do my best to share correct information about something that isn't really connected to who I am so it's always that thing where I want to do right by other
00:33:41
Speaker
communities and other cultures. For example, we don't say belting in the anglicised way. We spell it like the Irish spelling because Irish paganism is sometimes regarded as a separate branch to Celtic paganism. And Irish paganism is quite big in Ireland now. And lots of Irish pagans who follow this vivid, active religious belief system, they use the word belting and they spell it differently.
00:34:10
Speaker
And so I changed the spelling to match that because at the end of the day, it is an Irish holiday. So I thought I would just have a little, a little nod in respect to their living culture that they, they live and breathe every day in Ireland and try and do my best by that, if that makes sense. Is it got an eye in it? Is it? Oh, it's like a B, E. It's going to be hard for me to say it in this accent.
00:34:35
Speaker
I kind of want you to know. I'm going to sound the same. I'll try B-E-E-L-T-E-I-N-E. No, that was good. Oh, wow. That's quite a complicated spelling. B-E-E-L-T.
00:34:52
Speaker
A-I-N-E. BLT, that's what I heard. They live in Irish experience and that's their, like, living religious belief system. I just felt like it made sense for me to use that word too because that's their word. Yeah, and it's respect, isn't it? I vibe with that completely. What would you say is your favourite sabbat?
00:35:15
Speaker
This is a hard question as well. Mine always change. I think it's gonna be sowing but that's because I love Halloween. Same, yeah. So I love autumn. Autumn is my favourite season. Halloween is my favourite holiday. So yeah, probably sowing because it's everything that I love anyways.
00:35:31
Speaker
I think mine alternates between Samhain and Beltane, which is quite funny because they're opposite each other, aren't they? That's true, yeah. In the wheel. But I think because I'm such a sun witch, I really love the summer. And when autumn comes, I'm like, yeah, it's pretty. I mean, it's orange and it's pumpkins. And I just love the warmth of the rays. And I know they're disappearing. And then you get into proper winter. And it goes on for years, doesn't it, our winter?
00:35:58
Speaker
through oh my goodness like annually like seven weeks long like i'm almost like oh i'll celebrate autumn on the autumn equinox and that's when i'll recognize that it's autumn and this year because we i feel like we haven't had much of a summer it's been very gray it's been very rainy it's been very glum and i feel like we haven't had enough hot days so i mean
00:36:18
Speaker
for me anyways in new castle area so on the first of september i was like oh my god i'm just gonna say it it's autumn i'm saying it now it's and i've decorated the house and i've got my pumpkin dishes out and orange cushions and like you know i've made it all over to me and then two days later it was like the hottest day of the year hello there's summer like it was almost like the universe was like no quinn
00:36:44
Speaker
And we had that hot June, but then of course the kids went back and that last week we had in September with the heat wave and we were all like, fuck's sake, our kids have gone back and now boiling it home, you know, like typical, it's so typical of this country. And it gets us every time. We never learn. We really does. We never learn. How British are we talking about?
00:37:05
Speaker
The wait, the wait, the wait. The wait, the wait. The wait, the wait. The wait, the wait. The wait, the wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait. The wait.
00:37:33
Speaker
Yeah, of course. So, the Asatru Folk Assembly are a group in America in the US who are followers of heathenry, or Norse paganism, but they believe that Norse paganism should be for white people only. Yes.
00:37:48
Speaker
Obviously, Norse paganism, heathenry, and all that was predominantly practiced in parts of Scandinavia thousands of years ago. And I think people forget that the Norse were very good at trading and wandering the world. The Vikings were literally seafarers. They went places. They went around the world and traded around the world. And I'm sure they weren't all white. I'm sure that attitude focus, Emily, believed that it is white and that it should be the ethnic religion of white people.
00:38:16
Speaker
Well I love the bollocks. I know exactly and sadly it has a links to Nazi Germany because they kind of felt the same way and Nazi Germany used to appropriate runes as well as we know so it has links to that. Yeah I mean Hitler were all into it, why not?
00:38:33
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Even though the World War II and Nazi Germany and stuff wasn't a religious thing, even though they did persecute and kill lots of Jewish people, it wasn't necessarily religious. It was more about this pure race, and a lot of it was white people. There's attitude folk assembly in the US, although they won't obviously outright say that they support Nazism.
00:38:55
Speaker
but they are very open on their website. If you go on their website, they're very open to say that they believe that Norse paganism is the religion of white people and it should be preserved for white people and stuff like that. So when they announced on Twitter that they were going to, or X as it's called now,
00:39:12
Speaker
that they were going to come to Stonehenge and do an event at Stonehenge or something. Obviously, paganism in Britain is a very different vein of paganism to the US. It went to the US and it just kind of went a whole different direction. The branches of paganism in the US are massive and different and varied and British paganism is so much more contained because
00:39:33
Speaker
We're such a small island, but a lot of the big organisations such as Assachute UK and Beacon Federation and all those kind of organisations and associations, they all fight for equality and they're all very anti-racist and anti-homophobic and all those things. So when Assachute Folk Assembly said, oh, we're going to come to the UK and we're going to come to Stonehenge and everyone was like, like, fuck you.
00:39:57
Speaker
get more racist and we don't agree with that here. Obviously they weren't going to come and start shouting from the rooftops that it should only be for right people, but it's more of the point and principle that we should never promote racism, obviously, and the organizations that do promote racism, we need to stand against that because a massive problem in the US
00:40:20
Speaker
especially, is people believing that Norse paganism is racist and putting those two together because of groups like the Asitro Folk Assembly. So there's lots of people who don't know anything about paganism thinking that we believe in racism because of that. Does that make sense?
00:40:36
Speaker
So there's lots of appropriation by racists using veganism as a way to shoehorn their racism into things, which is really sad. Obviously, the principle of it is that everyone has a freedom of speech, but
00:40:52
Speaker
no one has freedom of consequence and there should always be a point where we go hang on you you can believe all those things in the US you shouldn't really but if you are don't come to our sacred sites when you have those beliefs if that makes sense obviously there was lots of rumors that go around obviously as there is that they didn't get permission from english heritage anyways so it was like an unapproved event like there was lots of rumors about stuff like that anyways uh so they aren't coming anymore
00:41:18
Speaker
Thank gods, yeah. The President of Pagan Federation put out a video explaining the situation if you want to go.
00:41:25
Speaker
their facebook and say that you can they're not coming anymore so that's good i was really impressed because it was really quick wasn't it i remember everybody grouping together and yeah yeah the north was added to the list so they were on which fest and they are the big ones that we know and some had not even heard of as well even if they didn't get permission straight away you know at least we did our bit and it was the right thing to do and it was nice to see everybody agree and come together it just it
00:41:50
Speaker
made my witchy heart so warm inside. At the end of the day racism is obviously frowned upon but if you don't say anything against racism it's allowed to spread and evolve and that shouldn't be allowed. Especially in paganism when people think
00:42:05
Speaker
that paganism is already a religion that people don't fully understand anyways. So when there's pagan organisations that believe in racism that are racist, lots of people who don't really understand paganism will connect the two. And I think we're all like that when we aren't. Lots of misinformation out there, aren't there?
00:42:22
Speaker
Oh, yes. Well, thank you for that. Is there anything else you want to plug or mention or ask me? No, not really. I've ended up saying more than I thought I would say, to be honest. I've never really promoted any of the things I've said. So this is an exclusive, really.
00:42:40
Speaker
I love an exclusive. And I'm hoping that in 2024 we're going to be at events and have stalls at marketplaces and things like that. So that is our future goals and we are always open for writers to join the team and you're always welcome to submit one of our articles as well and all our information is on our website.
Promoting Pagans of the North
00:42:59
Speaker
What's your website? It is www dot
00:43:03
Speaker
pagansofthenorth.co.uk And you're on the old insta and all that, is that the same pagans of the north? Facebook and we do have a twitter slash x but we don't want to use it it's just there and we have a threads but we don't want to use it because i don't know why that's not taken off yeah it'll take it sweet it'll take it sweet time yes but we're on there too but mostly facebook and instagram facebook
00:43:32
Speaker
It's because I'm right Yorkshire, I just love it. I don't realise how dirty I am until I do those things. I'm usually the most northern person in the room, so it's nice to have somebody a bit more northern than I. The team is so northeastern, to be honest. We used to have somebody from Manchester, but they left not that long ago. But most of the team are from Newcastle, Yorkshire,
00:43:57
Speaker
Leeds and Durham so like we're all concentrated on one side of the of the island we're all on one side it would be nice to kind of reach out to people from the northwest and because we are definitely more connected to people on the northeast side more businesses on the northeast side we have some people from like
00:44:16
Speaker
Sheffield and Leeds and Northborough and like all that kind of stuff but not enough people on the north western side so Liverpool and Manchester and Cumbria like we want to connect with you we want to connect with you people and and like build connections if you're listening and you're from all that or yonder
00:44:32
Speaker
And what about Dan Saf? If you're from Dan Saf, you can still apply, you know. If you're from Dan Saf, you can read it as well. It's open for anyone to read. I know we're pagans on the north, but it's just because we highlight people from the north. You can read it anywhere in the world. We do sometimes get random people from the USA and Australia, and I'm like, how have you found us?
00:44:55
Speaker
that's awesome how how did you find who we are international magazine yeah i know right that's well cool who is your favorite fictional witch
Favorite Fictional Witches Discussion
00:45:09
Speaker
Ooh, what a question. I don't know. There's a lot of good ones. Fictional Witch, making us think now. You know, one of my... Yeah, like, there's a lot of good ones in Disney. Oh, that's true. I mean, I quite like Maleficent. I am a Disney villains fan, to be honest. Same, same, yeah. And I was like, oh, what's your favourite Disney character? And I'm like, it's Cruella de Vil. She kills the puppies. I wouldn't get that far, does she?
00:45:36
Speaker
No, yeah, exactly. That's my favourite Disney character, but... I bet she's a witch, but we just don't know. I'm gonna say yes, I think she is down. She could totally do some witchy magic stuff if she wanted to. I think I have no idea on that answer, actually. On the spot, on the spot.
00:45:53
Speaker
I know I'm going to be brutally honest. Oh, I don't know. I really liked Halloweentown when I was younger. So I know it's very niche, but the Disney movie Halloweentown was one of my favourite films. And it was like, I can't even remember her name now, but she was like a little teen witch and discovering that she was a witch and she got to go to Halloweentown where her grandma lived. And I just love that kind of thing, you know. Oh my God, I've never seen that. Have you not? No, no. Oh my God, it's so good. It's brilliant. There was Halloweentown, Halloweentown 2 and Halloweentown High.
00:46:23
Speaker
It's not like where Jack Skeleton's from, is it? No, it's not. That's a different Halloween town. Who knew there was more than one? Exactly. It's like parallel universes, that's what it is. But it was so cool because there was like a giant pumpkin in the middle of the town square. Oh wow. Yeah, exactly. So it was like this big jack-o'-lantern in the middle of the town square and there was like skeletons that were like, like there was lots of different like Halloween-y characters that lived in the town. It sounds like
00:46:50
Speaker
at Lightwater Valley over the midterm. When I went there were that in the centre and they were like, just from hocus pocus, just moseying around, scaring the children and saying, oh, I want that job.
00:47:03
Speaker
I really like Hawker's Brokers though, to be fair. It's having a moment, it's having a moment. I know that it's true, yeah. They're quite like Sarah. Yeah, me too. Like, because obviously when it came out, I was a little bit younger. So it was always like, she was like more kind of free and like a bit tipsy, but like in a good way. And like, because she was the younger one anyways, it was more relatable. But then now that I've grew up, I feel like I'm a bit more like Winnie, so. Yeah.
00:47:27
Speaker
I feel like that's more like who I am, a bit more grumpy, like what are you doing? I like it which is like running back, come on, come on, come on. Because you're just like, it's twat for it. Like, shut up! Like, ow! The mother and the maiden and the crone that I read recently because the age difference represents that.
00:47:48
Speaker
Oh, that's a really interesting one. Yeah, Sarah's the maiden, Mary's the mother, and obviously, obviously, Winifred is the crone. And I was like, aww yeah. I'd be dying up this Lego, have you seen that Ochus Pocus Lego?
Closing Reflections and Listener Engagement
00:48:03
Speaker
No. Oh my god, it's got like the house and binks and the book with the iron and it's got a little tray that the book goes in, you know, with a glass over the top and the candle. It's got the candle.
00:48:16
Speaker
And I really want it. It's 200 quid of mine. Too much. Fill my house up with like Lego witches all around. Lego witches lol. I can dream. Thank you very much to Quinn for joining us on the Belle Witch Podcast. She was an excellent interviewee and I thought I was quite a good interviewer if I do say so myself.
00:48:39
Speaker
Thank you very much as always for tuning in and being here with me on this creative adventure in the witchy world of swales. As always if you're enjoying what I'm doing here please leave feedback leave stars tell your friends spread the word so I can clock up them numbers and them listeners. I'm slowly getting a bit more popular
00:48:58
Speaker
as I go on and it's just really nice to hear people's feedback and reviews. This podcast has been produced and made by me, Swales a friend and groom, which music by Jeff Harvey made on Wavepad master and shared via Zendcaster distributors. Stay magical, witches.