Last month we talked about a good source new witches might want to add to their libraries, because I know how hard it is to separate the signal from the noise. But this month I thought we'd go look at some of the noise instead! I clicked on every terrible ad for witchcraft stuff I could find on Facebook for a week, and decided to inflict what I found on Hex Positive's Bree NicGarran.

It's so, so bad y'all.

The post 84. We Clicked on Every Facebook Witchcraft Ad (with Bree NicGarran) first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

One year ago I put out this podcast’s first book review. It was for Annwyn Avalon’s Celtic Goddess Grimoire, and I absolutely hated it. It was everything I despise in modern witchcraft publishing, and it just left a bad taste in my mouth.

I felt like I needed to fix that.

So I decided to make it my mission to find a new witchcraft book I might actually like — to find something I could actually talk positively about to this show’s audience. And that’s when I found Thorn Mooney’s Witches Among Us: Understanding Contemporary Witchcraft and Wicca (ISBN: ‎ 978-0738777375) last fall.

And it turns out I really like it.

The post 83. An Honest Review of Thorn Mooney’s “Witches Among Us” first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

Homeopathy is harmful and complete and total bull. I can't emphasize that enough. In this episode we're diving into the history of Homeopathy, what it is, and why it's bad. And I think, by the end of it, you'll agree with me.

The post 74. Homeopathy is Bulls***. first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

It's July, so that means we're doing the annual feedback and Q&A special! You guys spent the last few months sending in witchcraft questions, and they got shuffled around, picked at random, and now you're getting some answers! We've played this dance before, you know what's up.

The post 73. Feedback/Q&A Special 2024! first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

The entire #ReturnTheStone debacle over the last couple of weeks on WitchTok is honestly just a symptom of a a

The post 72. Arrogance. first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

When the publicist for Weiser Books reached out to the show asking if I wanted a review copy of Annwyn

The post 71. I Hate This Book. first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

Sometimes in this community folks have a habit of making things about them that… aren’t. So that’s what we’re addressing

The post 70. It’s Not About Us first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

One of the most frustrating conversations we keep having to have in the modern witchcraft movement is about cultural appropriation.

The post 69. Cultural Appropriation first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

A question that is significantly harder to answer than most people think is “What is Witchcraft?” This month I’m going

The post 68. What is Witchcraft? first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

Combating misinformation has always been one of the primary missions of this show, and honestly? It just gets exhausting sometimes.

The post 67. The Headache of Misinformation first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

Last month Hex Positive‘s Bree NicGarran joined Trae to take a look at the classic witch-centric movie Hocus Pocus (1993).

The post 66. Hocus Pocus 2 (2022) first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

It’s time to dig back into the VHS tapes that you’ve shoved in a box in your basement (or just

The post 65. Hocus Pocus (1993) first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

The 1991 Christian propaganda series the Pagan Invasion by Jeremiah Films was oddly formative for me. It's a masterclass in propaganda, and a perfect example of the kind of misinformation that was spreading during the heights of the Satanic Panic. So in this episode we're going to break down how "documentaries" like these work to push an agenda, and how to recognize these patterns in other places.

The post 82. The Pagan Invasion and Propaganda first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

For the first time in five years, we’re breaking the “Trae talks to someone about ghosts for an hour in

The post 64. Ask the Question. first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

One of the most common descriptions of “witchcraft” you’ll find out there will say that it’s a “nature based” practice.

The post 63. Nature and Witchcraft first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

Variations of the phrase “There’s No Wrong Way to Witch” get tossed around our community, and I think it’s about

The post 62. Wrong Way to Witch? first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

It’s July! You know what that means — it’s time for our annual Q&A special! Where you the audience send

The post 61. Feedback/Q&A Special 2023! first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

This month we’re talking about a very important concept: doubt. There are times when we question our beliefs and our

The post 60. Doubt is Good. first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

The Aquarian Tabernacle Church has announced a new accreditation program to “professionalize” Wiccan Clergy. They’re not the first people to

The post 59. Should There Be Wiccan Clergy? first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

This month we’re talking about liminality and the spaces in between. The places that don’t really seem to belong where

The post 58. Liminal Spaces and the Crossroads first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

This month on the show we’re answering a question I get a lot, and that’s how do you celebrate the

The post 57. Change the Wheel first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

This month on the show we’re going down a bit more of an unhinged rant than we’ve done lately, as

The post 56. “Finger Waggling” first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

This month we’re taking a look at one of New Age spirituality’s most toxic philosophies: The Law of Attraction. We

The post 55. Lucky Girl Syndrome and the Law of Attraction first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

This month on the show we're talking about the importance of taking stock and realizing that the person you used to be isn't the person that you are -- and how important it is to document who you are now so that you might know yourself better later.

Or something.

It makes sense if you listen, I swear.

The post 81. Reflections first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

Back in September of 2021, we put out an episode all about Mabon and the person who named it, Aidan

The post 54. A Conversation With Aidan Kelly first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

This episode of BS-Free Witchcraft is actually a panel from CritWitchCon 2022 this last October. Spend an hour with Alex

The post 53. Modern Witchcraft History first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

It’s October, and that means we’re in the spookiest of seasons! With that in mind we continue the podcast’s long

The post 52. Another Spooky Episode first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

Consumerism has been a driving force in the witchcraft movement since the beginning, but in the age of social media

The post 52. Consumerism and Witchcraft first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

On this episode we’re talking about the general tone of witchcraft discourse on social media, including Tumblr and TikTok. Is

The post 50. Witchcraft and Social Media first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

It’s July! You know what that means — it’s time for our annual Q&A special! Where you the audience send

The post 49. Feedback/Q&A Special 2022! first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

Can you believe we made it this long without doing an episode answering a question this basic? I mean, yeah,

The post 48. What Is a Witch? first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

On this month’s episode of BS-Free Witchcraft we’re talking about political witchcraft. Should your witchcraft be political? What’s the history

The post 47. Political Witchcraft first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

We’ve talked before about the white supremacy issues in the modern witchcraft, neopagan, and norse heathen communities, but today we’re

The post 46. Don’t Be Racist first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

Burnout is something that every witch will likely have to deal with in their lives, and it’s just something we

The post 45. Burnout. first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

This month I wanted to talk about a couple of things that wouldn't necessarily fill out a whole episode on their own. First off, after last month's episode I wanted to clarify some of my thoughts on psychics. Secondly, I wanted to talk about bias and what we do with evidence that runs contrary to our beliefs.

It should be a fun one though.

The post 80. A Couple of Things… first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

On this episode of BS-Free Witchcraft it’s finally come time for an episode on crystals. Yep, almost three and a

The post 44. That Crystals Episode first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

As long as I can remember, people have been debating whether or not it’s okay for non-Jewish witches to incorporate

The post 43. “Lilith” first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

On this (very last minute) episode of the podcast, we’re looking at the myths surrounding paganism and Christmas… and how

The post 42. The Myth Who Stole Christmas first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

Content Warning: This episode discusses trauma, abuse, child sexual abuse, and other topics related to those issues. Listener discretion is

The post 41. Predators, Abusers, and Cults first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

Well, we’ve reached that special time of year where it’s time to talk about ghost stories on the podcast! Sort

The post 40. Let’s Get Spooky-ish! first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

In the last few years there has been some minor push back against using the name “Mabon” for the Autumnal

The post 39. Mabon and Aidan Kelly first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

This month we’re talking about how we, as a community, need to actually verify that something is real before we

The post 38. Biases, Research, and Doing Better first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

It’s July, so that means it’s time for the annual BS-Free Witchcraft Q&A episode! Listeners like you sent in questions,

The post 37. Feedback/Q&A Special 2021! first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

So a few weeks ago I made a joke post on my Tumblr where I said beginner witches should “Fight

The post 36. Fight a God. first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

In any movement or group there’s always a pull to do certain things to fit in. There’s an unspoken (or

The post 35. Social Pressure and Performative Behavior in Witchcraft first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

One of the biggest podcasts out there right now is The Telepathy Tapes. It's topping the podcast charts on both Apple and Spotify's American listings, but it perpetrates an incredibly dangerous idea about people with autism. But none of this is new, and we've seen this kind of trend before.

So it's about time we talked about it.

The post 79. The Telepathy Tapes and the Dangers of ‘Magical Autism’ first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

On this episode, I sit down with Hex Positive‘s Bree NicGarran to talk about openly being a Witch in the

The post 34. Paganing in Public first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

After two fairly depressing episodes, it’s time to move on to something a little less bleak. This time around we’re

The post 33. The Wheel of the Year first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

A couple of years ago we did an episode on the history of the Satanic Panic of the latter half

The post 32. A New Satanic Panic? first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.

This month we’re attempting to tackle a topic I’ve had on the list for a while: Norse Paganism’s Nazi problem.

The post 31. Norse Paganism’s Nazi Problem first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.