146: 2025 Retrospective and the Magick of 2026

In this retrospective episode of Back on the Broomstick, the witches take a thoughtful look back at 2025. Laylla and Chelle reflect on their favorite episodes and events from the year, share highlights from interviews that stood out, and celebrate the episodes that listeners loved most. They also reveal the top 3 listener favorite episodes, the most commented-on conversation, and a few moments that surprised even them.From there, the conversation turns toward the road ahead. The witches talk about what’s coming in 2026, including new episode themes, workshops, festivals, and magical projects they’re excited to step into. It’s a look at growth, community, and the evolving shape of their practice and the podcast.To start the year with intention, they share a simple way to choose a Tarot Card of the Year, offering guidance on how to let one card act as a touchstone for the months ahead. They also walk through an easy candle spell designed to carry the motivation, lessons, and momentum of 2025 forward into 2026. It’s a reflective, hopeful episode that honors where you’ve been while making space for what’s next.Brushwood on a Broomstick radio playlist from 2025Got a question? Send the witches a message here!Support the showWant to send us a letter? Witchy things to review?We have a mailing address!Back on the BroomstickPO Box 106Salem MA 01970Email: [email protected] FacebookInstagramBack on the Broomstick Website

Welcome back to the deity series as the witches turn their attention to the Crone Goddess. In this episode, Laylla and Chelle explore what the Crone represents in modern witchcraft and how this powerful aspect of divinity shows up in real lives, not just at the end of a cycle, but anywhere wisdom, boundaries, and deep knowing are required.They talk honestly about their own relationships to the Crone. Chelle feels ready to step fully into that phase, while Laylla is… not quite there yet. Along the way, they unpack the strengths of the Crone archetype, the cultural prejudices she faces, and why fear of aging and power has shaped how this goddess is often misunderstood or avoided.The episode also includes practical tools for connection and reflection, including a tarot spread and a journaling exercise designed to help you explore the different aspects of the goddess within yourself. As the year shifts from 2025 to 2026, Laylla shares a meditation spell to connect with the Crone’s liminal wisdom, offering guidance for standing at the threshold of time with clarity, courage, and intention.Got a question? Send the witches a message here!Support the showWant to send us a letter? Witchy things to review?We have a mailing address!Back on the BroomstickPO Box 106Salem MA 01970Email: [email protected] FacebookInstagramBack on the Broomstick Website

In this New Year’s Eve episode of Back on the Broomstick, the witches gather in the space between the year that has been and the year that is about to be. This is a liminal space between the old and the new. Laylla and Chelle talk about why setting intentions often feels more powerful and sustainable than making resolutions, and how choosing a single power word for the year ahead can act as a magical anchor when the road gets twisty.The witches also touch on the currently popular 13 Wishes spell (sometimes called or Rauhnächte) and how it fits into New Year and liminal space magic. Laylla offers a slightly revised version of the working, thoughtfully adapted to better suit Chelle’s limited attention span and real-world witchcraft needs, proving once again that magic works best when it’s practical, flexible, and personal.They also share a reflective tarot spread designed to look back at the year that’s ending, helping you name what you’re ready to leave behind, what still needs tending, and what lessons are coming with you into the new cycle. It’s a gentle, honest way to close the year without rushing or forcing transformation before it’s ready.As the clock ticks toward midnight, the witches take time to thank their listeners and benefactors for another deeply witchy year of community, curiosity, laughter, and shared magic. Light a candle, pull a card, and step with intention into the threshold of the new year.Got a question? Send the witches a message here!Support the showWant to send us a letter? Witchy things to review?We have a mailing address!Back on the BroomstickPO Box 106Salem MA 01970Email: [email protected] FacebookInstagramBack on the Broomstick Website

Pull up a chair, witches, and settle into the Solarium, that warm, herb scented pause between the dark and the returning light, where herb scented smoke and the laughter of friends keeps the night at bay.In this special Yule season Solarium episode of Back on the Broomstick, Laylla and Chelle invite you into a cozy, candlelit ghost tale swap that leans deliciously into the strange and unsettling side of winter magic. The scary ghost stories side of the sugar plum season. Laylla shares four chilling haunted doll stories. As she researched and recorded these stories, some truly odd coincidences began stacking up. Tech glitches, recording problems, and even something a little more personal.... decide for yourself whether it was coincidence or something else.Chelle then takes us deep into winter folklore with the dark and fascinating tale of Frau Perchta, a Yuletide spirit who walks the long nights judging the living, rewarding the diligent, and punishing those who stray too far from the old ways. Equal parts cautionary tale and seasonal myth, her story reminds us that Yule magic isn’t all twinkle lights and cocoa. Sometimes it stuffs you with stones and straw if you don't do your chores.This Solarium episode is spooky, fun, and perfect for listening by firelight or under a heavy blanket while the wind rattles the bones of winter outside. Pour yourself something warm, maybe cast a circle for comfort, and join us for ghost stories that linger long after the candles burn low.Listener discretion and copious comfort items advised. And maybe don’t leave your dolls uncovered tonight.Got a question? Send the witches a message here!Support the showWant to send us a letter? Witchy things to review?We have a mailing address!Back on the BroomstickPO Box 106Salem MA 01970Email: [email protected] FacebookInstagramBack on the Broomstick Website

The witches gather at the darkest point of the year to celebrate Yule and the return of the light. In this festive episode, Laylla and Chelle share some of their favorite Yule spells and crafts. Traditions from years past, practices for the present moment, and intentions for winters yet to come.From simple candle magic to honor the longest night to crafting seasonal altar pieces that welcome the sun's rebirth, they explore the many ways witches can work with the energy of the winter solstice. The conversation weaves together the practical and the magical, offering ideas for practitioners at every level.The witches also share tarot spreads designed specifically for this liminal time; one for the winter solstice itself and another for the full Yule season. These spreads help us reflect on what we're releasing with the old year, what seeds we're planting in the dark, and what we're calling forth as the light begins its slow return.Whether you're a seasoned Yule celebrant or new to marking the sabbat, this episode is full of inspiration, warmth, and the quiet magic of midwinter. Pour yourself something warm, light a candle, and join the witches by the fire.BotB's 12 Nights of YuleGot a question? Send the witches a message here!Support the showWant to send us a letter? Witchy things to review?We have a mailing address!Back on the BroomstickPO Box 106Salem MA 01970Email: [email protected] FacebookInstagramBack on the Broomstick Website

As the longest night of the year approaches, the witches settle fully into Yule mode with candles lit, trees decorated, and a little seasonal weirdness happily creeping back in. This cozy Solarium episode finds Laylla and Chelle talking Yule preparations, winter self care, and stories of classic Yule cryptids like the Yule Cat, Mari Lwyd, and the ever-watchful Nisse, because of course they do.In the spirit of Yule time giving, Chelle managed to set aside her natural magpie nature to channel Jolly Saint Nick and surprise Laylla with a bag overflowing with gifts sent in by their generous listeners. The witches open mail, read heartfelt letters, and revel in the books, teas, body butters, and beautifully thoughtful surprises that have arrived lately.It’s a warm, laughter-filled episode full of gratitude, gentle spookiness, and winter magic. Pour yourself something comforting, get cozy, and join the witches as they honor the turning of the wheel, the generosity of their community, and the strange and wonderful magic that lives in the darkest nights of the year.voyagerlocale - artist Nature Recycled artThe Knarly Knot - Handcrafted Wooden Mugs and MoreMystical Blossoms Gift Shop & Tea Bar Dharma Kelleher Witches of Wiccanburg SeriesGot a question? Send the witches a message here!Support the showWant to send us a letter? Witchy things to review?We have a mailing address!Back on the BroomstickPO Box 106Salem MA 01970Email: [email protected] FacebookInstagramBack on the Broomstick Website

In the fifth installment of their seven-part Deity Series, the witches turn toward the Goddess in her season of fullness: the Mother, the Maker, the Manifestor, the one who turns raw possibility into living, breathing reality. She is the bright fullness of the moon, the heat of summer, the hum of productivity, and the heartbeat that keeps community alive.Laylla and Chelle explore the Mother not only as the ancient figure of fertility but as a far more expansive and dynamic archetype for today's witches. This episode looks at the Mother as a creator and nurturer. A maker of art, careers, kinship, knowledge, and paths; as the one who carries the Maiden’s vision forward with commitment and devotion; and as the archetype who teaches us how to choose, shape, and sustain the lives we are building.They also examine the deeper historical roots of the Mother Goddess, from the earliest Venus figurines and Paleolithic mother symbols to the great goddesses of world mythology. The witches unpack how these ancient themes influence modern witchcraft and how the Mother archetype has evolved far beyond biological motherhood into a symbol of agency, of creation, and of strength.Whether you are raising children, raising a garden, raising a business, or raising yourself through another chapter of becoming, this episode offers tools, myth, and magical perspective for awakening the Mother within.So brew something comforting, settle in, and join us as we explore the sacred, complex, profoundly human power of the Mother as Maker.Modern Heathen Celebration of SunwaitGot a question? Send the witches a message here!Support the showWant to send us a letter? Witchy things to review?We have a mailing address!Back on the BroomstickPO Box 106Salem MA 01970Email: [email protected] FacebookInstagramBack on the Broomstick Website

The Triple Goddess Called; She Wants to Update Her ResumeThe witches continue their series on Divinity in modern witchcraft with the first episode on the triple aspect of Goddess. They begin by discussing one of the most well-known frameworks in modern paganism: Maiden, Mother, Crone. They trace where this concept may have come from, how it became rooted in contemporary witchcraft, and why it still holds power for so many people. But they also look honestly at its limitations.In this episode focusing especially on the Maiden aspect, Laylla and Chelle talk about how titles once meant to empower now feel too narrow, too tied to childbearing, and too limited in their vision of womanhood, personhood, and divinity. They explore what it means to honor a Goddess who contains multitudes, and how we might reimagine these archetypes in ways that reflect lived experience, adult autonomy, creativity, sexuality, and identity beyond gender, fertility, or age.It’s a conversation about myth, culture, and the shifting language of the sacred; and an invitation to rethink the Goddess not as a three-part story, but as a vast and evolving presence that grows with us.2025's Yule Winter Solstice Card Exchange is live! Send us a Holiday card and we'll send you one back!Back on the BroomstickPO Box 106Salem MA 01970Got a question? Send the witches a message here!Support the showWant to send us a letter? Witchy things to review?We have a mailing address!Back on the BroomstickPO Box 106Salem MA 01970Email: [email protected] FacebookInstagramBack on the Broomstick Website

In this episode the witches sit down with author, teacher, and astrologer Ivo Dominguez Jr. to talk about the re-release of his book Spirit Speak: A Comprehensive Guide to Connect Beyond the Veil. They explore how the book helps witches build clearer relationships with their guides and allies, and what’s changed since he first wrote it.The conversation with Ivo covers a variety of witchy topics. How do daffodil bulbs help explain reincarnation and the oversoul? What do plants have to do with portals and realm walking? And just how many nerdy references can Ivo and Laylla fit into one episode?Naturally, with Ivo in the room, at some point they're going to talk astrology. Together, they unpack the current Mercury retrograde, what this one is stirring up collectively and magically, and some very big astrological events lining up for early 2026. From shifts in collective communication to the energetic themes that may shape the coming year, the discussion makes major astrological shifts understandable.It’s thoughtful, grounded, and full of that signature blend of witchcraft, wisdom, and curiosity; a perfect episode for anyone looking to refine their spirit communication and understand the cosmic weather ahead.Ivo Dominguez jr WebsiteGot a question? Send the witches a message here!Support the showWant to send us a letter? Witchy things to review?We have a mailing address!Back on the BroomstickPO Box 106Salem MA 01970Email: [email protected] FacebookInstagramBack on the Broomstick Website

In the third installment of our seven-part series on the Aspects of Deity, Laylla and Chelle meet the God as the Sage, the Elder, the Lord of Shadows.This is the God after the battle, after the passion, when the fields have been harvested and the world begins to rest. He is the Holly King, the wise face of the Horned God, the keeper of memory and mystery. In him lives the balance between power and surrender, action and reflection, life and death.The witches discuss His folklore and myth, how to know when the God is reaching out to you, and how to start working with a God.So light your candle against the long night, pour a cup of something your grandpa would appreciate, and join Laylla and Chelle as they follow the God into the deep woods of winter, where silence becomes a teacher and the old gods whisper in the dark.We have an Etsy Shop!Got a question? Send the witches a message here!Support the showWant to send us a letter? Witchy things to review?We have a mailing address!Back on the BroomstickPO Box 106Salem MA 01970Email: [email protected] FacebookInstagramBack on the Broomstick Website