Seba (The Southern Fried Witch)

04/04/2024

Birthday flowers from my eldest son from the yard. Coming back to life is hard. My boys remind me that the world is still a magical place. ♥️

24/03/2024

I'm still riding down old dirt roads, but lately, I've been running into me. As a little girl, I crafted safe little places to run when my world was crashing to the ground. It appears that they have waited for me, still beating and thumping somewhere in the summer of 1970-somethin.’

To listen to "Time Travel and the Safe Places We Create," go to:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1AYtfbbUaK0weXH9L3OEbQ?si=3ec51b974a7c467b

To support this podcast, go to: https://www.patreon.com/southernfriedwitch

(Photo credit: Sebastiano Corti)

10/03/2024

I've spent a lot of time, y'all, in my woods lately. As a child, the woods were my momma, the cradle that saved me from trauma, and they still know my name. Thought I'd share. Y'all know, we rip magic out of children--but when they grow old, it might be the only thing to save them. Just ask the trees--and the creatures that know them as family. :)

To listen to to "Animist Child: Mothered by the Trees," go to: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5izaQF6WlIwiaWFpZzDnXM?si=10yVXhQ9QmKa2HrxBTb--Q

Love y'all like chicken,
Seba

To support this podcast and keep me on the air, go to: https://www.patreon.com/southernfriedwitch

03/03/2024

Behold, my field of f***s, and find that it is barren . . . and ready for planting. Let's talk about planting seeds, doing so as part of the Craft, and the responsibility therein.

Love y'all like chicken, Seba

To listen to "A Witch in Trauma: How to Not Screw Up Ostara," go to: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7593z1JQM7crddsWlsMgnB?si=b94d51f7cb864feb

Photo by the lovely Laurel Photography
(Y'all hire this woman immediately for your witchy shoots!)

To support this podcast, go to: https://www.patreon.com/southernfriedwitch

25/02/2024

Hey y'all, I know I'm a little late this week. I'm at the precipice of making a huge choice and I reckon my heart just couldn't beat right for a few days. But I'm here, slinging mud off my bones. So, snuggle up on the porch and let’s chat about how contextualization is just as important as intent when thinking through our Craft. A possum comes in to play, but y’all expect that, right? Me, a Witch, in context as a Southerner—as always.

Also, y’all send good thoughts to us down here in Alabama. The folks in charge have lost their damn minds. I’m a Witch living in a Wannabe Gilead—and it’s only getting worse. Standing for my birthright as an Alabama Witch and doing what I can to fight for my neighbors, my DIL, and my grandbaby. Don’t forget us? We’re still here.

To listen to "SPELLCRAFT, IN CONTEXT--(and an Alabama Possum)," go to: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0NVdk5Tg4VksuuhLB6NFoQ?si=47e90579ff1841ca

To support this podcast, go to: https://www.patreon.com/southernfriedwitch

(Photo by Jack Bulmer)

11/02/2024

Hey, y’all. I’ve been thinking about focus lately and how much energy it takes to just stay in place. It turns out, I’ve been treading water. And I’m exhausted. So, I’ve been doing a little manifestation work—creating a path that doesn’t exist quite yet. It’s work, to come out of trauma. Where we land can be a place that we design as witches.

To listen to "Ain't You Tired? Treading Water to Manifestation," go to: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3tT2G1KHL97tIvP6cr60bE?si=751721936eba4481

To support this podcast, go to: https://www.patreon.com/southernfriedwitch

04/02/2024

Hey, y’all. In a lot of ways, this is my “unsilencing of the lambs,” a love letter to Imbolc (my apologies on the lateness of this post). Today’s episode is short, organic, and a bit of a ramble on the idea of a “blood and bone” impregnation rather than seed (okra, herbs) fertilization that we embark upon in the spring. In my experience, the darkest nights of the season are also the time of the deepest growth—bony growth—of that which we have sown within ourselves. Lambing season, the one we are entering now, births that living Magick into being. It's assuredly a bloody process, but we are Witches.

This is a short one, but I plan to go deeper into these concepts next week.

To listen to "LAMBING SEASON--AN IMBOLC LOVE LETTER," go to: https://open.spotify.com/episode/337frbUDyEDoo7yXJcXzDm?si=5d0b6f091f7f4b85

Hope your Imbolc was wonderful and blessed,
Seba

To support this podcast, go to: https://www.patreon.com/southernfriedwitch

(Photo: from my yard, Imbolc Eve--it came out like a painting in that low light. This is what Imbolc feels like to me.)

28/01/2024

Hey, y'all: I've dug deeply into this idea of witch shame. You know, that feeling that comes after a crafting doesn't work, or something horrible happens and you didn't/couldn't stop it. I also am currently standing in half ruins and wanted to chat with y'all about the critical nature of doing the repair work, rather than just walking away, from the things that matter to my little Witch heart.

So here y'all go--miss y'all. Getting better every day. xoxo

To listen to "Witch Shame and the Value of Repair Work: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6oLLVZvoiZhbnXo2teswGr?si=879a4231277948f2

To support this podcast: https://www.patreon.com/southernfriedwitch

(Photo by m wrona on Unsplash)

23/01/2024

Goodnight moon. You’ve been witness to it all. Maybe one day, you’ll tell me how it ends. 🌕 For all of the broken Witch hearts out there, sending love. Sweet dreams.

Seba

21/01/2024

Well, y’all: I wish I could say that everything is fine, but it’s really not. I’m still struggling to share what it’s like to go through trauma as a witch, and hopefully, that will resonate with someone out there. It’s incredibly difficult to practice my Craft right now, and so I’m letting myself go dormant. After all, the killing freeze is not over yet. And I hope to survive it.

And: I’m trying harder than y’all know. My heart is fully broken, but I'm still trying. Because of y'all.

To listen to "A Killing Freeze--A Dormant Craft," go to: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5RLlaArUJP0sXlxvyNnPxm?si=6725f2abc00d4797

To offer help in this crisis (missing exterior wall, legal fees, broken electrical line): https://www.freefunder.com/campaign/back-on-her-feet

To support this podcast (and that matters more than you know right now), go to: https://www.patreon.com/southernfriedwitch

(Picture is of my anniversary table from last year. Part of me is still sitting here, lost in time and space.)

06/01/2024

Well, y’all, by now you know that my world blew up a few months ago quite unexpectedly. Tonight, I am just leaning into the microphone to share how I’m walking through trauma as a Witch. When everything fell apart, I ran into the trees, and because of the bonds and covenants I have entered with the land spirits, the woods, my land, my ancestors, and my beautiful “Big Mama” (aka goddess), there was solace there. More than that, there is guidance and support. Tonight, I’m sharing the raw of my experience—so expect that. I promised, all of those years ago when I started this podcast, to tell you the truth. Sometimes, that’s a bloody mess. And: don’t worry. I don’t know how to stay down. I’m one stubborn Aries Witch. Love y’all like chicken, Seba

To listen to "The Sacred Connection: The Covenant of Trees, Ancestors, and the Olden Ones" go to: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2COB9JxbnbF06jjIzBJ0bq?si=baab2b8848fc43c5

To support this podcast (which would be just wonderful right now), go to: https://www.patreon.com/southernfriedwitch

P.S.: this was the "Cold Moon" from my farm porch. This is how it feels: cold, but clear. A broken oak reaching for a vibrant cedar on a freezing night with only the moon to stand witness. So much pain in its broken branches. So much hope for the cedar who must carry on. So Mote It Be.

05/01/2024

And then, I got nominated. After going through the most horrible trauma of my life, after not being able to podcast for months. This.

Thank you. So very much. If you would like to vote for me (I'm nominated for best podcast AND best episode), click the link.

This kind of love gave me the strength to stand back up. Damn y'all. Love y'all like chicken.

I'm so sorry I've been gone. It was a bloody mess. But I'm ready to fight back now--I'm that witch. The one that stands back up.

And to the one who tried to destroy me: to the left, to the left. I've got work to do.

XOXO, Seba

MOBILE BALLOT - CLICK HERE!

05/11/2023

About thirty-five (in all) podcast listeners came together in the trees last weekend to forge an even deeper community. There aren’t words to express, y’all, what the little gathering in the woods of Alabama meant to all of us. We came from California, Washington, Virginia, North Carolina, Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and all the places in between. There wasn’t enough time. There will never be enough time when Witches come together to heal under the moon.

Today, the porch is the woods. We nestled together, some of us more exhausted than others, to podcast and share our journeys. If you listen, you are bearing witness to what we found there. To listen to "The Batchildren Ball" on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7KzKDKs1u0LGrfIqHtsB9B?si=fA0pqZe2TUWkVE2aPmvbyg

To join the Batchildren Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/southernfriedwitch

31/10/2023

Wishing everyone a Blessed Samhain and Harvest! Blessed Be, Y'all! Love, Seba

29/10/2023

Just got back from a weekend in the woods. We sat on ancient bedrock, ran through the trees, made fires and laughed and healed together. Thirty-five podcast supporters flew/drove to be together as a community from around the country--and we even recorded a podcast under the full moon. This, Batchildren, is what it's all about. Weaving our stories together until we can reach the moon.

HagCraft Farm drove down from Virginia, and by the last day: almost everyone was draped in Hag Witch Love! I caught this picture, the very first day, of Rebecca and Leann as they met the land for the first time. Nothing but joy, y'all. Thought I'd share a bit of it with you. When I say that Witches coming together for a common goal can shake the ground, this is what I mean.

Blessed Be, Seba

Author and Podcaster at Southernfriedwitch.com

29/10/2023

I've been haunted lately, y'all, by those ghosts of years gone by. Here's what I do about it: I try to work on me. I don't want my children, nor my friends, to feel encumbered by sorrow or blackened memories when I'm gone. And so, I work toward becoming (as we all are doing every day) their beloved dead.

To Listen to "Becoming Beloved Dead" on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3UYwE6foMXJh2AL0IhfL7D?si=9c75efdc2af24aed

Happy Samhain. I'll see y'all on the other side--of this week. xoxo

To support this podcast and receive extra content, join the Batchildren Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/southernfriedwitch

22/10/2023

Edited to add: wow, it's just so cool to see your faces on this post! Some of y'all I have interacted with over the years, but have never met--and this was just wonderful. xoxo

Per our beloved H. Byron Ballard, it's that time of the year to showcase our most authentic Witch selves. It's a tradition, as she has once again: "invited people who self-identify as Witches to post a picture of themselves during Hallowe'en. Not in costume or ritual clothing. Not a stereotype. Just yourself, in the season of the witch." So, this is me, an Alabama teacher/grandma/farmer witch only a few days ago. I was on Jekyll Island, watching the sun go down, surrounded by my family and coming back to health after a month of illness. And the ocean was healing me, as She always will. My makeup was craggy, my voice was still raspy, but this is Witch life, y'all.

I love that Byron has started this tradition, as it gives us a chance to show our truest selves and fight the stereotypes. Jump in and post your photo, if you feel comfortable!

Season of the *Real* Witch, anyone?

22/10/2023

Hey, y’all: I’ve talked a lot about the path of least resistance before as it pertains to nature and the Craft. But, sometimes, we need to “jump a track,” so to speak, rather than just going with the flow.--especially if the path we are on no longer serves our soul. Let’s talk about the momentum needed to do just such a thing, but also how I have utilized “backward design” in my own path to aid in that endeavor. Anyone want to jump a track with me?

To listen to "Bippity, Boppity, Boo--Jumping the Track" on Spotify, go to: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3RX7zDHbVzsQ2Fbh7N1Pqi?si=fda1b924c8a8469f

To join our Patreon Batchildren Fam, support this podcast, and find extra content: https://www.patreon.com/southernfriedwitch

Photo by: Lance Grandahl

08/10/2023

Whoops, almost forgot to publish! Hey, y’all! I’ve been thinking about what we do with ashes, whether they be from spells, rituals, home fires, or garden burns. It’s just incredibly important to consider what created our ash and how to dispose of it in ways that are both magical and responsible to the environment. Today, I’m running through some of these moments with y’all. Along the way, we also will cover closed loop systems and how they can utilize ash—as well as why they are critical to Witch Folk. Hope you find it helpful!

To listen to "Magical Ashes and Closed Loop Systems" on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0nxUszOVUpTsRFj8gChafX?si=7b08410b7fa64772

To support this podcast, get extra content, and become a member of the Batchildren family, go to: https://www.patreon.com/southernfriedwitch

01/10/2023

Hey, y’all: I’m on my way back to health and wanted to share with y’all a Witch’s Duh moment wherein I simply forgot to call my energy back home for some time. As sick as I’ve been for nearly a month, it was a no-brainer to do so—but life got away from me, and I became a drained battery. Also, I’m answering the listener letters that are focused on the fear of casting, lest we might hurt someone/something. Let’s dig into that a little?

Welcome back to the porch. I’ve almost got my broom set aright. :) To listen to "This Electric Life: Energy, Forgotten Vampires, and When to Pull the Cord," go to Spotify (or anywhere you listen to podcasts): https://open.spotify.com/episode/5iYLIbBOTHedQ5u2QQIaeI?si=8fa0de41f27549e7

To join the Batchildren Patreon for extra content and to support this podcast, go to: https://www.patreon.com/southernfriedwitch

24/09/2023

Well, y’all: I’m still recovering, but better every day. Snuggle up on the porch and let me tell y’all about the land, the trees, and how it feels to fall and go tumbling into the dark—cradle and all.

Sometimes, being a Witch means to accept that we are also just energy, ebbing and flowing, but never quite destroyed. Hope your Autumn Equinox was wonderful! I was too busy celebrating yesterday to post, but this was my view yesterday evening as we sat by fire with full tummies and honored the harvest. (Wish my phone could have caught the true shape of the moon.)

To listen to "E131--AND THE CRADLE WILL FALL" on Spotify, go to: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0LPDWf4yijZjpdhkf58pGg?si=rJwcJwQsQMOb714cdV76ZA

Episode Notes:

For extra content and to support this podcast, go to: https://www.patreon.com/southernfriedwitch

Also, y’all don’t miss out! So Mote Con is happening October 14th and 15th! This live virtual conference is one you don’t want to miss. To find out more go to: thatwitchlife.com—the price goes up September 29th, so hurry! (And if you can’t make those days, they are sending the recorded event to registrants, so don’t worry.)

17/09/2023

Hey, y’all: thank you to everyone who reached out and sent good vibes during my illness. I recorded this several days ago—but today, I feel a bit more like myself again. It was pretty scary and knocked the literal wind out of me, my Craft, and my family. What mattered, in the end, was the manner in which my ancestors showed up and supported my spirit. Here’s how I was able to Witchify the most serious illness I’ve ever experienced—although, even here, I cannot find the words to express how crucial it is to “stay in contact” with our ancestors, rather than venerating them only at particular times of the year.

Even my familiar, Tituba, had a part in keeping breath in my body. I apologize for my absence and hope some of y’all are still around to join me on the porch! Blessed Be, Seba

To get access to more content (videos, extra episodes, and pics), become an official Batchild! Go to: https://www.patreon.com/southernfriedwitch

To listen to "Witchifying Illness" on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5zH8fKABE6F0sKQHP9tvYb?si=d8f4851e19be4203

13/09/2023

Caught this little fella on camera , just as the jaws were going down. There was something about it that was sad, and there was something about it that was fair. As sick as I have been, I’ve been thinking a whole lot about the cycles that we participate in. And as morbid as I may sound, the whole thing actually does give me hope. As a witch who practices folk magic, I hope to become old and ripe and full of nutrition for the ground in the way of stories and laughter and living. I am finally getting better. Still weak, of course, but better. And suddenly it occurs to me that the whole purpose of me staying here is to spread magic on the ground, in the air, along the winding of the day. Wherever I can, whenever I can. For one day, I will become part of the ecology of this place. Just a wonderful little lesson I garnered today from a tiny moth caught in the mouth of a plant. ♥️

Not yet, I told my fly trap. I have work to do.

But one day, it will be my honor.

10/09/2023

Well. Covid led to a secondary infection and I have pneumonia. Trying to stay out of the hospital, so I sat in the sun for a few minutes and did some root workings. I wish I could say that I was tougher than this--but, alas. This thing has tried to take me out.

Sending y'all love and asking for patience. My voice is barely audible, so podcasting is out. But I'm here. I'm alive today. And I'm witchifying this illness as hard as I can go.

Don't forget to celebrate health, y'all.

Xoxo, Seba

03/09/2023

Sorry, y'all. I have Covid and not handling it very well. No podcast today. It's my first missed one in years, but just cannot sit up that long. Turns out, I'm not as tough as I thought, lol.

I miss my farm, but haven't been able to beat this fever down enough to go look--but, luckily, my partner takes photos for me. And so, I'm sharing my favorite one with you. Like me, my sunflowers are getting a bit bedraggled. Still, I sure do love that little tint of red on the petals, standing against the sun. Sunflower tea on the way!

Hope y'all are enjoying the promise of fall in the air. Back to my bed I go--but sending love to everyone.

Seba

(P.S. Really can't answer emails right now. Will catch up as soon as I'm well enough to do so.)

27/08/2023

Hey, y’all! I’m back on the porch after a long week of micro-farming and ready to share the secret to growing the best damn veggies you’ve ever tasted. Along the way, we have a story or two—as usual. As great mysteries go, the one I fell headlong into a few years back should not have taken me by surprise. It turns out, there’s something to working with the land, rather than working the land. Somewhere in that journey, my little disinherited rear got adopted by the trees, the soil, the land spirits and all that reside here. I’ll talk more about that next week, but for today, let’s talk about how I came into my real inheritance and how Metallica (among other bands) changed my tomato/pepper game. To Listen to "Metal Tomatoes, Musical Soil, and the Immanent Inheritance of Magical Creatures" on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/29UZM67Rni9J6nT2hnakJl?si=85b5da5e007d4448

To listen to the soundtrack for this episode: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0morErB7wGLqwyEZOEbb5q?si=ac9e3cbd8c7640e3

To support this podcast and become part of the Batchildren family, go to: https://www.patreon.com/southernfriedwitch

23/08/2023

Hagcraftfarm.com

Y'all, my listeners have been granted a hefty 20% off anything (including sales) at Hagcraft farm! I LIVE in these magical, ethically created, witchy swamp clothes. If there's a cloak, a tunic, a dress, or any other hand-dyed yummy creation you've been hankering after, this is your chance. Just enter code SFW2023 and grab that ethereal NOMS you've wished for--only good until the end of the week. Hurry! (Pictured here, a 57-year-old grannie witch in the softest, most magical tunic ever. Not the best model--but the damn thing goes to my knees when I stand up, which means that undergarments are optional. Cackle.) Y'all, go get that Samhain cloak you've longed for. Go!!!!!

Love, Seba

P.S. YES, the code works on sales items. AND, they have that audacious "pay in four" thingy on their website. RUN!

Author and Podcaster at Southernfriedwitch.com

20/08/2023

This box is a foot deep. And I’m in trouble. It’s one of four. My son calls me the pepper queen, but I may have finally gone too far. 🌶️🌶️🌶️ Happy early harvest, y’all!

20/08/2023

I've had the worst damn month, y’all. And so, I did something happy. We, as Witches and Pagans, often separate Halloween from Samhain--and, I get that. But, Halloween made me who I am. It prepared me for Samhain as an adult, deepened that resonance and steadied me for my grown life as a witch. And sometimes, when I'm super sad, all it takes the whiff of a bonfire and some caramel to bring the magic back around. This episode meant something to me. And somewhere between recording it and publishing it, the light shifted toward fall. (It’s almost imperceptible, but I assure you: my friend Robin always notices it and heralds it in.)

Hope you enjoy the ride toward the most magical time of the year. And for everyone out that who just needs October to hurry on up, here ya’ go.

To listen to "How Halloween Saved My Samhain," go to: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2RIZtBnNBUUHbq5AgWdFgP?si=c715a6309e4f4914

To join our Patreon and get access to extra content, as well as the Batchild Facebook group, go to: https://www.patreon.com/southernfriedwitch