Just dropping a quick note that my autumnal workshop A Spell is a Prayer with Props is NEXT WEEKEND at Hedge Meadow in Spring Green. This will likely be some *peak* fall foliage road-tripping complete with a very Halloweeny pre-dinner activity, so if you’re feeling drawn to attend and bring a friend, there happen to be some spots available! Ticket includes all materials, just bring yourself:)

This workshop is for you if:

-You’ve never made fire cider before
-You’ve made fire cider but you want to make it ~witchier~
-You want to know more about apple magic from a European ancestral perspective
-You’re interested in granny magic, ancestral healing, and folk practices
-You want to find a way to honor the thinning veil season by connecting with the dead
-You like making things by hand with other people
-You’re interested in beginner herbalism

If these things ring true for you (and more), please consider joining us! It’s going to be great fun.

JOIN US

My Trollpåse workshop at Madison Death Studio the following week is all sold out, but I am told there is a waitlist, so feel free to check that out on their website.

Mums,
Rachael

Come celebrate the season with us by learning a new skill you will take with you for many autumns to come! This event will be hosted in Spring Green at Hedge Meadow.

“Fire Cider” is a term coined by Rosemary Gladstar that refers to an infused vinegar that contains many immune boosting ingredients, which is wonderful for flu and cold season. We’ll discuss all the ingredients typically found in a traditional fire cider, but with a FAMILIAR twist: we’ll also discuss apple magic, crafting simple spells, ancestral healing through herbs, and honoring your personal lineages and traditions through food and drink.

After our discussion, we’ll weave a collective spell together and embody what we learned through the ritual. You’ll go home with a winter’s supply of fire cider and a new skill that you can gift to others just in time for the holidays.

FIRE CIDER TICKETS

Explore tools for tending grief and hardship through making a trollpåse—a magical folk talisman from the old ways of Scandinavia.

This workshop explores creative and traditional tools for tending to grief and hardship through the making of a trollpåse.

Guided by death doula and grief worker Abby Goelzer and folk healer Rachael Gonzalez, participants will create and hand-sew their own trollpåse, choosing from an array of plants, herbs, symbols, and other magical materials. Rachael will share the folk traditions, meanings, and uses connected to these materials, helping participants consider what they might intentionally place inside their own talisman and why.

Alongside the making process, Abby and Rachael will introduce grief-tending exercises, prompts, and traditions that offer creative tools for navigating grief and hardship—whether connected to the loss of a person, friendship, relationship, home, or job, or to the current state of affairs, the endless news cycle, climate change, and the many other losses we carry.

As we enter the gateway to winter and the shadow side of the year, we’ll look to folk practices and the ways people have historically used ritual, making, and magic to seek protection, empowerment, and care during difficult times.

Participants will leave with their own custom trollpåse and a collection of practices and tools they can continue returning to in their own lives.

Only a couple of spots left!

I’ll be on break for the first half of October, if you have any questions about these classes, get at me before Oct 1— I will be responding to emails after October 18th! Ticket sales are hosted through these two venues, so you can reach out to either Hedge Meadow or Madison Death Studio. I hope you will consider joining us and celebrating this dark and beautiful season as we turn toward the thinning veil.

Looking forward to hosting my final (sold out!) elevated session of the season at Hot Spell tomorrow, the cool breeze and wisp of smoke in the air is bound to make it an especially cozy evening.

Warmly,
Rachael

It happens so slowly, the fading of the light, that we hardly notice at first— particularly in this era of climate change where September doesn’t come with a chill the way it used to when I was small. But I see it in the mornings when I am up with the baby, the darkness. Soon the leaves, starved of the sun, will turn crimson and orange and yellow, and fall. The chill comes later when the trees are skeletal, pumpkins plump, the vines dead on the ground.

Now is the warding time. We set ourselves up for winter, like the squirrels I see busily burying nuts outside my window, we should not be waiting until everything is at rest to put up what we need to see winter through. Now is the time to dry the tea herbs, can the tomatoes, start the ferments and the infusions and dip the candles for curing. Now is the time to ward against the cold and the dark so that when it arrives, you rest easy knowing you and yours are well cared for.

I think about my female ancestors when the dark begins to fall, because it was their duty as keepers of the home to set up protection against evil spirits. Embroidery at the neckline, protective charms across windows and doorways, sheafs of intricately woven wheat, spinning wool, herbal remedies, dipped candles, smears of soot and holy water… all of these padding against what arrives with the dark, but also glimmers of beauty during a very drab time of year. Bringing nature in so we remember it returns again. Warmly and beautifully decorated in something handmade with love, full in the belly and resourced, it feels easier to head outside.

We live in hard times. There is so much fear. But here in my home, I have control over what I can control. And so I string my beautiful flowers above my table where they will dry, and I check the larder and see what will make our wintertide more merry and bright. Some flour, cardamom, brown sugar, but also things that will keep us well- bone broths, fire cider, and elderberry. I begin the work now of setting up those protections so that when one of us is struck down, it’s ready.

I like to explain warding like this— you can string rowan around your windows and plant parsley by your gate, you can smear your doors with soot and bury as many spell bottles as you want, but if you keep your front door unlocked, well, that’s just plain dumb. Putting up for winter is the ground on which warding stands on. You pick the elderberries and preserve them in syrup for coughs and colds, you brew the tea and take it as preventative, and if you experience seasonal sads, you might consider a D-supplement, a sun lamp, and make sure your home is full of cozy things. So you can taste a bit of the sun in the dead of winter or spread some cheer. Taking time to set yourself up for the basics but yes, also some celebration is a highly protective act, an ancestral act, and part of our natural rhythm. In addition to all the boring stuff, like getting your flu shot or stacking firewood. There is magic in cozy.

Items you may consider making or stocking up on for the season:

herbal teas
bone broths or veggie broths
mulling spices, pumpkin spice
raw honey and bee pollen, or herb infused honey
elderberry syrup
fire cider
ginger chews and cough drops
herb infused tallow, hand salves, and oils
herbal hydrosols or humidifiers
warming linaments for sore muscles, like tiger balm
rice heating pads or kidney warmers
wool socks and scarves (keep your neck covered!)
ingredients for favorite family baking recipes
items for a wintertide ancestral altar, things they loved in life
incense and candles
(Hedge Medow is hosting an incense workshop this weekend!)

Fire Cider

needs to steep for about a month to be ready for use, so the best fire cider is the fire cider you started yesterday :)) this is a very simple recipe which is impossible to mess up. I made this first batch from what I had in the garden and fridge drawer, but later in the season I’ll usually make a more elaborate one when I have the time. Use what you have on hand first, and you can always add other ingredients later if you’re running by the store and see something you want. It’s very forgiving in that way. FC is essentially just an infused vinegar, so you can add any ratio of items you want, and omit anything you don’t want. The only things you must use are honey and apple cider vinegar. Without the honey it has a big bite!

The Simplest Recipe for Fire Cider

Raw apple cider vinegar (like Braggs)
Raw local honey, ideally
Use any amount of the following, chopped:
Some kind of spicy peppers
Onion
Some kind of citrus like lemon, lime, orange, or all
Horseradish root
Garlic
Fresh herbs like oregano, rosemary, sage, or thyme
Add anything else you may find helpful!

Add all these to a large jar, filling the jar about halfway. Fill the jar to the top with apple cider vinegar. Shake regularly for at least a month, but maybe not longer than 6-8 weeks. Strain and add a bunch of honey; about equal to the strained vinegar.

Take a shot a day as preventative, and multiple shots if you’re actively sick. Add to food if it tastes too strong, like soup.

Bringing in the green

There’s a lovely Waldorf-inspired practice of setting up a special table or shelf in your home and allowing things you find on your daily walks to set there for the season. As things fade from nature, they also fade from your nature table, to be replaced by an object that is currently in season- which lets it be a reflection of the outside world. This place of reflection is less of an altar and more of a place to contemplate what’s going on outside while also living our very busy lives. Most people don’t live on a farm or work outdoors; but most of us can attempt a daily walk. This practice allows you to take a closer look at the plants and trees that grow all around, what phase they enter at this time of year or the next; and will a bit of it look nice in a pretty vase? Ideas for your seasonal table: dried grasses and milkweed pods, pinecones, acorns, seashells, rocks, dried flowers from the garden, boughs of evergreens, red maple leaves, animal bones, antler sheds. The sky’s the limit.

This practice is rooted in older folk ways where gathering items from nature and bringing them inside to adorn the home would offer protection during the winter months. Stringing rowan berries or making crosses of the twigs, weaving wheat, stringing hawthorn berries, collecting elderberries for medicine or the wood of elder for magic, or picking blackberries to squirrel away before michaelmas day when they belonged to the devil (sept 29) were all common practices. The hedge is rich with jewels at this point in the season, and soon all of the fruit will be gone, so this is not a time to waste. It also serves the dual purpose of making sure you have medicines dried for the winter- dried leaves, flowers and berries are necessary for a well stocked larder.

Blackberry Brandy with adaptogenic sugar rim

this is a favorite recipe to pull out in the dead of winter when you’ve come in from the cold. A little nip after dinner is delicious, especially with a little dark chocolate.

Collect your berries when they are juicy and ripe, filling half of a jar. Pour good brandy (I’m talking the locally made Wisconsin stuff, if you can get it) over the blackberries, mashing them a bit with a pounder, then top off the jar and seal it tightly. Shake for a full moon cycle, about four weeks. Strain into a clean jar and keep chilled in the fridge.

To make your (optional) sugar rim, blend about a cup powdered sugar with 1/4 cup ashwagandha root powder, a bit of powdered rose if you have it, and a large pinch of cinnamon. Store in a small, attractive jar.

When you’re ready to drink, wet the rim of a small brandy glass with a bit of lemon or water and dip it into the sugar, like a margarita. Pour your brandy cold and skål!

Hedge Plum Gin

This is a wonderful recipe to serve at the thanksgiving table. If you make it now in September, it will be perfect for the holidays. Drink as a spritz or make it into a greyhound with grapefruit juice.

Collect ripe, juicy plums off the tree in a large bowl- you can often spot plums by the way they drop on sidewalks and leave purple stains this time of year. They should be smallish, firm, with a powdery bloom. Taking a silver fork and a large bowl, poke each plum all over with the fork and drop it into a large clean jar, filling about halfway. Cover the plums with gin, filling the jar to the top, and seal tightly. It will turn vibrant pink. Allow to infuse until just before thanksgiving. Strain through cheesecloth and store, chilled, in the beautiful bottle.

And don’t forget your crabapples! They are so abundant this time of year. I particularly like a handful of crabapples added to a slowly braising meat, or try your hand at a crabapple liqueur or jelly.

I have more I want to say but this already took me a week to write between work and chasing my toddler so I will leave it here for now. Get out there with your baskets and make the most of the fruits and flowers before the land (and we!) enjoy a much needed rest.

Upcoming

this coming Friday I am teaching my beloved class Sauna Animism & Sacred Bathing Rituals from the North at Hot Spell Sauna in Milwaukee. There are still three spots left, which literally never happens. Please come and bring a friend!

Next week’s elevated sauna session at Hot Spell is currently sold out, but there is a waitlist.

Just announced, my friend Abby and I will be hosting our class This Shadow I Carry, which is a class about grief and ways to heal using trolldom, at Madison Death Studio in October. Spots are very limited, I hear. Sign up now if you’re interested- this will probably be the only one we teach this fall, and so close to the thinning veil.

I’ll also be teaching my apple magic class, A Spell is a Prayer with Props, at the end of October, but the venue is still unconfirmed so I will follow up with the live link when I have it! Keep an eye on my socials.

I’ll be heading to the lake this evening to take a cold dip at sunset, a ritual I haven’t been able to do since I got pregnant. The equinox, or mabon, is often referred to as the witches’ thanksgiving, and I am certainly feeling the potency as I close out this second summer as a mother, who is also a healer and an artist. My hands and heart feel so full with good work, and I am thankful for it. And thankful for you!

Warmly,

Rachael

Join us for an evening of magical lore as we deep dive into the living sauna traditions of northern europe & the nordic region. I will take you through my years of research & experience sweat bathing across the north and on the lands of my people; we will discuss the elements of the sauna, etiquette & what to expect during traditional sauna, spirits of the sauna, sauna tools, sauna folk magic - and more! After discussion, we will have a chance to embody what we learned and weave a collective spell together, relax with refreshments, and enjoy the season in the forest. If you can’t make this but still want some autumnal sauna magic, I’m offering an equinox sauna session on the following Tuesday.

Hot Spell’s summer location is nestled above Seven bridges trail in Grant park in South Milwaukee. Navigate to Fredrick C. Wulff Lodge for the most accurate GPS directions. Class begins promptly at 5:30 on Friday Sept 29, with a sauna session immediately following.

This is my most beloved workshop I offer- don’t hesitate! Space is very limited.

reserve your seat

Hello friends,

Just a quick note to share about some upcoming events! This weekend we welcome the first of the harvest, Lúnasa, and I am FEELING THE ENERGY. I spent most of the week manically tying up loose ends for the end of summer, starting projects, making pickles, harvesting the garden and hauling materia into the studio, and generally running around like a crazy person. I saw the first of the floating cobwebs and goldenrod faces emerging this last week which whisper that autumn is coming, soon soon soon, which I am very much looking forward to but we aren’t finished with summer yet! The tomatoes aren’t even ripe... At any rate,

LAST TUESDAYS HEALING SAUNA SESSIONS

Join me every last tuesday at Hot Spell’s summer residency at Wulff lodge in South Milwaukee for the next few months for an elevated sauna session that honors the season. I will be providing a fireside reflection, traditional fire cupping, and herbal applications during your heating/cooling rounds. It is a short walk to the beach or river for a wonderfully chilly dip, and they have a beautiful outdoor shower set up for cold showers. Rest in a lounger or on a blanket and let the sounds of summer wash over you as we stretch out our bathing ritual across the last of the summer evenings. Space is limited, find tickets on my webstore:

AUGUST 25 SAUNA SEATS HERE

SEPTEMBER 29 SAUNA SEATS HERE

SAUNA ANIMISM AND HEALING TRADITIONS FROM THE FAR NORTH 9/25/26

My beloved workshop is back for the season! Join us the first week of fall for an evening of magical lore as we deep dive into the living sauna traditions of northern europe & the nordic region. I will take you through my years of training, research, & experience sweat bathing across the north and on the lands of my people; we will discuss the elements of the sauna, etiquette & what to expect during traditional sauna, spirits of the sauna, sauna tools, sauna folk magic - and more! After discussion, we will have a chance to embody what we learned and weave a collective spell together, relax with refreshments, and enjoy the season. Space is very limited!

Sauna Witches

COMMUNITY CAULDRON:
NATURAL DYEING WITH INDIGO 9/10/26

Join artists Nora Leccese & Rachael Gonzalez (me) for an evening of natural dyeing from indigo plants that Nora & Rachael have been growing all season long! Known for putting the blue in blue jeans, indigo is a fun and inspiring natural dye that creates a wide array of shades and organic patterns. This event is always by donation only, BYO fabric. Attendees will be capped this year and limited to those who can attend the event on time, so it’ll be a little less crazy and we can get our kids to bed on time! Check out the link to RSVP and learn more.

CAULDRON

And just a quick update about ANTI FASCIST PASTA PARTY-

AFPP was held a few weekends ago to GREAT success, I am pleased to report we served over 100 people free hand rolled pasta dinners and managed to raise $230 for our neighborhood food pantry. We printed 140 riso zines that fold out into a poster for your kitchen, and we don’t have a single one left! It was a perfect night full of great conversation, smiling faces and connection. Thanks so much to our volunteers Steph & Colleen, and to my co-organizors Kayle & Krista, but most of all— thanks to you all! SOLIDARITY!

the zine—
we’ve decided to make this zine open source so anyone can print it for their own pasta party. Reach out to me if you want the digital file! We just ask that anyone who uses it follow a few simple rules: your party must be free, the zines must be free, and the zines may not be altered and remained credited. You have a whole year before the next July rolls around, plenty of time to hone your rolling skills!

Until next time, remember to roll up your car windows (unless you want a rogue bushel of someone’s cucumbers or zucchinis)

-RMG

WE'RE BACK FOR 2026 AND BETTER THAN EVER! 🍝 You’re invited to this unofficial RW24 party inspired by the tradition of 25 Luglio AKA Pasta Antifascista AKA a celebration of joy and liberation in the form of pasta making and eating. We will be making pasta from scratch and assembling a community altar for peace & embodying a collective spell against fascism through handcrafted free nourishment and merriment.

This year we are delighted to have flour donated from Anarchy Acres which is a historic heirloom variety and locally grown! All attendees will also get a free riso zine we made that folds out into a sweet poster for your kitchen! See how cool!

Please roll up on your bicycles, bring an offering for the altar, bring an appetite, punch a nazi! or just bring yourself. This event is free and open to all antifascistas! I am delighted to co-host this event with artist Kayle Karbowski & historian Krista Grensavitch at The Open in Riverwest.

Any and all donations made this year on the community altar will go to the riverwest food pantry to combat food scarcity in our neighborhood.

rsvp on partiful to get text reminders and updates!

RSVP RN!

Zine and Poster design by

LONG LIVE THE RIVERWEST 24!

Hello my friends,

A very happy summer solstice to you! My energy has been matching nature at its most vibrant (and chaotic). My sandal tan is developing, and I constantly have dirt under my nails and berry juice running down my arms. I’ve been very busy between indulging in summer magic with my family and finding myself slowly returning to my work for the first time in a year and a half, since I took maternity leave.

I am delighted to say that I have had a few weeks worth of re-integrating into bodywork and it feels so nice to be back for my 13th year (!!!) as a licensed massage practitioner. This is not work I take lightly, I bring a lot of love and energy to this practice and draw from a lot of different training outside of conventional massage education.

Because my time is so limited these days (I have minimal access to childcare), I have only been able to reach out to a handful of previous clients so far. BUT I have decided to create a waitlist if you have been wanting to work with me, because some slots will probably open up randomly this year and it would be nice to fill them if I can.

Feel free to fill it out via this form and I will contact you if an open day arises.

Join my waitlist

Over the weekend, I hosted Midsommar Sauna sessions at Hot Spell Sauna in South Milwaukee, where they are positioned for the summer season. Friends, I can’t describe how incredible this summer space is. You have to see it for yourself. I do occasionally get a little stagnant in my bathing practice- you get busy. it’s not easy to make the time. But I found my time at Hot Spell to be very inspiring, and it not only informed my hosting, but it reinvigorated my personal bathing practices at home. If you haven’t made it out there, make sure to make a day of it soon. And bring a friend!

Seated on a trail system next to a historic lodge, a roaring scout-style bonfire pit, a flowing river and a five minute walk to Lake Michigan, I curated my sessions to honor what is growing all around us now in this season, with a nod to bathing traditions out of Scandinavia for Midsommar. Over the course of the weekend, I had the privilege of working with over 50 clients! I enhanced their experience with handcrafted herbal foot baths, ice massage, respiratory face towels, and traditional fire cupping. I love events like this because I could talk for days about traditional sauna therapies, and its a fun opportunity to actually put it into practice instead of just talk about it in my workshops. Please keep an eye out on this substack and my instagram page because I am hoping for more events like this during the summer!

Forest Bathing

As if I am already not busy enough, I am also in the midst of becoming a certified Forest Bathing Instructor! I am hoping to complete my certification by the end of summer, and I am so excited to integrate these additional therapies into my practice. Forest Bathing blends seamlessly into my mission, which is to connect my clients with their bodies and the natural world. It works beautifully in combination with mind-body therapies, sauna therapies and nature immersion. So I hope to announce later this year a few public offerings in this arena. Stay tuned.

Mentoring Opportunities

In addition to hands-on client work, I’ve also decided to tentatively post a new offering which can be found in my online store. Over the years I’ve been approached by individuals who have either worked with me as a client, seen my work from afar, or taken one of my workshops- whom are interested in diving a little deeper. I’ve mentored folks in a wide array of subjects; from home warding, to beginner herbalism, to mentoring massage therapists or cupping for sauna tenders. I am happy to offer this now in a more public way at the price of $80 an hour, either in person or virtual. Read more about it on my web store. I also have a small batch of herbal oils just bottled up and ready to go on there, check it out.

Personal Coaching

Upcoming in July

We resume our place on the stellar lineup of the Riverwest secret garden tour! See more info on their Facebook page. July 12.

This is one of the funnest and most Milwaukee-unique events— getting a look behind the scenes in people’s gardens. We love this event because we get to meet our neighbors and gain inspiration from other folks in the area who are also plant people. This is also the one day of the year when we disrupt the neighborhood lore around our big black witch house and people can see what we’re hiding back there. Check it out! Buy a map day-of at the corner near Black Husky Brewing.

Anti Fascist Pasta Party

During the Riverwest 24 bicycle race, the anti fascist pasta party will return for its second year and we are definitely more organized now!!! We had a lot of fun last year and we’re ready to do it again on a hopefully even greater scale. We have secured a donation of locally-grown flour from Anarchy Acres and we plan on releasing a more detailed riso-zine, too. Please RSVP via partiful to get updates (and so we know how much dough to prepare). See you there!

RSVP FOR PASTA PARTY

Other News in brief

• my daughter olive turns 14 months tomorrow and is now walking and eating solids like people, which has been really really exciting

• I am renovating my Little Free Library and having a lot of fun with it. Once the paint dries I think I’ll start focusing more on beach reads in the true crime, thriller, horror category, plus the usual witchcraft and folky books. Someone keeps putting boring computer guides and religious pamphlets in there and it’s annoying me.

• I spent a whole month on a midsommar inspired relief cut and never got around to printing it. oh well!

• my pink calendula is blooming

• the Japanese Indigo is growing well and you can expect community cauldron will return for another season in august :) more on that in a later update.

I hope your summer is off to a beautiful start, and you can escape for a long weekend away for the upcoming holiday weekend. Talk soon.

Mulberries,

Rachael

The Nordic tradition of Midsommar is a celebration of the sun’s peak, taking place each June on or near the summer solstice- the longest day of the year. This is a celebration of sunlight and flowers, of fragrant trees and long days, and usually culminates in feasting, singing, swimming, and a cleansing sauna session among friends and family.

Join us for the Solstice at Hot Spell's summer residency at Wulff Lodge in Grant Park, nestled above Seven Bridges Trail for a Midsommardagen-inspired sauna session, which includes healing herbal applications during your cooling rounds, fire cupping for muscle tension, and extra sauna time to stretch out the evening in the forest.

Book now through the Hot Spell website— space is limited.

book your seat

Your Sauna Host: Rachael Gonzalez (FAMILIAR) is an artist, licensed bodyworker, reiki master, folkways educator and trollkunnig living and working in Milwaukee, Wisc. She makes herbal medicines and brooms, writes zines, tends sauna, teaches workshops and facilitates healing experiences. Her mission is connecting her clients with their bodies and the natural world. You can find a full list of her trainings and connect via her website at familiarmke.com.

book now through hot spell

The Nordic tradition of Midsommar is a celebration of the sun’s peak, taking place each June on or near the summer solstice- the longest day of the year. This is a celebration of sunlight and flowers, of fragrant trees and long days, and usually culminates in feasting, singing, swimming, and a cleansing sauna session among friends and family.

Join us this Midsommar eve at Hot Spell's summer residency at Wulff Lodge in Grant Park, nestled above Seven Bridges Trail for a Midsommarafton-inspired sauna session, which includes healing herbal applications during your cooling rounds, fire cupping for muscle tension, and extra sauna time to stretch out the evening in the forest.

Book now through the Hot Spell website— space is limited.

book your seat

Your Sauna Host: Rachael Gonzalez (FAMILIAR) is an artist, licensed bodyworker, reiki master, folkways educator and trollkunnig living and working in Milwaukee, Wisc. She makes herbal medicines and brooms, writes zines, tends sauna, teaches workshops and facilitates healing experiences. Her mission is connecting her clients with their bodies and the natural world. You can find a full list of her trainings and connect via her website at familiarmke.com.

book now through hot spell

Happy Mother’s Day from me and my Beltane baby, our second one together. It’s been a wild ride of a year, learning one another.

Happy Mother’s Day especially to all the artist/mothers out there trying to balance both. Keep trying, even if its just 15 minutes at a time. It matters.

—RMG

By The Well At Midnight: Springtide Lore & Praxis from Northern Europe

Tuesday, April 21 2026 from 6-8pm IRL
This class will be held at my studio in Riverwest. Address sent to final guest list.
Read more and sign up here:

DAFFODILS

On this last weekend of march I am sharing with you the first materia I ever compiled, BREAD, 3 years ago for the month of march. Please enjoy this free gift.

snowdrops,
—RMG

This issue: bread spells - wheat offerings - corn dollies - transubstantiation - toasting the dead - house blessings - spring bread recipes - anti capitalist witchcraft - & more

Bread

Each face in the street is a slice of bread
wandering on
searching

somewhere in the light the true hunger
appears to be passing them by
they clutch

have they forgotten the pale caves
they dreamed of hiding in
their own caves
full of the waiting of their footprints
hung with the hollow marks of their groping
full of their sleep and their hiding

have they forgotten the ragged tunnels
they dreamed of following in out of the light
to hear step after step

the heart of bread
to be sustained by its dark breath
and emerge

to find themselves alone
before a wheat field
raising its radiance to the moon

—WS Merwin

* * *

Mundane Materia as radical witchcraft

In my years as a practitioner in the healing arts, I am seeing entirely too much cultural appropriation and wellness captitalism coming across my screen. I find when we accidentally culturally appropriate, it’s usually because we just don’t know there are alternatives out there- but we’re drawn to it because it feels familiar to us.

White Supremacy is harmful to all. WS wants us to believe we don’t have any culture, it wants us to forget our lineages of folk practices and languages and song and dress-the things we do to make us feel powerful and connected to each other, connected to the land. It wants everything to be beige; it blurs our vibrance, our regional foods, our gods- to make us feel alone. It wants us to buy buy buy- convincing us it has the cure. WS benefits from the exploitation and harming of BIPOC communities.

When we reclaim our ancestral practices, we find meaning where there used to be a void; we look at the world differently, we look at plants and land differently, we look at our families and elders differently, and feel our place in the web of things. If more white people in particular connected with plant medicines from our own rich lineages, we probably wouldn’t be over harvesting Native American sacred medicines to extinction. White Sage, Palo Santo, Cacao are all being exploited, poached, over-harvested and misused by capitalist sellers who don’t care whether these traditions live or die- and used by people who don’t fully understand them.

When we make our tools ourselves, whether for spiritual or simply household use, no one is harmed in that process. In growing your foods or medicines in your garden, or obtaining directly from a farming neighbor, you learn about the source of the medicine and you understand it and recognize it in all of it’s life stages- from seed to table. We participate as a part of nature, not separate from it, in this death / life /rebirth cycle. There is a reason why it is called Witchcraft and not Witchbuy. IMO, buying a stick of sage from Whole Foods isn’t going to give you power. YOU are the power. You are the cunning person who can conjure something from seemingly nothing.

And a note for the Gluten free as well

As with all materia, take what resonates with you and leave what doesn't- this is your personal practice and these guidelines serve as inspiration for your creativity, not as a box to stuff yourself in. I spent many, many years disconnected with Bread when I struggled to digest gluten. I have since healed my gut, thankfully, but I think it's important when we are talking about bread that really what we are referring to is the grain and the act of baking- of taking a grain, a little water and the magic of fermentation to create something powerful, something life giving. Bread can be made of wheat, spelt, corn, rye, einkorn, almonds… There are a plethora of options in this era of grocery store availability, so if wheat isn't your game this doesn't mean you should throw out the baby with the bath water. It's about personal relationship and getting to know the root of plants- the lands from which it came, its cultural context, and its original form before being made into all kinds of things. I’ll be focusing on traditional bread and bread grains here, but feel free to research on your own into gluten-less alternatives if that is something you struggle with, or simply get to know the mother-plant and its crucial importance to our ancestors, particularly from northern europe- my primary area of study and ancestry.

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Bread as survival

To our northern ancestors who practiced agricultural ways of being, growing and properly storing grain often meant the difference between a winter survived or a winter perished. It makes sense then, that it would be seen as a spiritual substance- a life giving substance- representative of life, death, rebirth, resurrection. In many ways, wheat domesticated humans- not the other way around. Wheat changed us from hunter gatherers into farmers, gave us purpose and an anchor to place. It is no mistake that the church made bread and wine the offering of choice, to eat of the body and of the blood. Bread has been sacred for long before christ’s birth.

Bread as offering

Rye, wheat, oats, barley are the cornerstone grain crops of northern Europe. As food staples, they represent the basic economy, but in trolldom, the folk magic of Sweden, they are also sometimes used as offerings to spirits. For instance, they may be offered to the spirit of a troll bag*, or they may be inserted into the doorway of a house as protection magic. A common ingredient in folk magic powders, especially those used to cure, is malted cereal grain. The malt is mixed with salt, and a formula is spoken over the powder, and it is fed to a person in order to cure them from a spiritual malady. [4]
*similar to a mojo bag in hoodoo, a troll bag would contain magical ingredients to help along a spell

Making an offering to spirits in order to cure or rectify a spiritually caused problem is very common in folk magic. In Scandinavia, offerings were often made at ancient sacrificial stones called ‘Elvin Mills’, like grain mills, they were used to grind grain. They are blocks of stone, in which small hollows have been carved out. Many of these Elven mills date all the way back to the early Stone Age. They have been more or less in constant use by Scandinavian folk magicians. Small stones that are found with a hole in the middle** are also sometimes called Elvin Millstones due to the resemblance to large millstones, and they can be used in the same manner. [4]
(**Note: they are called  Hag-Stones here in the states)

When offering bread, it is often mixed with salt, in order to protect from the spirits, and also to put them at ease. In some cases, bread, as seen as representative of the earth element, and along with salt, it is used to ground something. [4]

Bread on the wheel of the year: Spring

For the sake of time saving, I’m only including a few choices for our current season!

King Cake (French/Germanic)

A king cake is a wreath-shaped cake similar to a Danish pastry. It’s traditionally made of brioche, and dyed. The gold stands for power, green represents faith and purple represents justice. You bake the cake with either a bean or a small doll inside, and whomever finds the object is crowned king for the day and receive good fortune for the year. King cake traditionally is eaten during Carnival season (from Jan. 6 through Fat Tuesday). its roots can actually be traced back to France (according to Adley Cormier, a historian in Lake Charles, Louisiana). When French settlers came to what is now Louisiana, they brought over their festive traditions, such as Winter Carnival (which became Mardi Gras). Winter carnival can be found across Europe as midwinter guising traditions- dressing as the dead/monsters/what scares you and making as much noise as possible to wake the earth up from its slumber and bring spring again.  France still has a king cake of its own, and it looks nothing like Louisiana’s rainbow-colored king cake. Known as a galette des rois, this humble and more subtly decorated puff pastry with an almond cream known as frangipane is also enjoyed by the French around the time of the Epiphany. 

King cake is a wonderful representation of the blending of faiths, cultures and place, as well as nodding at old midwinter divination games. Source

Bannock (Irish/Scottish)

The grace of a grey bannock is in the baking of it.
-Scottish Proverb

Oatcakes or Bannocks were traditionally eaten on old-world feast days to mark the changing seasons. And roundabout Feb 1st or 2nd, they were known as “Bannoch of Bride” in honor of Saint Brigid- a pre Christian Celtic goddess canonized by the church. Bannocks were baked in the hope she would leave her blessings of fertility, prosperity, and good health in return. Bannock was also left out as an offering for St Brigid as she visited local households’ farms to bless them. The making of the Bannock of Bride was a ritual that ensured the prosperity and well-being of the household. The family would bolt the door, and knelt before an altar in the kitchen. The daughter would kneel on the threshold of the house and say a prayer to St. Brigid- while holding the cross. Afterward the girl entered the house and the woman of the house would lift the oatcake and hit the door with it while saying ‘May God keep hunger away from this house during the coming year’”. Then the family eats the oatcake with milk. On the cross-quarter Days (like Imbolc) the boundaries between worlds are stretched thin, so the Bannocks were often sprinkled with water from a holy well to prevent the Good Folk from stealing them. And according to folklore, it was possible to avert any bad omens or bad luck by serving the cake with plenty of butter. Source and recipe 

Pancakes / Pancake Day / Semlor (northern european)

Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday when lent begins, it was common in post-christianized societies to clear out out the larder of all butter and milk, which would not be consumed during the month of fasting. All sorts of breads and cakes were made to use up the flour, which is how we got Hot Cross Buns or the nordic Semla- but also magical cakes and breads, such as dumb cakes, which are made in ritual silence to use for divinatory purposes (see below) or small cakes were made as an offering to the dead, to be left at holy places or in a special place in the home for the ancestors and spirits who visit at thin times.

Here is a very old spell for making a dumb pancake (Swedish)
three maidens meet on midsummer’s eve (st johns day) to make and eat a pancake. using only their left hands and in silence, each will add an equal amount of each ingredient to the recipe; then stir the batter together. Then, before cooking, instead of adding the customary pinch of salt, each maiden will add a full handful- and stirred again. the thick pancake is cut into three parts and each maiden must eat the entire thing- taking care to go to bed immediately, and without drinking any water before doing so. In their sleep their thirst will be so intense their future spouse will come in their dreams to offer them a drink of water. [4]
(See recipes at the end for a classic pannkaksrecept recipe.)

Semla/Semlor were/are still made across the nordics for the time before lent. They are like an elaborate cream puff, yeasted and airy and topped with whipped cream, and it varies by region. Historically they have been made since the 16th century. There was a time when anyone who made these out of season would be charged with crimes. [7]

Plough Monday

(thought to be Danish in origin, but celebrated across Northern Europe)
Traditional start to the agricultural year; rounding out the Christmas season, it is usually celebrated the Monday following the 12 days of Christmas (in January) when everyone is forced to return back to work. As a fertility ritual, ploughs were elaborately decorated and blessed, and then ploughed to wake up the earth. It was sometimes tied up in mumming traditions as well, where you would dress up in costumes and play music and song while drinking and celebrating. Milk, honey, oil, yeast, and herbs were mixed with soil, or sod was anointed with such, and brought to church to be blessed; then returned to the land to be planted. Special breads could be baked and planted- this is a kind of sympathetic magic to demonstrate what the farmer would like to reap from the land.

A wonderful springtime ritual to do at home is to plant a special loaf of bread in your garden before planting your seeds, while praying for a prosperous year.

Bread Gods

Greek: MATTON and KERAON (Ceraon) were Spartan demi-gods of the preparation of meals. Matton was the breadmaker, literally "kneader of dough", and Keraon the mixer of wine.

DEIPNEUS( Ancient Greek: Δειπνεύς) was a related Akhaian (Achaean) demi-god of meal-preparation or perhaps more specifically of breadmaking. He was revered in Achaea. [8]

VIRGO
Known to the Anglo-Saxons as the Maedden, the constellation of Virgo is astrologically important from the 23rd of the August until roughly 22 September. From time memorial this constellation has been depicted as a young woman holding a sheaf of lilies in one arm, and a sheaf of corn (wheat) in the other. She has been associated with just about every virgin deity known (in the original sense of a woman who is complete in herself, and independent, not holding into any man and not in the modern sense of “Virgo intacta”). this includes the Virgin Mary and Christian mythology, but particularly those who have to do with the grain crop and harvest. Classically she is Persephone. In native British lore, she is most closely connected with the harvest. She is the maiden of the wheat field, otherwise known as the kern babby or the last sheaf of wheat to be harvested. (See also: Corn Dollies)
[6]

Transubstatiation

Its difficult to talk about bread without discussing this bizarre ritual from the church. One of the more fascinating elements of Catholicism is the ritual cannibalistic consumption of their “demigod” known as Holy Communion or Eucharist. During Catholic mass, bread and wine are transformed into the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ, who is considered the son of God, in a rite called “transubstantiation.” This isn’t a symbolic transformation. A core teaching of the Catholic faith is the belief in literal transubstantiation. Practitioners eat the body and blood of Christ to become one with God.

Similar rituals were practiced in the underground “mystery religions” of the Greco-Roman world. In a few of those occult religions, celebrants shared a communal meal in which they symbolically feasted on the flesh and got drunk on the blood of their god. For example, the Mithraic Mysteries, or Mithraism, was a mystery cult practiced in the Roman Empire in 300 BC in which followers worshipped the Indo-Iranian deity Mithram, the god of friendship, contract, and order. Mirroring the Catholic Eucharistic rite, the idea of transubstantiation was a characteristic of Mithraic sacraments that included cake and Haoma drink. But the ritual probably wasn’t original to Mithraism either. In Egypt around 3100 BC, priests would consecrate cakes which were to become the flesh of the god Osiris, and eaten. [2]

Corn Dollies
“Corn” was an old word meaning grain in Europe. When the colonizers moved to USA they started calling Maize corn, but this is a practice also found in South America with sheaf of Maize. 

A corn dolly/ corn mother/ corn granny is the last sheaf of grain cut in the field at harvest time and represents the god/dess of the land. This is a sacred act in which you literally kill the god/dess and they enter the underworld. You bring this dolly home to live with you all winter, during which time you feed and care for them. 

This “corn granny” could be carried from hearth to hearth in the villages to be “fed” (made offerings to) at yule time, or through the winter until spring. It could also be baked into a special loaf of bread that has a place on the altar or at the table, until spring, when it is planted in the field again with the first turning of crop. Depending on the region the dolly/granny can look very different- here are a few examples of corn dollies found across europe. 

Sourdough Granny
One modern way I like to engage with the idea of a corn granny is by baking with sourdough. In sourdough bread baking, you literally have to tend to a mother which must be fed regularly or it wont survive. It is made from all the batches that came before it, all the wild yeasts of the countrysides from which it came- a direct line between me and it’s long past. The sourdough I bake with was passed around my swedish american college in chicago for generations. We call him Roy, after the man who made it in Norway in the 70s. Roy is older than I am and he still contains that imprint from the motherland from which he came- the wild yeasts of the trees, fruits, and air. When I eat the sourdough bread, I feed my gut bacteria which was handed down to me by my ancestors, too. Try finding a sourdough starter online from your homeland- there are even some on etsy that have been around since the black death!

Roy

• Side note: How rye bread may have caused the Salem witch trials 

Historical Bread Spells

British / Irish / Scottish

-In Yorkshire, it was believed that if a loaf of bread failed to rise, it meant there was an undiscovered corpse nearby. [1]

-One English tradition revolves around hot cross buns. If you bake yours on Good Friday, they will not spoil or grow mold. Another custom says that sailors should take a hot cross buns on their travels to prevent shipwreck. The cross on the bun comes from a superstition that marking the bun so would prevent the Devil from getting into the baked goods. [1]

-For residents of Scotland, there’s a tradition known as “first-footing,” in which the first person to cross a home’s threshold brings the residents good luck for the coming year. Sometimes he carried a loaf of bread or other offerings for your mantel. While waiting for your first guest to arrive, place a slice of bread and a silver coin outside the door for prosperity and warmth. [1]

-Wassailing - the mid winter blessing
Wassailing is an old european animist custom that was practiced between Samhain through the new year, after the apples died back for the season, to turn the wheel of the year and ensure that apples would return again. The celts knew the veil was thin at wassailing time, and it was thought that our loved ones who have passed would live on within the trees. Wassail (the drink) was typically apple cider and / or brandy that herbs were added to, sometimes hallucinogenic, and the potion was drunk and poured over bread; the people would sing to the trees and leave the ale-soaked bread in the trees as offering. It was important to be as loud and rowdy as possible to make sure the ancestors would wake up and join in the festivities. That they might hear our intentions for the coming year, and help us with them. [9]

-March
March is traditionally the month when the sewing of the cereal crop starts. The sun’s rays are now being strong enough to warm the soil sufficiently. There is a very old method of testing, whether the ground is ready for planting, or not, which was widely used before the modern methods of farming became the norm. The landowner would him would take himself off into the fields, being careful first to make sure he was not being observed, and drop his trousers and underwear. He would sit himself down on the soil, and if his cheeks did not take cold, then the soil was warm enough for the seed. This is actually still in practice today. [6]

North America

-In parts of Appalachia, it’s important to watch when you slice a loaf of bread for the first time – if you slice through a hole in the bread, it means someone is going to die. It is also well-known that if you put a slice of bread into a cradle, it will protect the infant from disease. [1]

Scandinavia

-In parts of Norway, boys and girls who share bread from the same loaf are destined to fall in love and marry. [1]

-Take a piece of bread that you found by chance, pulverize the same and mix it with the gunpowder. This will prevent anyone from hexing your shotgun. [3]

-Steal three malt grains, three salt, grains, three breadcrumbs from nine households, a grain or crumb from each household, and have it in your shotgun in the sign of Sagittarius, then you’ll have luck in everything that you want to shoot. [3]

-Whenever you get a new farm animal, your own or bought, or traded, mark them immediately, and give them internally some of their own blood, as well as your own blood from the third finger or the thumb, in addition to three whole grains that are found in the bread, And a little clay taken from the mouth of the oven, on a Thursday morning, before the sun comes up, then no one can be with them, and then they will stay with you. [3]

-During holy week***, you shouldn’t grind either grain or any flower because your sheep will be wandering about so that they will be running in circles. [3]
***Note: holy week is the week preceding Easter

-To know of hidden matters: one takes a water snake or a white snake, and boil it in water, and dip bread into it, and eat, because it isn’t poisonous, then one can know what other folks are saying about you. [3]

-To get a girl to notice you- take blood from out of your left nameless finger*** and give it to her in bread or drink -and carry a swallows heart with you- write on a red apple her and your name and hold it under your right arm until it becomes quite warm, then she will come to you. [3]
(***ring finger.)

-To heal an obstruction when urinating, take three hairs from his head and cut them small, and put them on three pieces of bread and administer them to the patient. And drink verbena and Grovblad water. [3]

-To protect yourself from malevolent witchcraft, and to keep your luck, over three Sunday mornings, take three silver on an empty stomach and a piece of bread, then you will have your freedom as well. [3]

-To procure for yourself spirits to be able to speak with them, and to find out hidden things- take an unleavened bread, baked on a Sunday morning or a Saturday evening before or after the rising of the sun, no larger than a crust, and three new thorn sewing needles – put them in a triangle in the bread and put three shillings of Quicksilver into a previously sound, tight, leather pouch, put together and well closed up. Go then on a Saturday evening late to the cemetery, and lay the pouch under a headstone, and say slowly to yourself – “up and meet me in the way that I shall order next Saturday evening!” Go there and move the pouch, as was said, and say next Saturday evening, the invocation above. The third Saturday it is said – “up in the name of God, the father, of the son and of the Holy Ghost and come to meet me here next Saturday night at 12 o’clock in the appearance of a fly on my window, when I shall take you into my service!” Have a fitting little bottle at hand, cork it well, and wrap it up, and have it with you.
When you want to know something, take the bottle in your hand, put it to your ear and slowly ask for yourself, then you will immediately get the right answer to what you ask – don’t ask too much at one time, because then the fly will suffer and get tired of it.
disposal: It is preferable that the leather pouch is put under a headstone under which a man is buried. look out that the bottle doesn’t break because then the spirit will get loose and that will cost you your life. When you die if you keep the bottle that long, take it in your cough into the grave, then it will break, but it may not be transported by another during your lifetime. [3]

-In Scandinavian folk belief, the last piece of a loaf of bread is called Maktbiten (“the power piece”) and it contains all of the power of bread and a link to the physical and spiritual health and economy of its owner. If stolen, the power piece can be used to take all the luck and power from the former owner, as well as to gain any kind of influence desired over his health and economy. A common example of this would be to steal a piece of bread from a fellow hunter during a hunt in order to take his hunting luck. [3]

-When you greet someone who has moved into new quarters for the first time, bring bread and salt for good luck, so they should not lack wealth.  [3]

-If a round of bread dough was forgotten, and not baked, or if a bread is forgotten, and burned to Nicole in the oven, death will come to someone during the year.  [3]

-Bread should not be placed with the bottom side up on the table as this invites misfortune, and means that bad people gain power in the house.  [3]

-After baking bread, two logs of wood should be placed crosswise in front of the oven. This will ensure that the household will never be without bread through the protection of the oven from the evil eye and other dangers. Adding midsummer dew to the bread will also ensure a similar protection. [3]

-Put salt, bread, and mercury in a magic bag, and hang it up in the barn to protect it. Those who enter with malice will become upset and powerless. [3]

-A spell to protect money- take two sticks from a Rowan tree cut in May. Lay them crosswise over the money, along with a small piece of rye bread and salt. Your money will never be able to be removed without your knowledge. [3]

-To see anything you wish in dreaming- Take a clove of garlic, and a piece of bread under the left arm, in the armpit, when you go to sleep, you’ll see anything you wish and dream true. [3]

-To see who loves you the most- make a small round bun using only the left hand. Make a shallow slit in the middle. Name the halves after the two loved ones. Which side rises highest in the oven? [4]

-‘Realtor’ magic — a common practice among realtors is baking bread or cookies in the oven before showing a house, because it leads to more offers and a better impression of the home. [5]

-Blessing bread and giving it to an ill person or an animal is said to speed the recovery. Scandinavian belief says that stealing the last piece of someone’s bread, steals their luck, and dripping, hot or wax into a bowl of water through a hole in the loaf of bread can help predict the future. [5]

Lore

-Slavic/Jewish
give bread, salt, and a coin as a new house blessing [5]

-Nordic
long icicles in winter meant the wheat would grow as long [7]

-German / Czech Eastertide- protection charm
Elaborate meals break the Lenten fast and people, frequently consume ham, or lamb on Easter, but in some places with German or check populations, the animal may be represented by a loaf of sweetbread, or a large hunk of butter molded into the shape of a lamb. Hot cross buns are an Easter tide fasnacht with a rich dough, full of fruit, covered in icing with a protective equal armed cross shape on top. [5]

-Dumb suppers
Dumb suppers are typically performed on Halloween or Midsummers eve (June 22). Performing the dumb supper required all who participated to remain silent as they prepared the food and set the table (usually backwards), and a place setting would be provided for the visiting dead. The meal for the dead could be as simple as a little bread and some cheese, but it is not to be consumed by the living participants. [5]

-Harvest tide (August)
The festival of Lammas traditionally celebrates the start of the grain harvest. This is when the first sheaf of corn is cut, and customarily begins on August 1, although in reality, location, and whether may change this to a greater or lesser degree. LAMMAS comes from the old English term Hlafmauesse meaning “Loaf Mass” and refers to the ceremony of the blessing of the first bread made from that year’s harvest. This was done both in Thanksgiving, and in hopes of a fruitful and bountiful harvest to come. The main crop to be harvested was wheat, but other cereal, grains, such as oats, barley, and rye are also ripening, and will soon need to be cut if this is not begun already. This is the climax of the farmers year, and unless one has lived and worked on a farm, it is difficult to understand the excitement. [6]

Recipes

Swedish Pancake

Semlor

Hot Cross Buns

Sourdough Bread

All Bread

All bread is made of wood,
cow dung, packed brown moss,
the bodies of dead animals, the teeth
and backbones, what is left
after the ravens. This dirt
flows through the stems into the grain,
into the arm, nine strokes
of the axe, skin from a tree,
good water which is the first
gift, four hours.

Live burial under a moist cloth,
a silver dish, the row
of white famine bellies
swollen and taut in the oven,
lungfuls of warm breath stopped
in the heat from an old sun.

Good bread has the salt taste
of your hands after nine
strokes of the axe, the salt
taste of your mouth, it smells
of its own small death, of the deaths
before and after.

Lift these ashes
into your mouth, your blood;
to know what you devour
is to consecrate it,
almost. All bread must be broken
so it can be shared. Together
we eat this earth.

—Margaret Atwood

Sources:

[1] Patti Wingington, “Bread Folklore and Magic” 7/2018 https://www.pattiwigington.com/bread-folklore-and-magic/

[2] Molly Hanson, “the pagan origins of three catholic practices” https://bigthink.com/the-present/pagan-roots-of-catholicism/

[3] Svartkonst-Böcker a compendium of the Swedish black art book tradition by Dr Thomas Johnson pgs 466, 502, 511, 524, 528, 542, 599, 603, 612
(Note; the Swedish black books are something like a personal grimoire, often times also like our modern day farmers almanac here in the US; possession of a black book meant certain death during the burning times)

[4] Johannes Gårdbäck, specifically quoted here from The Black Folder compiled by cat yronwode pp 57-62

[5] New World Witchery a trove of North American folk magic by Corey Thomas Hutcheson Pgs 183, 198, 308, 309

[6] Walking the Tides seasonal magical rhythms and lore (British) by Nigel Pearson Pp133, 275, 300

[7] Taught to me by my teachers Missy Rhysing and Johannes Gårdbäck

[8] Wikipedia

[9] taught to me by my teacher Liz Migliorelli

Join me & Kindled Community Sauna at Hedge Meadow Apothecary for a day of magical lore as we deep dive into the living sauna traditions of northern Europe & the Nordic region. She will take you through her own years of research & experience sweat bathing across the Northwoods of the US and on the lands of her people; we will discuss the elements of the sauna, etiquette & what to expect during traditional sauna, spirits of the sauna, sauna tools, sauna folk magic - and more! After discussion, we will have a chance to embody what we learned with Kindled Community Sauna, weave a collective spell together, relax with refreshments, and enjoy late winter.

Tickets

If class becomes sold out, please contact Hedge Meadow via their website for waitlist options.

Sunday, March 8, 2026 from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM
140 South Winsted Street Spring Green, WI,

Stay Warm & FUCK ICE,
—Rachael

My christmas is led by the women. It has always been led by the women, whether I knew that or not. It began with my own mother, acting as Santa Claus, doing the thankless, invisible labor of creating all the magic behind Christmas; from the cookies to the stockings, to buying and wrapping every single gift and hiding it somewhere in the house, keeping the family decorations and ornaments and traditions safely waiting for their time to shine year after year. Keeping all of the old stories alive. Under the guise of a jolly old bearded man, she got no credit for any of that work. Now that I’m grown and have a daughter of my own, and know more about the stories of my people, my Christmas season begins with St. Lucia on her day, December 13, and ends on 12th night with a glass of wine for the women who came before me. Behind the female saints I teach about each December in my class The Lost Women of Christmas are stories of resilience under oppression, and persistence of truth despite fiery swords and crumbling towers and horses trying to drag them away. The saints are our folk heroes, they walked among us as mothers, sisters, daughters.

Lucy is my torch in the dark. She is my guide in dark places. She is the midwife to the season, bringing us deep down into the caverns, all of us who are struggling in the dark, learning who we will be in the new year, shedding old skins. I felt her by my side during this, one of the hardest Christmas seasons of my life.

I’ve felt very heavy since early December, when I learned some information from a trustworthy mentor that sent me reeling with questions that don’t have answers, and I’ve been sitting with it ever since. Throughout my life, I have been saved many times by women talking. I trust in women talking. As a survivor of domestic abuse as a young adult, I understand the power of women talking as a form of transmitting vital information for the good of the community. Who to avoid. Who to divest from. Who abuses the power.

There’s a movie by the same name Women Talking that came out in 2022, that follows the story of a mennonite community that gathers together without their men to try and determine what to do about the men who are actively harming all the women in the village. I remember seeing the movie in theaters and thinking to myself how many times over in my life I have been saved from harm by women quietly informing me. It’s an unfortunate story that plays out over time, across cultures, across age and season. In Christmas past spinning would be banned during the 12 days, for many reasons. First because spinning was seen as a magical act that could interfere with the turning of time; secondly because it was a way for women to care for themselves and their families by making income and this was actively oppressed; but also because the act of women gathering together, spinning and talking, was seen as a threat as dangerous as the devil. Transmission of information is power. It has the ability to topple dictators.

In my work as a healer, and as an educator, I have recommended my own teachers to countless people over the course of my career. I do this as a way of transparency about my lineage as a student in oral traditions. The information does not belong to me, it belongs to the people, and I do my very best to learn from the right people and direct others only to those I keep in high regard. I do believe that this is important, particularly for people of European descent because lineage learning can be very hard to come by. Thanks to the burning times, immigrant assimilation, and cultural oppression, many folk lineages have been broken between here and the old land of my ancestors. And, unfortunately, just being a living teacher sharing this valuable information with students today does not automatically make you a well ancestor.

And so; If you have taken one of my classes or read one of my newsletters and have pursued a relationship with any of the teachers I have recommended, I want you to know that my recommendations have changed. Please reach out to me directly first if this applies so I can give you my updated recommendations. I am deliberately doing this as quietly as I can out of respect for those affected who are at the center of this matter. I am not at the center of the matter, but my grief for the situation is substantial. It is thanks to other women sharing this information with me that I know better and can be more discerning in my work from this year forward. Unfortunately, in my nearly 15 years of healing work this is not the first time I have had a teacher that was not as well as they seemed. This is not a story that is new to me, though it is a story that is getting old. I am doing my best with the resources I have to continue sharing this ancestral work and healing folkways, because I refuse to let Them win. Yet it is difficult and triggering and I’ve been taking a small step back to gather myself.

My 12 days of christmas opened with my first visit to the emergency room with my daughter. The morning after Lucy’s day, we had to rush her to the hospital to be treated for burns when she accidentally pulled a full carafe of coffee onto herself. I have never heard such a primal scream come out of my own mouth. Ordinarily cool under pressure, I barely held it together until we reached the hospital. And it was the nurses who took my baby and made her all better, who offered me a comforting word and a hug and wiped my tears. Thanks to them, Olive healed quickly and was able to enjoy her first christmas-- until she was sick again days later, and we had another hospital stay thanks to dehydration and her first stomach bug. I spent the days following christmas sleepless by her bed while a flurry of texts and phone calls not sent by me wove a soft net to fall into. Women all around me left steaming pots of soup and cookies on my doorstep, or left me comforting voicemails and messages, or let themselves into my home to help me do work or take a break. Thanks to women talking, a hive emerged around me where I thought there was emptiness. Olive is recovering and doing well now, and we didnt have the yultide I imagined, but I cant help but sit here on twelfth night in gratitude for unsilent women in all of their forms.

Wassail,
Rachael

Coming up this January:

Jan 15 + 16: Incense Making with Hard Broom at the familiar studio
(SOLD OUT- DM me to be added to the waitlist)

Jan 24th: Sauna Animism & Bathing traditions from the North @ TBD
(SAVE THE DATE). This special sauna class will be followed by an elevated sauna session and watch party of the indie film, Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, which is at its core a film about women talking. More info coming soon.

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Just a quick note to say, I know I owe you a post but I just don’t have the time to write it. The desire is there but the childcare is not, and between teaching, my part time job and full time caregiving, I am burnt out. Therefore, I am turning off paid posts once again to release some of that pressure. I am planning on scaling back my small…

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Two tickets left for this, my annual exploration of the real magic behind the Christmas season. Hope to see you tomorrow!

Reserve your seat

This weekend will be my final fair of the holiday season, open both Saturday and Sunday at Yours Truly! Stop by and shop nearly 20 local makers in Riverwest.

My online shop will close after this weekend until the new year.

And still seats left for these workshops I am hosting in January! A seat to the table would make a wonderful holiday gift for a creative loved one.

TWO nights available!

Blessings to you as we approach these dark days, Glad Lucia!

—RMG

Hello friends,

I am so pleased to host Morganne of Hard Broom from Chicago IL for a winter incense making workshop, for two dates in January!

Hard Broom is a ritual goods shop, focused on hand rolled natural incense, ceramics, and incense making workshops. The shop was founded by Morganne Wakefield, a multi-disciplinary artist & designer. Sustainability and slowness are at the heart of the project, celebrating the expression of plants through incense making and education.

This workshop will be held at my studio in Riverwest, with limited capacity each night! Registration will be through the Hard Broom website.

We’re sharing this with you early because a workshop seat would make a wonderful holiday gift! Each participant will go home with the knowledge to make their own incense for life, and a winter’s supply of incense cones of their own design.

Register Today

I’ve owed you an update for some time now but I’ve been so occupied its been difficult to scrape anything together! I promise I’ll be sending a folk materia as soon as I can get a little childcare relief ! In the meantime, there have been lots of opportunities to learn with me IRL this fall and I’m excited to get into my winter-time folk series.

Please join me this December for a little Yuletide cheer!

This year I am teaching both my 12 days of Christmas class AND my Lost Women of Christmas class, a week apart! These classes will likely fill up swiftly because they will be very limited capacity, and held at my studio in Riverwest. I encourage you to take both— they compliment one another very nicely and touch on different concepts in European Christmas lore! Teaching these small cohorts is really nice because it opens up more time for discussion and perhaps even some handwork!
Tickets are live on my online shop right now. Newsletter subscribers get first look.

Take a look

*I am asking folks who have already taken my Christmas classes to step aside and allow new folks a seat at the table— especially since capacity is so limited this year.*

Email me at familiarmke@gmail.com to join the waitlist if they become sold out.

FAMILIAR holiday shopping opportunities!

I won’t have a ton of new products this year because ~mothering~ but shop my tried-and-true goodies this season! I’ve been busy mixing up batches/printing furiously with my baby at my side.

I’ll be at Falcon flea on Sunday December 7 from 11am -5pm, AND possibly one more, TBD.

I’ve also been slowly rolling out things all season long- keep an eye on my ig for new release updates. Right now I have Yuletide cards, zines, bath salts, salves, herbal tallow, and of course Glögg and Roy the sourdough starter! They make wonderful stocking stuffers.

The Shop is Live

ROY

GLÖGG

CHRISTMAS CARDS

And of course, we’ve begun the best time of year for sauna. I’m back with HOT SPELL SAUNA on the harbor in Milwaukee and it's gonna be our best season to date— we’re now open SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, ALL DAY LONG, ALL SEASON LONG! Come at sunrise or sun set, we’ve got you, and the hole in the ice too.

I’ll be rolling out more sauna workshops this winter, at Hot Spell and otherwise, dates TBD post-holidays, so stay tuned. Also please note that I do teach private lessons for groups of interested friends! I taught a private sauna class/ birthday party this last weekend (pictured) and we had a lot of fun, and learned some meaningful things too. If this is something you’re interested in (for any of my previously offered classes) please reach out to me via email, and let’s talk.

I’ll be announcing more regarding my January/ February lineup in the winter folk series, but until then, have a beautiful and safe start to your holiday season.

Turkeys & Snow,

—Rachael

Happy equinox, my friends. As I take my daily walk these last few weeks, I welcome the sight of the ever-darkening red berries of the rowan tree adorning the slowly dying hedges around where I live in Milwaukee. At a time of year where everything is turning yellow, brown, and black with rot, the rowan tree stands lavishly decorated and easy to spot from a distance. Each year I pick a spring for my nature table, housed on my mantle, which reflects the world changing outside. They will set to dry there and later be tucked away for personal uses.

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Perhaps you've recently suffered a loss; a friendship, a partner, a home or a job. Or perhaps you're experiencing more than a little grief about the current state of affairs, the endless news cycle, or climate change. Whatever the root of your grief, outside of traditional talk therapy, what strategies can we reach for to uplift ourselves and our community during the darkest times? In what ways did our ancestors empower themselves against their oppressors, ill fortune and dark forces?

In November, as we enter the gateway to winter and the shadow side of the year, join death doula Abby Goelzer & folk healer Rachael Gonzalez for an evening of getting acquainted with our grief through healing exercises and prompts, recipes and traditions. The evening will culminate by crafting a spell through making a custom trollpåse, a magical folk talisman from the old ways of Scandinavia. You will leave this workshop empowered with self care tools for years to come, along with your own custom sewn trollpåse.

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