Welcome, dear reader. It seems you have found yourself at the Witch’s hearth. Imagine–if you can–a cozy cottage, a comfortable rocking chair, a steaming mug of something to drink, and a conversation between two witches who have journeyed together in sisterhood and collaboration over the past year. They are the founders of Witch Workshops, a year-long, community program designed to uplift personal and collective witch wisdom. I hope you’ll stay a while and listen as they reflect, interview-style, on what they’ve learned, what they’ve taught, and what they hope for the future.
Can you give us a sneak peek into one of the workshops?
Amie: Okay, let’s travel back to December 2025… The candles are lit, our bodies are present, we’ve shared reflections around the fire, and it’s time to practice. We unearth and honor the forgotten mothers. I introduce the Cailleachan, and Freia welcomes Skadi to our circle–two ancestral guides from both respective lineages. During our practice, we’ll invite, materialize, and initiate a release. Later this month, our community will share who may be guiding them through this dark side of the year. The monthly challenge will be to rest and rest some more. Last, we’ll offer an intentional closing before the next month begins.
How did Witch Workshops emerge?
Freia: We became fast friends as PhD Students in Women’s Spirituality at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) and realized we had more in common than a love for reading and research. We shared a passion for ritual, entrepreneurship, and facilitating community experiences. We thought it would be fun to create a space for witch-curious or established witches to explore, learn, and practice in community. Over the course of many brainstorming sessions, Witch Workshops emerged. It didn’t hurt that we Leo’s share the same birthday and have fond memories of casting spells and mixing potions from a young age!
How did you approach your collaboration?
Freia: Prior to Witch Workshops, I had a very particular view on what witchcraft was, is, and should be. For instance, my witchcraft is heavily influenced by Goddess worship. When it comes to teaching other witches, however, Goddesses may be minimal or even nonexistent. Witchcraft–after all–is a craft; a practice, not necessarily a religious belief. Working with Amie and the Witch Workshops cohort, I was constantly reminded that my way was not the only way; something easy to forget after many years as a solitary practitioner.
As a headstrong Leo, this new flexibility needed constant tending to. Each month, Amie and I would sit and discuss what each theme, sabbat, season, or practice meant to us and what it could mean for others. More often than not, we found common ground across traditions or discovered practices that could complement one another. With deep respect and reverence for the other, our workshops became spaces of exploration, creativity, and empowerment.
What’s been your favourite part about co-facilitating your witchcraft program?
Freia: Each month, we give our community a “challenge” to complete. These challenges could be creating a ritual, writing and performing a spell, working with herbs, and so much more! These challenges help us stay active and grounded in our practice in between our meetings. Over the past few years, the world has felt a bit heavy. It sometimes became easy to forget my own inner magic and power. These challenges woke me up each month! Now, I had something to build towards; something to do. Thanks to our workshops, I have restocked my herbal medicine cabinet, taken myself foraging more regularly, and filled out my book of shadows in new and exciting ways. I feel connected to myself, my ancestors, and the land in an embodied way.
Partaking in these challenges alongside a group of witches who are doing the same made me feel connected and held. Having a space to share ritual workings, spell ideas, and co-build said spells and rituals has been life changing. Knowing that you’re not walking alone on your path is comforting.
Amie: It’s hard to think of favorites as there are so many beautiful elements of our co-facilitation that stand out. One of the most profound experiences for me was learning to receive support and lean on Freia as my partner. I had an unexpected cervical spinal surgery in June which saw me wearing a hard collar for three months and in pain for several more. There were a couple months where I could barely sit at the computer for the length of our workshop, let alone help to create our slideshows and deliver it as usual.
Freia, who has experienced chronic pain herself, was incredibly supportive and understanding of my new situation. She took the lead and never once made me feel I needed to push myself. Being held in that way reinforced not only the strength of our partnership but the joy within it. After our June workshop, I recall Freia saying she really missed my active presence in the space and I know I’d miss hers, too. Though we’re both skilled facilitators alone, it’s far more fun and sustainable collaborating together. I’m entering this next year of the program with full confidence that we can handle whatever is thrown our way with grace, resilience, and care.
How does teaching witchcraft reflect your feminist values or praxis?
Amie: I really value embodied knowledge and ways of knowing that depart from what Minna Salami calls “Europatriarchal knowledge,” which is that linear, rational, top-down approach to knowing. For me, teaching witchcraft in community highlights other ways of knowing like intuition, embodied experience, and learning from the natural world. It’s highly relational. We teach our members to practice from a place of interconnection and relationship – not only with ourselves, but with the unseen, the earth, and each other. Witchcraft is about power with versus power over. For me, teaching that centers relationships over domination is decolonial feminist praxis. I’ll also add that I value joy, especially in these times of polycrisis where grief can feel unbearably heavy. We laugh, joke, and let ourselves be light right alongside the tears, uncertainties, and tensions we meet together.
What do you hope transpired over this first year?
What we hope more than anything is that our members’ inner guides have been activated and tended with care and courage. We hope each member has discovered what witch means to them and feels confident in their practice. We hope they feel more rooted in their magic and that they are an important part of the collective.
Anything more to add?
We can’t bid adieu without prompting a spark of reflection for you, dear reader. What stirs within you when you hear the word “witch”? What about “magic”? What might reclaiming your power, agency, and creativity mean for this year ahead? We’d love to discuss all of that and more at our free workshop on February 7th, Witch: Reclaiming and Renaming. Come sit by the fire with us. http://www.witchworkshops.com.
Well, dear reader. Our steaming mugs are empty. The fire has burned down to embers, and the moon is high in the sky. I hope you enjoyed the conversation between these two witches. Please share your thoughts, reflections, or any experiences of collaboration and witchcraft in the comments below. May our words weave together, creating community for us all. Words are spells, after all!
Author Bios: Amie and Freia joined magical forces to co-found Witch Workshops after becoming friends in CIIS’ Women’s Spirituality PhD Program. Freia Serafina is a ritualist, women’s circle facilitator, award-winning filmmaker and artist, and PhD candidate in Women’s Spirituality. She’s passionate about unearthing hidden Herstories, creating healing-based rituals, and drinking coffee with her two cats. As for Amie, she is a heart-centered, water-loving witch with a passion for ritual, rivers, and more-than-human relationships. As a PhD student in Women’s Spirituality and an integral healing facilitator, Amie is committed to decolonial praxis, writing as ritual, and lifelong (un)learning. She lives with her husband and black cat along a river and thriving ecosystem she calls home. Find out more at http://www.witchworkshops.com.
Feminism and Religion 