Witchcraft is rising in popularity. And with a successful book of spells and 1.2 million followers spread across social media, Frankie Castanea, better known as Chaotic Witch Aunt, is one of the faces of modern witchcraft. We talk witchcraft, spells, hexes, religion and why more and more people are becoming witches. Then, we countdown the Top 5 Things to put Ketchup On.
Chaotic Witch Aunt Frankie Castanea: 01:20ish
Pointless: 01:01:39ish
Top 5: 01:19:22ish
nickvinzant@gmail.com (Show Email)
316-530-7719 (Show voicemail)
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCg1WRceAe0bso9FwgtSCEQQ (Frankie’s YouTube)
https://www.instagram.com/chaoticwitchaunt/?hl=en (Frankie’s Instagram)
https://www.tiktok.com/@chaoticwitchaunt?lang=en (Frankie’s TikTok)
https://www.amazon.com/Spells-Change-Guide-Modern-Witches/dp/152487163X (Spells for Change - Frankie’s Book)
https://open.spotify.com/show/2LKfO9Bibty9lynEtnrMbw (Books and Broomsticks Podcast)
https://twitter.com/AuntChaotic?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor (Frankie’s Twitter)
Chaotic Witch Aunt Frankie Castanea: Interview
Nick VinZant 0:12
Welcome to Profoundly Pointless. My name is Nick VinZant. Coming up in this episode, witchcraft and catch up.
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 0:20
Witchcraft is about taking back control. It's about reclaiming your power and taking things into your own hands. I do not I mean, I'm not going to go out of my way and like, throw hexes willy nilly, but I don't have a problem getting my hands dirty if I need it. I did do I did put on, there was this fast luck oil, I put on fast luck oil to get above Boston Cream doughnut. It worked.
Nick VinZant 0:46
I want to thank you so much for joining us. If you get a chance, subscribe, leave us a rating or a review. We really appreciate it. It really helps us out if you're a new listener. Welcome to the show. If you're a longtime listener, thanks for spending your time with us. So I want to get right to our first guest. Because while this is a practice with deep historical roots, it has become increasingly popular in the last couple of years. This is Frankie Castaneda to, perhaps better known as chaotic witch. And when I think of like witchcraft, my mind goes to movies. Oh, yeah. But what what is this really like in modern day,
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 1:30
I would say witchcraft is definitely a practice. Depending on who you ask, people are going to have a completely different opinion on it. I come from a tradition in which I practice mainly folk magic, which is referred to the magic of the people. So a lot of the things in my practice are need based spells need based magic. So I look at okay, what do the people around me need help with? Do they need help with financial stability? What can I do spell wise and action wise to help them achieve financial stability?
Nick VinZant 2:08
So is it is it religious? Or is it different? Or is it kind of but no.
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 2:17
Witchcraft in itself is a practice that is not religious, you can have a you can be a pagan, where you would work with pagan gods and also be a witch you can be a Wiccan, which is a very specific pagan religion, and also be a witch. Or you can be you know, a folk Catholic or you invoke the saints or certain things and also be a witch. For me, I don't define myself as a pagan, I just practice witchcraft and folk magic. So a lot of my, you know, religious bearings have to do with a very particular goddess that was present in Italy, a Roman goddess, as well as that I work with the saints. So I kind of have a blend of a bunch of different things. And while my religion has become very intertwined with my witchcraft, that's not always the case for everyone.
Nick VinZant 3:14
I am confused. That's okay. Break it down. Yeah. Is that? I guess, is that just because it's unfamiliar to me? Or because there's like, okay, there's a lot of different things, okay.
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 3:29
It's not It's definitely so the large the mainstream media, the mainstream kind of population, all they know about witchcraft is what they see on TV. And witches, okay, that's kind of something that, like, every witch knows that, like, when I meet someone, and I say, I'm a witch, they're gonna be like, Oh, Harry Potter, because that's what they know of it. But what it really looks like, and this is my personal practice is, I will time up certain things with the face of the moon, or I will cook and set intentions with that setting intentions, is basically saying, this thing is going to help me with this thing. But because witchcraft is so broad, it's such a broad topic, and so many for every single witch that exists, we will have a different definition of it. Witchcraft, in my opinion, is doing a spell or setting intentions or putting your will out into the universe to get something to happen in return. I also go ahead, I see your
Nick VinZant 4:40
is it any different than the idea of like praying for something when you get right down to?
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 4:45
So I think yes, and now it is similar to praying the difference that I've seen in a lot of witches and the thing that we talk about a lot is that a spell by itself is not going to do anything. And what I mean by that is, if I do a spell to get a job interview, and I don't actually, or to get a job, and I don't actually do any interviews, I don't go out of my way to try and get this job. What does that spell gonna do? It may cause a miracle, like a miracle to happen, and helped me get a job without me applying anywhere. But with every kind of spiritual or metaphysical act we take, we have to take an active one, action and return. So while I was praying sometimes, because a lot of the I mean, I know a lot of witches that are x Christians. And they said that the difference is with praying, praying doesn't fix everything, in the same way that doing a spell doesn't fix everything. There's always a little bit of real world action you need to take in order to push it there, push it out into the universe, I kind of call it spiritual insurance. So if I have a feeling that if I know that someone is gonna get back to me about a job offer, and I'm just using jobs, as long as you know, I get you, right. And I want to be sure that this is a good offer, and it's going to be an offer that I want to take. I may do a spell to help with help with that.
Nick VinZant 6:19
I was raised Roman Catholic, and the idea was right, okay, so you pray on it, you do this kind of thing. But it seems like witchcraft, it's a little bit the same. But then you got to actually go out and do this thing as well, right? Like, you can't just pray for the job, you got to update your resume. And that's like, hey, look, I'm serious. Yeah, um, I guess when you cast, like, if you're casting the spell, like, Who are you casting it to? The spell itself,
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 6:48
totally depends on the practitioner. Because there are so many different witches, I'll speak to my experience, when I cast a spell, I am usually just kind of asking either the universe or a very specific spirit to help me with something. The idea behind the spell is that you take a bunch of things that rub have energy. So let's say we get a candle, which I have like a spell that I did recently, a candle like this, which is referred to as a nine day candle. It's a block breaker. And then you add some oils, and some herbs that may align with your intention for the spell, you may write something on a piece of paper, like intention, or chant or anything. The idea with spell crafting and casting spells is to raise energy and then kind of push it out. So raising energy can look a lot like very different for very different people. I'm always like a, I do prayers while a spell is going I'll play it pray the rosary, because I have that kind of element to focus on Facism in my practice, but other people will dance, they'll play music, they will meditate or go into a trance state in order to kind of bring their energy up and focus their energy on what they want to achieve. So with spell crafting, we have lots of different methods of doing it. Some people just burn things like they mix herbs and a piece of paper, and they burn it. Some people will like me will do like candles, which this one burn for like five days straight. Yeah. And then we also have like, there are different types of candles, too. I love candle magic, it's my favorite thing. But different ways of casting are different ways of kind of raising energy. So the idea is I'm putting all my energy into this candle, I'm putting my intention on the back, I have like what I want written out here. I'm putting herbs to help me help like that align with the spell and oils with it. And then I am praying over it or chanting over it or dancing while it's going to give it more energy. And as it's burning down. That energy is being sent up into the universe to your guides to the Deity you're praying to wherever you intend for it to go.
Nick VinZant 9:12
Is it results based, right? Like I think of my background kind of in being raised Roman Catholic, and you pray and you pray and you did this stuff. And if it didn't happen, then it wasn't God's will. Right. Yeah, that's just not what he wanted to do. Is it results based in the sense like, I cast this spell, it doesn't work.
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 9:30
If my spell doesn't work, I know I did something wrong. I did something wrong, or one of the people that the spirits that I work with said, we're not doing this and there's a reason. So similar to kind of God's will. If the spell doesn't work. I'm like, maybe it wasn't supposed to happen, but there's also a chance that I messed it up and did it wrong. Most of my spells have worked fine. And there's one that didn't work. It was because there was an element of this fell out of my control, then that pissed me off. I can explain Do you want me to elaborate? Yeah, no, I, I paid money for something that I got custom made for my partner. And the person I paid it to then basically disappeared off the internet and took the money. So they scammed me, and I did a spell to get my money back. But what ended up happening is I did the spell and I basically did what I call a little tripwire I said, if you don't give me the money back, I'm gonna put like a minor little Jinx on you like, you're gonna stub your toe every day for a week very basic. And they didn't give me my money back. So I hope they've stubbed their toe plenty of times, because it was a lot of money. And I was not happy about it.
Nick VinZant 10:52
That stub in the toe is it. Like that's a little bit more major.
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 10:58
People, when we talk about, you know, painful magic and hexes I think a lot of people have very, very misconstrued ideas of what that looks like. A lot of times, painful magic, hexes excetera came from a place of, of soup survival. So we see a lot of more painful magic and traditions where it was born out of like, for example, hoodoo, which was born out of African American slaves being brought over. We also see that in situations where other things are out of the person's control, they're not coming from a place of privilege or coming up from a place. Where is it for example, in Italy, there is a spell a love spell that you can do, to have someone you know, fall in love with you and stay with you. And part of the reason that exists is because in Italy, 2040 50 years ago, if a woman got married to a man, and that man fell in love with someone else, she would probably lose a lot of her financial stability. If he left her. He would she would be left alone with how many kids so you do the love spell to make sure your husband stays with you and you don't lose that financial security. And that's it a lot of different situations all over the world. Love magic to is also very present in bukata. Yeah, and it's very important in between Hatha Yoga, which is Mexican American or Latino folk magic.
Nick VinZant 12:29
Okay, so people just listening to this, right? The first if they're skeptical, the thing is going to be like, What? What are you talking about? Right, like? What is it? I guess a two part question, right? Like, what would you say to somebody who would be like, What are you talking about? And the other part of that, I guess, would be, is it really that different than the kind of Protestantism Catholicism? Is it really that different? Or are we just unused, not used to it? Right, like, good question. I'm used to going to church on Sunday, but you're doing what? Like it's
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 13:10
dancing with the devil in the moonlight. Hello, right. So the thing I would say to people who ask, What are you talking about is firstly, you know, I try to approach it from a specialty skeptic. So the, from the approach of, it's okay, if you don't give a shit about anything I'm saying, that's kind of where I always come from is the way that I live my life. And the way that I kind of go through my life is very much informed by the practice of witchcraft, which to me, looks like having spells on hand if I need something done having a spiritual team that works with me and helps me through things. But not everyone is going to look like that. Have something, have a practice that looks like that some people don't work with any spirits or deities or anything. Some people just do spells and it works for them. But I guess I, the metaphor that I like to use when someone's a skeptic, is breaking it down into kind of more mundane things. So if you have a test, tomorrow, you have a midterm test, and you know you have a test, you are going to take time out of your day and study correct. So you're kind of seeing something that is coming up that you want to do well in and you are taking actions necessary to do well in it. Witchcraft is very similar with their spells, it's this thing is coming up. Or this is an outcome I want. I'm gonna do these actions and also I'm just gonna make sure that the universe knows that's where I want to be. And of course, witchcraft is you know, informed by spirituality. Um, but believing that spells have power. And we as humans have the power to make these things happen without the without a God, without anyone around, which is kind of how it's different from Christianity as witches are not necessarily praying and praying and hoping someone answers. If my spirits don't respond, I take matters into my own hands, I just say, Alright, I'm going to do this myself. And that's kind of how I go about it. It's a huge tool, a lot of people, it's a huge reclamation of power, especially coming out of Christianity where God's will and God was very important. And this was okay. And this wasn't, because witchcraft doesn't really have a Set Rulebook on what to do. Everyone has their own morals and ethics that inform their practice. So my morals and ethics are going to be different from another practitioners and we all do our own thing. Some Witches are, you know, working with plants very heavily to cast spells, Some Witches are like me are doing heavy Spirit work, or they're calling on saints, or animal spirits or other spirits to help with their work. Someone just like I said, atheists, they do not believe in gods they do not think that a divine entity exists. So everything they do, is working within their own power and their own paradigm.
Nick VinZant 16:29
There's no Bible for which isn't necessarily is there, there is
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 16:32
no Bible. You do I say this like there. Of course, there are kind of widespread morals and ethics, like cultural appropriation is bad, don't take something from initiatory closed practice, when you are not initiated into that practice, don't like we have these kind of set morals and ethics as human beings that inform our witchcraft. But at the end of the day, the history of witchcraft has been very intertwined with the other with the oppressed with activism. So when you move into witchcraft, you are picking up a reclamation in the language of something that was used to oppress so many people. It was used to oppress indigenous tribes, it was used to oppress Jewish individuals, it was used to oppress people of color, when we think the terms black magic and white magic, the term black magic, when a lot of people hear that they automatically think of voodoo and hoodoo or painful spells. And that's something that media has done is taken voodoo and hoodoo, which are African Voodoo is an African traditional religion. And hoodoo is a practice that is very much made by and for African American individuals. They take that and they demonized it on media. So if anyone's listening to this, and they're like, I don't think like that. But you did think like that. It's okay. It's definitely something that's very normal. In not knowing anything about witchcraft, and having these ideas of what good witchcraft and bad witchcraft looks like. We have a lot of people who are coming to witchcraft from the position of seeing the craft a couple times and not knowing anything else, which is okay, there's always room to learn. But picking up witchcraft is picking up something, picking up a term and declaring yourself the term of something that has historically been used negatively. And part of being a witch in the modern day is recognizing the way it's been used historically, and say if you're not, you know, and being able to say okay, I understand how this term was used. And I am going to do everything I can to support those groups because there are definitely places in the world where witches still a terrible term, and when someone gets called a witch it's bad it can mean that they get punished in a certain way can mean they get thrown out.
Nick VinZant 19:04
You mentioned that it's become popular slash almost trendy, right? Like why do you think that that is?
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 19:09
That's a really good question. And so once again, speaking mostly from my experience of myself, because every which I can I know like I have like three friends who are witches who may disagree with me on this, I'm witchcraft is about taking back control. It's about reclaiming your power and taking things into your own hands. Witchcraft has kind of always been like that. Even things that aren't witchcraft, like folk magic has been about you know, survival necessity. Taking matters into your own hands or help going to someone who can help you without having to like, fight for access to it. Too, two ish years ago, we had the pandemic going on. The first thing that happened was people had a huge loss of control. Everything about normal life was gone. So I wasn't surprised that in 2020, when I logged on to Tik Tok, and started posting about witchcraft, the response was my things going viral, and a lot of people being interested, because it allowed people to take back control and take back their power at a time when a lot of people who had never felt powerless before were feeling powerless. And a lot of people that had never experienced something in which their normal life was ripped out from under them, experienced it. In regards a lot of times the witches that I know, that had been around for a long time, had that happen, when they were kids, or something happened to kind of, you know, the nuts, not every single witch that's like a few of my friends and myself included, I had like something happen, where I needed, I turned to the universe, and I'm like, Hey, universe, I need you to tell me that this is the way I need to go. And when the universe responded, I moved in that direction. But witchcraft creates a space for people that may not be represented or may not feel represented, within particular religions, which is why I say a lot of witches may be ex Christians, because in Christianity, especially those who have experienced religious trauma, witchcraft appears as not only be a lot of times seen as the antithesis to Christianity, which may not be how everyone sees it. But it's how a lot of people see it as this kind of standing in a posle to oppression or dominant religion,
Nick VinZant 21:48
it seems to primarily attract women is way why is that is that I would say, am I wrong? Is that just a question?
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 21:55
I think a lot of women are witches. I also think that there is a growing base of like, non binary queer individuals who are witches. I also know a lot of queer men who are witches. I do know some straight men too, that are witches. But I would say it's probably because a lot of people think that witchcraft is for women. I think that that is, I think that the historically the representation of witches have has been mostly women. And I chose her I think there are plenty of men out there who have an interest in it, but feel like witchcraft isn't for them. I mean, I think a lot of the a lot of public witches are probably women. But I do know a lot of witches who are men, and they're, they're good, although
Nick VinZant 22:43
this just could be completely me. Right. But I do feel like there is something about it, that doesn't appeal to men's nature as much. Okay, was that an unfair assessment nature? I have no idea. I have no idea. There's, you know what? Maybe because the rules are not, are not don't seem to be hard and fast, that there's not a guide book or a manual to it. A rigid system
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 23:17
is that I do fears that just see you.
Nick VinZant 23:21
It is most people that I know. But then again, of course I live in. I live in my own bubble, right. So take that for whatever it's worth.
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 23:31
It's one of those things where you have to create your own manual. I have like, two to, to spell books that I've been keeping track of since I was 16, all my spells and now I'm pretty well informed of what works and what doesn't. But there is like a trial and error process when you begin because you're going in aware that something you find in a book may not work for you. And it may be a completely different path. Now we have a lot more kind of literature on witchcraft that allows people to see kind of what different practitioners do for different things and different paths and different traditions. And it allows a little bit more flexibility to like maybe this feels right or maybe this feels right, versus when I was starting when I was like 16 We just had like a couple books on Wicca and Tumblr. And because of that now there are more ways for people to explore and create that manual for themselves. But it definitely does kind of come from you go in and you make your own set of ethics and morals and what you're okay with or what you're not okay with. Like personally if I need to I do not mind Hexing someone but someone else may never want to do any kind of painful magic and that's okay. It doesn't make them any less of a witch versus me is if I need to make someone stubbed their toe for a week straight. I don't care But my morals and ethics revolve around when I do that. So am I going to do that randomly to random people? No, am I going to wait until I really feel like it's necessary to get the point across or to protect myself or others? Yes. So I probably won't go the whole nine yards and do a hex frequently, but when I do, I'm like, Alright, we're gonna go get like a bunch of cockroaches and pour them into a jar. And ya know, it's painful magic is very much like, not pretty, a lot of witchcraft is not pretty, it's something that you see a lot of witchy aesthetics online, but not everyone scrap practice looks like that. Or is that visually appealing, and not everyone has access to the is able to access the same kind of ingredients that another practitioner may be able to get easily, which is why it's such a broad spectrum of people who identify as witches, someone may do a spa with a candle and really nice herbs and do that. And someone else may take a little birthday candle, sprinkle some salt around it, set the intention, and that's their spell. It's so wide and varied the pads traditions, what people have access to. And it allows us to all kind of do something similar, but every single practice is different. If you brought a another witch on, they probably would have different answers as to how they define witchcraft than I would. Because some people I know define it by communing with land spirits, or working with the land or invoking spirits versus I consider those who do spells and witches, but also there are other elements of witchcraft, like activism, or certain things that I consider part of my practice as a witch, whereas someone else may say, witchcraft is this and not this. So it's really interesting, because there's so many of us. And that's why I don't know a lot of people like the fact that you go in, and there's like, a bunch of different ways to do one thing. And then sometimes you just create a new path,
Nick VinZant 27:25
I can see why it's appealing. The idea of you can take control, and you can do it your way.
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 27:30
Skeptics always come to me and they're, like, prove witchcraft is real. Um, here's the thing is, I can't prove witchcraft is real to you. I can't sit here and give you the evidence that you would consider real and make you happy about that. Like, you can't do that. But I tried to approach it from if it's working for people, and they believe in it, and it's not harming you. Why are you so upset, I try to hit come from that place of I am minding my business. And then some people get angry because someone recently was angry because they feel like everyone who is a witch and believes in witchcraft and sells services, like tarot readings, or spells is a scammer, which I can't really control that person's thoughts. That's their own kind of their own opinion. And I'm not going to change it, especially if they really strong like, feel really strongly about that. And I kind of come to the point of when skeptics are kind of, there's been like an influx of them on tick tock recently, but one skeptics are like, personally, so I know it's real, cursed me and prove witchcraft is real. I just say no, because there's the position of there's two types of skeptics, they're skeptics that are really interested in actually want to hear how it works, and maybe try it for themselves and see if there's anything to it. And then there are skeptics who are trying to get you to debase yourself and do something for like, cast a spell on them. And then they say that no matter what the you know, it doesn't, they aren't going to think anything's gonna happen. I can't go to a skeptic, WHO IS WHO 100% does not believe in witchcraft and doesn't have any interest in learning anything about witchcraft and tell and convince them that it is real, because they're not going to be convinced there's no way for me to convince them. I kind of come from the position of you know, if people believe in it, it's real. That's something that my friend who is a folklorist told me is with folklore. It doesn't matter if at one point it was real or not real if people believe it is now real, because someone out there believes wholeheartedly. Many people believe that it is wholeheartedly how the world works and that that exists. Who are you to Hold them know if you don't know anything about it.
Nick VinZant 30:02
But is there times in your life that you've been like, I cast this spell? And this worked? It reinforced? Is there times you would say like this reinforcement, like, I know whether it's true or not, who cares?
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 30:19
I was going to me. Yeah,
Nick VinZant 30:21
this this word.
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 30:24
I think I have that happen a lot with asking if there's like a greater power in the universe. You know, like when I asked for, because I when I was 16, what got me into witchcraft. And what brought me too, that was, I asked, literally just the universe. I'm like, if anyone's listening, can you send me a sign to do something like, so I know, I'm making the right decision. And I was on a walk with my family and a blue jay came down right in front of me. And like, looked at me and went away. And I was like, that's it. And I just knew, in that moment, I'm like, someone's make someone has my back in this. I didn't know who it was at the time. But I'm like, someone made sure like someone heard me when I like prayed or asked for help. And then I was like, I started looking into animal symbolism and paganism. And that brought me to witchcraft. And I'm like, Okay, if I know someone is listening, when I just pray, when I just ask, what's going to change when I actually start putting more energy behind that and really solid intentions. I've had a couple of things where like, I set like I set up a spell a while ago, and I guess, like, I don't know, my entire life has been a combination of like, realizing that things I'm on like, I'm going on the right path. One of the things was when I was I did like, when I started getting into Italian folk magic, and venerating my ancestors. And I was like, I don't know, you know, I may not ever, like, make this my full practice Boileau spoiler alert, it became my full practice, but like, I may not ever make this my full practice. I took a class with someone. And like, there's just a moment where like, everything that I had known about my witchcraft practice, up to that point, fell away. And I was left with my ancestors, Italian folk magic and one goddess. And I said, I guess this is where I'm like, this is where I'm supposed to be. I've had things happen to were like, Oh, my favorite one. Oh, this is the this is the one that if you're going to include any of this include this one, I did a spell where I was half asleep. And I in my head popped in, like the image of four coffin nails wrapped in red thread. And I wrote it down because it felt important. And I also wrote down other things that were popping into my head. Like this was a spell, I had to do it on the Eclipse and I set it up. So I did this whole spell I nailed for coffin nails as part of the spell into the four corners of my house. Later, I had connected with some Italian Canadian folk practitioner. And I'm like, Yeah, I did this spell ones with four coffin nails in the four corners, and he they go, That's so crazy. We have almost the exact same spell in my family. When I was like, what and so I had no usage of coffin nails, I had never read anything about using coffin nails as protection or anything like this. And this spell just kind of popped up out of nowhere, like call it intuition call it ancestors call it the universe, whatever you want. But then later, I got confirmation that this is actually a spell that a lot of Italian folk practice Italian American Italian Canadian families have and do it was like slightly modified, but it was the same idea of coffin nails placed near entrances are in four corners to protect against to protect the home. And I know like I always thought, I always think like, maybe it was a coincidence. Maybe I saw it somewhere in my subconscious brought it but for me, that was like a I'm, yeah, that's that's kind of it made it feel real to me, even if other people hear that and they're like, could have been a coincidence. Yeah. But to me, it was one of those things where I'm like, there is no way that I just came up with this.
Nick VinZant 34:45
I don't want to kind of go back and forth like well, you know, like, Well, what about this, right? Because you can pick apart kind of anything, right? Like you could, and so I don't, I feel like that's not the point. Yeah, necessarily this conversation Right, because you could say this. And then you could say this. And I could say this, but it's the idea that like, we're trap. All right? And the thing is, is like, nobody fucking knows that really.
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 35:13
Nobody knows if God's real either but a bunch of people wholeheartedly believe in God and then informs their entire experience. So why is me lighting a candle any different?
Nick VinZant 35:25
That's one thing that I am fascinated by right is the idea. I personally believe like, Look, do whatever you want young played a spaghetti monster in the sky? I don't care people do do right. If it makes you happy to do what you want to do. Are you ready for some? Listener? Harder slash listener submitted question. I'm
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 35:44
ready. Let's do it.
Nick VinZant 35:46
Some of them are like, favorite spell? Oh,
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 35:49
good question. I love a good protection spell. I also love a spell, which is found very present in Italian American folk magic, where you take someone's picture, bind it, which basically is wrapping it with a thread and you put it in the freezer, and it's supposed to freeze them and stop them in their place, or freeze them out of your mind and make you stop thinking about them. I use that very frequently. It's like a little sympathetic magic type thing. And sympathetic basically just means this is like this. So this is that.
Nick VinZant 36:22
So do you do it with people you don't like or people you do like or both?
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 36:25
Like, I've done it, maybe twice. And one time, I did it with someone. And it didn't feel like it worked. And I was upset about it. And then I went into back into the freezer to look for it. It was gone. It disappeared out of the freezer. I'm assuming someone found it and threw it out. But I was like No wonder this doesn't didn't work. It's gone. It's gone.
Nick VinZant 36:51
Is it more reserved? I guess for like, the important things in life or people. I'm going to cast this spell so there's no line at the drive thru kind of.
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 37:01
That's a really good idea.
Nick VinZant 37:02
I have not done that actually is a good idea.
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 37:05
I did do I did put on there was this fast lock oil. I put on fast luck oil to get above Boston Cream doughnut. It worked.
Nick VinZant 37:15
I mean, Boston Cream is probably the best. No,
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 37:17
I'm gluten free too. So we went to the gluten free bakery. And sometimes they're out of Boston creams. And I'm like, I'm gonna put on this oil and ask for Boston Boston Cream. got there, there was one left. And I was like,
Nick VinZant 37:28
That's luck. Honestly, that's the only proof I would just tell that story. And I think ever the audience of skeptics would be like, Oh, fuck
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 37:36
that. Like, it's really a lot of witches, I know do very mundane thing. This is very much focused on you, your needs, whether that's monetarily, you know, financially, whatever. Um, it's focused on your needs. It's focused on the needs and the protection of the people around you. But sometimes you just feel like, I'm just gonna, I really want this to happen. And sometimes it's like, I really want concert tickets, like I really want to be able to get good seats. So you may cast a spell to help you get good seats, and then you're all set. Or for me, it was a Boston Cream doughnut. That was my like, I really want this doughnut this morning, please.
Nick VinZant 38:14
What is the most significant day of the year for you? Like is there a day where I want to?
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 38:20
Oh my god. So for me personally, the most significant day is called the festival of St. John the Baptists and it's right around mid summer. A lot of people celebrate what is known as the modern meal of the year which comes from Wicca, which is for the two equinoxes the two soul surfaces and then for Celtic fire festivals. I don't follow that. But I do celebrate the solstice is incredible. Like I go very hard for solstices. I'm like mulled wine, dancing under the moonlight, full nine yards, um, but the festival of St. John the Baptist is really big in Italy and we make something called a lot of folk practitioners make something called St. John's water. So you collect a bunch of different plants that have medicinal and magical properties. So this year, I did like Molin, St. John's wort, like all these different plants, and they're typically picked fresh, but you can also pick them dried, or add dried stuff, and then you put a bunch of water over it and you let it sit out overnight to kind of absorb all the moisture and the dew. And in the morning, you wash your hands and you're like your hands and face in it and it's supposed to bring in like good luck and it blesses you. And so I keep mine year round and I use it for like all sorts of magical purposes. But the important thing about it is that you can only make it on this one night on this festival of St. John the Baptist, which I think is this year was the 23rd to the 24th it's usually like very close to mid summer. So I have like the summer solstice And I celebrate the summer solstice and do things for that. And then I do the festival of St. John the Baptist make. It's called LaQua de San Giovanni St. John's water, or say the festival of St. Sun Giovanni. And then the winter solstice is also really big for me. So that's not even just one, it's two. Then the winter solstice, I will do I celebrate Christmas because Christmas for me is about family. And it's something I've always done with my family. So I still celebrate it even though I do not. I'm not a Christian. So do Christmas. I do the winter solstice, and then I celebrate the Epiphany, which is an Italian tradition. So I go like winter has like three holidays all backed up one after the other. And then summer has like two holidays backed up. So I do the solstice is the kind of big events that I really center everything around because it's a halfway point for the seasons. It's like the longest day of the year and the shortest day of the year are great days to do magic to cleanse to reset. I'm not very good with celebrating the equinoxes. I will say that I kind of forget about them. But the other one is All Souls Day or salan also known as Halloween or All Hallows Eve that's a really big day for me as well and those are kind of the three major ones that I will go really ham for like I'll plan rituals out and I will get materials and then everyone's from I have like the festivals of certain spirits I work with, like no Morelia is Diana's Festival. Today is the festival of St. Michael Archangel I made him garlic, mac and cheese. So I'll try to like do little things on those days. But when I really go hard is like the solstice is I'm like, wake up, we're cleaning the house. We are doing all these things. And so for me, those are the two important days but depending on tradition, depending on if what kind of pagan the person is. Or if the person's a pagan or Christian or Jewish, they may have very different holidays. I know a Jewish witch who considers like Rosh HaShana, one of the more important like the High Holidays is very important.
Nick VinZant 42:17
Is it something about the day or is it just the tradition of the day Solstices
for I guess any of them really? So
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 42:24
depends. If we're looking at like the solstice is the day itself, the summer solstice is the longest day of the year. So the longest day of the year, is associated with like partying, getting ready for the days to grow shorter. We see midsummer celebrations, spreading back centuries. So the solstices and the equinoxes it is about the day itself. Same with kind of the festivals of St. John's, but it definitely depends on who you ask,
Nick VinZant 42:57
what are painful spells, and are they looked at as being forbidden is the word that they use, but are they looked at in a negative light? negative light? That would be a
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 43:11
really great question. I think that I discussed this a little earlier. But I think that painful magic does get a bad rap. For a lot of people don't spend a lot of time learning about painful magic. There are certain traditions in which and certain practitioners that will not do painful magic because of their morals or ethics. Wicca has something called the threefold law where it's the idea that anything you do will be sent back to you threefold not everyone follows it in Wicca but a lot of weekends do. Um, I talked earlier with someone who is a practitioner is also Hindu. And they talked about how, because of Hinduism, Jainism they do not cast painful magic they do not they do not do something that could harm people, animals the Earth. versus me, I do not I mean, I'm not gonna go out of my way and like, throw hexes willy nilly, but I don't have a problem getting my hands dirty if I need it. If I'm like, if it's someone and I typically save that for people who are like the worst of the worst, like so think, rapists, abusers, pedophiles, that's who I target. That's why I go after I don't go after people who like piss me off for no reason. I'm like, I don't have the energy. So to some people, it would be something that they would never think of doing and they just don't do it. A lot of fold practices do you have those darker spells? Because folk magic is magic of the people. And someone probably needed that to survive and when any way shape or form. And because painful magic is informed by survival and the language of those who have been oppressed. You're gonna see it a lot more in certain folk magics. That doesn't mean they're always going to and I say this There are always going to be people that use painful magic inappropriately. There's always going to be someone who gets pissed off by something you've said and hexes you for no reason other than you piss them off or you disagree with them. Depending on the practitioner, you ask, I believe that if your intention is kind of shoddy, like if you're just doing it to be petty, I don't think it's going to work as well as like really pure, in like, intention of like, I really did something new. But there are other people that argued that at the end of the day, if that person casted that spell, and they put enough energy and rage behind it, it's gonna hit you no matter what, I kind of believe a little bit less a little bit of that. If someone's intention is petty, and they aren't a great hexar, I'm not super concerned. But if they are a fantastic hexar, and their intention is petty, I'm pretty sure I'm still gonna feel it no matter what. Because they know how to do it. But at the end of the day, really depends on who you ask for me, I come from the position of I use it when necessary, like, and I read something recently that I think is really good to live by, if you wouldn't do it in real life, don't do it in magic. If you aren't prepared to face the consequences of what could come from it, don't do it. Which is why my all my little like, painful magic is kinda like, stub your toe for a week.
Nick VinZant 46:26
So this one just says like, what could you give us an example of a spell?
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 46:30
Oh, yeah, I love examples of spells. So I just spell recently, um, for making sure I'm protected when I'm driving, because I will have a lot of car anxiety. So I took a bag. And I added a bunch of everything about what I added. I did like a little, I took a Black Candle at the St. Anthony, because I wanted to petition St. Anthony for the spell. So this is like usage of things. But I took a bag, I filled it with things that are protective. So herbal herbs that have protective qualities. I also added some porcupine quills, which is kind of like protection as well. And then I took a little like picture of St. Anthony and put it in there. Or maybe I did a picture of St. Mary that maybe I may put St Mary on there and sort of see Anthony I put one of the saints in there. I'm planning on its long garlic, like a bunch of different protective herbs, and sealed the bag and then made a candle with the intention of safe travels or protecting me while I drive and poured some wax from the candle on there. I also do this thing, I create sigils which are from originate from chaos magic, you take an intention. And by process by a particular process or ritual, they eventually become a symbol that is like just a symbol. So I take that symbol, put it in the bag and charge it which basically means giving an energy under the candle or by way of carving it into the candle. And so then everything I do with the candle spell feeds, the term that I created and the bag that I made. When another example is a money bowl, which I actually have, I can actually show it we there's my money ball. It's just a gravy bowl with a bunch of coins around it. I put, like there's cash in here, there's a bunch of herbs to draw in money. I have two different money drawing oils in here. And then some citrus, so I have like a bunch of different things to draw on money, and then I have the capability of adding money and taking it out. So whenever I add money, it's like the intention of bringing prosperity in and then taking money. It's like almost like an act of working to bring in prosperity. I also have a rosary in here because Mary,
Nick VinZant 48:57
have you ever had one like backfire? So that's a yes, that's it when I was
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 49:03
16. Someone who I was friends with and treat me very kindly, and I had just gotten into witchcraft. I'm like, You know what I'm going to do, I am going to hex this person. It's really bad idea. So I took a lemon and put their name in the lemon and put a bunch of like gross stuff in it and I hung it outside my window and hung it outside my window and I just left it there because it's supposed to be left to its own devices which by the way with Hexing if you're ever interested in painful magic, my advice is do not shit where you eat, do not do hexes and keep them like in your house or anywhere near you because it's just a bunch of bad energy. Like you gave that even if you don't believe in like doing anything, you gave that spell so much rage. Now that rage is sitting in your house. So I opened the window one day and the lemon law Hold down, fell, rolled down the roof and landed in my parents gutter, the gutter outside my parents window. And then I went to college. And I was at college for two a year. And in the car up there, my mom, I said to mom, dad, hey, by the way, there's an active curse in the gutter, you should probably get rid of it. And they were like, What did you just say? And I'm like, just like bury it at the crossroads. And they're like, there's no Crossroads around here that we can bury it. They're all like pavement. And I'm like, okay, it sat there for four or five years. And through the entire four or five years, there was just a lot of things that happened, that were not great. Like they weren't awful, but they weren't great. Like they were not fantastic. And then I think in 2020, I took the lemon out and finally burned it. And all of a sudden, all of those things that had happened kind of reversed. So I am I'm still blamed for everything that happened. I was like, Yeah, remember when you did that? Remember when you hex our family and I'm like, please, sorry.
Nick VinZant 51:09
Are you ready for some of the more lighthearted ones? What is your favorite depiction of a witch in movies? That's
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 51:16
a really good question. That's actually a really good question. Because so many of them are so bad. So let's
Nick VinZant 51:23
let's do best and
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 51:27
doll. It is awful. The witches by Roald Dahl and I'm referring to the newest movie with like, their look, it's like the biggest anti semitic stereotype in a witch I've ever seen. Like they eat children. They have scales, they like have bird feet. It is so many bad Slyke tropes packed into one. And I'm like, Oh God, please. No. So were those the witches of the worst one of the best ones I would say is probably between the craft the 90s and Practical Magic. Practical Magic is like apart from like the Necromancer like raising your dead boyfriend, which like we don't actually do it, but like using whipped cream to make a pentagram. And as he goes, You don't have anything else, or like the garden be like that's the most accurate portrayal of what actual witchcraft can look like, of like, you got a bad spirit in the yard and the bushes are dying, or they're like weird omens everywhere. But one of those the Practical Magic is good. The craft was a little bit more cinematic in terms of what they did it in spells like changing your hair color, or changing your eye color. So but it's still like one of the representations that is better rather than bad. So I always recommend it. The Practical Magic and even like the series of Practical Magic, the books themselves are not like in AP completely inaccurate. It's a lot of like, going out in the garden and making herbal tinctures. And like we're just making things with whipped cream because you don't have a pen. That's very accurate.
Nick VinZant 53:18
How do you my wife and I one of our favorite movies is Kiki delivery. So I'd love to live.
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 53:22
I wish we I wish we had rooms everywhere that we could ride. We don't but I wish because I would love to be Kiki. I'd love to be able to ride a broom and deliver things like that's the life.
Nick VinZant 53:35
Fantastic job. That sounds so much fun. I mean, have you really tried Oh yeah.
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 53:39
I grabbed a broom one time and jumped. I felt nothing we had do have brooms, however, are considered protective. The Italian folk magic, this may be different, different cultures. But in Italian folk magic, we put a broom by the front door, it protects from witches because we just have to count every bristle of the broom before they can enter the house. Same with salt, they have to count every salt green before they enter the house and mustard seeds. So there's this idea that to keep bad spirits out. You give some you put something by the front of your house that the witch or the bad spirit would have to count a bunch of times and it would take them forever to like get in. So they just give up.
Nick VinZant 54:24
Yeah, that's interesting. I always associated it with them like using the oh
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 54:30
you can use it to I mean I sweeping is very big. For me, I like you can sweep things out. You can sweep things in I have a cinnamon broom by my front door. Whenever I clean my room I sweep the sediment broom in to bring in prosperity. To get rid of negative energy in a room throw salt into four corners sweep inwards to purify. And also brooms are probably big because a lot of witches historically would be doing a lot of cleaning. They'd be the people who would stay at home they'd be women. So they would be using that broom or that kind of mundane object for spiritual things.
Nick VinZant 55:08
What should I do if I want to try this, but I'm not ready to try this?
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 55:12
I get that. Okay, that's a really easy question. I mean, genuinely just start looking into it. You don't have to do anything. You don't have to cast any spells. And you can buy books about witchcraft and read them. Or learn about the history of witchcraft or watch YouTube videos or anything like that. You don't have to do a single spell until you're ready.
Nick VinZant 55:35
When you did that first one, where you kind of like, alright, this is gonna work or were you I thought it was gonna work doing
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 55:41
my opinion, it falling into this particular like, the first spell I did, or the curse I did.
Nick VinZant 55:48
Oh,
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 55:50
oh, so the first spell I did both was a spell for a snow day. Because I wandered off from school, very much high school things. And it worked. And I kind of went to bed with like, a, I don't know if this is gonna work or not, it works. And I was like, guess I'm a witch. Now. This is a thing. I got a snow day.
Nick VinZant 56:11
I guess as a teenager, I would be like, no matter who you are, he would be like, this is the only possible conclusion to come to.
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 56:17
And it was like that we were probably gonna get a snow day anyway. But I was like, I just want to make sure that it happens. So I always approach spells where it's like, I want to make sure that this goes the direction I want. Especially if it's something like, like, I'm like getting an offer from publishers for a book. It's like, I want to make sure this is a good offer. So I'm gonna do a little spell to make sure of that. Most useful items. That's a really good question. I gotta think about that. Depending on who you ask, they're gonna have different answers. I am a fan of just pen and paper. You can do a lot with pen and paper. You can write out a petition, you can write out an intention, you can draw a sigil. You can write someone's name, and do something with it. second favorite is I use a lot of animal bones. In my practice, they are all ethically sourced, but I use a lot of like porcupine quills, rabbit heels. And then lastly, is candles because I'm a I love candles, you can do so much. We'd like a birthday candle and a chant. And I love that.
Nick VinZant 57:29
Is it anything that you think we missed? Oh,
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 57:31
I mean, if people are interested and like want to know more, I have like, I have a book I wrote, which hold on. I have a copy here. It's called spots for change by Frankie Castaneda. And so it's like a beginner's guide to starting witchcraft, or a beginner or a non beginner can pick it up and then have a practice or have a good idea of what witchcraft is after. And obviously, you know, it's informed by my practice, but like, it's one of those bigger books that it is very much catered to someone who maybe doesn't have any I anything, know anything about witchcraft. Um, and then I have a YouTube too. And like, that's where I do most of my educational stuff is I talk a lot about spells. Folk magic. I did an interview recently with Dr. Angela puca, who did her PhD in Italian folk magic, which was really fun. I was like, Oh, my God, this is happening. Yeah, and that everything. You can find out everything as chaotic withdrawn. If you want to follow me on tick tock, I wouldn't recommend it. It's all joke videos. So if you're really interested in like learning do the book. Oh, I also have a podcast that I run with Matt, who's my friend and he is an indigenous folklorist. And we are doing a series on regional folk magics right now. That is books and broomsticks.
Nick VinZant 58:57
For somebody who kind of wants to get into it like what video would you recommend they start with what episode
Frankie Castanea (Chaotic Witch Aunt) 59:03
with books and broomsticks? Let me pull it up because I'm like, I don't know. I mean, starting from the beginning, as we talk cover a lot of different things. But we have episodes on like witchcraft in the internet. Gatekeeping is a good episode. If you want us to mess around, you can hear us talk about mistakes, mistakes we've made in our practice. I would start with my YouTube and then move on to books and broomsticks. Because books and broomsticks is more like someone who already knows witchcraft and wants to hear us talk about particular topics. The book that I wrote is the most beginner friendly stuff I have. And then YouTube is kinda like I would starting a series that will be more beginner friendly, but really, if you're going through it and you're interested in anything you'll be able to see and hear me talk about processes that about spells, things that I do in my practice what being a witch kind of looks like. And I also am very responsive on YouTube for questions. If you're like, what does this mean? I'm like, I got you.