What happens when you take ceremonial magic out of the ritual room and into the fields? This week I sat down once again with Todd Elliott, author of the newly released The Cunning Farmer: Agrarian Magical Practices, Mythology, and Folklore, to explore the rich intersection of esoteric tradition and working the land.

Todd shares his journey from urban life to farming in Kentucky, where over nearly three decades he has woven together Western ceremonial magic, astrology, animism, and shamanic practice into a living, breathing spiritual path rooted in the soil. Drawing on the cunning folk of 17th-century Britain, the folklore collected by James Frazer and Alexander Carmichael, and the philosophical traditions of Hermeticism and Neoplatonism, Todd has developed a uniquely eclectic approach to land-based magic that is both historically grounded and deeply personal.

Together we dig into how astrology and magic actually work, the role of spirits and consciousness in the natural world, and why restoring a sense of the sacred to agriculture matters more than ever. Todd also shares stories of ancient Adena mounds and Paleo-Indian arrowheads found on his own land, and reflects on what it means to work with the spirits of a place with respect and reverence.

Whether you're a seasoned practitioner or simply curious about the magical traditions woven into our relationship with nature, this is a conversation you won't want to miss.

Show notes:

The Cunning Farmer is available now.
https://thecunningfarmer.substack.com

Keep in touch?https://linktr.ee/darraghmason

In this episode of Spirit Box, I sit down with Dr. Lenni George to talk about her new book, The Rites of Hekate: From the Dirt to the Divine. Released in December and praised by Peter Mark Adams, it’s a rare work that stands firmly in both scholarship and lived devotional practice without compromising either.

We explore how the book came into being, and the very personal experiences that shaped it. Lenni shares the story of creating her moon and poison gardens — six white-flowering beds dedicated to lunar rites, a Strophalos wheel set into the soil, and a dark moon garden of baneful plants. What began as a strange inner shove became something tangible, culminating in the discovery of an old key unearthed from the earth — a potent symbol for a goddess of thresholds.

Our conversation moves into a powerful regression hypnotherapy session in which Lenni encountered herself as a deaf beggar woman in medieval Europe. That experience took on deeper meaning as she was writing about Hekate’s hordes — the gathering of the lost and the forgotten. Later, while teaching in Greece, she saw how deeply that current resonated with others who recognized their own experiences of grief, death, and exile within it.

We also discuss:

• Hekate’s evolution from pre-Olympian titaness to Chaldean cosmic mediator — and her later distortion during the witch trials into a dark caricature of feminine power.

• How patriarchal narratives reshaped the image of the goddess, and why her resurgence now feels culturally significant.

• Lenni’s four-quadrant magical framework — beginning with dirt, ancestry, and embodied practice before reaching toward the cosmic and ceremonial.

• The necessity of critical thinking, ethical boundaries, and non-transactional devotion in serious magical work.

Lenni also shares her transpersonal work, including encounters within what she calls her “inner lab,” and a striking experience with an entity known as the Timekeeper that reframed a personal health crisis through symbolic ritual.

In the Plus Show, we go deeper into liminality — not as an aesthetic, but as a lived condition. We unpack Hekate’s role as psychopomp and threshold-walker, the metaphysics of in-between states, and why so many modern practitioners feel called to borderlands — social, ancestral, ecological, and spiritual. We talk crossroads rituals, altered states, hybrid identities, and the initiatory tension of standing between worlds.

This is a conversation about soil and scholarship. About lost souls and moonlit rites. About grounding devotion in ethics and lived experience while still daring to stand at the crossroads.

If you feel called to the threshold, this one’s for you.
Show notes:
Get the Book: https://www.foyles.co.uk/book/the-rites-of-hekate/dr-lenni-george/9781916756373?srsltid=AfmBOoqJkwtxuSU8BbDyfflNp0dyjadqJd2KLlCsGGCvn-2qyw6hGgpD
House of Zophiel (Events) https://www.houseofzophiel.com/
Voice of Zophiel Podcast https://houseofzophiel.libsyn.com/

In this episode of Spirit Box, I’m joined by author, creative director, and hypnotist Angel Millar to discuss his book Transcend the Chaos—a sharp and timely guide to navigating modern life in the age of artificial intelligence and what’s been called “liquid modernity.”

Angel introduces the framework of the Six C’s—Connection, Creativity, Craft, Culture, Character, and Consciousness—and makes the case that in an unstable world, these deeply human qualities are no longer optional. We explore why most companies haven’t meaningfully benefited from AI despite the hype, why younger generations may be absorbing unseen costs, and why the real survival guide for the future is less about technology and more about character.

We talk architecture, ritual and the erosion of meaning, martial arts as philosophical training, and why voluntarily facing difficulty builds resilience. Angel shares insights from his background in hypnosis, including the power of self-talk and self-hypnosis as tools for relaxation, creativity, and personal transformation.

The conversation ranges widely—from presence and authority to the strategic use of strangeness, from habit formation and ten-minute disciplines to sleep, diet, and the importance of deep conversations in a world dominated by distraction.

We also touch on mythology, the supernatural feminine, and the forgotten philosophical roots embedded in everyday cultural practices.

This is a grounded, practical, and wide-ranging discussion about cultivating structure, meaning, and strength in a chaotic age. If you’re feeling the pressure of rapid change, this one offers perspective—and a path forward.
Show notes:
Angel Millar https://angelmillar.com
Angel's insta https://www.instagram.com/angel.millar_author/

Keep in touch?https://linktr.ee/darraghmason