#CritWitchCon 2023

[breelandwalker]

Hex Positive, Ep. 040 - Bree and Lozzie Ruin Everything (CritWitchCon 2023)

Here it is - the episode you’ve all been waiting for! CritWitchCon 2023 was an absolute blast and Lozzie and I made the most of it with another LIVE episode of The Stardust Sessions. And as you may have inferred, the title of said panel was, “Bree and Lozzie Ruin Everything.” We each picked a topic which is taken for granted as Gospel Truth by certain segments of the witchcraft community and set about tearing those assumptions to shreds.

(For my Patreon supporters, a full video version of the panel is available to subscribers!)

For those of you who might be interested in future Critical Thinking Witches online gatherings and virtual events, please visit ⁠http://criticalthinkingwitches.com⁠ for announcements, scheduling, and contact information. More events are definitely planned for the future and we’d love to see you there!

Hello November Market Saturday, Nov 4 2023, 12pm-5pm Strangeways Brewing 2277A Dabney Rd, Richmond VA ⁠Hosted by Mystic Markets⁠

Crystal and Oddity Witch Market Sunday, November 19 2023, 12pm-6pm Diversity Richmond 1407 Sherwood Ave, Richmond VA ⁠Hosted by River City Witch Markets⁠

Check my⁠ Wordpress⁠ for full show notes, as well as show notes for past episodes and information on upcoming events.

You can find me as @BreeNicGarran on TikTok, Instagram, and Wordpress, or as breelandwalker on tumblr. For more information on how to support the show and get access to early releases and extra content, visit my⁠ Patreon⁠. 

Visit the⁠ Willow Wings Witch Shop⁠ to purchase my books and homemade accoutrements for your craft!

Proud member of the⁠ Nerd and Tie Podcast Network⁠.

MUSIC CREDITS

“Spellbound” & “Miri’s Magic Dance”

Ads – “Feelin’ Good,” and “Danse Macabre – Violin Hook”

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

[hexpositive]

Hex Positive, Ep. 041 - Holiday Folklore Frights with Ana Mor

BAH HUMBUG! The annual onslaught of holiday music has begun, we’re all up to our necks in consumerism, and the glitter is EVERYWHERE. Thankfully, there’s refuge from the mad rush here on Hex Positive, where I cozy with my CritWitchCon buddy Ana Mor to talk about fun and witchy folklore from the holiday season! Most of the stories come from Catholicism, with a smattering of pre-Christian figures…

[breelandwalker]

Definitely turn up for this if you can! I've been on some of the panels for past events and it's ALWAYS a really good time with an amazing group of people with so many interesting perspectives to share. 😁

So, for those of you who don't know, I'm one of the organizers behind the Critical Thinking Witch Collective. We found each other in a Facebook atheist witches group 3 years ago and decided to make things we wanted to see in the world instead of just snarking about the lack of critical thinking we saw in regular witchcraft spaces.

We aren't all atheists, but we do all value critical thinking and enjoy the value and beauty of the mysterious. With several experienced event organizers in our group, we decided to make our own virtual convention with panels and discussions that we wanted to see in the world. And for two years it's been such a success! We are gearing up for our 4th year and I'm really excited for you to see what we have in store!

In addition to our big CritWitchCon, we host smaller free events we call "Witches Brews" they are smaller virtual events with a theme, presentations, activities, and smaller breakout rooms with guided discussion. This is an excellent way to test the water to see if it's a good fit for you and also have a lot of fun with like minded witches.

I posted a link to our next event that has a theme of Magic of Words. It's August 20th and while the event is free, you do need to get a ticket so we can send you the link.

Hope to see you there!

[spiralhouseshop]

Portland Button Works and The Spiral House Shop 2023 Vending Events!

The Spiral House shop)at Portland Button Works is a thoughtfully curated selection of pin-back buttons, magnets, incense, magical tools and a large selection of zines, & books. Our collection spans a diverse range of intriguing subjects such as magic, witchcraft, folklore, folk horror, and other occult curiosities.

We are excited to announce that we will be vending at a variety of events this year! We can't wait to share our selection of books and zines with the community and connect with like-minded individuals and we are looking forward to meeting new people and building new relationships.

July 29-30 - Ghosts of Summer -Convention Center Portland, Oregon

August 26 - Celtic Fantasy Faire - Shute Park Hillsboro, Oregon

September 2 - Halloween Swamp Meet- Oaks Park Portland, Oregon

September 10 - Columbia Wilamette Pagan Pride Day - Oaks Park Portland

September 29 - October 1 - CritWitchCon Virtual Convention for Critical Thinking Witches

October 7 - Season of The Witch Marketplace - If The Broom Fits- Beaverton, Oregon

[criticalthinkingwitches]

Applications for Presenters, Moderators, and Panelists for CritWitchCon 2023 are open!

Do you have an idea for a panel or a workshop that can be done virtually? Take a look at this form and let us know your thoughts!

For more information about the mission of The Critical Thinking Witch Collective or to get on our mailing list, check out our website here.

[nerdandtie]

Hex Positive: 40. Bree and Lozzie Ruin Everything (CritWitchCon 2023)

[breelandwalker]

BONUS - One Chat Room, Fulla Crit Witches (CritWitchCon 2023 Preview)

What do you get when you throw four witches with ADHD and a tendency to infodump into one chat room and give them an assignment? Utter chaos, of course. But somewhere along the way, they also produce a pretty damn good sneak peek at the upcoming Critical Thinking Witch Convention! Join Bree, Lozzie, Amethyst, and Ana Mor for this madcap ramble / event preview. Hope to see you at the con!

Critical Thinking Witch Convention 2023

Friday, September 29 - Sunday, October 1st

Free Pre-Brew Event on Saturday, September 23rd, 4:00-6:30 EST

For more information, event access, vendor signups, and tickets, please visit https://criticalthinkingwitches.com/.

Follow the tumblr blog - @criticalthinkingwitches

⁠⁠Hex Positive is now on YouTube⁠⁠!

Check my ⁠⁠Wordpress⁠⁠ for full show notes, as well as show notes for past episodes and information on upcoming events. You can find me as @BreeNicGarran on TikTok, Instagram, and Wordpress, or as @breelandwalker on tumblr. For more information on how to support the show and get access to early releases and extra content, visit my ⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠.

Visit the ⁠⁠Willow Wings Witch Shop⁠⁠ to purchase my books and homemade accoutrements for your craft!

Proud member of the ⁠⁠Nerd and Tie Podcast Network⁠⁠.

MUSIC CREDITS

“Spellbound” & “Miri’s Magic Dance” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

[hexpositive]

Patreon Special - The Stardust Sessions LIVE! (CritWitchCon 2023)

A super special presentation of Hex Positive / The Stardust Sessions from our live panel at CritWitchCon 2023! The title of the panel was "Bree and Lozzie Ruin Everything," so you KNOW it was wild. We decided to talk about some intersecting schools of thought in the modern witchcraft community which tout entirely too much toxic positivity and respectability politics for our liking.

So if you've ever wanted to hear two salty witches tear apart The Law of Attraction and The Rule of Three, you're gonna love this panel!

Special thanks to Ana Mor for moderating and the organizers of CritWitchCon for having us back for the second year in a row. Hoping to make this an annual tradition! Replay Tickets are still available until November 1st, so if you want to see more or revisit your favorites, make sure you pick one up!

The audio from this panel may show up in a future episode of the podcast, but the video version is available exclusively to CritWitchCon attendees and my Patreon supporters. There's also lots of other neat stuff in the back catalog, and you can help support the show and my other ongoing projects for as little as a dollar a month. 😊

(And make sure you follow @lozziestardust here on tumblr!)

[hexpositive]

Hex Positive, Ep. 040 - Bree and Lozzie Ruin Everything (CritWitchCon 2023)

Here it is – the episode you’ve all been waiting for! CritWitchCon 2023 was an absolute blast and Lozzie and I made the most of it with another LIVE episode of The Stardust Sessions. And as you may have inferred, the title of said panel was, “Bree and Lozzie Ruin Everything.” We each picked a topic which is taken for granted as Gospel Truth by certain segments of the witchcraft community and set…

[hexpositive]

Hex Positive, Ep. 041 – Holiday Folklore Frights with Ana Mor

BAH HUMBUG! The annual onslaught of holiday music has begun, we’re all up to our necks in consumerism, and the glitter is EVERYWHERE. Thankfully, there’s refuge from the mad rush here on Hex Positive, where I cozy with my CritWitchCon buddy Ana Mor to talk about fun and witchy folklore from the holiday season! Most of the stories come from Catholicism, with a smattering of pre-Christian figures thrown in. We’re briefly interrupted by Ezra the Cat and some minor technical difficulties, but what’s a holiday party without a few awkward moments, right?

Stay tuned to my social media for information about the next CritWitchCon free Brew event and visit ⁠CriticalThinkingWitches.com⁠ for forthcoming announcements about our 2024 gathering!

Visit the ⁠Hex Positive Redbubble shop⁠ for brand new merch designs!

Upcoming Events:

Christmas Cheer & Beer Market Saturday, Dec 9 2023, 12pm-5pm Triple Crossing Brewery 113 S Foushee St, Richmond VA ⁠Hosted by Mystic Markets⁠

Winter Solstice Witch Market Sunday, Dec 17 2023, 12pm-5pm Diversity Richmond 1407 Sherwood Ave, Richmond VA ⁠Hosted by River City Witch Markets⁠

Yule & Krampus Market Saturday, Dec 23 2023, 12pm-10pm Alewerks Taproom 189B Ewell Rd, Williamsburg VA ⁠Hosted by Alewerks Brewing⁠

⁠⁠Hex Positive is now on YouTube⁠⁠!

Check my ⁠⁠Wordpress⁠⁠ for full show notes, as well as show notes for past episodes and information on upcoming events. You can find me as @BreeNicGarran on TikTok, Instagram, and Wordpress, or as @breelandwalker on tumblr. For more information on how to support the show and get access to early releases and extra content, visit my ⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠.

Visit the ⁠⁠Willow Wings Witch Shop⁠⁠ to purchase my books and homemade accoutrements for your craft!

Proud member of the ⁠⁠Nerd and Tie Podcast Network⁠⁠.

MUSIC CREDITS

“Spellbound” & “Miri’s Magic Dance” Ad - "Danse Macabre - Violin Hook" and “Feelin’ Good” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

[hexpositive]

Hex Positive, Ep. 039 – “We Are The Queerdos, Mister” with Murphy Lawless

There’s a chill in the breeze, the leaves are turning, the pumpkins are grinning, it’s time for SPOOKY SEASON! Accordingly, I’ve brewed up a special surprise for all my witches and horror fans out there. This month’s episode is a crossover with Queerdo Babes From The Horror Pod-O-Rama, hosted by the absolutely fabulous Murphy Lawless.

We sat down for a nice long chat about depictions of witches and witchcraft in horror cinema. And since there are far too many examples for just one episode, we narrowed it down to a few choice flicks – Häxan (1922), Eyes of Fire (1983), The Craft (1996), Practical Magic (1998), and The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016). (Spoilers abound!)

[As of original airdate Oct 1 2023, The Craft and Practical Magic are available on streaming services, including Prime and Hulu, and Eyes of Fire and The Autopsy of Jane Doe are available on SHUDDER, and Häxan is available on YouTube.]

Make sure you check out Queerdo Babes From The Horror Pod-O-Rama for an ALTERNATE version of this episode and follow the show on Instagram and your favorite podcatcher!

CritWitchCon 2023 replay tickets available now! 

Check my WordPress for full show notes, as well as show notes for past episodes and information on upcoming events.

You can find me as @BreeNicGarran on TikTok, Instagram, and WordPress, or as breelandwalker on tumblr. For more information on how to support the show and get access to early releases and extra content, visit my Patreon. 

Visit the Willow Wings Witch Shop to purchase my books and homemade accoutrements for your craft!

Proud member of the Nerd and Tie Podcast Network.

[upthewitchypunx]

CritWitchCon 2023 is over and I'm fucking exhausted. Just laying in my virtual con nest of screens, snacks, and scraps of candles, jars, and incense.

Even though I'm exhausted, I'm so grateful to all of my fellow organizers, the attendees, the speakers, vendors, and sponsors. I'm so full of ideas and we have such plans for future events!

I need to nap for days, but I gotta go back to the button mines and order packing postal witchery tomorrow.

[upthewitchypunx]

Psst! Mark your calendars! Virtual CritWitchCon 2023 put on by the Critical Things Wtich Collective will be held September 29-October 1!

Stay tuned for info about how to participate from buying tickets to leading workshops or being on panels!

[upthewitchypunx]

2022 Review

Sometimes it's easier to make lists to put the year in perspective:

Top events I was a part of:

Putting on a book reading for ChaoticWitchAunt and J Allen Cross in May

Portland Button Works and The Spiral House Shop porch sale in May

Organzing and finally having our in person Midwest Perzine Fest in Chicago in October

Being a part of organizing CritWitchCon in October

Being a part of a new local folk witch group that I think has a lot of potential to grow

Top Shows Attended:

Jawbreaker

Camp Cope

Volume Bomb Fest, especially Creature Party

All they Monty Vega and the Sittin' Shivas shows

Top purchases:

Plasma Lighter

Laundry detergent that comes in sheet form instead of liquid

Bigger Dutch oven

old lady "reader" glasses

Things that delighted me this year:

Watching the same TV shows at the same time with friends from out of state

Learning that Jackie cat in his old cat man age actually likes wearing a little jacket and walking on a leash up at my folks' Riverhouse

Vending with @spiralhouseshop at witch and pagan events where people start to recognize us and appreciate our book selection

Growing shelling beans so I can dry them and make them later

Tumblr becoming a fun place again that I wanna hang around at again

Things I hope to do in 2023:

Waste less food

Purchase and use less plastic

Only buy used clothes (unless I buy a band shirt or something)

Go on more walks

Things I'm looking forward to in 2023:

Growing Portland Button Works and The Spiral House Shop

Monty Vega show with Creature Party in February

Catbite show in March

Trip to Utah in May for the Grid Zine Fest

Mt Angel Oktoberfest in September

[nerdandtie]

Hex Positive: BONUS - One Chat Room, Fulla Crit Witches (CritWitchCon 2023 Preview)