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Please welcome this week’s guest on the show, Sara Mastros from Pittsburgh who teaches witchcraft, Greek and Near Eastern mythology, Jewish Kabbalah, Pythagorean Mysticism, and practical sorcery online, and at festivals all over the East Coast.
Sara grew up in the Amish part of Pennsylvania although not Amish herself within a family that merged Greek and Jewish cultural backgrounds. Magic was not exactly taboo but it seemed that some family members hoped Sara would eventually grow out of this ‘episode’ which she was interested in from early age on. At age eight she ordered two books on witchcraft from a catalogue, namely ‘Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft’ and ‘Encyclopedia of White Magic’ by Paddy Slade. Those were the starting points of further explorations into the practice of witchcraft and magic which lead Sara to university libraries and further to the discovery of different grimoires.
In the early 2000s, Sara began to work with the Greek Magical Papyri and then with the Orphic Hymns where some doubts arose on the accuracy of previous translations. Eager to understand the material in depth Sara went on to teaching herself Greek because this was the only way to satisfy her need for historical accuracy as well as for gaining the ability to dive deep into the material in terms of magical workings. The result was the publishing of the highly appraised ‘Orphic Hymns Grimoire’ where Sara strives for accuracy in translation but at the same time takes the nature of the respective god/goddess into account.
In this episode, we’ll be talking about the definition of a witch, different categories of magic/witchcraft, and how the translation of words and practice from the distant past creates tension and ways to deal with it.
Sara’s teaching work will be also a subject along with some good advice for beginners and an outlook on her upcoming book project, ‘The Big Book of Magical Incense’ which already open for pre-order.
You can hire Sara’s services and follow her personal blog at
Music played in this episode
This is the return of wonderful Heather Dale, who has been with us presenting her music already. This week again a selection of three quite different types of music she presents:
GO TO HER WEBSITE AND CHECK IT OUT!
1) SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT
(Track starts at 5:21)
2) BONFIRE (Incantation)
(Track starts at 52:16)
3) THE DREAM OF RHONABWY
(Track starts at 1:32:27)
