Transcript

Season 1 - Trailer

Heather Freeman: It’s the dark moon. The stars are bright despite the city lights. At the intersection of a suburban cul de sac, there’s a modest still life under a street lamp: Three eggs, drizzled in honey, and some swept-up dog hair. You can still smell the incense. 

It’s the Deipnon, and this is a new moon offering to Hekate, the goddess of witchcraft, magic, and crossroads. And all over the United States, there are Deipnon offerings appearing on this October new moon, from country lanes to city subways.

Is it witchcraft? Is it magic? Or — is it prayer?

Daniel Harms: It becomes difficult to exactly determine where religion begins and where magic ends.

Yvonne Chireau: Magic has always been the religion of the other.

Sean McCloud: When it comes to things like superstition, magic, religion — these are all terms that are politically weighted.

Rev. Aaron Davis: I use the pseudonym mainly to protect my family, and to keep a boundary there. 

I’m Heather Freeman and I’ve always been fascinated by religion and spirituality, but also by magic. I’ve spent years learning about these rituals, beliefs, and why practitioners are so vulnerable to misunderstanding.

Join me as I share incredible stories of magic, spirituality, religion, and the conflicts that arise between them on my new podcast Magic in the United States. I’ll take you back in time to the rustic farms of the 1920s Pennsylvania Dutch and the bewitching thrum of technopagan servers in 1990s California. Together, we’ll discover how everyday Americans have mixed magic, religion, spirituality, and belief for over 400 years and we’'ll meet the remarkable people who are living these practices today.

Aaron Davis: I suddenly got this strong push to learn ceremonial magic. And I'm just, like, “Why? I don't understand.” But I trust the push. 

Chaweon Koo: I did my banishing spell, burned the petition paper, turned around, didn't look back, walked out — and from that moment on, my life was different.

Listen to Magic in the United States, every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts starting October 24th. 

See you at the crossroads.