Heather Freeman: Flowers. The first ripe berries. Music in the air. They're all symbols of springtime, love, and friendship, and they're also found on sacred altars and shrines across the U S., where they're dedicated to gods, spirits, ancestors -- even to the land itself. 

Somewhere, flowers adorn a newly cleaned ancestor shrine. Berries in cream are offered in friendship to a spirit. A love note to a tree hangs on tissue paper from a branch. But what should we make of these offerings? Are they magical practices? Religious traditions? Or are they something else entirely?

I'm Heather Freeman. In Season 1 of Magic in the United States, we met some of the many witches, magicians, and spiritual seekers who shaped this country’s magical landscape. 

And now we’re back with Season 2.

We’ll time travel to a Wiccan tradition created by and for gay men in the 1970s, and to the origins of the social media tag “manifesting” in the 1800s. We’ll learn how a Supreme Court case brought an African Diaspora Tradition to national attention, and how a Paiute dance became a profound religious movement. We’ll reveal the history of Appalachian magical practices, and unpack the religious controversies over Satanism.

Matthew Sawicki: This was a gay man who was being true to himself, who was really saying ‘No, my magic is valid and I'm not going to be discounted here.’

Danielle Boaz: The Supreme Court said you can't pass a law to specifically target a Lucumí community. 

Silver Daniels: You know magic and stuff aside, she's just a mom with witchcraft. You know, you get in trouble and your mom grounds you. I get in trouble and a candle is lit and I'm grounded.

Abel Gomez: Thinking about native traditions can offer many things, about how we might return the land to the people from whom it was dispossessed.

Susannah Crockford: You can basically self-hypnotize by just reciting these affirmations and convince yourself that you're capable of amazing things. 

Heather Freeman: Join me on May 7th for more magic, religion, and spiritual remixing in Season 2 of Magic in the United States, wherever you get your podcasts. And I'll see you, at the crossroads.