Alexandra Hughes 0:12
Everyone and their cat is talking about witches. But what is a witch or medicine woman or priestess? How does one become one? And what is the common thread between women who identify as such magical creatures? Welcome to the witch hunt podcast, where we hold space for healing conversations that collectively explore these questions with the intention of celebrating of illuminating and elevating the rise of feminine energy magic and self sourced power. All in a world that's gone pretty much mental. Every new and full moon host is Alexandra Requel Hughes, who identifies as all three of these sacred tights, in her own weird way, invites you to brew some tea to light a candle, and to join her in her conversations with witches, medicine, women, priestesses, and other magical creatures from around the world. So come gather to share in the knowledge, experience, magic and sacred stories of those women, who, once hunted to be burned at the stake, are now hunted, to be held in the light, so that they so that we can illuminate the way.
Maritza Schafer 1:30
I have knowledge that this is true when looking at it from the outside, is that I just have a certain way of knowing that I really, really trust and that sometimes freaks people out because technically or in quotes, like logically, I shouldn't be able to know some things that I know because nobody told me or because I didn't have access to the information. And I think it's really important for me to say that I'm not really interested in explaining it. Like I'm not here to prove a point scientifically, I just know what my experience is. And my experience has been pretty consistent in terms of having an inner knowing that is quite reliable.
Alexandra Hughes 2:12
Welcome to Episode 52 of the witch hunt podcast, but do have power and the nature of reality and in depth look at the ways of knowing and being behind witches magic, meat to muddy such Schaffer, a Chilean blue hat by descent who defines witches as those who understand and honor the true nature of reality, including the unexplainable, mysterious bits. In this episode, we talk about how Western society today is set up contranatura how part of this includes having been brainwashed to over rely on Well, our brainwashed brains, and how social conditioning teaches us to mistrust our inner knowing Maritza touches on the dangerously thin line between magical thinking and conspiracy theories, colonisation, paganism in Latin America, and she offers us a beautiful, detailed description of what working magic or as she calls it, making shit happen is all about Maritza is a season bruja. So smart and articulate and incredibly confident. We talk about everything I mentioned and so many other things and I just know you're going to enjoy this refreshing insightful super smart episode. But before we jump in, I want to remind you about the Witch Hunt Collective. Witch Hunt Collective is a year long women's circle that gathers under the full moon solstices and equinoxes offering regular opportunities to remember and embody your power that power you were born with to honor your soul mission. And we do this in sisterhood with like minded women. You can join for as little as $37 a month. I really hope you'll consider it. Now without further ado, here's my Maritza. Hola Maritza, beinvenida. I'm so excited to have you on the Witch Hunt Podcast. Welcome, welcome. Welcome.
Maritza Schafer 4:16
Oh, thank you. I'm super happy to be here.
Alexandra Hughes 4:19
Yeah, it's gonna be so much fun. So Maritza set. Let's begin with you introducing yourself to our listeners.
Maritza Schafer 4:29
All right. Well, hi, everybody. My name is Maritza. And I think I got invited to the witch hunt because I am in fact a Bruja. I was born and raised in Chile. And my family is a lineage of energy workers and through us that I was raised with and then I moved to the US when I was 18. And I've picked up some witchy tips and tools from my North American sisters. I've been here ever since. I actually also do a bunch of other stuff. But I think we'll focus on the magic for today. Correct?
Alexandra Hughes 5:06
Yeah, we can focus on the magic today. But our conversations here always kind of like be their way through our entire lives somehow. So we may, we may go there, can I, you know, I'm just so thrilled to be speaking to our Latina which we've had one other Liliana Garcia on the podcast, but I've never actually met, like a Latina Bruja before, which is interesting, because I identify as that myself, but my mother and my grandmother, never ever use the word bruja, at least not in an empowering way. And you told me a little bit when we spoke before about your mother's relationship with Brujería witchcraft. And with being a witch, can you tell us a little bit about what you were born into? And what that was like in Chile?
Maritza Schafer 6:00
Yeah, that's so interesting. You know, I was just visiting for the first time in a while, and I can't remember how it came up. But like my mom, people call my mom Bruja. Like, that's one of her nicknames, right? A lot of her friends, a lot of family. She's just like, hey, la bruja, whatever, right. And somebody was asking her about it. Like, basically, where did this come from? And she gave an answer that kind of blew off the question, like, the sense that I got is that she was like, aha, that's quaint, whatever. Because when people realize that it's not just a cute little word thing. And what it really means is that you're in front of, usually women, other men, which is as well that's for another story, but you're in front of a very powerful woman. And by definition, a powerful woman is a threat to the current system. And so I think that it's important to be very thoughtful about when to let people know that you're powerful, and when to let people know that you can actually be a threat to the system, not because like in the fairy tales, you're evil or gonna eat the children or whatever, but a threat to all of the oppressive abusive systems that elevate one way of being over every other. And so I think that this idea of women as witches being a threat has been, like many other things twisted to be used against us, when in reality, where we are a threat to all that is greedy, all that is, I want to dare say it wrong, all that is abusive, or that is destructive, or that is oppressive. That's what we're threatening. We're not threatening anything that's about abundance and generosity, and diversity and joy and celebration, you know?
Alexandra Hughes 8:17
Yeah. Yeah.
Maritza Schafer 8:19
So how can I get there? That was so not the question.
Alexandra Hughes 8:23
My questions aren't always straightforward. But you were answering, you know, that moment in time when your mother sort of played down the word, right, her nickname, her nickname,
Maritza Schafer 8:35
so everybody knows that she's, you know, a bruja. And I think that many people don't truly understand what that means, or have not paused for long enough to really think it through. I mean, I think that the way I think of, of bruja, some witches, specifically, it's basically somebody who carries deep wisdom, who is connected to what I'm going to call the nature of reality. And what I mean by the nature of reality, it's both the physical reality that we can see and touch and even taste and smell and feel, and the reality that is not perceived by our five senses. If you think about all of the science that explains, you know, the atomic nature of of the physical world that is not really observable to the five senses without further assistance, and nobody thinks that's weird. And when we have other parts of reality that are not observable without assistance, and some of us have access to observing that people think it's weird, but I think it's just a function of being misplaced in time of like not having the means yet for more people to connect with the aspects of reality that are invisible but incredibly powerful. Will, I'm really defining our experience.
Alexandra Hughes 10:04
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I'm always telling my husband that science is just catching up with the intuition. He doesn't believe me, but. But so I'm curious, then, you know, a woman of your mother's generation in Chile, how you know, she is thoughtful, perhaps even strategic about the use of that word or her relationship with that word. What does she think about you running bruja school? Does she know?
Maritza Schafer 10:40
I don't know that she thinks about it very much. You know, I mean, I think it's scary. Because, again, people were so judgmental, and we so misunderstand, again, powerful women and the mystery of life. That is what my Bruja school is about. It's trying to help people understand their spiritual nature help people access the tools, so that they can better work with their spiritual nature, which is so intrinsic to who we are. And I would argue that disconnection from it is why we are in such a freaking mess at the planetary level. So it's, you know, one of the most important critical things I could be doing, and yet, I think, again, there's a lot of misunderstanding or judgment around what that's really about. And it feels kind of dangerous. You know, I mean, like, witches were a non witches, mostly non witches, quite frankly, were burned at the stake because of these thoughts of what would happen if we understand the nature of reality. And I think that if we not just understand, but also align ourselves with the nature of reality, then everything about the West, at least, I don't know enough about other cultures, I'm like, from the Western Hemisphere, everything about our culture would have to change everything, because it's absolutely set up in a way that in Spanish, we would call it a contranatura that it's like literally pushing against nature. And by nature, I not only mean the trees, and the birds and the fish, or whatever. I mean, the nature of the experience of humans on Earth, like how people are, I believe meant to be meant to behave meant to connect with each other. We're not set up to do that freely.
Alexandra Hughes 12:39
And I would add to that, well, it's not really in addition, I think it was implicit in what you said, the connection to our bodies, so the connection to one another's, but I believe our bodies are simply an extension of the earth. And you know, that connection to our body has also been severed.
Maritza Schafer 12:58
Yep, that's right. I mean, it's kind of hard to understand. Sometimes it's What do you mean? Like, I mean, my body, like, How can I not be in my body, but I think that so many of us are really, from the neck up. Because so much of what we do is intellectual, and sort of thoughtful, not necessarily in a thoughtful way, and forgetting about all the other aspects of ourselves that have to do with our embodiment, with our energy, and with our soul and our heart and our emotions. One of the things that I teach is that there's four aspects of ourselves. And one aspect is the mind. And I feel there's an overemphasis on the mind, in our culture to the detriment of the other aspects, which again, are the emotional, the physical, and the spiritual. And so that's, you know, if you think about it, we're mostly functioning with 25% of our true capacity, if you will, most of the time. How much are we leaving on the table from this disconnection from our hearts and our bodies? And our souls?
Alexandra Hughes 14:03
Yeah, absolutely, which in turn support a disconnect with other humans, other other animals and all the trees and birds and you know, plants? Because I think that that the compass lies, the compass lies like the North Star decision making lies in those other non mind pieces. And I believe that the mind is there to then kind of follow suit, like follow the the wisdom that comes from the body or the intuition or the spirit, but we've flipped it around. presented as superior.
Maritza Schafer 14:44
Exactly. And that's, that's exactly right. And I think that what's really fascinating about these times that we live in is that we, in general, as a culture, because we're disconnected from these other aspects of ourselves. It's not only disconnected, but also kind of looked down on them and feel like it's some sort of inferior way of being or inferior way of knowing. And I think that again, what more evidence do you want them? Like, look around? Like, how's that working out for us? How is it working out to be leading with the mind only, and again, I'm super nerdy. I love me, you know, my reading my studying my writing. I'm like, very much an idea person. But when it's mostly that to the detriment of the other parts of myself, I can handle the bill. You know, like, it's not free, like there's a cost to being in that way. And I think that we're experiencing that cost as a species right now.
Alexandra Hughes 15:45
Yeah, so many levels. I'm in full agreement, I want to circle back around and ask a little bit about what it was like to be raised by a bruja in Chile.
Maritza Schafer 15:54
You know, that's really interesting, because like hearing the US say, I've met a lot of like, Christian and Jewish people. And people never get asked that because we have this, this idea that it's kind of like, you know, this momentous, okay. So like on, you know, under the full moon, you will come and get past the wisdom. And there's like a bit of that, but it's really more than anything, a way of being and a way of living. And so it's a lifestyle, it's very hard for me to answer that question. Because it's like asking a fish to describe water, you know what I mean? And so I'm thinking, like, I don't even know how to address that. And it's something that I've been working on, because I've, because it's helpful for people to better understand, I know so many people that have grown up with religions that didn't really serve them or without anything, and are looking for a spiritual path. And so they have this story about finding a teacher or finding a book or having some sort of spiritual experience. And then they start following a path. And, and I feel like I don't really have that story to tell, because it's always been part of my life, but not necessarily in an explicit way. You know what I mean? It's not like, again, it's not like I got sat down and got taught formally these things. I just kind of absorbed it by osmosis over the years.
Alexandra Hughes 17:25
Yeah, that totally makes sense to me. To me, my experience was one where I came to learn over time, that some things were just a little bit different about me, than other people are a little bit different about my upbringing. Like, I think I shared. This blew me away when I figured it out, or I shouldn't say figured it out, when it all of a sudden had meaning for me, when I realized that my father had been painting my mother, as the Virgin Mary, he wasn't a particularly religious person, he was fascinated by the church, but he wasn't a practicing by any means Catholic. But you know, when I saw that, I thought, that's weird. You know, like, other families that didn't happen, or that he would bring home goddess, statues from different places around the world, and that my husband had done the same. My husband is the most atheist, like, economist, left brain person ever, you know, but just weird kind of things that all of a sudden, now I'm awakening to? And I'm saying, oh, that's an interesting coincidence, you know, but was, so maybe a better question for you might be, was there a moment in time? Or were there moments in time when you realize that you were different? Or that because it's not really a religion? I mean, there are spiritual aspects to it, but that you approach life and saw life differently from the people around you? Because I've been to San Diego I have my grandmother 's best friend was Chilean, and it can be a very conservative society, actually.
Maritza Schafer 19:12
Yeah, totally. I mean, I think most of that in America is to a large extent, but also if you think about it, the entire region is really pagan, and during colonization, in order to bring through the whole Christian thing. There were so many things that were adapted and adopted from the original peoples that were there and that's happened everywhere. And it's no mystery. I mean, like the fact that Christmas is on Solstice is no accident like that's, that happened before the colonization of America, I believe, like that's something that, you know, happened, even in Europe beforehand, so it's not unusual to have a lot of mix things that are not part of the Christian religion. As part of the, of the church culture in Latin America, so it's like it is conserved, it's a little bit split, you know, it is conservative. And some people might be scared of witches, because the church has told them that they're scary, but they're also fascinated by them and super curious and want to learn more about it. And I think that both things are true. You know, like, I think that in terms of realizing being different, that can be Yeah, that can be like, really difficult, whether it's because you discover that you have a particular intuition or a psychic ability, or just a way of knowing that's different from other people. But I think that's true for any kind of difference when people realize that they're, I don't know dyslexic or that they're gay, it's kind of like the same process. There's nothing wrong with any of these things. It's just that the vast majority of people are may not be super familiar with what that experience is like. And so it makes it harder, in some ways. But hopefully, I do trust that we're moving in the right direction as a species and are becoming more open and more accepting of all these different ways of being human. Whether it's about a spiritual path or anything else.
Alexandra Hughes 21:23
Yeah, it is also my hope that with, you know, I often worry, it's my algorithm that is leading me to believe that there are more people on this like, divine feminine rising path than there actually are. But I'm still sort of holding on to that hope as well. Okay, so before we jump into your work, and I really want to go there, I wanted to ask you, how do you practice? Like, what is this craft for you to be a brew Ha, in your day to day? And is it something that is mostly drawn upon from things that you've learned from your family, like from your lineage? Or is it or have you kind of evolved your own craft and your own practice over time? Or maybe a combination of the two? What does it look like for you the day to day practice of being a witch?
Maritza Schafer 22:18
Yeah, it's definitely both. I mean, look, I think that the most salient thing for others for me, it's not, but I have knowledge that this is true, when looking at it from the outside, is that I just have a certain way of knowing that I really, really trust. And that sometimes freaks people out because technically or in quotes, like, logically, I shouldn't be able to know some things that I know, because nobody told me or because I didn't have access to the information. And I think it's really important for me to say that I'm not really interested in explaining it. Like I'm not here to prove a point scientifically, I just know what my experience is. And my experience has been pretty consistent in terms of having an inner knowing that is quite reliable. And that over the years, I've come to rely on more and more, because also this back to what I was explaining at the beginning in terms of our which is our perceived this inner knowing is something that society tries to really disconnect you from and make you doubt or hesitate about trusting. Because in quotes, it doesn't make sense that to the idea of like the over reliance on the mind, right, like the mind can understand it. And so then it might it might not be true, it might It must not be accurate. And that's what another case. Anyway, all of that is to say, I think that the main way in which I am a which is that I know what I know. And I trust that. And I also work really hard in balancing all of the aspects of myself because when somebody knows what they know, and they trust it, it is so easy to become a lunatic conspiracy theories fall into like a really dark place where reality consensus reality has not been connected with. In other words, I'm bringing this up because right now, the context in this country in the US specifically, but in the world in general, is that facts are completely up for debate. And I find that incredibly dangerous. And so the fact that I have an inner knowing that I can trust doesn't mean that whatever I believe is actually true. Right. And I just I think it's really important to make to make that differentiation about you know, one of the definitions of come price for Shammas is somebody who has the capacity to inhabit both worlds to travel between both worlds. And so I say this because as a witch, it's super important that my feet are firmly planted on the ground. And that I am not only that my craft is not only about working energy, knowing to trust my intuition, different kinds of meditation, working spells, whatever it might be, I also need to be operational, functional, even successful on this planet earth plane as well. And so the idea that we can only be in one place spiritually or that whatever I think, I guess, there's what I'm trying to say is that there's a difference between magical thinking and working magic, like working magic is serious is powerful. And it works. And magical thinking is a danger to democracy, amongst many other things.
Alexandra Hughes 26:05
Okay, I want to talk more about this, because I think it's really important. And I want to make sure I understand. So I love what you said, By the way, and this is really important for me to remind myself of to because I've got a lot of Piscean, dreamy, Lala energy. And thank goodness, I also have a lot of Capricorn, which supports me being well rooted, right? But like, for instance, during COVID, I'm not gonna say I joined the conspiracy theory gang, but I was able to understand their perspective. And there were times when I was asking a lot of questions about the information that we were being fed. And I remember choosing to be like to subscribe to both the kind of more, what would we call it like, public the public narratives, and then the conspiracy narratives because I wanted to understand what was going on. But I found it difficult I was there was a lot of cognitive dissonance going on. That's the word I'm looking for. There was a lot of cognitive dissonance going on. But I think the question that I have is like, how do you know, when the inner knowing is a truth? Or is a grounded truth? Maybe it's the right question. And not magical thinking? I
Maritza Schafer 27:28
think so one thing is that that is a lifelong practice. Right? And so getting to know how, you know, is a huge part of it, getting to know all aspects of yourself deeply. Knowing how you respond and react. And being able, the being able to tell the difference is such an excellent question, because I think it's different for everybody. And it's a function of a practice, for sure. One thing I can say is that magical thinking normally comes from a place of fear. And so my knowings, even if they're things that you could argue are potentially negative, or even terrible, they're never tinted with an emotional response or a judgment. Like when I know what I know, it's never necessarily a bad thing. It just is. Even if somebody could externally or even objectively feel like it's a bad thing. It just doesn't come across that way. And I think that, you know, magical thinking and really just making shit up in your head or choosing to believe crap is is a risk. It's a fear response, which is a very different way of having the sensation, I guess.
Alexandra Hughes 28:51
Yeah, yeah. Like a trauma response, a fear response. And yeah, so So again, it's about the energy that's flowing through our bodies, right? Is it? Is it an energy of trust and love and just a calm knowing? Or is it based? Are those words that you know, fear and judgment are all is all of that part of that feeling? And that's kind of I love that answer. That's really, really helpful. And then working magic, which you refer to tell us more about that. I want to hear the way you describe that or exemplify it or, yeah, yeah, so
Maritza Schafer 29:32
look, working magic is basically a way of making shit happen. It's that simple. I usually recommend working magic when it's for something that we genuinely don't know how else to achieve. So for example, any goal or any desire that you have in life, I would suggest first like go do it, like go try to do it right. And then what happens is that there are Some things that we put a ton of effort, a ton of time, a ton of energy of money, we do the therapy, we do the cores, we go through all of these things, and it's still not working out. That's when it's time to work magic. And I think it's because usually, there's an aspect of ourselves, that is not aligned with this desire. And so we need to have a little bit of an inner chat with our conscious self, or the divine aspects of ourselves and our subconscious mind to all be on the same team rooting for the same thing, when you want something, and that something is not working out so well. It can be because one aspect of yourself is trying to protect you or is not aligned in some way. And so the working magic is the process of getting super clear on what it is that you actually want to manifest, and then aligning all aspects of yourself all energies of yourself behind that goal. And so it happens in ways that are not necessarily making sense to our logical mind. Because, because the the, the divinity of existence is so unspeakable, not because it's forbidden to talk about or secretive, but because it's really impossible to articulate the immense vastness of the life source that we use other ways of trying to get to it, like art forms, like music and poetry and drawing or art. And so we have little metaphors of things that we want to see happen. And we play with those in real life as if they are playing out what we want to see happen. So that aspects of ourselves that wouldn't understand that if we just say it, we'll understand them if we make them happen on another level. Um, like, did that make any sense?
Alexandra Hughes 32:12
Okay. So. So yes, a lot
Maritza Schafer 32:17
pretty into the weeds of how this works. And yes, please you.
Alexandra Hughes 32:23
And also I want to ground it, can you share an example of your maybe personal example, or maybe a client or students example of how, you know, let's bring it into like the 3D?
Maritza Schafer 32:40
Yeah, no, that's exactly what I would have. But what I am talking about is in the 3D. So in order to align the aspects of yourself, you need to do something so that all aspects of yourself understand that this is the direction that you're moving towards. And so for example, I had a student who wanted to get a new job, and we worked on a spell for her to get a new job. And what's really interesting is that she did a lot of work with her ancestry, which is Nordic, and hilariously, her new job after 15 years was with boss named Thor, right? And the fact that what you were talking about the coincidence, it was like so funny because she literally worked with like Northern deities, and then Thor is her new boss, I'm like, okay, obviously that spell work. But the process of working the spell is what makes it grounded in 3D reality. Like you get implements, you know, people talk about using different herbs and different stones and different symbols, material symbols of things that they want to see happen, different perfumes, or different days of the week that are aligned with the kind of thing that they want to see happen in their life. And then working with those elements to act as if this thing already is so because making it so in 3D reality in this metaphorical way, it then allows you to transmute in the metaphysical and then back in the physical in the way that you want to experience it. So in other words, Put very simply like say, you're casting for animal lover, and so you get like, whatever, like two little figurines of like penguins like representing romantic love, and you imbue them with the energy of like, okay, this is me, this is my partner that's coming, and I want it to have these characteristics. So you create a little scene with those characteristics. And then let's say like, Okay, so what's going to happen? I don't want to do it during the new moon to symbolize a new start, and what's gonna happen is that whatever, like, three months after I meet my partner, I'm going to give away the little figurines to like children that live on my blog or whatever. I mean, there's like a gazillion ways to Read spells and there's tons of like spell recipes, if you will, like people share mechanisms of how they've done this that have worked for them in the past. But that's, that's basically the mechanics of spell casting in working magic. And there's ways of working magic that don't necessarily involve spells per se. But that is it's a lot of energy work. That quite frankly, when you're doing it, it's very unsexy, because it could simply look like somebody just sitting there with their eyes closed in quotes, doing nothing. But what's going on inside in terms of the focus, the concentration, the projection, the visualization, the sensing of different energies, and balancing them and working them takes a ton of practice, and it's quite incredible. But it looks like nothing, you know? Yeah.
Alexandra Hughes 35:56
And I like in my experience has been that sometimes it's even worse than looking like nothing. It involves shadow work that feels like shit. Because I'm present, right?
Maritza Schafer 36:07
Because I'm present
Alexandra Hughes 36:08
Like, to clear the channel or to to heal the traumas that are blocking, whatever you're inviting through isn't easy work? Well,
Maritza Schafer 36:19
it actually kind of sucks, which is why most people choose to not do it. You know what I mean? Like, I'm a firm believer that the level of intensity that you choose in life applies both ways. In other words, you're only going to get as happy as you're willing to get sad, right? So most of us want to just kind of like stay in the middle because it feels safer and less uncomfortable. But if we dare to go deeper into Yeah, the shadow and those aspects of ourselves that have the fear, the anger, the pain, the trauma, and really accept that and embrace that. That's where the real love, like majestic Joy gets liberated, but why the fuck would you go through that when you can just go about your business? And like, ignore that aspect of yourself? You know what I mean? Yeah,
Alexandra Hughes 37:12
yeah, yeah, I always say, and I said it yesterday in the podcast that will precede the swan, that the darker the shadow, the brighter the light. That's right.
Maritza Schafer 37:22
I believe that to be true. And I think that that's why that's another reason why witches are so scary, because people intuitively know that we've been willing to do that work. And what kind of courage that does that take? Right? And what else would they be willing to do? Right, like courageous people are intimidating and courageous women especially are intimidating. And so I think that's part of that, that idea as well. Yeah,
Alexandra Hughes 37:49
yeah. And you have worked some really amazing magic in your life. Maritza and I, you know, I said, before I hit the record button, that you're such an inspiration to me, you've built well, more than one successful business. And you are the founder of bruja School, which has, you know, an evidence based methodology or approach. And I would love to hear more about that. And I'd love to hear how you worked your magic in order to get to where you are today. Let's start with that. Can you share a little bit about your journey, building your businesses and how you navigated that as a witch, because, like I said, I think it's really important for our listeners to understand the challenges associated with navigating toxic capitalism as witches as business witches, and, you know, tips, tips and tricks of the trade.
Maritza Schafer 38:49
Well, I mean, I don't even know where to begin, I worked in the nonprofit sector, doing communications for progressive causes for a long, long time, before I finally decided to start a business. And I think in terms of how that relates to being which and it's really any sort of transformational work, you can ask any coach out there that doesn't identify as a witch will have probably a similar theory, it was really important to be able to think of myself differently to if you will embrace a new identity because there was nothing about this like revolutionary nonprofit worker that synced up with being a business woman, like those are completely different identities, or so I thought. And so part of the process was really understanding what being in business would mean for me, what making more money way more money actually than I was making in the nonprofit sector would mean for me, how would I be comfortable with that? How would I be willing to do the hard work? work that was necessary for that. All of those pieces, in a way are a huge part of the spiritual path in and of themselves. Like, it's such a challenge to grow, to see yourself in new ways to develop skills that you were never interested in having and are absolutely prerequisite for the next phase of your life. So I think that all of that in and of itself is such a great spiritual practice in terms of stretching myself and being willing to try on different things. I think that in terms of actually, the magic, I have worked a lot of magic with very practical goals, if you will, like I've, I've worked magic to help me finish projects and work magic to launch the businesses and work magic to make money to get more clients. And what's super interesting and amazing is that it works. It works every time. It's just that we forget to do it in the same way that most humans know that I don't know, working out regularly is so incredibly good for their health, but so many people struggle with it anyway. Right? When it's like you're only we're only when I get the results of the work that we put into things. And I think that the same thing is true with magic. It's not that magic happens without doing anything, is that through working magic, we can make things happen that maybe would not have happened otherwise probably wouldn't have happened otherwise. Does that make sense? Yeah,
Alexandra Hughes 41:31
yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's the intention. And the focus and the clarity, I think are really, really key. And then it's the, the doing and the magic and the spell casting that sits behind it. For me, the clarity piece has, has kind of thrown me off quite a few times. But I also wanted to go back to what you said even before that, which was you know, about the spiritual practice of I'm putting different words to it, but about rebirth, rebirth in your identity, like over and over and over again. And my experience has been like working with the moon, for instance, or working with the seasons, for instance, you know, to really allow myself to let go and parts of me die to create space for new elements, but to to know what the new version of myself needs to take on or needs to become in order to honor that spell or in order to reach that goal, whatever words we want to use for it. But it does require the death element like it does require that really tricky, messy, cyclical spiral style living, I don't underneath cyclical living, I guess we could call it but the whole death rebirth piece, I think, is something that witches do really well. And that can support us to shape shift into that version of ourselves that were that we're going for.
Maritza Schafer 43:04
Yeah, 100%. I mean, look, it's interesting, because I teach, I teach magical tools, right? I have this program that I call liberation magic, and I teach people a bunch of stuff that I can tell you a bit about if you're interested. But one of the main, I have three axioms that I talk about, and one of them is about everything is born and grows, dies and is reborn, right? Humans, galaxies, businesses, everything, like organizations, all of it right and so accepting. Remember, I was talking about the nature of reality and how witches are connected with the nature of reality, accepting that nature of reality is incredibly liberating. Because again, in the West, we want to believe that we're only born and grow born and grow born and grow. There's never a moment for the exhale, there's never a moment of decay, or rest, or God forbid death, and like deep degeneration and regeneration, which is bound to happen, right? So dying to an aspect of ourselves and being reborn in a different way. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, we want to be able to do that as much as possible before this body actually dies. And I don't have the opportunity to do it in this way again, right? So getting comfortable with the cyclical nature of reality is a huge piece of being able to work magic for sure. And understanding where in the cycle you're in, for what aspect because parts of your life can be dying and parts of your life can be midway, and some could be just getting started. And all of that can be true at the same time. Which is another one of the axioms that I teach is that paradox is the organizing principle of life and which is gets super common. trouble with that idea. And in that awareness and acceptance, there's so much power, because you're not fighting reality you're working with it. Right? Instead of trying to make reality fit into this, like, narrow little box that we've been handed. In society, we're actually opening it up to see what else emerges from there naturally, because it's the way things are like you can't fight the way things are, you know what I mean? And things are freaking in very intense and complicated and very oftentimes paradoxical. And that doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with them, it just means that we've been in denial about the nature of reality.
Alexandra Hughes 45:39
Yeah, yeah, I think for me, I've been sensing a lot more an invitation to go towards the both and instead of the either or, and it requires cognitive dissonance sometimes, and it requires nuanced thinking. And it just, it's just much more involved in conscious presence. So yeah, so thank you for saying that. And I just, I would really like to know how bruja School was born, and how it works. And you know what it's like?
Maritza Schafer 46:21
Yeah, thanks for asking. It's fantastic. If I may say so myself, it's been really, really fun. I started it. God, I don't know, maybe four years ago by now. So in the grand scheme of things relatively recently, I've been teaching the liberation magic program to several cohorts now. And basically, it's a way for me to talk people through how to develop a magical practice how to learn from a witch, whether or not you want to become a witch is kind of irrelevant, but like, the tools that we use, that are so powerful to transform your life for the better, is what I help people with. And so I teach them about the elemental framework, which is about the four directions and the four aspects of yourself. And anyway, a lot more in detail around how to balance and work with them. We talk about energy and how to work with it. spellcasting, how to, again, like I mentioned earlier, align different levels of your consciousness. And it's 13 weeks long. So a couple of moons three moons, and it's basically an introduction to magical practices and spiritual tools.
Alexandra Hughes 47:45
I really want I really, I don't know if you want to talk about this, and I can cut it out. But are you do you feel comfortable talking about how some of those elements you weave into your consultancy business as well?
Maritza Schafer 47:58
Yeah, totally. So Right. The other thing I do is I have an executive coach, and I work with organizational clients, helping them with organizational culture, which is basically helping people be better version of themselves do better work and get along, right. And so helping folks understand in organizational contexts, some of the real basic elements of working magic and the principles that I apply in my life, from being a witch, like speaking truth is the path of liberation, right. And so what I find a lot in organizations is that people just don't want to see the thing. They don't want to say the thing, so that all kinds of hilarity ensues. Because people make assumptions, or they misunderstand the silence, or the thing that was said, instead of the thing that wanted to be said, creates all kinds of problems. And so it's not that necessarily people are outright lying to each other. But it's often times that people don't have the courage to tell their truth. And that is, so many times at the heart of challenges in groups of people, whether it's at work or anywhere. And in order to tell your truth, you need to know what it is. And so people haven't really done the work to understand what is my preference? What is my opinion? What is my desire? What is my concern, like, you need to be able to know what those things are before you can talk about them. And so that's a lot of what I do during the coaching process as well, which is analogous to helping people decide what they want to cast a spell for, right, like, what is it that you actually want to accomplish? And why? Most of us don't really know the answer to that question. And when we take the time to put the intention, the attention and the effort to allow that answer to emerge. Magic literally happens. Yeah.
Alexandra Hughes 49:54
Yeah. It seems so simple yet it gets in the way I have so much when it isn't done, which is most of the time. And I think it's just really important. I know, we haven't talked a lot about it, but I really want for our listeners to hear and to share this kind of new understanding that has landed in speaking with you. And now in exploring the way I do my work as well, how these which concepts, which are essentially ecofeminist concept, and, and beyond, you know, can actually heal the it's not just this side gig hobby thing, like these are principles that have great healing power at an organizational level, you know, at the end, and as such can really make an enormous difference at a societal level. So I just think that, you know, I'm so thankful that you're doing that. And it's not as if you couldn't write like, I couldn't do it, if it were out of integrity with the way I am. But I just imagining like all these witches around the world in these positions where they can influence things and bring in their principles, and apply them to heal situations that are, you know, in contexts that are not witchy at all. I just, I just feel like it's so powerful. And I also feel like there's such a call right now for that. So thank you, Maritza, for sharing and for doing that. Thank
Maritza Schafer 51:31
you. Thank you so much. Thanks for inviting me.
Alexandra Hughes 51:34
Oh, it's such a pleasure to have you here. Is there something that you would like to share of a sacred ritual that you do just to close up our little time? And I also I would like, well, I'll ask you this after, but I'd like to put some links in the show notes to Bruja School, and maybe even to your consultancy practice in case there are listeners who could benefit from that, too.
Maritza Schafer 51:56
Yeah, it's https://brujaschool.com/application-magic/. I would I recommend for people, especially those who don't have much of a practice, it's just like, take a few minutes in the morning at the beginning of your day to just settle and connect to the skies and the ground. In other words, the heavens and the earth and really feel how you're at the perfect intersection of them both standing on Earth immediately in the air and running that energy and see what do you feel when you're visualizing being energized by the Earth and by the sky and play with that for a little bit and see how that goes.
Alexandra Hughes 52:41
I love that so much. On one of my the last vision board I created it says in French at Tiffin alto CLE, which you will understand, you know, Saturday night in through the CLO laterra, which is where we are bridges, we are channels. I love that. That's really beautiful. Thank you. Thank you for sharing and thank you for being here. It's been a real honor to have you.
Maritza Schafer 53:07
Oh, thank you so much. It's great to see you, Alex.
Alexandra Hughes 53:12
Thank you beautiful for listening to the witch hunt podcast. We appreciate your presence and are so honored that you're here. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review, subscribe and share it with your friends. One great way to share is by taking a screenshot of the podcast on your phone and posting it on your Instagram story. Please tag us at the witch hunt podcast so that we can help share to spreading the word like this will help us to find more witches, and to wake more witches. Now you know what it's time to do. Dance it out to the groovy tunes of this extraño, which means I miss you in Spanish. It's by gametize till next time.
