Joanna Ebenstein is the founder and creative director of Morbid Anatomy, which is the world’s leading community that focuses on, among other things, the culture and contemplation of death. Morbid Anatomy has taken many forms since its founding in 2007. It’s been a wildly popular blog, a library, a museum, a project-in-residence at Green-Wood Cemetery, just to name a few, and it’s currently both an in-person gathering space in Brooklyn’s Industry City, as well as a thriving online community that features lectures, workshops, and merch, as well as in-person experiences including field trips, conferences, and other events.

An internationally recognized death expert, Joanna is the author of several books, including Anatomica: The Exquisite and Unsettling Art of Human Anatomy, Death: A Graveside Companion, and The Anatomical Venus. Her newest book is Momento Mori: The Art of Contemplating Death to Live a Better Life. She is also an award-winning curator, photographer, and graphic designer, and the teacher of the many times sold-out class, Make Your Own Memento Mori: Befriending Death with Art, History and the Imagination.

On this episode, Joanna discusses the value of ancestor veneration, her research on varying cultural attitudes about grief and loss, and how befriending death can lead to a better life.

Pam also talks about Samhain as time to contemplate the divinity of death, and answers a listener question about activism and the Goddess.

Our sponsors for this episode are Ritual + Shelter, TU·ET·AL soap and skincare, BetterHelp, Secrets of Romani Fortune-Telling out now from Weiser Books, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, Mithras Candle, and the Missing Witches Deck of Oracles out now from North Atlantic Books.

We also have print-on-demand merch like Witch Wave shirts, sweatshirts, totes, stickers, and mugs available now here, and all sorts of other bewitching goodies available in the Witch Wave shop.

And if you want more Witch Wave, please consider supporting us on Patreon to get access to detailed show notes, bonus Witch Wave Plus episodes, Pam’s monthly online rituals, and more! That’s patreon.com/witchwave

Judika Illes is the author of numerous books devoted to spells, spirits, and witchcraft, including Encyclopedia of Spirits, as well as Pure Magic, Daily Magic, Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Encyclopedia of Mystics, Saints, and Sages, and Magic When You Need It. Judika also was a significant contributor to the Witchcraft book Pam co-edited for Taschen’s Library of Esoterica Series, and she’s been a speaker at the Occult Humanities Conference as well.

Her newest literary offering, Witches: A Compendium, explores what a witch is and the different ways to be one. In it Judika Illes presents the history, mysteries, and diverse natures of witches from around the world. Featuring a who’s who ranging from famous—or infamous—historical witches such as Tituba, Sybil Leek, Aleister Crowley and popular fictional witches such as the Scarlet Witch, Agatha Harkness, and the Wicked Witch of the West, Witches: A Compendium celebrates witches in all their complicated glory.

Judika herself is a practicing witch who has been a professional tarot card reader for over three decades and is a certified aromatherapist. A native New Yorker, she teaches in the US and internationally, live and virtually, and is one of the world’s most knowledgeable and renowned experts in witchcraft.

On this episode, Judika discusses her favorite pop culture witches, bewitching Egyptian deities, and why the witch is a symbol of transgressive joy.

Pam also talks about her Occultober film and TV viewing plans, and answers a listener question about setting a protective magical boundary at work.

Our sponsors for this episode are Luna Lifted, The Modern Witches’ Confluence, BetterHelp, Woodland Magic, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, and Rue and Vervain

We also have print-on-demand merch like Witch Wave shirts, sweatshirts, totes, stickers, and mugs available now here.

And if you want more Witch Wave, please consider supporting us on Patreon to get access to detailed show notes, bonus Witch Wave Plus episodes, Pam’s monthly online rituals, and more! That’s patreon.com/witchwave