Witch Sweat

Death Stuff, Grief Stuff, and the Gods in the Ground

An episode for people who wanna get into the loving mystery and magic of death, dying and grief work. In this solo show, Melissa shares a story from a recent encounter with a dying person, and some powerful / hard-won lil gemstones of truth that have emerged since.
Don’t be scared! Let’s normalize these convos and make it feel less bewildering and weird. 
Ilysm thank you for being here ⚡️
 
**Join the waitlist for Grief Threads ~ doors opening for our Fall Cohort this Friday October 6, 2023**
LINKS
If you enjoyed the episode, check out —
Your Palatability is a Liability w/ Narinder Bazen
The Ancestral Hot Seat
 
Mentioned in the episode—
Andrea Gibson interviewed by Glennon Doyle
Book 1:1 Creative Guidance time with Melissa
Free Resources —
Check out Attention Reset - my free digital art zine on reviving your road-weary attention
Stay Connected —
Follow Melissa’s Instagram for podcast updates
Join Melissa’s weeklyish newsletter for creative musings and studio news
Big thanks to Ben Coleman for composing our theme music, and Gavin Bernard for vocals

Intergalactic Masculinity w/ Hez Stalcup

We are in search of more imaginative expressions of masculinity - in ourselves and in the world, who tf is with us?? Let’s get into the energy of the nourishing and life-affirming badassery that is the sacred and dare-we-say intergalactic masculine principle.
We talk Sedona vortexes, performative masculinity as a survival strategy, entity work, erotic power, desire, exhaustion, and MORE!
This episode is a GRAND follow-up to last week’s The Holy Fire of Other People’s Opinions ~ having a relationship with the inner masculine can offer some major healing to our people-pleasing recovery journey…
 
More about our guest —
Email Hez for Erotic Advisory Consults ~ hezstalcup@gmail.com
Book 1:1 Creative Guidance time with Melissa
Free Resources —
Check out Attention Reset - my free digital art zine on reviving your road-weary attention
Stay Connected —
Follow Melissa’s Instagram for podcast updates
Join Melissa’s weeklyish newsletter for creative musings and studio news
Big thanks to Ben Coleman for composing our theme music, and Gavin Bernard for vocals

The Holy Fire of Other People’s Opinions : Getting Unpalatable Workshop

This week Mel shares an excerpt from a recent mini-workshop on the cost of prioritizing likeability in the eyes of others. We unravel the tangled knots of codependency, living as if to placate others, and orienting to life as if you’re always on the edge of being in trouble or needing to explain yourself.
She shares a few somatic tools for loosening the grip of some of these learned habits and trauma responses, all in the name of getting more free and having more access to our DANG MAGIC.
 
Join the Getting Unpalatable Dance Class Tuesday, September 19 // 6-8pm est
If you enjoyed the episode, check out —
Your Palatability Is A Liability w/ Narinder Bazen
Getting Cracked Open By the Divine w/ Dajé Aloh
Book 1:1 Creative Guidance time with Melissa
Free Resources —
Check out Attention Reset - my free digital art zine on reviving your road-weary attention
Stay Connected —
Follow Melissa’s Instagram for podcast updates
Join Melissa’s weeklyish newsletter for creative musings and studio news
Big thanks to Ben Coleman for composing our theme music, and Gavin Bernard for vocals

Getting Cracked Open By the Divine w/ Dajé Alōh

This week we are joined by the dazzling Dajé Alōh aka The Story Doula, and DANG do we get blessed by her presence. She takes us all the way to church and to the underworld beneath the church, and has us swinging from the rafters by the end of it. We talk recovery from fundamentalist Christian upbringing, and mining the jewels from the faith for a more creative, more gritty OF THE EARTH AND DIRT kind of spiritual fortitude.
We talk about the patriarchy killing our relationship to worship and awe.
We talk about how everybody can be a land-steward regardless of your location or occupation, and how our relationship to the land we live on has everything to do with our relationship to the Divine.
I got drunk on the magic sauce up in this one. Enjoy enjoy, babies.
LINKS
More about our guest —
Dajé Alōh’s Instagram
Dajé Alōh’s Website
Dajé Alōh’s Podcast
Kinspirit
Mentioned in the episode—
Join me for Getting Unpalatable this Friday 9/8/23 - a free mini workshop and conversation on de-prioritizing being likable to everyone so you can like yourself more. It’s gonna be special and funnnnn
Book 1:1 Creative Guidance time with Melissa
Free Resources —
Check out Attention Reset - my free digital art zine on reviving your road-weary attention
Stay Connected —
Follow Melissa’s Instagram for podcast updates
Join Melissa’s weeklyish newsletter for creative musings and studio news
Big thanks to Ben Coleman for composing our theme music, and Gavin Bernard for vocals. Go listen to everything Ben has made, you won’t be sorry!
I love you, thanks for being here!

The Ancestral Hot Seat

Mel takes us on a journey through the imagination and the realm of the ancestors, sharing a visualization tool for connecting to the big, fun resource that is your kindreds on the other side of the veil.
Beginners and skeptics welcome!
This is not about talking to dead people in a mediumship kind of way, but more like tippy-tapping on the back screen door of the ~beyond~ and recognizing that we really aren’t ever alone. We have a team of guides that want to play, and we aren’t expected to slog through life all by our lonesome.
It’s really just a matter of what we’re paying attention to…
We alsoooo talk about why you might feel shame, indifference, or avoidance altogether in connecting to the ancestors. Let's get into it! 
 
Book 1:1 Creative Guidance time with Melissa
Free Resources —
Check out Attention Reset - my free digital art zine on reviving your road-weary attention
Stay Connected —
Follow Melissa’s Instagram for podcast updates
Join Melissa’s weeklyish newsletter for creative musings and studio news
Big thanks to Ben Coleman for composing our theme music, and Gavin Bernard for vocals

Your Palatability Is A Liability w/ Narinder Bazen

What a death midwife-performance artist has to say about the habit of palatability. It miiiiight be killing you.
The cultural program of *making other people more comfortable over authenticity* gets parsed out as Melissa and Narinder yuck it up and talk about the role of the sacred clown in society, the shadow side of performing your very likable personality, and what it takes to get thyself free from the program of living small. Buckle up baby, there are tears, there are spicy rebukes, there are confessions! Let's go!
Thank you for listening, we love that you’re here.
🖤
More about our guest —
Narinder’s Instagram
Narinder’s Website
Mentioned in the episode—
Cathy Heller's Instagram
Free Resources —
Check out Attention Reset - my free digital art zine on reviving your road-weary attention
Stay Connected —
Follow Melissa’s Instagram for podcast updates
Join Melissa’s weeklyish newsletter for creative musings and studio news
Big thanks to Ben Coleman for composing our theme music, and Gavin Bernard for vocals

Play As Life-Balm w/ Marlo Fisken

This week we are graced by fitness-pole star-movement legend Marlo Fisken, who is one of the most delightful, goofy, generous humans I know.
We talk about the ways she empowers people to have more creative and unconventional relationships to their body and movement, and her tools for bringing as much play as possible into her world as an aid for doing hard things and disrupting the status quo. This conversation lit me all the way up. Marlo offers much inspiration and many delicious tools. Get into it!
 
More about our guest —
Marlo’s Instagram
Marlo’s Website
 
Free Resources —
Check out Attention Reset - my free digital art zine on reviving your road-weary attention
Stay Connected —
Follow Melissa’s Instagram for podcast updates
Join Melissa’s weeklyish newsletter for creative musings and studio news
Big thanks to Ben Coleman for composing our theme music, and Gavin Bernard for vocals
we love you, thank you for listening 🖤
 

The Dawn of Witch Sweat ~ trailer

This is the beginning of something. Let's gooooooo
 
Music by Ben Coleman - find more of his music at Ben Coleman Sounds on bandcamp
Vocals by Gavin Bernard - he does not want to be found anywhere, enjoy this rare encounter with his baritone dulcetness