We are Pleasant Gehman and Crystal Ravenwolf, a duo of divination divas, “spiritual sisters from another mister”. We’re life-long Tarotistas, obsessed with all things esoteric and paranormal. Look for our forthcoming book, “Walking The Tarot Path” in 2017.
We’ve created this blog to share our knowledge and to connect with the vibrant worldwide metaphysical and paranormal community. We hope it’s as fun for you to read as it is for us to write…Enjoy!
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| Boss Witch Madame Pamita |
Madame Pamita is a multi-talented,
multi-disciplinary magickal badass. She’s a divination sensation and a super-alpha boss-lady witch who runs a thriving international metaphysical business based in Los Angeles. But that's not all: she's incredibly talented and very productive in many diverse areas, and wears many hats -pointy and black, of course! She’s an accomplished root worker/ hoodoo practitioner, teacher,
blogger, podcaster and author. Oh yeah…
she also a mother of two teenage sons- and
a rock ‘n’roll musician. In fact, she’s
such a modern-day Wonder Woman; it’s no surprise that her shop is called The
Parlour Of Wanders. We had the extreme pleasure of interviewing her…and we know you'll love her as much as we do!
Divination Nation: How did
you start out with witchcraft and hoodoo root work?
Madame Pamita: I started out
as a baby witch. When I was ten, I bought my first tarot deck! Even before
that, probably at 7 or 8 years old, I remember reading a book of Greek
mythology and, despite the fact that I was raised a good Catholic girl, I
remember thinking, “Why can’t I believe in multiple gods and goddesses?” It
seemed to make so much more sense to me.
When I was going to junior high in Santa Monica, my school library had
books by the famous English witch, Sybil Leek, and I would check them out and
try to follow all her (very vague) spell tips. There wasn’t a lot of
information out there on witchcraft back in the ‘70s, but I grabbed whatever
books on magic, the occult, or supernatural phenomena I could get my little
hands on, mostly stuff from the public library.
So, to answer your question, I can’t really remember a time where I
wasn’t drawn to magic, divination, and spell craft. Remember, this was the time
where Bewitched was on TV in syndication, so who wouldn’t want to be able to
fly on a broom and clean up an entire house by twitching their nose? I’m still
working on that housecleaning spell, by the way. Haven’t mastered that one!
Divination Nation: Who did you learn from-or did
you study on your own?
Madame Pamita: I
definitely was self-taught as a kid, although my mother was never discouraging
of my magic. She definitely brought folk magic into my world and would do
things like bring me back a wrapped up piece of cake from a wedding and tell me
that if I put it under my pillow, I would dream about my future husband. When I
was little, in the 1970s, psi phenomena were big and so my mother and I would
try to practice ESP and things like that. I definitely grew up in a magical
household. Her mother (who died when she was only 17) was definitely a folk
magician. She was Ukrainian, and would do things like candle wax readings and
so on. Folk magic was never discouraged in my family, that’s for sure.
So, in the beginning, I was learning through books from the library and
the practices handed down to me from my mom, but eventually it morphed into a
more formal magical education once I was in my twenties. I had a girlfriend who
was connected to Circle of Aradia, which was a huge Feminist Wicca coven in
Topanga Canyon and she got me involved with them. It was a super righteous mix
of riot grrl and Gloria Steinem-style Women’s Lib feminism. I loved it! All
women teaching and learning magic! It was great! I practiced candle magic, went
to Sabbats, formed a coven, and took classes on magic and divination through
them and all of that really solidified my somewhat patchwork training from my
earlier years. What I learned with them really set up a strong foundation.
Divination Nation: Tell us about your influences, mentors and
teachers… Did you know this was your calling right away?
Madame Pamita: I think, as
many spiritual people do, I opened up my spiritual understanding and evolved in
my practice to make it very personal for myself. A really wise man once said to
me, “If there are seven billion people in the world, there ought to be seven
billion religions.” This is so true! We all have our own spiritual path (even
if that’s no spiritual path) and each of us is unique. So, my spiritual path is
definitely singular to me. I don’t believe it’s right for everyone, but it’s right
for me. I call myself a New Thought Spiritualist. I blend magic with the Law of
Attraction and I have seen phenomenal results from my practice. It’s not
everyone’s cup of tea, but it definitely works very well for me.
Throughout the years, I’ve picked up so much from teachers, that I
really feel called to teach others. In fact, the Hierophant card is my soul
card (in numerology I’m a number 5). So, I was born to be someone who passes on
traditional wisdom. I love to show my clients and students what I know so that
they can take away what works for them and add it to their own personal
spiritual mix.
I’ve learned from real teachers in a formal training setting, such as
Ruth Barrett and later Catherine Yronwode. I’ve been influenced by many through
books - Judika Illes, Rachel Pollack, Mary Greer, Starhawk, Diana Paxson,
Robert M. Place, Esther Hicks, and Rob Brezsny, for example.
I can’t forget my teachers on the spirit realm. As I’ve opened up more
spiritually, I’ve gained so much knowledge through just connecting to my
guides. I often go to my Akashic records and just check in with them and they
always pull out exactly the right information for me. It’s the best library
ever.
DN: What were your first forays into your work as
a tarot reader and witch… in comparison to what you do nowadays?
MP:
I started out doing tarot readings only. When I was trained in
spellcraft, the way I learned was that it was something you studied, perfected,
and did for yourself. It wasn’t until I was introduced to Hoodoo, that I began
to channel that energy into doing spells for other people. So, in my practice,
I combine those two. I teach people how to do spells for themselves, but
support them by doing spell work for them too.
I think my journey as a tarot reader is an interesting one. I was a
musician for many years and then I got interested in weird, old-time music from
the 1920s and ‘30s. Since I was already reading tarot for myself and for
friends, I came up with a vaudeville act: Madame Pamita’s Parlour of Wonders -
I would take on an old time fortune teller persona and read people’s cards
(with comedy fortunes) and play this cool old music on stage. It was a huge
hit! As a result of me doing these readings on stage, people started asking me
to do private readings for them or readings for their parties. So, I started
doing that part time. Then, my day job as a school librarian (are we going full
circle here?) was eliminated and I had to find a new job. So, I decided to give
bring a professional reader a go till I figured out what job I would do next.
My career as a reader instantly took off from there. In a true spiritual way,
my guides opened the door for me and all I had to do was step over the
threshold.
DN: How do you prepare for your work-
mentally/spiritually/emotionally/physically- anything specific that you do?
MP: I always, always, always check in with my guides and
connect up with the Akashic records before every reading. This is where I get
my information. How do I do that? Well, I have a intentional phrase that I say
to the person I’m reading for before every session: “I send you love and light,
I open up to divine wisdom, and I set the intention for this reading that it
done for the highest good, with the highest love and for the highest enlightenment.”
For me, that just opens up the door.
I try to make sure that I get enough sleep the night before a reading
day. Drinks are sometimes offered to me when I’m doing readings at a party but
I never drink alcohol while I’m reading. That just sends the channel in a
completely different direction - party mode versus reading mode. Something else
that can be fun and creative opens up with alcohol, but it definitely shuts
down the connection to the records.
Other than that, I think living a life that is spiritually awake and
aware opens up so much for you in terms of doing magic or reading. I focus on
sending out a positive and uplifting energy and keep that a part of my ongoing
day-to-day living, whether I am reading and doing magic or just shopping at the
grocery store.
DN: You’ve invented
your own form of divination called Numismancy, where you read quarters. Can you
tell our readers how long it took you to develop this unique system? Is it
particularly good for certain questions or prediction?
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| Madame Pamita in a numismancy divination |
MP: came in a super quick flash. I was doing an
interview on the Lucky Mojo Hoodoo Rootwork Hour and the topic was about using
coins in magic. On the show, I said that a person could get an oracle reading
on the fly by looking at the coins that they had in the pocket or coin purse.
In particular, a person in the U.S. could get very specific messages by looking
at the quarters, because the quarters all have various images on the back side
that can be read. Catherine Yronwode was hosting the show and she said that a
person could get a whole set of quarters and do readings with those, and I was
like, “I could totally do that!” So, coming up with they system was really a
collaboration born in about 30 seconds! I got a set of quarters after that
started working with them and did readings for people up at the Hoodoo Heritage
Festival earlier this year and they were amazingly accurate and insightful. So…
that is how a brand new divination system was born! As far as I know, no one
else is using quarters for readings, just me.
DN: You do spell work and divination for clients, teach classes in person
and online, you’re a writer and a musician- how does you divide your attention
between everything you do?
MP: When you list all those things out,
it looks a little crazy. I do all these things, and even a bit more. I’m a
single mom with two teenage sons, I have a band called The Neptunas, I run a
store (Madame Pamita’s Parlour of Wonders, I like to create art, I’m a candle
maker, I’m an avid reader, I play video games, I am a world traveler, the list
of the things that I love to do goes on and on. I have a lot of energy, that’s
for sure and a lot of enthusiasm for a wide variety of things in this world. I
have a hunch that I must have had a couple of lifetimes on this planet because
there is so much that I am fascinated with, so much that is interesting to me,
I get frustrated that I don’t have the time to do it all!
So, part of what helps with me doing everything that I do is that I have
an amazing team who help make all the stuff behind the scenes happen. Marlene
and Bridget are my right-hand women who are 100% there to run my online store,
answer client questions and get people the info that they need. With them
helping, I am able to focus on performing the spell work, doing the readings,
writing books, creating courses, writing blog posts, shooting videos and so on.
I am so lucky to have these amazing women working alongside me so that I can do
the magic. They are so phenomenal at what they do and they are everything to
me.
DN: Tell us about your forthcoming books …
I just finished a book called “Madame Pamita’s Magical Tarot” that will
be coming out through Red Wheel/Weiser in spring of 2018. I’ve just started
working on a second book on candle magic, with the working title, “Madame
Pamita’s Candle Magic” that should be out in 2019. But for people who want a
sneak preview of the info I have to share, I have a really gorgeous ebook
called “Seven Secrets to Supercharge Your Spellwork” that I would love to give
to them. Normally, it sells for $20, but if you go to sevensecretsebook.com and sign up
for my monthly newsletter (which always includes some great spell info), you
can get it for free! I love teaching people and sharing all the knowledge that
I’ve gathered over my lifetime (or lifetimes!), so it makes me super happy to
share this free book with your readers!
DN: Do you have any
spiritual/ magickal mentors or inspirational historical figures you’d like
mention?
MP: So many. I
love it that with a world history that seems dominated by men, that magic,
spiritualism, divination and the occult seem to be as propelled forward by
women as much as men. Some of my inspirations are Pamela Colman Smith, the
illustrator and designer of the Rider-Waite-Smith deck; Madame Blavatsky, who
really invented New Age spiritualism; Caroline Dye, an amazing African American
root doctor; Frida Kahlo, because of her amazing, channeled art; Joan of Arc
and all the religious mystics; Dorothy Maclean and Eileen Caddy, who founded
Findhorn; the list is really long and could go a lot longer.
DN: What’s your opinion on the importance and relevance
of magick and divination these days?
MP: Magic is everywhere and permeates everything.
This I know. People, who are open and attuned, get that. Our capitalist Western
culture has disconnected us from this truth, but people are longing for more of
that true connection. Divination and messages from the Akashic records are
helpful for connecting us on a level beyond what is visible to the rational eye
and magic helps us to shape our lives, directing things where we wish them to
go. If we are able to use divination and
magic, we can be both the navigator and the captain of our ship.
DN: What do you enjoy doing when you’re not
working?
MP: I love
spending time with my sons and my friends. I love playing music and going to
see bands. I am addicted to travel and try to travel internationally at least
once a year, with stateside trips in between. Travel is definitely a way to
open up magic and synchronicities for me. I just got back from two weeks in
Mexico City, where I played with my band. While I was there, two witches who
own an amazing shop in Mexico City called “Salem Witch Store and Coffee” saw on
my Instagram that I was there and invited me to meet up with them at their
shop. Of course, I jumped at the chance and I was able to start a new
friendship in real life with followers from my Instagram account. How cool is
that? The result of that is that I’ll be going back to Mexico City in the fall
and teaching a class with them there. That’s Magic and the Law of Attraction in
action!
DN: Please share some of your
favorite tips and advice for our readers….
MP: Doing magic
is bending or shifting things to go in the direction that you will it to go.
Having a little extra energetic support, through using herbs, gemstone, candles
and so on, gives our intention that extra boost that it needs to get momentum.
Some of my
favorite tools for doing magic, whether you’re a beginner or an expert, are
magical oils made from real essential herbs. Working with oils is easy and
incredibly effective. There are a huge number of
ways that you can use them, but the basic way is to say a prayer or intention
while applying spiritual oil to your body to surround you with a powerful
magical vibration. Apply a few drops of oil in an upward motion (from foot
toward head), if you want to bring something to you. Apply them in a downward
motion (from head toward foot), if you are working to clear away something
unwanted.
If you
make or buy a spiritual oil blend that is specifically formulated for love,
prosperity, luck, protection, spiritual cleansing or whatever it is that you
want to achieve magically, you can really amp up your spell. Even if you are
doing bigger, splashier magical work like candle magic, applying magical oil on
yourself beforehand will empower you as a magician.
#
Madame Pamita
will be doing Numismancy and Tarot
Readings in Los Angeles on Wednesday, July 19...joined by our very own Crystal Ravenwolf, who'll be reading too:
Belle, Book & Candle: Witchy Burlesque &
Psychics
July 19 doors 8pm
El Cid 4212 Sunset,LA CA
Find out more
about Madame Pamita or contract her for services:
Her podcasts magicandthelawofattraction.com and free instructional
videos at hoodoohowto.com and see what she’s up to with
her band The Neptunas www.neptunas.com
And
see what she’s up to with her band The Neptunas: www.neptunas.com
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| Crystal and Pleasant photo by Maharet Hughes |
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