What can you do that's going to leave the world a little bit better than before you got up this morning? Do that every day and the world changes.
In this episode, Sarah Potter talks about being dragged through the darkest parts of the underworld and coming out with new joy, new colour, and entirely new spectrums of possibility. She shares insights for hanging on to your optimism and sense of power and faith when the world is screaming and broken. Sarah leads public Full Moon rituals for hundreds of people and she shares insights from the emotional journey that brought her to that place, as well as some of the tactics she employs to embrace life wayyyy out of the broom closet.
"Sarah Potter is a celebrity psychic medium, Tarot reader, and professional witch based in NYC. Her spiritual guidance has been sought after by thousands of private and corporate clients as her work has been profiled by Forbes, Refinery 29, InStyle, Teen Vogue & countless other publications. As a resident Tarot Reader & witch at both Cosmopolitan & Bust Magazine, the natural next step in her Tarot journey led her to create her first book “The Cosmo Tarot : The Ultimate Deck & Guidebook” via Hearst Home. Sarah’s dedication to making magical modalities a practical and accessible part of everyday life has led her to become one of the most prominent faces of modern day witchcraft.
Sarah believes that everyone deserves to feel magical and her personal ethos is based on the magic of kindness and rainbows. She loves second dessert, going to the movie theatre on Sundays, and hanging out with her black cat, Polly Styrene. If you are considering attending one of Sarah’s events, she hopes you heed the call and know that you are always welcome."
Book a reading : https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=21046179
Attend a full moon ceremony : https://www.theasburyhotel.com/offers/full-moon-vip-package
Sarah's merch : https://heartwrenchcollective.com/collections/accessories/products/the-im-psychic-tote
Sarah's column at Cosmo: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/author/225049/Sarah-Potter/
Sarah's weekly Tarotscopes : https://www.astrology.com/article/astrology-authors/sarah-potter
Transcript
Sarah Potter
The Missing Witches podcast is brought to you by the Missing Witches Coven come find out more@missingwitches.com.
[00:00:07] Risa: I'm just tossing balls. I'm getting hit in the head by them at all times.
[00:00:12] Sarah: The life of a
[00:00:17] Risa: Welcome listeners. Welcome witches. Welcome punk rock cats. Welcome, coven mates, welcome all the colors, all the feelings, all the places you might be at in the spectrum of rage to delight. All of that is welcome at the Missing Witches podcast, and we're really glad you're here with us. And I am really glad to be here today.
I already feel sort of buoyed by color and joy and friendliness with the guests that we have today. Sarah Potter. Welcome to the Missing Witches podcast. Do you
[00:01:00] Sarah: feel like, um,
[00:01:04] Risa: Introducing yourself, introducing yourself in the way that like you feel you are today. You can give us your cocktail line or you can fuck a cocktail line.
You can fuck the whole cocktail line if you want. I have no judgment about that. But you could like dismiss any prepared statements and just tell us how you're feeling today
[00:01:20] Sarah: ooh, wow. My name is Sarah Potter and I am a witch. I am feeling effervescent today. And I'm feeling quite well hydrated.
It's really lovely and like a hydrated bubble. How
[00:01:40] Risa: nice. Good job with your self care today, Sarah Potter. You know,
[00:01:46] Sarah: Thank you. That's really nice to hear.
[00:01:49] Risa: You're doing things right. There's so many fun ways that you approach witchcraft, it makes me smile to get to talk to you, which is a pleasure, because not all conversations these days can sort of fill us with hope and optimism and joy, but you do seem to have that power. Can you talk about how you find, if you feel like you do find a rootedness in that?
Does it have to do with color? I want to hear all the things you think about color and magic.
[00:02:15] Sarah: Ooh, two of my favorite topics to chat about. You know, to be honest, I think the way you really live a technicolor dream filled with joy and optimism and inspiration is when you've known the deepest, darkest depths of the shadows of despair, and you're able to come out of it on the other side.
More than once you know, we only have the light when we experience the dark. So that's to me why I feel like I truly feel like living a rainbow and finding the joy is not to dismiss the sadness and pain. It's to support those feelings and those dark spaces of the shadow with a reminder that rainbows are there too, even if you can't necessarily see them or feel them.
Because I have certainly had times in my life where it was very difficult to find or see or notice any of those notions of light.
[00:03:25] Risa: I'm sorry you've been dragged through the underworld, but I'm, I'm glad you came back with that. Awareness of the contrast.
[00:03:35] Sarah: Me too. I think it gives me a good perspective, a well rounded perspective.
And it's definitely helped me embrace that compassion for myself, which is certainly not easy, which I like to bring forth in my work and with clients. And I think that self compassion, self love and self acceptance, like we all had a little bit more of that. It's so much easier to radiate it outward to other people.
I mean, we would live in such a different world.
[00:04:07] Risa: I want you to help me and us imagine that world. Like what is the, what is the utopian world? What is the, what is the post? Do we have to do post apocalypse? What's the pre utopia world, you know?
[00:04:21] Sarah: Well, you know, what's funny is I feel like my earliest imagery of magic was through the Wizard of Oz, and I just hold this visual of when Glinda comes in as the pink bubble and kind of arrives as this effervescent pink shimmering bubble. And you know, she doesn't ride around on a broomstick, she's in this bubble. And I was like, that's how I want to enter a room, too. And then I feel like it's, Lisa Frank isn't inherently magical and witchcraft, but I feel like she is this otherworldly, trippy, psychedelic magic that really informed a lot of my visual languages a few years before I found tarot and witchcraft and had a little bit more of that bark of the understanding of magic. And so I feel like that pre utopia. Everyone's arriving in their pink shimmering bubbles, like we don't have cars anymore. And it looks very much like a Lisa Frank acid trip. I don't know, I'm feeling like the beach, but it's also the forest, and it's also the desert, and it's a land that maybe we've never seen or experienced before, but it is radiating with.
Psychedelic, vibrant color. And why
[00:05:59] Risa: color? What did you know about color and how it was magical? How is color like a path for you into understanding witchcraft? Why is there more color in the utopian world?
[00:06:08] Sarah: You know, I just always loved color.
I feel like I've always loved to draw and create as a kid. I grew up before screens. We're all creative beings. I just think that children accept it far more easily without the weight of adulthood or the weight of criticism, just like I think we see that acceptance of magic and intuition is so much easier when we're younger.
But to me, like color's just so exciting. Like that's the language that I speak in and that I understand. I live in New York City, the land of wearing all black. And, and I used to wear all black, but really tapping into that language of color. It just feels like the right way. To express myself.
I was never much of a numbers person. I always liked the visuals and color and pictures are what struck my imagination. But I feel like, gosh, imagine a world without color. I don't even want to, actually. Let's not imagine that. But...
[00:07:16] Risa: No, let's imagine a world with more color.
[00:07:19] Sarah: Yes, more color and shades and tones we can't even fathom because we haven't...
Encountered them, yeah, it's, it's just so exciting. Yes.
[00:07:31] Risa: I was thinking about New York and San Francisco, places I've been where sometimes it does feel like you're in like a, a gray palette, you know, or there's like tan trench coats and like the occasional neon on sportswear or whatever, someone goes jogging by, maybe a San Francisco thing.
But like places where it feels like. I don't know. The Western desire to sort of keep things normal and the same has somehow gotten stronger than in other places where it's a little bit easier to be weird. It's easy to be weird in San Francisco and New York in the right neighborhoods, but you know. Yes.
I was thinking about that feeling. I guess every downtown has that. Is there? Are there times when you're in those places where you have a feeling like you could call forth more color? Are there ways that people in those places could call forth more color? I don't know.
[00:08:24] Sarah: Oh, absolutely. I also feel like the first thing to do is really tap into The moments of small joy and pleasure.
And one way I do that is I do get to travel a lot for work and I always do something I call like getting to know the plants and I'd like to look for the trees and the flowers because even in urban environments, there's, there's life growing everywhere and I like to take pictures of them and I'm, I'm laughing because I was just in LA.
wiTh two of my dear friends and I, I was like, you know what I like to do on our walks. I have to find the flowers and, and document them. And so there actually is lots of color everywhere. You just have to look for it. the other thing is, is even if you can't see it visually. You can feel it energetically.
And one of the best ways to tap into the power of color is simply by closing your eyes and visualizing those colors. And I really like to do a visualization where you picture yourself surrounded. In a colorful mist, and then breathe that mist in through your nose and send it circulating through your body, hitting every point that needs that, that little extra boost of color and then exhaling the color.
And I've done that many times on the subway, which is truly a portal to another realm. And you really can feel that impact of whatever energy you're looking for. And color's always there for you.
[00:10:05] Risa: I'm so happy to hear you say that. Do you feel like colors sort of have a universal meaning or association?
Or is it sort of nature nurture? Like, if I have a relationship with a color red that is personal, does that override a larger cultural or inherent sort of vibe in the color? Is there a tension between those two things?
[00:10:28] Sarah: Absolutely. I do believe in that universal language of color that's hitting us on a subconscious level and definitely that nature nurture way that you were describing different cultural references, different ways that we've grown up absolutely affect our relationships with color.
I've been teaching a color magic workshop, and before the pandemic, I was traveling a lot to teach that, and I get to learn so much from the people who take these classes and being able to be what colors people really connect with based on where they live and how memory ties in to that effect of the color, because I do feel like something I've heard here over and over again is that someone had to maybe wear a uniform at school in a particular color or usually it was something with like kind of almost like had to have a relationship with that color they didn't want to have. It brought in that negative connotation or on the flip side, something really positive or a happy memory or a good memory or how how someone grows up with a color, like maybe it was their favorite color in childhood and it continues to be their favorite color absolutely enhances that meaning. The magic of color, the magic of that energy is a magical practice with witchcraft. You are the beacon of energy. You are the creator of that magic. So if something is meant to have a desired effect, but you don't feel that way and you're not connecting with it, then look at how many colors there are there's absolutely a color for you and your intention. You should do what feels right to you.
[00:12:07] Risa: Can you talk more about color magic, what it is, how people might start to use it, what they might look for in a, in a workshop with you?
[00:12:15] Sarah: So I could basically guarantee you're already working with the magic of color if you're listening to this show, but sometimes we need to have it kind of turned on or clued in for us because each color inherently holds the vibration and energy of a particular emotion, a particular response that we're looking for. And my goal with these workshops is to help you understand that. I do find that Our favorite colors and our least favorite color to say a lot about what we're currently going through, the kind of energy we're inviting in or maybe repelling.
And often I find that the least favorite color says a lot about the energy that we're pushing away, but often need to invite in. And we can work with the magic of color in so many different ways. It can be how you adorn yourself, how you adorn your home, the foods we eat. And even in our spell crafting, how we adorn our alters, how we work with candles.
I think candles are such a lovely way to really tap into the magic of color. And then you can start layering with it and play with it. To me, it sparks a lot of creativity, the way you bring in all of these elements. And then I find that truly when you tap into it. If there's a particular intention, you're working on a particular color, you'll start to see it everywhere.
And that always feels like a lovely wink from the universe to keep you going and inspired to follow it through.
[00:13:54] Risa: I love thinking about color because it's one of these things that's like, well, one it's kind of anti capitalist in a way, like you don't really have to buy shit. You can start to notice it.
You can start to pull it through and surround yourself with it. But it also seems like deceptively simple, right? Like I'm like, I want to feel more brave, so I wear red. Like, is that really witchcraft? You know what I mean? Can you talk more about how you, in your experience now of doing this work for a long time, how do you feel like that magic works?
Like, what's really happening there?
[00:14:26] Sarah: Well, so I really love how you pointed out that the magic of color is really anti capitalist because that's what I love about it too. I feel like now more than ever with the popularity of witchcraft, we have more and more access to tools and and it can be like fun to buy stuff.
I mean, looking at all those like glittering crystals, but we don't need any stuff. Like we don't need anything. You are the magical tool. And I've definitely had times in my life where I could not afford a crystal. I could not afford anything extra. And I don't want anyone to forget their own inherent power because I think that when we lose sight of that, that's when things can feel really dark and really hopeless.
As far as working with color and like, oh, isn't it really simple? Aren't most things really simple? Like, I think as humans, we complicate a lot, and some things are complicated. But, I think there is something really powerful in a belief system. And how you enhance those beliefs and those intentions and truly like that's what all the tools are for are to enhance our own power and intention our own magic.
So, yeah, I think we could kind of write things off and be like, Oh, it's really simple, but like. It's what do you do with this intention? I mean, it would be really nice to say, Oh, paint your nails purple. And now your intuition is going to be on fire. But even if you turn up the volume on your intuition, are you listening to it?
It's what do you do? And that's what I think is so important about magic and spell work is you can set the intention but then you have to show up and follow through. And I think having something that enhances and supports the follow through, like color, makes it a little easier to do. And I do think that a spiritual practice is serious.
I think that magic is serious. I think our impact is serious. But it's not black and white. It doesn't have to be all serious. It can be enjoyable and fun while it's serious. And I don't think there's anything wrong with finding the joy in your spiritual practice. I mean, we witches have important work to do here, so we can't be burning ourselves out.
I think it's important to Enjoy too, and to really see how multifaceted our work is. So color helps me be reminded of that. And I've learned that I am far more creative and inspired when I'm taking good care of myself, when I'm enjoying what I do and. Lift the perspective so I can find that that joy and what I get to do instead of what I have to do.
So it's so funny. Sometimes it's like, Oh, like it's just color. It's so silly. It's so simple, but it's really not. It's so powerful.
[00:17:44] Risa: I love the way you said that, that also it can sustain our joy and can sustain our, our work. We have important work to do. And I also loved your point about you know, you can set the intention, but you got to show up and how do we support ourselves? Like you do a spell, but you got to
[00:17:59] Sarah: keep being there in that intent.
Sometimes for years. Yes. Oh,
[00:18:08] Risa: my most effective spells took years. I don't know how I waited so long, you know, but I, I do think like having small touchstones that kept me anchored in that vision and that hope and that aspiration was all made all the difference and so learning to work with color is something that like I just play with but I love the way you think about it.
Can you give us something some you said earlier, you do believe in a universal set of associations around color, not to paraphrase you badly, but something like that.
[00:18:39] Sarah: Totally.
[00:18:39] Risa: Can you talk more about, like, how can we sustain ourselves with color in this moment? You know, this moment sometimes feels terrifying and heavy and also sometimes feels really exciting. You know, our, our climate is terrifying. The world can be really terrifying. Fascism is terrifying. Can we talk about color in the face of that world? Like how can we arm ourselves with color?
[00:19:04] Sarah: Ooh, I love thinking about that. Because personally something that guides me through the terrors of the reality of being a human, especially in today's world, is that.
You can't give up, like, because I feel like when you look at everything as these huge, horrible tragedies, it can be hard to find hope in that, but I do feel like we can do our best to make the world a little bit better every single day, and
I don't think anyone should dismiss that. I do feel like the way we create long lasting change is through a series of small changes, and I really do think being the best person you can be, not going out of your way to make someone's life more difficult, truly trying to make it easier, I think about how to put our money towards the causes and people that we believe in. I think it's really important to support the people you care about, especially if they own their own businesses and the way you show up can, it doesn't have to be financially. I think that has the biggest impact if we're going to be really honest about it.
But there are so many different ways we can support the people we care about because. To me, like I want to see small businesses succeed. I want to see my friends succeed with their pursuit creatively and professionally. And I just think there's so many different ways to approach that every day. And if we think of, Oh, what I do doesn't matter.
If everyone thinks that that's going to be a horrible place to live and it won't matter. But I really think it's focusing on. How do you maintain honesty, integrity, self care so that you can care for other people, show up, support? So something I even think about is pink is the color of love. It's the color of self love, partnered love, friendship, sweetness, kindness.
So I think working with that color in the morning, even just doing that visualization I talked about earlier of breathing in a pink mist, accepting yourself, loving yourself, having compassion for yourself and everything you're going through. And radiating all of that outward to other people, I think that's a really nice way to ground and start the day and then considering other intentions that you might have for that day, and you can bring those in through the colors.
I truly do believe - feel like I grew up in the punk rock community- like DIY is the way to go. You can absolutely have a big impact. And don't wait for anyone else to give you permission to do something, to make change, to stand up for what you believe in. No one's going to give you that permission.
So I think it's just taking charge and doing it and being with the people in your community, creating that community so everyone's on the same page, far bigger change happens at that level than I think places that are maybe seen to have the power.
[00:22:23] Risa: Yes, we're here for DIY community magic always. And I do love that idea - pink is such a delight, right? With all my pink flamingos and everything behind me. But I associate it with friendship, really, like with, with friend love, like that totally sincere, I have fallen in love with this woman I just met because she's everything and I'm obsessed with my new best friend.
Do you know what I mean?
[00:22:50] Sarah: Yes! Isn't that the best? The
[00:22:53] Risa: And world changing. I don't know. I, I like, I like your idea too, of like these small things are important. Noticing these small changes, these small things can be really healing and really change making.
[00:23:04] Sarah: Oh, absolutely.
And I even think about when I received some sort of unexpected kindness, it changes my whole day. And I feel like people don't have to, to do that. But when they choose to share something... sometimes I'll get messages, they'll start out like, Oh, I don't even know if you're going to see this, but I wanted to tell you that I this event and this is how it affects me.
I mean, I do read it and that keeps me inspired. Sometimes it can feel like, am I just like yelling into the void? Are people just like, Oh. This little nutty witch, what is she talking about? Are people hearing it? So when something even like that, or maybe for that person, it felt like nothing to them to say that, but those kind words meant so much to me.
And I feel like you never know what kind of day someone's having. And I go through moments of not feeling inspired or being exhausted and, and just even receiving a nice note like that turns my whole day around. And I feel like that kind of, that fills my cup more and then I can give that to someone else.
And that's what I mean. I can think really big. I'm a Virgo. I'm a perfectionist. I want to do everything I can, but I've also seen how When you feel like you're not going to get something totally right, or it's not going to have that big impactful change. Oh, like, why would I even do that?
When we start to think like that, that's when everything breaks down. So I always feel like, what can you do today? What are you capable of doing? What can you do that's going to leave the world a little bit better than before you got up this morning? And you do that every day, the world changes.
[00:24:57] Risa:
Can you talk about being a public witch? Like, first of all, coming out of the broom closet is something that so many people of our listeners in our coven are at various stages of thinking about, right? For some people that is actually not safe at all, so it's a totally private practice.
For other people, they're starting to figure out, maybe this is something I could claim and maybe I want to, but I actually don't know how, like, what would it be like if I say to my family or my friends, I'm a witch? So I would love to hear what that was like for you. And then I have follow up questions because you have taken that bravery to another place where then you're sharing your work in the public in a way that people are invited to participate.
People come in person to participate in rituals with you. So it's a further sort of bravery and inclusiveness, I think, so I'd love to hear more about what all that is like.
[00:25:48] Sarah: So what I do remember, I mean, for a long time, I kept being a witch very secretive. I feel like I would kind of dip a toe out, get ruthlessly made fun of, and then scurry back in.
And be like, yeah, too much. And and it was always there, even when I even tried to shut it out or, Act like I didn't know about these things or just kind of live what I guess was a double life in a way. I used to hurry to the beach after my job in a bar and like talk to the moon and talk to the ocean and cry and set my intentions and do things and then like, like, I feel like I was like, wow, I was so brave back then going to the ocean at like three o'clock in the morning being so wrapped up in my magical practice, but also not wanting anyone to know what I was doing, I feel like, like, I hate to admit it, but it's just like anything that made me feel even more different than I already felt.
Like I just wanted to keep that away. I just wanted to look as normal as possible, which just makes me laugh now because like, what even does that mean? But I was letting magic become more and more part of my work. I worked in the art world and I feel like it was always there. If you were paying attention really closely, you could see it, but.
I just was going through a series of hardships where I feel like I wasn't able to really be, I wasn't feeling really accepted by, like, my friends or my partner and when a lot of those friendships ended, when that partnership ended, I just felt this, like, so much of me had been stifled. And it was in such a way that I couldn't live like that anymore.
And I, I can be a little extreme where it's like, okay, I'm so hidden and shut off from that. Like now I don't ever want to hide anything ever again. People need to know I'm a witch, like I'm not hiding it. And you know, I feel like time and age, tarot witchcraft has helped me understand. It doesn't have to be this or that, but I understand where I was coming from at the time.
And I was doing an interview about an event that I had coming up and I was going to share in that interview that the reason why I did this work was because I was a witch and taking my spiritual practice so seriously and the way it informed my Professional work. I just didn't really want to hide it anymore.
I felt like I had just hidden so much of myself that I was actually very proud of being a witch, even though I'd been made fun of forever and, and hid it, I didn't want to hide it anymore. And I remember one of my friends who was also a witch was like, you're going to kill your career. Like that's it. And once you come out of the broom closet, you can't go back in and you're doing this in a pretty public way.
And I was like, well, I was given this opportunity and. I want people to see, like, you can be like a sparkly rainbow and a witch, because I had also, I don't know, I've also been told some stuff, I feel like, for witches, I thought I was friends with, where like, well, you don't fit the mold of what a witch is like.
Right, right,
[00:29:23] Risa: right. Talk more about that, because I think we do, especially when we're in
[00:29:28] Sarah: that part where we've been like, just trying to be the same, and like, we've probably Been buffeted and battered by all the ways we're not the same and that was probably
[00:29:38] Risa: really hard and then to have this one idea of what a witch
[00:29:41] Sarah: is and know that
[00:29:42] Risa: like the word and the magic and everything I'm drawn to is in there, but I don't look like that.
I don't, the, the like, anyway, I'm talking, I want you to talk more about it. You're so much more eloquent about it than
[00:29:55] Sarah: I am. No, no. Well, and you know what I think is really cool is I think that. Look, we have a long way to go with so many things right now, but we have, I just see so many beautiful examples of, of a now.
And this is because of social media. Like when I was growing up and finding witchcraft, do you know where I went to Barnes and Noble and I went to an AOL chat room, which met at like 2 p. m. on Sundays, I was talking to who knows who in there, even the media that showed Witches when I was growing up, it was the craft, which was very cool.
And Sabrina, the teenage witch, and, you know, I mentioned Glinda and there are so many movies of practical magic, but you know, it's still very limited the view of what, what a witch could be. And I think that people make assumptions about things, people come in with their own.
Kind of biases and perspectives. And what I really love about social media is that it's like, anyone can be a witch, everyone is a witch, a witch is someone who celebrates their own inherent power and their connection to the greater universe. That's how I define a witch for myself, but what I think is really lovely is the witch is its own living, breathing entity that it comes in so many different forms and we'll never stop shape shifting.
So you know, I think we all want to see ourselves in something and if you're not able to see yourself in something tangible, it can be really hard to find your space. And I think that's something a lot of us witches can relate to is like, where do I fit in?
We don't fit in. And. That's okay. Like we see the world in a different way and we're able to work in a different way that doesn't come without its challenges. And something that I hope is that, I can remind people like you can be the full rainbow and I need the reminder like, you don't have to be just one way to be a witch.
Like, that's so gross and old and like, which should be welcoming, I think. Anyone and everyone into this practice, into this craft. And we need different perspectives. We need different ways of seeing and feeling the world. And I think all of that magic is welcome and valid and important. I think that something we can all really share is having that hard time finding our space.
And it breaks my heart when I hear that. If other witches are doing that to, to witches, like we need each other and we should be celebrating each other, I think, but you know, we're only human.
[00:32:46] Risa: Okay. Can you talk more about taking that next step? Okay. Now I'm a professional witch, like come to me. Talk about that.
[00:32:58] Sarah: Yes, you know, and this is what's so sweet. It's like, I do feel like there is all of this interest in magic, manifestation, intention setting, witchcraft. There's still a lot of fear of that. So I still get people finding my address and sending me some not so nice communications or thinking I need my soul to be saved.
It doesn't, it's, it's good. But. You know, I always, I feel like I relate really well to my friends who, who share their creative output, whether it's through having an exhibition of their artwork or playing a concert. It's really hard to share who you are and to share that really deep inner realm with people.
And I have my ways that I psych myself up and then I get ready to. To go out there and share with people and there's something that I really want people to feel welcome in magic and I want people to feel welcome in a ritual. I mean, I always think about how if you've celebrated your birthday by lighting candles.
On a cake and singing and making a wish and blowing out the candle you have done a spell so whether you knew it or not, you are very magical and you know, I think that not everything has to be for everyone, but I do feel that we all feel the effects of the moon and I would like everyone to feel welcome at a full moon ceremony with me and things don't have to be like freaky and scary or prohibitive.
I think that having a moment to be able to sit and be reflective, to consider the collective energy, why you're maybe feeling the way you're feeling and how to work with that instead of against it, to think about what's going well, what's not working, what you want to call in, what you want to get rid of and release.
Just taking that time and being present, breathing, I think it can have profound effects. So, I didn't really have spaces like that and I think it can feel a little vulnerable or require a little bravery to go to something where you don't know what it's going to be. And, I like being able to gather and be magical and hear music, and I just think a lot of what inspires me is creating the events that I want to attend, and inviting people to join me.
I mean, sometimes... I stepped back and I'm like, Whoa, that is like such a trip to do that. I led a full moon ceremony last week for about 350 people. And I mean, the fact that there's even interest in something like that blows my mind. And I feel like what a special time to be alive it it was on a billboard.
Talk about like not having to keep witchcraft a secret. I feel like the luckiest witch in the world, honestly, it's just like, and I, I always, I kind of, in some of my meditations go and tell my younger self, like, it's okay to be a weirdo. Like keep doing what you're doing. Your mind is going to be blown when you see where you're headed.
I get to meet young witches who are like just starting out. I get to meet people in many phases of their lives who are just checking in with magic and connecting with it and feeling magical. And that's so exciting.
Sometimes I get a little overwhelmed.
It's not easy getting up there in front of hundreds of people. And I've really been working on focusing on all of the good that's happening and just to be really specific, it can be hard to get up there and find the one person who's making fun of you for being up there and I'm like, do you want to switch places?
Share part of the depths of your soul. But you know. That's okay. Not everyone's going to enjoy themselves, we all have our stuff and that's something of mine that I'm working on, but man, I, I don't know how some people get up there and perform for thousands of people.
It's not easy, but I've learned how to take better care of myself. Like, you know, staying hydrated, getting some sleep, but like, Hanging out with my friends, listening to good music and having fun that makes it all so much easier to do, but I just kind of try to approach it as like, well, this is my job and what I'm doing today, so get up there and do it.
Ah, I
[00:38:13] Risa: feel like in every interview, I get to a point where I want to ask some version of the question, like who gave you permission? Like, not that I think anybody
should, but I,
I am so. Enamored with the not ballsy ness, with the cuntiness that's like, I gave myself fucking permission. Hi, I'm the host. 300 people.
Let me take you through. You know what I mean? Like, how, how do you, how do you do it? Who gave you permission? How did you find that, that courage? You know?
[00:38:43] Sarah: Oh my gosh. You know who I, I think I think it's 12 year old me. Like she was really very ballsy. And I have so many nieces and nephews and I want them to grow up in a better world.
That really drives and inspires me a lot to really think about what kind of world I'd like to see for them. I wish that when I was 12. And I found witchcraft and I was struggling with being a psychic child. I wish there was someone who was telling me it was okay. I mean, my mom was super supportive of me.
So my mom was always encouraging me and reminding me like. This wasn't weird. This is totally natural. This is totally acceptable. And the fact that I had that is, I mean, I can't even express the gratitude I feel for that. But yeah, I just, I think I do a lot of time traveling back to, to heal that part of myself.
And I just really think like if I was going through it, I know so many other people are going through it too. I feel like we try to help in the places where we need help too. So, I always feel like there were times in my life where I needed to strengthen my intuition, where I needed to be connected to people who understood magic and that inherent collective connection, wanted to stand up and fight for the things that they believe in.
And I just feel like, yeah, I don't want anyone to feel some of the things that I felt in the past. So if I can help to facilitate and create that space, then that's what it is. And I feel like, oh, I truly do believe the world needs more magic, but I can't just hope and wish for that. I have to lead by example, so.
I'm going to enchant people and convince them that we need to have more rituals and you can feel the impact of it immediately like that's what I love about, about magic in that sense, where It does make people feel better. It does make people feel supported and empowered. And people keep coming back, so nothing shows the proof like that.
What, how do you,
[00:41:12] Risa: what kind of ritual do you structure for 300 people? So much of my work is completely private. I can't even imagine, the few times I've tried to lead something for other people, I felt like I slipped into a performer version of myself that lost some of my natural connection to my magic.
I have a hard time not shifting into Yeah, like, not fake, but like, a really performative version of it. I have to be alone for some of it to feel right. I can't imagine how you do it. What kind of rituals even make sense to guide that many people through?
[00:41:46] Sarah: Well, I think teaching workshops and doing lectures definitely helped me understand timing and capacity. and being an aunt because a lot of my nieces and nephews are toddlers.
You know what I've learned? Adults aren't that different from toddlers, like we don't have much of an attention span. And I feel like you don't have to dumb things down. I think of it as welcoming people. I love my three year old niece, she likes to meditate with crystals and she gets it like we don't have to dumb it down.
She understands that you don't have to make these things simplistic for people to connect into it. So, I make it like a multi dimensional experience. I work with a great team at the Asbury Hotel where I'm every month doing these ceremonies. We have a great lighting, great music Great drink, some beautiful environment.
There's vendors too, who bring their wares. So it's, it's a full on experience. I like to be entertained, so I need to have activities wherever I am. I always like to just talk to people briefly about what's going on energetically that month. Talk about what sign the sun is in, what sign the moon is in.
Maybe talk about what that means in terms of how we're feeling or what we might be going through. And then lead everyone through a guided meditation and then doing some sort of participatory ritual. With setting intentions, maybe lighting it on fire. People love a little like fire show doing a little like chanting and invocation and having something to take home with them too, to remember the evening to check back in on.
And now I've been doing this with the hotel about 14, 15 months. So. Seeing how people's lives have changed and transformed my own life changed and transformed and then being able to connect and on that and the way people have connected and come back to that and even I want to touch upon what you're talking about, like feeling like a performer.
I mean, it is essentially a performance and to me, I do think I have to step into a role that it's me, but it's also not me. It's an enhancement of who I am and I think we do that. Every day you put on, most people put on different clothes to work. Like I put, I don't wear like my regular clothes to Leap Youth Rituals.
They're a version of like what I would wear. And I have a way that I do my makeup, and I have a way I do my hair, and I have the songs I listen to before I go see people. And it's a time to open, and it's a time to close. And I think when you're interfacing with people on that level, I don't think there's anything wrong with enhancing that, but I think that's what we do to face the day, too.
You know, you put on your work clothes and you style your hair and maybe put on makeup or do whatever it is that makes you feel ready to face your day. And then you come home and you put on your pajamas and you go to bed. So I had to come to a place where I understood that kind of persona and have that acceptance of it.
But. It's how we become something that's just an enhancement of who we are, which I think is also what magic is. It's an enhancement of who we are.
[00:45:11] Risa: I think that gives people, including myself, a lot of confidence to step into that role, right? Whether it's Witch or just one step more honest, one step more free. One step more creative, seeing it as part of the magic that I'm going to put on clothes that give me strength. I'm going to wear colors that play this role.
I'm going to become an archetype or like I'm going to give myself talismans and it's okay that that is maybe different than the magic I do that is super interior. I wear different clothes.
[00:45:46] Sarah: Totally. And I think it's okay to have things that are yours. Like, I feel like the rituals I do in my own practice, in my own home, or with my coven. I'm not going to do that with 350 people. It's not really appropriate. And that's not what they're there for. But I do think there's like, there is something that works in different situations and finding that I don't think makes it any less. It's serious or purposeful, but it's also working with what you have, figuring out what works with a crowd of that size, so everyone feels comfortable and safe and included.
[00:46:23] Risa: How do you make 300 people feel included?
[00:46:25] Sarah: You don't want to have them move around too much.
[00:46:36] Risa: I know what you mean. There's a lot of just, like, event logistics. Like, how do you let them feel it's okay to be here? See that other people are engaging in magic too, but don't look out too much because you start to sort of doubt yourself or, I don't know, it's interesting. Interesting, like, relational dynamics in a crowd like that.
[00:46:56] Sarah: And I think a lot of it is, if you're a babysitter or if you have children, it gives you a lot of understanding, like, don't give people too much time, they'll start chattering, their minds start wandering, you've got to keep people on task and keep things moving and and have that structure and schedule.
And again, simplicity, like it doesn't have to be complicated. It shouldn't be complicated.
[00:47:20] Risa: Sometimes I ask for our listeners, is there one practice or ritual or song or color or like, is there one thing that they can borrow from you for this season? Is there one thing you'd share what's working for you?
[00:47:37] Sarah: Ooh, I love that. There's so many things that are coming to mind. I think I want to share a few. I really feel totally enchanted listening to Florence and the machine or Fleetwood Mac, and I feel like songs are spells. So I feel like if you really just need to shift the mood and you need to feel magical, I'd say like, listen to your favorite song, but I would love for you to listen to one of my favorite songs.
So those are two of my current favorites right now. I love painting my nails and even if you don't want to, maybe you don't want to paint your fingernails, but paint your toenails and maybe no one will see them and know about the magic and choosing a color. I just think that's so fun.
And you can really think about whatever intention it is that you're setting and choose a color to enhance that intention. And it can be a spell that you share with the world. Or it could be a spell that you keep just for yourself and who knows what's going on under your socks and shoes. But that I feel like is really a lovely little spell to enchant right now.
[00:48:49] Risa: I've had the Florence machine most recent album on repeat for like a year. It's in my car. It's my car power.
[00:48:55] Sarah: Oh, I love that. That's so good.
[00:48:59] Risa: I was so scared of driving, so I really needed a car power
thank you for that. How can the people find
you,
support you, throw money at you, learn from you?
[00:49:09] Sarah: Well, I'm on every social media channel, but my favorite is Instagram. My handle is I Am Sarah Potter. I'm having a lot of fun on Substack. I really am enjoying writing a newsletter and I feel like it took me a little while to get into it because I was feeling like, Oh, I need it to be this and this and this and it has to be perfect.
And then I just took the approach of I just want to have fun with it. So once a month I send out a newsletter and I talk about just something that's on my mind and I share my favorite things of the month and which is like usually a song or a snack and some art. And then I include a spell that you can do at home and I'm just really, really enjoying that.
So I'd love for you to subscribe to my sub stack. I am always taking new clients for one on one readings and. I've been doing a lot of animal communication lately, which is just so fun. Animals are so fun, but I do psychic mediumship and tarot readings. And if you find yourself on the Jersey shore, I hope you'll come to the full moon ceremony at the Asbury.
And I'm always popping up with rituals in different places. I love an excuse to travel. I'll be back in LA soon. I have some things bubbling in Nashville and New Orleans and in my home of Manhattan. So I'm easy to find. Let's just connect online and then I'll go to you if you want. I always love to like do something new and bring some magic there.
[00:50:42] Risa: I'm sure our listeners are just like feeling your beautiful smile and the way that you glow with that pink love energy, that new best friend energy. So thank you so much. Thank you for bringing that back from the underworld. That shit's not easy.
[00:50:57] Sarah: Thanks for having me. It was really nice to be able to share with you. Yeah, it was the
[00:51:02] Risa: best. Okay. More soon. blessed fucking be. That's the end.
