Katie Ortiz: The Southern Sorority of Superstitious Witches

Megan (00:00)
I'm Megan Hamilton and this is the Embracing Enchantment podcast. I learned about today's guest on the internet. Her dark and gothic style of posts lured me in and I soon came to learn she would be releasing a book. She is a writer, teacher, wife, feminist and cat mom from Alabama and her debut novel, The Southern Sorority of Superstitious Witches,

will be released on October 6th of this year. Please welcome Katie Ortiz.

Katie (00:33)
Hello, I'm so happy to be here.

Megan (00:36)
I'm so happy that you're here. Did I pronounce your last name right?

Katie (00:40)
⁓ Or teas, but...

Megan (00:42)
Okay,

thank you.

Katie (00:44)
They are all kinds of ways.

Megan (00:46)
Well, let's say it the right way because I think that more people are going to be saying your name very

Katie (00:52)
Well, thank you.

Megan (00:54)
Okay, so Katie knows we just had a few hilarious stops and starts, which is I don't even think we're still in Mercury's shadow, or at least we shouldn't be. But perhaps this is the last of the little glitches we'll see for a while. how I usually start the podcast is I pull a card for the collective.

And I'm wondering, as I'm shuffling, can you tell us about your book and its journey from your idea to its soon to be published date?

Katie (01:31)
gosh, yes. So this is long since been in the making. It started, unfortunately in 2022 when Roe V Wade was overturned. And I, like many others, felt very scared and worried. And I also live in a community. I live in the deep South where

My views and my worries and things aren't always...

found in other people. I don't always have people to talk to about those things. And so when I set out to make this book, I wanted to write the sisterhood and the friendship that I needed. I wanted to write the community that I needed. And I also listened to several podcasts. I'm a big podcast person. I listened to a history podcast.

And I heard the story of Lucy Stone, who is one of only seven women invited to university to test out co-education. And I thought, man, that is just such a cool story. And I knew immediately when I heard it, I was like, that's, that's going to be it. That's going to be my next story. And so of course I live in the South and I thought, wouldn't it be so cool to have Southern witches and their witchcraft be based in Southern folklore? And

Lo and behold, as I have queried this book, as I have marketed and met people and met other authors, I have found the community that I was missing and trying to create with this book. And I have found my people and my place because of this book. And so that's really what I hope for everyone else is that they can find their people and their place and their coven.

because of this book.

Megan (03:32)
I love that story because so often if we're casting spells or manifesting or trying to create something using whatever language works best for each person who's listening, there is this sense of when whatever the thing is. So in this case, writing a book or in other cases, you know, trying to

get a new job or whatever. Whenever there's more involved, like for in your case, trying to write the community that you needed. And then through that process, finding the community. It seems to me to be such a powerful way of looking at creating and manifesting that it's more than just the singular thing that you're making, but instead creating a ripple effect.

around you of the folks who now get to be in community with you and you finding what you needed as well as putting the book out in the world to help other people also find what they needed. I love that. I love it. Okay. Let's see what card wants to come through. Me too. Okay.

Katie (04:43)
So excited.

Megan (04:46)
What do we need to know today?

Victory. ⁓ Six of wands. So, you know, what's funny about this card is it actually ties in two things that have happened with us today. The first is what you talked about. So this idea of manifesting ⁓ and writing this community that you needed and then through that process, creating the community, which will then create community for other folks who read it. We love that, right? That's the victory. That's the

You know, that's the kind of overarching benefits, I guess, sometimes to some of the work that we do, especially if it's rooted in good intention and witchcraft. then even just the idea of, trust me when I say that this is a very small scale, but.

Trying to figure out why we couldn't connect, trying, you know, rebooting, trying to figure out, is it a me thing? Is it a you thing? Is it a, is it the platform that I use for the podcast thing? Is anybody else experiencing that going through all of the motions? And then finally just saying, okay, let's do it on this other platform. And then there was still some connectivity issues. So we worked through it. And the other side,

This is like the victory of, okay, we've worked through everything. Now we're here. Now we're together. those are the microcosmic things. And if we're looking at this card on a larger scale.

so many of us affected by...

what's happening with the administration in the United States are

are feeling very ⁓ tired, overwhelmed, anxious, ⁓ worried, certainly. And then we can keep the vision of what we want this victory to look like, and because ones are in the realm of fire, which is our motivation, our driving, our...

passion, the thing that lights us up, the thing that keeps us going, the fuel and the spark.

If we can hold that vision for ourselves, then that's actually going to be how we get to the other side. Do you read Tarot, Katie?

Katie (07:14)
I I do. And that's another part of writing this book that just changed my world. I pull a card every time I start writing to kind of get my mind where it needs to be. I do yoga before I start writing to get my body where it needs to be. And throughout the process of writing this book is when I really started getting into that and really started

manifesting and rituals and tarot and it yes it's largely a part of my writing process for sure.

Megan (07:45)
I love that. Do you have anything you want to contribute to the six of wands?

Katie (07:51)
gosh, when I saw it, thought like taking a breath and finally being like...

You know, we connected, you know, just taking that moment. And, you know, he's kind of up there looking around and he's being able to assess, ⁓ you know, take a moment, step back and really look at what you did and appreciate it and appreciate where you've come.

Megan (08:14)
Yes, I love that. And let's, let's forward manifest this card for coming out the other side of everything that needs to crumble to its absolute final death and what will rise from the, rise from the ashes. Okay. So for many of us,

We've been exploring witchcraft, the occult, tarot, and stuff related to spiritualism and paganism for years. Why do you think books about witches and the supernatural are having such a moment right now?

Katie (08:53)
You're so right, they are. I mean, it's really just having its time to shine. there's a lot of connection between witchcraft and, you know, feminine power and femininity, being able to speak up and being able to fight back. seen things that how, you know, maybe they didn't burn witches, they burned women.

And I think there's this people wanting to find their coven. They want to find their community. They want to find their power and they want to take control of their life. And I think witches in general just have this amazing feminine power behind them that is inspiring to everyone, especially right now.

Megan (09:42)
there's also something about.

taking control. was thinking about this this morning about taking control when you feel like you have none. So for example, I have a client who ⁓ has been trying to get her PhD done for a number of years and she's had some major health issues that have kind of thwarted it. know, last week was the finish line leading up to submitting the final draft. And ⁓ for her,

in the program that we do together, I pull cards and that really helps her. You know, it's always so funny to me because here I am working with a scientist and an academic who's using tarot to help them through to the other side. But what it does is it helps you have choice and a semblance of control where you feel otherwise overwhelmed by.

We don't know what's going to happen. There's no precedence for this, but it's like, okay. And it's not that we're necessarily letting the cards make choices for us, but instead they're helping us connect with ourselves when that feels difficult because of all of the overwhelm that's happening. And so I love the idea that you're also using the cards as you're writing and creating ritual around your work to get

this book done because writing a book is not an easy feat.

Katie (11:11)
Yes, and I love kind of framing taking control. mean, there's so many things right now that we cannot control, that we ourselves cannot change. But I think tarot and witchcraft and things like that, it gives you something you can't control. can't.

manifest for yourself. You can focus on things for yourself and it gives you tangible things for you to focus on in your realm of control and helping you feel stable in that way.

Megan (11:47)
Exactly. Yes, it has a direct activation for your nervous system to help it reset and say, okay, I'm making this choice right now. This is what I'm going to do. Have you read Pam Grossman's latest book, Magic Maker about connecting with magic and creativity?

Katie (12:05)
haven't but that sounds phenomenal.

Megan (12:07)
You might really love it. So Pam was a guest about a year ago actually, and she was talking about ⁓ the book. So she is the author of Waking the Witch and this, latest book that she ⁓ just released, I think it was in October, is all about using magic and connecting and ritual in order to create. And so you might really ⁓ enjoy.

of the things that she talks about because it's very similar to what you were saying about having a practice, having a ritual in order to create what you're creating. And certainly I know I've got a daily practice as well. And if even just a couple of days away from having had a chance to sit down, it's usually about 20 minutes and just kind of settle with myself and check in and see where things are at. I start to feel

a little bit off.

Katie (13:00)
yeah, yes. And there's never a time where I'm more connected to that. I'm more connected to tarot and spirituality and connected to myself than when I am writing a book because I'm so, everything's so curated and ritualistic. I have a certain candle scent for each project or a certain tea flavor for each project. I have a playlist for each one. And so I'm so immersed in the project.

in the cards, in the practices, and that's when I feel myself the most. And so when I have times where I'm not writing, I'm working on other things, or I'm not pulling a card every day or doing a reading every day, I don't feel as connected. And like you said, I can start to feel off.

Megan (13:48)
Yeah, I think that's been one of the surprising aspects for me with practice is just how much gain over time happens. So what do mean when I say that?

There really is benefit to the longevity to the commitment to the practice to the because you know, I'm many many years and at this point and it evolves over time, but it is that intention. So, you know, you're talking about writing and and you intentionally choose a candle scent and you intentionally choose a tea flavor. You create a playlist you create ritual and intention around it.

which is really the root of any kind of magical practice. And often the intention is as a remedy to what's happening today. So the scrolling on your phone, kind of, you know, losing time with all of the different distracting things that we can have. And then just thinking, feeling hopeless because, you know, all of this is happening and there's nothing you can do until you say, wait a minute,

what do I actually want and how can I create intention and ritual around it? Like it doesn't have to be elaborate spells with ingredients and it can just be you and your pen and paper sitting down and saying, who am I? What do I want? And how do I take action steps to make that happen?

Katie (15:25)
Yes, absolutely. I feel like my writing has become my magic, has become my spells. I'm writing out these stories about fictional characters and fictional places, but there's so much of myself and things that I'm working through. It's so therapeutic in a way and my intentions and what I hope for people to get from it. It's just this concoction of so many different pieces of me and what's going on today.

in the world and it I think it becomes the spell.

Megan (15:59)
Absolutely, especially when you're working with words. Okay. So where did your curiosity about witches begin? And is it more of a curiosity or a lived experience? I mean, we kind of talked about the second part there, but when did you start to get interested in witches and, you know, witchcraft and to the point now where you're writing about it?

Katie (16:20)
Oh gosh, I've always been so interested. I thought it was just the coolest thing from a very early age. And it's not as normalized down here in the South. So it was few and far between that I had opportunities to learn more and dive deeper into it. just, you of course movies growing up always.

practical magic. But you know, just reading, I was a big reader. I always am, still am a big reader. And so I read a bunch of witchy books. I still do. I have loads and loads of witchy books. But it just, was always a fascination for me. And it was something as a kid, you know, my parents thought, oh, it's just a phase and you know, so on and so forth. And then as I became an adult,

and I came back into it and found it again over time. It's like I came back into myself and I came back into who I am and my confidence and my intuition and I found myself again in it.

Megan (17:33)
you can start to see why witches have been so, have been afraid of them for so long, because I think as we're as this is growing as our curiosity about witches and witchy books and magic and fairy smut and the all the whole shebang, as all of that continues to grow.

We're also seeing huge leaps in movements towards taking down this incredibly oppressive ⁓ system and not just in the United States. mean, the whole every all of the systems for the most part need some tweaking. Let's just say. so your book is to be for fans of witchcraft for wayward girls. that was a book.

that my friend gave to me for my birthday last year and I couldn't put it down. ⁓

And I didn't know because it was given to me. And so I didn't, you know, I didn't like choose it. I didn't know at the time that it was based on real.

programs that existed, ⁓ for girls, literal girls who got pregnant

How important was it, because your book also uses real life situations or real life people ⁓ and the letters I think plays a big part in your book as well. How important was it for you to mix fiction with situations real people had to go through?

Katie (19:00)
I think we always ground things or find things in reality. Even though it's fictional, we're grounding it in real things. ⁓ You know, I think back to The Handmaid's Tale, she talks about how all of the things in that book, even though they seem so wild and so unrealistic, they're things that have really happened. And so with my book, I wanted to really have that same feel.

Like even though there are some crazy things that happen to these women in my book, there are things that really happened. Those are based on real events, things that have been done to real people. And that brings back that sense of connection. When you know it's based on real things, you can feel so deeply about it. And with that book, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, I, gosh, so incredible and just...

I thought it was such a great representation of all these different girls coming together and taking hold of their control and their power and using it for good and going against these oppressive systems and systems working against them when they had no say. It was just so phenomenal and that's truly what I hope my book is seen as. Just this mix of

real life events and of course we have some more magical things happening but it's all about bringing in that power and connecting and when there's real things and real people in real places being involved in this story I think you connect so deeply to it.

Megan (20:39)
Absolutely. And I want to touch on a word that you brought up a couple of times in there, which was finding their power, because certainly if we're talking about fiction and magic, we can think of, you know, power quote unquote, as, know, know, lightning bolts coming out of the palms of your hands and being able to do things that way. And yet what's interesting to me,

As we deepen our practice, whatever that may be, you start to realize that your power is not necessarily some kind of supernatural, ⁓ wild, absolutely beyond reality could never happen stuff. It's actually action and intention and

or dropping ⁓ into the bucket over time and filling it up. is choices. It is steps forward despite the difficulty, kind of like the process of writing a book. It's like, I don't feel like it today. There's nobody standing over you saying, sit down, Katie, and finish this page except for you and the intention you set for yourself and the manifestation you're doing of bringing a book into the world.

And I think that's one of the things about magic, witchcraft, animism, paganism is when we talk about power, it's not something outside of ourselves. It's something that exists within us already that we just figure out how to harness to make something happen. What do you think about that?

Katie (22:24)
Yes, absolutely. mean, I think that just can speak to anything, you know, and speak to anyone. We all have this power inside of us. And like you said, it's not so much like making things float in lightning bolts and all that, but it's just this power of the things that we can handle, the things that we can do when we thought we can never do them. You know, when I started this three, four years ago,

Gosh, I never realized how big it was gonna get and how needed it was gonna get and how I was gonna find my people. And I always had that inside of me. I just had to do it. I had to speak it into existence. I had to set the intentions of doing it's just so phenomenal how we have that inside of us. And that can speak to anyone, not even just anyone in to witches or anything like that, but.

everyone has this divine power in them. They just have to put forth the effort and the and do it. Do the damn thing.

Megan (23:31)
Yeah, exactly. Just do it. was just thinking about things that we've manifested. Have you ever been to Birmingham? Yes. Okay. And do know the Vulcan statue? Okay. Here's a story about manifestation. So an earlier guest on this podcast, Patrick Hallahan of My Morning Jacket, he and I met years ago. That's my favorite band of all time. I absolutely manifested.

Katie (23:43)
Absolutely.

Megan (23:58)
connecting with that band and consequently opening for them. And on one of these magical times on a road trip with my best friend, Jennifer Fawcett, who is also an author, and she and I were on this road trip, we met up with the band. It was just all of these absolutely wild synchronicities. But one of the things that happened was we were just all...

hanging out and talking and we decided we were going to go to the top of the Vulcan statue. And we did. We got there. There was a security guard. We somehow talked him into letting us go up there and we went up there. And I remember is like at this point it was like five or six in the morning is one of those times when you're just everything feels magical. You're just like time. What is time? ⁓

You know, you're kind of like living in this sort of strange, ⁓ strange time anyways. And I remember looking out onto Birmingham with this Vulcan statue right there and just thinking, holy shit, you actually can make your dreams come true. The things that you never thought would happen can actually happen. And that was a pivotal moment for me of

Katie (25:22)
Yes.

Megan (25:23)
I

have, it's not just things happening to me. I also get to have a say in how this goes.

Katie (25:32)
Oof, yes, gosh, I love that. And man, you walked up all those stairs. Did you take the stairs? Ugh.

Megan (25:39)
I was walking in a dream at this point. It was just beyond, beyond. I was so excited.

Katie (25:45)
Yes, one of my friends, my close friends, I was talking to her. We talk and chit chat all the time. So I've talked to her through this whole process. But a few months back, I was talking to her about how I was looking into public speaking and kind of freshening up my skills on public speaking, you know, since I took one random course in college about it. Because I told her, you know, in the fall when my book comes out, I...

I might need these. I might need these skills. I'm sure I'm going to have to speak to people. I'm going to have interviews at signings and things. And it wasn't just maybe a month later after putting in the work of freshening up those skills and learning more about public speaking that I got called to be a speaker at a conference. And then I got called to be on TV, on Talk of Alabama. And then

your podcast and then I have another interview with a newspaper and then it's just, yes, I manifested, but I also, put in the work and I think the or whatever powers may be, think see you're putting in the work for something you really want it. And then you get it.

Megan (27:04)
Yep. You speak it into existence. Yes. Yeah. It's the trick is just is not expecting how or the final manifestation of it because often it looks so much different than you expected it to look. And so the trick is to just be open to

however it's going to show up so that you can recognize it when it comes to, right? Because sometimes as you say, it's so obvious. It's like, I was thinking about public speaking. Now I'm giving a talk.

and it's just so funny. Like you put that out there and then here we go. And that happens a lot, doesn't it? It's like you say something out loud and then it's sorted. It's the intention behind it. that's my favorite thing. So

Okay, what's your favorite book and how has it had a lasting effect on you?

Katie (27:58)
⁓ lord.

What a question. I mean, off the top of my head, I have so many witchy books that I just adored. I think the one that had the most fan pack me and my writing and just a lot of things is The Once and Future Witches by Alex E. Harrell. It was the first time I realized that your feminism and your fight

Megan (28:19)
⁓

Katie (28:28)
for human rights and women's rights and all the things. It didn't have to be hidden in your story. It could be a main focal point of your story. And that really helped me form the Southern Sorority of Superstitious Witches. I had written a book before that and it had feminist themes in it, but it was kind of hidden in the backdrop of the story and in other things. And so when I read,

The Once and Future Witches by Alex Zaharo. It was like this light bulb in my head of like, my gosh, like it can be the main focal point. You can be loud and proud. You can be outspoken, you know, in your writing and in other areas of life. you know, you, we think of everything going on today and, silence and not doing anything and not saying anything can be very comfortable.

can be very easy, but it's not gonna get changed. It's not gonna get you heard. It's not going to impact and cause a snowball of the things that need to happen. And I think that book, it was just so profound to me of, my gosh, this author is writing about these suffragettes and about them fighting for their rights, but they also,

are witches and it's also historical. And I was like, you can do both? You can do all of them? my. And it's just like,

Megan (29:59)
Yes. And that's such a huge power of books, right? It's like, so Alexie Harrow gave you that permission that you are open that door for you, that portal to be, ⁓ I could do it this way. And then your book will have those kinds of same reverberations out to other folks who will then suddenly understand what

they're capable of as well or what they can aspire to or, my gosh, I didn't know you could do it this way. is so neat. Now what can I create? Right? It's like these building blocks of awesomeness just working out into the world. what's your favorite spiritual practice?

Katie (30:45)
So I do this thing, I don't know if it has another better name, but I call it my manifestation baths. I love to take a bath, a soak in the tub with candles all around me, lights off, black dark, besides the candles, and epsom salts and things in the water, a playlist that I love and adore playing, and

I think and I say all the things that I want to happen and I'm manifesting and that's what I did with this book. I remember three years ago when I was writing this, I took one of these baths, I had some really awesome music playing, great candles, all the vibes and I remember saying out loud, I was laying in the tub and I said out loud, the Southern sorority of superstitious witches.

will get me an agent, it will get me a book deal, it's going to find its readers. And that was before I was even done writing it, mind you. And I have continued to take these baths and do this periodically. It's become part of my self care, but it's also, I think, part of my practice and my spirituality and connecting to divine things, but also connecting to myself.

Megan (32:05)
Love it. I love it. So on this podcast, we like to talk about how we remain hopeful during these dark times. And what are some of the things that you do to stay hopeful and fighting?

Katie (32:20)
Going back to finding your community and your people, and I know sometimes you think you might be in a place where you can't find them. And trust me when I say there are your people somewhere around you. I promise. I never would have thought years ago that I would find people in the deep South, in Alabama, that

reflect the things that I feel, the things that I believe, the practices that I do, and I have, I've found them. And it just feels so good when you are in one of those moments of despair and you have seen all the headlines and all the TikToks and all the things, to be able to go to that community and talk to them and have them affirm what you're feeling and to know that you're not in it.

alone.

Megan (33:16)
That's it, isn't it? It's the idea that there's other people like you who want the same things as you. And when you find community like that, you're working towards something bigger.

Katie (33:31)
Yes, yes, that's it right there. Love it.

Megan (33:34)
I love it.

Listen, it has been so nice to talk to you and thank you again for your patience with all of the hilarious tech. We really want to or we me, I really want to ⁓ stress for folks who are listening how important it is for authors to have pre-orders in for their books. And I know your book is on pre-order right now.

Katie (33:44)
course.

Megan (34:02)
And certainly ⁓ we'll make sure to link to that. But I mean, if you are listening to this podcast, you are going to love this book. Just go, go click the link, do the pre-order. This is how we get more of the art and the media that we really love and that we support the folks who are behind it because that's how we do.

in the matriarchy. Yes. Okay. Yes. Yes. Okay. Thank you so much. October 6th, right? That's when it comes out. Yes. Love it. So you can find all of the information and takeaways from today's episode in the show notes or at embracing enchantment.com subscribe and follow wherever you get your podcasts, leave a review or ask us a question or a suggestion through a voice note.

You can find out more about Katie and where to follow her in the show notes or at embracing enchantment.com. And don't forget to pre-order her book. Make sure you're subscribed to the podcast because we always have the best guests. Until then, here's to building an enchanted life. Thank you so much, Katie.

Katie (35:14)
Thank you so much!