“Glance at the sun. See the moon and the stars. Gaze at the beauty of earth’s greenings. Now, think.”
- Hildegard of Bingen
As the thin veil of Samhain floats by on the northern hemisphere and Beltane burst forth in the southern realms, Rhiannon Mapstone joins me from the other side of the world. We usually live in the same region, but this time she’s calling in from Cornwall, fresh from a Cornish witchcraft festival held under the biodomes of the Eden Project, in the pouring rain and a proper autumn storm. We talk about what these gatherings are really like, from local practitioners’ workshops to market stalls, and about the protective abundance poppet she stitched in black felt and dark green thread, filled with herbs and runes, with Cornish incantations spoken over every stitch. Along the way we explore why poppets aren’t only for baneful magic, the role of intent in ritual, a pad of paper voodoo dolls, and why Cornish craft and Wicca are not the same thing. Rhiannon also shares her encounters with Cornish wise women and herbalists, including a heart-healing tincture made with hawthorn berries and roses.
Rhiannon is a perfumer, practising witch, and the founder of Cosmic Witch Society. Her work draws on naturopathy, singing and songwriting, and a lifelong study of plants, ritual and traditional magical practice. Her ancestry runs through Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, France and Germany, and she was raised between Melbourne city and the countryside, where horses, open landscapes and the turning seasons shaped her earliest connection to nature. Through Cosmic Witch Society she creates perfumes, ritual oils, incense, teas and botanical blends from a working apothecary practice. Each one draws on folklore, mythology, witchcraft and the natural world, and each is made slowly, like a potion.
Fragrances mentioned:
Hearth Song
Veriditas Magica
Mentioned:
The Fragrance Files – The Witch
Learn more about Hildegard of Bingen:
Gone Medieval – Hildegard of Bingen: Prophetess, Composer, Mystic
Betwixt the Sheets – Orgasms & Skincare According to a Medieval Nun
Find Rhiannon at:
Website:
Instagram:
TikTok:
Theme music for the show was created by Raul Sanchez I Jorge. Check out his solo work on Wild Animal Records
