your practice IS your teacher [w/ Aidan Wachter]

Connect with our guest, Aidan: www.aidanwachter.com/blueskywww.patreon.com/aidanwachterConnect with me, Hanna, your host: Instagram: @grace.pilledhannawilliams.com (bookings, merch, etc)patreon.com/gracepilled(join as a free member to get access to a collection of talks!)Aidan Wachter is a self-described “mongrel animist” and magical practitioner whose path has been shaped less by systems and more by direct experience, dirt, string, and a willingness to listen deeply to the spirits that walk with him. In this conversation, Aidan shares how punk rock led him to magic, how a major breakdown clarified his role as a teacher and healer (even if those titles make him cringe), and why the tools we already have might be more than enough. We talk about animism, autonomy, spiritual hoarding, ancestor complications, embodied spirit work, and the dangers of trying to fix spiritual problems with material logic. If you’ve ever felt allergic to orthodoxy but deeply drawn to the unseen, you’re going to love this one.We cover:Aidan’s post-breakdown reorientation toward teaching and healing, and how embracing his role in community helped him recover and recommit to his workThe animist foundations of his magical practice, and why he moved away from ceremonial systems in favor of direct, embodied, earth-based approachesHis philosophy of working with fewer tools, but going deeper — learning from the practices themselves rather than accumulating more techniques or spiritsThe distinction between relational magic and spiritual consumerism, and why knowing “who brung you to the dance” matters more than finding the perfect deityHow worldview is the hidden architecture behind both magic and everyday reality — and why interrogating our inherited beliefs is essential for real changeHis experiences with spirit communication, trance work, and ancestor relationships — including the beauty, the conflict, and the negotiation involvedThe importance of sovereignty when working with spirits, and how spiritual agency and personal boundaries are crucial, even (especially) in non-ordinary states