The Inner Circle with Blackwater Apothecary

Step into the mystical world of Blackwater Apothecary with The Inner Circle Podcast, where community, curiosity, and a touch of magic come together. Hosted by Nicole Blackwater, this podcast explores the questions people ask every day in her witch shop—from the practical to the paranormal. Join us for spellbinding conversations about witchcraft, tarot, folklore, and the unseen forces that shape our world. Whether you're a seasoned practitioner or simply curious, you're welcome here. The veil is thin—come see what’s on the other side.

The Inner Circle with Blackwater Apothecary is a religion podcast hosted by Nicole Blackwater, with 5 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Nicole Blackwater hosts The Inner Circle with Blackwater Apothecary, a religion show with 5 episodes published.

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  Episode #5

  What the Bog Remembers

  Oct 2, 20261h 15mS2

  What the Bog Remembers In 1950, peat cutters in Denmark found a face in the bog. Tollund Man had been there for more than two thousand years, yet enough of him remained to make the discovery feel uncomfortably recent. This month, we’re going into the chemistry that preserved him, the ancient meal still traceable in his body, bog butter, weapons in wetlands, Bronze Age homes built over water, and the wandering lights that made a marsh after dark an especially poor place to lose your way. We’ll also look at what those finds can tell us, what they leave unanswered, and how easily a compelling story can begin to sound like evidence. From there, we turn to memory and divination. Why does an answer sometimes feel more certain the more badly we need it? What can a card or pendulum help us notice, and what can’t it establish? We talk about consent in readings, other people’s free will, and practitioners who turn fear or grief into a reason to keep paying them. Preserved does not mean unchanged. What the Bog Remembers is a companion to the Bog Witch installment of Blackwater Apothecary’s Just Add Magic box. You can listen and follow the questions wherever they take you, whether or not you have the box. A note on the memory discussion: This episode mentions trauma, grief, and suggestive claims about hidden memories. It does not ask you to search for a buried experience or treat a spiritual reading as mental health care. Sources mentioned in the episode Museum Silkeborg: The discovery of Tollund Man New analysis of Tollund Man’s last meal, Antiquity Research on Irish bog butter, Scientific Reports Wirt Sikes, British Goblins , including the Welsh corpse-candle account Microlightning between microbubbles, PNAS Judith Herman, “Recovery from Psychological Trauma” Dr. Salima Ikram and Dr. Kara Cooney on studying and displaying human remains, Ologies Send for the Horses, Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The full source guide has the research and museum records for the rest of the episode and is available here: https://blackwaterapothecary.com/blogs/podcast-show-notes/show-notes-what-the-bog-remembers Find Blackwater Apothecary at blackwaterapothecary.com and on our socials.

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  Episode #4

  Roots, Rot & Reckoning

  Aug 23, 20261h 26mS2

  Content note: This episode includes discussion of enslavement and racial violence, coercion and domination, anger, harmful or baneful magic, and questions of punishment and consequence. Sound effects include insect sounds and thunder. And a few curse words. Roots, Rot & Reckoning: Haints, Heat & the Things That Grow in Dark Water In Roots, Rot & Reckoning , Nicole Blackwater follows the strange lives of things that remain: dead leaves that continue changing the chemistry of the water, cypress trees shaped by flooded ground, stories that survive the worlds that made them, and the ways people continue carrying adaptations, warnings, anger, responsibilities, and inherited ways of surviving long after their original conditions have changed. We begin in the literal swamp, exploring blackwater ecology, decomposition, oxygen-poor wetland soils, the still-unresolved mystery of cypress knees, and the long American history of treating wetlands as useless ground in need of “reclamation.” From there, we enter the Great Dismal Swamp and its history of marronage, where landscape itself altered the possibilities for people escaping slavery. Then there are haints. We trace the word through Southern and Appalachian speech before narrowing the map to the Lowcountry and Gullah Geechee history, where haint blue opens an entirely different question: what happens to folklore when a story survives long enough to move beyond the conditions that created it? We look at the water and sky explanations, the beloved indigo origin story, historic paint analysis that complicates it, family memory, preservation, tourism, Pinterest, and contemporary witchcraft. Eventually, the lens turns toward us. What survives after the conditions that made it necessary are gone? What can anger tell us, and where does information become judgment? What is the difference between protection and punishment, accountability and annihilation, understanding someone’s roots and excusing what grew from them? This episode explores inheritance, anger, curse work, restraint, power, consequence, and the Weight of Judgment , before returning to the dark water with three questions: This episode is the companion to Blackwater Apothecary’s August Just Add Magic Box, Roots, Rot & Reckoning: A Swamp Witch’s Field Guide. A very special thank you to Scott Buckley for the music in this episode: “Hour Of The Witch” by Scott Buckley Released under CC BY 4.0. Scott Buckley Music Library “Hour Of The Witch” track page “The Old Ones” by Scott Buckley Released under CC BY 4.0. Scott Buckley Music Library “The Old Ones” track page Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License Additional show notes and research available here: https://blackwaterapothecary.com/blogs/news/show-notes-roots-rot-reckoning

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  Episode #3

  The Stories We Breathe

  Jul 23, 20261h 14mS2

  Some people say they can smell ghosts. A familiar perfume in an empty hallway. Cigarette smoke in a house where no one has smoked for years. The scent of a beloved dog beside the stove long after she is gone. In The Stories We Breathe In , Nicole Blackwater explores the strange power of scent to carry memory, create atmosphere, mark sacred time, and teach us what magic is supposed to smell like. We follow frankincense, myrrh, benzoin, palo santo, perfume, and incense through trade routes, religious practice, contemporary witchcraft, home fragrance, and modern metaphysical culture. Along the way, we ask how aromatic materials gather meaning, why spiritual marketing so often flattens distinct traditions into one vague mystical system, and what ethical sourcing looks like when meaning itself has a supply chain. This episode also explores the practical and ceremonial uses of fragrance, the difference between describing an aroma and claiming spiritual authority, natural and synthetic materials, incense safety, shared air, and the responsibility modern makers carry when working with culturally significant materials and stories. Sometimes fragrance carries an enormous historical inheritance. Sometimes a candle just smells like apples. Both are allowed. This episode is the companion to Blackwater Apothecary’s July Just Add Magic Box, Temple of the Sun . Full show notes, bibliography, further reading, and resources: https://blackwaterapothecary.com/blogs/podcast-show-notes/show-notes-the-stories-we-breathe MUSIC CREDITS “Unraveling” by Scott Buckley, released under CC-BY 4.0. “Incantation” by Scott Buckley, released under CC-BY 4.0. “Hymn to the Dawn” by Scott Buckley, released under CC-BY 4.0. “Petrichor” by Scott Buckley, released under CC-BY 4.0. Music by Scott Buckley: www.scottbuckley.com.au Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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  Episode #2

  Unwilling to Behave: Sirens, Selkies & Sacred Waters

  Jun 4, 20261h 33mS2

  What started as a fun little episode about mermaids and spooky water ladies became, because of course it did, a much deeper dive into the stories human beings tell about water, power, grief, longing, autonomy, and the strange women we keep imagining at the edge of the waves. This episode is also a companion piece to Blackwater Apothecary’s June Just Add Magic subscription box , inspired by haunted waters, sea witches, mermaids, sirens, selkies, and the old stories that gather at the shoreline. Blackwater Apothecary is an online witchcraft shop and educational space offering ritual goods, classes, podcast episodes, subscription boxes, and a little bit of beautiful nonsense for people who like their magic thoughtful, ethical, atmospheric, and just slightly unhinged. This episode draws from folklore, mythology, art history, Black Atlantic memory work, water-spirit traditions, psychology, blue-space research, and modern conversations around vulnerability and performance. I’ve gathered a few starting points below for anyone who wants to follow the tide a little deeper. When it comes to traditions and histories that are not mine to hold at the center, I encourage you to follow the work of scholars, artists, practitioners, and communities speaking from within those waters. Equal Justice Initiative. The Transatlantic Slave Trade: A Forgotten History of Slavery and Racism . Montgomery, AL: Equal Justice Initiative, 2023. https://eji.org/reports/transatlantic-slave-trade Turner, Chelsea E., et al. “Memorializing the Middle Passage on the Atlantic Seabed in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction.” 2020. https://www.oceandecadeheritage.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Turner-et-al-2020.pdf Hartman, Saidiya. Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route . New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. Sharpe, Christina. In the Wake: On Blackness and Being . Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2016. Full Show Notes References & Sources: https://blackwaterapothecary.com/blogs/news/show-notes-unwilling-to-behave You can find us online at: Website: www.blackwaterapothecary.com Patreon: https://patreon.com/NicoleBlackwater?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_fan&utm_content=copyLink Podcast: https://theinnercirclewithblackwaterapothecary.riverside.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicol3blackwat3r/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicoleblackwatersby/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@blackwaterapothecary Big thanks to Played & Faved on youtube for the canoe paddling sounds!

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  Episode #1

  Persephone Rising: Descent, Return & the Sacred Work of Becoming

  May 22, 202627 minS2

  Some myths refuse to stay ancient. Persephone’s story is one of descent, grief, longing, transformation, and the impossible miracle of returning changed. In this episode of The Inner Circle Podcast , Nicole Blackwater explores the myth of Persephone, Demeter, and Hades through the lens of grief, rebirth, agency, love, and transformation. Inspired by Blackwater Apothecary’s April-May Just Add Magic double box, Persephone Rising , this episode moves between Greek mythology, modern retelling, personal reflection, and poetic ritual. We begin with the ancient story of Persephone’s descent into the underworld, Demeter’s world-changing grief, the pomegranate seeds that bind Persephone between realms, and the seasonal cycle of loss and return. Then we step into a more modern, bittersweet interpretation of Persephone as a sovereign queen of two worlds: daughter of spring, bride of the underworld, keeper of longing, memory, and shadow. This episode is for anyone who has ever gone through a dark season and wondered what it means to come back changed. Featuring a reading of Nicole’s poem “O Mother Demeter” and the closing letter from the Persephone Rising workbook. What is buried is not always dead. In this episode: The myth of Persephone, Demeter, and Hades Demeter’s grief and the barren earth Pomegranate seeds as symbols of choice, consequence, and belonging Persephone as daughter, queen, and threshold figure Modern retellings of Persephone as a sovereign goddess of two worlds Descent as initiation, grief as proof of love, and return as transformation A reading of Nicole Blackwater’s poem “O Mother Demeter” The closing letter from the Persephone Rising workbook Inspired by: Blackwater Apothecary’s April-May Just Add Magic double box, Persephone Rising . Find Blackwater Apothecary: blackwaterapothecary.com Explore the Just Add Magic subscription box Instagram Facebook for Blackwater Apothecary Nicole Blackwater Pages: Instagram Facebook

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