BTW 47: 5 of Pentacles – Real Gods Require Blood with guest Thea Wirsching

Between the Worlds Podcast

This episode is sponsored by a new film created for the Tarot reading community from The Theatre Company in Portland, Oregon. Claire Willett's The Broken Heart Spread is a deep dive into the world of modern tarot card reading. Over the course of a single day, we meet seven women at seven different personal thresholds, all looking to the wisdom of the tarot for guidance in matters of the heart. The tarot cards open doors for each of the women - and Delphine herself - to write the next chapter of their own story.

The Broken Heart Spread is currently streaming through August 22nd on Stellar. Catch the film on your own time through Video on Demand, tickets start at just $20 and can be found at thetheatreco.org. We hope you enjoy this movie normalizing the magic of witches!

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Speaking on the truth of suffering and fear, Zora Neale Hurston said that, only "half gods are worshipped in wine and flowers. Real gods require blood.” The Five of Pentacles is not a comfortable card. It speaks of pain and privation, the moments that bring us to our knees. But, as Amanda and her guest Dr. Thea Wirsching discuss in this episode, those moments are also invitations from the real and often blood thirsty gods to wrestle with the angels of our history.

5s are ruled by the hierophant. The priest, the Pope, the card in the major arcana that connects us with our spiritual traditions; in some decks it is called, "Ancestor." The 5 of Pentacles demands our humility. It is an invitation to love life in it all its blizzards and madness and freezing winds. We discuss the Little Match Girl; the 4 Noble Truths of Buddhism; African American literature of the 19th century; The Wedding Crashers; how religion can offer salvation... and be a bunch of bullshit; Mercury in Taurus; and where to find refuge.

Our guest is Thea Wirsching is an Evolutionary astrologer and has been practicing astrology for almost two decades. Her counseling business, The Pluto Babe, helps guide her clients in the process of releasing shame. She received her PhD from UCLA, and her dissertation focused on the history and literature of American occultism. Much of this original research appears in her forthcoming publication, The American Renaissance Tarot (2021). As a Tarot reader, Thea emphasizes the healing power of narrative and the cards’ facility to write a new story.

References in this episode include:

• CLOTEL, by William Wells Brown, the first African-American novel (1853)
• Rachel Pollack, “78 Degrees of Wisdom.”
• Zora Neale Hurston, "Their Eyes Were Watching God."
• Chiron Armand. An anonymous meme on his IG Stories.

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Learn More About Our Guest Thea Wirsching

Thea Wirsching is an Evolutionary astrologer and has been practicing astrology for almost two decades. Her counseling business, The Pluto Babe, helps guide her clients in the process of releasing shame. She received her PhD from UCLA, and her dissertation focused on the history and literature of American occultism. Much of this original research appears in her forthcoming publication, The American Renaissance Tarot (2021). As a Tarot reader, Thea emphasizes the healing power of narrative and the cards’ facility to write a new story.

Her deck, The American Renaissance Tarot, is out August of 2021.

To find out more about Thea, visit her on Instagram, @the_pluto_babe

Or visit her website: www.theplutobabe.com

Or find her on Facebook @theplutobabe

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Original MUSIC by Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs

Check out Mind Your Practice - Carolyn's new podcast with arts consultant and author of Make Your Art No Matter What, Beth Pickens.

Mind Your Practice is geared towards artists and writers looking for strategies and support to build their projects and practices (plus loving pep talks). There’s even a club - “Homework Club” - which offers creative people a framework for keeping their projects and practices a priority with *actual homework* and optional accountability groups made up of other artists and writers!

You can visit MindYourPractice.com for more details or listen wherever you stream Between the Worlds.

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Get in touch with sponsorship inquiries for Between the Worlds at [e-mail].

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CONTRIBUTORS:

Amanda Yates Garcia (host) & Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs (producer, composer). The BTW logo collage was created by Maria Minnis (tinyparsnip.com / instagram.com/tinyparsnip ) with text designed by Leah Hayes.