good morning! This cosy Xandra the witch podcast is a 2-for-1.

1. Introducing the LOTR Cosy Reading Community

In the first half, I update you on the reworking of my LOTR Leadership Circle, which now includes a free Cosy Reading Community where everybody gets a hobbit-hole! I like to explain my thought process as it unfolds, for it is an example of wielding leadership. Thanks for being on this journey with me.

→ Join the LOTR Cosy Reading Community here.

→ Read more about the LOTR Leadership Circle here.

2. Wintering Dreams

In the second half, I unpack advice around New Year’s Resolutions in an astrological context. And go on about natural light cycles. Each year, I aim to go deeper into my wintering, resisting the capitalist urgency to ‘finish strong’ and consistently ‘produce’ all year round.

let me know what lands.

♥️Xandrathe witch 🪄

Here are 12 little prizes I’ve given myself for doing hard things!

Most recently, I rewrote my About page! You can read it here ✨✨✨

The prize was to record this podcast, because that’s what felt most fun.

the prizes

* 10 Things I Hate About You + pizza

* 12 minutes of looking at my favourite painting at the art gallery — a nice zoomer in a Chappell Roan concert tee took this photo for me:

* butterfly stickers

* coloured my planner page Red (get your Lunar Logbook here!)

* watched Harry’s short film (I mispoke; it’s stone “squeezing” not setting)

* watched Hapidanbui the music video in my pajamas (and learned the dance)

* wrote down Hamlet’s speech

* put star stickers in my planner

* chose a new sporcle badge (here’s the ‘They’re Taking the Hobbits to Isengard’ blog I talked about)

* watched Olivia Dean live performances while cross-stitching

* recorded this prize podcast!

* (bonus) cheers at writers drinks to my new about page!

here’s Simone Grace Seol’s Truth or Dare course 🌟

Leave your prize ideas and replies in the comments =D

♥️Xandrathe witch 🪄

→ Apply for the LOTR Leadership Circle here.

→ Read more about the LOTR Leadership Circle here.

🐇

craving a cosy little podcast so i made one myself

topics:

* recommended mental health practice: Emoji sos

* What IS my fave ep of gossip girl?

* Blair was manifesting and miserable in Paris

* criticising white supremacy IS COSY. just me??

* Overnight Addendum: actually Louis is and always has been the worst

→ Apply for the LOTR Leadership Circle here.

→ Read more about the LOTR Leadership Circle here.

→ order you Lunar Logbook moon planner here!

♥️Xandrathe witch 🪄

p.s. my new favourite podcast is the purple pants podcast, wherein brice izyah and friends recap survivor! plus, there are monthly purple pants premonitions with D'Andre who is also on substack 🌟🌟 if you fancy some DEEP GLITTERING THOUGHTS, look no further —

Welcome back to the Showgirl Portal / Taylor Swift Album Countdown Club—

I’ve been in rehearsal (on my living room floor) to bring you this concert (from my living room floor). 1989 makes me want to sing along, so for my creative project, I learned the chords to a few favourites.

At first I was tempted to learn the whole album, but I’m challenging myself to not challenge myself so much.

This concert was recorded in one take, and includes mistakes. That is because it’s not about being perfect. It’s about how having fun is enough. And if you can’t shake off perfectionism while at play, you’ll really struggle with it doing serious stuff. So, welcome to the Errors Tour!

I invited you to create more space for fun in your life. What’s a small, meaningful project that would bring you joy right now? There are plenty of examples in this Showgirl Portal project: 💚TS1, 💛TS2, 💜TS3, & ❤️TS4

And if you’re looking to explore the fun vibe more deeply, connecting to your elemental nature through true, pure, decolonised joy, join me in Fun Club. We begin on 25 October.

🪄Xandrathe witch

Current Offerings:🌈 Xandra’s Fun Club - 8-week portal beginning 25 Oct📖 Lunar Logbook - undated moon planner for creating the magical story you wish to liveConnect @xandrathewitch:📸 Instagram 📽️ YouTube

Welcome back to the Showgirl Portal / Taylor Swift Album Countdown Club. (here’s part 1 & part 2)

Today, I heed the call of Speak Now and speak now.

If you have been looking for a call to Speak Now too, this is it.

💘Your challenge: be an audience member and then, —> create something -anything- in response.

Do you seek a deeper and truer connection to your sense of fun? Join my FUN CLUB: a reclamation of joy + return to yourself. The Fun Club portal is open. We begin on 25 October.

oh and here’s my speak now outfit!

ps. i didn’t get to mention my favourite speak now song castles crumbling which i sang at the hard rock cafe as part of my taylor swift setlist =D =D perhaps the highlight of my music career [so far]. haha i just looked up the link for you and forgot that i referred to this concert as ‘opening for taylor swift at the eras tour’. such a funny joke, x.

How can we have fun at a time like this? Is it even ok to have fun?

Urgent action must be taken to fight fascism and dismantle white supremacy.

We also must have fun, because the liberation of joy and peace is what we are fighting to protect. This is not escapist. This is not separate. This is not a break. It is all connected.

It is especially not escapist because often systemic oppression exists everywhere — including… Chuck E. Cheese’s! As we turn to childhood nostalgia for reprieve, what we find there is imperfect. I celebrate being able to see these imperfections with the wisdom of time. I celebrate the courage of those who point out the wrongs. I will continue to use my voice to dance us towards joy: Yes fun: without the misogyny and racism 😇.

So this video is a mix, just as life is a mix. I gush over a current obsession. I consider the paradox of receiving joy in devastating times. I reflect on the problems of this entertainment company, and what we can learn from them.

Most of all — I love what people love. Please stay giddy and excited about whatever random interest is calling to your heart! We need to stay silly.

Love, X

Xandra the Witch is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Sources:

* this book is so good! —> Everything to Play For: How Videogames are Changing the World by Marijam Did

* “Everything To Play For asks if videogames can achieve egalitarian goals instead of fuelling hyper-materialist, reactionary agendas.” 🌟

* NY Times: Farewell, Chuck E. Cheese Animatronics Brand

* Brainna Wu in Rolling Stone: Atari Founder Award Reexamined After Outcry Over History

* Defuctland sparked my interest in Chuck E. Cheese after this video on the helicopter thing, and a longer Patreon video ranking the animatronics

* I’m also enjoying TNT Muffin’s series including this one tracking down animatronics in weird places; this warms my heart and if anyone has animatronics at your local supermarket omg, take that in. enjoy.

Every full moon I delete social media from my phone, and every full moon I announce it. I like to normalise and role model different ways of balancing the virtual world with reality. Over my years of doing this, I learn something new every time!

So when Lorde commented on phone addiction, I thought I’d weigh in on why she doesn’t feel confident in her answer. Here are my Sag full moon thoughts on the reality of being online in 2025! disconnect/reconnect at your own pace. 💓

X

P.S. I’m working on more stuff behind the scenes 👀. You can look forward to (a) the nonbinary priestess diaries column and (b) a secret project coming soon to substack for summer fun. hint: 💌🐌

with magic,⭐️ X. This essay poured out of my pen in pretty much one go, born from days and hours of sleep and rest, honouring my soul-aching tiredness. With gratitude to Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey of The Nap Ministry, and to Simone Grace Seol for affirming rest and slowness as a foundation for truth-telling. With gratitude to my divine feminine teachers, Meg McDermott and Bria Melitta.

I’m Xandra Sunglim Burns, the Witch, and artist of everyday life. This blog, The Priestess Diaries, is about reviving ancient ritual in modern times. It is also about discovering what a priestess is, does, and why I am one, because I am forever evolving my understanding of this mysterious wisdom! Lunar Logbook, my moon planner for creating your life while honouring nature’s cycles, is now available to order online. I live in Edinburgh, and my pronouns are she/they/he/witch/wizard.