#153 - Tourmaline, Liberation Luminary
The Witch Wave
Pam Grossman
4.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 25 June 2025
⏱️ 87 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It’s the Witch Wave Season 8 Finale! Tourmaline is an award-winning artist, filmmaker, writer, and activist whose work is dedicated to Black trans joy and freedom. She’s the author of the new book Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson, which is the first comprehensive – and utterly beautiful! - biography of the visionary trans activist. Her prior book, One Day in June, is a picture book about Marsha and the Stonewall Uprising.
Tourmaline is a TIME 100 Most Influential Person in the World awardee and a Guggenheim Fellow. She has frequently appeared on ABC News, as well as in the New York Times and Vogue. Her art is in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Tate, and the Getty Museum. She created the critically acclaimed film Happy Birthday, Marsha!, and she has directed Pride campaigns for Dove, Marc Jacobs, and Reebok. She previously worked with Queers for Economic Justice and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project.
Tourmaline lives in Miami, Florida, but she was able to join Pam in person in the podcast studio here in Brooklyn!
On this episode, Tourmaline discusses the magical activism of Marsha P. Johnson, the importance of freedom dreaming and liberatory manifestation, and how we can conjure future flourishing for all.
Pam also talks about the deep kinship between witches and the queer community, and answers a listener question about a bewitching gift for a new mom.
Check out the video of this episode over on YouTube (and please like and subscribe to the channel while you’re at it!)
Our sponsors for this episode are Ritual + Shelter, Mixed Color, Wheel of Fate, The Witch Summit, LOGOS Candles, BetterHelp, PaganPagesOrg, and Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab
We also have print-on-demand merch like Witch Wave shirts, sweatshirts, totes, stickers, and mugs available now here, and all sorts of other bewitching goodies available in the Witch Wave shop.
And if you want more Witch Wave, please consider supporting us on Patreon to get access to detailed show notes, bonus Witch Wave Plus episodes, Pam’s monthly online rituals, and more! That’s patreon.com/witchwave
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This episode of The Witch Wave is brought to you by Ritual and Shelter. |
| 0:05.5 | Looking for a magical place to shop and hold space, check out Ritual and Shelter in Homewood, Alabama. |
| 0:13.8 | Browse through their bookshelves covering topics of magical history, theory, and practice, as well as tarot cards and oracle decks from well-known |
| 0:23.6 | artists and even decks created by local witches in Alabama. |
| 0:28.2 | From teas, tonics, and tinctures to toad skulls and turmaline towers, you can find all of these |
| 0:36.2 | and so much more on their witchy website, Ritualshelter.com, or in person. |
| 0:43.6 | So lather up that flying ointment and travel down to ritual and shelter in Homewood, Alabama, |
| 0:50.5 | or check them out online at ritualshelter.com. |
| 0:54.6 | Did you run out of flying ointment? |
| 0:56.9 | Well, they have that too. |
| 0:59.3 | This episode of The Witch Wave is brought to you by mixed color. |
| 1:04.7 | Hand stitching is an act of magic, adorning and transforming cloth, |
| 1:10.7 | while infusing the fibers with protective and fortuitous |
| 1:14.8 | energy. If you want to explore embroidery not just as a skill, but as a portal into the |
| 1:22.3 | imaginal realms of your own mind, then the workshops from Mixed Color Textile Studio are just what you need |
| 1:30.1 | to enhance your craft. Mixed color is run by my friend and prior Witchwave guest, Christy Johnson, |
| 1:38.3 | and I know you're going to love these classes. Explore one of their free stitch series to get started. |
| 1:46.2 | From enchanted blooms to mythic creatures, you're sure to find something to spark your creative |
| 1:52.6 | spirit. Head to Mixedcolor.net for more. That's Amazon Magic, I-X-E-D-Color.net. |
| 2:03.1 | This episode of the Witch Wave is brought to you by Wheel of Fate. |
| 2:08.5 | Wheel of Fate in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a cozy little witch shop where you can learn to make |
| 2:15.0 | your own besom broom, bind a spellbook, or spin wool into yarn. |
... |
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