About

Cabra Woodwell is a Reclaiming Witch and Thelemite living in so-called Pennsylvania. A devotee of Our Lady of Lourdes, this practitioner is determined to use witch’s ways to reclaim the power of Folk Catholicism and the Grimoire tradition. They carry the moniker of a goat and use that playful, obstinate spirit to carve a path up the mountain before them. You can find them and their work at Garlic Witch Zine Collective and Reclaiming Pittsburgh.

Interviews

Spring 2021: Sibling podcasts 3 Pagans on Tap and Around Grandfather Fire

Publications

January 2017: Arcane Perfection anthology.

Tech Witch

2018 to July 2021: Reclaiming Pittsburgh Discord Admin

Dec 2018 to Dec 2020: Iron Pentacle Study Group Discord Admin

March 2020 to March 2022: Starsdance Mystery School 

Workshops + Classes

Early 2016: Art + the Craft

This 4 week online course is aimed at novice witches, and means to demonstrate several methods of spellcraft. The methods presented have a focus on art and art making as inherently magical actions. The course is not a complete covering fof the topic but rather a jumping off point for each individual witch’s exploration of their own thoughts of the overlap between art and the craft.

Beltane 2016: Making Magic and Paganism Nonbinary Friendly

Teachable in half an hour, this quick workshop is aimed at helping cisgendered and heterosexual members of the Pagan community begin to recognize and grow away from the cissexism and nonbinary erasure present in our spaces. It can be expanded to a full hour discussion if time allows, and makes ample room for trans and queer pagans to speak out.

Note: This workshop is open for any queer person to teach. Blank worksheets are here and presenter’s notes are here.

Beltaine 2018: The Magic of Video Games

Pigeon and Critter unite forces to discuss the subtle but strong connection between magic and video games. Using storytelling and Astral Travel as bridges, the presenters will make the connections known and then allow the imagination of the participants to take flight in this fertile and rich area of modern life.

Unconference May 2018: The Magic of Video Games

Pagans in the Park 2018: A Pagan Perspective on Saints

Many people think Saints are only relevant to Catholic and Afro-Syncretic tradition. This is not so. With a little bit of history and a lot of fun storytelling, come find a useful way to begin or deepen your ancestral practice. 

Greater Pittsburgh Pagan Pride 2018: Raising Energy in Ritual

Some things are best learned by doing. Come join with Juniper Caldera and Critter for an hour of hands on energy raising using only one drum and the magic inherent in each and every one of us. Knowing how to raise energy can give your rituals a greater sense of efficacy and togetherness, connecting you to energies as old as humanity itself.

Baltimore Witchfest April 2019: A Pagan Perspective on Saints

Morgantown Pagan Pride Aug 2019: Making Magic and Paganism Nonbinary Friendly

Pittsburgh Pagan Pride Day Oct 2019: Connecting with the Elements

The elements are deeply important in most modern pagan practice, but how do we relate to them? In this 50-minute meditative dicussion, Cabra and Otter Riverrider will help participants attune to and deepen their connection with those forces we come to again and again.

Starsdance Mystery School Fall 2020: Conjuring Signs

SpiralConvergence 2021: Magic, Power, and Racism

We are woven together with ancestors into an intricate tapestry of magic. Some parts of the tapestry have holes. Some parts are patched with stolen materials. There are people who have been deliberately woven out of the tapestry. Many of the most alluring colors have been produced using heavy metals and poisonous dyes. If we burn the weaving in our shame and our despair, we destroy ourselves in a cloud of toxic smoke and ash.

If we have the courage to unravel the snarled threads, and the will to learn the skill of mending, we can take the tapestry from the cold stone walls and reweave it into a blanket, a tent, a tablecloth. Something that brings comfort, shelter, and nourishment to all who gather around it. Who did we say we would be: the witches who cling to the threadbare, or the witches who remake ourselves?

Racism is woven through the history of our craft. This path is where we work magic to trace those threads of oppression. To unravel legacies of magical violence. To bear witness to and acknowledge our past and continuing complicity in harm. To grieve and set out on a journey of repair.

This offering is an opportunity for white identifying people to explore white supremacy culture and our role and responsibilities in undoing racism and anti-Blackness. We welcome and recognize the gift of the presence of any Black, Indigenous, and Witches of Color who choose to join us.

Starsdance Mystery School Fall 2021: Conjuring Signs