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- [00:00]
Riley Bray
Foreign.
- [00:08]
Michael McMillan
Collectors club with michael and riley.
- [00:16]
Mystic Dylan
I know a story of highest rangeness or two. Let's do this.
- [00:28]
Michael McMillan
Hello, hello, hello. Gotcha. Got you unawares. Hey everybody. Welcome back to Bigfoot Collectors Club, the show where we talk to amazing guests about their personal paranormal history and share stories of high strangeness. I'm your host, Michael McMillan, and with me always is your Boogie Daddy Rally Brave. That was submitted by Bigfoot's ghost over on the discord bcc.supercast.com if you want to join in the fun. You know, because I'm Cookie Daddy guest. I am Cookie Daddy over on bcc the other side. That's become my nickname because I bake the cookies and people eat them. So Riley, you're Boogie Daddy now? I guess.
- [01:15]
Riley Bray
Cool. I like it. I think it's more that.
- [01:19]
Michael McMillan
Yeah, I like it too. Speaking of our guests, let's hop right in. We have an expert episode for y' all this week. Our guest is is a witch doctor and author of the books Candle Magic for Beginners, Throwing Bones, Crystal Stones and Curios and the Witch's Guide to Manifestation, among others. He has a new book available for pre order called Swamp Sorcery Folk Magic from America's Southern Wetlands Club. Scouts of all timelines, please welcome back to the podcast the one and only Mystic Dylan.
- [01:55]
Mystic Dylan
Ow, it's upside down.
- [02:00]
Michael McMillan
Oh, there it is. Wait, hold it up for. Hold it up for the new book and I'll put a slide up here.
- [02:10]
Riley Bray
What number book is this are you on now, Dylan?
- [02:13]
Mystic Dylan
Well, it depends because one got pulled because I was not woke enough, so.
- [02:20]
Michael McMillan
Oh, shocking.
- [02:23]
Mystic Dylan
Technically this is book seven. Book.
- [02:25]
Riley Bray
Book seven.
- [02:26]
Michael McMillan
I thought you were going to say one got pulled because someone actually summoned like a duke from hell and you had to pull the book off the shelves.
- [02:35]
Mystic Dylan
Okay. Let me tell you though, if you are bored and you want to go down the rabbit hole of reviews from my Candle Magic book, the amount of people who say that they can summon demons with that is wild. Or accuse me of. Like, why are you telling people they can work with deities? I'm like, cuz I'm not a gatekeeper.
- [02:53]
Michael McMillan
Like, yeah, what is the wildest thing anyone's told you they've summoned using candle magic from your book.
- [03:05]
Mystic Dylan
Someone accuses me of being worse than Alistair Crowley. There's a review. I gotta find it. Yeah, it's on there somewhere.
- [03:11]
Riley Bray
That's a strong review.
- [03:12]
Michael McMillan
Yeah, it's a good review.
- [03:16]
Mystic Dylan
And that because obviously they don't understand voodoo, so they just go straight to like black magic, but not like black magic? More like black magic. So they just down this whole rabbit hole. Like, I have a, a healing spell for Marie Lavo. And then they're like, this is demonic. And. Yeah, but who?
- [03:35]
Michael McMillan
Okay, so I, I feel like the people who are going to really be like, this is demonic, they're kind of telling on themselves because if they're good Christians, why are they buying books?
- [03:48]
Riley Bray
You know what I mean? Yeah, absolutely.
- [03:51]
Mystic Dylan
And somewhere. So, like, not that I became Reddit famous, but it was low key. Awesome. So last year, Candle Magic became available on the 5 below and like this woman in Oklahoma was like taking pictures of my book and like on Reddit talking about how like, there's a book of witchcraft available at 5 below and it was my book. I'm like, this is so awesome. I mean the amount of hate came on Reddit for was like, ah, blasphemy. But it was still really cool. I was like, oh my God, I'm so flattered. And, and then I realized no money from this book at Five Below.
- [04:31]
Michael McMillan
Yeah, no, you're, but you're, you're, you're, you're. Your magic book tomes are trickling into suburbia. Also, like, the COVID to that book is very wholesome. It could not be more.
- [04:42]
Mystic Dylan
Okay. The, the, the like light blue and the white, but it's also in random places. So like it's in a Walmart in Arkansas and then some girl tagged me. Like, I was like, okay, cool. And then like, it's like, that's gonna
- [04:58]
Riley Bray
find some kid that.
- [04:59]
Michael McMillan
Yeah.
- [05:00]
Mystic Dylan
In a Target in Virginia City.
- [05:02]
Michael McMillan
It's, it's there, you know, because, you know, they're pulling all of our paranormal books from school libraries. So at least we can still.
- [05:10]
Riley Bray
We gotta get them into the Walmart.
- [05:12]
Michael McMillan
We gotta get them into the Walmart so some disenfranchised teen can wander away from their mom long enough to get their hands on some spooky books. You know, did I tell 10 I
- [05:28]
Mystic Dylan
got silver Raven Wolf's Book of Teen Witchcraft?
- [05:34]
Michael McMillan
Can I, can I tell a quick side story here, please? I don't think she's gonna let. She may or may not listen to this episode, but the psychologist that I'm going to marry on Valentine's Day. After dinner, we went over to Barnes and Noble and I, you know, I like to buy her her smutty fairy romance books, of course. So she picked out a couple books and there was a young person there who was talking to their brother about like, oh, I've read this one. I've read this One. I really want to read these. And she was looking. They were. I don't want to gender. I don't want to gender as anybody. They were looking at the heated rivalry books, and the psychologist I'm going to marry was like, I'll get. I'll get that one for you. And this young person who could have been 25, I don't know. They were like, really? And Kate was like, yeah. Oh, sorry. The psychologist I'm going to marry was like, yes. And then I was like, that's the second book. If you're gonna get them a book, get them the first book too. And. And the psychologist was like, okay, I'm getting both of these for you. And then brought this young person over to the checkout, bought the books for them. And then their parents walked up and that's when the psychologist I'm gonna marry turned to them and said, wait, how old are you? They were like, yeah, 16.
- [07:08]
Mystic Dylan
Oh, no.
- [07:10]
Michael McMillan
And we walked out and she was like, I. I may have just bought, like dirty books for a 16 year old. And then she started reading the books and she's like, michael, there is like, this book is just all descriptions of anal sex. Like, there's really 50 pages on their balls and their asshol. She's like, I cannot believe I bought these books. And I was like, to be fair, I thought that they were maybe like a broke college kid. I did not think that they were a teenager, you know? Yeah. So funny.
- [07:54]
Mystic Dylan
Like, I saw the series, but, like, when you look at the COVID the COVID is, like, pretty cartoony. Like, it doesn't look like a.
- [08:02]
Michael McMillan
No, it's. It's pages and pages of very heavily descriptive sex scenes from. From what I've told. So there you go. I. I just love it, though. So funny. What's worse, Candle magic or heated rivalry? What's going to corrupt a young mind more? Dylan?
- [08:27]
Mystic Dylan
I don't know. I. Probably my Candle Magic book, I feel like that. That. Well, I don't know. My swamp Magic book is a little steamy.
- [08:34]
Michael McMillan
Oh, yeah.
- [08:34]
Riley Bray
Oh, yeah.
- [08:35]
Michael McMillan
Got a little spice to it. Let's get into it. Let's get into it a little bit. So the new book, Swamp Sorcery, I had forgotten that you actually. Until I cracked it open. I forgot that you had actually grown up in the swamp. How you spent time in Florida as a kid. Tell us about that.
- [08:54]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah, so my. I was. I mean, I was born here in Los Angeles, but I grew up with my grandparents. My grandmother is. She's half Cuban, German Jew. So she grew up in Cuba that she fled one. She fled one dictatorship to end up in another dictatorship. And then she found herself in Miami, but her house is on a lake. And that lake goes all the way through, like, Tamiami Trail, like, into the Everglades. And during storms and stuff like that, like, we would see gators. We would see the occasional manatee.
- [09:38]
Michael McMillan
Oh, my God.
- [09:39]
Mystic Dylan
I just kind of, like. It was a very different, I guess, world to, like, here in Los Angeles, because, like, I mean, unless you're in the hills or whatever. I mean, I don't know. I saw, like, toads every day. There were snakes and. And it was just something, like, really cool. So, like, my. My connection to nature was, I think, a little more like, dark and murky. You know, like, literally, like, every day, like, lizards and toads were, like, dying in our pool because of the bleach. Like, they would just hop over from the W. Friends.
- [10:13]
Michael McMillan
Yeah.
- [10:14]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah. And then I dry them, and I would throw them on, like, my little bookshelf.
- [10:21]
Michael McMillan
And you had live lizards as earrings.
- [10:24]
Mystic Dylan
Hell, yeah. We. So we played a game like this. This isn't even, like, me as a witch. This is, like, Florida trash. So, like, the whole thing is that you would catch a lizard, and if you put it close to your ear, it bites your ear, and it would hang on through the whole day. So in middle.
- [10:39]
Riley Bray
The whole day?
- [10:40]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah, well, as long as you could last. So the goal was you had to make it through, like, a certain number of periods before a teacher noticed.
- [10:49]
Michael McMillan
Okay, wait, you'd put lizards on your ear and then. Go to school.
- [10:53]
Mystic Dylan
Go to school. 100.
- [10:56]
Michael McMillan
Riley, you doing okay over there?
- [10:58]
Riley Bray
Blowing my mind.
- [10:59]
Mystic Dylan
I did not know possible that a
- [11:01]
Riley Bray
lizard would just go, oh, okay, this is my life now.
- [11:03]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah. Sometimes it was fire. Sometimes, like, the security guard at the. At the. The moment you got off the bus, the guard would be like, get rid of that. Okay. But sometimes I make it all the way to math fourth period, and I'd be like.
- [11:18]
Michael McMillan
And that lizard's like, What would you do with the lizard once they. You just let it go.
- [11:30]
Mystic Dylan
Wow. Hold on for your life. They'll just be like. You put on your ear and they're
- [11:34]
Michael McMillan
like, how big of a lizard are we talking about here? Okay, so like, two. Two inches long.
- [11:43]
Mystic Dylan
Never the chunky. They're never chunky ones.
- [11:47]
Riley Bray
Yeah.
- [11:47]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah. I'm pretty sure that security guard would notice.
- [11:53]
Michael McMillan
Yeah. Yeah. You don't know security guards in Florida. I don't know how close they're paying.
- [11:59]
Mystic Dylan
I mean, doctors in Florida. I'm not gonna say I have my own issues with Florida now.
- [12:06]
Michael McMillan
So did you. Were you growing up? I also. I can't imagine how cool it would be to have a manatee that close to my house. I would have lost my goddamn mind.
- [12:17]
Mystic Dylan
I love the manatee.
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Michael McMillan
You. You knew which one it was. You had, like, a recurring manatee in your life.
- [12:25]
Riley Bray
You had, like, a rapport with this man.
- [12:27]
Mystic Dylan
My grandma was like, that's Lila.
- [12:29]
Michael McMillan
We had cows nearby that was kind of like a manatee.
- [12:34]
Mystic Dylan
I love cows.
- [12:36]
Michael McMillan
They're great. So would you. Were you picking up, like, was your grandmother witchy at all? Like, were you picking up on any of the stuff that you're any of? Because today I want to talk about swamp magic and what. What we're talking about when we talk about swamp magic. So, like.
- [12:51]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah.
- [12:51]
Michael McMillan
What were you. What. What were you learning on the fly other than sticking lizards on your ears?
- [12:57]
Mystic Dylan
Well, if you ask her, she is Catholic.
- [13:02]
Michael McMillan
Yeah.
- [13:02]
Mystic Dylan
Okay. But she grew up. So she grew up in Cuba, and then she was raised, obviously, with all these different traditions and superstitions. So today I would say, like, if you were to go to, like, New England or. I'm trying to think of a place where Catholicism is, like, hardcore. I would say the. The Catholic. Catholic, the devout Catholic would think that my grandmother was like a heathen because she. There's a. A religion, spiritual practice. It's called Santeria, and it's an Afro Caribbean religion, but it is synchronized with Catholicism. So you have these orishas or spirits that due to colonization, in order for the spirits to survive, they were assimilated with Catholic. With Catholic saints. So my grandmother learning Catholicism because she also. Her father's Jewish, so she learned Catholicism from her mother's side, AKA like this cube. So I guess her version of Catholicism is very skewed because she grew up in those traditions. So, like, she'll talk about, like, Mother Mary, who's also like Yemaya. And Yemaya is like this Orisha of, like, the sea and winds and stuff like that. But obviously we were going to ask to a Catholic, they'd be like, the right. It's kind of different things. So in Miami, down the street, there was a shop that's still there, and it's a botanica. So it's this Spanish. Like, you would think it was a religious shop because on the front, like, there are statues everywhere, but that when you go inside, you see, like, okay, so it's still there. You can go. It's a pet store and it's a religious store. Where you can get reliquaries. So cool. It's a one stop shop and chickens and roosters and then you can get your statue of the Virgin Mary.
- [15:23]
Michael McMillan
Okay.
- [15:24]
Mystic Dylan
And that's, that's how I. I kind of grew up. So my, my. Yes, my grandmother was witchy in the sense that one. She was always trying to find different, like, religions. Like she became Buddhist for a long time. But she also has this idea that like, she was the one who kind of imposed on me the idea that spiritual cleaning is the same as like magic cleaning. So like fabuloso cleaned everything. It got rid of spirits and it got rid. And obviously cleaned a home. If there was bad juju and. And someone came into the house and they had bad energy, she was busting out that Lysol and she was just
- [16:02]
Michael McMillan
like, that is amazing. That also sounds kind of like chaos magic a little bit too. Like, use whatever you have and you can appropriate whatever powers onto it that you want. Oh, I feel spiritually cleansed when I clean different.
- [16:17]
Mystic Dylan
You know, she would get like Catholic saint petals and like sprinkle herbs in them. But like, if you were to tell her this is witchcraft, she'd be like, how dare you?
- [16:26]
Michael McMillan
Yeah, well, it's that interesting thing too that, you know, you. I remember the first time I went down to New Orleans and I was, I don't know, we were just down at some convenience store grabbing beers or something and I was looking at all the Mardi Gras beads that were there, and it's just like, it's just a bunch of tits and dicks, you know? And I was like, it's so crazy that this is like such a Catholic town. But then I realized like, oh, Mardi Gras is like, you're. You going nuts before Lent happens? You know, where I come from in the Midwest, Catholics are pretty uptight, you know. So I was like, this is kind of a fun way to do it where you are in acknowledging like the human sensualities that are our. Our existence and all, you know, exist in all of us and that you're like, let's party so hard that it's gonna carry us through the next 40 days, you know. And I was like, this is kind. This is a way more fun approach to do it. But, oh, there would be. If there was like a necklace with a penis on it at. At a 711 in Overland. Overland Park, Kansas, where I grew up, it would be on the evening news, People would be freaking out. Be like discovering candle magic in a Walmart, you know,
- [17:54]
Mystic Dylan
can that be A Can that be a BCC exclusive? We can have the candle magic book, and you get Mardi Gras beads with a penis.
- [18:00]
Michael McMillan
I love it.
- [18:02]
Mystic Dylan
Like, yeah, it can be an add on.
- [18:04]
Michael McMillan
Great. I love it. Yeah.
- [18:05]
Riley Bray
Shop.
- [18:05]
Michael McMillan
Yeah, we'll throw it up at the shop.
- [18:08]
Mystic Dylan
But Mardi Gras also has a lot of talk about. I mean, there's so many pagan associations and. And origins with Mardi Gras, Right. Like Bacchus and stuff like that. And I think that's something that the south does. I. Going back to swamp sorcery. I think what's unique about the south is that as religious and as they tend to be, they cannot weed out the magic and they cannot weed out the folk, you know, the familial aspects of the people. And. And honestly, I think that's how they gained control. Right. Like, I think the reason why New Orleans was like, okay, this is how we're gonna do it. We obviously cannot abolish these traditions, so we're gonna put our stamp on it
- [18:53]
Michael McMillan
or we're gonna include it, loop it into the new religious thing that we're imposing here. This is awesome. Okay, let's take a quick break. When we come back, more about Southern magic and swamp sorcery. Riley, did you have a question you want to open with?
- [19:16]
Mystic Dylan
I'm sorry?
- [19:16]
Riley Bray
Oh, just, you know, I think it's. What you're describing is the exact same thing that you saw with Christianity when it came in over paganism, like, in the first place, you know, like in Roman times. It's the same thing that you're describing in the south where it's like, you know, even where we get Christmas from the equinox and Easter and all of that stuff, you know, it's. It's that same pattern just playing out over and over. It's just turned up real, really loud in the South. You know, you just. You see it out in the corner store where you're buying your beer, I guess.
- [19:46]
Michael McMillan
Yeah, totally. And that's what was cool reading in your book too, is this idea that, like, the south really is a melting pot, and you make a case for, like, the magic here is a melting pot. It's really hard, in a way. You say it's. It's difficult in the south to culturally appropriate. And you do make a distinction in the book between there's appropriation and appreciation. And here are the things to keep in mind. However, all of these different backgrounds are just stirred up in the same pot in the south, and it's hard to avoid crossing over with other Cultures. When you're practicing magic in the South.
- [20:28]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah. And, and I really do think it's. It's because. And I, and I see this from a lot of outsiders and like, not to. To get into like, territory that is, whatever. But I will just say it's like when you live in the south and you are familiar with Southern magic, regardless of where you are, whether it is South Carolina. My friend Mimi, she. She's. She's from South Carolina. She now lives in New Orleans or New Orleans or. You know, I've been to Atlanta. I did all I went to. I went all the way to Savannah. Like, I've been everywhere studying this. And it is. When you live there, there is no person that is saying, you cannot practice this because of your ethnicity, your skin color, your whatever. Okay. Everything is intermingled. Okay. But now you have a lot of these outside people that are not from the South. Okay. That are from like, you know, Oklahoma or like California. I hate to say it, but I think California is the worst culprit. And they're like, yeah, oh, of course we like this cultural appropriation. Well, it's like, okay, but if you're, if you're born there, that is your culture. You know, like Bloody Mary, who wrote the forward of my book, she's a fourth generation voodoo queen. Okay. You know, she, she. Her entire family is from the south for generations. How can you tell her what she can and can't practice?
- [21:59]
Michael McMillan
Right, Right.
- [22:00]
Mystic Dylan
No, if she went through the study, if she put in the work, if she has the heritage and the connection. And I also, I think there's an argument to be made about who can dictate what spirits you can and can't work with unless you are also working with those spirits, you know. So I really do think, yes, it is multicultural because especially New Orleans. Right? Because before it was French, it was Spanish, you know, and then before that it was run by, you know, you had the indigenous people. So you have all these different traditions and faiths. It was a port. So you have the French, the English, you have so many people that came there. So it really is just a melting pot. So when you look at voodoo or, or what they call Louisiana or New Orleans voodoo, it's going to be very different from. From the voodoo of Africa or the voodoo of Haiti.
- [22:59]
Michael McMillan
It's such an interesting part of the country. And it's one of those places that I think is left in the country, a few places left in the country where you go there that you're like, oh, it's still not, doesn't feel homogenized in New Orleans. Like, you walk there and you're like, oh, I could be in a different country here. Like, this has its own unique personality down here, you know, and there is just sort of a sense of just magic in the air. I don't know what it is exactly. You know, obviously we have the Southern Vampire Chronicles and, you know, the, the Anne Rice book, so there's also, like, all of that stuff, and there are great cryptids and great monsters that are down there that we'll touch upon a little bit later in the episode. But let's talk a little bit about the, the, the archetype of the swamp hag. The, the, like, old bog witch. The bog witch. Is that what it is? This is something you mentioned in the book that I find really, really cool.
- [24:05]
Mystic Dylan
I, I, well, I, I think it goes back to that, that stereotype, right? Like, we associate the swamp with filthy and, and dirty and dark. You know, we, we go to that murkiness. So the character of a swamp witch is going to be ugly and filthy, and I, and I think haggard and old and, and, you know, maybe she's half alligator. Who knows? You know, and, and I. What's interesting, though, is that it's a very modern, I would say, archetype, because if you look at, like, literature, like, older, I, I feel like there was less of that crone aspect. I think that was okay, you know,
- [24:54]
Michael McMillan
like almost a 20th century invention or adaptation of the mythos.
- [25:01]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah, absolutely. And, and, but I, I kind of see that as a, like, sometimes I lean into, like, this bog witch because I kind of see her as this, like, protectress of the swamp, you know, and, and a keeper of wisdom. And, and I just, I find that fascinating because I was looking at those old. There was a comic book version of Tales of the Crypt.
- [25:29]
Michael McMillan
Mm. Oh, yeah.
- [25:30]
Mystic Dylan
And that's what it was.
- [25:31]
Michael McMillan
It started.
- [25:32]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah. Yeah. Right. And one episode is like this bog witch, right? And like, I'm like, okay, like, I see that, like, and obviously I think where your mind goes when you think of the swamp, like, you're not going to think this, like, pretty sexy vixen, like, living there in a shack, you know, you don't think of today's Misty day from, like, American Horror Story. He's a swamp witch, too.
- [25:54]
Michael McMillan
Yeah.
- [25:55]
Mystic Dylan
You know.
- [25:55]
Michael McMillan
Yeah.
- [25:56]
Mystic Dylan
You know, and I, I kind of give props to Ryan Murphy to twisting that and giving that a visual instead of leading into, like, this old decrepit woman living in the bog.
- [26:10]
Michael McMillan
Oh, it's an archetype that I definitely remember from my childhood. There's, like, in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle comic books, there was, like, a swamp witch that turned, you know, one of the guys into Leatherhead, who was a alligator mutant, you know, using magic. So, like, that was definitely something that creeped up, like. And I feel like in storybooks that I read as a kid, like adaptations of Stone Soup and stuff like that, there was always, like, you're gonna meet. I mean, I guess it's just an extension of the Witch in the Woods. Right. You know, the. The Hansel and Gretel witch. The idea that there are these fringe characters that you're going to meet out in the wilderness, away from society.
- [26:55]
Mystic Dylan
Yes. And I also think there's something to be said. I think there's something to be said about the fact that for whatever reason, if you are cast out of society automatically ages you and makes you decrepit. But, like, I don't know, you know,
- [27:12]
Riley Bray
society's obsessed with youth, you know?
- [27:14]
Mystic Dylan
Exactly. So it makes sense.
- [27:16]
Michael McMillan
Yeah.
- [27:16]
Mystic Dylan
If you look at these. These witches on the outskirts, they're always portrayed, like, older, even historical ones. Like, look at. Like, if you look at. Not to, like, just go off subject, but just.
- [27:28]
Michael McMillan
No, follow the witch. Follow the witch's road.
- [27:32]
Mystic Dylan
Tituba, Right. So Tituba was a real woman in Salem who probably died in her 30s. If you look at the illustrations of her from the 19th century, they make her this haggard, old black woman. You know, like, she was, like, when they did the trials. But, like, you don't see that. Like, if you Google chicha, like, right now, and you look at that, like, there's an old. It's one of the most famous, but, like, she has, like, a feather in her hair and her turban, and she has this, like, old cane, and it's like, it.
- [28:04]
Michael McMillan
There must also just be, like. Part of that is the sort of, like, if you practice this stuff, you're going to turn old and ugly and men won't want you. You know what I mean? How dare you become an independent woman? You know, like.
- [28:18]
Mystic Dylan
And if you become an independent woman. Crow's feet.
- [28:23]
Michael McMillan
Yeah, exactly.
- [28:25]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah. And I think that. I think that's something very interesting. But if. If you also look at, like, the swamp rich. Right. Like, the one that comes to mind. I mean, it's like Marie Lava, you know, she. She is. You know, everyone associates her as being, like, a witch or a voodoo queen. But, Doc, like, talk about a historical person. She went to church every Sunday.
- [28:49]
Michael McMillan
Tell us a little bit more About. Tell us a little bit more about her. For, for those who may not, may not know, including me, I don't know.
- [28:56]
Mystic Dylan
Did not eat babies, by the way. She's not a baby eater, as American Horror Story makes her out to be, but she was a early 19th century voodoo priestess in New Orleans and there are many. For someone who, it's very interesting. For someone who is a legit real person, I feel like there are more myths about her and, and she's con. Contradicting documentations about her than I think any other historical figure. Some people say she died when she was like 75. Some people say she died when she was 105. And it's like we have her tomb. Some people say it's not her tomb. She's just a very. But what we do know is that she was a devout Catholic. She actually got married in a. In one of the churches in New Orleans. She's supposedly for. I believe she's buried in St. Louis Cemetery number one. And she was, she was mixed and she was able to. Like which I think is phenomenal, is that she was able to influence. She, she was able to go between both worlds in a sense. So she befriended the Irish, she befriended the French, she spoke French, she, she was Creole. She would. So on Sunday was your free day for, for a slave. So she would go to Congo Square. So she would go to church. She was a free woman of color, but she would go to church and then she would go to Congo Square where the. Everyone would like dance and do their ritual. And that's also where the indigenous people kind. So you have the indigenous, you know, people that were there, they kind of like assimilated with, with, you know, the, the free people of color, everyone there. And, and then you have the Irish that were also, you know, they were treated horribly. And, and I would say she's kind of the one who kind of brought all these together. And depending on who you ask, some people say that she is low key, invented what is today known as New Orleans Voodoo because she was able to. All these folk traditions. Yeah. And kind of.
- [31:10]
Michael McMillan
Is that primarily the magic that. Or the. I don't want to call it magic. I know it's also a religious practice. But like, is that basically what she was practicing?
- [31:21]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah, yeah. And. And what's interesting is that when you go to her, if you. So it's very different from when I used to live there, but now her Tomb is in St. Louis number one. And you can only visit her tomb if you set up a tour through the Archdioces.
- [31:41]
Michael McMillan
Oh, really?
- [31:42]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah.
- [31:43]
Michael McMillan
So are they claiming. Is the Catholic Church claiming her or they just.
- [31:48]
Mystic Dylan
They claim her. She has a plaque. They do not acknowledge that she was a voodoo queen. And they do say that she was a devout Catholic. I believe they call her a nurse who helped with the yellow fever. And they say all the other things, which she did do, you know, and. And she, she. She adopted and had lots of children. And I mean, she's. She's a pretty phenomenal woman.
- [32:10]
Michael McMillan
She did not. Did not eat those children.
- [32:13]
Mystic Dylan
Not. She did not. But I do think she probably did other things. I. I mean, there are records that indicate, like, you know, she. While she was Catholic, I'm sure that, you know, she was a midwife and, and she was someone who practiced. She was one of the few women that practice, you know, her ancestral medicine. So, you know, there are people who believes that while, you know, she didn't eat babies, but she probably helps you get rid of one.
- [32:39]
Michael McMillan
Yeah. Or she performed abortions.
- [32:43]
Riley Bray
That's the root of that whole thing.
- [32:45]
Michael McMillan
Yeah. Yeah. Right.
- [32:46]
Mystic Dylan
A lot there. A hundred percent.
- [32:49]
Michael McMillan
Wow. It's fascinating.
- [32:50]
Riley Bray
The people's witch. I had no idea about any of this.
- [32:53]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah, yeah. Pretty awesome.
- [32:56]
Michael McMillan
Super cool. All right, we have to take another break. When we come back, I want to talk a little bit more about some other famous figures from the swamps. Yay. Okay. Mystic Dylan. Now, I looked up a few cryptids and characters from folklore. Now we.
- [33:20]
Mystic Dylan
That.
- [33:20]
Michael McMillan
That are generally associated with the American south and the swamps in particular. And I want to know if you've ever come across any of these in your research or maybe they make an appearance in your book. The first one of them is, you know, a good friend of ours from Florida, your old stomping grounds, Mr. Skunk Ape, Southern cousin of Bigfoot, sometimes referred to as an abominable swamp slob, which I think was something that John Keel came up with. And you gotta love the acronym just being ass. Yeah, I think that was John Keel, famous paranormal investigator, came up with that. I could be wrong, but he also did the big hairy monster, the bhms. Slightly smaller than your garden variety Bigfoot and generally considered to be found in the region of the Florida ever Everglades, but is reported throughout the South. So what did you come across? Like, is Skunk ape come up in your research? Is there any associations between Matt Swamp sorcery and skunk Ape?
- [34:27]
Mystic Dylan
Yes. No. I mean, there definitely are not. There definitely are creatures that they talk about. I did meet someone who claims that the skunk. Skunk ape existed because they found what they claimed was skunk, ape, scat. And, and they swear that, you know, it was that because it wasn't any of the other critters in the swamp and it couldn't be anything else.
- [34:57]
Michael McMillan
Listen, I don't want to, I don't want to disparage any outdoors people, but I do feel like if you've gotten to the point where you can identify all the poop in the swamp, you might be in the swamp too much. You might be in there a little too long, a little too often. Take a break. Go to an AMC Tuesday nights. They've got discounts on movie tickets. Just get out. The new Mario Brothers movie is out. Okay. Just get out of the swamp just for a second. Don't touch grass, touch asphalt. And then you know what?
- [35:39]
Riley Bray
Just scroll.
- [35:40]
Michael McMillan
Do a little scrolling. Do some doom scrolling because you're looking at too much poop lest you become the abominable swamp by it.
- [35:50]
Mystic Dylan
And, and so that was the closest, like my real like discovery of like. Okay, okay, here's, here's legit. There's no real magical. There's no. Or at least that I found. I, I would say of like the closest would be. But it's in Louisiana. Like the rougarou, which is like there.
- [36:14]
Michael McMillan
Yeah, that was one I have on the list too. The rougarou. Riley, you'll.
- [36:18]
Riley Bray
Re.
- [36:18]
Michael McMillan
You, you. We've talked about the rougarou a little bit on the show. It likely stems from the French werewolf wolf folk figure. The loop guru or the loo guru.
- [36:29]
Riley Bray
Ah, yes.
- [36:30]
Michael McMillan
It's 7 to 8ft tall, hairy, shape shifting wolf creature that will kidnap and eat kids. A lot of kids getting eaten in the swamps. It sounds like. Or not. Also said to kill Catholics who do not observe or they break Lent. So this is like phenomenal. He's like the punisher for Lent.
- [36:53]
Riley Bray
He's not Catholic, but he's an enforcer of the rules.
- [36:55]
Mystic Dylan
Absolutely.
- [36:57]
Michael McMillan
Why does the werewolf care about. About L. Why does the werewolf give
- [37:02]
Riley Bray
us really important to him?
- [37:04]
Mystic Dylan
And I have questions like, is it like Santa, like there's a list? Or does he get like a download? Like intuitively he's like not baptized or broke Lent. Gotta eat you.
- [37:17]
Michael McMillan
Wait a minute. I smell the scent of a man who said he wouldn't masturbate for 40 days.
- [37:24]
Mystic Dylan
Get him.
- [37:30]
Michael McMillan
Yeah. And in some tales, the creature is a bloodsucker and can body hop from victim to victim. So basically the curse transfers from person to person, which, you know, you get
- [37:41]
Riley Bray
one lint breaker at a time.
- [37:42]
Michael McMillan
Yeah, one L breaker a time.
- [37:45]
Mystic Dylan
And then this lunch also becomes right.
- [37:49]
Riley Bray
Becomes the next.
- [37:51]
Mystic Dylan
That a rougarou.
- [37:53]
Michael McMillan
Yeah, because kind of like the werewolf's curse. You know that if you get bit by werewolves, you become a werewolf. This may cause some to seek out a. A witch in the bog to reverse the curse, because that's where you got to go is another, you know, another magical person. And then the Ojibwe have. Which is an indigenous tribe, they have the hairy man who appears as a symptom of danger or psychic disruption in the community. That's cool. Like, when the vibes are off in town, a big monster shows up, is sort of, like, summoned or is created as an aggregor to be like.
- [38:34]
Riley Bray
You're the bad vibe guy.
- [38:36]
Michael McMillan
Yeah, the bad vibe dude showed up at the party.
- [38:39]
Riley Bray
I mean, I've definitely been at parties where a super hairy bad vibe guy showed up.
- [38:43]
Michael McMillan
Up.
- [38:43]
Mystic Dylan
Everyone's like, oh, yeah, I think so too.
- [38:47]
Michael McMillan
So I love the rougarou. I love the ruguru. There's some other cool ones that I had never heard of before. We've got the faux fe. The faux follet. Swamp orbs. It's another name for. For willow, the wisps, or fairy lights. This comes from the Cajun tradition. They. They believe that they are spirits of deceased loved ones or evil spirits trying to lure victims out to the swamp, where trapped, lost, or killed.
- [39:17]
Riley Bray
It's probably broad or.
- [39:19]
Michael McMillan
Yeah, yeah, it's either grandma.
- [39:21]
Mystic Dylan
Similar to, like, evil spirit.
- [39:26]
Michael McMillan
Yeah. Either your granny. Either it's your, you know, your Uncle Pete, or it's. It's gonna get you doom.
- [39:36]
Mystic Dylan
You just.
- [39:37]
Michael McMillan
It's doomed. Then there's also. I love this one. Pierre Malai or Pierre Malfei. The father of mischief.
- [39:45]
Mystic Dylan
Yes. That's like your, like, southern puck.
- [39:49]
Michael McMillan
Yeah, like a puck or a boogeyman. A large humanoid covered in Spanish moss with glowing eyes in some depictions. That's awesome. The only way to kill one of these creatures is to drive a steak made from a gum tree into its heart. So there's kind of some vampiric lore here as well. And all of this stuff, you can see this is being. This stuff is clearly. And the rougarou have been brought over from European colonists and people that are coming over from Europe. Green man.
- [40:23]
Mystic Dylan
How come none of this made it in true blood?
- [40:25]
Michael McMillan
I don't know. You know, if things had held together long enough, maybe. Maybe it finally would have.
- [40:32]
Riley Bray
But so, as for mischief, he's not a delightful scamp.
- [40:36]
Michael McMillan
We're.
- [40:36]
Riley Bray
We're trying to kill this guy, I
- [40:38]
Michael McMillan
guess it says he's the father of mischief, but he's just a bitch.
- [40:41]
Riley Bray
Sounds like a fun guy.
- [40:42]
Michael McMillan
I know, but he's like a boogeyman. Let me see. Father of. I don't think he's, like, doing a lot of tricks. Father of mischief, Let me see.
- [40:55]
Riley Bray
He, like, pulls your chair out when you're standing up and you try to sit down.
- [40:58]
Michael McMillan
Yeah.
- [40:58]
Riley Bray
But you're like, I'm on a gumtree.
- [41:00]
Michael McMillan
That I think. Yeah. I think the problem with this guy is his just mere presence gives himself away before he gets a chance to put a whoopee cushion.
- [41:10]
Riley Bray
Yeah. You know, pulling any good pranks?
- [41:12]
Michael McMillan
If you're a green moss man heavy. You bang. You know, knock the door down when you come in. You're dragging mud through the house. You can't. You're not nimble enough pranking in that state.
- [41:24]
Riley Bray
Yeah.
- [41:25]
Mystic Dylan
You also get, like, the man.
- [41:27]
Michael McMillan
I have a stick of exploding gum here somewhere. Drip, drop, slop, plop, up. Oh, gum tree.
- [41:39]
Mystic Dylan
That's also where you got, like, the man in the woods or not. Man at the crossroads. Like, you got, like, your. Your. Your like, Southern devil, so to speak. You know, like the folk devil.
- [41:50]
Michael McMillan
The crossroads guy teaching you to play guitar.
- [41:54]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And that's been around for a long time. Also not a Cryptid and didn't make it in my book, which is sad. But like. Like, there's Papa Noel, like, Southern Santa, and he does not have eight reindeer. He has eight alligators.
- [42:13]
Riley Bray
That's way cooler. Way much objectively better mode of transportation.
- [42:18]
Michael McMillan
Some kids listening to this right now being like, mom, I don't want Santa this year.
- [42:22]
Mystic Dylan
Home.
- [42:22]
Michael McMillan
Papa Noel, he's like, up in Minnesota.
- [42:25]
Riley Bray
Yeah.
- [42:25]
Michael McMillan
I want those alligators up on my roof.
- [42:27]
Riley Bray
He's like, bumping music, too. And those gators.
- [42:31]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah, he, like. I think he comes, like, the Mississippi are, like, through the rivers and the bayous and stuff. And back in the day, they would light torches for him so he wouldn't get lost.
- [42:44]
Michael McMillan
Cool. And.
- [42:45]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah. And you had to. So instead of. Instead of leaving. Instead of leaving milk and cookies out, you would leave, like, raw chicken or something.
- [42:55]
Michael McMillan
He's like the radagast the brown again. If Gandalf is Santa, Papa Noel, he's like, all right, let's let this guy handle this. Santa's like, I can't deal with this swamp stuff. I know who. Don't worry.
- [43:08]
Mystic Dylan
I gotta go. Like, Santa is like, you know what, my Uncle Papa. Or like, my cousin Papa Noel. He's gonna deal with The South.
- [43:15]
Michael McMillan
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll let him handle it.
- [43:18]
Riley Bray
Kids leave out like a can of monster energy drink and some wraparound sunglasses,
- [43:24]
Mystic Dylan
some cigars and tobacco. A raw chicken leg, like just a,
- [43:30]
Michael McMillan
a case of warm Red Bull, like room temperature Red Bull.
- [43:35]
Mystic Dylan
Perfect. Just how I like it.
- [43:38]
Michael McMillan
I leave out the warm temperature Red Bull for all the alligators for Papa Noel's gators.
- [43:43]
Riley Bray
Helps them fly.
- [43:44]
Michael McMillan
Have you heard of the latish or the, the latiche? These are, these are souls of bastard or unbap that are raised by alligators. Another great alligator adjacent folk creature.
- [44:03]
Riley Bray
Also like Christian concerns, like if you're
- [44:08]
Michael McMillan
not married and you have this baby out of wedlock or if they're not baptized, they could be raised by gators.
- [44:14]
Riley Bray
Mine will raise them.
- [44:15]
Michael McMillan
Yeah, yeah.
- [44:17]
Mystic Dylan
I, I primarily like, I, I think that gets wrapped up like the hanging. Like I talk about the haints, which are these like just malevolent spirits and they can be of anything. But it was interesting because when I lived in New Orleans I never saw one. And when I lived in Florida I never saw one. When I came back this past year, I drove all the way up to Savannah to like do research because I wanted to learn about like the Gullah Geechee culture that I write about like in the book. And there were, they're bottle trees and there are these trees with, with these different colored bottles, like, and the closest I could think of is like if you've ever seen like Princess and the frog, like Mama Odish has all these bottle trees. And the idea is that the spirits, the malevolent spirits get attracted to the colors and they go into the bottle and get trapped.
- [45:11]
Michael McMillan
Cool.
- [45:12]
Mystic Dylan
So when we were driving in Savannah, my friend Sean and I, we noticed like people will make them and like not even, they're not even trees sometimes, sometimes it's just a stick with a bunch of big ass nails. And then just put a bottle in there and you'll see these bottle trees and it's very interesting.
- [45:30]
Michael McMillan
Cool. I love that. I like haint. I like haint as a like twist on haunt. You know, it's a weird, it's a
- [45:39]
Mystic Dylan
great collo blue, which they would paint the ceilings or they would paint a door. And the idea was to discourage malevolent spirits. In Florida. We actually have something similar which Disney adopted. And it's a green that's supposed to do that, but Disney calls it go away green. And the idea is that, so if you ever go and they're doing things on construction, they'll usually use this paint or they'll have a tarp that color. And the idea is to kind of like. You don't really notice.
- [46:16]
Michael McMillan
Oh. I thought it was because they're concerned about swamp spirits and Hanks fucking up the part, which I thought would have been really cool.
- [46:27]
Mystic Dylan
No, maybe Walt. I. Well, I guess Walt was definitely interested in the occult and spirits, but. No, but it's just very weird that that color is also very. It's the exact same color of what they use in Florida to. To deter spirits.
- [46:43]
Michael McMillan
That's rad. I love stuff like that. That's really, really cool. All right, we're going to take another break. When we come back, I want to talk a little bit more about swamp sorcery and some of the magic you might find yourself doing if you're in the swamps. Boom. Okay, Mystic Dylan, before you leave, let's talk a little bit more about swamp sorcery. So what are some examples of the type of magic you might be performing in the swamp that you're not going to necessarily be doing here in California?
- [47:20]
Riley Bray
You.
- [47:22]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah. So. Well, they. There's no rose quartz or selenite or crystals in the swamp.
- [47:29]
Michael McMillan
Okay. That's a good start. Yeah.
- [47:32]
Mystic Dylan
So. So we're using animal appendages.
- [47:34]
Michael McMillan
Okay. Bones.
- [47:36]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah. Raccoon penis bone. Okay. Very good. For luck and gambling. Okay. Yep. You want to dominate a lover because obviously 18th century Louisiana consent is not a thing. So you're going to use a gator foot.
- [47:56]
Michael McMillan
A gator foot?
- [47:57]
Mystic Dylan
Oh, yeah, yeah. And you can use that for gambling, too. They really love their gambling. Like, I've noticed. I've noticed that money and gambling are. Are. Are very, I guess, important to that culture. And there's.
- [48:11]
Michael McMillan
Yeah. What's the spell to gambling ratio down there? Like, how often are spel being cast to bring in that. That dough at the tables?
- [48:21]
Mystic Dylan
It's high. Like, there's. I went to a gas station. There's a gas station that has. And I forget the name of it, but they have the best fried chicken. Okay. It's in the middle of nowhere. Like, think, like skeleton key. Okay. Phenomenal fried chicken. But they also sell gambling Greek bags, like, right there at the counter.
- [48:41]
Michael McMillan
What's a greenery bag? Bag.
- [48:44]
Mystic Dylan
It's. It's a little. It's kind of like a charm bag. What makes it different is that it has to include, for the most part, it has to include a bone or. Or an essence of an animal because that is that connection to spirit. So it usually has a root, a bone, and a certain number of, like, curio and herbs. And that essentially is charged and meant to assist with certain. Whether it be luck or love or. Or getting something. So it's really just a charmed bag of different herbs that is. That is intended to enhance the. The wear whoever has it to get.
- [49:29]
Michael McMillan
Right. Right. Okay.
- [49:31]
Mystic Dylan
But I would say, like, luck. Luck and money are very popular amongst, like, Southern swamp sorcery. Another one that I thought was interesting, which I guess makes sense because especially, like, Louisiana is the. When it comes to love magic one, the love magic that is done today in 2026 is vastly different from what someone is doing in 1780. So, like, here we think about, you know, I'm sure, like, if you look at Wicca or if you're talking about, like, anyone writing a love spel going to talk about consent. Does this person like you? You know, we want to open their heart so they see you, or we want to have this attraction, you know, Whereas, like, there's a book called Hyatt's Book of, like, hoodoo from 1930 with spells dating all the way back to the 1800s. And it's more like Domination Oil or bend over Backwards candle or like, stuff like that. You're not necessarily worrying about whether or not this person likes you. You're gonna do whatever you need to do to get them to.
- [50:41]
Michael McMillan
Well, that's the whole Love potion number nine thing from our kids, where it's like, if they drink it, they're just magically in love with you now. And maybe you bit off more than you can chew. Or maybe this backfires in a way. Like, there. Yeah. I mean, even growing up, I just feel like in the 80s, it was all about. It was this idea of, like, you're literally turning someone's mind towards you, you know?
- [51:03]
Mystic Dylan
Yes. And it actually wasn't. What I found fascinating, too, is that historically, when I was looking at these love spells, they were not necessarily created for a woman to be with a man in a romantic sense or vice versa. A lot of it were. A lot of these spells came from brothels. And the intention gain clients and to gain security. And then it just kind of bec. If you learned this spell and a brothel that was just applied to love in general.
- [51:42]
Michael McMillan
Whoa, that's really cool.
- [51:44]
Riley Bray
Interesting. Yeah, I never thought of that.
- [51:46]
Mystic Dylan
So there's a spell that I have in here that dates back. I think it's like 1860, like, Civil War era. And it's like. It's called the, like, Petite Prince spell. And it's. It's. It was. It comes from, like, the brothels of of New Spain, which was the Spanish quarterback in the day. And you are literally taking a length of red cord or twine and you're measuring a guy's, you know, junk and you're tying a knot, okay. And ascend. You're. You're. However you're going to take those fluids. You're taking those fluids. You're putting it on the court and you're taking it with you. And that's how you essentially dominate this man.
- [52:26]
Michael McMillan
In which part? I mean, I just feel like if you're. If he's already got it out and it's. And it's easy to measure, you got him, he's hooked. You know what I mean? Like which part of the process. Process.
- [52:38]
Mystic Dylan
It's this, right?
- [52:39]
Michael McMillan
But red twine coming out Tuesday.
- [52:43]
Mystic Dylan
You want to come back next Tuesday, Michael?
- [52:45]
Michael McMillan
Yes.
- [52:45]
Riley Bray
Yes. You get the repeat business.
- [52:47]
Michael McMillan
Yeah, I kind of have a feeling like they didn't need to go to the length of having the twine and doing the spell. I also coming back pretty much sealed.
- [52:57]
Mystic Dylan
I also want to know like what h. I mean, I guess you kind of play with it but like, you know what happens when you. I know. You just see someone like. Hold on one second.
- [53:09]
Michael McMillan
Yeah, come with me around the corner. I need. I. I need to measure something. Can you just.
- [53:15]
Mystic Dylan
Before you finish, do it on here.
- [53:18]
Michael McMillan
I also love just the idea of it being the Petite Prince. It sounds like. It sounds like a. Like a. Like a. A sandwich that you would have at tea time and instead it's just really well.
- [53:29]
Mystic Dylan
And then I think of the children's book Petite Prince, like a Little Prince. I think the. The French version is petite pr. Like that. So I think of that like.
- [53:39]
Michael McMillan
Ah.
- [53:40]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah. So those are some of the spells. A lot of them include bones and. And various curio. Because it is the essence of spirit.
- [53:50]
Michael McMillan
Say what's. I was going to say what is up with all the animal bones? Is it just cuz you're in the swamp and that's what's handy or is it. Is it because of like a more. Is it a connection to the other side?
- [54:05]
Mystic Dylan
Like a battery, you know, or like, you know. So if you mix that with like tradition, not wicca, but if you mix it with like traditional witchcraft, right? Like if you've heard of the familiar, not necessarily a domestic animal, but the familiar is your like spirit ally. Right?
- [54:21]
Michael McMillan
Right.
- [54:21]
Mystic Dylan
Thousands things. So like here is ginger, right?
- [54:27]
Michael McMillan
Hello, Ginger. A little alligator head.
- [54:31]
Mystic Dylan
And careful because Ginger snaps, snaps.
- [54:37]
Michael McMillan
Dylan. It's just for. If you're listening to this, Dylan, is holding up now. Is this like. It's. I guess it wouldn't be considered a taxidermied.
- [54:45]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah, yeah.
- [54:46]
Michael McMillan
It's just an alligator head. What is this?
- [54:47]
Mystic Dylan
Okay. Yeah, yeah. And I've had this for forever.
- [54:52]
Michael McMillan
And what do you do with one of these things?
- [54:54]
Mystic Dylan
Well, so. So it's a. For me, it's a. It's a spirit vessel. Right. So if. If I want to work with the energy of the swamp, if I do any workings for conjure where I need spirit allies, the idea is that this, you know, she's kind of like a vessel for said spirits.
- [55:16]
Michael McMillan
Okay.
- [55:16]
Mystic Dylan
Okay. So I think of it more like a battery or charger as a sense. So it's like sort of like a
- [55:22]
Riley Bray
crystal in a way.
- [55:24]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah, this is my crystal.
- [55:28]
Michael McMillan
We have California hippie. Yeah. The Gatorade.
- [55:33]
Mystic Dylan
Lululemon, Rose quartz.
- [55:35]
Michael McMillan
Yeah.
- [55:35]
Mystic Dylan
I have ginger.
- [55:36]
Michael McMillan
Fair enough.
- [55:38]
Mystic Dylan
You know, so it is that. It's. It's. And. And I also kind of see it as. So in swamp sorcery, in most aspects of. Of witchcraft or magic, you are working with the spirit of place, right? So that's. That's what makes swamp sorcery unique in a sense. Like, you are working with the energies of the swamp. But to me, right. I think the average person is like, well, I don't live in the swamp.
- [56:04]
Michael McMillan
Yeah.
- [56:04]
Mystic Dylan
I can't.
- [56:05]
Michael McMillan
This is my next question. Yeah, yeah. Well, I need to bring a little bit of the swamp to me, you know?
- [56:12]
Mystic Dylan
That's right. That's what you do. You bring the swamp to you. And, you know, and if you don't want to use something like, you know, if you don't want to have ginger.
- [56:21]
Riley Bray
What's the vegan alternative?
- [56:24]
Mystic Dylan
Swamp swamp. Spanish moss, which you can get.
- [56:27]
Michael McMillan
Yeah, just a swamp. Just go.
- [56:30]
Mystic Dylan
You make your own swamp. No, but Spanish moss, magnolia, Any of the herbs or botanicals, flora and fauna that. That could grow in the swamp, you can utilize into your workings. And. And I really do think it's kind of finding that the energy of the swamp, to me, is a little. It's a liminal space. Right. It's. It's between this realm and the next. Because a swamp is like standing water. Okay. And yet things grow. And. And there's so much life. So within this still standing water, there's still a lot of movement. So, you know, like, you can kind of create your own swamp by like, setting a bath.
- [57:15]
Michael McMillan
Right.
- [57:16]
Mystic Dylan
And putting, like, magnolia oil or any of the very cypr. Anything like that. You can kind of create that energy.
- [57:25]
Michael McMillan
Great. So you don't have.
- [57:28]
Riley Bray
We have just. The swamp is like this primordial. Like where, like where life started, it seems like would have been. It is in a swamp.
- [57:35]
Mystic Dylan
I mean, look at alligators, right? Like, that's what I think is so fascinating. Like they literally are dinosaurs in a sense. Yeah.
- [57:43]
Riley Bray
Yeah.
- [57:44]
Michael McMillan
Just so you know, that's the other cool thing about Papa Noel. He's basically got an alligator sleigh. A dinosaur sleigh, you know?
- [57:51]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah, he does.
- [57:55]
Michael McMillan
I love it. All right. We cannot let you go.
- [57:58]
Mystic Dylan
While visiting you this December.
- [58:00]
Michael McMillan
Absolutely. We cannot let you go. Mystic Dylan. Without running over the latest list of phenomena. You've played this game before. I'm going to go down a list of phenomena, rapid fire style. You now have to decide here. Now, if you're open to it, you're going to say, believe it.
- [58:20]
Mystic Dylan
It.
- [58:20]
Michael McMillan
If you're not open to it, you're gonna say, this is a game that we call. Okay. Mystic Dylan. On your mark, get set. Ghosts.
- [58:37]
Mystic Dylan
Believe it.
- [58:38]
Michael McMillan
Bigfoot.
- [58:41]
Mystic Dylan
Believe it.
- [58:42]
Michael McMillan
UFOs.
- [58:45]
Mystic Dylan
Bullshit.
- [58:46]
Michael McMillan
Loch Ness monster. The Bermuda Triangle.
- [58:51]
Mystic Dylan
Believe it.
- [58:52]
Michael McMillan
Tarot cards.
- [58:54]
Mystic Dylan
Believe it.
- [58:55]
Michael McMillan
Manifestation.
- [58:57]
Mystic Dylan
Believe it.
- [58:58]
Michael McMillan
El Chupacabra.
- [59:00]
Mystic Dylan
Believe it.
- [59:01]
Michael McMillan
Ouija boards.
- [59:02]
Mystic Dylan
Believe it.
- [59:04]
Michael McMillan
Seeing the future.
- [59:05]
Mystic Dylan
Believe it.
- [59:06]
Michael McMillan
Out of body experiences.
- [59:09]
Mystic Dylan
Believe it.
- [59:10]
Michael McMillan
Dog man. Goat man.
- [59:15]
Mystic Dylan
Believe it.
- [59:16]
Michael McMillan
Sheep Squatch. Bat Squatch. Life on other planets.
- [59:27]
Mystic Dylan
Believe it.
- [59:28]
Michael McMillan
Life after death.
- [59:30]
Mystic Dylan
Believe it.
- [59:31]
Michael McMillan
Wow. Interesting twists and turns in this list. Yeah. So yes to Chupacabra but no to UFOs? What do you got? What's. Why do you call on UFOs and
- [59:44]
Mystic Dylan
it's not that I don't believe in aliens because.
- [59:47]
Michael McMillan
No, you said you believe in life on other planets.
- [59:51]
Mystic Dylan
I, I, I do. I think that there, there could be like space things flying around. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I guess. But not to the point that people make it out to be like, okay, you know, I don't see Fred. I don't think Fred Flintstone was hanging with Marvin the Martian. Okay. You know.
- [60:09]
Michael McMillan
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, right. The Great, The Great Gazoo. The Gazoo, I think. Think.
- [60:14]
Mystic Dylan
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [60:16]
Michael McMillan
You're crossing your. You're crossing your cartoon realities here. But that's okay. We'll allow it.
- [60:21]
Riley Bray
Well, ancient astronaut, either way.
- [60:24]
Michael McMillan
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We get your point exactly. Okay. Yeah. I mean, he did hang out with an alien.
- [60:31]
Mystic Dylan
There we go.
- [60:31]
Michael McMillan
Yeah.
- [60:32]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah. But while I. So I guess in my mind, yes, I. Obviously it makes sense that they could, like another planet could have advanced technology. I do have a hard time with like, shows and movies. Like, what is it, like Stargate? You know? Okay, I.
- [60:49]
Michael McMillan
So I guess you're not into the ancient alien stuff because of all.
- [60:54]
Mystic Dylan
But maybe now. Yeah, maybe now. And, like, you know, people will be like, well, who's to say that a civilization on another planet couldn't advance farther ahead than, like, Earth? And, like, I get that, but, like, you know, I think the Egyptians built the pyramids. I think it's kind of like, you know, like. So I guess. Yes. And do I think there are little flying things around? Yes. I don't know that people are necessarily getting sucked up and, like, abducted and
- [61:19]
Michael McMillan
experimented, you know, it's also just tough right now when, like, the worst people in the world are telling us these things. Did you see Matt Gates was on the news being like, there's an alien hybrid human program happening. And I'm like, I can't believe a thing that you say, sir.
- [61:40]
Mystic Dylan
J.D. vance. Talking about how, like, aliens are demonstrating.
- [61:43]
Michael McMillan
I'm like, what is happening?
- [61:45]
Mystic Dylan
And then he's obsessed with them.
- [61:48]
Michael McMillan
Yeah. I'm gonna get to the bottom of this. But, you know, it's funny. You call on Bigfoot. No. You almost called. Or you do call, because last first
- [61:58]
Mystic Dylan
episode, I did call on Bigfoot.
- [62:01]
Michael McMillan
Okay.
- [62:01]
Mystic Dylan
So now my mother has. She is convinced.
- [62:05]
Michael McMillan
Oh, really?
- [62:06]
Mystic Dylan
A story. Yeah. She. She swears that when she was a girl, she went. I forget where. I have to ask her. I meant to say this story before. I was like, you're dropping this at
- [62:15]
Riley Bray
the one hour mark. Wow.
- [62:17]
Michael McMillan
We love it.
- [62:18]
Mystic Dylan
She's. She. She wants to be on the show. She wants to talk about it. She wants. She's like, you got to tell them she has a story for you. Yeah. So she. 100%. So I think I. I think it'd be hard for me to be like, you know, because, like, my mom is pretty w with it.
- [62:36]
Michael McMillan
Okay.
- [62:36]
Mystic Dylan
You know, and like, I've met your mother before. She's saying, I think both of you are crazy or anyone is crazy. No, my mom is the first person
- [62:44]
Michael McMillan
to, like, incredible source for you.
- [62:46]
Mystic Dylan
She's a. Yes. My whole life. So for her to believe, I think very. I was like, okay, we gotta talk
- [62:56]
Michael McMillan
to your mom about her Bigfoot story.
- [62:58]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah.
- [62:59]
Michael McMillan
Maybe we can get her to come on during an Elf Files episode. Okay, we'll talk about that. That, you know, the. The big controversy that we haven't been able to even talk about yet. Riley, is this new movie that just came out, Chasing Bigfoot, that was at south by Southwest, where these filmmakers, documentary filmmakers, say that they have the rehearsal videos for the Patterson Gimlin film and they can prove that. That the whole thing was hoaxed, that the whole. People. People are freaking. Being out in the Bigfoot community right now. People are pissed. So I haven't seen the movie. Obviously. As soon as we can watch it, we will. We'll make that Bigfoot Movie Club over on BCC the other side. But, yeah, apparently they found, like, I don't know how they got it. I don't know that. I don't know how the filmmakers got it, but they've got, like, the dry run where it looks way more like a costume, I guess so. I mean, that's a thing in that town up there, they. The Bluff Creek, they were like, oh, yeah, we know who. We know that the locals there for years have been like, yeah, it's fake. We all know it's fake. We all know it's. We talked about this in the History of Bigfoot series. So we'll. We'll have to see. There's people, but then there are the believers who are doubling down. They're like, it's never been proven wrong and it never will be.
- [64:20]
Riley Bray
Yeah, exactly. You're faking the faking.
- [64:21]
Michael McMillan
Yeah. Yeah.
- [64:22]
Mystic Dylan
Well, did you also hear that they're gearing up? They're trying to do an off Broadway tryout of Big Bigfoot the Musical.
- [64:29]
Michael McMillan
Hey, they have.
- [64:30]
Riley Bray
Well, I think they can reach out to a few singing boys right here.
- [64:35]
Michael McMillan
Let's do some script approval here. Old. Punch it up a little bit. Yeah, yeah. I. I mean, I have a man I know who's got a great voice, and he's pretty tall.
- [64:44]
Riley Bray
It's in a big costume.
- [64:46]
Michael McMillan
Yeah. So there you go. All right. Mystic Dylan, thank you so much for joining us. Where can people pre order? Swamp Source. Excuse me. Swamp Sorcery. Let me give him the full title one more time. Hold on. I'm gonna do it properly. Swamp Sorcery. Folk magic from America's Southern wetlands. There it is again.
- [65:10]
Mystic Dylan
You can get it on Amazon, and if you don't want to get on Amazon, you can get on Barnes and Noble, and it's available for pre order on llewellyn publishing or llewellyn.com or.
- [65:21]
Michael McMillan
Great.
- [65:23]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah.
- [65:24]
Michael McMillan
And do you know when it's out? It's June day, right?
- [65:28]
Mystic Dylan
Yeah, June 8th.
- [65:30]
Michael McMillan
Okay.
- [65:30]
Mystic Dylan
But you're in the Los Angeles area. I'm going to do a book signing at Slasher World on Melrose on June 13th.
- [65:38]
Michael McMillan
Fun. Okay, great. That's a couple months away, but, hey, you are there. Gives you plenty of time to plan. Yeah, we'll be there I will be here. I think I'm in town, but if I'm not, if I am, I will be there. That sounds great. Congratulations. The book sounds awesome. I've gotten an advanced sneak peek at it. I will say it's a very. It's just great too, because I will say for people that don't know, like, you write very readable books about this stuff. Like, you have a very relatable voice. You know, you put yourself in, in the books, but not to the point where it's all about you. You know, it just feels like sometimes you pick up these books and these magic books and you're like, I. My eyes are crossing reading this, this. But I want to let everybody know that the books you write are very, very accessible. So they're, they're good reads, they're fun reads. So they should definitely go pre order this book whether you have a bathtub or not.
- [66:34]
Mystic Dylan
That's right.
- [66:35]
Michael McMillan
You'll figure, get out your draw.
- [66:40]
Riley Bray
Swamp bath pull, you know?
- [66:41]
Michael McMillan
Yeah. Get out your red twine and get
- [66:44]
Riley Bray
out your raccoon penis.
- [66:46]
Michael McMillan
Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, everybody, if you want more BCC, you can always join us over@bcc.supercast.com you'll get three bonuses episodes every month, access to the entire bonus episode archive ad free episodes and access to, I want to say hundreds of hours. But that doesn't. I mean, that would be, that would be a lot.
- [67:08]
Riley Bray
We'll get there.
- [67:09]
Michael McMillan
Lots. Hundreds of tracks. I will say hundreds of minutes. Hundreds of minutes. Minutes. Thank you. Music from Riley over on Cosmic Tracks. You can find the link to that in our show notes and in our Instagram bio at Bigfoot Collectors Club. Thank you again, Mystic Dylan, for being here. Always a pleasure. Club scouts. If we don't see you over on the other side, we will see you back here next week with an allnew episode of bcc. Until then, good night and go get rest. Go get regressed.
- [67:39]
Riley Bray
Don't forget to leave out treats for, for raw chicken.
- [67:44]
Michael McMillan
Yeah, yeah.
- [67:45]
Mystic Dylan
Wait, do I get cookies? Are you making cookies? Is that what's happening?
- [67:48]
Michael McMillan
I'm the cookie daddy, but not on the show.
- [67:50]
Riley Bray
You have to get a half eaten pack of Oreos.
- [67:53]
Michael McMillan
I'm definitely not the Red Bull daddy. And I'm not the raw chicken daddy. I'm the cookie. I'm cookie daddy.
- [67:59]
Riley Bray
Chicken daddy.
- [67:59]
Michael McMillan
Rock chicken daddy. That's like. That is. You'll know that I have failed. I've hit. I have hit rock bottom when I start a YouTube channel called Ra, Chick and Daddy. That's when you send for, that's when you call my family back home in Kansas. Ryland, you say you gotta fly. You gotta get a plane ticket.
- [68:17]
Mystic Dylan
You gotta come out here right now. Right now.
- [68:20]
Michael McMillan
Ginger Loves. Bigfoot Collectors Club is executive produced by Riley Bray and Michael McKinley McMillan and engineered and edited by Riley Bray. Our theme song is Come Alone by Suneaters, courtesy of Lotus Pool Records. For ad, free listening and bonus episodes every month, join BCC Clubhouse on bcc.supercast.com Want to see us watch video episodes and exclusive content on YouTube.com icfootcollectors club.