In this episode of the Modern Mystics Podcast, we sit down with Mat Auryn, one of the most influential voices in contemporary witchcraft and psychic development.
Mat shares his personal origin story, beginning with a childhood shaped by foster care, trauma, sensory deprivation, and vivid dream states, and how those early experiences became gateways into altered states of consciousness, psychic perception, and meditative awareness. We explore how hardship can open perception rather than close it, touching on themes of ego death, shamanic initiation, and the thin boundary between waking consciousness and the dream world.
The conversation moves through Mat’s early encounters with energy awareness, spirits, and intuitive sensation, as well as the cultural and symbolic impact of media like The Craft on a generation of seekers. Mat reflects on how witchcraft, for him, was never about aesthetics or rebellion, but about survival, agency, and reclaiming personal power.
We also dive into Mat’s formal training and professional evolution, including studying under well-known teachers, working as a psychic reader in Salem, Massachusetts, and eventually becoming a writer, educator, and bestselling author. Mat discusses how psychic development, meditation, and magick are inseparable disciplines, and why training perception is foundational to any serious spiritual practice.
This episode explores:
Trauma, altered states, and early psychic perception
Dreaming as a survival mechanism and spiritual doorway
Ego death, initiation, and shamanic parallels
The relationship between meditation, energy work, and magick
The evolution from personal practice to public teaching and authorship
Why psychic skill is trained, not inherited
A grounded, honest conversation about power, perception, and what it really means to walk a magical path in the modern world.
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Instagram | @matauryn
https://auryn.net
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