Ep. 225: The Cunning Farmer with Todd Elliot

Today the Plant Cunning Podcast features farmer, and magician Todd Elliot, author of The Cunning Farmer. In the interview, Elliot describes his path from nature-loving childhood in Philadelphia to homesteading and CSA vegetable farming in Kentucky, his interest in ethnobotany and plants like datura, and key influences in farming and esoteric practice. He explains his eclectic “cunning” approach, combining ancestors/underworld, land and nature spirits, celestial/astrological forces, and angelic magic, plus reiki-based energy healing for crops. We discuss lunar timing versus weather realities, agricultural talismans, offerings to land spirits, animal signs, the state of industrial agriculture, and where to find Elliot’s website and Substack.00:00 Show and Book Updates01:23 Meet Todd Elliot02:48 Todd’s Plant Path Origins05:11 Datura and Entheogenic Plants09:09 Teachers and Influences12:07 Cunning Farmer Identity14:09 Land Spirits Awakening18:28 Sacred Farming and Ritual23:35 Corn Reverence and Monoculture30:58 Worldview and Four Realms33:44 Land Trauma and Ancestors38:46 Reiki for Crops42:47 Reiki for Seedlings43:04 Moon Timing for Planting43:43 Weather Versus Almanac46:48 Eclipses and Weed Killing47:57 Trees and Lunar Mansions48:56 Talisman Success Stories51:40 Offerings to Land Spirits54:34 Animal Signs and Omens57:24 Deer Pests and Cernunnos01:06:24 Advice for Cunning Farmers01:12:21 Protection and Haunted Places01:15:00 Ghosts and Deified Ancestors01:17:58 Where to Find the Book