The Numinous Podcast

TNP136: Maia Toll on Working with Plant, Animal and Crystal Allies in Troubled Times

Maia Toll is with us today speaking about creating kinship with other-than-human friends. Maia is the author of The wild Wisdom series which includes The Illustrated Herbiary, The Illustrated Bestiary, and the forthcoming, Illustrated Crystallary. I wanted to have this conversation through a lens of climate change and dynamic social transition. How can we have a conversation about working with plants and animals and crystal without discussing climate change and over-extraction, amirite? In this episode, we also mentioned the Archetypes Deck by Kim Krans. Find me on Instagram @carmenspagnola Learn about Wet'suwet'en solidarity:@takaiya.blaney@gidimten_checkpoint@smogelgem@strikingstick #wetsuwetenstrong #youthforyintah #indigenousyouthforwetsuweten

TNP134: Decolonizing Scottish Highland History and Radicalizing Gaelic Folk Culture with Michael Newton

I’m speaking with Celtic studies and Gaelic scholar, Michael Newton. He’s a researcher and teacher with a history of recovering and interpreting original sources of Scottish Highland language, literature and tradition. He’s written multiple books and even produced and performed on an album of songs in Gaelic, and that’s how I discovered Michael’s work on my journey to learn to sing Gaelic laments and blessings, and learning about the tradition of keening, (which is a thing I do on certain occasions). Michael has a folk school called The Hidden Glen where he offers online courses on topics in Gaelic culture and folklore. I’ve taken two of the courses:Reclaiming the Roots (6 classes, new intake January 2020) is about deepening the understanding of Scottish Highland heritage during the era of the clan systems and the importance of the relationship to land and relationships with the more-than-human world.  Stories of Scottish Highland Immigration is about the experience of Gaels in the New World as told by Gaels themselves – we learn about the complex reasons for mass migration through their songs and remnants of the Gaelic bardic tradition. And a new course in 2020 I’m excited to be taking is called Radicalizing The Roots: Deconstructing Whiteness Through Gaelic lenses and Decolonizing Scottish Heritage. This one feels like a natural extension if you're doing social justice or ancestral reclamation and healing work. (6 classes, new intake January 2020)Resources for deeper inquiry:Decolonization Is For Everyone, Especially White People (Part 1) Decolonization Is For Everyone, Especially White People (Part 2) Decolonization Is For Everyone, Especially White People (Part 3) Books:Warriors Of The Word: The World Of the Scottish Highlanders (Kindle) Seanchaidh na Coille: Memory-Keeper Of The Forest: An Anthology of Scottish-Gaelic Literature of Canada A Handbook Of The Scottish Gaelic World Papers:Academia.edu Michael's Patreon Page  

TNP133 Permission to Grieve With Francis Weller

Francis Weller is a psychotherapist and author of The Wild Edge Of Sorrow: Rituals Of Renewal And The Sacred Work Of Grief. In this episode we talk about the Five Gates Of Grief, men's circles, patriarchy and our infatuation with mythopoetic white men at the mic. We also welcome back my husband for a "Rubenation" where he tells about his experience in a program for men about learning how to make friends as an adult male. Also in this episode, I share the promo code provided by our sponsor Hollyhock to get a 15% discount on all meals + accommodations packages in 2020! Resources cited in this episode include: Joanna MacyToward Psychologies of Liberation, Helene SchulmanCarolyn BakerFinding Beauty In A Broken World, Terry Tempest WilliamsJeannette Armstrong, Okanagan wisdom keeper and elder Would you like to sponsor an upcoming episode? Please fill out our application form. Thanks!  

TNP132 Somatic Mentoring with Patti Elledge

This episode is part case consult, part psychoeducation, part storytelling. I'm so excited to share with you a conversation with my Clinical Supervisor and mentor, Patti Elledge, and to announce her new 3-month online program for like-minded therapists of all specialties! I'll be assisting Patti both behind the scenes and in-class, as well as making myself available for one-on-one participant support through the program which runs January through March 2020. You may have heard Patti's interview in TNP118: Patti Elledge on the Neurobiology of Attachment, Grieving Together, and Mobilizing Outrage. In this episode, we talk about principles and techniques for managing Global High Activation States, the difference between "going global" and numinous unity experiences, and why working with the body to release trauma is so critical – especially in this time of increasing collective trauma. Resources mentioned in this episode include: Accessing The Healing Power Of The Vagus Nerve: Self-Help Exercises for Anxiety, Depression, Trauma and Autism,by Stanley Rosenberg We-space practices This is the drawing by Patti's 9-year old client, illustrating a Global High Activation state: Patti is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) who has specialized in therapeutic application of neuroscience for more than 40 years, and teaches Diane Poole Heller’s groundbreaking work, DARe, which treats adult attachment wounds. She has a broad clinical background in treating developmental and attachment based traumas, offering somatic strategies to access healthy bonding and co-regulatory processes. She worked directly with babies, children and families for more than 20 years prior to her SE training in the late 90s, and weaves strategies from the fields of interpersonal neurobiology, sensory processing, developmental differences and neurodiversity, coherent narratives and embodiment through movement and creativity. Her blending of a variety of somatic and body-mind techniques helps to treat and resolve over-coupled elements of survival energies (fight-flight-freeze responses) that become so seemingly intractable with the essence of loving/bonding and “belonging.” Registration for the Somatic Mentoring programis capped at 25 spots. Nov.26: just 8 spots left!

TNP131 The Twelve Faces Of The Goddess with Archetypal Astrologer Danielle Blackwood

Danielle Blackwood is the author of The Twelve Faces Of The Goddess: Transform Your Life With Astrology, Magick And The Sacred Feminine. In this episode, we talk about strong archetypal goddesses for each astrological sign. Danielle also tells the amazing story of her incredible grandmother's survival in a Siberian work camp and escape after nine years, eventually finding and reuniting with Danielle's mother after nearly a decade of estrangement. It gives me chills to hear it. Danielle mentions astrodienst.com as a resource for discovering your own astrological chart. Read Danielle's monthly Cosmic Weather Report here. You can connect with her here on her website and make sure you follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

TNP130: Sigil Witchery with Laura Tempest Zakroff

The world of sigil witchery can be both fascinating and intimidating depending on your relationship to your artistic side. I was happy I mustered up the courage to try my hand at sigil craft with a little help and encouragement from Laura Tempest Zakroff, author of Sigil Witchery: A Witch's Guide to Crafting Magick Symbols. Ask for Sigil Witchery and all of Laura's books at your local independent bookseller. Check out Laura's artwork and upcoming workshops here, also at her sigil witchery site, and also on Instagram via @owlkeyeme.arts Tag Laura and @carmenspagnola on Instagram – show us your sigils! This episode is sponsored by Thérèse Cator's new program, Embodied Manifestation. Thank you, Thérèse!  

TNP129 Palm Reading with Helene Saucedo - sponsored by Elate Clean Cosmetics

Handful of Stars is the new book from Helene Saucedo about the ancient art of hand analysis common known as palm reading. It's a tool for self-discovery and divination that is cross cultural and widespread, but palm reading is often quite confusing and shrouded in mystery for those of us who didn't grow up in a culture that widely embraces the practice. Helene has created a book and handprint kit for those of us who are curious about how much our hands can tell us about our life path and purpose. Resources mentioned in this episode: Handful Of Stars: A Palmistry Guidebook and Handprinting Kit Helene's website Richard Unger's Life Prints and Hand Analysis Institute And a final thank you to this episode sponsor, Elate Clean Cosmetics. Check out their new Rise:Together collection on Instagram.

TNP128 Scottish Folk Magic with Scott Richardson-Reed of the Cailleachs Herbarium

In this episode we are joined by Scott Richardson-Reed author of the popular blog, the Cailleach’s Herbarium, where he writes about Scottish Folk Magic, witchcraft, folklore and herbalism. I’ve followed Scott's blog for a few years now and have thoroughly enjoyed the depth of research and frank discourse he brings to topics like cultural and spiritual appropriation, reclaiming or reimagining ancestral practices and animism in Scottish myth. I'm thrilled for this opportunity to dive deeper into his excellent series, The Good, The Dead and the Faery: Scottish Folk Magic And The Dead. I’m delighted to share with you a long awaited conversation – long awaited by me anyway – with Scott Richardson-Reed, the conversation in which I learn that…I have an accent! Who knew? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Links to topics in this conversation:Tales of the Taibhsear concept album- limited edition on sale now! skyrie stones - "colourful stones" divination Amanda Edmiston, Botanica Fabula Storytelling Debbie Armour, Burd Ellen music Survey of Scottish Witchcraft Saining Not Smudging: Purification and Lustration in Scottish Folk Magic Practice

TNP127 Moon Magic with Sarah Gottesdiener

Sarah Faith Gottesdiener is an artist, tarot reader and educator, and witch. She is also the creator of the very popular Many Moons journals and Moonbeaming program. Sarah is also co-host of the Strange Magic podcast. You can find Sarah's readings and courses at: visualmagic.info Buy Sarah's art here. Finally, sign up for Sarah's excellent Moonbeaming newsletter.

TNP126 Controlled Remote Viewing with Lori Lambert Williams

I'm thrilled to be speaking with Lori Lambert Williams today about Controlled Remote Viewing – a protocol to access the subconscious and determine information about any location, person, or thing anywhere at any time. Remote Viewing is a technique commonly associated with intuition, but actually has its military roots both in Russia and the US. Much research around Remote Viewing has been funded by the Pentagon and developed by the Stanford Research Institute. Lori has been a professional remote viewer and teacher since 1996. Her classes and trainings are available online at intuitivespecialists.com  

TNP125 Stephanie Papik on Inuit Tattoos and Cultural Reclamation

Stephanie Papik is an indigenous Inuit woman, experienced facilitator and program manager, current Director of Indigenous Relations and stakeholder Engagement for a division of the government of British columbia, as well as fibre artist and entrepreneur. What strikes many people upon first meeting Stephanie, probably second after her big warm smile, are her beautiful facial tattoos. I was so pleased she agreed to come on the show and talk about what these tattoos mean to her and to her Inuit culture. Check out the show notes at carmenspagnola.com for links to all the resources mentioned in this episode.

TNP124 Elizabeth Brown on Dowsing + Causative Diagnosis for Optimal Health 2

Elizabeth Brown is a master dowser and author of DOWSING: The Ultimate Guide For The 21st Century. Her storied career includes the co-founding and running of a geopathic stress consultancy, she has studied with two former presidents of the British Society of dowsers, and has trained in remote viewing and more. Plus, she comes from a family lineage of water dowsers. In this episode, Elizabeth helps us understand the history and science behind dowsing including the sometimes surprising involvement of the Catholic Church. We discuss whether pendulums are as effective as rods, and the importance of finding your niche as a dowser. (We can't all be experts at everything, right?) She also explains what a session with her entails and helps me get a sense of what's affecting my nasal congestion.

TNP123 Sarah Kerr on Being a Death Doula and Coping With Loss When a Pet or Plant Friend Dies

Sarah Kerr is a death doula and ritual healing practitioner. She work with dying people and their families, as well as families navigating the death of a pet, and also lectures and teaches about death care and the healing power of ritual. Sarah perviously appeared on the podcast in episode 98: Priestess, Shaman, Mystic Scapegoat. The most incredible thing happened during the taping of this episode. Precisely what I was asking Sarah advice around happened...to her. This episode is dedicated to Sarah's deceased cat, Luna, and all those who are suffering grief over the death of a beloved animal, or tree friend, or natural landscape. Sarah generously wrote about her experience on her blog. In this episode, we talk about the nuts and bolts of dying well, (are there things you should or shouldn't say to a dying person?), being a death doula (how do you manage your energy being in such intense environments?), and ways to honour the death of animals and trees.  

TNP121- Alexandra Stein on Disorganized Attachment in Cults Totalitarian Regimes

How do you know if you're in a cult? And, how does an open society confront propaganda, brainwashing, and the rise of fascism? That's the undercurrent of this conversation with noted cultic studies expert, Alexandra Stein, PhD. Alexandra Stein is a writer and educator specializing in the social psychology of ideological extremism and other dangerous social relationships. She brings an extraordinary lens to cultic studies with her attachment-based approach, which helps us understand how an average person – privileged and educated, even – can fall under the influence of a high-demand group.  

TNP122 Pashta MaryMoon on Accompanying the Dying Hospice Singing and Preparing for our Death

Pashta MaryMoon is a death doula, a Wiccan, a Quaker, and a longtime fan of Jesus. In fact, before we get to our conversation on death and dying, Pashta gives us a revealing tour of her early spirituality – a syncretic blend of earthy paganism, deep devotional relationship with Jesus as brother/lover/son, kinship with Mary Magdalene, and Wiccan god/goddess themes. To say she's a singular presence is understatement. Pashta has been a compassionate radical her whole life. She is a longtime grassroots organizer including anti-nuclear activism in the '80s, and frontline support worker during the HIV/AIDS crisis in the '90s, with a current focus on death care alternatives in Canada.

TNP120 Tiffany Joseph on Adaptation

I'm delighted to welcome back to the podcast, Tiffany Śwxeloselwet Joseph, to talk adapting to catastrophic collapse. Tiffany tells us stories about bees, salmon, orcas and humans, and her main strategy for collapse resilience: cultivating beauty inside and out. Go here to read and share the story of SEMSEMÍYA    Learn more about Tiffany and how you can work with her or invite her to your gathering.

TNP119 John Michael Greer on the Long Descent

Welcome back to the show for the sixth time, peak oil expert and author, John Michael Greer. In this episode, we're celebrating the tenth anniversary of John's seminal book, The Long Descent: A User's Guide To The End Of The Industrial Age.  John explains the concept of Catabolic Collapse, why apocalypse scenarios are problematic and the hopium of political will and green utopias just as much so. I ask him about useful viable professions in collapse scenarios and how to choose where to live. Finally, John gives us three steps for personal preparation to face the deindustrial age. Read the full article: Peak Oil Advice From German Poets

TNP118 Patti Elledge on the Neurobiology of Attachment, Grieving Together, and Mobilizing Outrage

Patti Elledge is a Trauma Healing Specialist and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner with a private practice in Asheville, NC. She's my supervisor and mentor and I'm here to tell the world: I love her and I think everyone should have more Patti in their life. I want that for you. You deserve some Patti. In this conversation, Patti explains what Attachment is, what different Attachment styles look like in babies and how that translates in adulthood, the role of Evolutionary Biology in our Attachment systems, and how we can heal attachment wounds in a world of persistent precarity, climate change, and social turmoil. I particularly enjoyed hearing Patti's thoughts on grief, rage, and how Attachment shows up in our spiritual lives. Here are the resources Patti noted in this interview: Mary Main Mary Ainsworth John Bowlby Joanna Macy Peter Levine and Somatic Experiencing Stephen Porges and the Polyvagal System (YouTube) Allan Schore and the Good Enough Mother Portrait Of A Marriage: Yes, It's Mine (the article mentioned that I wrote) Learning To See In The Dark Amid Catastrophe: An Interview With Deep Ecologist Joanna Macy Patti specializes in somatic healing techniques via organic, instinctual ways of the body and psyche, allowing for more connection with self and other and the emergence of creativity and spirituality. Patti credits her training by Peter Levine, Diane Poole Heller and Raja Selvam.  She has assisted more than 40 trainings worldwide and now teaches Diane Poole Heller's pioneering work DARe, (Dynamic Attachment Re-Patterning Experience). Patti has specialized in therapeutic application of neuroscience for 40 years and has a broad background in early development (interpersonal, social/emotional, language and cognition), sensory processing disorders, self- and co-regulatory processes and the neurobiology of stress and trauma. While Patti's work is grounded in current day research on the neurobiology and physiology of the human stress mechanism, it is also infused with embodied intuition and a compassionate heart. You can reach Patti at: www.pattiatlarge.blogspot.com https://dianepooleheller.com/teachersproviders/ https://sepractitioner.membergrove.com/member-details.php?id=1388

TNP117 Monique Gray Smith on the What Why How of Territorial Acknowledgements

My guest today is author, speaker and consultant, Monique Gary Smith. We're talking about Territorial Acknowledgements, a small act of Reconciliation that is spreading beyond the borders of our province and country. When I committed a few years ago to incorporating acts of Reconciliation into my personal and professional life, I began inviting elders (of all ages) to open all of my retreats and workshops with a Territorial Acknowledgement. When I was invited to give a speech, or lead a networking event, or any kind of circle, I would also verbally acknowledged the traditional occupants of the territory, wherever I went. And if I travelled outside of my region to go on Quest or a spiritual retreat, I would reach out to the local band or tribal office to find out more about the land and the ancestors from that place. But I only learned how to do this because my friend, Monique, guided and re-directed me again and again. In this episode, Monique shares some ideas for how any person wanting to incorporate this small act of Reconciliation into their life or work might begin in a good way. MoniqueGraySmith.com Truth And Reconciliation Commission Of Canada: 94 Calls To Action

TNP116 Matthew Remski on Attachment High Demand Communities and Yogas Culture Of Abuse 1

In this episode, I'm thrilled to talk with Matthew Remski about how one finds oneself in a cult, how to get out, and what high demand groups have to do with social justice, climate change and collapse. Matthew is a writer and cultural critic who published an explosive article in The Walrus called, Yoga's Culture Of Sexual Abuse: Nine Women Tell Their Stories. Since then, I've followed Matthew and especially appreciated his real-time critique of the unravelling of the Shambala meditation community. Resources cited in this episode include: Alexandra Mann, Terror, Love and Brainwashing: Attachment In cults And Totalitarian Systems Dr.Cathleen Mann Steven Hassan Dr.Michael Langone This Is Not your Practice Life