The Numinous Podcast

TNP146 Carmen + Holly on Collapse Psychology and the Importance of Grief Ritual Accountability and Play

In Part 2 of my conversation with Holly, we explore collapse grief and death rituals in COVID times, and share fairly extensively about why Transformative Justice and community accountability is such an important aspect of collapse preparedness. We get into some detail about concerns we have over being two cis white women leading a diverse community, and, some ways we are hoping to mitigate that and reduce possible harm. We also share about the importance of play and creativity in collapse work. In the first minutes of this episode, I make a reference to a Netflix action series that perhaps many will not have heard of: Altered Carbon. I super love the show, for so many reasons not the least of which is the incredible fight choreograhy that features incredible women of colour as lead characters – so badass! I also reference Sarah Kerr at soul passages.ca as one of my teachers. Find out more about the Threshold community here. Register for my Numinous Quest Online here.

TNP145 Holly Truhlar on Tending the Threshold of Collapse

Holly is a psychotherapist and a lawyer, and what she calls a “collapsitarian” – she’s spent a long time tracking collapse from multiple perspectives and coalesced her observations into a framework she calls collapse psychology. You can get a sense of that framework by visiting collapse psychology.org Holly approached me in early 2017 and our relationship since then has blossomed into friendship both online and in physical presence, we’ve witnessed each other in grief and pain, but also had a chance to stay up late drinking and laughing. And whether we’re crying or laughing, the topic always somehow comes around to the collapse of empire and large scale convergent emergencies. Find out more about the Threshold community here. Learn about The Numinous Quest Online here.

TNP144 Mimi Young on Intuition + Pandemic Plant Medicine

I'm talking with Mimi Young about clairolfaction, wonderful plant allies for pandemic times, and how to work with tea in a magical – even ancestral – way. Mimi is a shamanic intuitive and founder of Ceremonie (@shopceremonie), an esoteric brand focusing on in-person and online core shamanic and occult education, Remote Shamanic Readings, and plant potions for skin and aura. Mimi works with a blend of modalities including core shamanism, plant spirit healing, chao magick, and Chinese esoterics, with a focus on healing through shadows, dream work, divination, ancestral connection, and psychic development. She is also a neurofeedback practitioner (@openmindsperformance), where she supports others in accessing their peak via neurological resilience. Check out all of Mimi's offerings here. Follow her on Instagram: @shopceremonie   Find out about doing neurofeedback with Mimi here. Learn about joining the online Mystery Mentorship Program here. The book she referenced is For All The Tea In China, by Sarah Rose.    Follow me on Instagram @carmenspagnola Check out my Intuitive Business (And Life) Planning Workshop

TNP143 Bear Hebert on Unlearning Oppression

Bear is a life coach, artist, and social justice educator who helps socially conscious humans align their actions with their values. In their coaching and teaching, they apply a feminist, anti-racist, anti-capitalist lens. In this episode, I ask them about their gender journey to using they/them pronouns, and we talk about interlocking systems of oppression, call out culture, and wanting healing for people who cause harm without necessarily wanting to be a part of that healing.  Content Warning: We do touch on sexual violence, capital punishment, and more, but we also take stretch breaks and pauses for breath as we do so. Remember to pause the recording if you feel yourself tensing up or becoming very activated. Bearcoaches.comUndoingpatriarchy.com Caliban And The Witch by Silvia Federici Combahee River Collective and How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor Alternate ROOTS alternateroots.orgInfo about the online version of ROOTS Week Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni Killers Of The Dream by Lillian Smith The Farm: Angola, USA 13th, Ava DuVernay bell hooks on “white supremacist capitalist patriarchy” Whiteness At Work, Desiree Adaway with Jessica Fish and Erika Hines Beverly Daniel Tatum, author of Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria?  on diversity as an aftereffect of a lifelong commitment to the self-named struggles of people of color Philly Stands Up zine Beyond Survival book "The Opposite Of Rape Culture Is Nurturance Culture" and Turn This World Inside Out by Nora Samaran “No one enters violence for the first time having committed it.” -Danielle Sered, quoted by Mariame Kabe

TNP142 Kosmic Tonic Astrology Forecast for 2020 and Beyond

Jasmine Richardson and Eliza Robertson are an astrology team who make their home online at KosmicTonic.com. Today we’re talking about what the astrology looked like leading up to 2020 that might have revealed something big like a global pandemic was coming, and looking ahead to the outlook for the rest of 2020 and beyond. How did we get here and where are we going? We begin with a resource round up of highly recommended modern astrologers to follow and learn from: ISARKaitlin Coppock at Sphere and SundryNina GryphonDemetra GeorgeChris Brennan - The Astrology Podcast Gray CrawfordBarbara Hand Clow - Journeys Through Nine DimensionsFortune’s Wheelhouse PodcastWesly Feuquay - Psylogia We also look at what stands out to be aware of for Fall/Winter of 2020/21. We look at Mars Retrograde (Sept 9 - Nov 13), possible advancements in science, America's progress on its' Pluto return, and eclipses at the end of 2020 (Nov 30 and Dec 14) which set the tone for 2021.  Book consultations with Jasmine and Eliza at kosmictonic.com and follow them on Instagram @kosmictonic and on Twitter @kosmic_tonic  Register now for my Intuitive Business (And Life) Planning Workshop on September 26, 2020.

TNP141 Eric Tyrone - Get Woke In Your Dream-Time

Eric Tyrone is the founder of Soul Dreamers and the creator of the "Get Woke In Your Dream-Time" Masterclass. In the past, Eric ran a non-profit called "Awakening Through Art", founded a mindfulness App, and was a co-facilitator of a nationwide meetup called EcoTuesday. In this episode we talk about the purpose of dreaming, how to interpret your dreams and heal through dreamwork, and we even do a little on the spot interpretation of a slightly anxious dream I had about a tarantula and my son. Listeners can save $100 off his 4-Week “Get Woke In Your Dream-Time” Live Group Masterclass by using the coupon code: DREAMS333 Find the next start date at www.soul-dreamers.com  Follow Eric on Instagram @_Soul_Dreamers   Find out more about the Threshold community here.

TNP140 Darius Mills on Conjure Oils Hoodoo Manifestation Magic

Darius Mills is a Conjure Oils expert and to be honest, probably the one of the most charming guests I’ve ever had. In this interview, Darius shares how he used hoodoo conjure magic to manifest a fully paid international move. We touch on Jesus, quantum physics, intergalactic beings, ancestors, and how to make a honey jar.  Follow Darius on Instagram @dariusmills91 to find out when his next Conjure & Create program begins (at time of posting, Sept 2020).

TNP139 Colonial Influence on Hide Tanning Past and Present with Mara Cur

This is the continuation of my conversation with Mara Cur , a hide tanner, hunter, wildcrafter, herbalist and wilder punk extraordinaire. In this episode Mara talks about the history of hide tanning and the important role that women and femmes played in this vocation. We also circle back to the question I posed in the last episode about how she approaches redress with Indigenous communities as she returns the teachings of hide tanning that were eradicated by colonialism. The resource that Mara recommends to learn about White Saviorism is NoWhiteSaviors.org.   Mara credits visionary Cree artist, Kent Monkman, for his teachings on the early history of the fur trade.   I’d like to lift up Bruce Alexander’s essay, The Roots of Addiction in Free Market Society, as a formative document in my collapse awareness that relates quite directly to what Mara was saying about the first 250 years fo the fur trade. It uses the experience of the Orcadians – that’s Scottish folks from the Orkey Islands, previously renown for their sobriety –  employed by in the later days of the fur trade by the Hudson’t Bay company, as a study in how cultural dislocation and attachment rupture were direct causes of alcoholism.   If you really want to geek out on that particular historical niche, you can read my other teacher, Michael Newton’s book, We’re Indians Sure Enough: The Legacy of Scottish Highlanders in the United States. Check out Mara’s online offerings at liminagathering.com and her own website Crowsnest wildcraft.com  This season of the podcast is brought to you by the Threshold community. If the topics engaged in this episode appeal to you, check out our programming at www.thethresholdcommunity.com

TNP138 Mara Cur on Hide Tanning and the Orphans Journey

Mara Cur is a hide tanner, hunter, wildcrafter, and herbalist. She is a teacher of mine that I’m excited to share with you because I love her thinking and articulation on so many topics like settler colonialism, attachment, trauma and radical politics. In this episode Mara shares about growing up an orphan in a high demand community (cultic religion).   Check out Mara’s offerings on her site, Crowsnest Wildcraft, and follow her on Instagram @woodland.cur   Continue the conversation in Part 2 here.   This season of the podcast is brought to you by the Threshold community. If the topics engaged in this episode appeal to you, check out our programming at www.thethresholdcommunity.com

TNP137 Sharon Ross Afrovivalist on Emergency Preparedness

Sharon Ross, aka Afrovivalist, is an African American woman, huntress and survivalist in America here to teach city folks how to prepare for any and all emergencies – not just coronavirus but any natural or human-made disaster. I think you can hear in my voice in this episode that I've got fan fever. Her online retreat, DeCamp Outdoors, is happening August 21-23. You'll learn how to prepare for the second wave of COVID-19 and beyond. Hunting, soapmaking, ham radio operation – learn from experienced guides in the field. What does Sharon say in brief about the second wave? 1) Get your water sorted out 2) Food stores 3) Shelter in place improvements 4) Get a food dehydrator! Go follow @afrovivalist on Instagram and Facebook, and get your ticket to DeCamp Outdoors – I'll see you there! Note: This show is rated E for "explicit". Cover the young ones' ears. We are using our grown up words for this topic, people! This season of the podcast is brought to you by the Threshold community. We look forward to welcoming Sharon as a Guest Guide in September! 

TNP135: Danielle Dulsky on Revisionist Storytelling to Tend the Holy Wild

Today I'm speaking with Danielle Dulsky, author of Woman Most Wild: Three Keys for Liberating the Witch Within. Today, we’re focused on Daniells’ second book, The Holy Wild: A Heathen Bible for the Untamed Woman. We talk about ancestral inheritance and its influence on our spellcraft, mothering as witchcraft, and we touch on the effects of whiteness, capitalism, and patriarchy on our spiritual practice. She also tells us some awesome stories about the Mother of Babylon and other dark goddesses. It’s a toothsome conversation and I found Danielle very relatable and I suspect you will too! Be sure to check out her newest book, Seasons of Moon and Flame: The Wild Dreamer's Journey of Becoming, due out March 10, 2020. In this conversation, Danielle mentioned The Atlantis Bookshop in London, and recommended the book The Witch of Portobello by Paul Coelho. Check out all of Danielle's website for all of her excellent offerings including online courses, workshops and her Patreon page.

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.