The Numinous Podcast

The Spirited Kitchen: Recipes and Rituals of the Wheel of the Year is now available for pre-order! (Check it out here.) In this episode, I'm sharing how and why I wrote this cookbook – the stories, friends, mentors, and supports that helped me navigate the fear, creative blocks, and emotional paralysis that came up in the process.  Resources In This Episode Sarah Selecky Nerys Patterson's Cattle Lords and Clansmen Michael Newton, HiddenGlen.org F.Marian McNeill, The Silver Bough and The Scots Kitchen Silvia Federici, Caliban and the Witch Quaker Committee of Care  Sophie Macklin's courses: Ungovernable Bodies and Beyond the Blood Lauren Bacon: Curious For A Living Cyndi Brannen, PhD. Ira Glass quote about having killer taste that exceeds your skill level Roxane Gay's writing Masterclass   Check out the pre-order bonuses! If you place a bulk order, or have a group of Spirited Kitchen fans who'd like me to visit your bookclub, please reach out to: admin@carmenspagnola.com Come hang out with us in The Numinous Network where I'll be doing cooking demos in Carmen's Cookbook Club and holding online Wheel of the Year rituals for each solstice, equinox and halfway point in between.  The book hits stores on October 18, 2022. Pre-order today and save $10 per copy!    

Aurelie Richards is a writer, educator, beekeeper, witch, performer, community builder, gardener, wounded healer. She's a Jewish woman with trans experience, living in Germany. She's long been an advocate for queer rights, trans community building, and domestic violence prevention, especially in rural and small-town contexts. And she's the manager of The Numinous Network and very dear to me. Aurelie had feedback for me about something I said in my last episode with Nikiah Seeds, so we've continued the conversation here. Listen in as we work through differences and bring in more context and practice repair skills like the soft start up, balancing power, and dropping in to deep listening. Check out her work at AurelieRichards.com Hang out with us in The Numinous Network

Welcome back to the podcast, Nikiah Seeds! Nikiah has been a ceremonialist and teacher of ritual, myth, and ancestral veneration for a couple decades now since her early years as a doula. She’s founder of the Red Moon Mystery School and co-author of the book Moon Mysteries about connecting with your menstrual cycle, and she’s been leading sacred drum-making retreats for years and years.   Nikiah was last here in 2017 when we talked about sacred beekeeping. But we’ve actually known each other since about 2007. We've witnessed each other grow and our careers evolve over the years so it’s fun to be able to have a visit and talk about the thresholds we stand upon now as women at midlife. Originally we were going to talk about ageing and elderhood and Embracing the Crone and how that archetype speaks to us, but actually…it turns out there’s still a lot to figure out about this in-between phase of becoming the cunning woman who stands between maidenhood and cronehood.   

Danielle Blackwood last appeared on the podcast in 2019 when we talked about her previous book, The Twelve Faces of the Goddess. Now she’s back with a fabulous book that I highly recommend to people aged 25 to 55 especially - it’s called A Lantern In The Dark: Navigate Life's Crossroads with Story, Ritual & Sacred Astrology. We're talking not only about the famous (infamous?) Saturn Return (age 28-30), but also about the lesser known major Midlife Transits: • the Pluto Square (age 36 to 48) • the Neptune Square (age 39-43) • the Uranus Opposition (age 41 - 45) • the Saturn Opposition (age 44 -45) • the Second Saturn Return (age 58 - 60) Learn more about Danielle's work here. Sign up for my newsletter to get the link for Free Week in the Numinous Network happening June 16 - 22, 2022.

A preparatory episode as we approach the midsummer solstice. Let's check-in with ourselves and our goals, self-regulate, and recalibrate, so we can hit our stride mid-June. I offer a brief and simple somatic practice, plus a really cool (time-sensitive) announcement!

Cyndi's Brannen's most recent book, Entering Hekate's Garden: The Magic, Medicine & Mystery of Plant Spirit Witchcraft, is a rich and enchanting journey with 39 plants, along with 39 ways to work with botanicals in your daily life and deeper rituals. Learn more about Cyndi's online programs at KeepingHerKeys.com Listen to her podcast, More Than This: At the Crossroads of Modern Life and the Deeper World

What is "collapse awareness"? How do we navigate collapse without losing our joy? What skills are needed in times of prolonged periods of overwhelming stress? This episode is an overview and recap of a topic I've talked about every year (multiple times) since the start of this show in 2014. Here, once again, is my annual report on the state of collapse. Find a round-up of past collapse episodes here.  Preparing For A Beautiful End, Geez Magazine (Winter 2014), Utne Reader (Summer 2015) Join us in my course, Collapse 101, in The Numinous Network The Spirited Kitchen *** Have a question or comment? Looking for life advice? Need some witch wisdom? Maybe I can help – listen for my response in an upcoming episode! Click here to leave me a voice or written message.

Today, I’m going to make a few people really happy because this is the Bruce Springsteen Niche Episode that more than a handful of you have been waiting for. The episode where I explain the long-lasting appeal of Bruce Springsteen as told through select Springsteen tracks arranged in order of progressive maturity of narrative voice. The journey takes us from frustrated youth in a small town, to emergent adult getting into trouble, an adult desire for love and reconciliation with the past, deepening radicalization as the hardships of life are revealed to be so often caused by oppressive systems of class and hierarchy, and finally a swell of hope and resilience as a more mature voice of elderhood emerges. Features 15 of his 60+ albums.   I have created this playlist in Tidal but I’m going to add a list of each track and the specific album it appears on - because the specific recording matters. This is a musician who is known for tireless touring having played over 2,600 concerts since he signed with Columbia Records in 1972. But of course, he had a career before that - Bruce Springsteen has been the front man of a rock and roll band since his first gig as a 17 year old with his band called The Castiles in 1965 and he’s never had any other job since. Never had a workin man job. Not a day. But his dad did. His dad had lots of jobs, it was hard for him to keep jobs. Partially because of declining industrial jobs around New Jersey intensifying in the mid-60s, but also because Bruce’s dad struggled with alcoholism and undiagnosed depression and schizophrenia, and that became a defining feature of Bruce’s life and his music, wrestling with intergenerational demons and the mirroring of one family’s life in the larger decline of America as a country and an idea at the end of the 20th century. Follow along with the songs with a free trial on Tidal (credit card required) or search the following recordings wherever you get your music, (possibly even YouTube). Playlist Growin’ Up, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973) Born to Run, Born To Run, (1975) Thunder Road, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Live 1975-1985 The River, The River (1980) Working on the Highway, Born In The USA (1984) Johnny 99, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Live 1975-1985 (1985) Badlands, Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) Dancing In The Dark, Born in the USA (1984) I’m on Fire, Born In The USA (1984) Human Touch, Human Touch (1992) Brilliant Disguise, Tunnel of Love (1987) My Hometown, Born In The USA (1984) Born In the USA, Born In The USA (1984) Bring ‘Em Home, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006) The Ghost of Tom Joad, The Ghost of Tom Joad (1995) Devils & Dust, Devils & Dust (2005) Shenandoah, We Shall Overcome (2006) Blood Brothers, Greatest Hits (1995) O Mary Don’t You Weep, We Shall Overcome (2006) Pay Me My Money Down, We Shall Overcome (2006) We Shall Overcome, We Shall Overcome (2006) This Land Is Your Land, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Live 1975 - 1985 (1986) Reason To Believe, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Live 1975 - 1985 (1986) Better Days, Lucky Town (1992) Hello Sunshine, Western Stars (2019) References Covers and Springsteen Songs by Other Artists Blinded By The Light, Mannfred Mann's Earth Band (1976) Because The Night, Patti Smith (1978) Because The Night, 10,000 Maniacs (1993) Because the Night, Co.Ro (1992) Movie: Blinded By The Light, Gurinder Chadha (2019) Netflix: Springsteen on Broadway Album: Traveling Wilburys, Vol.1 Pete Seeger on the Johnny Cash Show: Bring Them Home (1970) Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Live at C.W.Post College, Greenvale NY (1975) Autobiography: Born To Run (2016)

Maris Bergrune is a ritual animist, a spirit worker, a sound medium, and singer/musician. I’ve taken two of her programs - one on Norse animism and one on seidr mediumship and we’ll talk about them in detail today. Maris teaches skill development in intuitive perception, boundaries and discernment, and offers a very good foundation in animist ritual and relational practices with the Other Than Human worlds. She focuses on developing healthy relationships with spirits and ancestors and also on accessing self-sovereignty and voice. As you’ll hear in this interview, her practice is characterized by this very clear intention to partner with only the most compassionate aspects of spirit. I find her approach very grounded and practical; and she’s clear that this approach is not a way to bypass the challenges of humanity but are rather offers ways to be deeply resourced while facing these challenges.  Here's her website: https://livingvoicemedicine.com Click here for her program, Gather at the Well: Norse Ritual Animism Resources Mentioned: Betsey Bergstrom Tom Kenyon Annette Höst Seed of Yggdrasill, by Maria Kvilhaug  

I'm thrilled to welcome to the show Nicholas Pearson, author of several books including, Crystal Basics: The Energetic, Healing, and Spiritual Power of 200 Gemstones. Nicholas studied mineral science in university and worked for several years at a museum featuring the largest mineral collection in the southwestern US. In this episode, Nick explains the science of why and how crystals work including concepts like entrainment, amplification and coherence.  Check out his website and links here: www.theluminouspearl.com www.linktr.ee/theluminouspearl www.facebook.com/TheLuminousPearl www.Instagram.com/theluminouspearl https://www.innertraditions.com/author/nicholas-pearson/ https://www.amazon.com/Nicholas-Pearson/e/B01E4TQMJU