The Numinous Podcast

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.

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!  

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.

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

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.

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  

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.

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.

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.  

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.