The Numinous Podcast

I'm so pleased to have my beloved teacher, Judee Gee, returning to The Numinous Podcast this week. We're talking about Yin + Yang, Shiva + Shakti, tantra, and the Apostle to the Apostles, Mary Magdalene. Juicy, juicy stuff! In this conversation, Judee and I share our deep gratitude for the wonderful book by Cynthia Bourgeault, The Meaning of Mary Magdalene. That book truly changed my life. I also mention my pilgrimage to La Grotte de la Sainte Baume, the grotto where Mary Magdalene lived out her days as a hermitesse. I can't wait to one day take Judee's Tantric Woman workshop. I believe she is doing a North American tour in 2015 so if you'd like to bring her to your city, you should send her an email ASAP! If you don't already own it, I highly, highly recommend Judee's book, Intuition: Awakening Your Inner Guide. Trained as an intuitive psychic, breath therapist and teacher of alternative healing methods in Australia and the USA in the early 1980’s, Judee settled in France in 1988 where she created The Intuition School (L’Ecole de l’Intuition). From 1988 to 2000 she taught her intuition development program in several regions throughout France and also published Intuition: Awakening Your Inner Guide, during that period. Judee is the past President (1998–2001) of the International Breathwork Foundation and a founding member (2000) of the Global Professional Breathwork Alliance, where she currently serves on the Board of Directors.

Have you, like me, dreamed of quitting everything and going to live indefinitely at Findhorn in Scotland? I'd say I give it serious consideration every five years or so, and a passing thought every other day. It's definitely going to happen one day. Until then, I have Kate. Kate Sutherland is Faculty with THNK, The School of Creative Leadership, and a social entrepreneur, author, speaker and coach. As Kate sees it, each of us has an inner guidance system, available 24/7 and stunningly accurate. (I agree!) But most of us barely begin to tap the potential benefits, in part because we don't know how, and in part because society emphasizes outer authority rather than the subtle signals of our inner knowing. Kate's two books, Make Light Work and Make Light Work In Groups, are a wonderful resource for accessing that inner knowing and drawing it out in others. Kate will be leading her workshop, Barefoot Facilitation, at Findhorn in August 2014. Learn more about The Transformation Game here.

This week's episode is a tender portrait of loss, destruction and the pain of living in our times.   I have a very special friendship with Michael; a kinship and delight in our conversations, a warmth and joy in his presence that lifts my spirits. I love his lyrical way of communicating. I love how he surprises me - one moment a poetic rumination, the next a pragmatic shrug. I usually need lots of kleenex for our conversations. He just has a way of speaking to the human condition in a way that opens and soothes my soul. I hope you enjoy sharing in this small portion of one of our recent talks. By the way, the following quote (which I sort of bastardize  in the show) is from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: "After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."

Think you're out of the woods because Mercury has finally gone direct? Nuh uh says Canada's favourite astrologer, Georgia Nicols. On this week's episode of The Numinous Podcast we're talking about how to deal with Mercury Retrograde, that thrice annual occurrence when it seems all things technology, communication and travel-related go haywire. Georgia explains what it is, why it happens and how to deal with it.  You can get Georgia's daily updates by subscribing on her website or you can follow her on Facebook to find out when the Moon alerts are in effect.

This week we're talking about the ritual of the vision quest with Sparrow Hart. For over 30 years, Sparrow has personally gone on vision quest every year and has led hundreds of people through their own wilderness rights of passage. I feel privileged to have been guided by Sparrow when I did my vision quest in the desert. This is a truly rich conversation in which Sparrow gives so. many. resources. Not only has he written a beautiful ode to questing called Letters to the River: A Guide to a Dream Worth Living, he also mentions some of the books that were formative in the early years of his questing such as Black Elk Speaks by John Neihardt, People of the Deer by Farley Mowatt, the work of Carlos Castadenda and Laurens van der Post. I really can't recommend more highly a vision quest experience with Sparrow. Of all of my spiritual undertakings, these teachings were some of the most formative. If you are an ardent pursuer of the spiritual path and maker of your own myth, then a week with Sparrow will be a gift to your heart and a balm for your soul. Do it!

This week I'm talking with Josiah Neufeld, a Vancouver-based writer whose journalism, essays and short fiction have appeared in The Walrus, Hazlitt, The Globe and Mail, Prairie Fire, The Vancouver Sun, Geez Magazine, The Winnipeg Free Press, Rhubarb and elsewhere. Josiah grew up in West Africa, the son of Mennonite missionaries. In this episode, Josiah shares his story and what he values most about the cultures that shaped his spiritual path. In this episode, Josiah mentioned Malidoma Patrice Somé's work including his book Ritual: Power, Healing and Community. He also noted the Five Pillars of Islam when discussing spiritual practices. This conversation leads us gently into usually rather barbed territory - colonialism, evangelism, and such - but I think you'll enjoy Josiah's thoughtful nature and the warm-hearted way he is integrating many cultures, practices and patterns into his own personal spirituality.

This episode celebrates the poetry that touches our soul and moves us. Llynne Phillips is a poet and poetry fan and today she shares her favourites and helps us discern their meaning.

In this episode, I'm talking with author and speaker, Monique Gray Smith, about how parents can weave ceremony and ritual into every day experiences with their children. Monique shares several traditional First Nations rituals and we explore how we can support our children's growth through exposure to elements of ceremony to inspire their own spiritual connection. Monique is the author of Tilly: A Story of Hope and Resilience, and also the founder of Little Drum Consulting, an Aboriginal-owned and operated firm that provides consulting services to governments and Aboriginal communities and organizations. In this show, I mentioned the wonderful coming-of-age event, G Day for Girls. Check out their website to find out how you can make this great event happen in your city! {Tell them Carmen sent you!}

This week on The Numinous Podcast is Kent Osborne, an Executive Coach and Leadership Development Trainer with a unique approach. Kent incorporates the mythology of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table into his work to evoke greatness in his clients. Kent has 20 years' experience working with corporate clients internationally and since we're friends, I'm lucky enough to have experienced his unique approach to coaching for myself.   In this interesting conversation, we touch on the Arthurian Cycle, The Four Treasures of Tuatha Dé Danann and The Kalevala of Finnish folklore.

I'm thrilled to introduce you to a Friend, elder and spiritual mentor, Shakti Earleen Roumagoux. She grew up Catholic and attended Jesuit university. She spent 20 years following the Hindu tradition and for the past few years she's been a staff member at Thich Nhat Hanh's Buddhist community, Plum Village in France. In this conversation we touch on mindfulness, sensing energy and the challenges of spiritual seeking.