

The Numinous Podcast
Carmen Spagnola
The Numinous Podcast is a show about intuition, spirituality and the mystery of life. The host, Carmen Spagnola, is an intersectional witch and clinical hypnotherapist who has smart, soulful conversations with interesting people. The lineup is diverse, the topics are eclectic, and the people are down-to-earth (mostly).
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 1, 2024 • 1h 46min
TNP245 {WNY Retreat Miniseries} Astrology for the Revolution with Hummingbird Star
🎉 This episode is for all the collapse nerds! 🎉
🛑 Content warning 🛑: Frank discussion of near-term scientifically accepted and expected climate crises. For all the folks who feel fragile and might be tipped into a downward spiral, maybe skip this one, yeah?
I've invited collapse astrologer, Hummingbird Star, from @astrologyfortherevolution to join us for Witches New Year to do our year ahead overview. 👏🏻
Given where we're at in the grand scheme of things, I asked Hummingbird to scan the medium-term horizon to help us understand what the Hermit year might be preparing us for on a collective scale. We're not only touching on topics we may want to contemplative in our collective Hermit year, but also the personal question of what role we wish to play in the revolution.
In this episode, we touch on the Neptunian shifts we should be tracking and much, much more.
Check out Hummingbird's website: www.astrologyfortherevolution.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/astrologyfortherevolution
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@collapseastrology
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***
NOTE: In this episode, we talk about the potential failure of the AMOC (Atlantic meridional overturning circulation) and since I was speaking off the cuff, there's a danger that this could be spread as misinformation.
So to be clear: Here's a really nice, succinct and digestible explanation of what the AMOC is, and a nice, succinct, and conservative interpretation of what the shutdown would do, from The Guardian (Oct 23, 2024):
"AMOC, or the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, is a system of ocean currents that brings heat into the northern Atlantic. Warm surface water from the tropics flows north and releases its heat in the subpolar Atlantic, south of Greenland and west of Britain and Ireland. Then it cools and sinks to a depth of between 2,000m to 3,000 metres before returning south as a cold current. Amoc is one of our planet’s largest heat transport systems, moving the equivalent of 50 times the human energy use, and it has a particularly strong impact on the climate in Europe, affects the ocean’s CO2 uptake and oxygen supply, as well as rainfall patterns in the tropics."
"The effects (of a shutdown) include a cooling of the northern hemisphere, particularly northwestern Europe. There would also be a shift of the tropical rainfall belt to the south, which is bad because the rains will move away from the rainforests to regions that are not used to so much rainfall. So this will mean droughts in some regions and floods in others.
AMOC collapse would also have a major impact on the northern Atlantic sea level, which would rise by half a metre or so, in addition to the rise caused by global heating. It would also reduce the CO2 uptake of the ocean because AMOC sinking in the northern Atlantic takes a lot of CO2 down into the deep oceans where it is safely locked away from the atmosphere.
AMOC collapse would also change the nutrient supply and reduce the oxygen of the deep oceans. This would have a massive effect on marine biology and the entire ecosystem of the northern Atlantic."
Generally speaking, what climate scientists in the past had predicated would not happen until after 2050 is happening now, 30 years earlier. It's not that much of a stretch then, to say that what they predicted would happen *before* 2050 will occur a decade earlier. So the possible range of hitting a tipping point to an AMOC shutdown was predicted to be somewhere between 2030 and 2075, or the end of the century as the very outside possibility of it taking that long.
So that puts the tipping point to shutdown right around... now.
Learn more about the AMOC shutdown from collapse expert, Sharon Astyk

Nov 1, 2024 • 36min
TNP244 {WNY Retreat Miniseries} The Hermit: 2025 Tarot Card of the Year with Carmen Spagnola
We're preparing for a soul-searching kind of year with the Hermit card overlighting our path. In the Rider Waite Smith tarot deck, Key 9 (in other words, card number 9) is the Hermit card. In numerology, next year is a 9 year (2+0+2+5). So we look to the lessons of the Hermit card for clues about our developmental task on the spiritual level for the year ahead.
In this episode, I share a brief overview of the Fool's entire journey through the Major Arcana, using Rachel Pollack's Three Cycles of the Majors before I dive deep into the lessons of the Hermit.
Plus we'll notice some patterns when it comes to some intensely disruptive historical events that occured the last time we experienced some of the major outer planet transits that will be happening again in 2025, (which, when taken altogether, are really giving Hermit vibes).
Plus! I offer a 5-card spread to help you interpret the Hermit card and how you can apply its lessons in 2025.
Referenced in this episode:
Red Tarot: A Decolonial Guide to Divinatory Literacy by Chris Marmolejo
Holistic Tarot by Benebell Wen
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Nov 1, 2024 • 1h 7min
TNP243 {WNY Retreat Miniseries} Journey to Eleusis with Carmen Spagnola
{Witches New Year Podcast Retreat} In this very special episode, we're doing a deep dive into the Eleusinian Mysteries and the cults of Demeter and Persephone, including a special trance journey to walk the Sacred Way from Athens to Eleusis, as the ancient initiates did.
Referenced in this episode:
Eleusinian terracotta figurine
Dr.Cyndi Brannen
Jean Shinoda Bolen
Marija Gimbutas
Charlene Spretnak
Dr.Mara Keller
Ritual Path of Initiation into the Eleusinian Mysteries
The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries by R.Gordon Wasson* (I have concerns about super shitty and extractive research methods here - not sure I recommend but am citing for proper attribution of research I accessed for this class and subsequent podcast)
Present-day Eleusis from Google Earth
Present-day Athenian Agora
Trance music: "Adrift 2" by Christopher Lloyd Clarke
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Oct 31, 2024 • 1h 1min
TNP242 {WNY Retreat Miniseries} Trancework Fundamentals with Carmen Spagnola
We're back with another class from The Numinous School archive: Trancework Fundamentals. Here you'll learn:
• what is trance?
• how does it work?
• what is it good for?
• is it safe?
• what qualities should we look for in a guide to signal that we can trust them with this process?
I'm giving you this information now so you're well prepared in advance of the next episode which will feature a richly evocative trance journey to participate as an initiate in the Eleusinian Mysteries, a 9-day rite of devotion to Demeter, Persephone, Hekate and others, one of the most famous rites of the Hellenistic world performed annually in the autumn.
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Check out my Gut-Directed Hypnotherapy program in The Numinous Network
Prism Magic Mushroom Tea from Sero (affiliate link - Canada only)

Oct 30, 2024 • 1h 3min
TNP241 {WNY Retreat Miniseries} Knot Magic, Witch Ladders and Charms with Carmen Spagnola
The ritual craft for this year's Samhain Wheel of the Year is a perennial favourite: Witch Ladders! I never get bored of them. And I rarely get rid of them, but when I do you'll learn in this episode what I do with them when the magic is finished. You'll want to consult your copy of The Spirited Kitchen for help in deciding which Magical Correspondences will fulfill your intention and make this an effective spell for you. Or simply listen to this episode in full and let the spirit move you towards the materia magica that intuitively works for you!
Mentioned in this episode:
Witch ladder inspo 1
Witch ladder inspo 2
Witch ladder inspo 3
Witch ladder inspo 4
Witch ladder inspo 5
Witch ladder inspo 6
Somerset Witch Ladder: Witches' Ladder: The Hidden History
Knot of Isis
Gordian Knot
Trinity Knot/Triquetra
Buddhist Endless Knot
Constrictor Knot
In the Bath House at Midnight: An Historical Survey of Magic and Divination in Russia by W.F. Ryan
The Power of Words in Miracles, Visions, Incantations and Bewitchments by Klaniczay Gabor
Carmina Gadelica
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Check out my Gut-Directed Hypnotherapy program in The Numinous Network
Prism Magic Mushroom Tea from Sero (affiliate link - Canada only)

Oct 29, 2024 • 25min
TNP240 {WNY Retreat Miniseries} A Brief History of Intuition with Carmen Spagnola
In this essay I will show how Thomas Aquinas, due to his early life attachment ruptures and abandonment wound, and under the influence of the violent toxic masculinity of the Inquisition and Aristotle's writings, became a 23 year old incel who went on to drive an 800 year wedge between intuition and the mind for people of European descent.
Enjoy!
Mentioned in this episode:
Terror of History: Mystics, Heretics, and Witches in the Western Tradition with Professor Teofilo F. Ruiz, Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Why Evil Exists with Professor Charles Mathewes, Ph.D., University of Virginia
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Check out my Gut-Directed Hypnotherapy program in The Numinous Network
Prism Magic Mushroom Tea from Sero (affiliate link - Canada only)

Oct 28, 2024 • 1h 26min
TNP239 {WNY Retreat Miniseries} Altars, Shrines + Ancestors with Carmen Spagnola
Happy 49th birthday to me! Here's my gift to you: This is the first episode of a personal retreat podcast miniseries! Half of the episodes help you prepare for the season of the witch, the other half offer a guided day of ritual, trancework, self-care, and divination for 2025. It's a party at your own pace! A party for introverts! We're all doing similar things but inside our own homes on our own time. Huzzah! 🎉 🥳 🎂
I'll be honest, I've got a lot going on right now so this is probably the most off-the-cuff episode I've ever produced. But if you can put up with all my side quest, stories and tangents, there's a lot of good instruction here, especially for folks who are new to working with altars or ancestors.
Here's a shrine I made for Isobell, my grandmother
Mentioned in this episode:
Crafting Personal Shrines: Using Photos, Mementos & Treasures to Create Artful Displays, by Carol Owen
YouTube: AirDry Clay Shrines by CraftyChica Kathy Cano-Murillo
TNP99: Monsters and Magical Beings with John Michael Greer
AstroMagic Miniseries
Try the Gut-Directed Hypnotherapy program in The Numinous Network
Prism Magic Mushroom Tea from Sero (affiliate link - Canada only)
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Oct 26, 2024 • 1h 26min
TNP238 Embracing the Mothershift with Jessie Harrold
Did you know that matrescence – the process of becoming a mother – takes approximately 2-3 years? It's far from the 3, 6, or 12 month process we've been made to believe. In fact, 20 years after giving birth to my child, I'm still grappling with how it changed me, how I want to mother, and what this identity means to me.
My guest for this episode is Jessie Harrold, coach, doula, educator and author of Mothershift: Reclaiming Motherhood as a Rite of Passage. We're talking about:
• Who goes through "matrescence"? Who is a mother?? What is mothering???
• Should postpartum depression (or postpartum anxiety) an expected part of matrescence?
• How do we manage the grief, rage or ambivalence that often comes with motherhood?
• How are mothers specially equipped to disrupt social norms like capitalism?
Please do pre-order Mothershift before November 11 – get your own Mothershift journal as a bonus gift!
On November 20th from 6-7p.m. Atlantic Time, Jessie will be hosting a virtual launch party with Q&A, giveaways, and practices. Sign up for her newsletter to learn more.
Follow Jessie on Instagram
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Oct 20, 2024 • 1h 42min
TNP237 Building Better Boundaries with Parents with Jordan Pickell
Jordan Pickell is a Vancouver, BC-based a trauma counsellor. Issues centred in her work include boundary setting, making friends and building community, and the impacts of trauma, violence and oppression. She's our hype woman today for building better boundaries with our parents.
I happened to see on Instagram that Jordan is once again offering her 2hr online workshop, Build Better Boundaries, on Friday, November 15, 2024. It's recorded in case you can't make it live, and it’s less than $40 Canadian!
In that workshop, you’ll map your current relationship dynamics, you’ll uncover your personal boundaries blueprint, and craft a personalized boundaries action plan. In other words, you’re going to get yourself out of the freeze response, and lay the critical groundwork for success so that when you actually do the thing, you are mobilized and confident and ready to handle whatever happens next.
Enjoy this conversation as a warm-up: You'll hear me share about my own journey of setting boundaries, more than a decade of estrangement from my mom, and repair with impacted family members. Jordan shares about her family's style of "enmeshment", the experience of being a first daughter, and cultural factors as a person of mixed race.
It's an honest and tender conversation, and I'm happy to hear how it lands for you: Click here to leave me a voice note or written message!
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Sep 14, 2024 • 24min
TNP236 Intro to Tarot: The History of Tarot Deck Design with Carmen Spagnola
Welcome back to the second of this teensy tiny Tarot miniseries. Remember, we're continuing our Tarot journey in The Numinous Network throughout the fall and into the new year. Join us for this deep dive! All classes are recorded and archived with no time limit for viewing.
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