The Numinous Podcast

This is a conversation about capitalism, and therefore about whiteness and supremacy culture. There is a bit of a record scratch moment when I say something that sounds pretty obliviously white, then correct myself. I like to leave the mistakes in because it's good reconditioning from perfectionism/whiteness. Enjoy! Sophie Macklin is an anarchist mystic who lived in California for fifteen years but recently returned home to England. She practises brythonic polytheism, antifascism, and devotion to an animate world, and specializes in topics related to radical history, anti-capitalism, antifascism, reclaiming the commons, anti-ableism, and exploring different ways of knowing. She’s an educator whose work has deeply impacted my own. I've invited Sophie back to the show to talk about capitalism and its accompanying attitudes around productivity, disability, and land use. In this episode, we’re talking about a period of history in England when we saw the end of access to common lands to the system of private property and land ownership which we now think of as normal. If you want to jam on Caliban and the Witch and the work of Silvia Federici, this one's for you! References Sophie is a presenter at my annual Witches New Year event – hope you'll join us! Silvia Federici Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body, and Primitive Accumulation, by Silvia Federici Horse Power and Magic, George Ewart Evans Follow Sophie on Instagram @sophiemacklin Join us at Witches New Year 2023 Review the podcast!

Emily Rose is a content creator from Montreal who hosts a pop culture and reality TV recap podcast called It's Become a Whole Thing. She's also an herbalist and an astrologer. After the death of her mother in the start of the pandemic, Emily needed an outlet to disconnect from the heaviness of life and she found it in pop culture and a whole new world on TikTok where creativity and smarts meet niche communities and a swell of support on social media. Emily can usually be found glued to her couch, on a quest for a new brunch spot, or on a troll stroll (the antithesis to the hot girl walk: no minimum distances, just taking your bad attitude and bad outfit to get some air and Vitamin D). References The Stuff I Hate Journal: Trends I Hate. Foods I Loathe. People Who Annoy Me. And Everything Else That's the Absolute Worst, by Emily Rose It's Become A Whole Thing Podcast Emily's TikTok: @itsbecomeawholething Meredith Lynch, writer and pop culture deep dives Molly McPherson, public relations and crisis communications  The Zen Blonde, pop culture deep dives Friday Things, Stacy Lee Kong Colleen Emery, Emery Herbals Letterkenny, Canada's second best ever situational comedy IMHO Bridget Casey, financial coach KikiMay, feminist analysis, smashing the patriarchy one ding dong at a time Review this podcast now!  

My guest today is Jen Lumanlan host of the popular podcast, Your Parenting Mojo, and author of the book Parenting Beyond Power: How to Use Connection and Collaboration to Transform Your Family - and the World.    After attending Berkeley and Yale and following a traditional career path in sustainability consulting, Jen found that parenting was her toughest challenge yet. She went back to school for a master’s degree in psychology focused on child development and another in education, and trained as a Co-Active coach to share what she learned with other parents.   In the book, she shares about her own struggles as a child and a content warning here for bereavement and discussion of disordered eating. For my listeners who are people of the global majority, the book is written from the perspective of a white parent grappling with unlearning the use of dominance and other more subtle aspects of white supremacy culture. In this conversation, it does take a minute to get around to stating explicitly that white parents do not have the same parents as parents who are Black, or Indigenous or Asian or other oppressed identities. I want to assure you we do get around to that and also that it is front and centre throughout the book, and it’s handled with nuance. It’s an excellent book for folks who are actively seeking or maybe just starting to be curious about how to dismantle systems of oppression and unhook from supremacy culture and the use of dominance and coercion at the family and relational level.   Here's how you can get Jen's book through a gift economy approach: https://yourparentingmojo.com/book/ References Decolonizing Non-Violent Communication, Meenadchi Needy: How to Advocate for your Needs and Claim your Sovereignty, Mara Glatzel My Collapse 101 course is included with membership in The Numinous Network Stacy Lee Kong of Friday Things explains the coercive control at work in the Jonah Hill/Sarah Brady text exchange My social media post/explainer on coercive control Why Giving Choices Doesn't Work And What To Do Instead, Your Parenting Mojo Podcast Dismantling White Supremacy Culture in our Families, Amanda Gross White Supremacy Culture, Tema Okun Zawn Villines on Facebook and their substack, Liberating Motherhood: For mothers who are pissed off about sexism, household chore inequality, and endless misogynistic bullshit, and for the allies who want a better world for all of us How to Get Away with Parenting with Malaika Dowler Pervasive Drive for Autonomy, Tomlin Wilding No Self, No Problem: How Neuropsychology Is Catching Up to Buddhism, Chris Niebauer   Like this episode? Review the podcast!

Shauna Janz is a facilitator at the crossroads of grief, trauma, ritual and ancestral healing. She is a queer cis-woman of northern European ancestry who has been facilitating trauma-informed workshops since 2008 to a wide range of audiences including within education, non-profit, hospice, business, government, and Indigenous settings, locally and internationally. The intersection of being childfree and ancestral veneration is fascinating to me because when we talk about lineage there’s an implication of continuance. I personally did have a biological child, but I doubt my child will have a child. So it’s interesting to cast my net a little wider when I ponder the question, Who am I becoming an ancestor for? And when I think about my spiritual practice of ancestral veneration, it’s interesting to think about whether I’m giving enough attention to ancestors I’m not directly descended from - the aunties, the uncles, the chosen family that my wayback people were connected to, the ones who supported my direct ancestors so I could be here now. Shauna is exactly who you want as a conversation partner to ponder these questions!   Notes ShaunaJanz.com @sacredgriefshaunajanz • Belonging to the World - Relationship and Ritual for the Heart of Grief starts Oct 4, 2023 • Elder Wisdom - Connecting with our Ancestral Ecosystems to Embody Love and Liberation starts Oct 9, 2023 with Tamira Cousett   • Trauma-Informed Grief Support - A Professional Development Workshop on Nov 9-10, 2023   Learning Through Loss, based in Victoria, BC ***   Review The Spirited Kitchen on Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Goodreads or Indigo Sign up for my newsletter

This is a question for all the woman-identified listeners: What really ignites your rage and how much more than 100% is it patriarchy? I’m delighted to welcome back to the show, my dear friend Taraneh Erfan to dish on what it’s like to:  A) recognize the amount of anger is simmering under the surface of our lives living under white capitalist heteropatriarchy  B) reconcile with that anger given we don’t want to be miserable all the time C) mobilize and reclaim agency in "a world that doesn’t want us" (to quote Sophie Strand) Taraneh Erfan is a registered clinical counsellor and a writer with a degree in expressive arts therapy. She was previously on the show when her book came out, Conscious Grieving: The Path of Awakening Through Loss. you may have seen her poetry or pick-me ups on Instagram through her account @mindonspirit and she is one of the presenters at this year’s Witches New Year, an online retreat happening on Saturday, October 28, 2023. Sign up for my newsletter here. Learn more about the Woman Life Freedom revolution in Iran here, here, here, and here.  

This episode is for all the folks who are, for whatever reason, familiar with chronic illness, rare disease and/or autoimmune disorder. The Network was inspired by my work with clients living with chronic illness and rare diseases such as Sjogren’s disease, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, POTS, PCOS, and MCAS, specifically. RCCX Theory is a theory proposed by Dr. Sharon Meglathery that may explain overlapping syndromes associated with chronic illness. This mutation creates a stress vulnerability. In other words, a brain wired for danger and a body primed for stress. Co-inherited gene mutations of the RCCX module lead to overlapping “rare” genetic diseases and syndromes in families and individuals. This have catastrophic consequences in settings of severe acute, chronic, or prolonged stress, resulting in medical and/or psychiatric illness. Listeners who may find this episode particularly validating may have experience or be familiar with: • Post-Covid / Long Covid syndrome • Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) • Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) • Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) • Sjogren's Syndrome • Lyme • Vasovagal Syncope • Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) • Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome (IBS) including Crohn's and colitis • Fibromyaligia • Rheumatoid Arthritis • Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) • Multiple Chemical/Mold/Electrical Sensitivities • Chronic Pain • other dysfunction involving the nervous system including gut biome Deep gratitude to Dr.Meglathery for her research on the RCCX module. We hope her work is carried forward by fellow scientists and advocates.   Notes https://www.rccxandillness.com Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/rccxandchronicillness https://medium.com/@elizabethnickson/reading-this-might-save-your-life-rccx-theory-the-vagus-nerve-and-the-end-to-43c9431a8df7 https://www.gro-gifted.org/rccx-theory-and-giftedness-a-promising-new-line-of-research/ https://www.healthrising.org/blog/2018/08/09/rccx-chronic-fatigue-fibromyalgia-eds-pots/ https://me-pedia.org/wiki/RCCX_Genetic_Module_Theory TNP151 Oliver Choquette on the Intersection of Gender Diversity and Neurodivergence Sign up for my newsletter    

What are the steps to spiritual communication with plants? Do we need to know a lot about horticulture? How do I know if I'm just making it all up?   In this session, I'm sharing a lightly edited recording of a recent Enrichment session I led within The Numinous Network on connecting with and communicating with plants. I'm offering this sneak peek because it's free Week in the Network from Sept 17-23 - listen in to find out more!   Notes   Plant Spirit Healing: A Guide to Working with Plant Consciousness, Pam Montgomery   Communicating with Plants: Heart-Based Practices for Connecting with Plant Spirits, Jen Frey   Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer   The Unlikely Peace at Cuchumaquic: The Parallel Lives of People as Plants: Keeping the Seeds Alive, Martin Prechtel   Edible and Medicinal Flora of the West Coast: The Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, Collin Varner   Luschiim’s Plants: Traditional Indigenous Foods, Materials and Medicines, Dr Luschiim Arvid Charlie,  Nancy Turner   Plants Have So Much to Give Us, All We Have to Do Is Ask: Anishinaabe Botanical Teachings, Mary Siisip Geniusz   TNP202 Maeg Keane on Connecting with Jupiter Review The Spirited Kitchen: Recipes and Rituals for the Wheel of the Year   Homework for this Lesson Reciprocity Ask your plant friend what they’d like. Maybe they want to be tended a certain way, maybe they want you to draw them. Stay with the question – at first they might say something like, I want you to take care of yourself, I want you to relax. That’s all good to know, but stay with this question of what you can do for them or offer to them until you get an answer that is truly something they want just for them. When you have the gift, present it to them. Spend time in this space, speaking aloud your gratitude. What do you notice in the days after?   Plant Limpia Plant bathing: It can be as simple as placing the plant in water, then sprinkling water on you. After you've cleansed yourself, keep a portion of the water and add to it an equal portion of vodka. Place in a spray bottle to cleanse yourself whenever you need to release energetic build-up (spiritual hygiene) or when you are preparing yourself for ritual (purification). Could also infuse a plant in water that is at least 100F, strain, then keep in the fridge until you want to use it. Add it to your bathwater at particularly meaningful times or whenever you’re in need. (Make sure it’s not made from a plant that can cause contact dermatitis).   Plant Dieting This is a way to really meld with the energies of a plant over an extended period of time. It will take several days or perhaps even weeks just to prepare all of the items you can with a single plant. Then, once all of the your preparations are ready, you would have a retreat day with that plant, ingesting it in all the ways. You will need to source a good beginner's herbalism book to learn how to make tinctures and oxymels, etc. Some recommendations would be: Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide: 33 Healing Herbs to Know, Grow, and Use Ava Green and Kate Bensinger's The Comprehensive Guide to Herbalism for Beginners: (2 Books in 1) Grow Medicinal Herbs to Fill Your Herbalist Apothecary with Natural Herbal Remedies and Plant Medicine   To undertake the ritual of plant dieting, first as your plant ally for a good date to enter into this day-long ritual. When the time comes, begin by eating some of the plant, then make a tea from leaves and drink. Then enjoy some tea made from the roots. After that, perhaps later that day, ingest a tincture. After that you might put balm or oil on your body, followed by some essence on your tongue, perhaps some medicine made of honey infused with the plant, then have an oxymel drink or other fermented version of the plant. Finally, do a trance journey to connect with the plant spirit in the Otherworld. Complete your ritual by thanking your plant ally and following any instructions they gave you.   Make a Plant Essence Flower essences carry the energetic imprint of a plant and are meant to be ingested. They address emotional symptoms, not physical.  Below are some basic steps to making a Mother Essence, Stock Essence, and Dosage Essence - some simple basic herbalism so you can work with a particular plant all month and notice how that not only deepens your understanding but also expands your intuitive awareness of this plant and others.  Begin by asking your plant ally when is the best time to make an essence with them. Mother Essence: Sterilize a two ounce bottle in boiling water. Fill a small clean glass bowl with about a cup of non-chlorinated water and place it on the ground beside the plant. Collect a few pieces of the plant and place them in the bowl. In order to preserve their pure essence, do not allow the plant parts to touch the ground. Ask the plant for guidance - is there any additional information they'd like to provide about how to make this essence with them? When the plant informs you the essence is ready, fill your two ounce bottle 40%-50% full with good quality brandy* (consisting of 40% alcohol by volume - ABV). Top it up with the essence water, using a fine mesh strainer to ensure no plant material enters the Mother Essence bottle. Your remaining essence water can be poured back into the ground at the foot of your plant, (and you can also take a sip of it, if you feel it's safe and the plant is edible). Label your bottle as Mother Essence and the name of the plant. Stock Essence: Fill a half-ounce bottle with 60% plain non-chlorinated water and 40% brandy, then add 3 drops of the Mother Essence. Label this bottle as Stock Essence plus the name of the plant. you can use the Stock Essence as a daily point of connection with this plant, trying a single drop on the tongue the morning of one day, noon on another, and night on the next. Journal anything you notice over the weeks, particularly your dreams and coincidences relevant to this plant and its teachings. This stock level of dilution will last at least a year, (some say up to 10 years if stored in a cool, dark place and in a dark glass bottle). Dosage Essence: Fill a clean, sterilized half-ounce bottle with 70% non-chlorinated water and 30% good quality brandy. To this, add 3 drops of the Stock Essence. Standard dosage is three drops on the tongue three times a day for a month. Notice any changes, synchronicities, messages and dreams. The dosage level of dilution will last for about 2 months. After that, gift the liquid back to the plants and soil. *If you would prefer not to use alcohol in your essences, you can use vinegar.  

This episode is one of a series of recordings of live classes that I’m publishing on the podcast so you can have a preview of how I teach ahead of Free Week, which is happening in The Numinous Network from September 17-23, 2023. Get on my newsletter to receive the link when it's sent on September 17. What is Contact Nutrition and why is it so critical to develop secure attachment in a relationship? Are there socio-cultural components to secure attachment that might be missing from the popular literature? Are you wishing you could have the Cole's Notes on attachment theory and just skip right to the practical doing part? Let's get into it!   Referenced in this episode: Diane Poole Heller Stan Tatkin Amir Levine Resmaa Menakem   Check out the class schedule for our live events, plus a listing of on-demand video courses available with your Numinous Network membership.

Let’s talk about fascism today, friends. Why is it important? Because in collapse, authoritarianism always increases. Of course we don't like strong man dictators, military coups, or religious fundamentalism – we hate all the different forms authoritarianism takes. But the especially chilling thing about fascism is that doesn't just happen in the political sphere; it happens at the dinner table. Average people live under authoritarianism, often for generations, without it altering their daily reality much at all. The power struggles of dictators and regime changes might hardly make a difference. But fascism uses the populace and populist movements as part of its social control.  Fascism goes deeper and far beyond fear and military might to secure its stranglehold.  This episode is an excerpt from my online course, Collapse 101, which is accessed as part of my monthly membership subscription program, The Numinous Network. We have a Collapse 101 class lecture, followed by an AMA a week later, almost every month. In this session, I'm sharing about the hallmarks of fascism so we can be alert to some of the sneaky ways it wends itself into our lives.   Referenced in this episode: TNP161 Collapse in a Nutshell TNP193 How Much Is Enough In Collapse? with Carmen & Ruben The Rewilding Podcast with Peter Michael Bower, ep. 30: Collapse Care with Carmen Spagnola End Times/New Times: Numinous Podcast Episode Round-Up for Collapse Recommended Reading: Ecofascism: Lessons from the German Experience, by Janet Biehl and Peter Staudenmaier, published under the title, "Fascist Ecology: The "Green Wing" of the Nazi Party and its Historical Antecedents" (1996) On the Rise of the Right-Wing Mass Movements, (2014) The Undying Appeal of White Nationalism: Neofascism is the cultural, Artistic, and Ecological Movements (2014) The Return of Fascism in Contemporary Capitalism (2014) Economic Collapse and the Rise of Fascism, 1920-1933, A People's History of Modern Europe (2016) The Pagan and Occult Fascist Connection and How To Fix It, by Amy Hale (2019)   Note the difference in tone regarding America in just one year in the following three articles: Fascism Is Spreading — And It’s a Sign of Civilizational Collapse, Umair Haque (2022) How Many Collapsing Societies Does It Take to Teach the Same Lesson?, Umair Haque (2023) America’s Battle To Save Its Democracy From Trumpism, Umair Haque (2023)  Alternatively... If you want to end on a more upbeat note, here's a classic: Why Socialism? by Albert Einstein or Punching Nazis: Spiritual or No? by me, Carmen Spagnola

In this episode we grapple with the questions, Can you ever really be in a consensual relationship with a being who depends on you for food? How do white supremacy culture and patriarchy show up in horsemanship? What does non-coercive horsemanship look and feel like? If you’ve read my book, The Spirited Kitchen, or you’ve been around my work for a while, you know that I come from a long line of horse people - a lineage that wends its way from southern Alberta and rodeo culture to the Scottish Highlands in the late 1800s where my wayback people bred, trained, and worked Highland ponies to labour in the coal mines and to build railroads. It’s been a long and complicated relationship between my family and horses. I am the first generation in as far back as we can remember to not have horses in my life on an everyday basis. It’s a profound source of grief for me. What has also been a source of grief is that for many of the problems I've supported my child through, (if you don’t know, I have a 19 year old with autism, ADHD, and mental and physical health challenges), the thing that seems to work best is time outside the city with horses.  And this is where my next guest comes in… Alexa Linton is an osteopathic practitioner with 15 years of manual therapy and energy work under her belt. She also works with animals using kinesiology, cranial sacral therapy, and intuitive communication. She also helps humans navigate pet death. As a horse steward, trainer and healer, Alexa has seen and experienced a lot of changes in the industry over the years but there is much further to go in uncoupling from systems of dominance. Her course, The Whole Horse Apprenticeship, and her show, The Whole Horse Podcast, are places of refuge for horsey people who no longer feel comfortable with coercive horsemanship. Check out Alexa's book: Death Sucks: A Straight-Up Guide to Navigating Your Pet's Final Transition Follow her on Instagram Equine Cranial Therapy Certification   Referenced in this episode: The Whole Horse Apprenticeship with Alexa and 25 guest instructors, including myself! (6 month program for horse lovers starting September 15th)  The Whole Horse Podcast  Taming Wild documentary created by Elsa Sinclair  Freedom-based Training with Elsa Sinclair  Emotional Horsemanship with Lockie Phillips  Relationship Horsemanship with Josh Nichol  Nahshon Cook Horsemanship  Balance through Movement Method (Pillar one mini course)  Horsemanship on Vancouver Island - Shannon Beahen (Humminghorse)