In this episode we discuss the zine I wrote last year describing my experience of leaving a Mystery School in Portland, and my journey to unpack the manipulative and damaging experience I had there. It asks questions about whether the school is a cult and explores the kind of support that was helpful for me when coming forward, and the things that were very unhelpful. We also discuss the new name and revised mission of this podcast. You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Play, or listen right here:
I recently sat down with Erin-Ashley Kerti to talk about what it takes to go pro at being a psychic. She related to me the story of how she came to her gifts reluctantly, having grown up in a very skeptical and scientific family. An undeniable experience led her to start exploring the visions she had been having.
We discussed whether everyone has psychic gifts (spoiler: they do), and her recommendations for budding psychics who want to hone their skills.
The approach Erin-Ashley takes will surprise you, her advice: have fun!
Erin-Ashley gave me the low down on the typical time frame it takes to develop your gifts enough to start charging for them, and why it is good for the world if more people start owning their gifts.
She also gave me her energy forecast for the next 5 years, and emphasized the importance of developing coping strategies so that you can still get clear messages during tumultuous times.
We ended our interview with a brief discussion of ethics.
Alexis P. Morgan is the pole-dancing, sword-wielding, democratic socialist, on-the-low-heaux sorceress you’ve been warned you about. She makes her cheddar as a professional writer, facilitator, artist, ritualist, and priestess. Devoted to Truth, Justice, and Liberation, she lives in the spirit of foremothers before her: unbossed, unbought, and unbothered.
I sat down with writer Alexis P. Morgan recently and got to talk with her about what it means to be a spiritual warrior. Her answer is surprising, and it has more to do with the willingness to be vulnerable than a desire to fight. She mentions how a warrior is someone who is willing to confront what is not working head-on, and the warrior archetype is very different than what we’ve been taught by toxic masculinity.
I ask her a question that has dogged me for ages about whether warriors and healers necessarily have to sit on the opposite side of the spectrum, and she has several examples of Goddesses that are both healers and warriors. Freya, Eir and Sekmet are a few that she describes.
We move on to something that Alexis addresses in her most recent bit of writing, and that is the power of naming. She describes the act of naming as an act of resistance and we discuss how white supremacy and patriarchy operate by making those that are oppressed feel like they cannot name or talk about their oppression.
The conversation then turned to a discussion of the internet, and how the internet both complicates and simplifies the resistance to kyriarchy. Alexis has some salient points about how we tend to treat the internet as if it is not real, and why that is problematic. She also has a great explanation for how the internet is kind of like the Astral plane, and how the complicates our ideas of community and loneliness.
Then the discussion turns to the subject of Law of Attraction and, to cut to the chase, how we both see it as a world killing zombie. Alexis has a lot of great perspective on how the principles of LOA have been removed from their roots and why the circuitry of that system just doesn’t work anymore. She notes, however, that it is based on a system of magic that IS very real. She also makes a great point of connecting our 45th president to the philosophies of LOA. Alexis notes how her relationship with her guides and especially her Ancestors keeps her grounded into right relationship with her powers of manifestation.
In closing, I ask her my favorite question, which is what kind of a world she wanted to see in the future, and her answer is beautiful and centers around the kind of world she wants to see for black and brown children. We also get to talk about my new favorite book in this discussion: Emergent Strategy by Adrian Maree Brown.
Alexis brings us full circle at the end of the discussion by noting how in her ideal world violence would be a sacred and terrible thing that is only used in very extreme circumstances. There may or may not be a reference to punching Nazi’s at the end of the interview, as well as a quote by Sun Tzu from the Art of War.
This month I got to speak to Melanie St. Ours about the topic of desire. In this interview we talk about the brain chemistry of desire, how to recognize destructive desires, and how taboo and community censorship of desire can affect our health.
One of my favorite holidays is approaching. This is a holiday that changed my whole life the first time I celebrated it. Known as Imbolc or Candlemas, and celebrated in early February, this is a holiday that marks the first signs of spring.
Shortly after I turned 30 I joined a mystery school program learning all about the power of magic and the ways of the Priestess. In the second year of that program we learned all about the holidays of the Wheel of the Year. On Imbolc we all took a vow to walk through the year intentionally, accepting that our lives were works of magic.
Imbolc is that holiday associated with the first stirrings of spring. The weather may not have changed much, but the days are getting noticably longer. In many places the sap is rising once again in the trees, and indeed, this can often be the time for ‘sugaring’ in Maple syrup country.
What all of this means for us, is that the earth is asking us wake up from our winter slumber. The signs of spring at Imbolc are subtle, and it asks us to take a leap of faith.
Imbolc asks us if we are ready to walk another round on the Wheel. Are we ready to engage in the world once again, are we willing to accept our power as magical beings? Are we ready to admit once again that we have the power to shape our own lives?
The first year I made this vow my whole life changed. I went from living in a trailer in my friend’s driveway to owning my first home. I went from working as a house cleaner and living in a constant state of being broke, to joining a Master’s Program in Chinese Medicine and starting my career as a healer.
But most of all, I went from being a person who was sacred to admit she was powerful, to being someone who saw the full power of her own manifestations. This was the year I finally took charge of my life.
Do you want to find out more about celebrating the Wheel of the Year and how these holidays can transform your life? This year on Imbolc my year-long immersion program begins. I will be taking a group of students through these holidays using ritual and magic. Check out my free master-class as a great way to get started on this journey.
