Angie just ruminates about grief and suffering this holiday season.

In this episode, I talk to Alison Truitt about introverts & spirituality. Alison and I decided to explore this topic today, talking about being an introvert, a highly sensitive person or an empath and our spiritual journey. I really wanted to have a conversation about this topic, because those of us in the spiritual realms often talk about the power of community and circles, but this is not everyone’s comfort zone. Many of us introverts are solitary practitioners and practice our own religious or spiritual practices that are separate from organized religions. So, I wanted to ask Alison: What is circle like as an introvert? What is your practice like? We also explored the tarot archetype of the Hermit, the introvert’s guide in a spiritual world. Alison writes at her blog the Hermit’s Handicrafts at wordpress  and she sells beautiful jewelry, malas and artwork around the journey of pregnancy, motherhood and beyond at her Etsy shop the Hermit’s handicrafts. Hope you enjoy this episode of Centered.

https://thehermitshandicrafts.wordpress.com/

https://www.etsy.com/shop/HermitHandicrafts

In this episode, Kyra and I talk about ethics as a healer and tarot reader and some challenges we face in our community without a governing board. We talk about holding space, training and certifications, soul retrieval, shadow work and more.

Today’s conversation is with one of my closest friends Jess Southwood. Unlike my other guests who work in the realm of spirituality, Jess is a Business consultant and facilitator, with a particular focus on leadership development, team dynamics and creativity in business. But honestly, I didn’t invite her to talk to me about her work, though it is fascinating and has taken her all over the world. I didn’t invite Jess to talk because she loves yoga and writing and poetry. I invited Jess here because we share something in common—we are both bereaved mothers. We “met” in 2009, after our second daughters were stillborn. I wanted to talk to Jess about sisterhood, spiritual bonding, emotional intimacy, grieving publicly, and you know, dead babies. We say that quite a bit in this episode. We talk about it bluntly, like you find in the community of grieving women on the internet. There is a whole community. Most people who have never lost a child have no idea there is a corner of the internet where women talk about the death of their baby—over and over again. We write stories and exchange emails and have an entire community of bereaved mothers and fathers. Jess is an extraordinary woman. I feel so blessed to have her as one of my best friends. As you can hear from our conversation, she is deeply thoughtful, funny, intelligent, self-aware and interesting. Jess’ s first collection of poetry can be found at littlelosses.com. She has a Masters degree in Shakespeare Studies from the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon. She lives in Birmingham, UK, with her husband, three children, two cats, one dog, and too many books. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Jess Southwood.

My grief blog: http://stilllifewithcircles.blogspot.com

Jess’s first poetry collection: https://littlelosses.com/

Glow in the Woods: http://www.glowinthewoods.com/

We mentioned a few things in this podcast including the Right Where I Am Project.

First year: http://stilllifewithcircles.blogspot.com/p/right-where-i-am-project.html

Last year I did this: http://stilllifewithcircles.blogspot.com/2014/07/right-where-i-am-five-years-and-almost.html

The Mutter Museum http://muttermuseum.org/

Kate Inglis who coined the term Babyloss’s writing: http://www.kateinglis.com/

Kara Chipoletti Jones https://linktr.ee/griefandcreativity

Niobe and Dead Baby Jokes: her blog

Niobe’s GITW posts: http://www.glowinthewoods.com/blog/tag/Niobe

Angie’s GITW posts: http://www.glowinthewoods.com/blog/tag/Angie

Jess’s GITW posts: http://www.glowinthewoods.com/blog/tag/Jess

Eclectic Pagan Witch Kristin Gallagher and I sit down for a conversation about coming out of the broom closet, being TikTok famous and being a public witch. You can find Kristin on Tiktok at @onewitchymamma, Instagram at witchy.mamma and on YouTube at WitchyMamma

Kyra Paules joins Angie again to talk about the "dark cards" and their worth in the Major Arcana. We dig deep into how to work with these cards and their imagery. We cover the Hanged Man (XII) to the Tower (XVI).

Reverend Howard West and I sit down for a conversation about spirituality vs. religiosity and what is happening in churches and spiritual circles. 

Tarot Reader and Social Worker Kyra Paules and I sit down for a conversation about Tarot. How do we reckon with ethics, using the Tarot for personal work, and whether it is too silly to be used during this important time. You can find Kyra at awentarot.com.

Sharon Muzio, my friend and colleague, talks with me about chakras. Why they are important and how to just work with them.