Queerly Beloved

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Nicholas holds a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School, an LMSW from New York University, and is a Doctoral Candidate in Religion, Gender, and Culture at Harvard University. They currently work as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist. He’s a radical faerie and a dear friend.  :)
We start this interview discussing our perspectives of who the radical faeries are, what they do, what their history is, and what they represent. Nicholas shares how his encounter with the faeries completely shifted the trajectory of his spiritual and intellectual life.
We then talk about Queerness as spirituality and as a way of life, and explore the possibility of imbuing everything in life with queer spirituality. About halfway in we tap into some high level concepts concluding that Spirituality is Queerness is God is Love..! Nicholas then Shares about his work studying queer spirituality at Harvard where he explored the the inquiry "what are queer spiritual traditions?" We also discuss his thesis which was focused on the spiritual impact the AIDS crisis had on queer people and on the world. There’s a provocative moment towards the end of our interview where Trouble declares the way homophobes “gets it right.”  
We then chat about Psychoanalysis and explore it as a spiritual act. These topics and many more in this interview I’ve titles

Come retreat with us at Hearts Alive, August 11-14th in Idyllwild, Ca!  
Check it out  here- https://www.wil-fullyliving.com/events

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In this interview I talk with Craig Cullinane who just finished serving as the Director of the Body Electric School for the last four years and has served on the Body Electric faculty for more than ten years. Body Electric is a school offering experiences grounded in the erotic and its integration with the sacred, to foster transformative personal, relational, and communal healing. As a coach, he supports his clients in centering their most treasured desires with simple habits that translate into real results.

In this interview we discuss the mission and history of Body Electric; I share about my experience with tantric work as a powerful healing modality; we talk about the "queer ecstatic path" and the inherent queerness of  connecting with God by experiencing pleasure in our bodies. We also compare notes on our gratitude practices and Craig shares about the simple practice that has changed his life. Next we dig deep into the concept of "the only way out is through," and how important it is to stay with negative emotions even when they feel terrible- that only by moving through it can we learn from them and alchemize them. Craig highlights that with a story about experiencing shame, breathing into it and allowing it to run it’s course. All these topics and many more!

https://www.craigcullinane.com/

https://bodyelectric.org/

https://www.wil-fullyliving.com/

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Mountaine Jonas' greatest passion is consciousness raising through theater. Among many other theater credits, he is a founder, producer and performer of Off the Stonewall Street Theatre Players, who were known for doing satirical audience-participation shows about LGBTQ rights. He is the seed planter, conductor and mentor of NYC Queer Playback. And he currently make videos as Merlin the wise wiseass wisecrack wizard - there’s currently 46 total on YouTube (see the link below!).  
In this interview Mountaine shares many wonderfully entertaining and insightful stories including how he got is radical faerie name. We discuss the power and pleasure of playfulness. Mountaine shares stories of healing in hospitals as his Merlin avatar and what it’s like to work with the Wizard archetype. We discuss the thin line between acting versus channeling. We also get to hear about the magic of playback theater and hear stories of healing through that magic. We finish by discussing death and how he is learning to make friends with death and receive all the lessons that are coming in that process. 

Merlin Speaks Youtube -- https://www.youtube.com/@MerlinSpeaks

NYC Queer Playback --https://www.alighttheater.org/queerplayback

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Christian de la Huerta is a personal transformation coach, spiritual teacher, TEDx speaker, and he’s the award-winning author of Awakening the Soul of Power, a highly awarded book that was described by Gloria Estefan as “a balm for the soul of anyone searching for truth and answers to life’s difficult questions” He has traveled the world offering inspiring and transformational retreats combining psychological and spiritual teachings with lasting life-changing effects.
 We start this interview exploring the recent attacks on drag queens from a spiritual and cultural movement perspective. We then dive into a bunch of juicy topics from his book like what is Soulful Power or spiritual power. And we explore what does that mean in contrast to ego if power? Next, we discuss what do we even mean when we talk about the ego?
 We reflect on the importance of going within and figuring out who we are recognizing the courage it requires and the rewards possible on the other side of facing our inner demons.  We then look at discernment and play with the question, "how do we discern thoughts coming from shadow or ego vs wisdom coming from our higher self or heart?" Christian also shares his thoughts on breathwork and how he has yet to find anything as effective and efficient at healing past trauma. I share about my recent plant medicine ceremony Costa Rica in relation to our conversation about healing trauma.  Next, Christian shares a story about finding and addressing a blind spot by getting curious about how external drama was showing up for him and why. 

Learn more about Christian's work at:  https://soulfulpower.com/
 
 Connect with Wil at: https://www.wil-fullyliving.com/

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Bonnie Violet is a trans femme genderqueer spiritual drag artist, identity doula and digital chaplain. She's also the host of the podcasts Drag & Spirituality and TranSpirit & Faith Leaders and the creator of the Drag & Spirituality Summit. Bonnie Violet shares her experience of strength and hope with HIV, recovering from drugs, alcohol, and sexual assault among other things in classrooms, community centers, churches, online and pretty much anywhere they’ll let her.  As, a queer chaplain, she is present with people in death and dying to self by helping to lace one’s narrative with a spiritual thread. 

 In this episode we discuss what ethereal drag means to her and what her journey was like to become Bonnie. We explore how a self-discovery journey is often a gradual step by step process but that it doesn’t occur like that in that moment. Bonnie shares how her living in her trans identity is a spiritual awakening and we talk about the concept of quote “God or whatever.” Bonnie also shares how when she was abusing Drugs and alcohol, it was actually a falling into grace and not a falling from grace. Towards the end of the episode, we talk about the spirituality of drag and the parallels of traditional religious performances with drag performances. We go on to explore how drag can be shamanic in its nature, inviting people into liminal space and inviting them to expand out of the gender binary. 

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Richard is the co-founder of Gray Jones Media, under which he has grown Bear World Magazine- which just celebrated its 10-year anniversary- into the leading lifestyle bear title in the world. He has grown the business into one that authentically celebrates diversity throughout the LGBTQ community. He is recognized as a leader and expert in LGBTQ media.

In this episode we talk about the bear community and its significance culturally and spiritually. We explore the evolution of bears as a community and as an identity. As Richard shares his story we also focus in on the times in life where one follows "spirit's bread crumbs" - or the times we get hints and clues from spirit about where life wants to take us and when we follow them we discover something totally unexpected and delightful! 

Richard also shares about his relationship to spiritualism- a system of beliefs based on communication with the spirits of the dead. He shares how spiritualism has kept him connected to his mom and dad who have both passed.

Check out Richard's work here- https://grayjonesmedia.com/magazines/

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This is a special Valentine's Day episode recorded live on Facebook where I interview my dear radical faerie friend, Bizzy Barefoot! 
 
 Bizzy is an interdisciplinary multimedia artist encompassing theater performance, design, music, puppetry, film/video and animation. Her creative interested lie at the nexus for art making, queer community building, and social justice activism.
 
 We have a ton of fun swapping childhood stories about being queer kids celebrating a holiday about love. Bizzy also shares a poignant modern Valentine’s Day story about a Grndr trick that went sidesways and how he handled it with love. We share our thoughts on God, our thoughts on love, and our thoughts on Queer love.
 
 Throughout the interview we weave in stories about self-expression, and drag and how they relate to self-love. Finally, we play a hilarious game of "Fuck, Marry, Kill!" Happy Valentine's Day, beloveds!!!

To learn more about the struggles of the LGBTQ community in Tennessee and to take action, please click here- https://www.tnep.org 

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Rev. Erika Allison is an author, speaker, coach and ordained interfaith minister. Her award-winning book Gay the Pray Away helps people heal their hearts from what she calls "identity harm." Erika leads people to thrive as more whole and authentic versions of themselves, using spiritual practice as the doorway.   

In this interview Erika shares her story of being a conversion therapy survivor. We hear about the identity harm it caused her and learn about her path to healing and self-love- the inspiration for her book! We also get into some juicy discussion about our shared ideas of how soul evolution works. Erika shares practical tips and tools for "building your inner compass" or cultivating more self-trust and connection to our intuitions. We also explore what it means to take back our spiritual authority and we look at the possibility that queer people are the leaders that humanity needs right now in this phase of our evolution. Hear more about her thoughts on that and in her inspiring love letter "Dear Queer People" : https://vimeo.com/liftedimagery/review/785093638/e03858f400 

To watch the full interview go here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjiYGuvOp6w&t=2s

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Dr. Alex Belser has been a leader in the psychedelic research community for the last twenty years and is an editor of the new book, Queering Psychedelics: From Oppression to Liberation in Psychedelic Medicine.  In this episode we dicuss many of the topics covered in the book that explore the cross section of queer spirituality andpsychedlics. 

Dr. Belser was an investigator on clinical trials of psilocybin and MDMA to treat depression, anxiety and other issues. He serves as a psychologist and Co-Investigator at Yale and as the Chief Clinical Officer of Cybin where he leads their clinical programs in psychedelic therapeutics. He is also part of Chacruna Institute’s Women, Gender Diversity, and Sexual Minorities Working Group.

Some of the topics covered include: the ways pychadelic experiences are inherently queer, how folks can work with psychedelics for connecting with their truth and self acceptence, and the queerness of reclaiming our pleasure. Alex also shares some wild stories from the field as an investigator in psychedelic therapy clinical trials and Wil shares personal stories about his expeirences being the only queer person in psychadelic circles. 

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Have you heard of the Akashic Records? They have been described as a compendium of all universal events, thoughts, words, emotions and intent ever to have occurred in the past, present, or future. Pretty major, right?! In this episode, Akashic Records consultant Justin Taylor tells us more and even opens my records so folks can here how they are worked with in a practical way. 

Justin is a playwright, songwriter, meditation teacher and Akashic Consultant. After many years of training (including 18 months of personal retreat) in Tibetan Buddhist practice, non-dual meditation, and later Akashic Records work, he now leads retreats and workshops in meditation and Akashic practices online and throughout the northeast. 

In the episode we talk about how he moved from suffering and extreme anxiety, into peace through the Buddhist, non dual meditation path. We cover topics ranging from the reality of the soul to the similarities of the queer path and the spiritual path. Justin gives a clear explanation of Akashic Records and goes on to open my records and do a live reading where I get to ask questions of the records and hear advice from my guides. We end with Justin sharing powerful insights that the records are offering the collective for the year 2023!

Learn more and connect with Justin at https://www.justinandersontaylor.com/

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