In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with Natalie Fehlner, writer, teacher, theater artist and actual, real-deal spiritual seeker all about Natalie's spontaneous spiritual awakening-- and the good, the bad, and the ugly that followed!

Rachel first stumbled upon Natalie and her story via the most unlikely of sources: a poem read aloud on Instagram! This poem, titled, "Spirituality Is Not An Aesthetic", sums up the inevitable disillusionment that comes along with any spiritual journey: first you have the incredible, paradigm-shifting experience, then you reorganize your personal belief system, and then you get super excited to venture out into the world of Woo to meet other, like-minded spiritual explorers.

The upshot? A lot of spiritual teachers, gurus and "experts" are a big fat disappointment to those coming off a fresh (and genuine) spiritual experience. The let down is inevitable, as you go from healing circle to urban sweat lodge filled with performative, spiritual LARPers wearing their requisite costumes and leveraging their requisite New Age vernacular.

But it's not all bad. That disappointment in outside voices redirects us back to ourselves-- and to direct revelation from and communication with spirit. F*ck all those life coaches and green juice drinkers and pashmina-wearing spiritual narcissists! We've got something better: ourselves and our spirit guides.

And Natalie's unabashedly honest and vulnerable story-- very much in-progress-- gives us all line of sight into our own journeys, as well as the necessary radical self-acceptance required for the REAL journey ahead.

LINKS:
Rachel's Website: https://www.totemreadings.com
TOTEM Readings Substack: https://totemrach.substack.com
Rachel's Other Links: https://linktr.ee/totemrach
Natalie's IG: https://www.instagram.com/nataliefehlner/
Natalie's Substack: https://nataliefehlner.substack.com

Please support the Sponsors of The Skeptical Shaman Podcast:
The TOTEM Tarot Deck: https://www.amazon.com/TOTEM-Tarot-Deck-Rachel-White/dp/0578980126
TOTEM Flower Essences on Etsy:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/TotemReadingsATX

Please note: The views and opinions expressed on The Skeptical Shaman do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, protected class, group, club, organization, business individual, anyone or anything. And remember: sticks and stones may break our bones, but words—or discussions of religious or spiritual topics-- will never hurt us.