By Rachel White
Rachel White is modern-day shaman and the owner of TOTEM Readings, a decades-old spiritual practice. In the Skeptical Shaman, we engage fascinating folks-- from psychics to healers to skeptics and
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The podcast currently has 54 episodes available.
In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with Voodoo practitioner, author and business owner Sallie Ann Glassman all about the realm of spirits, otherwise known in Voodoo as "loa".
Sallie has been practicing Vodoo in New Orleans since 1976 and is the owner of the Island of Salvation Botanica, a store and gallery specializing in Vodoun religious supplies, medicinal and magical herbs, and Haitian and local artworks. She received her spiritual training in Haiti in November, and is ordained as a Manbo Asogwe, or Priestess of Vodou-- and is one of the few white Americans to have been ordained via a traditional Haitian initiation.
Sallie is also the creator of one of Rachel's favorite all-time tarot decks: The Voodoo Tarot of New Orleans, which features the various Voodoo loa, their invocations, and their special gifts and blessings for human practitioners.
In this episode, Sallie and Rachel discuss just how powerful working with the world of spirit can be-- including Sallie's experience using ceremonial magic to quite literally stop crime in her New Orleans neighborhood! In fact, the crime-busting ceremony was so effective (resulting in arrests, etc.) that the New York Times and Smithsonian Magazine (among others) featured the story in their publications!
Sallie and Rachel also address the ontological fallacy of "toxic positivity" within the World of Woo, urging the spiritually homeless to keep an open mind and abandon their limiting, Puritanical beliefs to receive profound-- and tangible-- insights. Voodoo and the city of New Orleans serve as powerful reminders of the need to be rooted in the material world, integrating our spiritual gifts into the here and now for the benefit of all!
Links:
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.
In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) reconnects with "friend of the show" Abigail Kochunas, owner of of Sacred Healing Art AND an incredibly talented energy worker and animal communicator.
Abigail outlines her journey discovering her natural talents with animal communication and energy work, and how she's adding these services to her otherwise human-centered spiritual healing practice--not to mention to her charity work at a variety of animal sanctuaries and equine therapy facilities.
Rachel shares her recent experience with Abigail's remote animal communication and reiki work with her four backyard TOTEM Flower Essence garden chickens: Circe Lannister, Melisandre (The Red Witch), Arya Stark and Sansa Stark. Needless to say, Abigail-- the real life, psychic Dr. Doolittle-- totally tapped into issues and behaviors impossible for her to observe in real life from her home in California!
Spoiler alert: Circe really is the HBIC. I know. You're shocked;)
What's more: two of Rachel's chickens had major health turnarounds after their remote energy session with Abigail, laying their first eggs the next day and exuding health and happiness everyday since!
Animal communication is anything but silly. When done properly-- by practitioners like Abigail-- it can be a game-changing, value add Woo service that brings your whole family (pets included) closer together!
The TOTEM Tarot Deck (deck used in episode): https://www.amazon.com/dp/0578980126?ref=myi_title_dp
TOTEM Readings Website (Rachel's practice): https://www.totemreadings.com
TOTEM Readings Substack: https://totemrach.substack.com
Rachel's Other Links: https://linktr.ee/totemrach
Abigail's Links and Website: https://linktr.ee/sacredhealingart
Abigails IG: https://www.instagram.com/sacredhealing_art/
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.
In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with friend of the show Roger Oney about her super-duper, not-so-fun week with an ancient Sumerian demon.
Yah. You read that right.
Listener beware: this episode IS spooky.
So spooky, in fact, that it took Rachel more than a year to decide that it was ultimately a net positive for clients and listeners to hear about her brief, harrowing ordeal.
The long and the short of it? Rachel spent a whole week handling (more like "getting handled by") a negative entity that was none-too-pleased with her efforts to empower a client. With nightly visits, Rachel found herself researching specific mentions in Milton's Paradise Lost, the Book of Exodus, and even Aleister Crowley's translation of the Lesser Key of Solomon.
It was some real Hereditary shit, and was so harrowing that Rachel legitimately contemplated closing her spiritual practice and abandoning her life's work-- and soul's purpose! Spoiler alert: she didn't close anything or stop doing this work, but this vignette stands as a memorable example of the stakes of spiritual exploration-- and what creatures may dwell just beyond our vision.
The good news? While negative, these experiences prove the existence of spirit beyond the shadow of a doubt. What's more: everything worked out just fine, as Rachel used her spiritual and energetic tools to intentionally and methodically cut cords and remove the sticky energy of this particular parasite.
LINKS:
Rachel's Website: https://www.totemreadings.com
TOTEM Readings Substack: https://totemrach.substack.com
Rachel's Other Links: https://linktr.ee/totemrach
Please support the Sponsors of The Skeptical Shaman Podcast:
The TOTEM Flower Essence Deck: https://a.co/d/gw16LsG
The TOTEM Tarot Deck: https://www.amazon.com/TOTEM-Tarot-Deck-Rachel-White/dp/0578980126
The TOTEM Flower Essences: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TotemReadingsATX
Roger Oney links:
Roger's substack: https://rogergoesrogue.substack.com
Website: https://rogeroney.com
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.
In this episode of the Skeptical Shaman Podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) sits down with Britt Sandkulla-Sinclair (of Golden Thread Alchemy) to discuss the crucial need for release and surrender as we enter a new epoch on planet earth.
Not only is Britt an astrologer and witch, but she's also a certified Death Doula--and very well versed in the world of letting go with grace. Rachel and Britt discuss this time of intense transition and transformation, and explore the nature of the forces converging to create this churn. They also dive into what human-scaled, daily practices we can all leverage to help us take the edge off during this very, very edgy time.
The executive summary? Death is inevitable, so if something is dying in your life-- like an old job, profession, industry, relationship, habit, or location-- then all you need to do is acknowledge and accept its coming. Don't white knuckle. Don't leave claw marks. And make adjustments as you-- and the world-- evolves.
You don't have to be the same person forever. Everything else changes. You can-- and should-- too!
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.
In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with Rebecca Szymczak, aka Cardsy B (of The Hex and the City Podcast and The Saturn Diaries).
Cardsy B returns to The Skeptical Shaman to dig deep into the turbulence hitting planet earth-- and all of the other planets, for that matter-- at the present moment. What's going on with Saturn? Uranus? Pluto? And why is it making everything and everyone so f*cking crazy?
The answer? We're leaving one epoch and entering another, and the planets are conspiring to help us shake off our old skins and embrace the new 2.0 version available to us on the other side of these contractions. Cardsy and Rachel explore what this means for us as individuals and as a collective, and work to map out some tangible, next steps.
The long and the short of it?
"Please remain seated with your seatbelt fastened, seatback and tray table in their full-upright and locked position, and all carryon items completely under the seat in front of you. We're expecting some turbulence."
Said another way? We're not in control of what's happening. We ARE in control of how we react, how we live, and what we choose to cultivate. So, focus on yourself and your own, inner work! I mean, if ever there was a time to get our shit together, it's now;)
LINKS:
Please support the Sponsors of The Skeptical Shaman Podcast:
Cardsy B's Links:
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.
In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with Brandon Page, an Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAP) experiencer.
Brandon and Rachel connected "randomly" on LinkedIn, learning after the fact that they both worked at the same global corporate real estate firm and are, within reason, total "normies" on paper-- with, of course, the exception of their respective intense spiritual experiences!
Brandon shares his lifelong interactions with craft, orbs and lights in the sky, and how these experiences came rushing back into the fore in the last few years-- getting so intense that his young daughter has also had a few moments with these objects! He also relays the strange dissonance of being just a regular person having extraordinary experiences, and how he has navigated this tension point in his own life.
The long and the short of it? He doesn't know exactly what these things are, why they're showing themselves to him and his family, but he does feel that it's significant-- and he's done hiding or withholding for fear of judgment.
We're all past that at this point, and all signs point to increasing UAP activity-- and perhaps some disclosure this year!
LINKS:
Please support the Sponsors of The Skeptical Shaman Podcast:
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.
In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with Summer Sanders (of Sabai Studio).
Summer shares her experience of owning and managing a brick and mortar healing center in Chicago's West Loop: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Things have changed for small business owners since the onset of Covid, and this is doubly (if not triply) true for those that deal in the Business of Woo. Summer details how this shift has forced her to shift as well, ultimately deciding to change her business model and move to Florida later this summer.
In this episode, Rachel and Summer pull back the proverbial kimono on what the last 4-5 years have been like for your friendly neighborhood healer, and how we can all best support the sincere, knowledgable practitioners to keep on keeping on. They also dive into how best to work with a healer, maximizing your ROI while simultaneously making your practitioner's day a little bit more manageable.
The bottom line? Things have changed. A lot. And with that change, healers across modalities (from Feng Shui to Reiki to Tarot and more) are experiencing exponential change fatigue. So, be kind, rewind, and support your local practitioner if you want to continue to benefit from their offerings!
LINKS:
Please support the Sponsors of The Skeptical Shaman Podcast:
Summer Sanders Links:
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.
In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with SPECIAL GUEST Emma Cook, the designer and artist behind the TOTEM Tarot Deck and the TOTEM Flower Essence Deck.
Rachel and Emma dig into the very strange-- and some very challenging-- spiritual experiences that came along with the production, printing and publication of the new TOTEM Flower Essence Deck. On the one hand, there were incredible, overt signs of encouragement from the Fairie realm, who seemed super pumped on our nature-oriented creation.
On the other hand, there was some real Amityville Horror-level shit, too. We're talking plagues of flies, absolutely shit luck, and lurking entities bringing banged up, oppressive energy.
Does it sound totally nuts? Yes. But did it totally happen? Yes it did.
Oh-- and Emma and Rachel do actually share a bit of insight into he process of making a tarot or oracle deck: how to build out vision boards, front-load your text content, and then dial in design and final art at the end. They also dig into the process of self-publishing, and why this is the preference for the kids around TOTEM.
This is a real peek behind the proverbial kimono. In a world dominated by influencers and coaches whose income depends on them asserting confidence and worshipping at the altar of toxic positivity, Rachel and Emma wanted to tell the real deal, behind-the-scenes story behind the new TOTEM Flower Essence Deck.
It didn't all come up roses, but there are certainly some roses involved!
LINKS:
Please support the Sponsors of The Skeptical Shaman Podcast:
Emma Cook links:
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.
In this SPECIAL "Emergency Transmission" episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with comedian and podcaster Robbie "The Fire" Bernstein.
Robbie is the host of the Run Your Mouth Podcast and frequently co-hosts the Part of the Problem podcast with Dave Smith. He is also currently driving across the country to bring comedy and free speech to Americans right in their backyard.
Like, literally. It's called the "Summer Porch Tour" and TOTEM is being graced with his presence-- and that of other, incredible comics-- this Thursday, July 11th (link to purchase tickets is below).
In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, we dive into a lively discussion about free speech, creative expression, empowerment, personal agency, and even a little bit about shamanism. The executive summary? Psst-- the government, media, and other authority figures might not have your best interests at heart!
The solution? Empower yourself. Start doing something you love. Being iconoclastic and embrace what the new day holds for you. No one is coming to save you, but that means that YOU can be the hero in your own story.
Joseph Campbell AND Ayn Rand would be proud!
LINKS:
Join us this Thursday, July 11th for the Summer Porch Tour by getting your tickets here:
Rachel's Website: https://www.totemreadings.com
Please support the Sponsors of The Skeptical Shaman Podcast:
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.
In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with friend of the show Colleen Soisson (of Feather Mountain Ayurveda).
Rachel and Colleen dig into the big, ancient world of Ayurveda: the 6,000 year old Indian equivalent of Chinese Herbalism and Medicine that leverages herbs, food, massage, and oils to create balance and vitality in the energy and physical bodies. And guess what? It doesn't have to be complicated. In fact, much of what Colleen outlines is crazy simple. The catch? Just because something is simple, doesn't mean it's easy.
This is especially true in a world built on the myth of "convenience"-- a myth that Colleen dismantles with expert precision. The trick? You gotta be consistent and you gotta be patient. That's the hard part, and many of us are quick to release new, healthy habits or mindfulness practice within a matter of days before they ever get a chance to take root!
In a world of fads, quick fixes, cheat codes and snake oil salesmen, investing in our health in a consistent, balanced way can seem like a real buzzkill. But it's not. The buzzkill is already here in the form of exploding autoimmune disorders, a looming global health crisis, and the emergence of "dis-ease" throughout the otherwise "healthy" modern world.
So, long story short: we have nothing to lose by changing our habits, slowing down, and sticking to a simple plan!
LINKS:
Please support the Sponsors of The Skeptical Shaman Podcast:
Colleen Soisson Links:
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.
The podcast currently has 54 episodes available.
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