Content Note

This episode includes discussion of religious control, identity suppression, and recovery from faith-based harm.

This week on The Awakening, Tamara and I are joined by Sebastian, a guest from the UK who shares his journey out of a deeply conservative evangelical upbringing and into a life rooted in authenticity and healing.

Sebastian describes growing up in a high-control religious home, the fear and rigidity that shaped his early life, and how discovering paganism became a turning point that helped him reclaim agency over his own spirituality. Not long after leaving evangelicalism, Sebastian came out as gay and began the long work of healing from religious harm and abuse.

Today, Sebastian uses his voice to help others recover from religious trauma, offering support, validation, and community to those navigating life after faith.

Growing up in conservative evangelical environments

High-control belief systems

Discovering paganism as a path to freedom

Coming out after leaving religion

Healing from religious harm and abuse

Identity reclamation

Supporting others through deconstruction and recovery

Sebastian is an advocate and peer-support voice helping people recover from religious harm and abuse.

TikTok

https://www.tiktok.com/@sebastiantheinfjt?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

Leaving religion often means losing community, identity, and certainty all at once. Sebastian’s story reminds us that freedom can be found beyond fear, and that healing becomes even more powerful when it’s shared.

🎶 Intro/Outro Music

Your Poison by Rox Knox

💬 Connect with your hosts

Heather — @happyheather | @happyheathersmiles

Tamara — TikTok @feralatheistjezebel321 | Instagram @tamarajo321

🎥 Watch the show on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/@TheAwakeningPodcast-w6s

📩 Interested in being a guest

Email us at [email protected]

If this episode resonates with your own experience, listen gently and take breaks as needed. You deserve safety, freedom, and a community that honors who you truly are.

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