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In this episode, Vanessa interviews Nat Strafaci (they/them). Nat Strafaci is a licensed social worker, therapist, clinical supervisor, spiritual herbalist, and tarot reader living and working in New York and California on Lenape and Yokuts land. They are a graduate of Columbia University School of Social Work and Sacred Vibes Apothecary Spiritual Herbalism Apprenticeship. Their private practice centers the healing of queer and trans people of color at the intersection of spirituality and mental health. Informed by 15 years of school and community-based work around trauma, violence, and healing, Nat is passionate about creating more spaces for mental healthcare and spirituality to exist together. They have facilitated workshops and trainings on plant medicine, pleasure, anti-oppression, and trauma-informed care at conferences and organizations throughout New York City.
Currently, they are creating The Spiritual Therapists Zine: Navigating Earthly Ways of Being and Spirit Ways of Seeing- a compilation of art, family folktales, spells, rituals, and personal narratives that amplify the magic, healing, and lived experiences of therapists with a spiritual lens.
Nat identifies as a queer and non-binary white and Southeast Asian person and is obsessed with their elder chihuahua Lula.
Episode Details Discerning authenticity in our spiritual journey through an intersectional lens How our healing journey can be an invitation for us to go back to our lineages and rediscover where we came from Healing is communal in nature; extending ourselves to our chosen family How healers are capable of harm; harm reduction strategies that healers and clients can use Pulling the curtains behind the hierarchy of healing and how it benefits from power imbalances Accessing our sovereignty as our own healers How decolonizing how practices is a journey and not a destination Navigating boundaries that are healthy for ourselves and others Grounding our spiritual gifts in the knowledge that everyone has these gifts and they exist on a spectrum Transference and countertransference in client-practitioner relationships Approaching pop psychology with nuance and complexity The potential issues with misrepresenting ourselves in our professional practice and the importance of ethicsConnect further with Nat Strafaci Instagram: @sunshadowhealing Website: www.sunshadowhealing.comBehind the Mirror Links Behind the Mirror Instagram Vanessa's Instagram and Website Brittany's Instagram -
In this episode, Vanessa explores how we can begin to reroot our sense of spirituality by deepening our connection to the earth and its kin. They speak to the complexity of our conditioned thought of being separate from and superior to nature as it relates to how we treat each other and the earth. They offer a perception shift through the model of bioregionalism as a way to resituate our belonging in the more-than-human world.
Episode Details
The line drawn between the cathedral and the land Philosopher Martin Buber’s ways of seeing: I-it and I-thou The concept of separate from and dominant over nature and how it relates to how certain human communities are treated over others Ecological feminism books mentioned: Feminism and Ecological Communities: An Ethic of Flourishing by Chris. J Cuomo and The Intersectional Environmentalist by Leah Thomas The story of Genesis and its ongoing implications of transcendence in our perception of what is imbued with Spirit Thomas Berry’s earth-centred perspective of spirituality The correlation between our ecological crisis and our spiritual crisis as intertwined James Hatley’s death narrative concept and how death becomes a gift for those who follow and a call for response How the emerging movement of spiritual ecology is summoning rooted gods, dark madonnas and ways of doulaing grief as we find ways of responding to the will-to-destruction The soft animal body: recognising our humanness as animal and rewilding ourselves An ecological prayer from Sophie Strand and bioregionalism as a pathway of connection with the more-than-human worldLinks
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In this episode, Vanessa discusses sensuous agency as a liberatory practice of experiencing freedom through embodiment and the connection to our senses as storytellers. They discuss social and spiritual liberation by asking key questions about what haunts our sense of agency in our modern world and how has extraction co-opted our understanding of discovery.
Episode Details
The wellspring as a metaphor and a symbol of sensuous agency Elizabeth Bishop’s poem Chemin de Fer (railroad) and the implications of the hermit's scream Conceptualisations of power as power over and power with Top-down and bottom-up cognitive processing The difference between responsibility and response-ability Radical Dharma and liberatory practice for social and spiritual liberation Extractive capitalism Self-discovery vs self-extraction in the personal responsibility narrative The Johari window model as a tool of exploration for interpersonal communication and self-awarenessLinks
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In this episode, Brittany and Vanessa explore the nuances of the phenomena of integration. They share their perspectives on this nonlinear process and look at the undoing of the conditioned desire to “make ourselves whole” as we incorporate wisdom into our daily lives after illuminating experiences. Offering an alternative to “seeking solutions,” they dig into the benefits they’ve each experienced in opening to the unknown and inviting mystery as a conduit for approaching the process with curiosity and compassionate awareness.
Episode Details Exploring the nuances of integration in post spiritual experiences Unmaking the desire to construct wholeness through integration Integration as Resting in Unknowing: Letting what is already in existence make itself spontaneously aware Redirecting soul searching towards recognition of the wholeness in oneself Becoming attentive to the aliveness of space through the qualities we carry with us Cultivating compassionate awareness in daily life How subtly is the mysterious language of receptivity Brittany and Vanessa discuss digesting the medicine of the 3rd line experience of experimentation Dismantling the effort of integration through deconstructing our deficient and compensatory identities Repairing our injured instincts through unlearning our conditioned desire to “make whole” Feeding our demons and allowing them to reveal their allyshipLinks
Behind the Mirror Instagram Vanessa's Instagram and Website Brittany's Instagram Resting in Unknowing article by Vanessa https://anunfurlingecho.substack.com/p/resting-in-unknowing -
In The Body as an Instrument for Consciousness, Brittany and Vanessa discuss the importance of sharing our individual voices and expressions of self and what it means to play an active role in the evolution of consciousness. They take a dive into the development of our etheric echolocation, discerning the static of the universal field so that we may hear our own individual frequency, and cultivating joyful expression as a way to connect with our bodies as nature. Join them as they explore the importance of staying grounded and connected in the current reality as we practice radical imagination by holding the trinity of consciousness while challenging hyperindividualism and consumerism in order to see the interconnection of all beings.
Episode Details Exploring the highest expression of your throat chakra How the channel of structuring in Human Design transiting through the collective is an invitation to deepen our listening The development of our etheric echolocation Tuning the body as an instrument of our consciousness Discerning the static of the universal field so that you can hear your unique frequency Clarity as a double-edged sword and practising radical imagination as a way of acceptance of reality while envisioning the future Cultivating joy as an act of resistance Exploring the trinity of consciousness of creation, destruction and preservation Challenging hyperindividualism and consumerism through the framework of the object and subject relation Embracing our human experience as divine beings How the body is the vehicle of transformation How you can activate your earth star chakra and begin to consciously practise working with the energy of the earth Feeling like a homesick alien on earth and choosing to remember the earth as home The implications and appropriation of plant medicine Remembering that you are living mythLinks
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In The Cosmic Giggle, Vanessa and Brittany discuss their relationship with playing with the absurdity of life by following synchronicities and divine nods, fully embracing the bizarre nature of the human experience. As an exploration of inner child work as time travel, they dive into the powerful practice of removing our masks, reviving playful curiosity, and maintaining a sense of humor to keep out of the egoic trap of nihilism as we collectively enter into uncharted imaginal territory. Join them as they examine the artist’s role in illuminating collective darkness and share some of their own personal experiences with High Strangeness, which may have wrecked their egos, but ultimately opened them up to their divinity and interconnection in profound ways.
Episode Details Play and absurdity as a pathway to diverge from the spiritual ego Our inner child as a guardian to our divine surrender How we’re in an imagination battle and recovering our creativity as a catalyst to our remembering Brittany and Vanessa share how their friendship began through their connection to dolphins and tender dolphin memories from childhood Synchronicities as cosmic winks and divine nods Vanessa’s Andromedan Dolphin Intergalactic Soul Retrieval Journey offering and its origins Brittany and Vanessa share their personal anecdotes about absurd cosmic epiphanies entailing a pineapple and a gecko How we’re conditioned to think we have to work hard for our innate gifts The not self of the 2nd line and 3rd line in Human Design as it relates to our divine talents The absurdist spectrum: nihilism and cynicism vs. wonder and awe as a perspective choice “Jester’s privilege” and the role of entertainers, artists, comedians, etc. in illuminating darkness on a collective level The performance of adulthood and how it creates a barrier when communicating with children Discerning the role of our inner critic and how it can atrophy our connection to our creative life force Laughter and play as the sustenance that we crave when we find ourselves consuming that which only makes us feel more famished Inner child work as a form of time travel in the eternal nowLinks
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In this episode, Brittany and Vanessa discuss looking beyond duality and the reflective nature of consciousness from an observer’s perspective. They explore what it means to each of them to be a void visionary in times of revolution and the pivotal role that self-compassion plays when embracing and surrendering to paradox and accessing the mystery within. Join them as they unpack their channellings for Behind the Mirror, their creative processes as artists/mystics, organizing chaos, living with intention and purpose, the mirage of the mirror, and snapping out of the collective hallucination of numbness.
Episode details:
Brittany and Vanessa share what meaning a void visionary means to the both of them Awakening to the void within and what it means to be a living mystery. The void belongs to everyone How meditation reflects ourselves back to us Tracing the origins of thoughts and beliefs beyond who we are. The experience of the world within the word and hidden realms embedded in the seemingly insignificant The parts of ourselves that we have yet to recognise and how looking behind the mirror is a tool The disillusionment of capturing our essence as fixed The mystic artist dynamic and how Brittany’s visual art and Vanessa’s poetry informs their relationship with the unknown The cacao ceremonies that were held and the channellings of Behind the Mirror as a living energy body Living with purpose in organised chaos How numbness is still a sensation and moving beyond polarity to activate the revolution within Compassion as a key to surrender Our relationship with the in-between, the liminal and what we cannot name or immediately know We are the origin that we seek and we are not here to own life or the meaning of itLinks
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In this episode, Brittany and Vanessa speak about what Behind the Mirror means to them individually and invite you to share the journey with them. Behind the Mirror is an exploration of mysticism and the bridging of mind and matter. It is a collaborative experiment that seeks to shatter paradigms, projections and programs with conscious dreaming.
