The Skeptical Shaman

In this second episode of our dude-only Season 10 of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with Alfonso Civile of Heartsick Band: an incredible heavy metal ensemble combining hardcore and metalcore-tinged ferocity with haunting melodies and stunning atmospherics. Alfonso is not only a talented singer, musician, photographer, videographer and multimedia artist, b...

In this long-awaited episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with Clay Martin, Priest of the Path of the Barbarian Spirit and author of three incredible books including: Barbarian Spirit, Prairie Fire, and Wrath of the Wendigo.  Clay has taken an unusual-- but very shamanic-- road to becoming a full-time Woo Woo practitioner. He had a long and illustrio...

In this special holiday shopping Business of Woo-themed episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with friend and fellow e-commerce small business owner Amy Steffek (of Puck Hcky) all about the trials and tribulations of selling stuff online.  In the Business of Woo, the pressure to produce and sell products online is fierce, coming along with phrases lik...

In this special Business of Woo-themed episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with friend Kristen Pavle (of Relational and Ember) all about her work in creating and managing community, both online and in-person, for various businesses, nonprofits and community organizations. The crux of this episode?  How can we-- either in the Business of Woo, at our...

In this special Business of Woo-themed episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with friend of the show and world-famous Tarot Lady: Theresa Reed. Theresa is an award-winning author of MANY Woo-based books-- not to mention an illustrious content creator providing live weekly readings on Instagram.  In this episode, Rachel and Theresa dive into the tricky...

In this special Business of Woo-themed episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with the world-famous star of YouTube's Tarot Map channel: Kasia Kulbaska. Kasia, an astrologer and tarot card reader, has been on what she calls "TarotTube" for many years, sharing incredible deck reviews and facilitating fascinating discussions about the worl...

In this special Business of Woo-themed episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with client, friend and consumer of the Woo Nicole Foos (of NVision by Nicole Foos).  Not only is Nicole a talented crystal jewelry maker, artist and sculptor, but she's also an accomplished student and practitioner of the Woo herself, making her a VERY discerning custom...

In this special Business of Woo-themed episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with friend of the show Britt Sundkulla-Sinclair of Golden Thread Alchemy all about her transition from part-time working witch, astrologer and death doula to a full-time Woo-based business owner! And, not only does Britt describe what this transition has been like-- and what...

In this special Business of Woo-themed episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with Cardsy B (of the Hex and the City podcast) all about what life is really like as a full-time working witch in residence at one of Manhattan's premier boutique hotels. And, while there's some literal magic in Cardsy's workdays, there is also the reality of...

In this special Business of Woo-themed episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with friend of show Nichole Bigley (of A Psychic's Story) about the constantly shifting, evolving and demanding business and technology landscape in the Business of Woo. Nichole hosts the #1 Spiritual podcast in the world, which might give folks the impression she has a...

In this special Business of Woo-themed episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with friend of the show Colleen Soisson (of Feather Mountain Ayurveda) about the common misconception that business owners-- even those in the Business of Woo-- are rich.  The reality of the Business of Woo is oceans away from how it's perceived by clients and consumers,...

In this special Business of Woo-themed episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with writer and modern magician Marco Visconti (of the Magick Without Tears Substack) about the daily grind of being a Woo-baed business owner-- and, more specifically, content creator.  For Woo-based business owners, these are not the "before times"-- and, as Marco...

In this special, Business of Woo-themed episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) reconnects with the absolutely luminescent Yolanda Williams (of the Reiki Radio Podcast) to chat all things "Wusiness of Boo".  That's actually not a typo. Unfortunately, it's how Rachel pronounced "Business of Woo" before she could gather herself at...

Well, well, well...look what we have here! A sweet treat wrapped up in a bonus episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast featuring none other than the final boss of neurodivergence himself: Scott Horton! Scott is the Director of the Libertarian Institute, Editorial Director of Antiwar.com, and the host of the Scott Horton Show.  He’s the author of the 2024 book Provoked: How Washington Started the N...

In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with her second client EVER when she opened TOTEM Readings 15 years ago in Chicago: Laura Hunnewell. Not only is Laura a friend of TOTEM and The Skeptical Shaman-- as well as a super-talented Licensed Esthetician-- she is a serious survivor, spending the last several years navigating serious health issues...

In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) welcomes back fan favorite Allen Greenfield: famous ritual magician, Kabbalist, and former Thelemite, recently featured as a subject matter expert in Amazon's Hellier TV series. In a world of superficial spiritual LARPers, Allen Greenfield is a bonafide real deal-- a national treasure with all manner of arc...

In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with writer and modern magician Marco Visconti all about the life of Thelema founder Aleister Crowley-- as well as the spiritual system (and its many, many tributaries) he left behind. What is Thelema? What is the Book of the Law? From where do these cornerstones of occult studies spring? What is sex magic...

In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings), chats with Jade Kaskel of Reform Routine, a full-spectrum, supportive Woo-based business that helps focus navigate the trauma and clutter of life-- including physical clutter in their homes! Jade's unique perspective comes from a long and often challenging early life, starting with being raised as a Jehova...

In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings), chats with AJ Goodwin-- a TOTEM client and professional realtor and business mentor that has spent the last several months embracing her spiritual and personal growth, living in the "messy middle" of transformation! As a highly-driven, high-performing entrepreneur, AJ spent this Year of the Wood Snake...

In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings), chats with Madia Smith of CYGNUS Human Design and Hoof + Feather Co all about her love for all things bird. Since ancient times, birds have been crucial spiritual vectors, offering divinatory insights in Ancient Greece and Rome (under the formal name "ornithomancy"), shamanic "medicine" as a...

In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings), chats with Jennifer Eldon (of Jennirose Breathwork) about how breathing is so much more than an automatic body function. When done properly, breathing can actually unlock deep energetic and physical healing, necessary emotional releases, and even expansive spiritual and psychedelic experiences!  We live in toug...

In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats Jen Pahwa (of Hummingbird Hearings) all about Jen's strange (and strangely expansive) recent spiritual journey-- one that's taken her and her family (including several young children) all over the country! This episode is all about what happens when we start listening to spirit-- and just how dif...

In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings), chats with the totally awesome Kaity Craven of the Moonflower Moments YouTube Channel.  Kaity is the rare practitioner that actually makes quality tarot deck, oracle deck, and "how to" divinatory content on YouTube-- without making it all about herself, brand deals, or the overdone same old, same old...

In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings), chats with Lisa Amato, energy healer, reiki practitioner, and wounded healer of the highest order.  Why the wounded healer part? Well, Rachel and Lisa both have a history of early childhood trauma, and this episode they dig into the hairy details-- but also focus on the redemptive power of transmuting said woun...

In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings), chats with the *very beautiful* and *very soulful* Andrew Madsen: a 40-year old creative intuitive defiantly and intentionally embracing the slower paced liminal space "between opportunities".  How is he doing this, you might be wondering? Well, he's making friends with nocturnal animals in New Y...