The OptiMYSTIC Podcast

In this spring episode, Angie Enger and I sit down for a deeply human conversation on midlife desire, bodily autonomy, and the courage to want what you want. Together, we explore how desire evolves through life’s transitions – motherhood, partnership, identity shifts – and why midlife can act as a portal. Angie shares her lineage as a triplet, midwesterner, sex educator and community counselor, ta...

In celebration of the Vernal Equinox, we sit down with Zivar Amrami , artist, writer, creative guide, and student of many lineages. She reflects on living between worlds, as a woman of Iranian and Norwegian descent, weaving from Kabbalistic wisdoms, the emergent esoteric, and myth. As we discuss her newest work, The Wisdom of Birth Tarot Deck (aka “the pocket doula”) and this shared season of myst...

On this Samhain/Halloween special, we sit down with Isabelle Rizo–Romanian Chicago-based artist, licensed art psychotherapist, hypnotist, researcher, and tarot teacher whose work bridges mythos, mysticism, multicultural healing. A former political refugee, Isabelle weaves lived experience with clinical insight and spiritual artistry to guide emotional transformation, ancestral reconnection, and ra...

Toni ‘Afia’ Reynolds –emergent Okomfo priestess in the Ghanaian spiritual tradition of Akom–shares her profound journey from Christian 'army brat' to interfaith theologian, cultural memory worker, and healing justice practitioner. This episode explores the moments that feel like rejection but are, in truth, sacred interventions. Afia traces how ancestors and intuition conspire to reroute u...

Master educator, advocate, mentor, and leader in the early childhood movement Kathy Pomer , reminds us that children have a lot to teach us. In fact, they can—and should—be mystic guides towards beloved community. Together we reckon with history, ranging from racialized early childhood care in the U.S., revolutionary practices born out of WWII, to learnings during the COVID-19 pandemic and modern...

Franciscan Friar and Afrofuturist musician, Brother Zachary Stevens Walter , reminds us that history is dynamic…and deliberate. From recalling the Black history of the banjo and the African identity of Saint Augustine to wrestling with the memory of Saint Patrick as a wound of colonization, we discuss collective healing through hidden histories. Brother Z inspires contemporary uses of ancient cult...

Intergenerational educator and curator of multifaith ritual and community, Stephen Silva shares insights from his queer Jewish conversion journey – illuminating the ways in which we can live with presence and purpose. After receiving a spiritual foundation in Catholic service, Stephen details the detours and divine breadcrumbs that led him to Judaism. We laugh about the holy surprises of parenthoo...

Reverend Kaeley McEvoy preaches the inherent goodness of all bodies. Her ministry roots in interfaith dialogue, protecting reproductive rights, and eco-feminism. Honoring the soils we come from, lineages of elders and mystics, and the call to community in tumultuous times, Kaeley reminds us that we are holy…and never alone. She inspires us to find church and sanctuary at the tables of neighbors, i...

Irish herbalist, folkcrafter, and ritualist Tonja Reichley calls us into relationship with the land – both ancestral and colonized – through relationality with plants, myth, and time. Following the celestial, Celtic Wheel of the Year, she shares wisdoms and ways from as far back as the Neolithic Era. Walking the way of Brigid, also known as ‘Mary of the Gael’, Tonja threads a multilayered history...

Afrofuturist performing artist, poet, death doula, theologian and multigenerational educator, storäe michele speaks to visionary Black futures and world-making on the cusp of the new year. Rooted in bodily autonomy and spirit, storäe’s films, performances, and writings guide us to what they describe as “practices in freedom-making.” Two dear friends discuss dreamworlds, family secrets, slower livi...

Interfaith minister, facilitator and singing healer, Reverend Rhetta Morgan , delves into all the many ways mysticism accompanies her – and the change makers she supports – in the work of social justice and collective healing. Together we explore the wisdoms that we can find by exploring the darkness, the dawn, and the heart, all intentionally holding the complex histories that bind us together. J...

Puerto Rican interdisciplinary artist and healer, Amanda Raquel Martinez , draws from the realms of theatre, opera, yoga, songwriting, circus, dance, and astrology to create multifaceted work. This episode highlights the power of femme friendship, meeting people where they’re at, and the mystical practice of staying curious. Guided by somatic and ancestral wisdoms, Amanda shares how she creates in...

Narrative change strategist and Seneca descendant, Rachel Arlene Redeye Porter weaves the threads of wisdom received from elders, disability, climate resilience, and grief – both personal and collective. She shares these key entryways into the work of connecting individuals and communities with ancestral and somatic truths, so they can journey more purposefully and equitably into our shared future...

Artist-activist and educator Malia’Kekia Nicolini (o’ia, she, they) shares how she finds healing through the Pedagogy of Play, bodily autonomy, and Indigenous wisdoms. As a Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian), trained performing artist, and mindfulness practitioner, she delves into how we can change the world through moments - rooting in land, body, and ever-evolving selfhood.  Malia’Kekia is the Co-Fo...

Our host, Isabel Mares, sets the "auditory altar" for listeners, introducing herself and mysticism. Mysticism, as both a concept and a call. She shares the intention and invitation of the first season of The OptiMYSTIC Podcast , which seeks to expand our definition of the mystical by way of sharing insights from today's change-makers ( modern mystics )...in a world that needs radical and accessibl...