The Skeptical Shaman

The 12th season of The Skeptical Shaman podcast is here and it's all about our collective and individual Villain Eras: a unique moment in time in which we all have permission to embrace our alter egos, pursue our goals, and allow others to paint us as the villains in their stories...if that's what they need to get through the day;)

In this episode, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) is joined by friend of the show Madia Smith (of ORNIS) to talk about her Villain Era Alter Ego: The Smokey One. The Smokey One shows up...

The 12th season of The Skeptical Shaman podcast is here and it's all about our collective and individual Villain Eras: a unique moment in time in which we all have permission to embrace our alter egos, pursue our goals, and allow others to paint us as the villains in their stories...if that's what they need to get through the day;)

In this episode, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) is joined by the INCREDIBLE Malachas Ivernus, a magical maestro that lives in his own alter ego's identity as a writer, ritual magician, and occult academic. He...

The 12th season of The Skeptical Shaman podcast is here and it's all about our collective and individual Villain Eras: a unique moment in time in which we all have permission to embrace our alter egos, pursue our goals, and allow others to paint us as the villains in their stories...if that's what they need to get through the day;)

In this episode, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) is joined by the INCREDIBLE Malachas Ivernus, a magical maestro that lives in his own alter ego's identity as a writer, ritual magician, and occult academic. He...

The 12th season of The Skeptical Shaman podcast is here with the second half of our exploration of The Chaos Monster: THE Villain Era that sparked this whole Villain Era series, courtesy of artist and small business owner Laura Oxendine! 

Laura's Chaos Monster is a mischief maker: a little goblin scurrying about picking from a grab bag of activities, either causing a ruckus, boldly calling out injustices, or trying to put order to chaos in ways that are not entirely logical. The Chaos Monster brings a big “fuck it” energy to the party, and emerges when Laura is sl...

The 12th season of The Skeptical Shaman podcast is here with The Chaos Monster: THE Villain Era that sparked this whole Villain Era series, courtesy of artist and small business owner Laura Oxendine! 

Laura's Chaos Monster is a mischief maker: a little goblin scurrying about picking from a grab bag of activities, either causing a ruckus, boldly calling out injustices, or trying to put order to chaos in ways that are not entirely logical. The Chaos Monster brings a big “fuck it” energy to the party, and emerges when Laura is sleep deprived because of late night or in...

The 12th season of The Skeptical Shaman podcast is here, and our newest Villain Era alter ego, The Baltic B*tch, is brought to us by the incredible Lisa Amato, energy worker and all-around badass shamanic practitioner hailing from the hamlet of Long Island-- via Queens.

In this second half of another two-part episode, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with the incredible Lisa Amato of Calm Ya Mind all about her so-called Villain Era alter ego: The Baltic B*tch: the personification of no-sh*ts given with a Baltic, straight face and no care for...

The 12th season of The Skeptical Shaman podcast is here, and our newest Villain Era alter ego, The Baltic B*tch, is brought to us by the incredible Lisa Amato, energy worker and all-around badass shamanic practitioner hailing from the hamlet of Long Island-- via Queens.

In this first half of another two-part episode, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with the incredible Lisa Amato of Calm Ya Mind all about her so-called Villain Era alter ego: The Baltic B*tch: the personification of no-sh*ts given with a Baltic, straight face and no care for...

The 12th season of The Skeptical Shaman podcast is here, and our newest Villain Era alter ego, Veilwalker, is brought to us by the incredible Celina Ceja Geisler of The Essence of the Moon YouTube channel.

In this second half of another two-part episode, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with the incredible Celina Ceja Geisler of The Essence of the Moon YouTube channel all about her so-called Villain Era alter ego: Veilwalker. Unlike some of the other alter egos we've met in this series, Veilwalker is more about liminality and detachment: a kind of psychically-enabled...

The 12th season of The Skeptical Shaman podcast is here, and our newest Villain Era alter ego, Veilwalker, is brought to us by the incredible Celina Ceja Geisler of The Essence of the Moon YouTube channel.

In this first half of another two-part episode, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with the incredible Celina Ceja Geisler of The Essence of the Moon YouTube channel all about her so-called Villain Era alter ego: Veilwalker. Unlike some of the other alter egos we've met in this series, Veilwalker is more about liminality and detachment: a kind of psychically-enabled...

The 12th season of The Skeptical Shaman podcast is here, and this second half of our two-part episode highlights the undeniable creative and spiritual power of a well-defined Alter Ego. Jesse James, aka Billy Purgatory, literally wrote a series of stories about his demon-fighting alter ego, breathing some very real life into a very real aspect of himself. But Billy Purgatory isn't just a literary anti-hero: he's also Jesse's Villain Era shadow aspect, offending sensibilities left, right and center as he embraces his shamanic self and fights the armies of hell.

In this two-part conversation, host Rachel...

The 12th season of The Skeptical Shaman podcast is here, and this second, two-part episode highlights the undeniable creative and spiritual power of a well-defined Alter Ego. Jesse James, aka Billy Purgatory, literally wrote a series of stories about his demon-fighting alter ego, breathing some very real life into a very real aspect of himself. But Billy Purgatory isn't just a literary anti-hero: he's also Jesse's Villain Era shadow aspect, offending sensibilities left, right and center as he embraces his shamanic self and fights the armies of hell.

In this two-part conversation, host Rachel White (of TOTEM...

The 12th season of The Skeptical Shaman podcast is here, and the second half of our first episode sets the tone for exploring our collective Villain Era. This season is all about embracing the reality that, despite your very best efforts and pure intentions, we will all inevitably be the villain in someone else's story as we pursue our goals, stretch ourselves spiritually and professionally, and enforce our own boundaries as we do so.

In this two-part conversation, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with Patrick Anderson, aka Stella Boheme while performing in drag and, as...

The 12th season of The Skeptical Shaman podcast is here, and this first episode sets the tone for exploring our collective Villain Era. This season is all about embracing the reality that, despite your very best efforts and pure intentions, we will all inevitably be the villain in someone else's story as we pursue our goals, stretch ourselves spiritually and professionally, and enforce our own boundaries as we do so.

In this two-part conversation, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with Patrick Anderson, aka Stella Boheme while performing in drag and, as we learn in this...

In this tenth episode of the 11th season of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with friend of the show and fellow podcaster Cardsy B, aka Rebecca Szymczak (of Hex and the City Podcast). Not only is Rebecca a resident wellness witch in residence at a posh Manhattan hotel, but she's also a tarot deck creator, the author of the Saturn Diaries, and the creator of the INCREDIBLE new fragrance "Witch and Famous", which is made with organic, ethically-harvested herbs and flowers by a fellow female-owned business owner right here in the U.S.!<...

In this ninth episode of the 11th season of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with client, friend, and newly-anointed psychic channel Teresa Johnson all about the strange, strange journey from being a "normal person" to becoming your true psychic self.

Teresa opens up the kimono on the good, the bad, and the cringe of what it's really like to transition from being a nurse practitioner, psychic, business owner and even corporate subject matter expert to "owning" her psychic gifts out loud and proud with the people in her life. 

T...

In this eighth episode of the 11th season of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with friend of the show and astrologer extraordinaire Sam "The SkyGuy" all about planetary magic: how to do it, when to do it, and how to customize it to your unique natal chart- and annual astrological transits!

Sam provides listeners a crash course in the background and fundamentals of chaos magic, ritual magic, and the specifics of how (and where) planetary magic fits into the big magic picture. Sam also digs into what big planets are making...

In this seventh episode of the 11th season of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with friend of the show and Skeptical Shaman podcast editor Natalie Fehlner (of Sidhe) all about Natalie's strange, strange journey into weird world of online dialogue-- and what it revealed about the spiritual reality underpinning surface-level ideology.

Natalie experienced a pronounced spiritual trauma when accidentally encountering the hyper-violent images of Charlie Kirk's death online. While not a right wing Christian nationalist herself (I mean, Natalie is a fairy-channeling astrologer, poet and theater teacher, among other things!), she...

In this sixth episode of the 11th season of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with Review Raffle winner and *as luck would have it* experienced animal healer and communicator Alyson Ogimachi (of Phoenix Healing) all about her journey from being an animal groomer and "normal person" to talented animal psychic and healer.

Alyson has spent years in real deal, bonafide animal communication and healing training programs, and just recently launched her own Woo-based business: Phoenix Healing! 

Alyson shares her rigorous training background, and chats about the very, very crucial n...

In this fifth episode of the 11th season of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with Caitlin Gonzales, newly spiritually awakened friend of the fae and rural Louisiana homesteader who knows all about the shift from urban conformity to the feral borderlands-- both of the Woo and of Mother Nature!

Like many of us in the time since Covid disrupted, well, everything, Caitlin has dramatically changed literally every aspect of her life, leaving a "normal" job to learn to homestead and embracing all things spiritual in the process, challenging her own, previous...

In this fourth episode of Season 11 of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with long-time client (and fellow Chicagoan) Emily P. (of House of Lir), a lifelong psychic finally making the leap into the wild unknown of client-facing readings with her new, Woo-based business House of Lir.

Emily has always been psychic, but it took a real deal (and very destabilizing) spiritual awakening to put everything into focus, making her natural physical mediumship, divination, and channeling capabilities an undeniable (and very weird) reality.

This episode has it all: nonconsensual demon...

In this third episode of Season 11 of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with Jesse James Freeman and Jennifer Hotes of the Is AI The Devil? and the Curious Cat Podcasts all about the spiritual implications of our brave new techno-feudalist world. 

Was Rudolf Steiner right about Ahriman? Are there really ghosts (and demons) in the machine? How can we reclaim our sovereignty, human dignity, AND spiritual independence in a time such as this?

Jesse and Jen offer their insights, gleaned from both the Woo and secular research, all while g...

In this second episode of Season 11 of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with Renee Puvvada (of Smoking Hot Books) about the writerly window of opportunity being presented by the unique and dynamic Fire Horse Year: a year that welcomes, supports and celebrates unique voices, authentic storytelling and independent publishing.

Renee Puvvada failed at four books, lost $20k, and then sold 10,283 copies in a single year with 183 Instagram followers. Now, as founder of Smokin' Hot Books, she helps soul-led entrepreneurs turn their self-published books into authority-building, business-growing assets, all while you keep...

In this inaugural episode of Season 11 of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with Gabrielle Celeste (of Agua Astrology), combining their superpowers to form some kind of Chinese and Western Astrology Megazord, offering listeners insights into what to expect in the dynamic Fire Horse Year (2026)...and beyond!

Rachel and Gabrielle discuss the incredible spiritual awakening that cascaded over the land as a result of the global pandemic, digging into how this trend is evolving in real time in a post-pandemic landscape-- and how listeners can best navigate these novel energies and the...

In this eighth episode in our dude-only season of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with Craig Moyer, freelance copywriter, advertising expert, novelist, and all around "creative" about our post-AI (and post-human) billionaire-led world-- and how best to navigate it!

Craig's recommendation? Tackle the bad guys (and evil forces) with a sharp sense of humor, like he did in his mock ad campaign for the recent World Economic Forum conference in Davos, titled: "Let them eat snake!", a hilarious riff on Marie Antoinette's famous line: "Let them eat cake!".

Craig...

In this seventh episode in our dude-only season of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with Bobby Fierro of Wild Raven Tarot: a "TarotTuber" of the highest order who livestreams and posts truly incredible, engaging and very, very real tarot content for the masses to enjoy!

Not only does Bobby bring the fun and joy of tarot to the masses with his 420 Tarot, Behind the Cards, and Fool's Journey YouTube series, but he also lives his personal spiritual practice in a real deal coven-- serving the coven as their resident "Black Dog"...

In this sixth episode in our dude-only season of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with Ryan Hurd: a dream educator, creator of the Dream Studies website (and work), and author of the incredible Archeology of Consciousness Substack!

Hilarious plot twist: Rachel and Ryan actually recorded a previous episode that seems to have entered a permanent, liminal state, with multiple "tracks" still "uploading"-- for the last two months-- to the online recording studio! And, while that may just sound like a standard tech glitch, odds are: it's something more!

...

In this fifth episode of The Skeptical Shaman's tenth, all-dude season, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with James Jude of James Jude Tarot and the LA Festival of Tarot : a client-facing tarot reader, teacher of all things tarot, and PR expert who worked on the Conjuring and Annabelle movie franchises (of all things)!

Like Rachel, James started out as a non-believer in all things Woo, but slowly came around to the reality of the unseen world of spirit while working in PR for a series of major horror movies inspired by the real life events...

In this fourth episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with Brian Maierhofer: a working therapist that explores myth, madness, meaning, and how our greatest wounds can become our greatest gifts with his incredible Liminal Means Substack. 

Rachel and Brian chat all about the myth of the Fisher King and his wound-- and how we, as a people, need to heal our collective wounds, too. But how can we heal? How can society start to right itself? Stop screaming at each other? Stop policing each others' words and thoughts or personal p...

In this third episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with "Alexis Vale", aka Alan Furth-- the mind behind the incredible Hidden Frameworks Substack, sharing his own meandering explorations in the realm of synchronicity, serendipity, and the ancient concept of Wu Wei: the "invisible river" flow state that we can fall into such that it carries us along-- without us needing to force it!

In this episode, Rachel and Alexis discuss the long and strange journey that comes along with following the breadcrumbs out of a life in corporate captivity-- and...

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, but he generously donated his Zoolander-level Blue Steel modeling skills to our TOTEM + PUCK HCKY merch collaboration photoshoot, currently featured on PUCK's website. 

Rachel and Alfonso chat all things creativity and art in a time of commoditized slop. How can s...

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 illustrious military career in active duty, having served as an infantryman, Scout Sniper, and Reconnaissance Marine and, after transitioning to the Army, he joined the 19th Special Forces Group before returning to active d...

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 like "passive income" and "scale". And, while it's good to diversify and sell real, high-quality products online for any Woo-based or other small business owner, it's not the panacea that online influencers and spiritual g...

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 "normal" day jobs, or just in society in general-- identify, build and maintain community? Kristen breaks down the definition of community, why it matters for small businesses (and for us as human b...

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 para-social dynamics created by social media, podcasting, YouTubing and content creation as a whole, and how Woo-based business owners can (and should) maintain appropriate boundaries with clients, subscribers and listeners. Theresa does a great job e...

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 world-- and Business-- of Woo. 

Kasia and Rachel chat about the misconceptions and myths surrounding Woo-based YouTube, particularly with regard to monetizing video content. Spoiler alert: it's hard, and just because someone has tens of thousands of subscribers (or followers), i...

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 customer. And that's exactly why she was pinged to join this Business of Woo-themed podcast series to offer up a unique line of sight into the client's perspective. 

What are Nicole's "green fl...

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 it demands in terms of working hours, promotional/ unpaid efforts, and very early mornings-- but she also explores the strange devolution in human interaction (and mutual respect) that has been accelerating since the Covid-19 pandemic...

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 the Business of Woo: the increasing exertion required to maintain healthy client boundaries, navigate parasocial dynamics, and process untethered-- and often nasty-- criticism that cuts to the core of your character.

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 big team of tech-savvy backroom geniuses at the ready on a minute-by-minute basis. But, as Nichole explains in this episode, that's just not how the Business of Woo really works!

What's more: with...

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, and most practitioners make substantial, very unglamorous sacrifices to make their dream a daily reality. And not all of these sacrifices are financial-- there's all of the sweat equity, invisible and unexpected labor (l...