Indigenous Wisdom with Julia Carmen

What does it take to trust a yes before the mind can explain it?

Julie Williams — scientist, healer, educator, and founder of Consciousness Medicine — returns to the show. Along with their conversation today, Julie tells us about her new book, Om La La: The Power of Positivity Guidebook, a collaboration with twenty-four authors and featuring a forward from Julia.

Julie and Julia talk about how Julie actually knows what's true for her — a kinesthetic yes that starts low in the belly — and about Gabe, Julie's dog of eighteen years, to whom the book is dedicated. Her chap...

What does it mean when someone we love doesn't come back right away — and no one panics?

Julia Carmen shares a fable from her mother's village in the mountains of Mexico, where messages traveled in the bodies of people — usually children — because there were no phones. When a child came home late from an errand, no one scolded her. The family just smiled and said, "she went for the tamales."

Julia traces the phrase through three generations, grandmother to mother to daughter, and asks the question this episode turns on: what are your tamales? What absorb...

What does it mean to feel everything?

In this month's archetype episode, Julia Carmen sits with the Sensitives — the ones with the big human hearts, who feel from the earth all the way to the universal source of the all. She opens by drawing a line many of us blur: a Sensitive isn't the same as an empath. Empathy is a human condition, tied to this planet. The Sensitive reaches further — earth to universe.

The teaching turns on stardust. We're all made of it, surrounded by it — and a Sensitive picks up more of other people...

What holds the healer together?

In this month's archetype episode, Julia Carmen sits with the Healer — the curandera, the servant, the teacher — and follows the teaching back to where it has always begun: with yourself.

The Healer's energy flows like an atom, putting the stardust back together wherever it needs to be. Their medicine bag holds all the elements — water, fire, earth — because the path of healing draws from all of life. And the first thing Julia names is what this archetype is not: the one who goes out there and fixes everyone else first. The medi...

What changes the day you stop asking someone else for the answer and finally ask yourself?

In the second of a two-part conversation, Julia Carmen sits back down with her granddaughter, Juliana Guerrero, and follows the thread back to ancestors, heritage, and what Julia calls the female frequency of being — the creative force that makes and remakes the world, squashed for a long time and now waking back up.

At the heart of the episode is a story Juliana has carried for years: leading a group to a ceremony site in Montana, losing the way, an...

What did the word "woke" mean before the over culture got hold of it?

In this conversation, Julia Carmen sits down with her granddaughter, Juliana Guerrero — high school English teacher, writer, and curandera in her own right — for one of the talks they share a few times a year.

They begin with that one loaded word and the difference between its political version and the older one: the meaning that lived in us first. Not awakening for the first time, but remembering what we already are in the soul self of being.

From ther...

What does it mean to walk in both worlds when the outer culture keeps pulling you toward one?  A listener sent that question in. Julia Carmen answered it live — by pulling a card.

 
In this episode, Julia traces the full origin of the Dragonfly Card Deck: a vision that arrived in Hawaii nearly twenty years ago, fifty-two channeled texts, and a long journey to physical form. She walks through how she works with the cards in daily practice — not looking for answers, but for orientation — and pulls Grandmother Dragonfly live to address the listener's question. The deck pai...

What do people sense in a Wizard — before they can name it?

In this episode, Julia Carmen continues the 2026 Archetype Series with the Wizard: an archetype that lives at the intersection of the seen and unseen, moving between worlds with a subtlety that is easy to miss and impossible to forget once you feel it.

The Wizard moves and balances. People are drawn to them without quite knowing why. Julia describes a childlike quality — a playfulness, a full arrival in the present moment. The magic is not grand. It is specific to you: your frequency, your...

What do you do with the love that didn't always come in the form you needed?

Twenty years ago, Julia Carmen wrote an essay about being asked to care for her 80-year-old mother. She didn't want to do it. She called her sister. She briefly considered trading mothers with a friend.

What followed those four days — and the fifteen years after — became one of the most profound teachings of her life.

In this episode, Julia reads that essay in full, then reflects on everything that came next: how she and her mother slowly foun...

Today, Julia revisits one of her most cherished stories: a memory from 1957 in the Mission District of San Francisco, when she was four or five years old and her Tía Francisca was living with the family.

This is a story about what happens when two people show up in a kitchen with a willingness to just be. No fixing, no pretending. Julia talks about soul care—not the Instagram version with bath bombs, but real tending. The kind that happens when you're known, your whole self, the grief and the giggles and the messy parts in bet...

This month in our archetype series, Julia sits with Mother Earth.

Julia explores what it actually means to carry this energy—the gift of it, the weight of it—and how Grandmother Dragonfly shows up as a companion for this archetype. She talks about the difference between nurturing from fullness versus nurturing from depletion, the "spaghetti dinner" moment when you realize you're running on empty, and why soul care isn't selfish—it's essential.

If you're a Mother Earth archetype, you'll recognize yourself in these stories: how people trust you without knowing why, how your presence shifts...

What does it mean to own something you made — in a world where anything digital can be copied in an instant? And what does that question have to do with the music your ancestors carried? In this episode, Julia Carmen sits down with Catherine Gairard, a French-Peruvian harpist and songwriter who creates what she calls emotive landscapes — music designed to reach the places words can't always find.

They begin in the practical, discussing digital art and why proof of ownership matters more to small, independent artists than most people realize. But the conversation doesn't stay there. It move...

In this episode, Julia Carmen introduces the Alma Class: a year-long container for those who are hearing the knock—that inner call to come home to themselves.

This is not a curriculum. It's a remembrance. The Alma Class is for anyone who has felt that movement within, that sense that something deeper is asking to be known. Julia talks about what soul listening actually is, how the archetypes guide your own remembrance, and why this work cannot be rushed or done alone.

She shares what you receive as part of the class—quarterly group sessions, one...

What does it mean to honor where you come from while walking between two worlds? In this conversation, Julia Carmen sits down with Lily Espinoza—educator, author, and advocate for Latinx students in higher education—to explore identity, legacy, and what it takes to stay centered when the world asks you to choose.

With over twenty years of experience at universities including Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, and UC Berkeley, Lily brings a wealth of knowledge about educational pathways and systemic change. But more importantly, she brings the lived experience of a daughter honoring her mother's legacy, a single pare...

This month, Julia continues the archetype series, diving into The Alchemist.

If you've ever had the experience of things just coming together for you — opportunities that seem to flow in without force, knowing something before you can explain how you know it — this episode might explain a lot. 

The Alchemist archetype lives across two worlds at once, creating in the unseen before anything appears in the physical. To the outside, it looks effortless. But Julia unpacks what's actually happening beneath the surface, and why the doing was never the source to begin with.

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In this episode, Julia Carmen of The School Without Walls invites you to experience Cafecito y Chisme.

Cafecito y Chisme calls are free 30-minute discovery calls offered through the School Without Walls. These are opportunities to gain a greater understanding of Julia's work, and which offerings may be right for your Soul's journey at this moment. At times, there can be some confusion: these calls are not a reading, not a mini session, not deep personal processing, but a place to begin.

Julia has noticed that her own excitement during these conversations may sometimes read...

Today's guest previously joined Julia to talk about dancing to the tune of your own soul, in episode 79. In this follow-up conversation, soul empowerment coach and light language healer Birgitta Visser opens up about what it really looks like to walk away from the relationships and patterns that have been keeping you small, and what the work of rebuilding from the inside out actually requires.

Julia and Birgitta talk story about dysfunctional relationships as mirrors of unhealed pain, the moment you stop asking "why is this happening to me" and start asking "why is this happening for...

In today's Indigenous Wisdom Conversation, Julia revisits her original conversation with Birgitta Visser — divine channel, soul empowerment coach, light language healer, and author — as a special rerun before welcoming Birgitta back next week for a brand-new follow-up episode. Don't miss Part 2, airing next week!

In this episode, Julia and Birgitta explore what it means to truly live in the present moment, the power of breath as a gateway to awareness, and the relationship between the soul, the mind, and the ego. Birgitta shares her work as a light language healer, explaining how these cosmic healing codes speak dire...

This month, Julia Carmen continues the archetype series with The Sage.

The Sage doesn’t announce itself. It moves like an infinity sign — constant, flowing, without ego. If you’ve ever walked into a room and felt more at home in the background than the front, or found yourself watching the world with curiosity rather than judgment, this one is for you.

In this episode, Julia explores:

•  What it means to be “not seen when seen” — the central paradox of the Sage archetype

•  Why Sages often mistake their natural energy for...

In this episode, Juliana — apprentice to Julia and guest host — sits down with JR Rice, a Black man, writer, teacher, event host & curator, and spoken word artist, born and raised in Oakland, California.  JR works with students navigating homelessness, immigration pressure, incarceration, and trauma — and he meets them there through the radical act of storytelling.

This conversation moves through what it means to teach identity through writing, why vulnerability has to come from the teacher first, and how story has always been the way humans pass down what matters. JR also speaks honestly about his own path — being fir...

This month, we begin walking with the Queen archetype—the one who stands in her glory and knows who she is. When we understand the archetype we lead with, comparison falls away, and our nervous system begins to settle. You are not here to become someone else. You are here to remember who you already are.

Learn more about The School Without Walls and the Dragonfly Guides:

Today we are happy to share Julia Carmen's conversation with Kevin Chung on the Standout Creatives Podcast. This is a conversation about business, creativity, and what it means to stand out without selling your spirit. Together they explore visibility, identity, belonging, and the difference between branding as performance versus branding as truth. This episode is an invitation to create from the soul — not from fear.

Connect with Kevin:

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In today's Indigenous Wisdom Conversation, we are revisiting a conversation between Julia and Kawika Alfiche. This is a heart-filled conversation about story, music, Hula, community and so much more.

Connect with Kawika:

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Production assistance from Podlad.com and Daypack Digital. Artwork by...

Just be in the now of what is going on.

Learn more about The School Without Walls  and the Dragonfly Guides:

Production assistance from Podlad.com and Daypack Digital. Artwork by Olivia Dancel. Dragonfly art by Soul Creative Design.

In this episode, Julia invites us to step off the overculture’s rushed timeline and into the slower, more honest threshold of the Lunar New Year. Reflecting on the Year of the Horse, she explores movement that is soul-led rather than urgency-driven, and how listening inward can guide the year ahead. This is an invitation to begin later, softer, and with deeper trust in your own rhythm.

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In this episode, Julia reflects on what happens when creativity freezes—and what it actually takes to bring it back to life. Drawing on the teachings of Clarissa Pinkola Estés, we explore how warmth, movement, and self-love thaw the places where the soul has gone quiet. Creativity never disappears; it waits for us to return.

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As we arrive at the close of another year, Julia offers a gentle, honest reflection on how we’ve been living—and how to tend the soul self during times of transition. This episode invites you to release resolution thinking, listen more deeply, and prepare the inner ground for the year ahead with kindness and clarity.

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In this episode, Julia revisits The Magical Papers, a self-paced online workshop rooted in archetypal wisdom and self-understanding. She also shares a note about the podcast’s upcoming January pause and invites listeners to revisit favorite episodes from the Indigenous Wisdom archive.

Mentioned in today's episode:

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In this episode, Julia Carmen shares a deeper look at her calling as a curandera de las curanderas — the healer of healers and seer of the soul. She speaks candidly about fear, learned conditioning, ancestral lineages of healing, and what it truly means to walk between the physical and non-physical worlds. This is an invitation to remember who you are beneath the noise of the over-culture.

Learn more about The School Without Walls  and the Dragonfly Guides:

In this episode, Julia shares the origin story of the Dragonfly Guides and the dream that opened the path to their teachings. Each dragonfly arrives with a message about truth, courage, and remembering who you are. If this story resonates, the Dragonfly Circle Community and card deck offer a simple way to continue this conversation with your own soul self.

For more resources, explore The School Without Walls:

You are eternal.

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Production assistance from Podlad.com and Daypack Digital. Artwork by Olivia Dancel. Dragonfly art by Soul Creative Design.

In this closing chapter of The Indigenous Soul, Julia opens the door to one of the most tender teachings: the movement from warriors of the fight to warriors of the light. She reflects on decades of working with male energy, the wounds carried across generations, and the path home to soul remembrance through choice, compassion, and innate wisdom. This episode offers grounded guidance for anyone walking beside a loved one—or themselves—through the fog of mental health challenges.

This episode includes discussions of abuse, suicide, and mental health crises. You can use the timestamps below to skip...

In this episode, Julia shares what it truly means to offer soul care — not just to others, but to yourself. Through story, remembrance, and seasonal reflection, she explores how tending to your Alma creates real connection, healing, and resilience during challenging times. And, she shares special invitations from The School Without Walls to support you in caring for your Soul Self of Being.

Mentioned in this episode:

In today's episode of the Indigenous Wisdom podcast, Julia opens the doorway into the quiet, sacred relationship between humans and the animals who walk beside us. Pets are more than companions—they are teachers, angels, and carriers of messages from both the physical and non-physical realms. Through stories from her own life, Julia shows how animals guide us, protect us, and invite us back into our own humanity.

Mentioned in this episode:

For more resources, explore The School Without Walls:

Julia Carmen returns with a personal story from the early days of The School Without Walls, the vision of the Light Beings. Through this powerful remembrance, she invites listeners to reconnect with their own calling, release fear, and honor the light within. This is a channeled teaching on awakening, healing, and remembering who you truly be.

Mentioned in this episode:

For more resources, explore The School Without Walls:

In this heartfelt episode, Julia Carmen explores the teachings of Chapter 11 of The Indigenous Soul. Through personal stories of healing and awakening, Julia reflects on what it truly means to live between the physical and non-physical realms. She shares how her own journey through illness became a teaching on balance, remembrance, and the inseparable nature of both worlds.

Julia closes with a simple blessing and playful reflection on self-love: “Me and you — how do you do?”

This month's Dragonfly Guides & Resources:

In today’s message, we meet the Purple Dragonfly, a messenger of protection, peace, and divine trust. Julia reflects on Purple Dragonfly's original message, and what it continues to teach about self-love, universal flow, and the remembrance of light within.

This episode is a gentle reminder that peace is not something to find—it’s something to remember. 

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In today's episode of the Indigenous Wisdom podcast, Julia Carmen invites us to explore Qué es una Bruja? — what does it mean to be a bruja today? She shares stories from her lineage, unpacks the overculture’s fear of the seer, and shares wisdom from the Dragonfly Guides to remind us that magic lives within us. This episode is a remembrance of ancestral knowing, courage, and the truth of walking in both worlds.

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Learn about the upcoming holiday Dia de los Muertos as Julia shares reflections of her experience of remembrance, honoring her ancestors, and embracing her meaning in life. You'll also learn about the free offering for this season: The Dia de los Muertos Resource Kit.

Links from today's episode:

Learn more about The School Without Walls  and the Dragonfly G...

In this episode, Julia welcomes Raina Joi Beach, an energy medicine practitioner and massage therapist who lives on the water in the San Francisco Bay. Raina shares about her life on boats, her love of nature, the medicine of clean water, and how living gently with the elements shapes her work.

Julia and Raina talk about energetic boundaries, nervous system healing, and why true bodywork begins in the non-physical. They explore “chi chi soul time” and what it really means to listen to the divine heart rather than the human one. The conversation closes with stories of comm...