Gnome Talk

Before temples. Before scriptures. Before gods with names, faces, and rules.How did humans understand the world they were standing in?In this episode of Gnome Talk, we explore animism and ask a simple but far-reaching question: Was animism the first religion, or something even older than religion itself?This conversation steps back into deep human history, before organized belief systems took shape, and explores how early humans may have related to the world as alive, responsive, and relational. We talk about animism not as superstition or doctrine, but as a posture toward life. A way of paying attention. A way of behaving in relationship with land, animals, seasons, and place.This is not an episode about proving animism is “true,” nor about replacing one belief system with another. It’s an exploration of patterns, instincts, and ways of seeing that may have existed long before religion needed structure, hierarchy, or control.In this episode, we explore:What animism actually is (and what it’s often misunderstood to be)How spirituality may have existed before religion had institutions or doctrineWhether animism functioned more as relationship than beliefWhy animism resisted being centralized or scaledHow animistic ways of seeing never really disappearedWhy animism still shows up in modern life, even among people who don’t consider themselves spiritualHow these ideas naturally align with gnome folklore and Gnomean valuesThis episode is reflective, curious, and intentionally open-ended. It’s meant to begin the year by asking older questions again, without pressure to arrive at firm conclusions.Maybe the oldest spiritual act wasn’t worship. Maybe it wasn’t belief. Maybe it was listening.

A Year-End Reflection, Gratitude, and Looking AheadThis is the final episode of Gnome Talk for the year, and it’s a different kind of conversation.In this episode, I take you behind the scenes of the Church of Gnome and walk through what this year actually looked like. Not just the growth and milestones, but the reality of building something meaningful while balancing responsibility, family, work, stress, and care.We talk about the quiet early months, the moment everything suddenly took off, the pressure that followed, and the lessons that came with growth arriving faster than infrastructure. I share honestly about the highs and the lows, the joy and the anxiety, and what it’s been like to steward a community that has grown into something far bigger than an idea on the internet.This episode also reflects on:The rapid growth of the Church of Gnome and what that responsibility really meansThe joy of seeing weddings officiated by Gnomean ministers around the worldMeeting members in person and witnessing the community come to life beyond screensThe challenges of moderation, emails, and care at scaleReal-world charitable impact and why moving slowly and intentionally mattersChoosing sustainability over speedEmbracing both the profound and the absurd without losing integrityThis year has felt like the moment when the roots truly took hold. And this episode is a living record of that season. A pause before turning the page.Whether you’re a long-time member, newly ordained, or just discovering the Church of Gnome, my hope is that this reflection helps you look at your own year with a little more compassion, patience, and perspective.Thank you for being part of this strange, sincere, growing community.🌱 Gnome Blessings.

The Winter Solstice arrives quietly. The longest night. The stillest moment. The point where darkness stops growing and the direction of the year begins to change.In this special Gnome Talk episode, we explore the Winter Solstice through a Gnomean lens—not as a rush toward light, but as a season of unseen work. Across ancient Pagan, Druidic, and Northern European traditions, humans honored this night not because it was dramatic, but because it was true. Fires were kept low. Evergreens were brought indoors. Seeds were counted and protected. Quiet guardians were remembered.This episode weaves together:The ancient meaning of the Winter Solstice and why humans always noticed itGnome and Tomte folklore as symbols of stewardship, guardianship, and unseen laborThe deeper purpose of solstice rituals like vigils, offerings, seeds, soil, fire, and evergreensHow winter mirrors the seasons of our own lives when nothing looks like it’s growing, yet everything is being preparedWhy endurance, rest, and tending foundations are not failures—but wisdomWhether you are deeply spiritual, quietly secular, or somewhere in between, this episode is an invitation to slow down, notice the turning, and trust the work beneath the surface.The solstice does not ask us to rush toward hope. It asks us to tend the roots.🌲 Gnome Blessings, and Happy Winter Solstice.

🎄 Pagan and Christian Origins of Christmas: Is Santa Really a Gnome? | Gnome Talk PodcastEvery December, we decorate evergreen trees, exchange gifts, light candles, and tell stories of a red-clad gift-giver who watches from the shadows of winter. But where did these traditions really come from?In this episode of Gnome Talk, we explore the true origins of Christmas—long before shopping malls and holiday playlists—and trace how ancient Pagan midwinter festivals, early Christian theology, and European folklore blended together to create the holiday we celebrate today.We’ll journey through:Yule and the winter solstice, where fire, evergreens, and feasting pushed back the longest nightsSaturnalia and Sol Invictus, Roman festivals of light, reversal, and renewalWhy December 25 became associated with the birth of Jesus—and why it wasn’t as simple as “stealing a Pagan holiday”The many ancestors of Santa Claus, from St. Nicholas to Odin, Father Christmas, and the Scandinavian Tomte and Nisse—literal household gnomes of Yule folkloreThe Pagan roots of Christmas trees, lights, wreaths, and ornamentsGift-giving as survival, ritual, and sacred responsibilityThe darker side of midwinter—Krampus, the Wild Hunt, and why winter myths always carried both warmth and warningThis episode isn’t about debunking or arguing belief. It’s about understanding how humans have always responded to darkness with story, ritual, generosity, and light—and how Christmas became a living patchwork of ancient traditions, faith, folklore, and joy.Whether you celebrate Christmas, Yule, both, or neither, this episode offers a deeper way to see the season—and maybe a new answer to an old question:Is Santa really a gnome?

We like to believe we’re rational. Clear-eyed. Objective.But what if the biggest threat to our clarity isn’t misinformation… it’s our own minds?In this episode of Gnome Talk, we explore the invisible force that shapes every belief, every argument, every community, and every relationship we enter: bias.Not political bias… not ideological bias… but the fundamental tilt in how our brains build reality.✨ In this episode you’ll discover:Why even smart, kind people can fall into cults, manipulative relationships, and high-control groupsHow the brain quietly edits our memories and perceptions to keep us feeling “right”Why doctors, therapists, and pilots create entire systems to catch their own blind spotsHow social media amplifies certainty, outrage, and divisionWhy we’re so good at spotting bias in others and so terrible at seeing it in ourselvesHow belonging, identity, and emotion override logic far more than we admitPractical ways to protect yourself from manipulation—without becoming cynical or closed-offThis isn’t an episode about shaming anyone.It’s about understanding the human mind, so we can walk through the world with more humility, more clarity, and more compassion—for ourselves and others.Because the truth is simple and unsettling:None of us see the world as it is.

Across decades and continents, ordinary people tell the same extraordinary story: bright lights, missing time, strange marks, and memories of being taken.Are alien abductions real, or are they something deeper, hidden in the folds of mind, myth, and mystery?In this episode of Gnome Talk, we travel through the modern mythology of UFO abductions, from Betty and Barney Hill’s 1961 encounter to the chilling theories of Extraordinary: The Seeding, and the science that tries to explain it all. We’ll hear how experiencers describe their moments under the lights, what hypnosis and psychology reveal about memory and trauma, and why these stories refuse to fade no matter how many explanations we invent.✨ In this episode you’ll learn:The origins of the alien abduction phenomenon; from early contactees to modern casesThe most famous abduction accounts: Betty and Barney Hill, Travis Walton, Whitley StrieberThe hybridization theory explored in Extraordinary: The SeedingThe science behind abduction memories: sleep paralysis, temporal lobe phenomena, and hypnosisPhysical evidence, multiple-witness reports, and government studies that still puzzle researchersWhy abduction experiences can transform lives, turning fear into purposeWhat these stories might reveal about consciousness, trauma, and humanity’s longing for connectionWe’re not here to preach or debunk. We’re here to listen to the data, the disbelief, and the mystery that lies between.🎧 Listen now and decide for yourself.Because whether these encounters are psychological, spiritual, or truly extraterrestrial, they tell us something profound about being human beneath a sky that still refuses to be empty.

Are ghosts real—or are we just very good at feeling what memory leaves behind?In this episode, we walk straight into one of humanity’s oldest conversations: ghosts. From clay tablets and cathedral walls to deathbed visions and midnight hallways, we explore why so many people across eras and cultures have said, “Someone is here.”We’re not here to stage a courtroom. We’re here to look—carefully and kindly—at the experiences, the science, and the meaning:Why every culture has language for the lingering dead (ancestors, hungry ghosts, yūrei, shades).Evidence & testimony: the “presence,” footsteps, scents, apparitions, EVPs, and multi-witness moments.The science of ghosts: sleep paralysis, infrasound, pareidolia, EMF, carbon monoxide—and what remains after the drafts are sealed.Theories: earthbound spirits, residual hauntings (recordings), ancestor visits, purgatory/bardo, and modern ideas (consciousness as energy, layered time).The two faces of ghosts: tender visitations that comfort—and hauntings that demand boundaries.What ghosts may say about life after death: continuity, responsibility, and the possibility that the veil is a hinge, not a wall.✨ You’ll hear about:Visitation dreams vs. fear-weather dreamsResidual hauntings and “place memory” (why some rooms won’t become ordinary)How to hold mystery with reverence without credulity and curiosity without contempt

Not all gnomes are garden guardians. Not all fairies bring blessings.In this episode of Gnome Talk, we step into the shadowed corners of folklore—the stories most people skip.For generations, tales of the hidden folk have carried two faces: one kind, one cruel. Tonight, we uncover the darker side of gnomes, fae, and forest spirits—the duendes of Latin America who lure travelers astray, the changelings of Celtic myth who replace human children, and the wild beings who guard the world’s forests with teeth as much as tenderness.Join us as we explore how these unsettling legends grew, why ancient people told them, and what they still whisper about respect, boundaries, and wonder. From European ruins haunted by redcaps to the shadowed timberlines where Sasquatch still walks, this is folklore at its deepest—part caution, part reverence, and part reminder that the world has edges that remember.

From ancient Mesopotamian amulets to modern exorcisms and haunted houses, humanity has always asked the same chilling question — Are demons real?In this in-depth episode of Gnome Talk, we travel through thousands of years of lore, faith, and fear to uncover how the idea of demonic forces shaped our world. Explore how every culture—from the deserts of Babylon to the cathedrals of Europe and the forests of the Americas—has named, battled, and tried to understand the unseen.We’ll revisit infamous possession cases like Anneliese Michel, The St. Louis Exorcism, and The Conjuring House, and see how religion, psychology, and human experience collide when the air turns wrong. From Catholic exorcisms to Islamic ruqyah, Jewish dybbuk rites to shamanic extractions, discover how people across the globe still fight the dark—and what that reveals about the human spirit.

Gnome Talk Ep. 28 — Everyone Is Weird (and That’s Beautiful)Your oddities aren’t a problem to fix. They’re gifts. In this episode we explore how difference can be sacred, why peace doesn’t require sameness, and how to hold strong convictions without losing basic human decency.

What if gnomes, fae, Sasquatch, and nature spirits are more than folklore—what if they’re neighbors waiting just beyond the veil? 🌿🧙‍♂️In this episode of Gnome Talk, we explore a bold idea: if CE5 (Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind) can invite UFO contact through consciousness, could similar practices help us connect with the intelligences of Earth—gnomes, elementals, land spirits, and more?We’ll journey through:✨ Real-life claims of gnome and fae encounters (both physical and spiritual)✨ The surprising overlap between Sasquatch sightings and fairy lore✨ Consciousness as the bridge—how visualization and intention create contact✨ The Nature Consciousness Encounters (NCE) scale—our framework for meeting unseen neighbors✨ The Gnomean Contact Compass: Place, Posture, Participation, and The Unseen✨ How ancient practices, modern CE5 groups, and new Gnomean spirituality all point to the same truth: the world is alive, and it might be listening.You don’t have to believe to listen. In the Church of Gnome we hold fast to the Sacredness of Maybe—an open door where wonder and possibility live.

Gnome Blessings, fellow Gnomeans.What if the world is full of neighbors we rarely notice? Not just birds and foxes, but the ones folklore whispers about—the sylphs who ride the breeze, the gnomes who tend the roots, the undines who swirl in the tide, and the salamanders who dance in the flame.In this episode of Gnome Talk, we take a backpacking trip through the Sacredness of Maybe—exploring the ancient origins of the four elements, Paracelsus’s Renaissance classification of nature spirits, the tangled web of fair folk in global folklore, and the modern mystics and scientists who keep this conversation alive.Whether you take it literally or symbolically, we’ll explore how personifying nature can change the way we treat it—and why “acting as if” might be one of the most magical things we can do. Along the way you’ll hear:Ancient Greek, Chinese, and Renaissance visions of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water 🌍💨🔥💧How folklore fairies and elementals overlap (and where they don’t)The story of Findhorn’s giant cabbages and the idea of “partnering” with plantsModern science on forests as living networks and Earth as a self-regulating systemEveryday ways to work with the unseen—rituals, offerings, and relationship with placeYou don’t have to believe in gnomes, elementals, or fae folk to join the journey. You only have to step into the maybe, light your candle, and see if the path looks brighter.

What happens when a joke becomes a movement?In this behind-the-scenes video, I share the wild, honest story of launching the Church of Gnome—from slow beginnings to explosive growth, the joy of community, the chaos of scaling, and everything in between. Whether you’re thinking of starting your own spiritual group, nonprofit, or mission-driven brand, this is the real story of what it takes.

The Hidden Folk of Iceland: Elves, Fairies, and Folklore in Real Life🧝‍♀️✨ A new Gnome Talk episode exploring the magic, mystery, and real-world impact of Iceland’s hidden people.What if elves were more than myth?What if fairy folklore could shape modern law, pause construction projects, and influence how an entire country treats the land?In this episode, Gnomean Elder Brett Larsen takes you on a journey through Iceland—where belief in Huldufólk (the hidden folk) still lives on. These aren’t just bedtime stories. They’re active forces in Icelandic life, influencing everything from politics to parking lots.You’ll hear about:🌋 Elf churches that halted government infrastructure🛑 Roads rerouted around sacred boulders🏠 Houses and towns built around fairy dwellings📜 Legal protections for enchanted sites🕯️ Modern rituals—like lighting candles for elves on New Year’s Eve🌿 And the deeper message behind these stories: how belief in the unseen can cultivate reverence, respect, and a more conscious way of living.This isn’t just about Iceland—it’s about what we lose when we stop making space for wonder.

What if forgiveness isn’t about excusing what happened…but about setting your heart free from carrying it any longer?In this episode of Gnome Talk, we explore the sixth Gnomean Principle:Forgiveness and Reconciliation“To release another from the chains of the past is to unburden your own heart and set both souls free.”But we don’t treat forgiveness like a buzzword.We talk about it honestly—acknowledging the pain, the boundaries, and the complexity that comes with trying to forgive when you’ve been hurt.This episode is for anyone who’s trying to make peace without compromising their self-respect.For those wondering whether to let someone back in—or whether letting go is the only way forward.For those carrying anger, guilt, or grief over something they can’t quite forget.We talk about:– The difference between forgiveness and reconciliation– Why forgiveness doesn’t always mean reconnection– The role of accountability in an era where every mistake is public and permanent– Releasing resentment without losing your boundaries– A gentle, grounded way to move toward healing—without pressureYou are allowed to forgive without forgetting.You are allowed to walk away without hate.You are allowed to heal on your terms.

What happens when you walk away from the religion you were raised in…but still carry a deep hunger for something sacred?This episode is for anyone who has left a spiritual path—whether it was strict, controlling, shame-based, or just no longer fit—but still finds themselves holding quiet questions, spiritual longing, or grief for what was lost.Since starting the Church of Gnome, one of the most unexpected and powerful things that’s happened is how many people have reached out saying:“I grew up in something intense…and I didn’t realize how much I needed a space like this until I found it.”In this episode, we talk about:– Why people leave religion (and why that takes courage)– What gets lost, what might be worth keeping, and what you’re allowed to reclaim– The grief, fear, and silence that often follow deconstruction– How the sacred still lives in the everyday—quiet, unrushed, and fully yours– What makes the Church of Gnome different, and how it’s become a gentle home for so many spiritually wounded wanderersYou don’t need to believe in gnomes.You just need to believe that your story isn’t over—and that you’re allowed to keep what still feels real.

What if confidence isn’t loud?What if believing in yourself has nothing to do with being certain… and everything to do with choosing not to shrink anymore?In this episode of Gnome Talk, we explore what it really means to believe in yourself—not as performance or hype, but as a deep, quiet act of returning to who you truly are. This is for the ones who second-guess, who hold back, who are always steady for others but unsure how to be steady within themselves.If you’ve ever wrestled with imposter syndrome…If you’ve ever waited to feel ready…If you’ve ever questioned whether you’re “too much” or “not enough”—This episode is for you.🧙‍♂️ In this episode, we reflect on:– The emotional weight of self-doubt– The quiet ways we learn to hide ourselves– Redefining confidence as a form of self-trust– Gnome-inspired wisdom about rooted presence and humble courage– A blessing for those learning to show up without apology✨ You don’t need to become someone else to believe in yourself. You just have to come home to yourself.

Can a spiritual life make room for grief and humor? For sacred silence and fart jokes? For ancient symbols and Bigfoot memes?At the Church of Gnome, we believe the answer is yes.In this episode, we explore the deep and often overlooked relationship between the serious and the silly, how absurdity can be a spiritual tool, and how humor can be a bridge that connects people in ways belief alone sometimes can’t.We talk about why gnomes make the perfect symbol for this middle space: strange, earthy, symbolic beings that live in the threshold between mystery and mischief.And we dig into what it really means to hold space for people to be fully themselves; not just their polished, spiritual selves, but their weird, wondering, questioning, laughing, evolving selves.

What do you do when your beliefs no longer fit, but you’re still drawn to something deeper?In this episode, I share my own winding journey through belief, doubt, and rediscovery from childhood experiences with Christianity, to exploring UFOlogy, philosophy, and meditation… all the way to the unexpected but meaningful role gnomes played through every phase.This episode isn’t just about my story. It’s about what it means to grow, question, rebuild, and stay open.It’s for the seekers. The lifelong believers. The doubters. The ones in between.It’s for anyone who’s ever asked, “What do I believe now?” and wasn’t sure how to answer.🧭 We explore:– How belief evolves (and why that’s okay)– Why certainty isn’t the goal– The connection between folklore, grounded spirituality, and personal meaning– And how gnomes became a living symbol of something deeperWhether you’ve held the same faith your whole life, or you’ve rebuilt yours more than once, there’s something here for you.🧙‍♂️ Gnome Blessings to all who wander, all who wonder, and all who still believe in something, even if they don’t know what to call it yet.

In this deeply personal episode of Gnome Talk, I open up about a season of profound loss, my best friend, my younger sister, two aunts, and most recently, my grandmother.I don’t have all the answers about death, the afterlife, or what comes next, but I do have lived experience, intuitive moments, and a kind of peace that has helped me stay grounded through it all. This episode isn’t about beliefs, it’s about presence, connection, and the mysterious threads that help us hold grief without falling apart.I share the story of being present with my grandfather in his final moments, the intuitive pull to visit my grandmother just before she passed, and the quiet knowing that even without certainty there can still be meaning, love, and peace.If you’re navigating grief, this episode is for you.🙏 We don’t have to know everything to hold each other through something.💬 Share your experience in the comments, and subscribe for more episodes of spiritual reflection, gnome wisdom, and real conversations.Gnome Blessings to all who grieve, all who hold space, and all who still find beauty in the face of endings.