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Rachel White is modern-day shaman and the owner of TOTEM Readings, a decades-old spiritual practice. In the Skeptical Shaman, we engage fascinating folks-- from psychics to healers to skeptics and cynics-- in a dialogue designed to help the spiritually homeless navigate the landscape of woo. Are you curious about spiritually but worry about falling into a cult? Do you want to learn more without falling into a con? The Skeptical Shaman is the place for you.
95 Episodes
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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...
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 exp...
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...
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 has noted, it's a real challenge to make a living while sharing expertise and insights. As commoditiz...
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 the beginning of this episode! Up first? Yolanda opens up the proverbial kimono to get really real about expectations arou...
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 New Cold War With Russia and the Catastrophe in Ukraine; the 2021 book Enough Already: Time t...
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 and a relentless chronic pain disorder. Laura has been diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia, other...
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 arcane knowledge across his more than 60 years of hands-on esoteric experience. With legit certificates ...
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? Who is Lady Babylon? How does one use the Lesser Key of Solomon? (Word to the wise: DON'T...
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 Jehovah's Witness and undergoing the spiritual trauma (and dark night of the soul) that come with leaving th...
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 doing the impossible: taking time away from work to completely and totally invest in herself. She's growin...
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 totem animal, and inspiration for some of our most magical and transcendent works of art, like Swan Lake. Madia desc...
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 tough, stressful times. Even the most experienced practitioner-- armed with tried and true, Woo-...
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 difficult and challenging it can be in practice. After all: the map is not the territory, and Jen's meandering...
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 permeating an already overly saturated social media landscape littered with useless noise. Rachel and...
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 wound into its corresponding "medicine", both for the self and for others. Lisa is a hilarious, ...
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 York City's Central Park at night-- and producing stunning photos and videos of his nighttime adventures alo...
In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings), chats with the illustrious Miguel Conner: host of the *very* popular Aeon Byte Gnostic Radio AND Gen Wasteland podcasts. He is the author of many books, including Voices of Gnosticism, Stargazer, Heretic, and The Executioner’s Daughter. In this episode, Rachel and Miguel discuss his latest book, The Occult Elvis: The Mystical and Magical Life of the King-- the cover of which, as it turns out, Joe Rog...
1Welcome back fellow spiritually-homeless, skeptical seekers! You're in for a treat. Why? Well, the Skeptical Shaman podcast is kicking off 2025 with a real bang: no more walking on eggshells, clenching our jaws, or tip-toeing through the metaphorical tulips of cognitive dissonance, coercive control, or mass formation psychosis! Said another way? "Behold the field in which we grow our f*cks, for it is barren!" To kick off this new season of the pod, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) int...
In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings), chats with the incredible Vanessa Reiser: licensed clinical social worker, narcissistic abuse survivor and author of the incredible new book Narcissistic Abuse: A Therapist’s Guide to Identifying, Escaping, and Healing from Toxic and Manipulative People. Vanessa is the human embodiment of the phrase: "New levels, new devils", having been shot into the world of narcissistic abuse-- and helping others in hea...
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