The Knowing

Season 2 Episode 7: Claiming Responsibility, Moving out of Scarcity, and the D-Word.

Well hey there, everyone. What a fun conversation this was!I feel like a LOT has been coming through within this liminal space we are currently occupying—this space of being not what we were, but not quite yet what we are becoming...—and Allison & I explored several themes that seem to be popping up frequently: namely, responsibility, scarcity, and that big ol’ D-word, discipline. In this episode we explore:A philosophical basis for the prevalence of competition and scarcity-mindedness in our Western culture, along with some tips on how to move away from it. Shamanic tools for shifting our biological tendency to focus on the negative The REAL meaning of discipline, and how to practice it. (along with a lot more…) I hope you enjoy the conversation. All the love. xConnect with us here: Allison Strickland: Website and InstagramCiel Grove: Website and Instagram

Season 2 Episode 6: What is Healing?

Hello friends, and happy holidays. I hope this has been a beautiful time for you all, and I wish perhaps especially that the Solstice and depth of this winter season has been clarifying and meaningful. It certainly has been for me. This is a great episode. Allison & I explore the idea of what ‘healing’ really is, and how that idea shifts depending on what system you’re utilizing. From the perspective of Shamanic practice, it is entirely possible that a person can pass away from this life and still ‘heal’, while a person may go through a life-threatening experience and remain alive but…not heal at all. Healing in this system is never about the abatement of symptoms as is classically thought in Western systems of medicine, but rather about the wholeness that may potentially be cultivated through the healing process. Hope you enjoy xx

Season 2 Episode 5: Adulting

I think that Shamanic practice offers a very beautiful (albeit difficult) perspective on what it means to really ‘grow up’, as in this work being an adult is not so much related to whether or not we can pay our bills and maintain a job (though, yes, that it still important..) as it is to whether we do, say, think, and feel all the same thing. To be an adult in this tradition is to be in alignment, and to be fully awake to the responsibility we have as individuals to be showing up with the greatest integrity possible. It is the practice of always consciously doing our best. In this episode Allison & I dig deep into this topic, dispelling (I hope) some myths around what Shamanic practice really is about, and what it is not. There’s a whole lot of magic in this beautiful practice and way of being in the world, sure, but the nuts and bolts of the work—and, ultimately, the pursuit and experience of power, which we also dive into a bit here—are about consciously attending to how we show up in the world. How we adult, you might say. I hope you’re all fairing well out there, friends. big love.

Season 2 Episode 4: The Challenge with Choices

This was such a fun conversation to have, all about how we make choices, whether we are REALLY making conscious choices and being honest with ourselves, and how to engage with making better choices in every area of our lives. My apologies again for the lack of show notes (I might take up those podcast pesterers who can transcribe them all for you someday soon, cause that sounds like a really good and timesaving option…). Hope you enjoy, friends. Lots of love

Season 2 Episode 3: THAT card.

Oh man. It has been quite a time. I’m so sorry for not posting podcasts the last while, for those of you who might be waiting on these! I explain a bit more in this session about what has been going on, but omitted a lot of other life craziness that has prevented things from happening! I am currently down at our neighbours after having the internet go on and off for the last couple weeks. We had a herd of cows terrorizing our yard. We got a puppy. I’m trying to do a Master’s degree online (with said internet NOT WORKING). It has been snowing/raining/freezing/terrifying for days now. Everything feels like one big intense vortex indeed! But…we’re switching things up a bit, and today is a return back to what has happened in the past, and I hope it will feel as right for you as it did for me. I apologize for not having better show notes, but this is what we’re able to do for right now, so that’s just going to have to work :) LOVE YOU ALL. Connect with us here: Allison Strickland: Website and InstagramCiel Grove: Website and Instagram

Season 2 Episode 2: Sacred Water

As human beings, our relationship to water is essential, and sacred. And yet it seems like we take this element for granted or don't acknowledge what a lack of water or even connection to water will create in our lives. This episode is dedicated to the practice of conscious connection with water, and in it we explore: why hydration is so essential for being able to navigate these difficult times. what it means to really make something 'sacred', and how to do it. how to connect with water and what it offers as a teacher and healing energy. It is always amazing to be here with you all. I hope this episode and the practices suggested are helpful. Connect with us here: Allison Strickland: Website and InstagramCiel Grove: Website and Instagram

Season 2 Episode 1: Into the Vortex

Hey friends- welcome back. We’re so happy to be back in this space with you all. Let’s dive right into here, shall we? In today’s episode we’re exploring the realities of this ‘initiation’ that we are moving through while transiting the intense vortex energies of this time. We talk about: - how sacrifice and letting things die is a necessary part of any initiatory process. - why the scariest part of letting go isn’t necessarily the release, but the fear of the liminal space we move into. - why working with your beliefs about life and reality is a necessary part of this process. This episode is a little longer than most as it includes an addendum from me offering a bit more exploration of practice. I intend to offer a practice component for each week from here out, and this will be included at the end of the conversation with Allison, just FYI. As always, please reach out if you have questions or are looking for clarification on anything we explore here. We love to hear from you. @cielgrove is me. @allisonstrickland is my lovely friend. Big love and support to you all. So glad to be moving through this with such good company.

Episode 15: This is the end.

Wellll…at least for now. Welcome to the Season Finale, folks. We will be returning to this space in a few weeks (stay updated on Instagram with me @cielgrove), but I felt that this was a good time to pause, create some very deliberate content, and return with some specific practices, teachings and philosophy in anticipation of this new ‘vortex’ approaching. The energies around and within us are intensifying, and will continue to do so, and so it feels important to offer clear and meaningful support during these times so that we all may maintain our centres and come to this transformation with our feet on the ground and our hearts and minds open. Beyond exploring what this might mean and look like, today’s conversation settled on a discussion of the concept of Yin, and how this related to the Water card, to surrender, and to overall well-being. We explored a whole range of aspects of the Yin and how it feels like it is commonly misunderstood, and how the ancients told us to conceptualize what it truly means in our lives. Thank you all for walking this journey with us, and I look forward to meeting you all back here soon. Big love. Connect with us here: Allison Strickland: Website and InstagramCiel Grove: Website and Instagram

Episode 14: Spiritual Ownership, and Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

We recorded this last week on a morning when both Allison and I were feeling really good. The heaviness of the previous while had lifted for a bit, and we had some good laughs and explorations of a wide range of topics (how unusual…)Some things you can look forward to exploring with us this week:How I feel about ‘ownership’ and where it comes from, and…whether it has a place in spiritual work.Why Ayni is a better place to put our attention and energy.The importance of looking at both the relationship we form with the outside world AND the relationship we have with ourselves when thinking about Ayni.Exploring the idea of Intersectionality as a philosophy, and how this doesn’t entirely explain what kind of trauma an individual might be carrying.

Episode 13: Where are we trying to get to?

This is likely to be the first of many, many episodes where we will attempt to explore the ‘purpose’ of Shamanic medicine, of healing, of spiritual practice, and of pretty much everything we engage with as modern seekers. Where are we trying to get? Who are we attempting to become? And if all the answers are already inside and present within us, are we actually trying to ‘get’ somewhere…or is something else afoot? In this episode (which, be warned: feels a little ungrounded after listening to it a few days after recording. There were some intense energies happening this past week, and I think that resulted in a very wiiiiide ranging conversation) Allison and I explore some ideas like: How do we make sense of events that happen in our life when we are ‘looking for the message’ in them? Why medicine isn’t aiming to prevent falling apart, and what it is actually trying to accomplish. Why Allison might be using this episode to break up with me (and Shamanic practice).. The amazing (and terrifying) medicine of ‘Petty Tyrants’, and why the person that is most difficult for you might also be your best medicine. How we need to respond when there’s abuse what the ‘small m’ magic of spiritual practice might be, and what I experience the ‘big M’ magic to be. Connect with us here: Allison Strickland: Website and InstagramCiel Grove: Website and Instagram