Exciting news! Sophie Strand returns to The Numinous Podcast with a probing conversation around her stunning new memoir, The Body is a Doorway, and:

• the meaning of the word "health"

• the debatable value of pursuing a complex medical diagnosis

• orienting towards a reparative reading of the body

• New Age purity culture and healthism

• avoiding the pitfall of one's work being seconded to support a Pollyanna narrative or spiritual bypassing on a 'healing journey'

• navigating complex health issues that overlap with sexual trauma

• one of my favourite answers (in over 250 episodes!) to the question: How are you coping with grief and rage?

Content Note: All the usual warnings around dealing with sensitive material – it' a conversation that goes deep around many forms of trauma. Especially if you have a sensitive nervous system, consider doing some light tasking while you listen, keep your arms and legs moving while you listen if you can, or listen if small increments.

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Ep.205: Sophie Strand on Mary Magdalene and Miracles

Join us in The Numinous Network (where sensitive nervous systems are centered and people really understand this type of journey).

This is a conversation about the ritual my husband and I devised – mentioned briefly in my new book, Spells for the Apocalypse – and which we've shared with many friends who've heard us refer to it, who've asked us how to do it, or for advice on what we've done when our marriage was on the rocks. We touch on topics like the real estate market, intergenerational trauma, neurodiversity, astrocartography, collapse-oriented choices we've made, attachment and the somatic cycle – all my favourite things!

This ritual was a "Hail Mary" move in our marriage. Granted, we've never dealt with infidelity or lies, and we've always had a foundational respect. We really, genuinely like each other which, sadly, not all couples can say.

However, patriarchy is still in play, what with us both steeped in this patriarchal culture. And trauma always lurks in the shadows. And attachment is a dynamic force that can sometimes be stretched too thin.

So here's the breakdown of the ritual we've done in desperate times, why we think it worked/works, and the impact it's had on our marriage. We call it The Ritual of the Marriage Moon.

We begin with a little context around why we needed the ritual in the first place, and how it's still serving us many years later.

Referenced in this episode:

Diane Poole Heller's somatic attachment therapy training

Portrait of a Marriage podcast miniseries

Portrait of a Marriage article

The Roots of Addiction in Free Market Society by Bruce Alexander

The Numinous Network (where you can access my two attachment courses: Secure and Contact Nutrition 101)

*Not referenced in this article but definitely related and recommended for man-identified folks who want to learn more: Bear Hebert's course, Undoing Patriarchy

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On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, Timothy Snyder

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Buy The Spirited Kitchen: Recipes & Rituals for the Wheel of the Year

Buy Spells for the Apocalypse: Practical Magic for Turbulent Times (publication date: Jan.14, 2025)

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