Mahara Wayman [00:00:05]:
Welcome to the art of badassery where I explore what it takes to live life on your own terms, break free from the status quo, and unleash your inner badass. Whether you're a rebel at heart or simply seeking inspiration to step outside your comfort zone, this podcast is for you. I'm your host Mahara Wayman and each week I dive into the stories, insights, and strategies of those who've mastered the art of badassery and are living life to the fullest. They smile when no one is lucky. Welcome to the Art of Badassery podcast. My name is Mahara Wayman, and I'm so excited to introduce you to a incredibly unique and inspiring guest. Her name is Katie Valentine. Katie describes herself as not quite a shaman or a saint, but hopefully a little of each.
Mahara Wayman [00:00:59]:
She is a spiritual strategist dedicated to helping you plan your best spiritual journey, always leaving room for the delightful and the unexpected. No wonder she's on the show. Her official credentials are as diverse as they are impressive. She's a new testament scholar, ordained minister, shamanic practitioner, harpist, and a business coach. She has profound joy in accompanying others on their spiritual journeys with authenticity and integrity. Growing up in a blend of Catholic school, protestant church, and evangelical churches in Louisiana, Katie has become a Christian expansive person. Now living her dream life in Ireland, she enjoys playing the harp and reading science fiction in her free time. Join us today as we do a deep dive into her journey and explore the intersections between spirituality, music, and badassery.
Mahara Wayman [00:01:53]:
What a conversation we're gonna have. Katie, welcome to the show.
Katy Valentine [00:01:57]:
Thank you. What a lovely introduction. It's so gracious, and I'm I'm really happy to be here. And let's let's yeah. Let's see how spiritually badass we can get. I bet pretty far.
Mahara Wayman [00:02:04]:
Well, I was so intrigued when I read the information, first of all, when I first met you, but then when I read the information in your intake form. And I actually, folks, just asked her this about 5 minutes ago. I said, I've never heard the term Christo expansive person. And what was your response, Katie?
Katy Valentine [00:02:20]:
I said, I made it up.
Mahara Wayman [00:02:22]:
And I went, that's why she's badass. But that's
Katy Valentine [00:02:24]:
what's going on? I should probably come up with a more eloquent way of saying it. I invented it. I I coined it. How's that? I coined it.
Mahara Wayman [00:02:31]:
Coined it. So so good. Take us back to your upbringing because you've restated, and I I doubled it. Take us back to your upbringing. You were you grew up in a blend. How was that for you?
Katy Valentine [00:02:47]:
You know, in retrospect, it was really, really wonderful. I, and I could probably got all the hang ups you can get from all of those traditions and all the wonderful stuff. But the really wonderful part to me was I saw even though this was in a in a very Christian setting, right, like Protestant, Catholic, evangelical, they're all in the part of the same umbrella of religion. But I saw very quickly there was no one right way to do it. And I remember going home to my after being at this Catholic school all day, I said, well, the nun said this. My mom would say, oh, well, I see how I see why they think that. But actually, the way we think of it is this. And it's okay to have 2 different ways to think about whatever the topic was on my on my heart.
Katy Valentine [00:03:29]:
I think I think there was one nun who said Jesus is the one who had been in the Catholic church. And so I went home and said, if that's true, why aren't we Catholic? My mom said, I see why she said that. We don't think that's quite that's not quite nuanced enough. So yeah. So that was the real gift. And then the real hang ups were all the traditions were sort of, like, not very sex positive. So I kinda got Catholic guilt, protestant shame. I got a little bit of everything around sexuality, body, and gender.
Katy Valentine [00:03:56]:
So there was a lot to untangle there. So yeah. So it was a beautiful, wonderful mess.
Mahara Wayman [00:04:02]:
So how did you untangle it? Because whether you come from a spiritual background or a religious background of with your upbringing, society alone can give us hang ups.
Katy Valentine [00:04:13]:
Like Yeah. Oh, my gosh.
Mahara Wayman [00:04:15]:
So how did you, as a young girl, navigate while it is beautiful to have this open dialogue and recognition that there's different ways, different lenses that we can put on our interpretation? How do you actually navigate that?
Katy Valentine [00:04:28]:
Yeah. So navigating it, I think, as a teen was probably super challenging because teen brains are not built for a lot of sort of expansive nuance. Right? And so I it's probably not until I was in my mid twenties that it began to be a little more articulated in my life. And I began to see that I was not the first person on this rodeo. Right. Other people had done this. So there's a lot actually a lot of good conversation and good, good company on this kind of journey. You know, so but being younger, it was, well, this this family, this church, this whoever is doing it this way, mine is doing it this way.
Katy Valentine [00:05:04]:
Other people are doing it this way. And at the time, I thought there must be a right way. So it wasn't until much later that I saw really being to articulate for myself, well, they can all be right. And there's room for critique in all of those. So, you know, to this day, I you know, if I'm in a church and they have, like, an altar call and a sort of Southern Baptist evangelical style, I'm I'm so out of there. I don't even know
Mahara Wayman [00:05:27]:
who that is, Katie. You have Oh my gosh. Me.
Katy Valentine [00:05:30]:
Yes. And so it's, in in very evangelical churches or even in not very evangelical churches. In most evangelical churches, at the end of the service, there'll be sort of a call, like, if you're ready to accept Jesus as your personal lord and savior and have all your sins forgiven and start your new life, come down to the front. And there's this, like, prayer of acceptance that you can go and pray. And the idea is that then you're saved and then you'll go to heaven. Well, that is totally anti to any any belief system, any spirituality that I have. I don't think that there's a ticket to heaven of some kind of prayer that you pray. And I think heaven is here.
Katy Valentine [00:06:02]:
Like, we're we're creating heaven right now. You know? So it's not like it's not like I get away totally trauma free. That kind of stuff still really bugs me, but it bugs me because it's, it's not the expression of who I understand Jesus to be. It's it's an exclusive way to approach Jesus. And so when we talk about being Christo expansive, that's what it's about. It's about the expansive love of the divine as seen in the life of Jesus. Not about who's not getting in, but about expanding the table so that everyone has a place.
Mahara Wayman [00:06:37]:
How much what's been the reaction to that? Because I think it's a really great conversation, which is why we're having it. My background is very open. I I I think we were talking earlier that I didn't go to any specific church. My grandparents were Anglican on one side, Portuguese Jew on the other way back. I'm Jamaican. I grew up in a very spiritual home, but I had friends that were Christians. And I can just imagine that the reception wouldn't have been nearly as open as you and I just sitting here talking about it openly. So what have you what have you noticed along your journey with with the reception that people get when you have these conversations with them?
Katy Valentine [00:07:21]:
The people who are ready and who really need it are just utterly relieved. Right? They're they're like, oh my gosh. This makes sense. I don't wanna give Jesus up, but I don't know. Like, I a lot of people that don't know how to maybe navigate the complexity of many spiritual paths and broadening their spirituality. So those are my people, right? So they're, they're excited. Maybe a little nervous. They're ready to give some names and some terms to something that they've sensed all along.
Katy Valentine [00:07:47]:
You know, people who are kind of super close minded and the kind of Christians that are concerned more about hellfire and about Satan than about Christ and about love, They obviously don't really like what I do, but I don't take it personally because it's actually not about me. I threaten a core belief that they have. This way of spirituality threatens a core belief that they have in a core fear. So they're super triggered by me. Leave sometimes nasty comments. When I was on a a pod when I co hosted a podcast called The Heretic Happy Hour, we got some nasty voice mails from people who, you know, didn't appreciate my sort of my approach, but, like, whatever. They're on their journey. So a lot of people don't like it, but that's okay.
Katy Valentine [00:08:30]:
That's okay. It takes all types.
Mahara Wayman [00:08:32]:
It does take all types. When did you move to Ireland?
Katy Valentine [00:08:35]:
I moved to Ireland in 2021. So 3 years ago.
Mahara Wayman [00:08:39]:
Oh, it's been a dream of yours?
Katy Valentine [00:08:41]:
It has it was a dream of mine. I lived here in 1999 when I was a student. I did a semester abroad and then my husband and I started visiting in about 2014 and every trip got longer and longer and longer. And every time I flew in, I felt very much at home and very welcomed by the land, by the spirit and the energy of Ireland. So we began to say, wouldn't it be great if we didn't have to go home? And so finally we just didn't. We a lot of paperwork and bureaucracy and red tape later, we got to move here.
Mahara Wayman [00:09:09]:
So, so good. What has it been like submerging yourself in a land that has such a rich spiritual a rich spiritual practice or heritage, but one that I think and please correct me if I'm wrong because I am by no means a scholar. I'm a I'm a reader of historical romance. That is often said in Ireland. I'm just saying.
Katy Valentine [00:09:29]:
Perfect. Yes.
Mahara Wayman [00:09:30]:
But what I when you say when I picture Ireland, what I what I feel is a beautiful combination of and I don't know if it's, I don't know what the word the term is, but a little bit more archaic practice. And that maybe falls slightly outside of what I think of as Catholicism, for example.
Katy Valentine [00:09:50]:
Right.
Mahara Wayman [00:09:51]:
So it's a little bit more nature based and energetics Yes. Grounding in the earth. Very much a record of the power of of the earth and and the beauty that the earth holds.
Katy Valentine [00:10:02]:
Yeah. I think all of that is is on the money with my experience. And I'll, you know, I'll say that as someone living here, but but not from here, which has its own set of set of complications. But, you know, the way I describe it, sort of maybe poetically is I split my time between Galway City and a small village called Clifton, which is at the edge of this region called the Connemara. Every time I drive through the Connemara, it's about a 50, 55 minute drive. And you see these there's these 2 kind of low lying mountain ranges and they're made of quartzite. And you just get deeper and deeper into this part of the country and there's Irish speaking villages all around. And I just I feel more and more at home the closer I get to Clifton just driving through.
Katy Valentine [00:10:44]:
It's like the land welcomes me. And I definitely have the experience where I live and in other places here too. And there's so many ancient monuments that we have access to, stone circles and ancient tombs and standing stones and just this beautiful recognition of the land marked by these prehistoric stones that have been through the test of time. They've withstood the test of time long before anyone even erected them. And so there's this ancient spirituality that literally emanates from the land. And that's not to say that people in Ireland don't have problems, that it's not modern and contemporary. It very much is. But that part of the landscape has been welcoming me since 1999 and even before that, because when I put in my application to come here as a student, I was aware, very subconsciously.
Katy Valentine [00:11:37]:
I was kind of aware of that connection. And then, as far as kind of more formal religion, the Latin form of Christianity never fully took root in Ireland. So it was always a blend of pre Christian and then Christian systems and beliefs and rituals. So many wells, for instance, there's like 3,000 in Ireland. They're going every corner. But many of the wells here have pre Christian Christian origins and then
Mahara Wayman [00:12:05]:
they become incorporated within a
Katy Valentine [00:12:05]:
Christian landscape. So you're going to find people who say, well, Christianity took it over and they were trying to fool people. I actually don't think maybe that happens sometimes. I'm sure it does. A lot of medieval Christians were real jerks. But I think it's more likely that the local people were slowly becoming Christian and they retained the things that were very important to them. And so we find this really beautiful blend of, very ancient non Latinized practices that there's a there's there is an unbroken tradition. And so that part of living here just warms my soul.
Katy Valentine [00:12:43]:
Like I love it. I embrace it. I practice it as a shamanic practitioner. It's all about being out there and being in the land. And so I do that as much as I can.
Mahara Wayman [00:12:53]:
Thank you for sharing that and explaining it. And of course, I'm just thinking, oh, that I want that to be my next trip. Talk to me about or ask about the role that tradition has played in your spiritual journey. Have there been things that you will not let go because they just feel so good? Or or has it been a little bit of both where you're like, you know what? That not that that doesn't work for me anymore, but this is a truly embrace.
Katy Valentine [00:13:18]:
I I love that question because I my sense is that so many people feel like they have to reject everything from their former traditions and and take none of it with them. And so I love this idea that we can take the best of our human traditions, with us. So when I felt, when I felt the pool to become an ordained minister, which I have to tell you, no one feels has that first thought and thinks, Oh, goody. We all get that idea and we're like, well, shit. What what what's gonna have to change now? One more thing. Great.
Mahara Wayman [00:13:53]:
I wanna know more about that because that I would I've never given it any thought, of course, because that's not my it's not where I am in this in this Right.
Katy Valentine [00:14:00]:
Time around.
Mahara Wayman [00:14:01]:
Did you really think that? Like, it was
Katy Valentine [00:14:03]:
Oh, yeah. I was like I was like, I don't have time for this. This is a lot of it. This is a lot of inner work. I don't really wanna do all that, because it's not it's not an overnight process. If you're in an ethical tradition anyway, it's not an overnight process. You have to be you have to be formed and shaped and overseen, and you have to be given guidance, and you have to there's a great deal of surrender that has to go along with that. And I was like, I don't want to I don't want to do I was in the middle of a of a busy degree program.
Katy Valentine [00:14:30]:
So, but I, I was part of by that point in my life, I was part of a Christian tradition that ironically the founders from Ireland, although, he was already in the United States when the tradition began began to be formed, Where our our kind of one statement that we have, the only statement that we have is there's no creed but Christ. We have no formal creeds. We have no formal set of beliefs that someone has to sign on to. Like, Christ living Christ is our only, thing that we have to thing, person being, that we have to say yes to. So in that sense, that's not to say there's not a lot of traditions. Of course, there are because it's human institution and human institutions love to develop traditions. But one thing my, my husband told me about a month ago he had read is that traditions are just peer pressure from dead people.
Mahara Wayman [00:15:22]:
That's great.
Katy Valentine [00:15:23]:
And that's not to say that there's not great ones. So I think the ones that I hold onto are, I'm always in the process of kind of shaping them and letting them shape me and there's ones there that I don't even know they're there until I rub up against it And I think, oh, wait, is that a, is that a dead person peer pressuring me? Or is that an authentic tradition that I want to keep in, in my journey? So within a, you know, kind of within an institutional context, for us, communion, like the, the celebration of the Lord's supper is the thing that we do every week. But here I am in Ireland where there's no churches of my denomination, even though the founders from here, it doesn't exist here. And so even that one, I find myself it's not that I don't value it. It's that I don't have the opportunity with the community that shaped me to have that. So then what are other ways that I kind of have have the experience of eating with someone in common, which is essentially what the Lord's supper is. You know, so there's a lot of ways to experience, experience that without having the formal kind of structures.
Mahara Wayman [00:16:28]:
I was just gonna say that, you know, and I I see this in my coaching as well when I when I'm chatting with my clients is to your point, we can't always do what we wanna do out, you know, physically. Right. We can allow ourselves to go there in our minds. And we can Yeah. We can latch onto the feeling that we're looking for, the feeling of gratitude or of love or expansiveness. We can explore that internally and perhaps have a similar or even better experience that didn't actually include being in the church, whatever whatever the ceremony or the the tradition incorporates. I think it's a willingness to recognize that there is something greater and there is something inside that we can sort of access. Does that make sense?
Katy Valentine [00:17:17]:
Yeah. Yeah. Totally. And it's and that yeah. That internal sense of what is it that's that's calling to us and creating our own rituals and traditions. So maybe that's the part of my traditions that I really do hold on to because I I do love, a nice little structure and container, by which to do things. And so, like, I still do that even if what I put in the container is quite different maybe than from when I was growing up. Yeah.
Katy Valentine [00:17:40]:
So yeah. And now I have now I do ancestor work too. And so I'm like, what do you guys want? They may need they may want something a little different than I do. So
Mahara Wayman [00:17:49]:
I'm sorry. When you say now you do ancestor work, tell me more about that. Yeah. So this is,
Katy Valentine [00:17:54]:
yeah, part of my shamanic training and other other even beyond shamanism, I was already doing a little bit of work with ancestors. Yes. Doing ancestor work is entering into relationship literally with our ancestors and offering them healing energy, having them offer us healing energy and guidance. And so, you know, our ancestors, for the most part, have our very, very best interest at heart. And I believe that they're in living dynamic afterlives, whatever that is, and that they're still learning and growing and healing and some of them are coming back around for a second, 3rd, 100,000th time on earth, to learn their own lessons. So I have in my kitchen, I have a little ancestor's altar. So I often put, like, tea or I don't drink coffee, but I'll put tea there, alcohol on on occasion, and just kind of have informal thoughts, dialogue, conversation with them. And so some of them are, you know, that kind of super like, some of them would have loved that altar call that I just can't stand.
Katy Valentine [00:18:50]:
You know? So some of them may need, like, a gospel song once in a while. So I might put that on for them even though it doesn't float my boat, and that's fine. So, you know, it's also it's also part of that thought that there's many different ways to to experience the same divinity.
Mahara Wayman [00:19:07]:
That's it's such a beautiful way to recognize the diversity of the human experience. Yeah. Right? I happen to believe that we have many lifetimes. Yeah. I think, you know, when I heard you talking about Ireland and its effect on you, all I could think was, well, of course, you've lived there before. Of course.
Katy Valentine [00:19:25]:
Right. Yeah.
Mahara Wayman [00:19:26]:
Right? You know, some and, you know, perhaps we all have at some point. But regardless of our beliefs, even if you only think we have this one lifetime, which depending on your perception is true because as Mahara Wayman, this is my lifetime I've chosen.
Katy Valentine [00:19:42]:
Yeah. And you have a unique personality.
Mahara Wayman [00:19:44]:
Right. But even if you only think that, look at the differences in the world right now. We all we all look different, think different, have different cultures, different upbringings, different experiences. Yet we're so similar on the inside if we are willing to go there, which of course many of us aren't and that's why the world is the way that it is. Right. So so good. So what's what's something that you've learned about yourself perhaps recently that's become a bit of a surprise or that is is a bit of a surprise to you?
Katy Valentine [00:20:17]:
So the most recent revelation I can't remember if we had talked about this before or not. So, if this sounds like a softball, but I don't think it actually is. So about 3 weeks ago, I I came to a sudden realization. I was like, I have ADHD tendencies. I'm 46. I've been, you know, quite successful in, like, degrees and study and things like that. And I thought it it kind of was this realization because I've referred people to ADHD testing before but didn't never quite put it together for myself. And so it messed with my and realizing this and doing a little more reading, I haven't undergone a formal diagnosis, but I actually signed up with an ADHD coach because I thought there's probably some areas of my life that have been greatly affected by this whether it's tendencies or whether it's a formal ADHD.
Katy Valentine [00:21:04]:
But it kind of mess with my identity because I was like, I'm not someone with ADHD. I've never thought of myself that way. So it required a reformulating how I can think of myself
Mahara Wayman [00:21:15]:
as well. Interesting because I've had a similar experience where my one of my children looked at me one day and said, you do know that you're this. Right? You do know you're on the spectrum. And quite frankly, I didn't even know what the hell she was talking about because this is what my child studies, and I'm, you know, I'm 50 Oh. I'm gonna be 59 this year, and I'm very aware, but I didn't you know? And I'm like, actually, no. I don't know what you're talking about. She says, mom, you know how before you go to bed, you have to straighten every cushion in the living room and make sure the remote control is put exactly where it needs to be and this and this and this and this? And I'm like, yes. It's called tidy in the house.
Mahara Wayman [00:21:56]:
And she go, no. No. No. No. No.
Katy Valentine [00:21:58]:
Oh. I'm like, oh,
Mahara Wayman [00:22:00]:
so it was kind of interesting. But, really, it wasn't until I had this conversation with my she's 21. She's almost 21. We started this a couple years ago where I realized that there were things that I've done that most people don't do.
Katy Valentine [00:22:16]:
Yeah. And it's completely natural for you.
Mahara Wayman [00:22:18]:
Yeah. It was quite natural for me. And one of the things from as long as I can remember, I would look at if I saw somebody wearing a pair of glasses I haven't done it with you today yet because I'm so busy talking to you, but I would trace the form of the glasses, and it would have to be done in a certain way. Allow myself another thought. I'm like, because this way, they straight back, back, back, back 3 times, 3 times around, around, and back. Okay. Done. And I just thought everybody did that.
Katy Valentine [00:22:45]:
Mister Wright. Yeah.
Mahara Wayman [00:22:46]:
My daughter's like, no. Not everybody does that. I'm like, okay.
Katy Valentine [00:22:51]:
When I was bored in elementary school in my in my Catholic school, I used we had those I'm sure every one of the of the seventies or eighties kids can imagine these ceilings. They were, like, blocked off, like, big blocky ceilings that had, like, metal strips that ran through them or something. So they created squares and I used to count the syllables that someone was saying like one syllable per square to see like where it would end up. So I'm like, did that do other kids do that too? I don't know. I was I spent a lot of we spent a lot of time getting kind of lecture too that was pretty boring. So
Mahara Wayman [00:23:21]:
There you go. What else are you gonna do?
Katy Valentine [00:23:22]:
I would do that.
Mahara Wayman [00:23:23]:
You know, it does bring up this this really, I think, beautiful realization that there is power in conversation. Of course, most of us know that, but in really deep conversations, because this is what's interesting. It's interesting for me that at 56, I found out I realized, oh, not everybody does that. Wow. I've spent 56 years thinking that that was average, normal, and it wasn't. And that's not a bad thing. But how great is it now to be talking openly about our thoughts, our feelings, our experiences? And for the most part, in my circle, anyway, it's very open and loving and accepting. Obviously, there's areas in this in in the world where that is not the case, especially when you bring in your spiritual practices.
Mahara Wayman [00:24:09]:
Has there been anything that you've experienced where you went, okay. You know what? I'm not ready for that.
Katy Valentine [00:24:13]:
You know, and yeah. Actually, the the ancestor work, the the first time I did a shamanic journey and the when I was in my shamanic school the first time and it was quite early on like month 2 or 3 or something. And we did the shamanic journey to send healing energy to our ancestors and I could barely complete the journey because I got so angry at them in the middle of the journey. And you you kind of you're you're like visualizing or seeing your ancestors. And in the shamanic perspective, this is not a visualization. This is real this is happening in the in the spiritual plane, while you're on the journey too. And I was seeing some of them up there just had a sense of them, and I thought I'm not I'm not sending any of you any healing energy. I you know that you deserve it.
Katy Valentine [00:24:59]:
I'm not doing it. I I was just mad. I didn't even know what I was mad about. I was just mad. And I thought, okay, there's got to be one person up there I'm not mad at. And it was it was my aunt, my dad's sister. I thought, okay. I'm going to direct it at you.
Katy Valentine [00:25:13]:
You do with it whatever you need to do for everyone else. And so I had to really I had to really deal with why I was angry. And I thought, am I, you know, am I ready for ancestor work? But it's not skippable in this particular, you know, if you're if you're studying shamanism, you can't skip it. It's our ancestors are the closest, link we have to the other world and they're very present and they can be very, very helpful for us. And if, and if we want to break family traditions and family systems that don't work, ancestor work is one key way to do that. Not the only way. You know, therapy is also really good. There's a lot of different ways to do that and to break family to family systems that are toxic.
Katy Valentine [00:25:59]:
But ancestor work is a good one. And so that's one that was actually really challenging for me. It took me a couple of months to really sort through why I was angry at where where that was really about me, not about them. So I had to work through it with me and then enter into new kinds of relationships.
Mahara Wayman [00:26:13]:
Oh, so good. So good. Yeah. Mom and dad, what's how are they navigating your shamanism?
Katy Valentine [00:26:20]:
Well, it was funny because 2023 was this beast of a year. I had started my shamanic studies in 2022. In 2023 my father-in-law had been sick for a while but we, they were really recommending like he go into palliative and hospice care. So my husband and I decided we would move to Texas for however long it took up to a year, to be present with him and final months and then with my mother-in-law. Well, he ended up dying just 3 weeks after we got there. And so oh, yeah. Thank you. It's it's been a long time now, but, so everything just happened to kind of rapid fire much more quickly than we thought it would.
Katy Valentine [00:26:55]:
So then we were saying to help out my mother-in-law. And then at the same time, my father who was 79 at the time needed, extensive and major back surgery in San Antonio where we were. So my parents were coming to San Antonio, to visit. In the meantime, I'm traveling back and forth to Ireland to attend my shamanic classes once a month. So I had jet lag, like jet lag from hell. Like, it was crazy. But it was important. So that's how dedicated I was.
Katy Valentine [00:27:23]:
I was dedicated enough to fly back and forth once a month for like 6 months. 6, 8 months. And we made it work in a variety of creative ways. And so my parents were saying, why are you going back so much? And it wasn't that I was keeping it a secret. I just wasn't it wasn't quite speech ready yet because I didn't have all the answers that I knew they would want to have. So at one point near the end I said, let me tell you a little more. One of the reasons I'm going back and forth to Ireland so much. And I explained shamanism and what shamanism is and this course of study I was in and my mom said, honey, that sounds great.
Katy Valentine [00:27:58]:
You're going to need to explain this one more time because as soon as you leave, your father's going to think you're a member of the occult. I started laughing. I said, I didn't explain it very well. Let me try. Let me try one more time. So yeah, so they're, they're, they're cool. They're on board, you know, 40 years ago, would they have been? No. I don't think so.
Katy Valentine [00:28:16]:
20 years ago, would they have been? Maybe. But, like, they're also on their own spiritual journey. And, they've realized that I'm gonna do wackadoodle spiritual stuff wait for the day. Ago. So
Mahara Wayman [00:28:27]:
I can't wait for the day that may not be in my lifetime when it because I do the same thing is I I I make light of it by calling it wackadoodle. Alright. You know, I'm not a wacko. I think I said that recently in a podcast. And I can't wait for the day that that word is not needed. And I don't
Katy Valentine [00:28:41]:
Right. Yeah.
Mahara Wayman [00:28:41]:
People don't automatically do that because, you know, we've all had, I think, if we are willing to sort of look at it, experiences that that let us know that there is more. Yeah. Right? And it's whether we see it or not or recognize it or explore it. That's our that's our choice in this lifetime. But I've definitely had experiences where I know there's more. I know there's more that's that I've not seen. I know there's a a plane of existence that is right operating at the same time, maybe just a different plane. I just can't see it.
Mahara Wayman [00:29:11]:
I've had many people in my family have had ghostly experiences, for example. I've had my spirit guide has saved my life three times. Oh. Very, very conscious
Katy Valentine [00:29:22]:
Yeah. Special.
Mahara Wayman [00:29:24]:
I driving a car. I'll share one with you. I've had 3 car. I've had many car accidents, but 3 in particular where I was directed to to do something different and while I was driving. So I'm driving along, and I'm I'm approaching on a red light, a stoplight, and it turns green. And I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I took my foot off the gas, and I didn't go. And a car ran the red light, and I just watched it go in front of me as I come to a halt, almost a halt. And the car behind me was honking me like, why are you stopping? It's a right it's a green light.
Mahara Wayman [00:29:56]:
But I felt them I just felt somebody pull me back, and I just instinctively and when that happened, I just went, thank you, God. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I didn't really think of it as a spirit guide at that time. I was it was about 30 years ago, actually.
Mahara Wayman [00:30:10]:
And that's happened to me multiple times while driving. I've I've just felt Yeah. You know, you can't when you look back on it now, you you can't ignore that stuff. Like, that really Yeah. There's a reason. Right? Yeah. That I felt sort of divine intervention. And it's humbling.
Mahara Wayman [00:30:26]:
For me, it was a very it is even thinking about it, I get a little bit choked. It's kind of a humbling experience. Like, okay. I'm willing to admit that I don't know everything. I am not a smarty pants. I may know everything in my house on this level. I may know my children really well, but I don't know it all. And I've struggled with this idea of surrendering and trusting that things are gonna work out.
Mahara Wayman [00:30:50]:
And I think it's one of the things that as humans, we struggle with a lot, especially when we're going through a tough time. Right? It's like, okay. I'm a good person. Why why am I feeling so filled with angst? And why do I keep attracting drama and negativity and pain? And the last thing, you know, you wanna hear at that time, at least I did, was that the universe is here for you.
Katy Valentine [00:31:12]:
Like, you're creating it. Yeah. Yeah. I think so.
Mahara Wayman [00:31:16]:
You know, if I were creating it, I'd be skinny and rich and living, you know, the life of whatever, which of course I don't believe that anymore because that's Right. Aren't ideals for me, but being a little facetious. But bottom line is life can be very challenging. But I think when we open ourselves up to investigation and connection and conversation, like you and I are doing right now, it does offer a bit of light. So tell us a little bit more about shamanism because that's the one term that's I mean, I recognize it. But what exactly does that mean?
Katy Valentine [00:31:48]:
Yeah. And it's thrown around a lot in ways that are not always, supportive or or historically accurate. So the word shaman, it's a Siberian word. It comes from 1 of the Siberian tribes and it has been loosely applied to many cultures throughout time and space today. So one, let's just demystify that word. The word itself is not indigenous to most cultures that are actually now using it. So that being said, most cultures have elements of shamanism within them or really all cultures do, have elements of what we now call shamanism within them. So a shaman or in my case I'm not a shaman but a shamanic practitioner, but someone within this field is someone who knows is one definition, but really it's someone who goes to the other world to collect valuable information for the tribe, the individual, or themselves for the community and brings it back and then shares it.
Katy Valentine [00:32:47]:
And it's really that simple. I mean, it really is that simple. And so as someone who's steeped in this world then is always forming relationship with spirit and all the many ways that spirit appears. Forming relationships and then drawing on that spiritual energy for the good of humanity and to help reduce human suffering. So when looked at it from that lens, when I look at the person of Jesus, Jesus was doing shamanic work, someone who partnered with spiritual energy in order to relieve human suffering. And the work of Jesus, as I understand it, is someone who was feeding the hungry, who was, restoring people to community, and performing miracles when people were very ill. And that's that is that is shamanic work, at its heart. So yeah.
Katy Valentine [00:33:40]:
So in my work I do now, I coach entrepreneurs, leaders, and others who are wanting to be crystal expansive and doing that really important work of healing and there's like a lot of ways that we can go about healing. There's not just one way. One of the major modalities I use now is shamanic work, to help with the healing journey so that we can relieve our own suffering and by relieving our own suffering, we can then go about the collective work of making the world a better place because there's so many wonderful things in the world, but there's also no secret. So a lot of messed up parts of the world, Right? And so collectively, when we've done our own healing work, we can also relieve some of that suffering.
Mahara Wayman [00:34:20]:
So am I to under thank you for that explanation, by the way. Am I to understand then that it is possible that when we leave this this lifetime, we still carry we may still carry trauma, trauma Yeah. With us in the afterlife in between incarnations. Yeah. Yeah. So that because I heard you mentioned earlier, you know, when we when we look at generational trauma, it's not just for this current generation that we're healing. Right. It's healing in the past.
Mahara Wayman [00:34:49]:
So I just find that really interesting because, you know, part of me still has this belief that, well, when we die and we go into spirit form, it's all good.
Katy Valentine [00:34:57]:
Right? Yeah. We're back to being
Mahara Wayman [00:34:59]:
our we're back to being our whole selves. But I'm understanding now that that may not be the case. There may still be work for us to experience on that on that side or on that plane.
Katy Valentine [00:35:10]:
Right. I you know, so, a, who really knows? Right? Like, I don't I don't think we can really have all the answers to this, but, b, I can give you my I can just give you my thoughts on it. And who knows if I'm right or wrong or somewhere in between. But I so I think there's a part of ourselves. We usually call it, like, the higher self and the in the woo woo world. Right? That's you're gonna hear that all the time, the higher self. But that's a portion of us that dwells directly in the presence of God, source, universe, whatever we think it is that's the prime motivator of this crazy universe that we're living in. So part of us does die and then knows that bliss, knows that joy that's eternal, that never goes away.
Katy Valentine [00:35:50]:
And I think a part of us, it goes on to a plane kind of like this one, but a little less dense, a little less three d, where we're still figuring things out, where we're still healing, where we're still our personalities are are intact and are are deciding what comes next, what lessons did I learn, where did I do well, what do I need to come back and do a little bit better, better in. And I think that does personally, I think that does include past lives that may not be directly related to our, ancestry or our biological ancestry or the lives we're living now. So one good example of this, and I did a past life regression a year or 2 ago, a good friend of mine, actually a clergy colleague, and I saw the 2 of us and we were, witches in some past life, but we were witches who were drawing on negative power and energy. And I just had the knowledge that we were we were not doing good in the world. And whether that was because things were imposed on us, we were in an oppressive system, I didn't quite get all of that. But that we had opportunities to do it better that we didn't take in that lifetime. And that it has taken us and we've probably been in many lifetimes together now. It's taken us a long time to know that we can use our energetic powers ethically.
Katy Valentine [00:37:10]:
And so that's yeah. And so what do 2 people do who are still figuring this out? We become clergy. And and then we're very critical of clergy in systems who are, do this very poorly. So, you know, I'm very I'm very, very critical of when I see people misusing their pastoral power. It is a it's a fundamental betrayal of trust of the deepest kind, and I have no patience for it whatsoever. Why do I have no patience? Because hopefully I'm an ethical human being now. But b, I lived a lifetime where I also incurred harm and did harm to people. Right? So, you know, whatever I need to do in between lives to figure that out, hopefully, I'm doing it.
Katy Valentine [00:37:45]:
It.
Mahara Wayman [00:37:45]:
So, so good. I don't know if I've shared this on the podcast, but dreams are very important to me. Yeah. And I've I've had many experiences of being a lucid dreamer where I'm controlling the dream.
Katy Valentine [00:37:59]:
Oh, I'm so jealous.
Mahara Wayman [00:38:00]:
I and I've had yeah. And I've had a handful of experiences where I'm cognizant that I'm leaving my body and I can feel the energy change in my in my body. That is the coolest. But now I'm recognizing that a lot of my dreams over the years I don't believe they've been dreams. I think they've been memories. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And they're so powerful and so clear.
Mahara Wayman [00:38:24]:
And they have always been the the the gist of them are that I'm looking up into the sky. People around me are freaking out. I am not freaking out. I'm very aware and very comfortable. But I'm like, okay. Here they go. Oak oh, alright. Yeah.
Mahara Wayman [00:38:40]:
Okay. It's time. And it's as if I'm or some apocalyptic experience, but I'm not afraid. I'm just very like, oh, yeah. Right. I'm in the right place at the right time. And I had one just recently, like, within maybe 3 weeks ago. I was behind a huge glass pillar glass wall, excuse me, that was slightly angled.
Mahara Wayman [00:39:01]:
And there was a whole bunch of us, and we were looking up to the sky again. And instantly, everybody beside me was gone, but I was still standing. And I went, oh, yeah. Okay. Got it. And I was very calm, very happy. It was just bizarreorama. But when I woke up have those.
Mahara Wayman [00:39:19]:
Or even during the dream, I was like, oh, it's one of those yeah. This is a memory. Cool. And when I woke up, I'm like, I gotta write this down. Of course, I never did because it's I'm I'll never forget it. It's not a Yeah.
Katy Valentine [00:39:28]:
It seems pretty imprinted. Right?
Mahara Wayman [00:39:31]:
But I just I find it just fascinating. I mean, absolutely fascinating as I go as I talk to more people and just sort of explore what it means to because what I when I I've done past life regression. And I remember saying to my friends afterwards, I don't really know what this means. But no matter how I look at it, the human brain is amazing. Because I either Mhmm. Pick up this amazing story that makes perfect sense. Or I'm remembering something.
Katy Valentine [00:40:04]:
You're remembering Amazing. Or both. Yeah.
Mahara Wayman [00:40:06]:
Yeah. No matter how you look at it, that's kinda cool. Because I I was not hypnotized. I I wasn't doing drugs. It was just Right. The beautiful, calm, relaxing experience where I was invited to remember the past life that is most impacting this life.
Katy Valentine [00:40:21]:
Exactly. Yeah. And I a lot of people are are will think like, why do I need past lives? It's over and done with. Well, the goal is not for us to remember all past lives. That would be really overwhelming and not necessary. But exactly what you said. Right? We remember the ones that are impacting us the most right now. Either in terms of giving us, like, really cool information like you got like I love that like you just gotta have this everything is okay.
Katy Valentine [00:40:43]:
It is all working out you know like this moment of bliss like though we can remember that's where we're headed towards. Or like this is you know like the one I got information about being a witch in the past life, that's really valuable information. Right? That's giving me it also gives me a little tethering and anchor, like remember to keep myself aligned, remember to keep my values intact, remember to, to be ethical, and remember to, explore the word witch in an ethical way because that is a very maligned word in some corners of the world still, and that also needs a lot of demystification. So that was also an invitation for me to demystify that for myself. So, so now I now now I have a little more freedom to explore what's witchy about me. Like, that's part of the expansiveness. That's part of being crystal expansive. So super fun.
Katy Valentine [00:41:35]:
Like, house lives can be really informative, but I'm loving your lucid dreams too. Like, that's so exciting. I I very rarely have them, so I'm always I'm always excited for people who do.
Mahara Wayman [00:41:45]:
And I fly a lot in my lucid dreams, Which I know is is, you know, you're not gonna go down the Freud hole on your fine and all of that stuff. But this is such a such an interesting conversation. I'd I'd like to bring it back to some of the things that you've learned about yourself that qualify for our listeners as being badass. I mean, obviously, there's lots that you've said, but if you were to leave our listeners with some tips on how they can how we, I include myself in this, how we can develop levels of badassery to really support our spiritual journey, what would that be?
Katy Valentine [00:42:20]:
Yeah. So I think one is, not to put this on the back burner. I meet so many people who are, like, waiting till they retire to explore their spirituality or waiting till the kids grow up or waiting until they're pretty sure their family and friends won't critique them. That day is never coming. Just do it. Just to be as woo as you want to, and figure the rest out later. Because the day is not coming when no one will critique you for doing it. Someone will always someone will always be upset or whatever.
Katy Valentine [00:42:54]:
And so just be badass and just do it. Just dive in. Yeah. Go at your own rate. Like go, you know, find find the people who can support you. You're not alone, but like dive in waiting. If you wait, you're gonna be listening you're gonna be listening to this podcast in a future life and think that podcast is now 50 years old and I'm listening to it. Why didn't you know, because you were listening to it this time around and then you didn't take you didn't take the chance.
Mahara Wayman [00:43:19]:
Take action. Okay.
Katy Valentine [00:43:20]:
Yeah. I didn't take action. So, yeah, take action and take responsibility for our spiritual lives. Right? It's that we we are the ones who take responsibility, for spiritual lives. So we we can't undo, like, those those who grew up in had religious trauma, spiritual trauma. You're not responsible for the trauma that you receive. You are responsible for your healing.
Mahara Wayman [00:43:41]:
So I want you to repeat that because Yeah. Yeah. Can you say that?
Katy Valentine [00:43:45]:
Yeah. Yeah. And I want to say it with like as much emphasis as I can. You are not responsible for the trauma that happened to you and you're not responsible for abuse that happened to you. They're not your fault. You are responsible for your spiritual healing now. And putting that off only delays all the wonderful healing that you deserve and that elevates us. And it literally maybe this is the most badass thing I can we can I could say Our spiritual lives are the only thing we take with us when we die, literally? And I don't mean that in a hellfirebrimstone way.
Katy Valentine [00:44:19]:
You you hear a lot of like preachers, you know, repent, like that kind of stuff. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm like talking literally our spirits are the things that go on. We make agreements, we decide what we're gonna learn, what we learned well, what we need to learn and we're gonna come back into a new body. That's really the only thing you take with you. So if you don't wanna repeat some of the same mistakes and learn the same painful lessons another time, then start your spiritual exploration now and be badass about it. It's fun. You're like your it's the most fun it's the most fun part of life, when we explore all these blue things and bring them into our practical lives.
Mahara Wayman [00:44:52]:
What I love so much about those tips, and thank you for sharing them, but what I love is this. It's like giving ourselves permission to recognize that we are spiritual beings whether you we are we are. Like, whether you agree understand, recognize, or not. The the fact remains. But we can bridge the 2. We can use our spiritual exploit the exploration of our spirituality to support us in our day to day life. Right? This isn't I mean, that's that's the journey is finding a blend, I think, of the 2 and the thinking, not separating it. I'm only a spiritual person when I go to church on Sundays with my family, for example.
Mahara Wayman [00:45:32]:
Like, we are spiritual beings, and how do we find that level of excitement and comfortability and joy within that exploration on a daily basis? How do we live our purpose on a daily basis?
Katy Valentine [00:45:44]:
Yeah. And and your spirituality should be very, very practical. Like, it should be it should impact your practical everyday life and some of it should just be for fun as well. Like some of it won't be immediately practical practical. It's just really fun we do it because it's fun. But you know what? Having fun is really practical. It elevates your mood. I'm curious.
Mahara Wayman [00:46:05]:
What do you give us an example of something that
Katy Valentine [00:46:08]:
might just be fun. Think for a lot of people, doing like an initial past life regression might just kind of be for fun and curiosity. I think you talked about that on an episode I listened to recently, right? So we may just do it to see if we can do it. Right. It's kind of like doing a yoga pose. Some yoga poses we just do to see if we can do it, like to see if we can get there. In a shamanic journey, we never take a shamanic journey just for the hell of it. There always needs to be a purpose.
Katy Valentine [00:46:30]:
But a really fun shamanic journey to take is one into the future, to talk to our future selves and see what information we need to bring back to our current selves. Is that very practical? Yes. But is it also just delightful and fun? Actually, yes.
Mahara Wayman [00:46:43]:
You know, Katie, it's so interesting that you say that because I've shared, I think on past episodes well, I don't know, actually, because I talk for a living. But about a year ago, I was kinda struggling with my business, and I felt lost. I wasn't sure what direction to go in and what I should do, and should I should I give it up? And I remember saying a friend of mine said, well, why don't you just go get a job? And I'm like, I don't want a JOB. Like, are you I have a JOB with myself. But I remember I said to myself, what would future CEO Maharaj do in this case? And I literally decided in my head, okay. What would I what's what's the, you know, what's future CEO? What's the the suggestion? And I had to download instantly. Oh. And it was so powerful.
Mahara Wayman [00:47:33]:
I was getting on a plane. I was it was while I was flying to Vancouver. So an hour and a half later, when I left the plane, I knew exactly what to do. I did it, and it was brilliant. And there you go. So I love it. To your point. I mean, I didn't do a a shamanic practice, but I I kinda just You tuned in.
Mahara Wayman [00:47:50]:
I mean, I guess I did, but it wasn't knowingly. I just prayed for help and I actually asked my higher self. And one of the one of the only times that I think I was right
Katy Valentine [00:48:02]:
or that I listened
Mahara Wayman [00:48:02]:
to myself. Let me be clear. One of the only times I listened to myself. But that's part of the challenge, I think, of being human is recognizing the signs and the messages for what they are because sometimes we don't. Speaking for myself, I've gone a whole lifetime where I have missed the clues. And when I see the clues, now I have a vision of my spirit guides and ancestors being very happy. Oh, thank god
Katy Valentine [00:48:29]:
she got it. Yes.
Mahara Wayman [00:48:30]:
There she goes. Okay, guys. Good. Next plan. Plan b. Let's move on. She got it. We're on onto the next.
Mahara Wayman [00:48:36]:
So it can be fun if we allow ourselves the, if we allow ourselves that to just have fun with
Katy Valentine [00:48:44]:
it. Great.
Mahara Wayman [00:48:44]:
Yeah. Great badass. Katie, what's next for you? Anything coming down the pike for you in your business that you'd like to share with the audience?
Katy Valentine [00:48:54]:
Oh my goodness. Yeah. I am, actually, like, as we speak, I'm right. I'm at the midway point of having a spiritual starter kit for people. So maybe by the time this airs, that'll be available. So that'll be, that would be really fun. So especially for those of you who feel like you have busy minds that can't sit still, this is for you. Even if you have a perfect mind who is able to perfectly meditate the first time around, it'll still be valuable.
Katy Valentine [00:49:16]:
So I think a lot of people wonder, what do you like? How do you act like, what do you actually do? How do you get started, in the spiritual journey? So that's what this will help people do and it'll be some very practical suggestions like sit still for a minute and then you can be get busy fidgeting and then, some more more elongated ones like take your first shamanic journey, that kind of thing. So I'm really excited about that. And from there, I'll probably start reintroducing some groups about, like, finding lost soul pieces, finding your spirit guides, as well. So
Mahara Wayman [00:49:45]:
I love that I stuff. Starter kit for your spiritual Yeah.
Katy Valentine [00:49:49]:
I'm excited about it.
Mahara Wayman [00:49:50]:
Fantastic. Well, thank you so much for joining me today on the show. Really enjoyed our conversation, and I'm not quite as articulate as I would like to be, but I'm learning. So maybe we can have this conversation again in another 6 months, and I'll be a little bit Oh, lovely. That would be Thank you for having me. So thank you again, folks. Thanks for joining us today on the Art of Badassery podcast. Katie Valentine has been my guest, and it's been little bit different than usual.
Mahara Wayman [00:50:17]:
But I hope you like it, and please feel free to leave us a review and and a rating and share this episode with friends that you think need a little bit of badassery in their life. Take care, everyone. We'll see you next week. Katie, thanks again. Thanks for tuning in to another badass episode. Your support means the world to me. So if you enjoyed what you heard today, don't forget to like, share, and rate the episode on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback keeps the badassery flowing.
Mahara Wayman [00:50:51]:
And, hey, if you're ready to unleash your inner badass and conquer whatever life throws your way, why not book a complimentary badass breakthrough session? Just click the link in the show notes to schedule your session, and let's kick some serious butt together. Until next time, stay fearless, stay fabulous, and of course, stay badass. This is Mahara signing off.
