Despite Mother Nature’s best attempts to rat-f*ck our ability to host The Summer Porch Tour comedy show here in Austin, TX, we made it happen— and had fun, largely due to the lovely presence of some great people: Amy, Natalie, Alyssa, Audrey, and Megan, not to mention the man himself: Robbie “The Fire” Bernstein.

Robbie is the host of the Run Your Mouth podcast and one half of the hosts of the Part of the Problem podcast, along with comedian and Libertarian commentator Dave Smith. He’s also a very funny (and very nice) guy, who took the time to sit down with me in my energy work room to chat all things flower essences, demons and the Woo more broadly.

In particular, we discussed the sense that a “spell is breaking” in our world, and that the old rules (and systems of control) seem to be evaporating. Is it chaotic? Yes. Sometimes scary and turbulent? Absolutely. But, as Robbie and I discussed, perhaps this is the liminality required to usher in a new world— with new spiritual opportunities.

That evening, after the live comedy show, Robbie also interviewed the world-famous Scott Horton of AntiWar.com in my backyard:

Scott has been featured on the Piers Morgan Show, Breaking Points, and many more podcasts and television programs, typically asserting his anti-war point of view— and sharing his robust research, which he puts into his many, many voluminous books.

And, whatever your politics may be, I think we can all agree that we need more open and honest dialogue that doesn’t result in a Puritanical mob stringing you up to be burned at the proverbial stake.

As a shaman, I embrace all discussions, activities and debates that urge us to question the nature of our reality— and, in particular, that get us out of our rigid group identities and into our own independent thought. This is, as Dr. Cherlyn H.T. Jones recently shared with me while I was on the Gen X Wasteland podcast with

What’s more: the tradition of the sacred clown, or Heyoka, is a long and storied one in most Native American tribes— including the Lakota Sioux, some of my ancestors on my mother’s side of the family. These sacred clowns serve as holy tricksters, shamans, satirists and contrarians whose purpose was to “shake up” the default settings on the tribe members’ assumptions, getting them to reconsider norms and go deeper into their spiritual practices, ultimately cutting loose of the Wetiko mind virus.

So, if you find yourself getting offended by Scott, Robbie or any comedian (or me, for that matter!), consider that you’re receiving some “medicine” from a sacred clown. You don’t have to agree. You don’t have to like what they say. You don’t have to make it a part of your own psyche, belief system, or life.

But you also don’t have to react in a negative way. You don’t have to let them or what they (or anyone) say live rent free in your head. You always have the option to just shrug it off, or use it later as a focal point for some self-reflection and personal growth.

I hope you enjoy these videos in the spirit they were created: FUN and CURIOSITY.

-Rachel