The Spiritual Forum
Welcome to The Spiritual Forum, a space curated by Rev Carol Saunders for extraordinary conversations that explore the realms of spiritual living. Join us weekly for heart-to-heart dialogues with captivating individuals, delving into themes like love, faith, awakening, forgiveness, healing, spiritual practices, and divine encounters. These transformative narratives aim to inspire, fostering a deep connection to the profound experiences that shape our lives. Rev Carol’s guests include authors, filmmakers, experts, and everyday individuals who authentically share their journeys toward wholeness. These discussions transcend the ordinary, offering insights into navigating the complexities of our current world with authenticity and grace.
Episodes

19 minutes ago
19 minutes ago
Join Lory Widmer Hess, the insightful author of "When Fragments Make a Whole," as she takes us on a journey through the transformative healing stories found in the Bible. Inspired by anthroposophy and Rudolf Steiner's teachings, Lory shares how these ancient narratives offer powerful insights into our own healing journeys. As we explore the deeper meaning behind the healing stories and uncover the imagined inner world of those who were healed, we see how their experiences mirror our personal struggles and paths to wholeness. Lory also shares how her own transformative healing was largely inspired by her work with developmentally challenged adults, who showed her what an honest life looks like.
Bio - Lory Widmer Hess grew up near Seattle and now lives in Switzerland, where she currently works with adults with developmental challenges and practices spiritual direction. Since childhood, she has been on a quest for both personal healing and for integrative spiritual wisdom, which led her to pursue esoteric studies along with practical life experiences. Her writing has been published widely in journals and magazines including Parabola, Interweave Knits, Handwoven, Pensive, Vita Poetica, Anglican Theological Review, and Motherwell. Her first book, When Fragments Make a Whole: A Personal Journey Through Healing Stories in the Bible, was published in 2024 by Floris Books.
Website: Entering the Enchanted Castle, https://enterenchanted.com
About Lory's Book : When Fragments Make a Whole: A Personal Journey Through Healing Stories in the Bible Book page with links to order: enterenchanted.com/books
#HealingJourneys #BibleStories #TransformativeHealing #WhenFragmentsMakeAWhole #FaithAndSelfDiscovery #RudolfSteiner #Anthroposophy #MiraclesInTheGospels #SpiritualUnderstanding #InnerHealing #JourneyToWholeness #BiblicalInsights #EmotionalHealing #PersonalGrowth #ChristConsciousness #MindBodySpirit #StoriesOfFaith #HealingThroughFaith #SpiritualExploration #lectiodivina #allegory #jesusheals

7 days ago
7 days ago
When Scott Stabile was just 14 years old, his parents were brutally murdered in their family-run store. The youngest of seven children, Scott blamed himself and went through years of inner struggle and intense grief, as well shame for being a gay man. Today he lives with a wide-open heart and complete self-acceptance. He believes there is no force more powerful than love to create real connection and healing in our troubled world. In this episode Scott offers profound insights on forgiveness, self-love, navigating through criticism and embarrassing failures, and daring to experience joy in the face of suffering. We also explore the brokenness of social media and the courage it takes to remain kind in a divisive world. Scott’s raw honesty and wisdom will surely inspire you to open your heart, fully embrace your messy, beautiful self, and cultivate more love in your life.
Bio - Scott Stabile is the author of Big Love: The Undeniable Joy of Following Your Heart and Enough as You Are. Scott guides transformational breathwork journeys and leads personal empowerment workshops internationally. His inspirational posts have attracted a huge and devoted social media following, including more than 350,000 Facebook fans. For more info visit him online at ScottStabile.com and/or check out his newsletter at http://www.scottstabile.substack.com .
About Scott's Book : BIG LOVE: The Undeniable Joy of Following Your Heart is now available at paperback. AMAZON LINK: https://a.co/d/6N6bMje
#LoveAndHealing #PersonalTransformation #SelfLoveJourney #TraumaHealing #AuthenticityMatters #Forgiveness #InnerPeace #HeartOpening #EmbraceYourTruth #CultivateLove #NavigatingCriticism #SocialMediaImpact #KindnessInTheWorld #BigLove #EnoughAsYouAre #JourneyToSelfAcceptance #howtoforgive #chooselove

Tuesday Mar 18, 2025
Breaking Through Medical Paradigms with Dr. Tom Cowan - EP 302
Tuesday Mar 18, 2025
Tuesday Mar 18, 2025
What if you were to learn that something you are so sure about is not true? Throughout history new discoveries have threatened the status quo and those who found them were ostracized or even jailed! The ego defends beliefs fiercely. In this eye-opening episode, alternative medicine doctor Thomas Cowan shares some facts about viruses and contagion that might blow your mind. A questioner of conventionality and master of analogies, Tom makes scientific practices easy to understand and he dispels some long and deeply held ideas. He shares how medical science excludes the spiritual dimension, limiting what we truly know about our biology. We learn how they found the polio virus and delve into the question, “Do sick people make well people sick?” We also discuss the uncomfortable space of ‘not knowing’ as being the magical place where the Divine can inform and guide us to new understanding. Near the end Tom shares about his latest book, Commonsense Child Rearing. This episode will surely challenge you, but if you hang in there and loosen your grip on what you are sure is true, you might awaken to a new reality.
Bio : Dr. Thomas Cowan is a well-known alternative medicine doctor, author and speaker, with a common-sense, holistic approach to health and wellness. He has given countless lectures and workshops throughout the U.S. on a variety of subjects in health and medicine and is the author of six books. Recent publications include "The Contagion Myth” co-authored by Sally Fallon Morell, “Cancer and the New Biology of Water” and "Human Heart, Cosmic Heart." Until his recent retirement from active practice, Dr. Cowan had a general-medical practice for 17 years in San Francisco, preceded by 17 years in Peterborough, NH and several years in upstate New York. He was a founding board member of the Weston A. Price Foundation and currently serves as its vice president. Dr. Cowan lives with his wife, Lynda, on rural farmland in Upstate New York. He has three children, one stepson and seven thriving grandchildren.
Dr. Cowan's website: DrTomCowan.com
About Dr. Tom's new book : Commonsense Childrearing: Unconventional Wisdom for a Nourished Childhood Can we raise healthy children in a toxic world? Yes, we can! Modern life, with its conveniences and technologies, has had mixed results. With great gains come also losses. For better or for worse, as certain types of knowledge have increased, others, which were not perhaps knowledge in the modern sense, but rather types of wisdom, which were once innate, have grown faint. A living, contemporary, and conscious approach to raising children, born of both commonsense and love, is both achievable and necessary. As a physician, parent, grandparent, and friend, Dr. Cowan offers hope and guidance for the parents of today’s youngest generation, that they may raise up a cohort of free, healthy, happy, caring human beings.
Link to book: https://www.amazon.com/Commonsense-Childrearing-Unconventional-Nourished-Childhood/dp/1938685571
#AlternativeMedicine #VirusTheory #ContagionMyths #MedicalScience #SpiritualHealth #ChildRearing #PolioVirus #ChallengingBeliefs #AwakeningConsciousness #ScientificDiscovery #QuestionTheStatusQuo #HealthAndWellness #MindBlowingFacts #NotKnowingJourney #EgoAndBeliefs #HolisticHealth #NewUnderstanding #CommonsenseParenting #DivineGuidance

Tuesday Mar 11, 2025
The Way of the Satisfied Woman with Alanna Kaivalya - EP 301
Tuesday Mar 11, 2025
Tuesday Mar 11, 2025
In this eye-opening conversation, we dive into the essence of the true feminine, unfettered by the patriarchal structures we have all been raised in. According to author and educator Dr. Alanna Kaivalya, both men and women are living in distorted roles that do not serve them. Alanna shares her revolutionary insights on the natures of the authentic feminine and masculine, the importance for women to honor their intuition and embrace the wild, untamed feminine, and the four essential keys to a satisfied life. She encourages women to seek satisfaction rather than success and to receive, create, and thrive on their own terms. We also discuss a more empowering definition of the crone/wise woman stage of life and the crucial feminine/masculine roles in parenting. Don't miss this transformative discussion—like, subscribe, and share with the women (and men) in your life!
Bio - Alanna Kaivalya, Ph.D. is an author, educator, speaker, and pleasure-seeker. She has written 5 books, developed international training programs, and taught audiences around the world. These are not her greatest achievements, though. After spending more than 20 years studying psychology, the human condition, the nature of the feminine and femininity, eastern spirituality, and earning a doctoral degree in Mythological Studies and Depth Psychology, she set her sights on empowering women through a better understanding of femininity. She believes her greatest legacy is helping women redefine femininity in the modern age, and giving them clear pathways to become fully satisfied women. She does this through her writing, education, and speaking, but also through living The Way of the Satisfied Woman everyday with her choices, actions, and intuitive guidance.
Website : https://www.thesatisfiedwoman.com/
#beyondpatriarchy #truefeminine #satisfaction #FemininePower #DivineFeminine #ReclaimYourPower #MasculineAndFeminine #WomenEmpowerment #SpiritualAwakening #FeminineEnergy #IntuitionMatters #SuccessVsSatisfaction #PersonalGrowthJourney

Tuesday Mar 04, 2025
Sacred Activism with Henna Maria Vermeulen - EP 300
Tuesday Mar 04, 2025
Tuesday Mar 04, 2025
Henna Maria, a medicine woman, activist, speaker, and teacher, joins us from the Peruvian Amazon to share her incredible spiritual journey. Speaking on the importance of restoring the sacred in our lives, she explores how indigenous wisdom, Natural Law, and conscious activism can help us break free from the "zoo" of modern society and reconnect with our true essence. Henna discusses the fall of consciousness, the captivity of humanity, the link between human and animal rights, and the urgent need for activism that inspires people to walk the path of peace. As the founder of Dawn of Peace, International Police for Freedom, and Save Our Food Initiative, she has dedicated her life to inspiring action that is both compassionate and transformative. This 300th episode of The Spiritual Forum podcast is a call to awaken to the Divine in all life and restore our lost ability to create meaning and knowledge from within.
Bio - Henna Maria was initiated into the art of healing song by indigenous Shipibo masters and specialises in the ceremonial practice of Ayahuasca. Now Henna and her husband Richard run their own healing sanctuary Wistin Origins and are stewards of a beautiful medicine garden in the Peruvian Amazon. Combining her love for spirituality and activism, in 2019 Henna founded Dawn of Peace, a creative community and peace organisation. Her advocacy focuses on the spiritual reality of life, human and animal rights, medical freedom and self-sovereignty. In 2021, Henna co-founded the international Police for Freedom movement – to advocate for natural rights, rehumanise our societies and facilitate respectful collaboration between activists and police. In 2022, Henna sparked up the Save Our Food initiative in response to the fear around food scarcity, environmental crises and agricultural collapse. Her latest endeavour in the spring of 2023 has been to co-found a cultural association Kotiinpaluu, Finnish word for 'homecoming', with the goal of reviving and protecting indigenous Finnish culture and establishing the foundations for a parallel, natural society.
#medicalfreedom #healthfreedom #sovereignty #veganactivism #SacredActivism #SpiritualAwakening #RestoreTheSacred #ConsciousLiving #NaturalLaw #AwakenHumanity #HealingTheWorld #FreedomForAll #ReconnectWithNature #LoveInAction

Tuesday Feb 25, 2025
Heal Your Inner Child with Marzcia Techau - EP 299
Tuesday Feb 25, 2025
Tuesday Feb 25, 2025
A dynamic discussion with Marzcia Techau, spiritual teacher, healer and author of Your Soul, Your Life - A Guide to Healing and Self-healing.
We are all walking around in some sort of wounded state. It varies by person and degree, but our wounds drive our behaviors and relationships, and consequently the world at large. That’s why healing our inner child is possibly the most important work we can do. Guest Marzcia Techau joins us to share her deep and profound knowledge on this subject. She walks us through the various stages of early life – from an embryo in our mother’s womb to our teen years - and the ways we may have disconnected from our souls at each of those stages. Learning how to release these traumas (large or small) makes room for our souls to inhabit our bodies again. Marzcia believes we can heal ourselves and she offers a hopeful path forward. She also reminds us that the soul is always patiently waiting.
Bio - Marzcia Techau (born 1971] is a Master of Science in Biology, Speaker, Author, Spiritual teacher, Clairvoyant Counsellor, Healer, Reiki Master and Somatic Experience Practitioner working with Peter Levine’s Somatic Experience Method®. For the past 23 years, Marzcia has worked with a blend of scientific and spiritual understandings of life. A part of her master thesis was a healing study of plants at the University of Copenhagen. Later she worked as a research assistant at a study of energy healing effects on cancer survivors at the University of Southern Denmark.
She has worked as a medium and has been taking clients for 23 years. The recent years she has worked as a teacher of healing and clairvoyance, as an author and been giving talks to a broad audience. In her teachings, her talks as well as in her books she emphasises the relationship between natural sciences and the spiritual world by applying new knowledge and scientific research in her dissemination of healing, human development, and spiritual practice.
She has written the book " Your Soul, Your Life" in English and “Når ånderne banker på” (“When The Spirits Come Calling” – not available in English) and participated in a number of articles, as well as TV and radio broadcasts, including “The Spirits Return” on Danish TV3+.
About Marzcia's Book : "Your Soul, Your Life"Link - https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/o-books/our-books/your-soul-your-life-guide-healing
#InnerChildHealing #SelfHealing #SpiritualAwakening #HealingTrauma #EmotionalWellness #EnergyHealing #MindBodySoul #PersonalGrowth #HealingJourney #SoulAlignment #findyourpurpose #innerchild #birthtrauma

Tuesday Feb 18, 2025
Finding Meaning in Dreams and Art with Lily Iona MacKenzie - EP 298
Tuesday Feb 18, 2025
Tuesday Feb 18, 2025
Explore the wisdom that comes with aging, the profound nature of dreams, and the journey of self-discovery in this enlightening conversation with author and poet, Lily Iona MacKenzie. At age 72, Lily began a journey into the dream world. Over 10 years, she catalogued her nightly dreams, and with the help of a Jungian analyst, discovered meaning and acceptance of the inevitable processes of life that most of us fear – aging and death. In a world that obsessively values youth and beauty, Lily reminds us that aging is an opportunity to experience our own deepest mystery and that dreams invite us into that exploration. Additionally, we discuss the importance of laying down our left-brains, and reconnecting with our essence through art and play. This discussion promises to provide valuable insights for individuals at any stage of their journey.
Website : http://lilyionamackenzie.com
Bio - In her youth, Lily Iona MacKenzie, frolicked on a Canadian farm and learned to pay attention to her surroundings. The clouds offered images that stirred her imagination and stimulated her dreaming. Cows, calves, sheep, pigs, chickens, turkeys, dogs, cats, and horses were her early teachers and playmates. Those years of caring for animals taught her that success in any field involves hard work. She’s dedicated to the writing craft and believes that commitment and perseverance are the attitudes that writers depend upon. She has published four novels (Fling!, Curva Peligrosa, Freefall: A Divine Comedy, and The Ripening: A Canadian Girl Grows Up, a sequel to Freefall), two poetry collections (All This and California Dreaming) and a chapbook (No More Kings). Shanti Arts Press recently released her memoir Dreaming Myself into Old Age: One Woman’s Search for Meaning. She blogs about reading and writing at https://lilyionamackenzie.com
About Lily's Book : Lily Iona MacKenzie’s Dreaming Myself into Old Age: One Woman’s Search for Meaning, explores the challenges and opportunities of aging, echoing Bette Davis's sentiment that "old age ain’t no place for sissies." While aging brings fears of decline, it also offers a rich phase of self-reflection and discovery. The author recounts returning to Jungian analysis at 72 to confront her fears of aging and death, emphasizing the value of Jung’s mystical and scientific perspectives. Through dream analysis and introspection, the author seeks deeper meaning in life and hopes to share this journey with readers, encouraging them to find insights about their own lives. She views aging as a unique phase to explore life's mysteries and to enhance personal growth.
http://www.amazon.com/Lily-Iona-MacKenzie/e/B004R8ZDNU
#DreamInterpretation #SpiritualAwakening #AgingWithGrace #MindfulnessJourney #WomenEmpowerment #JungianPsychology #PersonalGrowth #CreativityAndHealing #LifeAfter50 #ConsciousLiving #dreamanalysis #innerartist

Tuesday Feb 11, 2025
The World Peace Way with Dr. Will Tuttle - EP 297
Tuesday Feb 11, 2025
Tuesday Feb 11, 2025
In this inspiring conversation, Dr. Will Tuttle shares the six keys to living in health and harmony laid out in his most recent book, The World Peace Way, which is a practical companion to his best-selling books, Food for Freedom and The World Peace Diet. We explore the six keys -- nutrition, meditation, relationships, movement, nature and creativity -- and the steps you can take in these areas to connect with your truth and thrive. Will also shares how the spiritual practice of cultivating virtues ensures a life of freedom, and we also dive into the growing influence of AI and technology and how it affects human potential. This episode is packed with insights on breaking free from societal conditioning and finding the inner voice that you can trust. Watch now and take the first step on your journey to health and harmony.
Bio - Dr. Will Tuttle is author of the international best-seller, The World Peace Diet, published in 18 languages. A recipient of the Courage of Conscience Award and the Empty Cages Prize, he is also the author of two more recent best-selling books, Food for Freedom and The World Peace Way as well as several other books on spirituality, intuition, and social justice. A vegan since 1980 and former Zen monk, he is featured in a number of documentary films, and is the creator of several online wellness and advocacy programs. The co-founder of the Worldwide Prayer Circle for Animals, he is a frequent radio, television, and online presenter. With his spouse Madeleine, a Swiss visionary artist, he has delivered thousands of lectures in all 50 states and in 50 countries.
Websites: http://worldpeacediet.com and http://willtuttle.com and www.circleofcompassion.org
About Will's Book : The World Peace Way
amazon link: https://www.amazon.in/World-Peace-Way-Health-Harmony/dp/B0DJBSKPRT
#SpiritualAwakening #MindfulLiving #VeganLifestyle #InnerPeace #ConsciousnessShift #PlantBasedHealing #HolisticHealth #IntuitionMatters #BreakTheConditioning #WorldPeaceWay #ConsciousEating #PersonalGrowth #ReconnectWithNature #AIandHumanity #vitality

Rev Carol Saunders
Experienced Minister, Spiritual Leader, Speaker, Blogger and Podcast Host, with a demonstrated history working in spiritual organizations. Skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Public Speaking, Dialogue Facilitation, Spiritual Coaching, Writing, Pastoral Counseling, Premarital/Marriage coaching, Sacred Ceremonies and Conflict Resolution. Strong media and communication professional in the spiritual awakening business. For more information, Visit the about Rev Carol Saunders in the menu above