erotic mystical art, queer sex with God, and punk rock with Rachel Parsons

Come get obsessed with one of my favorite people! Rachel Parsons is a queer interreligious spiritual director, author of smutty gay poems about God, and fellow survivor of Southern evangelicalism. She is a grade A certified body witch babe — and my own spiritual director.If you love medieval erotic mystics and Sufjan Stevens, find the Divine in punk rock, or want to learn more about building an individual, authentic spiritual life on your own terms, this episode is for you.IN THIS EPISODEExplore eroticism as a doorway for encountering God, particularly within the embodied queer experience.Unpack why religion is so kinky and why kink is so religiousLearn how spiritual direction helps those in spiritual trauma recovery find their own path forward.Get the tea on the diabolically folksy mandolin-and-misogyny church Rachel and I attended, found each other in, and survived.Receive a whole bunch of erotic mystical poetry recommendations – plus a live reading of one of Rachel’s own poems.CONNECT WITH RACHELFratres Dei Spiritual Direction: https://www.fratresdei.com/spiritual-directionTheodora Thomas Poetry: https://www.instagram.com/theodorathomaspoetry/POETRY AND SONG RECSSt Teresa of Avila’s The Interior CastleJohn Donne’s “Batter My Heart Three Person’d God”“All Around Me” by Flyleaf“Music of the Night” from The Phantom of the OperaSt John of the Cross’s Dark Night of the Soul“Saturn” by Sufjan StevensThe poetry of HafizIt Begins In a Garden by Notbecauseofvictories Sierra Simone’s Priest SeriesGET METAPHYSICALJoin the community on substack at saint.substack.com to get new episodes in your inbox. Join the paid tier for twice-monthly long form essays about art, sexuality, and spirituality, as well as Metaphysical Girl After Dark episodes, where we go darker, deeper, and more intimate with the subject matter.BOOK A TAROT READINGI’ve spent the last dozen years interpreting the tarot for the betterment of myself and other people, with a focus on helping artists, spiritual seekers, and those in transition uncover their inner wisdom. Schedule a private reading or tarot lesson with me: https://stgibson.com/metaphysical-girl/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit saint.substack.com/subscribe