Of Soul And Sky, with Bonnie Piesse

In this episode of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, host Rachel White (of TOTEM Readings) chats with the incredible Bonnie Piesse,  host of the I Am The Sky podcast. Best known for her role as Luke Skywalker's Aunt Beru in the ’Star Wars’ Universe, (Episodes II, III and Obi-Wan Kenobi), Bonnie is also a singer, songwriter, and intuitive practitioner, supporting her clients through her spiritual practice Of Soul and Sky. Bonnie was also featured prominently in the HBO documentary-series ‘The Vow', which detailed her harrowing journey with the destructive NXIVM cult. Rachel and Bonnie discuss how Bonnie's connection to her intuition--which may or may not be referred to as "The Force"-- helped to wake her up to the reality of living inside of NXIVM, empowering her to break free and ultimately extract others-- ultimately working with authorities to ensure that the abusive NXIVM "leader", Keith Raniere, got a 120-year prison sentence.Bonnie is living proof that intuition can override the often persuasive (but ultimately false) narratives intrinsic to coercive control dynamics and related thought prisons, acting as a kind of kryptonite against propaganda, group think, social pressure, financial exploitation, and more.Since leaving NXIVM, Bonnie has created a spiritual practice designed to support people in reconnecting with their intuition, awakening to their true nature and helping them to live a soul-aligned life. But, as positive and powerful as this mission is, Bonnie has had to navigate some blistering online abuse and criticism for stepping out of the "psychic closet"-- an unfortunate manifestation of the "third rail" nature of spirituality and psychic phenomenon, as well as the mob-like nature of anonymous online trolls.Bonnie is an inspiring, incredible human-- and this episode (and our TOTEM Tarot Deck card pull) highlight the indestructible light we all have within!LINKS:Rachel's Website: https://www.totemreadings.comTOTEM Readings Substack: https://totemrach.substack.comRachel's Other Links: https://linktr.ee/totemrachBonnie's Instagram: @bonniempiesse @ofsoulandskyBonnie's Spiritual Practice: https://www.ofsoulandsky.comBonnie's Website: https://www.bonniepiesse.comPlease support the Sponsors of The Skeptical Shaman Podcast: The TOTEM Tarot Deck: https://www.amazon.com/TOTEM-Tarot-Deck-Rachel-White/dp/0578980126TOTEM Flower Essences on Etsy:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/TotemReadingsATXPlease note: The views and opinions expressed on The Skeptical Shaman do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, protected class, group, club, organization, business individual, anyone or anything. And remember: sticks and stones may break our bones, but words—or discussions of religious or spiritual topics-- will never hurt us.