Episode Transcript:
Stirling 0:11
Welcome to witchy wellness weekly. If you love learning and interweaving healthy self growth and making magic, this is the show for you. And when we come together This is where we share how to breathe magic into your daily practice with creative self care inspiration to empower your unique journey to easeful health through witchy wellness, so that you can remember that your health choice is always your own. We are here to empower your freewill to decide for yourself. I'm Sterling, your magical methods mentor, nature based medicine maker farm life purveyor and nerd for all things esoteric, you can find my alchemical experiments at WWW dot wild folk which muse.com We are joined by our co host. Hilary is a certified clinical Ayurvedic Practitioner with the eye of a fine artist specializing in customizing herbs, nutrition and habits that support your body's unique cyclical rhythms at WWW dot Wilde veda.com. To support this show, and we the creators or for behind the scenes content, early access a member only experiences come join the tribe@www.patreon.com slash witchy wellness. Our private community is a safe place to explore your inner magic, where you are the hero of your own story on a planet that is thriving. It's Prime Time to climb out of the broom closet my friends, because our Earth needs your wild magic. Right now.
Hillary 2:34
We're starting with Sterling eating cookies not being in the matrix with double doubles sound.
Previously experience
was horrible.
Stirling 2:46
It wasn't actually like technical difficulties, but we created a situation like multiple timelines overlapping Yeah, it was. It was a little trippy. It was a nice little feedback loop.
Hillary 3:01
Now you know what it's like to have visual and audio close. Okay,
Stirling 3:07
I'm like trying to figure out this microphone came with a mic stand. But I couldn't exactly figure out how to use it because either it needs another piece or I just ran out of attention for that task. Got it? I mean, yeah, like 37 mason jars in all the rooms of my house. Totally. But I'm not sure what to do with it. I mean, use the box. In mason jars are like my answer for all. Yeah, I mean, I don't disagree with you. I just would need like the next step. I'll just hold it. I'll just be I'll just be like, stand. Okay, great. Perfect. Hi Ellery. I love you. You're rolling everything out with you all week, because I've been listening to the first episode of our podcast and editing it so like, I've heard you every day this week. I know it's been a week for you. But mine we've been hanging out every day.
Hillary 4:18
So I've been hanging out with you every day. I'm like the cosmic realm anyway. It's same same but different.
Stirling 4:26
Names same but different. I want to put that on a T shirt to the whole t shirt collection. How do you feel about that? Let's make close. Oh, for sure I have. I have a sketchbook full of designs and I'm sure you have more than one sketchbook full of designs but I really would love to do that. So yes, okay.
We should probably make them like the self fulfilling print on demand, like or downloadable design kind and not something that we actually Have to mail to people because I am abysmal at actually mailing things to people.
Hillary 5:08
It takes so much time I do it with my art prints. And I'm like, this is all of the time.
Stirling 5:15
Yeah, like maybe just don't do that, like maybe just sell your art of digital downloads, and never ever ever have to deal with package fulfillment. Also, adult coloring books, that's a thing. Oh, yeah, have like scans or pictures of your line drawings before you fill them in so beautifully and your amazing artwork that you make that no one's listening to the podcast can see because this is an audio format. But in case you didn't know Hillary makes really pretty things with like, physical medium, like, I don't know, watercolors. What do you use?
Hillary 5:51
Yeah, watercolors and oils. And yes, I should do more of that. And I'm super down to do more of that great idea. And you'll be my manager.
Stirling 6:01
I'm really good at ideas. Yeah, that's my strong suit. I have all the ideas that are fucking good ones. Someone do something with one, take them and fulfill them. Right. I'll give you 10 for one deal, great ideas.
Hillary 6:21
Totally. Okay, so today is Friday. It doesn't really matter because this will exist for forever and eternity. But in case you're wondering when this recording was made, it was happening on a Friday.
Stirling 6:36
Yeah, Friday, that's Freitas day. We're both hella Germanic. So that means something in the ancestral lineage right there. Although you know what's really interesting, so I'm talking about Freya, who is the goddess of beauty she's like really similar to Aphrodite, in Norse Pantheon. So like Northern Europe region, they conquered a lot of people. So she has been a lot of great places. But the strange thing is even though Freya is part of the integral, core Pantheon and like Norse and Germanic lore, and has a lot of parallels to Aphrodite, and Venus, etc. In the Norse Pantheon, it's actually acknowledged that Freya was a goddess that came from somewhere else and all the Norse god, the acier liked her so much. And she was so beautiful, and she was the one in charge of the golden apples that like gave youth and beauty and vague pseudo immortality to the gods because they weren't actually immortal, but they could eat free as golden apples and sort of be immortal, that they kept her there like you can be part of our Pantheon even though you come from somewhere else that's so long ago that no one really knows where that's from. Like even in the folklore they specifically say, we took this goddess from some other culture and put her in our array of goddesses because she's that dad.
When I heard that much like i think you know, we don't care where you came from girl you're pretty comfortable with
pink we wear pink on Wednesdays we wear pink. And Fridays phrase day, I mean, some people might argue and say it's phrase day and that's her twin. But please, Friday's phrase day, Come at me, bro, come at me.
Hillary 8:22
Oh, man, your your head full of knowledge is quite something. That's another trait of autism and girls. info dump my special interest. Doesn't matter if no one else can read their facial cues anyway. There was a little lag in that that sounded those slightly insane. But I don't know if that was because there was a lag.
Let's be honest.
Yes,
Stirling 8:57
I have much much of the informations so good about very particular things than being one of those things. Perfect.
Hillary 9:09
Okay, speaking of all of the things and the information, what do you want to do first you want to do like the interest outras and talking about like our stories, or like and follow that train? Or do you want to do like a little clip on the dreams and things like that first? What do you want to do first?
I don't care.
Unknown Speaker 9:39
Whatever you want to do first,
Hillary 9:42
let's
let's like do it. Let's talk about our backgrounds. And then I think that'll like warm us up and then we'll do intros and outros. Let's do it so that we like then we can kind of like get the energy flowing just like you were talking about. I like going into your background about all of your things.
Unknown Speaker 10:06
Okay, Tag, you're it, you go first. Okay, let's Ah, he was asking, let's ask each other questions. Like, why don't we do that? So, you want to ask me questions first, or you want me to ask you? Um, wait, what we have to pause again, because I have to pee again because I drink all the way.
Stirling 10:35
And my whole sound system situation is set up on to and around my toilet because this is like, my computer's literally on my toilet.
Hillary 10:46
Do you want to pause? Or I can pause the recording and then we can come back? Sure. Okay. Okay, causing that. So Hillary,
Stirling 11:00
in our last podcast, and potentially future podcasts, and maybe also books and courses that we are creating. You talk a lot about nutrition, and you give advice, why should anyone listen to your advice? and well being?
Hillary 11:17
Well, I guess first of all, I would even say, maybe kid, but all mimili Take care. Because I think that is the essence of what I want to like, convey to people in my teachings of like, use this information to return back to yourself and your own inner knowledge and knowing about what feels right. And that can be really confusing if you're like, in this soupy mess of information. So I think, yeah, I think the part to listen to is the simplification and feeling what is resonating with you on a, like, less surface level of like, Oh, this is information that I need to like, use to be healthy and like falling back into yourself? I mean, like, does this actually feel good? I'm going to try this out. And I'm going to experiment with my health because just following one person or train of thought, or nutrition advice, I don't think about the answer at all, to any of the questions, or any of the questions. And yeah, it's like, hard and esoteric, but at the same time, it's not like, when we're little kids, we know what we want, we put something in our mouth, we like it, we don't, we want to wear certain things, we want to express a certain way, then we learn that all of our ways maybe are not right, or whatever we learn as we grow, and then I think as we become adults, we take back our autonomy and sovereignty in our choices. And when we return to Our little kid knowing selves. So hopefully, hopefully, we all do, hopefully, that's the goal is returning to our own knowing. So if you're going to take my advice, I advise you not to take my advice. And to listen for what feels right for you. And do those things and follow follow your inner path. And maybe I can help inspire a little bit of that. And that is Michael.
Stirling 13:46
So in a choice between the red pill or the blue pill, Mm hmm. Remember, the matrix is the matrix or forget the matrix is the matrix. Wait.
Hillary 13:58
You said so in the choice of the red pill or the blue pill, and then it it got weird.
Stirling 14:06
Which Ladies and gentlemen, let's remember is the choice between waking up to the matrix being matrix or not waking up and not remembering you're in the matrix. What Hillary is recommending is not to take any pills and maybe just go drink some tea.
Hillary 14:28
Maybe yourself completely from the polarity of all things and find yourself and then live outside of the polarity. Maybe make the third choice which is not taking colourful pills from a guy in sunglasses that you just met. He is wearing his sunglasses inside. All right. Very true and don't don't take his pills. Right and that's a really good point of like, you always have more options than what is presented on the surface. like there might be seemingly the two options, do I go one way or do I go the other way. And maybe the other other way, is stepping back taking your own magic pills that you make yourself out of whatever you want to make.
Stirling 15:16
And even just acknowledging that in a situation of polarity, there is the option to not choose the two opposing sides, or one or either or both. You can actually opt out of the whole divisive conversation, but in and of itself, will allow you to transcend the moment.
Hillary 15:41
Again, spiritual teachings, it's like stepping up stepping, rising above duality, and seeing, seeing them as like, two poles of the same thing and that you can just witness and exist. And you can literally apply that to anything.
Stirling 16:01
And all the things I keep wanting to snap my fingers like that beatnik thing, like, Oh, yeah, finger snaps. And then I realized that makes the microphone peak. And people that are listening, don't know that I'm snapping my fingers. So I don't get like the cool credibility for making the gesture. And also, it might be annoying. So instead, I'm gonna say the word upset your snaps and everyone listening. Just imagine that's me. Like with this squinty eyed look on my face like, yeah. snapping my fingers like a jazz cat. Okay, that's what finger snaps me. Yeah.
So on that note,
tell us a little bit about what led you to the realization that nobody should take his advice when it comes to their health.
To have anything to say about individualized health care approach?
Hillary 17:04
That is an excellent question. And I have spent many, many, many years upwards of a decade or more actually very much more, more than more. Trying to find the teaching that works for me. And in my quest of finding the teaching and trying all of the different lineages and ways and being like, well, this halfway works, but not this way. And like, you know, first following these spiritual paths and like yogic paths and trying to renounce the physical world and live in the spiritual realm, or follow a specific yogic path and then realizing it was created for young men to like, contain their sexual energy. And this is depleting me like all these different paths, trying them, and feeling that they worked partially. And then realizing that they don't work completely for me, and they don't work all the time. And so then realizing that especially being a woman that we operate in circle in like circular nature, and like we just talked about linear time versus circular time. Are you okay? I just realized I've had my microphone turned off this entire time. Really? Have you been? Have you been able to hear me? Yeah, literally flipped the switch on. I just turned my mic off while
Stirling 18:42
she's talking so that the dog snoring behind me or the duck in the basket don't like make weird noises while she's having this like, really profound moment that everyone's gonna want to hear the details of. So I went to click my mic off,
Hillary 18:56
and it's on, off, it's off, and I turned it on. Does it make any difference? I mean, am I on the podcast at all? Am I Are you hearing any difference now? I don't hear any difference. And you've I've heard your audio the entire time. I'm gonna stop holding this to my face then please. Wow, our tech day has been quite awesome so far. Mercury must be drinking Gatorade. Oh, man. Um, okay, so what were we saying? Oh,
Stirling 19:37
yoga is for Young Dudes from 2000 years ago if we don't want to come from that and it was a revolution.
Hillary 19:50
But like, all of these different things, they have like these incredible teachings and yet they're like, they're What is it? They're not Like a means to an end or like, maybe they are but not for me. And it just felt like so confusing like following all these things and being like, okay, but this isn't really it. And this isn't really fully working for me and like trying being vegan for a very long time trying being paleo trying like keto trying green juice, trying intermittent fasting, trying like a yogic sattvic diet. Every single time I tried those things for long periods of time, they never worked. And they always caused a ripple effect to some other issue for me. And finally, I was like, wow, I have been trying so many things that everyone says works and like the pictures of people that it works were very fancy. So why does it not work for me? And why do I feel like shit when I'm like in this health world, supposedly doing all the things right? Taking the right herbs, doing the right practices, drinking the right elixirs meditating on the things like and just realizing like, Oh, fuck, actually, I'm gonna have this buffet. And I'm gonna choose the things that work for me in the moment, like sometimes Sorry, I'm like speaking in one huge run on Sunday. And that's okay. When you talk, you don't have to say the punctuation, period. And like, like, Lately, I've been finding, oh, I've been in these like, rigid. I've been on these like rigid paths ongoingly for a really long time yet. I work in circles, like our seasons, for example, work in circles, circular nature, the day is a circular thing. Like the clocks, everything is circles. And when I do yoga, for example, and I'm doing these warrior poses that are very like straight and narrow. I actually want to like undulate, and be in the circle and like feel different than what is being told. Long story short. I really like a snake Ma. Yeah, that's usually my long story short. Yeah, I shaved the base just drops. Yeah, like I just want I want to cycle with things. And sometimes different practices are right for the moment. And sometimes they're not, like, always kind of taking into account. Are you depleted? Or do you? Are you like, nourished and needing like to move energy? Or do you need to like, gain? And I don't know, it's just like I even talk in circles. I'm realizing Am I making any sense is this is this thing. You do not have to apologize. I do not accept your apology, keep that shit. Paid. I take it back. I don't want to hear saris bait. Okay. back around to your question then. Which was like, why? Listen to me about not taking people's advice. Why should people take your advice to not take advice? I think it's really good to learn a bunch of different paths, and not necessarily subscribe fully to them and create your own buffet with the things that work in the moments that they work and release. The things that don't, I hope that
Stirling 23:57
it was like two there were two diverging metaphors there. And I wanted to go with both of them. And I didn't know which one to chase. But even two diverging metaphors. Obviously for us, we have to go up the paths one. So yes, it's really fun to hike on trails that have been marked. But it's also really fun to walk through the woods, not on a trail. And there's a really big difference between a deer trail and the path up to Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles in Los Angeles. Those are not the same hike. And do you really want to do the same hike every single day? Do you want to know exactly where you're trying to get to because 1000 other people went there before even though maybe that's not actually the hike you're wanting to do because it's actually about the hike, and not about where it's going. Yet just kind of the thing that everyone sort of seems to miss in our society and maybe all societies maybe that's just what our monkey minds do, but it's about
the journey. Yeah, you might as well enjoy it and when you get to the buffet
You do not have to eat every single cheese stick The guy in front of you, he sneezed. He touched the chasis. And he put them back. Do you really want a second? hands? knees? Yes, cheese sticks. No, you're not even eating cheese right now your stop trying to eat everything at the buffet looks like there was this trend on YouTube for a while because I love YouTube, where people were going through drive throughs at restaurants, usually fast food and getting up to the window and ordering exactly what the person ahead of that ordered the car ahead of them. So they were like, just give me everything that they ordered, and then getting the order and then eating it, even if it was things that they didn't like, or they didn't know what it was, or it was a super huge order or whatever. And that was like a trend that inspired 1000s of videos of different people doing this on YouTube. It's kind of like living your whole life like that. Oh, wait, no. Yeah. So maybe just like figure shit out for yourself.
Hillary 26:01
Right? And I think, yeah, it gets complex. Because if you don't know where to start, like, maybe it is helpful for you to start with, like a path that you feel interested in, you know? So it's like this, there isn't an answer. And I think people don't like to hear that. It's like, we want these very clean, like cut and dry. Do this. Not that because it's easier for our minds. But if we can like actually sink into the fact that like, we're choosing to create our life in every moment, and like, you get to reinvent yourself over and over again. And you don't have to reinvent the wheel. But you can. And I don't know, I don't know if this is helpful because I do feel like people want some simple, easy answers.
People do
Stirling 27:00
people want simple, easy answers. This is super helpful. I just realized that I can record my audio on my phone at the same time and then overlay it if if the audio is not super quality, like it sort of was last time. Look at that coming up with all the solutions. Like we know thing says the girl who didn't even check that her microphone was switched on because her having a microphone in general. So genius. Okay, well, yeah. Great. That totally answered the question without answering the question at all, which is kind of the case in point. So like, really meta, and I'm sure you did consciously. Tell us about your specific training so that when this podcast blows up, and people be like, but why are you doing what she said, someone can be like, excuse me, that amazing woman went to 17,000 and a half years of Ayurvedic college. And she like wrote papers on that shit.
Hillary 28:03
Oh, man. Okay, so like my background and my training and all the things? Yes, please. And then I'll transcribe it for the about page on our blog. Okay, amazing. Um, yeah, let's see, I started studying. When I was in college for art I went to I went to Long Beach day, I studied art, and like drawing and painting and lots of psychedelics, which was changing my art and making did you study the psychedelics? Was that part of the Long Beach State curriculum, not part of Long Beach State curriculum that was like, what's it called, like an after school program,
extra extra curricular activity for curricular activities. So So you were already experimenting with where the paths diverged? Yep. Very institutionalized. And I'm very not at the same time, and exploring, like different realms of my psyche, and such as that nature, which will do that psychedelics will do that make you go into the subterranean areas. And so anyways, I was doing that and practicing yoga with this really incredible teacher at Dharma, and Long Beach. And so my paths were kind of converging in that way. And my art was becoming about these spiritual teachings of yoga and also about the inner journeys that I was taking. My yoga teacher led me to IR VEDA to start to heal. And when she did, it was like this deep remembering which a lot of people have that experience with iron beta, when they learn it. It's like, I know, this makes sense to me. Like, I know this on like some deep level. I know this, because it's very cosmic. And it's also very Earth based like elemental medicine. It's very simple. And it's very complex. polarity planet. It's both. So yeah, so I started studying with a different teacher, I started studying AI or VEDA online while I was in college, taking art classes as well. And then, when I graduated, I went on to a different school to study IR VEDA solely at the California College of Ayurveda, where I did my studies and internship and practiced, worked in the punch of karma department doing therapy is on people and guiding people through like these deep, deep healing practices and deep dives into three, returning to themselves that kind of what happened. Oh, look, there you are, me, we meet again, we meet again. And that was kind of it like when you simplify your food and the stimulation around you. And when you remove yourself from the chaos of daily life, like on these on these retreats to go inward, there you are, you find you find that you're there. And it's simple, and you can reverse a lot of things that have built up over time. So that's sort of where it began. And then I just continued to study I continued to practice, I then went to a different school. After those studies, to the deonna Center, which is an Ayurvedic center in Sebastopol. Both places are in Northern California. And I studied and practiced with my teacher there who taught me in a different way. She's kind of like a shaman that practices many like Earth based medicines under the umbrella of IR VEDA, but she's much more vast than just that practice. And really studied, like women's health and the health of the lymphatic system, and like breast health, and all kinds of different things. Always, always kind of like on these lines of like, Oh, I have to do this to feel healthy yet. Meanwhile, my health was like deteriorating. And so it felt really confusing to me, because I was doing the right things. And so checking all the boxes, all the boxes, so like, another long story short, is like 10 plus years of really intense study and practice. Meanwhile, not feeling healthy and having my health degrade over time. So then, Len, looking into like hormone specialists, and naturopaths and all these other all these other lineages and trying to incorporate different things, seeing acupuncturist understanding, like Chinese medicine poles versus Indian poles versus like, what's going on Western medically and just really doing a lot, a lot of self study and self study of my friends, and trying to figure it all out. Doing the most. So that's my background in studying, apparently. Yeah,
Stirling 33:36
you know, because it's, like, really easy to consolidate three decades of information into a 32nd. soundbite.
Yeah. in one dimension, like,
Hillary 33:51
exactly. And yeah, I mean, there's so much more Of course, there's like, you know, all the different yogic paths that I've studied and practiced, and then healers that I've seen and studied their lineages and onwards and onwards.
Stirling 34:07
And hopefully upwards maybe and upwards. If that's the way the path is going. Who knows.
Beautiful. Well, I think you're cool. So also, that's a reason to listen to what Hillary says. Social proof. Right. That's a big deal. I am vouching for her. Oh, thanks, babe. Yeah, welcome and
you are listening to witchy wellness weekly. Our Why is empowering the wild woman. For those of you who want more in depth guidance on herbs, wellness rituals, astrological forecasts and magical creations. We've created a newsletter subscribe@bit.li slash witchy. wellness weekly. Our how to cleanse without killing yourself book and workbook bundle is on pre sale. Now. You can buy our books directly from we the author's at WWW dot pay hiit.com slash wild folk, or from other online retailers if you must.
Hillary 35:51
Totally. I also want to like flip the script and have you explain why people should listen to what I say. Oh, well, because I'm obsessed with Word. Yes, Yes, you are. You're also obsessed with many, many things, which makes you an expert of many, many things. Because
Yeah.
Something to know about Sterling. She's very obsessive. She's very knowledgeable. She's an incredible human. That is a little spark, not little, she's her body is very, she's very tiny. But she is also very huge. And her like a little fireball, and with huge impact. So she's going to tell us about herself and a Why. Why should we listen to you, Sterling? or Why are you this voice that on here that we need to listen to? Well,
Stirling 36:59
I'm mean, I just have to say, it's not that you should listen to me. It's that it's really hard not to because I have a lot to say. And I say it really fast. And I'm generally pretty loud. I don't typically have volume control. And I usually climb on top of things. So the sound of my voice carries farther. So it's not that you should listen to me, it's that I probably at some point, you're gonna end up hearing something that I'm saying. But lucky for you and me and everyone involved. I mean, at least I think it's interesting. I typically think the things I'm saying are interesting. I am extremely neurodivergent, which is like my new buzzword. My brain has always been neurodivergent. I just didn't know what to call it that until recently. Not to people. Yeah. So the way things happen in the neuro chemistry, the chemicals inside my mind, operate in a way that diverges. So neuro is your brain. divergent means that splitting up the pathways, that's where things diverged. So you have a freeway, you have an off ramp, the off ramp goes to a different road, maybe it's like through the back backwards like a long clip side, one lane dirt road and the freeway. I am one lane dirt road, my brain wiring is diverges from neuro typical brain wiring, which I kind of always knew I just didn't necessarily have the vocabulary for it. And one of the things that this indicates is that I get obsessed with my special interests. And sort of, sort of that's an understatement, and intensely hyper focus to the point of total burnout until I've absorbed as much information as I possibly can. So I am capable of info dumping, which is exactly what it sounds like whenever I am inspired to do so by anything that has currently or previously held my interest long enough for me to absorb facts about it, which I've kind of just always thought was normal because that's the way my brain works. But I've had people pointed
out I mean, probably all my life, but I'm paying a lot more attention. Now as an adult I've had people pointed out in my adulthood, and realize that not everyone is a walking dictionary. And not everyone has spent 1000s upon 1000s of hours researching things and not everyone has multiple degrees in totally seemingly unrelated fields that I think are actually perfectly connected, which include like a bachelor's degree in educational psychology and a bachelor's degree in design and visual communications and certificates in PR Culture design and circus and performance and educational Kinesiology and neuro linguistic programming. There's that prefix again neuro so you know it has to do with the brain and linguistic means it has to do with language. And that is another thing I'm obsessed with is language, which you could probably tell if you listen to that bit about the route of Friday being phrase day, which connects to another one of my really intense, specific special interests, which is folklore. Because I think fundamentally, humans are creatures that understand and communicate through story. So yes, language is important, because words have meaning words are metaphors. Words are how we communicate the pictures that are in our heads. But the pictures in our heads are the stories that we're telling ourselves, because of the information we take in because of what we've experienced, and the way that we are able to interact with each other and to build our world. And our consensual reality is through the stories that we tell ourselves and tell others. So language is important, because it communicates that but what's actually the most fundamentally important is the stories that we tell ourselves, because these are the stories that make our life. And these are the stories that make up the world around us. And so to me, that's the unifying factor of everything that I can really infodump about is that there are these stories that humans for longer than time and memorable. And across all cultures, and all languages and all socio economic classes, tell the same stories. And I love that I love looking at things like the way that you're just so concisely put, what is the root of this type of yoga that we do now here in the West? And where does it come from? Because that has its root in the Vedas, just like your Vedic medicine does. It has its root in the fetus and the Vedas are this amazingly deep, broad, expansive set of mythology and folklore, that is still very much alive, it's still very much living and breathing, the culture that has its roots, in those stories, has been telling those stories consistently, for a very long time, which is totally different than a lot of the stories that inform our Western culture right now, like Hellenistic, Greco, Roman, Norse or Celtic storylines and folklore, because those have all been stratified and systematically disintegrated by newer story constructs that sort of CO OPT and steal the archetypes. And I'm referring specifically to Christianity there in case anyone missed that monotheism in general. But we'll gloss over that for the time being. So I like making all the comparisons and understanding that these stories that are told in the vetoes that are the root of this medicine that you study, and the yoga that everyone's doing, and all these are really great, super heavy tattoos of the shop dreads. And I'm shocked you shocked us like, okay, what's the story behind that? Oh, wait, the story behind that is actually the super epic cosmic Battle of these space God aliens that came to earth and fought over their progeny, which is us that have like this Earth and Space DNA mix. Interesting, because that's the exact same story that the aborigines tell and the Dogon tribe in Central Africa, and the Norse pagans who borrowed Freya, from a different Pantheon, because they thought she was a cool goddess, they also came from space and fought a war over their half human hybrid children. So like, I mean, if you want to listen to what I have to say, it's gonna sound a lot like that periodically.
Hillary 44:02
That's an incredible, incredible characteristic, they pull all of this wisdom and magic and understanding and like, bring it together in a comprehensive way for people to understand and be like, Wow, there are these main themes pulsing through everything. And you can pull them from any culture that you go to.
Stirling 44:27
Yep, that's true. That's, that was such a really great way to concisely rephrase that. That's a really beautiful skill that you have. That's another reason that you should listen to Hillary she has this really great skill that she just demonstrated, which made me feel very heard and understood. And also, for anyone that didn't follow my huge verbal explosion. She just summed it up for you. So like, you don't have to rewind the whole podcast just listen to what she just said. And like that's that brought together perfectly. Um, so thank you. I feel heard and also Yeah, That is exactly it is that you can decide to look for the core of the story anywhere. And it's the same story, we're all telling the same story. We're all living the same story, we're all writing the story, which is why it is so important to understand and pay attention to the stories that you're telling yourself because you are making that shit up. Not in a bad way. Not like it's not real, it's very real, and you are making it up. So like decide to make a good story. That's very much very much what I've been focusing on. And it's so important to me to like really understand what being neurodivergent means, because it actually gives me this toolset to be able to see like, oh, when I've had like, really intense meltdowns, or like manic episodes, or other things that happen because of the way that my brain is wired, and the way that our culture is not constructed. For a brain wired like mine, I'm able to process that information differently. And instead of just telling myself that I'm a failure, and I'm flaky, and I'm crazy, and I'm chaotic, I can look at it from a different perspective and think, Okay, well, these were my red flags, that I was approaching meltdown. And I'm familiar with those, because those happened before. And these were the instances where I took risks that were probably not very wise, because I hadn't taken the time to plan. And these are the ways in which I could work on structuring systems for myself, so that I can feel more successful, and be able to prioritize what I actually want my life to be like better. So my personal focus these days is very much in constructing systems to optimize how I am able to operate my mind so that I can achieve the things that I want to achieve. And I want to help as many people as possible, do that. achieve the things they want to achieve and figure out what those things are, and realize that they are the ones offering their own story, and everyone needs to wake the fuck up. Because our planet is literally on fire. And we don't get another one. This is it. You guys, this is it. Wake up. Okay. Thanks.
Hillary 47:23
My job? Don't worry, it's not on. Yes. Oh, my God, this is so good. Yes. My god, I would totally listen to our podcast. Well, you had this genius mind. And it's really, um, you need a platform to share. And so I'm really glad that we're doing this and that you have this platform and that it is going to expand and ripple out and the people that need to hear you and who feel the same way as you and who have minds that operate like yours, are going to be able to take a very deep breath when they hear you. Yeah, we need each other. And there's more, there's more people having similar experiences that don't fit the typical mold that we tend to see. So
Stirling 48:20
yeah, it is a very specific mold. Thank you, I feel so hurt and Hodor. So understood, and that was beautiful. And I love you. And it is a very typical mold that people have to fit in to be successful in our society. And specifically, I don't know if you're watching or listening or if you know us, or if you don't know us. But Hilary and I both grew up in Northern California, very near each other, but in completely different cultures, which is something interesting that happens in Northern California that you may not be aware of, if the only California you have a concept of is what you see on TV, because where we come from is not that California. And so Hillary grew up adjacent to probably one of the most affluent places in North America. And I grew up
just over the hills a little bit
north of there in one of the most impoverished places in the United States. So we were literally raised 45 minutes apart. And I went to the 13th lowest performing High School in California. And Hillary went to the kind of school where it was like normal to go to a four year university after high school. And then we didn't know each other then we actually have like this really amazing core group of people who all grew up what within 40 miles as the crow flies, and none of us knew each other until we were adults. But it's interesting because this place where we grew up is it is this juxtaposition of ocean and land and rural and urban and affluent and impoverished. And it can all be described like that. It's wine country. It's super rich, boozy, bitches. Wine Tasting and first gen immigrants that came over the border from Central America who are picking the grapes right outside. Like it's, that is a really good encapsulation of what Northern California is like, and I don't remember why
Hillary 50:17
you're talking about like, the way that we met and how we are like existing in these totally opposite, opposite realities beforehand and why our information comes together in a good way. Yeah,
Stirling 50:32
what she said, Oh, look at that one your team. Imagine if I was doing a podcast by myself. we would we would go on so many adventures and wonder. Everyone will be lost. Everyone be like, let's follow her. She looks like she's going on a really interesting path. Now if you like. We, why don't we come here?
Oh, yeah. Okay, so I'll talk actually a little bit more about about less about my brain and more about what I've actually done so people can get an idea for that maybe because, so we Hillary and I grew up very close to each other, but didn't know each other. And then I went to college. Also in Northern California, near where we grew up, but not that close is also its own little weird bubble is like the most PhDs per capita of anywhere in the US. But then all farmland for miles and miles in every direction outside of this place. It's a weird, weird little bubble. And I made the best friends I had had ever in my life. They were so different than the people I grew up with. Because I was born and raised in the same very, very small town of 1000 people who mostly either rode horses or did math, like if we're being honest. And usually one or the other, not typically both. And so then I went to university, and I met the most amazing people ever, and one of them was Hillary's brother. And so he's one of my best friends from college. But I never met Hillary, I didn't meet her I spent everyday I lived three houses away from this man, I spent every day with him for a large portion of time. And then Gosh, then, school ended and I went on a crazy road trip with another one of our mutual amazing friends who also grew up in the same place and didn't know either of us when we were kids. A shout out to now and totally had an intensely manic episode, because she and I were made, we want to grant to make a documentary of our road trip of West Coast festival culture. And so I need just imagine having completed a university degree in four years, and then going on an adventure like that I burnt out so hard, so hardcore, and I ran away to the mountains. And this is something that I've also learned about my brain is that I have these super epic manic episodes and flights of fancy. And like all this explosive experience, followed by months on end, where I need to be a complete hermit and not talk to anyone and basically fall off the face of the earth. And so I did that in the Colorado Rockies. And then I, a lot of other things happened. I ran away with the circus. I was a rock star in Europe, headlining stages burnt out again, obviously after I don't know, backpacking around Asia, and Europe, performing with the circus and having no money. And there's a lot of ebb and flow like that, where I felt really, really successful for months on end, and then basically hit rock bottom and got super clinically depressed for months on end. Because I didn't know how to moderate my brain. Many years after this.
I don't even know how many,
probably six or seven years after running away with the circus. I was in a tiny town again in Northern California and very strange and specifically unique place. That was a large part of the gold rush and is now a large part of the green rush involving farming cannabis, Nevada in the mountains. Hey, Nevada city. And I was at this place called elix art, which is what it sounds like. It is exactly what it sounds like. And I had drank a lot of cacau like, more than one person should drink because on Friday nights, yep. Friday night, full moon, they have bottomless cocoa. And someone who was there that I was talking to that I don't think I'd ever met before. I said I want to go dance under the full moon and she said I heard about a party Follow me. So I followed this person into the darkness of the night, in up into the mountain into the woods, into the woods in the dark. And sure enough, we got to this house, and there was lots of music and it was really good music. So I was like alright, cool. And I just walked into this house. I mean, obviously the person who led me there was already gone. I don't even remember their name. I don't know who it was. I don't think you invited them. I don't think they knew you. I think they were just a magical fairy. That was like fun into the woods, little girl, show you drop houses. And I was like, Yeah, that's a great idea. I love stories like this. So I followed the Pixie into the woods, the house was playing some really awesome wampie bass, funky break, something that I liked that spoke deeply to me very loudly from a large set of speakers. And there was a DJ in the living room. And I was like, Yes. DJ in the living room. This is exactly what I wanted. Thank you full moon. Thank you, Leo season, because it was Leo season. We'll get to that part of the story in a minute. So I walk into my start rocking now get as close to the speakers as I can.
If not, that's fine. This is. Yeah,
this is exactly what I want. So I start, I go to dance right in front of the speakers and rock out. Because that's like a really great way for me to enjoy the intense sensory input that comes with my neurological condition. And the DJ was doing a great job. So I wanted to tell the DJ that they were doing a great job, and I was vibing their music, and I look at the DJ. And it's my best friend from college, who I haven't seen any years. And I freaked out and I yelled at him. And he yelled at me. And then we collided. And we were so happy and everything was amazing. And then he tells me. I was like what what are you what are you doing here? So
he's he said, What
are you doing here? I thought you were in Prague or something? And I was like, No, I'm here. I wanted to dance under the full moon. What are you doing here? And he said, This is my sister's house. It's her birthday. And I went, why? Guess
Unknown Speaker 56:56
it was Hillary and it was her birthday. And then we fell in love. It was my birthday. And we were having a wonderful time Full Moon party was gonna die. And they lived happily ever after.
Hillary 57:11
Totally. Like people, random people met each other at that party and fell in love who are still together to this day. Me and Stirling fell in love who were still together to like us. Yeah,
Stirling 57:23
that's what happened. It was amazing. I mean, I always loved your brother. I always feel like one of my favorite people. But now I know you exist. You're him. But you also are a woman. It's amazing. And then a lot of really fantastic things happened after that, which will probably have to go into great detail over at some point in time. Oh, because then we had like another miraculous meeting sort of like that when the dust cleared at Burning Man. And all of a sudden I was standing in your camp and I didn't know that and you didn't know that you were
Hillary 58:01
Yeah, but yeah, you you like moved in with me after that party. You know, hurling was like I need a place to stay. And I was like, Well, I'm in love with you after this one night on my birthday. You should just move into my room and share my room with me.
Stirling 58:21
And also you can bring these other happy bitches following you around. There was like three of us on the floor in your room for a while I forgot about that. Yeah, I stayed with me for like a month I think
it was longer than a month but it wasn't a month like it wasn't the whole time straight right cuz it cuz it was like a season.
It was like your birthday is in the summer and it was like well into fall before I we went to Portland to look for place.
Hillary 58:52
So crazy. Yes, we we just like, merged on my birthday. And then we were like, wow, we have so much in common and so much to share. And we were practicing, like AI or Vedic philosophy together. We were rubbing oils on our bodies every night we're anointing ourselves. like doing all the 90s dance parties. Oh, we did that we played dress up we we really was really great. We This is like back to what we started with about like writing our own stories. Like how do we want to write our stories and we came together and we're like, oh, you know I think to one thing that I see in this like realm of growth and expansion and love is like people want their their romantic partnership to be that but you can call in friends that are those things as well. And you said that like totally like friend loves that are just so magic and help you grow and expand and support you emotionally and mentally. So
Stirling 1:00:05
it's really cool to because that was that whole storyline was actually like many years ago, like I was just thinking about it, it was five and a half years ago, six years ago. So and and our, the way that paths can weave and reconverge like that is really beautiful. And that's another really magical and affirming thing that happens when you do choose your own path and trust your own intuition and make your own decisions and make yourself the master of your life and write your own story is that the universe or the powers that be or Freya or God or whoever it is that's talking to you when you talk to them? We'll just like sprinkle this fairy dust and like, throw these little things in your way like Haha, and then what happens and oh, look over here.
I literally like last month, I was like, I want to start a podcast and I want to call it wild magic.
I wonder if there's a wild magic
podcast already. And I typed into Google wild magic. And the first search result was this website called Wild magic. And I was like, that sounds cool. And I clicked on it. And I was reading and I was like, this doesn't just sound cool. This sounds like familiar in a strange way. And I scroll down and it's Hillary's fucking website. I should find a Google that shit. Number one search result. The universe is like, yes, you should start a podcast Sterling. you absolutely should. That's a great idea. You and You should call it well, magic. Wow, that's like so original. You must have come up with that all by yourself. Hey, you know what else that you hadn't even thought of and hadn't even crossed your little conscious little silly little neurodivergent mind. You should do it with Hillary.
Hillary 1:01:56
It's so true. I had I had an email on my like, website of wild magic that was like, Oh my god, I found you. I googled wild magic because I wanted to start a thing and your wild magic. And this is your long lost love. And we just we just merged and we're like, yep, this is what we're doing now.
Probably,
as the universe would have it. That is literally the definition of wild magic, things that are wild by nature and magical by nature. Like you can't plan that shit. You can't like it's just, it's magical. And it's fucking wild.
Stirling 1:02:43
Absolutely. And that's the best kind. You know, there's like, there's a lot of kinds of magic. There's like seri ceremonial magic and high magic and low magic and Disney Channel magic. And all that shit is like really scripted and really planned out. And you have to do it like a certain way and a process with particular steps. But wild magic in a like that Yo, wild magic number one is way more powerful than all those other things combined. Those are like tiny little eyedroppers compared to Niagara Falls when you think about the power. But also, it's wild. So like, if you've ever surfed or swam in the ocean, or snowboarded down and later Later glacier, or
paragliding, or spent the night out in the woods and not in a tent, or, or, or, or, or you've tasted what like wild
actually is, and it's amazing. It's beautiful, and it's terrifying. And it's very powerful. And it's also the fundamental constitution of our nature as humans, because we have these bodies, and we are animals on this planet. We are all wild, and society and civilization has been attempting to domesticate that out of us. And I think and Hillary thinks, I believe I could speak for us both here, that it is really like very of the utmost number one most important thing for us to do right now for the sake of our lives, and our selves and our planet, and our entire existence and our souls and spirits and all the other really important stuff to read wild connect with the wild nature. That is the thing, the wild nature, the wild magic is what will guide you when you're trying to decide which path to take when you're trying to choose what to eat at the buffet. You have to tune into that thing, because that's the we talked about the first voice like knowing yourself and listening to your first voice and tuning into your intuition. And that is and that's you, and that's centered in you. And then there's the wild magic in the wild magic. It runs through you. So that first voice of you is connected to that. But the wild magic is more than that.
The Wild magic is the thing. That connects
that knowing of your intuition and your first voice to that level of everything else. Yes. This isn't what we plan to talk about.
Hillary 1:05:16
everyone listening knows we, every single time that we set out to do this, we're like, we're gonna talk about this thing. But let's see what happens, which is the wild magic. Yeah,
Stirling 1:05:29
we're gonna talk about dream journals. And then we're gonna, like get sound bites for intros and outros, and then we'll like talk about this course that Hillary is launching. Or we'll
Unknown Speaker 1:05:37
just, we'll just channel out what the wild magic tells us to. That's the beauty of it.
Hillary 1:05:50
Hmm, amazing. I love your brains. I love your neuro divergence.
Stirling 1:05:56
I really do to actually, when I'm in a good mood, when I'm in a bad mood, I'm my mom. I feel differently about it. But that's what I'm learning is that maybe I actually have tools and systems to build a scaffolding around the pit of despair. So I don't actually have to, like, scuba dive into it.
Hillary 1:06:16
Totally. And I think that we should do another episode about this, like very specifically, like what you experience being like your nature. And I'd be so stoked to talk about it from an Ayurvedic perspective. I want to do that and talk about it like Ella mentally because I feel like, what you've what you've figured out for yourself, you're, and I've heard you say it a couple of times of like, I have to create these systems so that it creates this like, almost like safety net to, to hold you and catch you from expanding too far out or going too fast or crashing and burning. And in IR VEDA, Sterling is a very magical constitution. And an extreme an extreme case. Like, there's so many variables, I really have an extreme case. Yeah, and the best way cuz it gives us like, I feel like I'm on the spectrum of extremes that gives us examples of like, oh, like, at its most, this is what is possible. And this is what can happen. Like, for example, Sterling is very much like ether and air with fire. And yeah, and not much earth or water at all. And none of that. And, but it's pretty magical, because she like, if you think about fire, like wind plus fire creates these like huge, massive fires, which maybe look at that and you think, ah, but fire is like transformative. It's like clarity, it burns through the bullshit and like, the clutter and the chaos and just like burns the path and Sterling has that and then I'm talking to you in third person.
I love it.
That's how I talked to myself too.
I'm talking to the listeners about you, case study. But she has a spire or you have this fire. And then you also have this, like wind and ether, like the ether is the space and her like spaciousness. She's like the container of all things. So she has this vast overlook of, of things. And that's how she can make these connections from from far reaching places. And she's able to bring them together in a really succinct way where you're like, wow, I would never have thought about these different paths connecting in this way. And that's why you have the ability to because you have this like huge cosmic bass container that pulls them back together. And you have this like motion or wind that moves you from one thing to the other. And the fire is like the fastest with the wind. So you have this thing. And in IR VEDA, it's like creating stability for those for those energies to move through you like, like how you've created systems and management of these energies and like had to figure it out on your own. This is like, what is needed in order to like contain, if you will, like going like the esoteric or Vedic route or whatever the Shakti, the energy that's like moving through you containing it with these things so that you're effective in that motion in that interconnectivity that is like your gift to this world. So buck, yes. And we'll Live it. We want more of it. See?
Stirling 1:10:06
And it's really interesting because that is exactly all the things you said are very true. You're so perceptive, oh my gosh, everyone should book a one on one consultation for customized therapeutic plan and the habits from Hillary, which you can do on her website, wild vitta.com. We'll link it in the show notes. And also to loop it all back. The place that we all grew up and didn't know each other from that is still our ancestral Homes is the kind of place that just keeps getting ravaged by these super huge wildfires. So it's like very poetic and super poignant and super personal. Because that's exactly what it is
Hillary 1:10:45
totally your your like, home place, especially has burned and every year and burned every year. Every year burns down every year
Stirling 1:10:55
people lose their houses. I'm more than half of my closest childhood friends have lost everything in different fires because it's always burning. And you think there wasn't anything left to burn? There's always something left. There's always more than there is always something left to burn. So true.
Hillary 1:11:16
Yeah. Like brings it to the macrocosm microcosm like large scale, small scale. Always. Okay, shall we wrap up?
Unknown Speaker 1:11:26
Yeah, feeling that too. Thank you Wilds manager. Yeah, totally. Okay, well,
Hillary 1:11:35
we are Oh, well,
Stirling 1:11:35
this is the first time for us to practice something that sounds like a sign out.
So everybody listening We love you. Thank you for being here. Also, we will be blogging at the aforementioned website wild magic.com. And that's magic with a K y'all because magic with the K is different than magic with the sea and being extremely precise with your language is very important when you are working with intention and understanding the difference and nuances between things just like my name is Sterling with an eye, not Sterling with an E. Those are two different things Sterling with an eye is a place in Scotland. That's where William Wallace in Braveheart was like yo, gun tech are blah, blah, blah. But that Sterling Sterling castle is there. That's where Mary Queen of Scots got her head chopped off Sterling with an E is the British Pound sterling sterling silver. These are two different things. So while magic with the k.com. We'll be blogging there. Hillary also has a website specifically for her eye or vitta practice which she does specialize in customizing plans, and doing one on one consultations. And that's wild vitta.com w i l. d, I forgot how to spell because I have ADHD you should take over from here.
Hillary 1:12:52
Sure, no problem to say. And the website is wild beta, you spell it wild, Asan, Wi l DVEDAY. Wild beta.com.
Stirling 1:13:03
Boom, and she is launching a course. So if you're listening to this in real time, it's happening now for the next six weeks. And if you're listening to this at some nebulous point in the future, she's probably running other courses. And you should go find out on wild Vila calm, and we'll also of course, feeling hanging out in the wild magic
blog.
And I have a website as well, that is focused on all my special interests, and which includes neuro diversity, and creativity. And all these things will be linked below. And we're gonna launch an Etsy shop that's going to have coloring books with all of Hillary's beautiful drawings, because adult coloring books are a thing. So let's see. And digital downloads of stickers and stuff that you can print on T shirts with all of these things like you. You had one earlier and I I mean, I'm gonna listen back because I edit these episodes. I'm gonna hear it again. But I needed I didn't say it out loud. I was like that goes on the T shirt, too. What was it? It was so good. It was so good that my monkey mind would just kept saying it over and over again while you were still talking. And I was like this thing, this thing, this thing, but now. realist and it'll return. Yes, it shall. I knew that. I told myself, I was like, you don't have to keep repeating this. It's fine. You're going to listen back, you're going to go, that's the thing. You're going to write it down, you're going to put it on an SVG file, people are going to be able to download it on the website or the Etsy shop or they can put it on their t shirts. They can look cool. That's what you guys want, right? We all want to look cool. Oh, yeah, of course, the wild magic merge. Although I have to say in that regard, like looking cool is awesome. But actually Everyone, let's remember or at least consider. It's not that you want to look cool, or I'll talk about myself. It's not that I want to look cool. Instead, I want to feel cool. And when I feel cool Then I'm like already sure that I look cool and it's a knock on effect. So if you're seeking the looking cool and the being perceived as cool, you're like approaching from the wrong angle and it's like those tire spikes when you're trying to go in to the parking lot on the wrong side and it's just gonna flatten your tires like you got to go in the other way. You got to focus on feeling cool, and then it's fine you can drive right over the spikes because you're coming from the other direction and you are going to look cool, I promise by wearing one of our shirts that you downloaded the file from our Etsy shop, which will likely be called Wild magic so at some future date that will exist go there. Yeah, okay.
Hillary 1:15:43
Well, thank you so much. I love you your magic your everything your I just Yes, all of it. Okay, okay, stopping Recording by. catch up with us on the blog
Stirling 1:16:06
at wild folk which muse.com. To stay up to date with our latest book release and receive exclusive discount codes. Be sure to sign up for the email list, subscribe and join the tribe. This episode is brought to you by the witchy wellness weekly subscription. If you're ready for recipes, rituals, resources and original artwork to uplevel your craft and self care, sign up to receive the weekly witchy wellness kit@bit.li slash witchy wellness weekly that's bi T dot L y slash witchy. wellness weekly and all these things will be linked below.
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