Ancient Minoan Wisdom: Chiara Baldini

Researcher, author, and PhD candidate Chiara Baldini has spent two decades tracing the roots of ecstatic culture in Europe — from the rituals of Dionysus all the way back to Bronze Age Crete and the ancient Minoans, a civilization that thrived for over a thousand years before classical Greece. In this conversation, Chiara makes a compelling case that the Minoans may have been the only advanced civilization of their era not built on domination — their palaces functioning as community spaces rather than elite residencies, their frescoes showing priestesses, dolphins, and bull-jumping athletes rather than kings and conquest. She explores what their art, architecture, and animist relationship to nature might offer us now — not as a culture to imitate, but as proof that patriarchy is not inevitable, and that a radically different set of values has thrived before. Chiara Baldini is a scholar, author, speaker and freelance curator from Florence (Italy). She investigates the evolution of the ecstatic cult in the West, particularly in Minoan Crete,  ancient Greece, and Rome, contributing to anthologies, psychedelic conferences, and festivals. She was a member of the Boom Festival team since 2010 and the curator of Boom’s cultural area Liminal Village from 2014 to 2023. She has co-curated the anthology “Psychedelic Mysteries of the Feminine.” She is currently a PhD candidate at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). She lives in Portugal and she expresses her deep love for music by playing as DJ Clandestina. Topics 00:00 Welcome 02:02 Reconnecting with Chiara and Recent Life Changes 03:31 Dionysus and Ecstatic Traditions 06:38 Going Back to the Minoans 10:07 Bronze Age Patriarchy and War 18:02 Minoan Palaces and Community Life 21:18 Frescoes Dolphins and Priestesses 26:34 Seal Rings and Undeciphered Script 32:18 Bull Jumping and Gender Fluidity 37:20 Why Minoans Matter Today 44:31 Modern Crete LARPing and Animism 49:30 Courses, Books and Closing Resources & Links Chiara Baldini Website & contact Instagram: @iamalwayschiara Academia Facebook Soundcloud Psychedelic Mysteries of the Feminine (co-edited with Maria Papaspyrou and David Luke) — available via Inner Traditions Dionysus: Rave, Ritual and Revolution — online course (advaya) Minoan Crete course — online course (advaya) Power Without Patriarchy: Minoan Crete — online course (Morbid Anatomy) Dionysus course — Morbid Anatomy Psychedelic Mysteries of the Feminine (co-edited with Maria Papaspyrou and David Luke) — available via Inner Traditions Chiara's earlier SAND talk (2019) Books mentioned The Chalice and the Blade — Riane Eisler — the foundational text on dominator vs. partnership societies, essential context for this conversation Key figures discussed Arthur Evans — Wikipedia — British archaeologist who excavated Knossos beginning in 1900, named the Minoan civilization, and controversially reconstructed the palace The Prince of the Lilies fresco — the contested Knossos fresco Chiara discusses as an example of Evans projecting masculine elite identity onto ambiguous fragments Knossos Palace, Crete — the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete, centerpiece of Minoan culture Institutions mentioned CIIS — California Institute of Integral Studies — where Chiara is completing her PhD in Philosophy, Cosmology and Consciousness Boom Festival — transformational arts festival where Chiara curated the Liminal Village cultural area for over a decade Connect with more talks and films from the SAND film Series The Eternal SongSupport the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member

Recorded live at a SAND Community Gathering (March 2026). Something is cracking open in the spiritual and wellness world; and it has been for a while. Have wisdom traditions containing genuine gifts been composted into a product that only serves the very forces those traditions were born to resist? It is no news that some powerful spiritual leaders with devoted followers have, for a long time, abused that power for dominance and, in many cases, for sexual exploitation. The Epstein files are not an interruption to the pattern; they are the pattern, made suddenly impossible to scroll past. We want to reflect on the conditions—not just the men, not just the crimes, but the architecture of silence that held it all in place. What kind of spiritual culture produces that silence? What kind of spiritual culture makes it possible to look at harm and call it a lesson in perception? What has gone awry with our approach to spirituality when the latter can be used as a cover for abuse? How come much of the therapeutic and spiritual communities remain silent in the face of crimes witnessed by the entire world? To explore these and related issues, this discussion brought together mytho-poetic spiritual teacher Bayo Akomolafe Ph.D., writer & podcaster Matthew Remsiki, author & playwright V, spiritual teacher & psychologist Tara Brach and author & physician Gabor Maté in a wide-ranging discussion that will also invite audience participation. The intention is to leave participants encouraged to find the spiritual inner strength needed to pursue truth without losing discrimination in the process, without giving away their power; to discuss compassionately, without judgment but with clarity, what the Epstein revelations can tell us about who we are, about our culture, and about the nature of how we construct reality; to move beyond a so-called equanimity and “non-attachment” that is indistinguishable from numbness and passivity in the face of harm, in the face of evil. Topics:   00:00 Welcome and Intentions 01:30 Opening Prayer and Invocation 08:38 Ashe and Grace in the Fire 12:26 Guided Breath and Heart Presence 16:14 Moderator Sets the Context 18:44 Pat on Accountability and Betrayal 23:00 Bayo on Rage and Virtue 28:52 Tara on Cult Silence and Bystanders 35:46 V on Sacrifice and Reporting Systems 44:53 Matthew on Critique and Accountability Research 50:40 Key Question Abusive Teachers 52:50 Residential School Aftermath 54:51 Prep School Indoctrination 56:25 Deep Truth From Flaws 58:12 Tourettes And Moral Switch 01:01:01 Charisma And Inner Circles 01:04:34 Privilege Patriarchy Power 01:08:03 Architecture Of Silence 01:13:12 Anger Grief And Courage 01:18:08 Indigenous Survival And Trickster 01:22:56 Speaking Out And Fugitivity 01:27:09 Spirituality’s Inward Turn 01:32:52 Accountability And Healing 01:35:53 Closing Links: Gabor Maté – https://drgabormate.com/ Bayo Akomolafe – https://www.bayoakomolafe.net/ Pat McCabe – https://www.patmccabe.net/  Tara Brach – https://www.tarabrach.com V (formerly Eve Ensler) – https://www.eveensler.org Matthew Remski – https://matthewremski.com/ Watch the full video of this conversation – https://scienceandnonduality.com/event/the-architecture-of-silence-in-spiritual-culture/ Support the work of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member

Recorded live at SAND's Wisdom of the Ancestors event for the launch of the film series The Eternal Song, four powerful voices converge to address colonization, extractivism, and ecological injustice — and what it takes to move toward healing. Moderated by Rae Abileah, social change strategist, Jewish faith leader, and co-creator of the global Climate Ribbon art ritual. Abby Reyes, author of Truth Demands and Director of Community Resilience at UC Irvine, shares her harrowing personal story of the 1999 murders of her partner and colleagues near U'wa territory in Colombia, and a landmark recent Inter-American Court victory for Indigenous collective rights. Osprey Orielle Lake, founder of WECAN International and author of The Story Is in Our Bones, brings a worldview-shifting lens to the climate crisis as a justice and relational emergency. And Casey Camp-Horinek, elder, actress, and Hereditary Drumkeeper of the Ponca Nation, grounds the conversation in Indigenous sovereignty and the Rights of Nature. Together they call for community-rooted action, mutual aid, and what they name "post-traumatic growth." Topics: 00:00 Host Welcome and Land Acknowledgment 03:12 Session Theme and Intentions 04:48 Meet the Panelists 08:10 Why We Are Here 18:59 Indigenous Rights and Knowledge 25:14 Casey on Nature and Purification 34:29 Abby Story and Legal Victory 43:56 Meaningful Action and Getting Started 50:32 Community Practice and Post Traumatic Growth 57:58 Closing Reflections and Thanks Resources Rae Abileah CreateWell — Website Beautiful Trouble Bio Abby Reyes Website Truth Demands — Penguin Random House UC Irvine Community Resilience Osprey Orielle Lake WECAN International The Story Is in Our Bones — New Society Publishers Casey Camp-Horinek Movement Rights Bio SAND Feature Connect with more talks from The Wisdom of the Ancestors  in the SAND film Series The Eternal Song Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member

Patty Krawec is Ojibwe Anishinaabe, a retired social worker, and author of Becoming Kin and her new book Bad Indians Book Club. In this conversation she explores kinship beyond blood, land as ancestor, and why reading together — slowly, in community — might be one of the most quietly radical things we can do right now. Topics 00:00 Introduction 00:56 Meeting Patty Krawec 02:00 Land Lineage Roots 04:17 Becoming Kin Origins 06:43 Bad Indians Book Club 10:12 Reindigenizing The Future 14:55 Reclaiming The Word 20:28 Reading Together Power 25:06 Attention In The Feed 25:27 Relearning Deep Reading 26:10 Notebook Trick for Focus 26:54 Building a Genre Mosaic 29:00 Indigenous Horror and Futures 31:53 Read Widely Use Libraries 32:18 Curated Lists and Book Browsing 34:26 Bookstore Serendipity 36:30 AI Pushes Us Offline 38:18 Books as Time Alchemy 41:58 Ghost the System Together 44:10 Deep Time Reading Lineage 47:14 New Projects and Ojibwe Stories 49:59 Thanks and Farewell Resources a thousand worlds Medicine for the Resistance  Why We Are Both Oppressed and Oppressor: Patty Krawec   Becoming Kin Bad Indians Book Club       The Eternal Song   Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member

Recorded from a live SAND Gathering (February 2026). From Los Angeles to Minneapolis, communities are turning toward one another in a time of uncertainty, remembering that care begins close to home. Beyond public action, quieter networks of support are taking root: block-by-block relationships grounded in land, lineage, and love. This gathering explores how spiritual practice, trauma-aware care, and neighborhood organizing are being woven together as living traditions. We ask what it looks like to shift our energy from reactive mobilization toward steady, proactive organizing that can sustain us for the long haul. Drawing from Indigenous memory, Black freedom traditions, diasporic Jewish practices of care, and contemporary grassroots work, we reflect on how mutual care—feeding one another, tending grief, protecting children, honoring the dead—can be reclaimed as daily sacred practice. This is a conversation about blending spiritual practice and movement practice; about thinking smaller, closer, and more relational; and about learning from quiet, resilient forms of organizing that move people from isolation into coordinated courage. This conversation invites attunement: How do we stay grounded in grief without collapsing? How do we strengthen relationships across differences? How do small, steady acts of care help communities move from fear toward shared courage? This is an invitation to listen to the wisdom already alive in our histories, our bodies, and our neighborhoods. Topics 00:00 Welcome and Context 02:33 Grounding Breath Practice 03:22 Why We Gather Now 05:19 Meet the Speakers 07:36 Lyila June on Collapse 09:12 Chaco Canyon Lesson 12:36 Kaira Jewel on Flow 16:39 Rejoicing and Ancestors 20:04 Rabbi Jessica in Minneapolis 24:54 Sacred Geography and Duty 29:59 Lyla June on Forgiveness 36:22 Liberation for Everyone 37:32 Grace and Sobriety Story 39:06 Jewish Wisdom and Mutual Care 41:27 Feasting Fuels Mutual Aid 45:53 Spirituality Is Not Neutral 49:11 Sacred Criticism and Fierce Love 53:49 Mycelium and Small Acts 59:51 Resources and Community Questions 01:03:30 Heart Practice for Overwhelm 01:06:17 Reweaving Interdependence 01:08:46 Warrior Love Closing 01:14:31 Final Announcements and Farewell Decolonial Mental Health Practice: Clinical and Ethical Insights from Palestine with Dr. Samah Jabr (March 1, 8, 15 & 22, 2026 • 9:00 – 11:00am PST online with SAND) Please consider donating to Rabbi Jessica’s GoFundMe campaign in support of students at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis. The students are using creative arts to process the trauma of recent encounters involving ICE and U.S. Border Patrol. In collaboration with local artists, they are developing an art installation intended to uplift and inspire both the school community and their neighbors, while continuing to advocate for justice and safety for all. This project offers a meaningful way to strengthen community bonds and foster collective healing. Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member

Dr. Liza J. Rankow, author of Soul Medicine for a Fractured World, explores healing justice in a time of social and ecological upheaval. She names oppositional dualism and domination as the root fracture of our world and invites a shift toward lived non-duality as the ground of lasting transformation. The conversation touches the “crucible of the in-between,” apocalypse as death and renewal, grief as medicine, and the movement from commodified self-care to soul care rooted in spirit, community, and nature. The conversation emphasized deep listening, silence, and relationship with the living world. Today’s episode closes with a simple guided breath practice for self, loved ones, and the world. Topics 00:00 Opening  01:20 Why This Book Now 03:41 What’s Fracturing Us 07:21 Crucible of the In Between 14:52 Medicine in the Wound 20:11 Grief as Collective Wisdom 26:28 Soul Care vs Self Care 32:02 Mystic Activism and Oneness 34:57 Breath And Service 35:59 No Spiritual Bypass 37:00 Oneness With Perpetrators 39:18 Mysticism And Justice 41:08 Nature As Practice 44:23 Purpose And Gifts 47:44 Deep Listening 53:25 Silence And Reckoning 56:13 Darkness As Source 58:20 Closing Practice And Book Resources LizaRankow.org Soul Medicine for a Fractured World     “Mysticism and Social Action” by Dr. Howard Thurman Soul Work for Times of Uncertainty - SAND Podcast with Francis Weller   Engaged Contemplation - SAND Podcast with Fr. Adam Bucko Glissando of Consciousness - SAND Podcast with Andrew Holecek Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member

Recorded live at a SAND Community Gathering (Feb 2026) Dr. Samah Jabr, a Palestinian psychiatrist and author of Radiance in Pain and Resilience, joins Dr. Mays Imad (with questions from the audience chat) for a conversation about what it means to stay human when the structures meant to protect people are the ones doing the harm. Drawing on decades of clinical work inside the occupation, Dr. Jabr moves past the “sanitized” versions of trauma to speak directly to the heart of colonial harm in Palestine. Central to this dialogue is an exploration of the deep ontological differences between Western psychiatric models and Palestinian lived experience. While Western frameworks often pathologize the individual through the lens of PTSD, Dr. Jabr introduces the concept of iptila—viewing tribulations through a framework of agency, faith, and collective endurance. She challenges the frequent romanticization of sumud (steadfastness), reframing it not as a poetic trope, but as a grueling relational practice and an ethical refusal to disappear when everything conspires toward Palestinian erasure. In a reality where the harm never ends, memory becomes a battlefield, grief a form of testimony, bearing witness an active refusal to normalize the unacceptable, and storytelling a vital survival infrastructure against the assassination of memory.Join Dr. Samah Jabr · March 1, 8, 15 & 22, 2026 • 9:00 – 11:00am PSTDecolonial Mental Health Practice: Clinical and Ethical Insights from PalestineA four-part webinar presented by SAND Topics 00:00 Welcome & Why We Need a New Framework for Trauma and Justice 02:15 “If I Must Die”: Carrying Memory, Refusing Normalization 03:13 Introducing Dr. Samah Jabr’s Work: Pain, Power, and a Counter-Narrative 07:55 A Childhood Lesson in Naming: Robinson Crusoe and Colonial Language 10:10 Clinic Stories: When Political Reality Shapes Symptoms 14:14 Beyond Western Psychiatry: Language, Resilience, and Context as the ‘Pathology’ 17:19 The ‘Fear of Dogs’ Case: History, Colonial Violence, and Clinical Meaning 20:40 When Systems Collapse: Gaza’s Crushed Mental-Health Response & Organic Community Care 25:04 Collective Healing & the Kite Intervention: Building Agency and Connection 29:31 From Mobilization to Organization: Global Solidarity and Liberation 34:31 How to Keep Working: Hope, Spirituality, and Protecting Health Workers 41:58 Meaning-Making in Crisis: The Palm Tree Story and Spiritual Grounding 45:22 Spirituality as Resilience: Listening for What Helps Each Person 47:13 Scaling Mental Health Support in Palestine: Training Community Helpers 49:00 Creating “Healing Spaces”: Group Support for Journalists, Youth & Displaced Women 53:22 Reporting Gaza From Afar: Citizen Journalism, Narrative Control & Ethical Witnessing 59:44 How to Support Palestine Sustainably: Remote Mental Health, Publishing & Advocacy 01:05:37 Colonialism, Patriarchy & Horizontal Violence: When Trauma Damages the Social Fabric 01:10:03 Meaning-Making Under Protracted Trauma: Tila, Agency & Shattered Belief Systems 01:15:16 Diaspora Palestinians: From Helping Family to Leading Global Political Solidarity 01:21:55 Closing Charge: Being Human After Mass Violence + Upcoming Webinars & Films Resources   Dr. Samah Jabr’s book Art by Fernando Martí and Jess X. Snow, inspired by Huda Suboh’s quote: “In the heart of Gaza, where the echoes of war reverberate through the streets… each day, glimmers of hope that dance across the sky—kites.” — Rafah, 2024 Support this conversation by donating to Sumud Network for Mental Health and Healing for Gaza   Where Olive Trees Weep (Film by SAND on Palestine (2024) with more Resources and a course on Palestine)

What if language was not a tool for naming things, but a vibration of relationship? What if intelligence wasn’t a human asset, but an ecological rhythm? What if consciousness is not what happens in our heads—but what happens between us, through us, with the land, with water, with wind?   Come gather for a conversation with Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Cheyenne River Lakota elder, host of First Voices Radio, master musician, and steward of relational ways of knowing. Rooted in the vibrational teachings of the old Lakota language, a language shaped by Earth and used to speak with, not about, Tiokasin invites us to unlearn the dominance of human-centered thought and listen again to Earth as consciousness.   First Voices Indigenous Radio   Butterfly Against the Wind   Topics   00:00 Introduction and Greetings 00:48 Introducing Tiokasin Ghosthorse 01:28 Tiokasin's Background and Philosophy 04:36 The Concept of Land Acknowledgement 05:59 Relational Values and Indigenous Wisdom 08:02 Language and Consciousness 16:09 Mystery and Present Consciousness 27:54 Environmentalism and Connection to Earth 35:04 Understanding WIA and Innocence 36:34 The Role of Elders and Wisdom 37:58 Relational Intelligence vs. Western Education 39:14 Cultural Trauma and Language Suppression 45:41 Earth Consciousness and Modern Anxiety 50:04 The Illusion of Control and AI 58:38 Ceremony and Earth Cycles 01:03:32 Final Thoughts and Gratitude Connect with more with Tiokasin and dozens of other speakers and elders  in the SAND film Series The Eternal Song Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member

In this conversation, Ellen Emmet reflects on her path into Jungian analysis and how the teachings of Carl Jung continue to shape her inner life, clinical work, and spiritual inquiry. Together, we explore what it means to hold depth psychology and nondual realization in the same field—without collapsing one into the other. The dialogue moves through questions of decolonizing therapy, the subtle dynamics of spiritual bypass, and the kind of deep listening required when working with the unconscious—both personal and collective. Ellen speaks to the body as a threshold into the psyche’s wilderness, and to the necessity of staying in relationship with what is unresolved, uncomfortable, and unfinished. Threaded throughout is a concern for the wider world: how collective trauma, ancestral memory, and the current socio-political moment ask to be included in spiritual and therapeutic work—not bypassed. This is a conversation about remembrance, embodiment, and the slow work of integration in times of upheaval. Ellen offers meetings and retreats through The Awakening Body, an experiential exploration rooted in nondual inquiry, Authentic Movement, and direct listening to lived experience. She also maintains a private psychotherapy practice and facilitates Authentic Movement groups. EllenEmmet.com Topics 00:00 Introduction and Guest Overview 01:05 Reflecting on Past Conversations 01:41 Journey into Jungian Analysis 02:50 Exploring Carl Jung's Theories 05:31 The Process of Individuation 13:17 Decolonizing Therapy 16:40 Spiritual Bypassing and Social Issues 20:48 Facing the Darkness: Confronting Fear and Avoidance 22:17 The Deadly Silence: Censorship in Spiritual Spaces 23:19 Heartbreak as a Spiritual Connection 26:09 The Power of Collective Healing 28:03 Listening with Reverence and Reverie 36:09 The Wildness of the Body: Embracing Natural Movement 39:39 Concluding Thoughts and Future Connections Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member

From a SAND Community Gathering (December 2025), Francis Weller joins SAND co-founders Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo for a wide-ranging conversation on grief, initiation, and the sacred thresholds of a changing world.   They speak of rough passages and necessary descents—of what must burn away, and what endures. With Francis’s steady guidance, sorrow, longing, beauty, and vulnerability are reclaimed not as weaknesses, but as profound sources of strength, orientation, and soul knowledge.   Rooted in the soulcraft teachings of his book In the Absence of the Ordinary, the dialogue unfolds in a spirit of reverence and remembrance. Together, they explore the unraveling of the familiar as an invitation into deeper belonging—grief as a living portal, and beauty as a practice of staying close to what is sacred, even in times of descent.   Topics   00:00 Introduction and Acknowledgements 01:09 Guest Introduction: Francis Weller 02:02 Opening Reflections on Soul and Rhythm 03:17 The Modern Frenzy vs. Soul's Rhythm 05:32 Therapy and the Soul's Healing Process 12:09 The Role of Wounds in Soul Work 16:35 Confession and Community Healing 23:17 Collective Psyche and Modern Challenges 28:39 Historical Roots of Disconnection 31:25 Grief and Ancestral Memory 33:47 Understanding Grief in a Shallow Culture 35:06 The Three Layers of Experience 35:18 The Role of Ritual in Processing Grief 36:00 Fear and Control in Grief Expression 36:22 The Importance of Containment Fields 36:48 Cultural Rituals and Their Significance 40:21 Creating Personal Rituals 50:32 The Long Dark: Embracing Uncertainty 56:13 The Sacred in Everyday Life 59:13 The Role of Elders in a Fragmented World 01:03:12 Concluding Thoughts and Reflections Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member