Seeking safely

At TOTEM, we've made a promise-- and it matters.

So, if you’ve been paying attention here on our TOTEM Substack, you know that I hate “the grift”. You can see our previous posts on this topic HERE, HERE and HERE for more details, but here’s the upshot:

• The world of woo is full of bullshit artists, narcissists and con artists that seek to exploit people financially, emotionally, spiritually, and sexually

• These people ruin what could otherwise be a lovely exploration of a wonder-filled landscape, including ruining it for us ethical practitioners

• There is no place for coercive control, usery, enmeshment, or bullshit in real spiritual work, and I do what I can to educate whoever I can on the red flags, lessons learned and best practices to side step these pitfalls— and assholes— while being curious and open-minded.

This topic is going to come to the fore in the coming weeks’ episodes of The Skeptical Shaman podcast, and we’ve already interviewed the lovely Abigail Kochunas HERE about her experience leaving a cult within a cult.

Honestly, I’ve been stunned by what I’ve found among my fellow “spiritual practitioners”. Coming from corporate real estate, consulting and outsourcing, I genuinely thought that my transition to full-time spiritual work would immerse me in a world of ethical, healed and well-intentioned individuals. I was stoked to meet collaborators and mentors and, in a very naive twist, “make the world a better place” with these authentic souls. I thought the assholes I had met at yoga studios or healing circles were outliers, and I honestly believed that I was uniquely sensitive to bullshit…and that a large part of this was MY PROBLEM.

You know, because I’m antisocial and disagreeable and whatnot;)

But that was and is not the case.

Since transitioning to this work full-time, I’ve found that the coaching/ personal development/ psychic/ energy healing space is exponentially worse than anything I came across while working with genuine demons in conference rooms. At least those demons didn’t lie to themselves or others about what they were up to, inverting reality to present the opposite of what was percolating within. They cared about numbers and they said they cared about numbers. Terrible, yes. But honest and voluntary.

In this world of woo, many claim to care about you, your spiritual development and your happiness when what they care about is MONEY. SEX. POWER. FAME. EGO GRATIFICATION. CONTROL.

These villains use surreptitious techniques to get you to buy, sign up, stay, and most importantly: pay, pay, pay. And, sadly, they are the majority of my “peers” in the work I currently do (and love).

So, today I made a formal promise to not do that shit, and I wanted to share it with you.

It’s via a nonprofit organization called Seeking Safely, and here are the details (copied from Seek Safely’s website):

“THE PROMISE

A person’s journey to self-empowerment and personal improvement is deeply personal, emotional and often times spiritual. We/I acknowledge and support every individual’s right to a safe and constructive journey so that each person might find the personal growth and change he/she seeks.

As an organization and practitioner, I am committed to providing an environment and experiences that are:

• Truthful: Consumers will receive accurate information about the authors, leader’s or speaker’s professional degrees, credentials and experience.

• Accurate: It will be clearly delineated what is personal opinion, belief or speculation as opposed to information that is supported by third party scientific research.

• Respectful: Participants will be able to freely express opinions, without fear of public humiliation, ridicule, shame or physical abuse.

• Protective: The leader will protect the emotional safety of participants by keeping confidentiality and implementing appropriate boundaries.

• Integrity: The leader will provide personal witness by living the program being taught.

• Safe: The leader will have a comprehensive risk management plan to minimize any risk taken by participants and clearly explain any potential risks.”

So, this is my promise to all of you. Of course, if you’ve ever worked with me as a client of TOTEM, versions of this have surely already come up in our sessions, coaching agreement, etc.— my one true religion just might be consent;)

But it’s good to formalize it. As a shaman, I know that contracts have an energetic and ritual value to them, and it can feel good to make it real and public.

It’s also nice to share the work at Seeking Safely with all of you: please check out their website and look into the resources they share (including a great podcast) while you’re exploring the woo world.

Do I make money at TOTEM? Yes. But TOTEM is not built with a profit motive at the forefront. It is not the primary filter for my offerings or my behavior. I actually think that’s bad business, never mind terribly corrosive to the intimate, important spiritual work we do together. In fact, I often pick up freelance writing or consulting gigs just so that I never feel the pressure to make weird decisions while handling this very sensitive and very crucial work.

As a shaman, my primary priority is always your empowerment, to the point where I think I frustrate a lot of you when not just giving out the answer— like a kind of spiritual vending machine that just doesn’t give up that damn Twix bar.

That’s not what we do at TOTEM, and I promise you: it’s for your benefit.

Am I shaman? Yes. Am I a working psychic? Yes. Do I know some stuff after a lifetime of obsessively studying the esoteric and mystical? Yes.

But your spiritual journey is going to look different than mine, and it’s crucial that I respect and support your unique path while empowering you to listen to your own intuition!

Thank you all and please email anytime with questions: Rachel@totemreadings.com

-Rachel