Subversive Science: Isabella Constantino on NXIVM’s Tourettes Study (Part 1)NXIVM’s timeline unfolds like a (horror) film with its own subplots. One of the cult’s best known smaller mythologies was its ability to cure Tourette's Syndrome, which is a condition in the nervous system that causes tics like sudden and uncontrollable movements or vocal outbursts. It should be noted that while there are certainly various treatments for managing TS, there is still no known cure.
This explains why today’s guest, Isabella Constantino, was attracted to NXIVM and the extraordinary results they were boasting about with their TS study. Ultimately, Constantino wound up postponing her last semester of college and moving to Albany in order to engrain herself in the study and to pursue personal growth, both of which she did for a total of three years before finally escaping. Now, she’s spent half a decade recovering her “sense of self” and navigating life post-NXIVM.
But how did NXIVM actually approach this “scientific” study, and what abusive methods did they apply from their typical conditioning in order to combat Tourette’s? Lastly, did any of their techniques actually help with TS, and if so, at what cost?
Plant Stories | Featuring Alex Queathem PayneHerbalist and educator Alex Queathem Payne joins us for an in-person interview after she toured the Mountain Rose Herbs facilities this past spring. Thomas and Alex discuss her naturalist upbringing, the ‘green’ lineage in her family, and her educational path, including her studies at the Columbines School of Botanical Studies. Alex tells us about her childhood connection with mint and her adulthood connection with skullcap. Learn some of the virtues of skullcap and how Alex loves to connect with this special plant and others.
Alex Queathem Payne is an herbalist and educator with a passion for living a natural and sustainable life. Alex attended a three-year program through the Columbines School of Botanical Studies. In 2016, Alex became the administrator for the school, completed educator training, and became an instructor for the school. Currently she is the production manager at Cheryl’s Herb Shop in St. Louis, Missouri, as well as creating a botanical sanctuary called Tending the Wildflowers Sanctuary in the foothills of the Ozarks. The sanctuary, co-founded with her husband, is recognized through the United Plant Savers Botanical Sanctuary Network. They grow a myriad of medicinal herbs, native and at-risk plants, and are beekeepers. Alex’s mission is to inspire others and encourage all to be good stewards of the Earth.
Navigating Narcissism with Dr. Ramani
What is a Cult? With Dr. Janja LalichDr. Janja Lalich, the world’s foremost expert on cults, reveals the four principles all cults share, how she survived ten years in a brutal cultic system and how these groups continue to abuse while evading authorities. Dr. Janja also shares an important warning on how to identify their manipulative tactics and keep you and your family safe.
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Guest Bio:
Janja Lalich, Ph.D., Professor Emerita of Sociology, is an international authority on cults, extremism, and coercion. She specializes in closed systems (cults, narcissistic relationships, human trafficking, ideological extremism). Dr. Lalich is Founder and CEO of the Lalich Center on Cults and Coercion. The mission of the Lalich Center is to provide life-saving resources to survivors of cults, the Troubled Teen Industry, and narcissistic families/relationships. She is author of six books, including the now classic, Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships; her theoretical work, Bounded Choice: True Believers and Charismatic Cults; and Escaping Utopia: Growing Up in a Cult, Getting Out and Starting Over. She also co-authored two books with Dr. Margaret Thaler Singer: Cults in Our Midst and “Crazy” Therapies: What Are They? Do They Work? In addition to working with survivors and their families, she conducts workshops for governments and international intelligence agencies, private companies, and educational institutions.
The Energetics of Love Play with Satya Lila
Satya Lila, founder of the Secual Communion program, has taught and guided people in the area of sacred sexuality since 1993. With over 15,000 hours of client sessions under the belt and having led hundreds of workshops across the US and Japan, she specializes in helping women and couples to enhance their intimate connections, to allow the erotic divine energies to move through them and feel the ecstatic bliss of a sacred secual connection - and enjoy epic, earth shattering love play.
Wed, June 28, 2023 at 02:00 pm [Eastern]
The Natural Home Wheel of the Year with Raechel Henderson
Raechel Henderson returns to discuss her newest book -
The Natural Home Wheel of the Year: Crafting, Cooking, Decorating and Magic for Every Sabbat
Invite the sabbats into your home the natural way and create a vibrant Wheel of the Year tradition with this book of crafts, activities, and recipes. For each sabbat, Raechel Henderson features sections on low-cost activities, inspiration for your seasonal altar, journal prompts, food ideas, decoration suggestions, and more.
With Raechel's ecofriendly emphasis on found and foraged materials, you will learn to make a twig wreath for Samhain, naturally dyed banners for Ostara, and twine flowers for Beltane. Explore activities like drawing a milk bath for Imbolc, leaving offerings for the faeries on Litha, and conducting a gratitude ritual for Mabon. With so many sustainable ways to enjoy seasonal themes and lessons, each turn of the wheel can grant you a new perspective and an opportunity to enrich your life.
Raechel Henderson is a Pagan and witch, following an eclectic and independent path. She currently works with Hestia and Turtle in her magical practice. She contributes articles to Llewellyn's almanacs and calendars and she blogs about magic, creativity, and living by your own patterns. Raechel is a dual class seamstress/shieldmaiden and has been sewing professionally since 2008. She is also the author of Sew Witchy, The Scent of Lemon & Rosemary, and The Natural Home Wheel of the Year. Visit her on Instagram: @idiorhythmic
Fri, June 30, 2023 04:30 pm [Eastern]
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