The Queer Spirit

The Queer Spirit podcast has conversations with artists, healers and activists who enliven, heal and empower the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Gender Queer+ communities. Each episode we'll be interviewing a different guest who does work in the world to nourish the Queer Spirit in us all - authors, coaches, teachers, body workers, mystics, creatives, ritualists, diviners and MORE. We'll dive deep into sexuality, spirituality, yoga, energy work, shamanism, healing trauma, relationships, art, activism, gender identity, tarot, astrology, and magic. Hear how other queer folks have healed themselves and be inspired to continue your path to wholeness. Hosted by Nick Venegoni (hethey) & TanyaMarck Oviedo (they/them)

The Magic of Enough with Amanda Yates Garcia 09/25/2024

Healing the Queer Spirit with Jonathan Koe 06/03/2024

Sharing Magic on Our Hearts with Madre Jaguar 05/15/2024

Queer Books Save Lives with J.P. Der Boghossian 04/23/2024

Queer Books Save Lives with J.P. Der Boghossian J.P. DerBoghossian (he/they) is the founder of the - the world's first library devoted to literature, film, and television by, about, and for Queer Armenians. He serves on the Board of the International Armenian Literary Alliance and is a past President of the Armenian Cultural Organization of Minnesota. He hosts the podcast which is a 2024 GLAAD Media Award nominee for Outstanding Podcast. He is a Lambda Literary Fellow and his essays have appeared in We Are All Armenian (University of Texas Press), The Sun Isn't Out Long Enough (Anamot Press), and Emerge (Lambda Literary). He started his career in television broadcasting and then transitioned to a ten-year career in higher education where he ultimately served as the Chief Diversity Officer for Normandale Community College and Saint Paul College. With This Queer Book Saved My Life he returns to his broadcasting roots, as he additionally hosts The Gaily Show for AM950-KTNF in Minneapolis. He holds a Master of Public Affairs degree from the University of Minnesota. He resides with his partners, splitting their time between Minneapolis, MN and Barronett, WI. Episode Highlights Season 7 premieres with our first cross-pollination episode, where we share space with other queer podcasters and creators. We start by floating into a round of: I will share mine (show you mine), if you share yours (if you show me yours) - a lovely space where we each share books/authors that have impacted our queerness. We reflect and share about the books and the aspects of our queerness that are awakened. TanyaMarck & Nick get into some queer spirit medicine and drop into some breathwork + movement + toning with the intentions of bringing and sharing all of theses beautifully awakened frequencies with our bodies and systems sprinkling it all with gratitude. Thank you to books and their authors: Home at the End of the World, by Michael Cunnigham; The Velvet Rage, by Alan Downs; The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, by Ann Rice writing as A.N. Roquelaure; & Tales of The City, by Armistead Maupin. Web links Find J.P. online at You can also connect with them on Instagram Join the private to continue the conversation and connect with other listeners. Join us for online. And ! to get news and podcast updates sent directly to you. /episode/index/show/thequeerspirit/id/30936333

Just the Queer of Us with TanyaMarck Oviedo & Nick Venegoni 11/15/2023

Exploring Queerness, Akashic Records + Tarot with Ruth Camillia 10/18/2023

The Green Wisdom of Herbalism with Rekara Gage 09/06/2023

The Green Wisdom of Herbalism with Rekara Gage *Audio Note: Volume and clarity varies during some parts of this interview. Rekara Gage (she/her) is an herbalist who focuses on the importance of ritual, safety and community when it comes to personal healing and growth. Her approach to wellness is based in food medicine and spirituality, emphasizing new ways to add plant medicine to the routines that you already have in place. She loves helping people reconnect with their intuition and do things with meaning, making everyday feel special. In her practice, it's important to provide access and information to the public so that they can make the best health choices for themselves. Rekara is a student of Traditional Western Herbalism with Julie James at Green Wisdom Apothecary and School of Herbal Studies in Long Beach. Episode Highlights Thank you to our grounding plant medicines and their energies: dandelion root (clarity), mullein (lung support + moisture), tulsi ( aids with stress + clear headed + relaxation) , and elecampane (breathwork). Rekara shares with us about her healing journey and how the medicines and magic of storytelling, food, movement, plants, family, community and curiosity play active roles in finding herself and herbalism. We learn about the medicines of ritual and practice that Rekara partakes in throughout her personal herbalism journey, and how they are connected to her culture. We learn what herbalism is: understanding plant medicine (the chemistry), how we can benefit from plants being here, how we can learn from them, and how they support us. Rekara reminds us that when working spiritually with herbs and plants, important aspects to explore and consider include: connection, intention and being open to answering the call to mindfully interact and work with them. Rekara drops an herbal tea recipe that will nourish our queer hearts, bodies, spirits , and souls. Thank you to these plants for sharing their medicine and energies: Rose (color + reminder of boundaries + protection + safety) Tulsi (aids with stress + clears the mind) Damiana (spicy + sassy + libido + reminds us who we are) Cinnamon (unsung hero that moistens us + grounding + supportive) Web links Find Rekara online at You can also connect with her on Instagram & Find & IG Join the private to continue the conversation and connect with other listeners. Join us for circles online. Grab your FREE Mini-Course: . And ! to get news and podcast updates sent directly to you. /episode/index/show/thequeerspirit/id/27940467

Creating Dreams out of Chaos with Crystal Mason & Jason Wyman 08/16/2023

Creating Dreams out of Chaos with Crystal Mason & Jason Wyman Crystal Mason (they/them) is an artist, activist, dreamer, consultant and coach. They believe in the power of community and necessity of hope. Jason Wyman (they/them) is Queerly Complex. Using appreciative inquiry, deep listening, and creative conjuring, Wyman taps the Cosmic Mysteries in all to reveal moments of Chaos Poetry. They live, love, and create on Yelamu / San Francisco, and share a home and family with their husband and pride of house and feral cats. Episode Highlights Crystal + Jason share their personal queer-stories and drop some queer wisdom nuggets Sweetness alert: We get cozy + comfy while Jason + Crystal take us for a saunter and share about how they met and their connection. We learn about the medicine + magic of dreaming in public and how sharing those dreams with others can lead to co creation and action. Crystal leads Nick + TanyaMarck through a dream practice that includes a share/reflection of what we experienced. Behind the scenes and during our shared time, Jason has been alchemizing some chaos poetry which they share with us; it’s very queer + yummy. We learn about the offerings and practices that both Jason + Crystal share with our collective. Jason's chaos poetry from our collective dreaming practice lead by Crystal: Take a deep breath... Take a deep breath & soften your gaze... Take a deep breath & flow... Flow like a river as it snakes its way through the jungles... through the forests... through the deserts... through the valleys... through the mountains... through the prairies... through the lands of your ancestors & ancestors of these lands, including those unnamed & unknown... Listen for the birds, the animals, the critters, the wind blowing from the Southwest, from the energies of dreams & wishes... Smell the flowers & the lush green flora thriving all over this world... Flow on this river & arrive in queer paradise... Where the water glistens & glitters... And queer beings of all bodies-- clothed & naked... serene & making love... joyous & free... alone & in community-- Celebrate completely... "I do not want to leave..." "Me neither..." Remember... This dream is within you always & in all ways... You can come back here... Take a deep breath... Lay in your hammock... Dream queer dreams... Here we will always be free. Web links Find Crystal online at & on Find Jason at & on And their collective work at Join the private to continue the conversation and connect with other listeners. Join us for circles online. Grab your FREE Mini-Course: . And ! to get news and podcast updates sent directly to you. /episode/index/show/thequeerspirit/id/27764394

The Magic of Gender Exploration with Rae McDaniel 06/21/2023

The Magic of Gender Exploration with Rae McDaniel Rae McDaniel (they/them) is a non-binary speaker, author, therapist, Certified Sex Therapist, coach and Transgender Diversity & Inclusion Educator. Rae helps audiences gain the sheer audacity to be themselves in the world through play, pleasure, and possibility. Their book Gender Magic is a first-of-its-kind practical guide to achieving gender freedom with joy, curiosity, and pleasure for transgender and non-binary individuals, gender explorers, and those who love them. Rae is also the founder and CEO of Practical Audacity, a Gender & Sex Therapy practice in Chicago, serving over 300 clients yearly. Episode Highlights During our shared time we explore what it means to be in flow with the unfolding journey of gender. Rae shares that coming out to their family took a couple of years - they were blessed and lucky to have built a supportive strong queer community prior to coming out. They share with us how pandemic quarantine removed a lot of the external barriers trans people navigate on the daily. During this time, Rae honored their trans identity by getting top surgery and working more deeply with testosterone injections. Rae drops some queer wisdom nuggets: How do we connect to ourselves, to each other? How do we bring more pleasure + joy + play into our lives right now even while holding all the heavy stuff? In their new book, Gender Magic, Rae poses that we position gender exploration and transition as just another part of self growth. Rae shares an excerpt from their book with us and it’s filled with such yummy nuggets of queer wisdom. Pleasure + Joy + Play remain integral ingredients of their growth. Web links Find Rae online at Connect with Rae on Join the private to continue the conversation and connect with other listeners. Join us for circles online. Grab your FREE Mini-Course: . And follow us on Instagram: - - to get news and podcast updates sent directly to you. /episode/index/show/thequeerspirit/id/27187572

The Science, Magic & Folklore of Crystals with Nicholas Pearson 03/27/2023

Season 6 is Coming Soon! 03/20/2023

Breath & Spirit with TanyaMarck Oviedo 11/14/2022

Bridging the Binaries with Brandi Stanley 10/31/2022

Creating Change & Finding Ease with Kenji Oshima 10/17/2022

Preserving Queer History with David Weissman 10/03/2022

Drag & Spirituality with Bonnie Violet 09/19/2022

Reviving the Legacy of Queer Ancestors with Seth Eisen 09/05/2022

Reviving the Legacy of Queer Ancestors with Seth Eisen Seth Eisen is a San Francisco-based artist, writer, director, dramaturg, archivist, and educator who engages LGBTQIA+ history as a living, breathing dialogue by researching lost legacies. His transdisciplinary aesthetic combines physical theater, dance, ritual, puppetry, drag, circus, installation, and video art. Blurring the edge between art, research, and activism, the work is a hybrid of visual art and immersive live theater. For 25 years Seth has staged performance pieces, original plays, street spectacles and installations and has curated and appeared in numerous collaborative projects created with other Bay Area artists. In 2007, he founded the ensemble-based theater company Eye Zen Presents that unearths and elevates the lost and hidden histories of queer ancestors so that we can better understand our lineages and ourselves. The company’s mission is to share queer cultural legacies with the general public and provides space for our local QTBIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities to gather and be in creative relationship with each other. Eye Zen creates multidisciplinary community-building events in traditional and alternative theater spaces, private homes, gardens, schools and community centers. Eye Zen’s most recent multi-year project OUT of Site, is a series of performance-driven queer history tours make the connection between the people and the sites where histories took place, bringing them to life in immersive, educational, and entertaining events around San Francisco. FabLab queer history program provides community members opportunities to learn queer history while developing creative interdisciplinary projects specifically focused on queer ancestors of color. Episode Highlights Seth shares his path of creativity through his youth to becoming a performer and producer. We talk about why he began focusing his work on queer ancestors and how he brings these histories alive in the present day. We explore Seth’s simultaneous connection with spirit and his creative work, beginning in childhood. Seth talks about the art of puppetry and his work through that medium. He shares about the experience of caring for his brother, who passed from cancer, and how it transformed and inspired his life & work. We discuss the power of place when bringing queer history alive, in particular queer BIPOC ancestors Web links Find Seth online at And follow him on & Join the private to continue the conversation and connect with other listeners. Grab your FREE Mini-Course: . And ! to get news and podcast updates sent directly to you. /episode/index/show/thequeerspirit/id/24228546

Mapping Sensitivities with Mike Iamele 06/13/2022

Soul Speaking & Spiritual Freedom with Coach K Josephs 05/30/2022

Drama Therapy & Theatre as Activism with Anna Winget 05/16/2022

Reconstructing Spiritual Practice with Mahrs Schoppman & Scott Sessions 05/02/2022

Reconstructing Spiritual Practice with Mahrs Schoppman & Scott Sessions Mahrs Schoppman, born and raised in California, is a queer & trans somatic psychotherapist with a private practice based out of his home office in Occidental, California. He specializes in working with the queer community and with those who live with the embodied traumatic impacts of growing up in an oppressive religious environment. He is passionate about walking with people on their journeys of reclaiming embodied knowing, sensation, emotional range, and vitality. Currently, he is launching a series of religious trauma therapy groups with an understanding that group-based trauma needs group based healing. Born queer and raised orthodox Mormon, Scott Sessions knows about navigating worlds that seem like polar opposites. Scott, who now identifies as an agnostic post-Mormon mystic, is developing a career as a spiritual life coach. He helps those who have left restrictive religions to cultivate new spiritual practices that bring healing and inner peace. In addition to coaching, Scott runs monthly reading events (both online and in-person) called Queer Bedtime Stories, where folks come together to share and be moved by the words of LGBTQ authors. With a commitment to help meet the spiritual needs of this particular moment, standing firm in both Mormon and queer identities, Scott proudly carries the pioneer tradition into the 21st century. Episode Highlights Mahrs shares about his upbringing in the Evangelical Christian church, and how that effected him as a queer and trans person. Scott shares about his childhood growing up queer in a Mormon community, and struggled with his queer identity and coming out in that space. They both share how they found their path out of the dysfunction of those religious sects, and discovered their new spiritual practices. Mahrs shares how his relationship with the sensations of his body deeply impacted his ability to reconstruct his spiritual self. Scott talks about how he felt numb when he left his church and reconnected to spiritual sensation through writing and poetry. He also shares that learning about the spiritual practice of other queer folks informs his practices as well. Mahrs shares how his work as a psychotherapist is expanding to offer groups for folks recovering from religious trauma. He explains more about what somatic psychology therapy practices look like in practice. Scott shares about his new life coaching groups for queer folks who have left restrictive religions. He also talks about his Queer Bedtime Stories for folks to gather in a soft space to connect online and in-person. They both share their struggle to stay present in groups generally as a result of religious trauma, and how they stay grounded in their bodies in those moments. Web links Find Mahrs online at Find Scott on Instagram & Join the private to continue the conversation and connect with other listeners. Grab your FREE Mini-Course: . And ! to get news and podcast updates sent directly to you. /episode/index/show/thequeerspirit/id/22968494