LightSong School of 21st-Century Shamanism and Energy Medicine Talking Stick Podcast

LightSong School of 21st-Century Shamanism and Energy Medicine Talking Stick Podcast
Discernment in a Noisy World: Wisdom, AI, Empathy, and Inner Knowing
How do we know what's true in a world overflowing with information, opinions, technology, and constant noise?
In this timely and thought-provoking episode, Jan Engels-Smith and Micah Schwader explore the art of discernment—the ability to recognize what aligns with your deepest truth, what serves your growth, and what deserves your attention.
The conversation begins with Micah's experience teaching Storytelling in the Age of AI and his growing realization that while technology can provide information and intelligence, it cannot replace human wisdom, intuition, lived experience, or heart-centered knowing. As artificial intelligence becomes more integrated into daily life, the need for discernment becomes increasingly important.
Jan brings the discussion into the world of shamanism, where discernment is essential for interpreting spiritual experiences, receiving guidance, and sharing healing stories. She explains how practitioners learn to set aside personal bias, avoid projection, and communicate spiritual messages in ways that empower rather than frighten.
Together, Jan and Micah explore:
What discernment really means beyond dictionary definitions
The difference between knowledge, intelligence, wisdom, and inner knowing
Why feelings and intuition are essential forms of guidance
How discernment plays a role in shamanic healing and spiritual practice
The importance of telling healing stories rather than fear-based stories
Lessons from dismemberment journeys and spiritual transformation
The relationship between discernment, empathy, compassion, and boundaries
How empaths can avoid taking on other people's emotions
The role of AI as a tool—and why human wisdom remains irreplaceable
Learning to trust your own inner authority in a rapidly changing world
Through personal stories, spiritual teachings, and practical examples, this episode offers listeners a powerful reminder that while information is abundant, wisdom still requires presence, experience, reflection, and heart.
Whether you're navigating spiritual growth, developing your intuition, exploring new technologies, or simply trying to make sense of a complex world, this conversation will help you strengthen one of the most important skills of our time: discernment.
About Jan Engels-Smith
Jan Engels-Smith is a shamanic practitioner, teacher, and founder of the LightSong School of 21st Century Shamanism and Energy Medicine. For decades, Jan has trained practitioners around the world in shamanic healing, spiritual development, and energy medicine. Her work helps people cultivate direct relationships with spirit, strengthen intuition, and access their own inner wisdom for healing and transformation.
About Micah Schwader
Micah Schwader is a transformational writing coach, editor, publisher, shamanic life coach, and author of Stumbling Into Grace: The Adventures of a Transgender Shaman. Through his work with writers, seekers, and changemakers, Micah helps people uncover their authentic stories, navigate life's transitions, and connect with deeper sources of wisdom and meaning. He is the founder of Inspired Life Publications and ShamanSezz.com and lives in the cloud forests of Costa Rica, where nature, spirituality, and storytelling continually intersect.

What does it really mean to be spiritual but not religious?
In this thought-provoking episode, Jan Engels-Smith and Micah Schwader explore the growing movement of people who identify as spiritual while stepping away from organized religion. Together, they examine the difference between religion, spirituality, and direct communication with the spirit world, sharing personal stories, shamanic perspectives, and powerful experiences that challenge conventional beliefs.
Jan discusses the shamanic understanding that everything in existence—from rocks and rivers to animals and trees—carries intelligence and spirit. She shares stories of communicating with the unseen world, working with spiritual allies, and the profound lessons that emerge when we open ourselves to guidance beyond the physical senses.
Micah reflects on his lifelong questioning of religious dogma and his search for a more direct relationship with the divine. He shares moving stories about spirit animals, ancient stones, childhood experiences with organized religion, and the journey that led him toward a spirituality rooted in personal experience rather than prescribed belief.
Together, they explore:
The rise of people identifying as "spiritual but not religious"
Why direct spiritual experience matters
The shamanic belief that all things possess intelligence and spirit
Power animals, spirit allies, and sacred relationships with the unseen world
Personal stories of elephants, snakes, rocks, and synchronicity
The difference between dogma and direct connection
Why respect, compassion, and interconnectedness are central spiritual values
The Lakota concept of Mitákuye Oyás'iŋ ("All My Relations")
How spirituality can deepen our relationship with nature, ourselves, and each other
This conversation invites listeners to reconsider where spiritual wisdom comes from and to explore the possibility that guidance, connection, and meaning may be far more accessible than we've been taught.
About Jan Engels-Smith
Jan Engels-Smith is a shamanic practitioner, teacher, and founder of the LightSong School of 21st Century Shamanism and Energy Medicine. With decades of experience training practitioners around the world, Jan is the author of numerous books on shamanism, spiritual healing, and personal transformation. Her work focuses on helping people develop direct relationships with spirit, access their innate intuitive abilities, and live with greater purpose, balance, and connection.
About Micah Schwader
Micah Schwader is a transformational writing coach, editor, publisher, shamanic life coach, and author of Stumbling Into Grace: The Adventures of a Transgender Shaman. Through his work with writers, seekers, and changemakers, Micah helps people uncover their authentic stories, navigate life's transitions, and connect with deeper sources of wisdom and meaning. He is the founder of Inspired Life Publications and ShamanSezz.com and lives in the cloud forests of Costa Rica, where nature, spirituality, and storytelling continually intersect.

LightSong School of 21st-Century Shamanism and Energy Medicine Talking Stick Podcast
Death, the Great Mystery: A Shamanic Perspective on What Happens After We Die
Death is one of life's greatest mysteries—and one of its most universal experiences. In this profound and deeply personal conversation, Micah Schwader and Jan Engels-Smith explore death through the lens of shamanism, spirituality, personal experience, and the wisdom gained from working with those who have crossed over.
Together, they discuss the shamanic view that death is not an ending but a transformation—a process of shapeshifting from one form of existence into another. Jan shares teachings about the soul's journey after death, the role of belief systems in shaping our transition, and why many indigenous traditions placed such importance on preparing for a "good death."
Micah reflects on near-death experiences, encounters with discarnate spirits through compassionate spirit release work, and the profound lessons learned from the deaths of both parents. The conversation explores life reviews, soul journeys, the concept of the Inner Akasha, unexpected deaths, spirit communication, and the healing that can occur when we release our fear of the unknown.
Along the way, Jan recounts remarkable stories of assisting souls during their transition, witnessing life reviews, and discovering that the spirit world appears far more compassionate and accepting than many religious traditions suggest. The discussion challenges conventional ideas of heaven, hell, judgment, and reincarnation, inviting listeners into a broader exploration of consciousness, purpose, and the soul's eternal nature.
Both hosts share deeply personal stories — including Jan's experience guiding her own father's soul through a life review, and Micah's encounter with past-life memories on the sacred Scottish island of Iona — that point to the same truth: death is far more expansive, compassionate, and mysterious than most of us are taught to believe.
Whether you are grieving the loss of a loved one, curious about what lies beyond this life, or seeking a more expansive understanding of death itself, this episode offers comfort, insight, and a reminder that mystery need not be feared. Sometimes it can be embraced with wonder.
The conversation covers:
·      The shamanic understanding of death as transformation rather than ending
·      How belief systems may influence the death experience
·      Unexpected deaths versus conscious transitions
·      Why souls sometimes get "stuck" after death — especially in sudden or unexpected deaths — and the compassionate shamanic practice of psychopomp work (spirit release) that helps them move on
·      The role of discarnate spirits and how they can affect the living
·      Personal near-death experiences and what they revealed about fear, the unknown, and the nature of consciousness
·      The concept of the inner Akasha — your soul's internal record of all lifetimes and existences
·      The ancient, instinctive wisdom that can arise in the moment of death
·      Finding peace with life's greatest mystery
Memorable Quote
"I don't think death is what we're making it out to be. It's not this horrible thing. The fear comes from not knowing—the mystery is the most fearful part of death." — Micah Schwader
Audience Takeaway
What if death is not an ending, but a transition? This episode invites listeners to examine their beliefs, release fear-based narratives, and consider the possibility that consciousness continues beyond the physical body. Through stories, teachings, and personal experiences, Micah and Jan offer a compassionate exploration of one of humanity's oldest questions: What happens when we die?

LightSong School of 21st-Century Shamanism and Energy Healing Talking Stick Podcast
AI, Imagination, and the Quantum Field: Creating with Clarity in a Changing World
In this thought-provoking episode of the LightSong Talking Stick Podcast, Jan Engels-Smith and Micah Schwader explore the surprising relationship between artificial intelligence, manifestation, imagination, fear, and the quantum field.
What begins as a conversation about AI quickly becomes a deeper reflection on what it means to be human. Micah shares how AI, when used consciously, can support creativity by handling linear, left-brain tasks while freeing more space for imagination, intuition, and authentic expression. Jan expands the conversation into the quantum realm, exploring how intention, focus, belief, and vibration shape the realities we experience.
Together, Jan and Micah discuss the parallels between prompting AI and working with the universe: clarity matters, intention matters, and what we put into the field influences what comes back. They also explore fear, resistance, root chakra survival patterns, worry as negative imagination, and the power of bringing hidden beliefs into awareness.
This episode invites listeners to become more conscious creators—whether engaging with technology, spiritual practice, creativity, relationships, or personal transformation. Rather than resisting what is emerging, Jan and Micah encourage curiosity, discernment, and alignment with higher-frequency possibilities.
Websites:
LightSong School of 21st-Century Shamanism and Energy Medicine:
https://www.lightsong.net
Micah Schwader / Shaman Sezz:
https://shamansezz.com

*]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" data-turn-id= "request-WEB:d6bab587-0f3e-44f7-bb2e-85e0319367b9-1" data-turn-id-container= "request-WEB:d6bab587-0f3e-44f7-bb2e-85e0319367b9-1" data-testid= "conversation-turn-4" data-scroll-anchor="false" data-turn= "assistant"> Rewriting Reality Through Belief, Love & Self-Discovery
In this deeply insightful and heart-centered episode of Manifesting Miracles, Jan explores the profound relationship between belief systems, manifestation, emotional healing, and spiritual transformation. Through personal stories, community questions, and powerful teachings, this gathering dives into how our thoughts, perceptions, and inner narratives shape the realities we experience.
The conversation opens with a beautiful guided invocation focused on breath, alignment, intuition, and connecting with benevolent spiritual allies. From there, the discussion unfolds into powerful teachings on self-worth, manifestation, healing relationships, and transforming old patterns into opportunities for growth.
Topics Explored in This Episode
The power of breathwork to move from stress into coherence and intuition
Aligning with the "divine mind" and right-brain awareness
Calling in spiritual allies, guides, healers, and protectors
Reiki, healing journeys, and miraculous transformation stories
How difficult experiences can propel us toward greater healing
Healthy ways to release anger, frustration, and emotional buildup
The energetic impact of labeling others and holding fixed opinions
How perception influences behavior and relationship dynamics
"All behavior is a call to love"
Transforming conflict through compassion and shifted perception
Manifestation through thought, intention, and energetic awareness
Releasing victim consciousness and reclaiming personal responsibility
How belief systems shape physical and emotional realities
Journaling, self-inquiry, and uncovering hidden subconscious beliefs
Reprogramming negative self-talk through "I Am" statements
Turning "work" into opportunity and joyful spiritual practice
Learning to consciously pre-create positive outcomes
Support, listening, validation, and the healing power of presence
Spiritual immersion, journey work, and connecting with spirit realms
Angelic Shamanism, journeying, and evolving spiritual teachings
Claiming yourself daily in a world filled with negativity
Moving from self-criticism into self-love and empowerment
Memorable Themes & Teachings
"If you want things different in your life, then you've got to change."
"Our opinion holds people captive to behavior."
"The spirits say that all behavior is a call to love."
"Daily, you should be claiming yourself. This is who I am."
"We are bombarded with negativity — you must answer your own call to love."
"Spirits want you to be successful."
This episode is filled with practical spiritual insight, compassionate guidance, and empowering reminders that transformation begins within. Through awareness, intention, and conscious self-examination, we can shift our inner world — and in doing so, transform the reality we experience around us.