On the first episode of 2025, I'm joined by repeat guest Joy Ladin.  Joy is a widely published essayist and poet, literary scholar, and nationally known speaker on transgender issues. From 2003 to 2021, she held the David and Ruth Gotsman Chair in English at Stern College for Women of Yeshiva University.

Her gender transition and return to teaching in 2008 made her the first openly transgender employee of an Orthodox Jewish institution. Joy's experience of being poetically mentored by the Shekinah resulted in the completion of a book length sequence, Shekinah Speaks, published by Selva Obscura in spring 2022, which she joined me to speak about on this podcast in 2023. She's published several other books, including, most recently, a new book of poetry, Family, and Once Out of Nature, selected essays on the transformation of gender. And she is the recipient of the National Jewish Book Award for The Book of Anna.

On this episode, we riff about:

• The concept of family, at both the individual and national levels
• How our personal narratives help us make meaning in our daily lives
• How Joy's understanding of the Shekhinah, the indwelling presence of God typically gendered as female, has shifted since our first conversation in 2023
• The role of gender binaries in helping us relate to divinity
• Joy's perspective on the historical need for a transcendent God, and how both Jesus and the Shekhinah were responses to His limitations
• What the Shekhinah can offer us in this particular moment in time

Notes about this episode:

• You can learn more about Joy and all her work at https://joyladin.com/
• You can watch mine and Joy's first conversation here: https://youtu.be/XYi7LUiNHJ4
• You can also listen to this episode here: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/e1b56ad3-b881-458e-a9e3-e9fb1635760c

And here are a few more details about this show and my work:

• If you’d like to know whose ancestral tribal lands you currently reside on, you can look up your address here: https://native-land.ca/
• You can also visit the Coalition of Natives and Allies for more helpful educational resources about Indigenous rights and history.
• Please – if you love this podcast and/or have read my book, please consider leaving me a review, and thank you for supporting my work!
• For more Sacred Feminine goodness and to stay up to date on all episodes, please follow me on Instagram: @hometoher. To dive into conversation about the Sacred Feminine, join the Facebook group, also @hometoher.
• And to read about the Sacred Feminine, check out my award-winning book Home to Her: Walking the Transformative Path of the Sacred Feminine (Womancraft Publishing), available on Audible and wherever you buy your books!. If you've read it, your reviews on Goodreads and Amazon are greatly appreciated!
• Visit www.hometoher.com to learn more about your host, download a free meditation and sign up for my newsletter to stay up to date on all the latest episodes.

On the latest episode, I'm joined by Sande Hart, a mother, grandmother and founder of The Global Woman's Village woman's organization, formally known as S.A.R.A.H. (The Spiritual and Religious Alliance for Hope) now in its 23rd year. She is also the Author of The Liminal Odyssey, The Alchemical Power of The Spaces In-Between, (also a Nautilus Book Awardee)

Sande is actively engaged in leadership in the peace, compassion, community building, and women’s re- and in-powerment sectors. Her most recent work is in service to the role of women in this evolutionary impulse we are in during these transitional times. She served on the Women's Task Force for The Parliament of The World's Religions and developed and produced the first-ever Women's Village at the 2023 international conference. She founded and served as Director for the international organization The Charter For Compassion’s Women and Girls sector as creator and director of the 9th sector of the international organization focused on compassion. And she is the Founder of Compassionate California, which recently became established into law by the governor’s office as the first Compassionate State in the world.

During our conversation, we explore:

• Sande's multi-decade journey toward recognizing the presence of the Sacred Feminine in her life, including the flickers of Her presence along the way
• How Sande came to fully recognize Her through her work shepherding the Women's Village at the Parliament of the World's Religions.
• The evolution of her non-profit organization S.A.R.A.H., including her more recent focus on "women who future," and what this language means to her
• The powerful message that she received while visiting Auschwitz, which brought us both to tears during the culmination of this inspiring episode

Notes related to this episode:

• You can learn more about the Global Woman's Village at https://www.sarah4hope.org/
• You can also learn more about Sande and her book at her website: https://www.sandehart.com/
• We discussed the work of Carol Lee Flinders during this episode, including her books "Enduring Grace" and "At the Root of This Longing."
• Sande mentioned the song by George Harrison "My Sweet Lord"
• I also mentioned the beautiful Adrienne Rich Poem, poem 13 in her collection of 21 love poems: https://allpoetry.com/poem/10381457-Twenty-One-Love-Poems-XIII-by-Adrienne-Rich
• We also discussed the Parliament of the World's Religions
• Finally, Sande mentioned the following quote by Henry David Thoreau: “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.”

And here are a few more details about this show and my work:

• If you’d like to know whose ancestral tribal lands you currently reside on, you can look up your address here: https://native-land.ca/
• You can also visit the Coalition of Natives and Allies for more helpful educational resources about Indigenous rights and history.
• Please – if you love this podcast and/or have read my book, please consider leaving me a review, and thank you for supporting my work!
• You can also access the audio version of this episode here, or wherever you access your podcasts: https://home-to-her.captivate.fm/
• For more Sacred Feminine goodness and to stay up to date on all episodes, please follow me on Instagram: @hometoher. To dive into conversation about the Sacred Feminine, join the Facebook group, also @hometoher.
• And to read about the Sacred Feminine, check out my award-winning book Home to Her: Walking the Transformative Path of the Sacred Feminine (Womancraft Publishing), available on Audible and wherever you buy your books!. If you've read it, your reviews on Goodreads and Amazon are greatly appreciated!
• Visit www.hometoher.com to...

On the latest episode I'm joined by the wise and wonderful Lucy Grace.

Lucy is a mystic spiritual guide, embodied therapist and poet based in New Zealand. She mentors people in soul initiation and awakening, and is devoted to helping as many hearts as possible remember the truth of themselves and connect to the ever present great heart at the center of all.

Lucy has lived many lives, including as a television journalist for One News, New Zealand's largest national television news channel, and a humanitarian aid worker based in Europe for 15 years, working for the UN, Save the Children, Fairtrade, and Oxfam. Lucy now focuses on her work as a soul initiation, awakening guide and mentor, holistic therapist and poet.

And she's known for honoring the sacred process and the sacred mess of our humanity, while also supporting people to remember who they are outside of all roles, archetypes, identities, concepts, and teachings. Lucy is also the author of This Untameable Light, which was released in November 2023 to critical acclaim from some of the world's most loved spiritual teachers.

On this episode we discussed:

• Lucy's extremely challenging childhood and the many unexpected gifts that came from it, including a deep contentment and gratitude for all that she did have
• Her experience of God as a sense of deep, nourishing light emanating from within
• Her own spiritual initiation of motherhood, and the depths that it took her to
• The surprising way that the Goddess presented herself to Lucy, and how she knows her now
• Plus Lucy reads two of her beautiful poems aloud

Notes related to this episode:

• You can learn more about Lucy and her work at https://lucy-grace.com/
• You can find her on Instagram @gracealucy, and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/lucy.oakshott
• During this episode, Lucy mentioned the film Once Were Warriors. She also described how the Egyptian Goddess Isis initially came to her via a stranger's dream.

And here are a few more details about this show and my work:

• If you’d like to know whose ancestral tribal lands you currently reside on, you can look up your address here: https://native-land.ca/
• You can also visit the Coalition of Natives and Allies for more helpful educational resources about Indigenous rights and history.
• Please – if you love this podcast and/or have read my book, please consider leaving me a review, and thank you for supporting my work!
• You can also access video episodes on the Home to Her YouTube channel
• For more Sacred Feminine goodness and to stay up to date on all episodes, please follow me on Instagram: @hometoher.
• To dive into conversation about the Sacred Feminine, join the Facebook group: / hometoher
• And to read about the Sacred Feminine, check out my award-winning book Home to Her: Walking the Transformative Path of the Sacred Feminine (Womancraft Publishing), available on Audible and wherever you buy your books!. If you've read it, your reviews on Goodreads and Amazon are greatly appreciated!