Igniting Truth: A Sacred Pause in Turbulent Times
Hi, I’m Doctor Mary Newstrom.
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And I’m Dawn Morningstar, welcome to Soul Fire Sisters, a sacred space where we ignite women’s inner fire, awaken their truth, and share soulful conversations that inspire, heal, and empower.
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Each episode we dive deep into themes of self discovery, intuition, feminine wisdom, and spiritual growth, guided by raw stories, fierce honesty, and a shared desire to live boldly and authentically.
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Whether you’re on a healing journey, seeking deeper connection, or ready to rise in your power, you are not alone.
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Dawn Morningstar, which is her given name, has been a Women’s Self Empowerment Coach for 37 years, is the award-winning author of Venerable Women, Transform Ourself.
Transform the World is a former radio talk show host, a podcast host, Ted X Speaker, the creator of Radiant Face 18 and Co founder of New World Women.
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Doctor Mary Newstrom is an internationally known shamanic teacher, a spiritual minister, and a keynote speaker.
She founded Zenith High LLC and created Spirit Flower, a shamanic study program for women.
She’s committed to helping women and men develop a strong sense of purpose as they examine and understand how to stand clearly in their power.
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Welcome to the sisterhood, Your soul showed up for a reason.
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Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Soul Fire Sisters podcast.
I’m Dawn.
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And I’m Mary, and we’re really grateful you’re here with us today.
We have a special episode.
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For you, before we begin, we want to say clearly that this episode is very different than what we had originally planned, yet it’s connected.
The original title was Can Politics and Spirituality Coexist?
Well, we are recording from Minnesota, from the Twin Cities area, and our state is going through something incredibly intense right now.
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We are under siege.
We have a heavy ice presence.
There’s fear, there’s disruption, there’s chaos.
And just a few days ago, a woman named Renee Nicole Good was killed execution style by an ICE agent.
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We want to remember her name.
We want to remember her Renee Nicole Good.
She was a woman, she was a human being, she was a mother.
She was kind, she cared about others, and she mattered.
When Politics Targets Good: Feeling the Collective Shock
In what is really interesting is why has Minnesota been really targeted by ICE in this administration?
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Regime.
Speaker 1
Yeah.
Speaker 2
Regime, not an administration, they’re not administering anything.
It’s a regime.
So why is that?
Mary, you had brought up a good point before we.
Speaker 1
Started, I mean, I, I think it’s, I think it’s as basic as politics, reducing it down to that we are a democratic state and we know that Trump is going after all of the cities and states that are run by Democrats.
Course, Tim Walt ran against him as vice president last time.
So I think it’s really a let’s let’s really get them, let’s really break the back of Minnesotans.
Speaker 2
Absolutely.
And I also believe that the other reason is because we’re good.
It’s a good place to live.
The people are very kind and supportive here.
It’s a very high quality of life.
We have excellent education.
We have theater, we have outstanding restaurants.
We have our education system is phenomenal here.
And so there’s all this goodness.
And yes, we are a blue state.
And I know other blue states have come under attack, like California and Illinois.
And so it’s almost as though they’re saying this regime is saying we don’t want good because if people are happy, then they won’t be disgruntled and want to keep listening to these things that we are, you know, sharing with them to keep them all riled up.
And so it’s much easier to control people when they’re not happy and when they’re in fear.
Speaker 1
Well, definitely when they’re, when you’re starting to, to do the well, you know me and, and just looking at our group and they and them and so on.
But we want to be right to say this right up front.
We’re all feeling shocked.
So if you’re feeling shocked and angry and heartbroken, numb, terrified, or all of it at once, there’s nothing wrong with you.
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Absolutely, Mary.
This is not a time for pretending that everything is OK, and it’s not a time for spiritual bypass or bypass of any kind.
It’s not a time for simply positive thinking our way out of this reality.
It is bad here.
Our neighbors are being attacked by ice.
I had Black Hawk helicopters flying over my neighborhood for hours yesterday and sirens in the background.
And I was also telling Mary, I don’t know if the sirens are because somebody fell down the steps or because or if it’s because of these ice attacks on people.
The thing is that there’s so much going on.
It’s like chaos and fear and our nervous systems are really being deregulated.
And we have to be aware of that.
Our sense of safety and the sense of safety for our brothers and sisters is under attack.
Honoring Our Bodies: Grief, Rage, and Collective Trauma
Absolutely.
And what’s happening is real and it’s landing in our bodies.
And so you want to really take that into account and especially women’s bodies, because we are so compassionate now as white as a white woman and white people are finally coming to the realization, wow, this it could happen to us.
And but black and brown brothers and sisters have experienced this every day.
In fact, actually we’re the killing.
And Renee was is very close to the George Floyd murder as well.
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Yeah, very close.
And so, yeah.
And so, yeah, I mean it’s that that’s another thing is like what a hotbed in that particular area.
And we’ve had Trayvon Martin, that was a killing as well.
And so wait, that wasn’t here.
I’m sorry.
It’s so there’ve been so many of them.
It’s hard to know where they take place.
But again, it goes back to the idea there’s a lot of light here in Minnesota, a lot of very spiritual people, loving people.
And you know, there’s a different story being told about us now.
That’s not true.
We, Mary and I are very blessed because we get to hang out with lots and lots of very high vibe, high consciousness loving humans.
And so I think that that might be a part of this too.
Darkness wants to, you know, overtake light, but wherever there is light, there is not darkness.
So let’s, you know, really be thinking about that.
So one of the most important things that we want to say today is this.
We must feel what we are feeling.
Speaker 1
Mm hmm.
Totally.
When we don’t allow ourselves to feel the grief, the rage or fear, it doesn’t disappear.
It comes out in your body in a different way, or comes out in emotions and actions in a different way.
It might show up as burnout, disconnection, being hopeless.
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Yeah, and hopelessness on the emotional scale with the teachings of Abraham.
That’s Jerry and Esther Hicks work.
Of all of the emotions, hopelessness is the lowest, hopelessness and despair and the highest, of course is love and joy.
And I believe gratitude is at the very top.
But feeling doesn’t mean collapsing.
Although I have to admit I really had to take to my bed.
That’s, I know that’s an old expression, but after I heard what happened, I did collapse for a bit.
I needed to be in the warmth of my bed.
I needed to just be with my feelings.
But it, it doesn’t it, it means you don’t stay collapsed.
I collapsed a little bit.
I’m going to be honest about it.
And it also feeling things doesn’t mean that we’re being swallowed up by them.
But what feeling does mean is presence.
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Totally being here and grief is not a failure of your connection to to your spirituality and grief is not is evidence of love that you care.
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Yes, it certainly is.
It certainly is.
And when a woman is killed in this way, there’s something collective that moves through us.
Our bodies know and our nervous systems know as well.
And you know, this is not a very comfortable thing to say, but the symbolism of a woman, you know, a mother being shot in the face, in the face.
I mean, that was an execution.
That was not self-defense.
That was nothing more than in, in my opinion, Jonathan Ross, who is the murderer here.
He his life was not threatened.
He did have something happened to him a year ago where he was hit by a car.
So there was trauma there.
So that’s to be examined as well.
Why would you allow someone who’s that has that kind of trauma to have a firearm and to be in that kind of role?
So there’s a lot wrong here and we can certainly do better.
But yes, our bodies know that this was not right.
It wouldn’t be right for anyone.
It’s it’s just that our nervous systems know and we’re allowed to be heartbroken and powerful at the same time.
We can hold both things.
Reframing Action: Diverse Paths of Resistance and Support
In moments like this, many of us ask, what am I supposed to do?
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Yeah, yeah.
And we want to gently reframe that that question.
Maybe instead of what should I do, maybe let’s ask what is my role right now?
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Because resistance doesn’t look the same for everyone, there’s space for everyone to participate in the way that makes sense for them.
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Absolutely yes.
And for some people, it’s going to be being in the streets, for example, I generally go to protest to just show up and bring my beautiful energy to the change that I want to see.
This time, I have not done that yet.
My my daughter and son-in-law have been out there because this happened five blocks from where they live.
And the after the the murder, people marched toward the Capitol and they they walked right past my daughter’s house.
And so she felt called to be out there in the streets.
For some people, it is marching.
For some it’s mutual aid.
For some, it’s supporting people on the front lines.
For some, it’s holding emotional and spiritual space so that others can keep going.
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And you know what?
For others, it’s going to be calling your politicians, writing letters, becoming involved in different ways.
There’s tons of different ways you can get involved, and each week your role and your desire and what you’re able to do may change as well.
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Absolutely, absolutely.
And a few questions that you might want to sit with right now are what am I resourced for right now?
So what does that mean?
Like for example, when I was curled up in my bed crying, I was not resourced to, I did not have the resources to be of help and service to others.
I just didn’t have that energy.
And you know, resource can also mean like what?
Like the Joe Abbott, the the leader of the Women in Spirituality conference, she does massage and bodywork and Reiki and shamanic healing and all of that sort of thing in a different way that Mary does.
But anyway, she said that she was going to offer massages and Reiki healing for people who are out there marching.
That’s something she can do.
And I thought, well, I love to cook.
Perhaps I could bring some food or I could bring some doughnuts or something, you know, using the resources and maybe asking ourselves, where does my body say yes?
Or what is my body saying yes to right now?
And what would integrity look like for me this week?
Strategic Love: Celebrating Diversity as an Act of Resistance
Yeah.
So we want to talk about something that really struck us.
This was a turning point for me personally.
There’s an Instagram post where a woman, woman was talking about celebrating our diversity and our love for one another in the streets.
It is one of the most hopeful and inspirational things I heard She’s saying.
Let’s get out there and celebrate our differences.
Let’s celebrate by sharing one another’s music.
Let’s cry together.
Let’s get to know one another.
Let’s share one another’s food.
And she was talking about gymnasts doing flips and mariachi bands playing and a choir singing.
And I was like, yes, Because one of the things that, you know is it’s like we can be controlled and destroyed if our joy is not there.
Speaker 1
Absolutely.
And you know, when when we listen to her, it’s so it’s instead of like hiding or we also talked about the fact that it’s been this, it has been a little quiet.
People are hunkering in notice winter in Minnesota.
So they’re hunkering in for a few reasons.
But instead of people shrinking, it’s expanding and then really celebrating or going to that that restaurant that might be a little bit different, that is that different type of food than you normally eat, supporting people, supporting diversity as well.
So going out there and dancing and, and experiencing music and sharing food and getting to know your neighbors and celebrating all their differences and the diversity.
And that’s what makes us strong.
That’s what makes us strong when we can celebrate diversity and, and how boring would we if we were all the same.
And that’s what I told my family when they, when they prefer that we’re all the same.
I’m like, that would be so boring that we’re all doing the same thing and it we’re all the same.
You know, we want to be clear, this is not a denial of what’s going on.
We are still really reeling from all this.
And I don’t think it’s an understatement to say we are under siege.
They are sending more ICE agents here.
There’s rumors are going door to door and asking for documentation supposedly.
Actually Vance did say they were going to start doing that.
So I don’t know.
But so we’re not pretending things are fine, but we are keeping the frequency and vibration high and to do that is in the celebration as best we can.
Speaker 2
Absolutely.
Yeah.
And it is like really being true to what we’re feeling.
We might not feel like celebrating one day or being in that kind of energetic.
And other days we might feel that that would bring joy to our own soul.
And by the way, I misspoke.
It’s not an Instagram post.
It’s a TikTok post and the creator’s name is Lolly BLOLLY.
And then B, as in BE.
So it’s Lolly B and she’s talking about community.
And she goes deeper than some of the things that I just said about.
But anyway, it’s definitely worth a listen.
And so the things that we are talking about are strategic love.
Speaker 1
Yeah, because systems of racism depend on fear, isolation, division.
They want us to be divided.
They want us to actually, they also want us to hate each other.
Absolutely.
And that’s why spinning this with a little grace for the other side is if we can find some common areas, that would be the best.
But let’s start with, you know, finding those that celebration with the the groups that are coming together now.
Absolutely.
Speaker 2
Yes, And you said that racism depends on fear, isolation and division.
And that’s true.
But we were saying fascism.
It does that.
And you know, people can say, oh, you know, I’ve heard people say, oh, we’re going toward authoritarianism or fascism.
Oh, honey, we’re here.
We are.
This is out of the play.
We’re this is the playbook for fascism.
And so when people’s rights don’t matter anymore and they clearly don’t, at least not here in Minnesota.
And you know, I think Minnesota is probably a testing ground for them to see how far they can go.
So, you know, but like you were saying, Mary, when we gather enjoy across cultures, races, genders and stories, it dismantles the lie that we’re separate because we’re not separate.
We really are one.
Yep.
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Yep.
I’ve done a lot of traveling and I noticed that across the globe that there’s more similarities and differences.
Of course we have some differences, but we’re similar.
And you know the joy that we can show and we can create in our life, it raises our energy, it builds trust.
And with for the opposition, it makes it harder for us to control if we are joyful.
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Yes, yes, yes, exactly, Joy says.
You don’t get to steal our humanity.
And that’s something I remind myself every day, especially if I start feeling overwhelmed and heavy by all of this that’s happening.
I remind myself, you don’t get to do this to me because then I can’t be of good in the world.
And I really want to be helpful in the world and be of service.
A Sacred Pause: Remembering Renee and Challenging ICE Tactics
And I want to witness, you know, one thing we haven’t talked about yet is this big, extraordinary, wonderful change in humanity.
I feel like these are like the dying gasps of an old system.
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And it’s true.
My gosh, that’s true.
And that’s why, whoa, what an honor to be living in this time to see these changes.
And I know that that there’s a lot going on.
So maybe we don’t feel that way, but I do.
It’s like what an opportunity to really to be the witness of this change to a different.
Frequency, dimension, whatever.
But you know what?
Let’s pause here and return to Renee for a second.
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Yeah, if you’re listening and it feels right to you, we invite you to take a breath with us, maybe light a candle later today, say Renee’s name and hold her in light and love and offer a prayer, a thought or a moment of silence for her and for her family and those who loved her, for her three children.
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We refuse to let her be reduced to headline or defined by others than who she was.
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Yeah, exactly, exactly.
She was a whole human being.
And you know, she’s not a, she’s not a St. and she’s not the devil that she’s being portrayed by many in this country.
She was a human being doing the best that she could and she was there to witness what was happening in that neighborhood.
And for those who haven’t experienced this yet, I hate to say we’re somewhat becoming experts on it.
What happens is ICE agents go into a neighborhood and they just start shining lights in people’s windows if it’s night time, and they just come in and try to take over.
So what people are doing, and I don’t know that Renee was doing this particular thing, but in the videos that you’ve seen, you hear people blowing whistles and things like that.
They’re doing that to alert people that this is happening.
And let’s make it very clear that, you know, many of the people here in Minnesota who are being detained are U.S. citizens.
So they’re just being judged and taken off the streets because of the color of their skin.
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Yeah, well, not only U.S. citizens are Native Americans, they’re being, oh God, the only true American.
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Yes.
Speaker 1
Yes, they are getting snatched and it’s crazy.
It’s crazy.
Speaker 2
Yes, yes.
Grounding Ourselves: Practical Tools for Care and Truth-Telling
It’s insane and so wrong on so many levels.
So we’ve been asked a lot, like, what can women be doing right now to get through times like this?
Yeah.
Speaker 1
And you know what, we’ve talked a little bit about it, but the the key thing is, is first care for your own self, your own body, your own nervous system.
Cry if you need to rest, slow down.
Maybe limit how much news you’re watching.
Stay connected to other people, other women, so that you have that support system.
Speaker 2
Absolutely.
And and secondly, gather in living rooms and parks and small circles on zoom calls.
Cook together, sing together, share stories, cry together.
I have been in a few situations over the past days where we just sat and cried together.
Speaker 1
Yeah, and be with those that you love and love you back.
Check in with one another.
If people are feeling unsafe, be with them.
Watch out for children, elders, immigrants, queer and trans folk.
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Yes, anyone who is being marginalized do we can do the best we can to be there with them and for them.
And 4th, tell the truth calmly and clearly.
Refuse the gas lighting.
Say what you’re seeing, that you’ve what you’ve seen with your own eyes.
Don’t let somebody tell you what you saw or what it means.
You’re you’re, you know, a person with agency.
You you can look at something and make your own opinions about it and say what you feel without feeding the panic and chaos that’s going on.
Speaker 1
And finally, have be spiritually grounded so that without bypassing so that you are feeling that those emotions and you’re working through them.
You could that it can include prayer rituals that honor those that have died though and and protecting the living.
Asking not how do I stay positive, but how do I stay true and true to myself?
Speaker 2
That is the real question, how do I stay true rather than how do I stay positive, because not every moment in this has been positive for people.
Speaker 1
That is truth, boy.
It’s just, it’s taken me right back to the George Floyd riots and everything when he was murdered.
And I, I know a lot of people have that trauma still.
Staying Human: Love, Grief, Joy, and the Call to Action
We want to close by saying this.
You are not alone.
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Love is not weak, dear ones life.
Love is our strength.
Grief is not failure, and joy is not denial.
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Women have lived through dark times before.
Yes, we have.
And we’ve always known how to weave care, courage and resistance together.
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I love that tapestry.
Care, courage and resistance.
Yeah.
And if it feels right, choose one small act of love or courage that you can do this coming week.
Take some kind of action that feels right to you.
And there are many examples of this, you know, here in the Twin Cities.
That’s one thing that I’m seeing all around me, is people getting creative with how they’re helping one another and standing together.
And so, you know, it’s almost as though the intentions are to separate and divide us and make us feel fearful.
But the exact opposite is happening for many people here.
We are coming together.
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Stay connected, stay in community and stay human.
Speaker 2
Yes, and remember, we are still here.
We’re not going anywhere, we are still here.
Thank you dear ones for sharing this sacred space with us today.
Soul Fire Sisters is lovingly created and produced by ME, Dawn Morningstar and Doctor Mary Newstrom, with editing and publishing by Sean Vujo.
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This podcast is brought to you by Zenith High LLC and Spirit Flow Shamanic Steady Programs, New World Women and Radiant Face 18, and it’s featured on the New World Women Voices a Wisdom podcast.
You can find all the ways to connect with us in the show notes.
Farewell for now and remember your soul fire knows the way.
Speaker 2
Blessings everyone, be well.
Goodbye.
Speaker 1
Hey Soul Fire Sisters, we hope you’ve enjoyed this episode.
Please share Soul Fire Sisters with your friends.
Speaker 2
Until we meet again, reflect on the changes you want to make, feel the fire in your soul, and live from that fire.
Speaker 1
Our world needs your passion, your gifts, your heart.
Don’t wait, do it now.
Whatever your it is, do it now.
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Let’s use our power to create a world we actually want to live in, a loving new world for ourselves and for future generations.
We’ve got this.