<p>In this <strong><em>Living the Spiral: Magicians </em></strong>episode, host Alison Dale frames magic as making the invisible visible through attention and intention. She interviews Rachel Simon Stark, founder of Widening Circles Collaborative, about ancestral reclamation, cultural repair, and collective liberation. Rachel describes being contacted in 2018 by her grandmother Ruth during a rock-bottom period, which initiated Rachel’s ancestral work and led to her nine-week course Cultivating Culture that emphasizes grounding, guided tools, community processing, and service. Drawing on urban planning’s focus on belonging, Rilke’s “Widening Circles,” and identity as a fluid river, she discusses chosen ancestors, more-than-human ancestors, boundaries rather than walls, and meeting ancestors in their wholeness. The conversation addresses trauma, shame vs humility, colonialism and indigeneity, being future ancestors, releasing victimization into agency, and Rachel’s plan to offer the course again around October/Samhain.Thanks for tuning in!</p><p><strong>Work with Rachel:</strong>To learn more about working Rachel and the Widening Circles Collaborative, visit her website at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wideningcirclescollaborative.com/">wideningcirclescollaborative.com</a>.</p><p>Follow Rachel on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/rachelsimonstark/">Instagram</a> and on Substack at Rachel Simon Stark, where she writes the deep and thoughtful publication <a target="_blank" href="https://wideningcirclescollaborative.substack.com/"><strong>hi•ne•ni : here i am</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Work with Alison:</strong>Book a reading or explore more of what I offer on my website at <a target="_blank" href="http://hearthandspiral.com">hearthandspiral.com</a>, follow along at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/hearthandspiral/">@hearthandspiral</a> on Instagram, or on Substack at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.livingthespiral.com">livingthespiral.com</a>.</p><p></p><p>00:00 What Magic Really Is</p><p>02:31 Meet Rachel Simon Stark</p><p>04:41 Grandmother’s Wake Up Call</p><p>07:23 From Dreams to a Course</p><p>10:46 Urban Planning Meets Soul</p><p>14:22 Why Widening Circles</p><p>18:37 Homecoming to Lineage</p><p>22:46 Inside the Nine Week Container</p><p>28:22 Future Ancestor Mindset</p><p>30:35 Identity as a River</p><p>39:22 Resistance and Hard Histories</p><p>43:09 Beyond Shame Toward Humility</p><p>49:57 Beyond the Melting Pot</p><p>51:27 Ancestral Creativity</p><p>54:37 Grandfather on the Road</p><p>58:04 Calling In Ancestors</p><p>01:00:16 Wise and Well Debate</p><p>01:06:46 Boundaries Not Walls</p><p>01:11:58 Roots Over Progress</p><p>01:23:18 Indigenous Marrow</p><p>01:27:38 What Ancestors Need</p><p>01:33:57 Course and Farewell</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://www.livingthespiral.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_2">www.livingthespiral.com/subscribe</a>