421. Vera de Chalambert - a podcast by Rick Archer

Vera de Chalambert is a spiritual storyteller and Harvard-educated scholar of comparative religion. She speaks and writes about spiritual culture, mindfulness in the modern world, and the Divine Feminine and has been a speaker at the Science and Nonduality Conference in the US and Europe, Sister Giant in Washington DC, and other gatherings. Vera holds a Master’s degree from Harvard Divinity School where she studied comparative mysticism and a Bachelor's degree from the University of Florida in Religion and Literature. Her work explores the meeting place of creativity, psychology, and spirituality and is informed by insights from both Eastern and Western philosophies. Vera is a graduate of the Barbara Brennan School of Healing and has been a student of Jason Shulman's Nondual Healing work. She is deeply influenced by Buddhist and Kabbalistic lineages. Vera's recent work has been on the topic of Holy Darkness and exploration of the Dark Goddesses associated with transformation and initiation found in the world's great wisdom traditions, the most well-known of whom is the Hindu Goddess Kali. Vera is a mother and a devotee of the Mother. She is working on her first book on the Dark Feminine.

Website: healingawakening.comDiscussion of this interview in the Batgap Community Facebook Group.

Transcript of this interviewInterview recorded Saturday, October 7, 2017.

Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.YouTube Video Chapters:


00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump00:03:59 - Early Trauma and Developmental Gap
00:07:01 - Early Memories and Incarnation00:11:30 - Feeling responsible for the collapsing world
00:17:42 - Shaped by Elders and Teachers in our Culture00:24:25 - A Dissociative Experience and the Journey of Integration
00:32:25 - Integration and Descent into Incarnation00:36:26 - The Integration of the Feminine
00:39:27 - Seeking Perfection and Spiritual Experiences00:42:44 - The Earring from Kali's Statue
00:46:47 - Dancing with Kali00:51:40 - The Burning Process
00:55:21 - The Profound Experience of Pain Transcendence00:59:58 - The Prayer and Transformation
01:03:30 - Embracing the Unknown and Opening Doors01:06:36 - Unknown Teachers and Mentors
01:10:05 - The Impact of Trump's Election
01:14:03 - Prophecies and Predictions throughout History01:17:59 - The Dark Feminine in Spirituality
01:22:18 - Union with the Divine01:26:25 - Facing the Shadow and Collective Reckoning
01:30:35 - The Universal Nature of Suffering01:34:54 - Kali, the Killer of Demons and Misconceptions
01:39:07 - The Terrifying Beauty of Pure Reality01:43:12 - Shiva and Shakti in Us
01:47:54 - Resting in a Deeper Calm01:53:10 - Embracing our Imperfect Humanity
01:57:08 - The Ethics of Enlightenment and the Role of Spiritual Teachers02:01:23 - The Value of Surrender and Trusting in Deeper Intelligence
02:05:40 - The Pleasure of Attending Conferences02:08:18 - Finding our Clearing

Further episodes of Buddha at the Gas Pump

Further podcasts by Rick Archer

Website of Rick Archer