About this episode
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.com Discussion of this interview in the Batgap Community Facebook Group. Transcript of this interview Interview recorded Saturday, October 7, 2017. YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump 00:03:59 - Early Trauma and Developmental Gap 00:07:01 - Early Memories and Incarnation 00:11:30 - Feeling responsible for the collapsing world 00:17:42 - Shaped by Elders and Teachers in our Culture 00:24:25 - A Dissociative Experience and the Journey of Integration 00:32:25 - Integration and Descent into Incarnation 00:36:26 - The Integration of the Feminine 00:39:27 - Seeking Perfection and Spiritual Experiences 00:42:44 - The Earring from Kali's Statue 00:46:47 - Dancing with Kali 00:51:40 - The Burning Process 00:55:21 - The Profound Experience of Pain Transcendence 00:59:58 - The Prayer and Transformation 01:03:30 - Embracing the Unknown and Opening Doors 01:06:36 - Unknown Teachers and Mentors 01:10:05 - The Impact of Trump's Election 01:14:03 - Prophecies and Predictions throughout History 01:17:59 - The Dark Feminine in Spirituality 01:22:18 - Union with the Divine 01:26:25 - Facing the Shadow and Collective Reckoning 01:30:35 - The Universal Nature of Suffering 01:34:54 - Kali, the Killer of Demons and Misconceptions 01:39:07 - The Terrifying Beauty of Pure Reality 01:43:12 - Shiva and Shakti in Us 01:47:54 - Resting in a Deeper Calm 01:53:10 - Embracing our Imperfect Humanity 01:57:08 - The Ethics of Enlightenment and the Role of Spiritual Teachers 02:01:23 - The Value of Surrender and Trusting in Deeper Intelligence 02:05:40 - The Pleasure of Attending Conferences 02:08:18 - Finding our Clearing