Latest / The Psychic Explorer / When Your Sexuality and Spirituality Are Interwoven (with Delana Luna) 🔮

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When Your Sexuality and Spirituality Are Interwoven (with Delana Luna) 🔮 · The Psychic Explorer

0:07
Hello, I'm Matt and I am a psychic medium, but
0:10
it has taken me quite a while to feel comfortable
0:13
saying that. In my podcast, I explore the up
0:17
and down journey of getting comfortable with
0:19
my psychic and mediumship abilities. I will be
0:23
talking with guests about their experiences whilst
0:26
turning the spotlight onto myself and figuring
0:28
out how I can embrace my gifts while living a
0:31
normal life. So welcome to The Psychic Explorer.
0:50
Hello everyone and welcome to this episode of
0:53
The Psychic Explorer. It's Pride season. Happy
0:56
Pride! I know that this is July and traditionally
1:00
Pride season is in June but where I live, my
1:03
local town stroke city I always think it's too
1:06
small to be called a city but technically it
1:09
is a city in Norwich. It is actually in July
1:13
so this is going out in Pride season where I
1:16
live. So I hope that even if you don't consider
1:20
yourself as part of the LGBTQ plus community,
1:25
that you are having a good summer, that you are
1:29
enjoying yourself, enjoying the sunshine. I'm
1:33
recording this in the middle of May, so I'm hoping
1:36
the sunshine that we have had so far is going
1:40
to last into the rest of the summer. You all
1:43
know very well by now my story and my coming
1:46
out of the Woo Woo closet, but as you'll also
1:49
know, it was not as easy as the first time I
1:52
came out. When I reflect on my coming out per
1:56
se as a gay person, I... Don't actually consider
2:03
myself as having to come out. It's always just
2:06
been there I remember when my mom and my sister
2:10
confronted me and I just sort of said yeah, and
2:13
that was it and There was no big Deal and that
2:17
sounds like it sounds that sounds awful It sounds
2:20
like they saw pinned me down and saw are you
2:22
are you are you gay? It was not like that whatsoever,
2:24
but The point is, I'm trying to make is I've
2:28
never really had to sit someone down and say,
2:30
by the way, this is who I am or this person is
2:34
who I find attractive. That's never happened
2:37
to me. I've never had to do that. I've always
2:40
been completely sure of myself and confident,
2:44
but stepping out of this world again, as you
2:47
know very well that has not been the case. I
2:50
have not felt confident. There's still a layer
2:53
of anxiety about telling people that I do this
2:57
or that I have an interest in this psychic spooky
3:01
spiritual world because I am concerned about
3:05
other people's perception of me when before that
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wasn't really a case it was more of a case of
3:10
all this is me and if you don't like it move
3:14
on but I had to acknowledge that I am older.
3:20
I am now in my 40s. I am very used to people
3:25
perceiving me a certain way and with me saying
3:29
that I am into all this, I am opening myself
3:32
up for people perceiving me in a different way.
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There are still people, even in my family, that
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I don't talk about this to, that even when I
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put stuff out on my personal Facebook, there's
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absolutely no response like there's nothing but
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when I put something random on suddenly you know
3:51
everyone's liking loving it and I think that
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that tells me a lot that they're not ready to
3:56
talk about it even though they may know about
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it they're not ready to talk about it so there
4:00
is that layer of anxiety that goes there so I
4:05
wanted to do an episode about sexuality versus
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spirituality At this time, I'm still not sure
4:12
whether I should call this episode sexuality
4:15
versus spirituality or sexuality and spirituality
4:18
because I'm not sure if the two should sort of
4:22
go together or if they are a battle, one against
4:27
the other. I think both are probably true. But
4:31
depending on where you are in your journey in
4:33
life, one of these characteristics may complement
4:37
the other. On the other hand, it may be yet another
4:42
thing to make you stand out from the crowd and
4:45
maybe you don't want to. My guest on today's
4:49
episode found this out for herself and I'm not
4:53
going to give anything away because the way that
4:55
she words herself or explains herself is really
4:59
intellectual and I wouldn't do her justice by
5:03
paraphrasing. But I did want to do an episode
5:06
on sexuality and spirituality. So I put the feeders
5:10
out there to get someone else's point of view.
5:13
Delana made contact with me and I knew it was
5:16
going to be a deep conversation before we even
5:19
spoke to arrange the recording. What Delana has
5:23
to say is deep, intelligent and rings true in
5:28
my own soul. But because of that... I have to
5:32
admit that I found myself getting lost in thought
5:35
when thinking about what she was saying in response
5:38
to my questions. I would seriously recommend
5:42
you listening to this episode twice. It is deep
5:46
and a second listen will really help you understand
5:49
and identify the different layers that she covers
5:53
in her answers and in her responses. Each time
5:56
I've listened to this recording, just because
5:59
whenever I record an episode, I always listen
6:01
to it at least five or six times to try and spot
6:04
any errors that I might have missed the first,
6:07
second, third or fourth time that I've listened
6:09
to it. But each time I have listened to Delana's
6:12
answers since, I hear something new which I find
6:16
enlightening and fascinating. In this conversation,
6:21
Delana touches on how her sexuality has affected
6:24
her spirituality and vice versa. How other people's
6:29
perception of how they think that she should
6:32
fit into their narrative of their worldview.
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And it's a really interesting angle to approach
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this topic from. It opens up questions like how
6:42
do we deal with people who find our truth too
6:45
much to handle? Is it okay to talk about these
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things with our friends or family who may not
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understand? How do we get in contact with the
6:55
real us and not the us that other people want
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us to be? What I find fascinating is that all
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these questions can not only be framed around
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sexuality, but spirituality too. So even if you
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don't consider yourself a part of the LGBT plus
7:13
community, have a listen. Because I guarantee
7:17
you that you will find something that Delana
7:20
says that will touch you. That will make you
7:23
think, hmm, that ring's true. If you are doing
7:29
anything at the moment, if you are using this
7:30
podcast as background noise, well, thank you
7:32
very much. But I would, honestly, and I'm not
7:36
just saying this, I would just stop. I would
7:39
just stop. Make yourself a cup of tea, make yourself
7:42
a cup of coffee, and... Just sit down. Sit down,
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relax and listen to what my guest Delana Luna
7:51
has to say about her sexuality and her spirituality.
7:57
Enjoy guys. Delana Luna is a spirit -led artist
8:15
who uses all her subtle channels to walk between
8:17
worlds, traverse ancestral lines and the collective
8:21
unconscious to bring back stories of myth, magic
8:24
and alternate dimensions. With this wisdom she
8:27
crafts magical objects for other practitioners
8:29
to enhance their power. She is completing a PhD
8:33
as a comparative study between super -fiction
8:36
and shamanism, resulting in her spirit -led artwork
8:39
as well as her autobiographical account of her
8:42
Kundalini awakening and travels in Europe. Delana
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enjoys a multi -disciplinary practice and is
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self -taught in her spirituality and art. Travelling
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in Europe, she currently resides in a remote
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Portuguese village with her two dogs who she
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found in Crete. Welcome to our Psychic Explorer,
8:59
Delana. How are you? I'm well, thank you. I'm
9:04
happy to be here. Thank you for having me. Thank
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you so much for coming on. It's an absolute pleasure
9:10
for me to be able to talk to you this evening.
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This episode is airing in Pride season, and I
9:16
wanted to speak with someone who has an interesting
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background. And if your bio is anything to go
9:21
by, then my goodness, you have an interesting
9:23
background. But someone who also has experience
9:26
of coming out as psychic and queer. So, Delana...
9:30
This is not normally the first question I ask
9:33
on this podcast, I promise, but would you mind
9:36
explaining to the listeners how would you describe
9:39
your sexuality? Well, I've been thinking a lot
9:43
about the whole concept of this podcast and it's
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actually been leading me to some clarity that
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I think that I've had maybe for the first time
9:51
in my life that my sexuality is very much tied
9:55
up in my spirituality and always has been since
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I was a child. For me, since I was very, very
10:01
young, there were no boundaries. So there wasn't
10:06
this, you know, clearly delineated path of like,
10:08
you know, or I'm attracted to men, or I'm attracted
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to women or anything like that. It was just sort
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of all information, you know, and if I found
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something attractive, then that's where my sexuality
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would lie. But As I've become older and as the
10:28
Kundalini awakening was very powerful, so I've
10:31
had different awakening periods in my life and
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I've always been spiritual like ever since I
10:37
remember being conscious. The parameters for
10:41
what it is that I need to be attracted to someone,
10:45
regardless of their gender or, you know, preferences
10:48
or whatever, is huge. So at the moment I describe
10:53
myself as being asexual and that comes off being
10:56
demisexual. But then I realised at a certain
11:00
point when I was saying to people that I was
11:02
demisexual, I was getting a lot of, oh yeah,
11:06
yeah, me too. I don't like to have sex unless
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there's connection first. And that led to a lot
11:15
of awkward situations because I realized that
11:20
what those people meant by connection first was
11:23
like a good conversation or something rather
11:27
than nothing. Whereas for me, a good connection
11:31
meant somebody being able to accept and feel
11:37
comfortable around all of my spiritual stuff,
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as well as, you know, my normal human presentation.
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So it's a really... I mean, it's simple for me,
11:57
but I think it's very complex to try and explain
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to other people. What I think you're saying is
12:02
that your spirituality and your sexuality are
12:05
completely interwoven. As you know I put some
12:08
feelers out there to find out who in the verse
12:11
commas in the community would be willing to talk
12:14
about this and as soon as I read your message
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I thought oh this is gonna be a really deep conversation.
12:22
I was really looking forward to getting into
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this because I think that there are plenty of
12:27
people out there who talk about being gay or
12:30
bi or whatever it might be and how that affects
12:34
their spirituality how coming out might affect
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things because that's where I sort of thought
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this conversation might go and we will get there
12:42
but with your sexuality it really does tie in
12:45
with spirituality because it is about that on
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the deepest of levels is about that soul to soul
12:51
connection Yes, and I also think that, I mean,
12:56
I didn't have any kind of traditional coming
12:58
out, but at certain stages in my life when I
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felt like it was important to share that I was
13:07
on the societally taboo side of things because
13:13
of a feeling inside of me of wanting to be accepted
13:17
of wanting to be witnessed you know that also
13:20
was intermingled with wanting to get rid of a
13:24
feeling of guilt or shame around the fact that
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I was you know like I was pushed to the point
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of feeling like I didn't fit in that I needed
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to say something to someone do you know what
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I mean which I'm sure that a lot of people feel
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when you know they want to come out because they're
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like I need people to See my colors, do you know
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what I mean? Like you get to the point where
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you can't be fucked hiding, but also part of
13:51
you really wanting to like get it off your chest
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is because it does come with this feeling of
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like, I want to be validated because. Generally,
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the kind of like, you know, nurse the vibe that
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I'm getting from society is that there's something
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wrong with me, you know? And so you want to open
14:12
yourself to somebody and for them to say like,
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oh, I don't care or that's great or whatever.
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And a lot of the times when I did that in my
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life, it was quite disastrous. I find that because
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what I'm trying to express is something very
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fluid. and in terms of gender and sexuality and
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because my spirituality is something that is
14:37
such a part of my personality I find that people
14:41
go they feel like they can take it with a pinch
14:44
of salt so they can either let it be present
14:48
for them or they can have this idea of me that
14:52
they you know would like to have that feels better
14:55
for them at the time and then if I bring up you
14:58
know like yeah but what about You know insert
15:01
thing here. I find that they get very frustrated
15:04
with me and I very much get the feeling from
15:10
family and You know, we're gonna use friends
15:14
in inverted commas because obviously they're
15:16
not like real the meaning of the word friends,
15:19
but I find that people want me to keep certain
15:22
parts of myself hidden until it's appropriate
15:26
or fascinating or, you know, okay for them, for
15:32
me to be who it is that I'm telling them that
15:36
I am, for me to be myself, basically. Oh, Delana,
15:39
what you're saying there resonates so much with
15:41
me on the spirituality side of things and this
15:43
is why I think it's so interesting because for
15:45
you, the two are so integrally linked. A few
15:49
episodes ago I was talking to my online circle
15:52
leader Dana Willey and she was saying that for
15:55
her she keeps this very quiet. When she goes
15:58
to a cocktail party she was saying that it's
16:00
not the first thing she comes out with. People
16:02
tend to see it as a party trick. People will
16:04
start asking oh can you do it now? Can you switch
16:06
it on? And when you're talking this is what this
16:09
is making me feel like. because it's unusual
16:12
or it's novel or it's not out there as much as
16:14
the other sexualities. Yeah, absolutely. There's
16:18
a lot of, you know... I think that the place
16:23
that I live, I'm constantly... questioning myself,
16:30
questioning the world, questioning reality, whatever.
16:33
And it's something that I'm very, very used to
16:35
because I've been doing it since day dot. And
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I think that for a lot of other people, spirituality,
16:43
not just in being a psychic or being a medium,
16:46
but just generally being spiritual, communing
16:49
with spirit, with plants, with animals, it comes
16:53
at a real How do I want to express this? Like
16:58
it has like an ethical price tag, right? Like
17:01
the more you do it, the more you care. And the
17:04
more you care, the more you bring that into the
17:08
forefront of what it is that you're talking about.
17:10
And I think that a lot of the time, if people
17:12
want to have a good time, You know, and again,
17:15
we're inserting those little air quotes. They
17:18
don't want to be reminded of what it is they
17:21
could be doing better. I know one time I really
17:26
pissed somebody off because it was a party type
17:30
conversation and people were talking about their
17:32
underlying reason for why they do things, you
17:35
know, like their underlying thrust and motivation
17:39
in life. And I said something like for the better.
17:42
of my eternal soul and she just went off like
17:46
a steam kettle because she felt outraged that
17:51
I would bring something up that she found to
17:54
be heavy that she didn't want to think about
17:57
in a conversation that was supposed to be fun
17:59
and so I find that being spiritual and carrying
18:02
it around with you always can be really triggering
18:06
for people in terms of the fact that like they
18:08
don't want to know about it until... It pikes
18:11
their curiosity. It becomes something fascinating.
18:15
And I feel the same with asexuality or with the
18:19
fact that I feel extremely gender -fluid, but
18:22
I don't need to do anything about that to display.
18:29
I think that a lot of the time, spirituality
18:32
and gender... can be very easy for people to
18:37
accept if they come contained in a vehicle, right?
18:41
If I was some sort of religion, you know, or
18:46
if I dressed like a complete bohemian hippie
18:50
or whatever, and I had this display, then it
18:54
would be something that was, you know, very digestible
18:56
and acceptable for people. And I think it's the
18:59
same. With, you know, being completely gender
19:02
fluid, if I was presenting in a certain way that
19:06
people could be like, oh, she's a lesbian or,
19:08
you know, that they could see something about
19:11
my sexuality, it would make this fact that I
19:15
don't feel female, I don't feel male easier for
19:18
people to accept. Yeah, because we are encouraged
19:22
to be obvious, aren't we? We are encouraged to
19:25
wear our labels, to let people know who we are,
19:28
what we are. So you said earlier that your coming
19:32
out was not the traditional coming out when I
19:36
was young Like I said before, there were no boundaries.
19:40
So I didn't need to worry about it. The only
19:42
time that I needed to start to think about like,
19:45
you know, how do I present this information to
19:49
other people is when I realized that there were
19:52
all of these labels and boxes that I needed to
19:54
fit into. And so the first time I can remember
19:57
telling a group of girlfriends that I was also
20:01
attracted to women, it seemed really edgy and
20:04
important to come out as bisexual. But I wasn't
20:09
really bisexual. It took a while to be able to,
20:15
like I had to pass stages and levels, but now
20:19
the place that I am feels exactly the same as
20:22
when I was a child, so it feels like I've just
20:24
had this long period of societal harassment and
20:28
then I've gone hang on, no. I don't want any
20:31
of those things. But basically when I did tell
20:33
one girl in particular, and I mean more for me,
20:37
I knew what this person was like, but we had
20:40
a bit of a tearful outpouring when we were drinking
20:46
and probably way too young to drink. And then
20:49
the next morning I woke up and she told her brothers
20:53
and her mother, so there was this sort of...
20:56
hazing going on where they thought it would be
20:59
really funny to make to make fun of me about
21:01
this new piece of information that they have
21:03
and I mean I didn't have brothers and I think
21:06
that that's what brothers do but the betrayal
21:09
of trust the instant betrayal of trust was just
21:13
like stunning shocking for me it wasn't like
21:17
it was a big deal for her and she told me like
21:20
you know or she she kisses girls and whatever
21:23
which is definitely a very common thing through
21:26
a period of time, but it felt like something
21:30
kind of different for me because I think that
21:33
maybe I knew that if I told my mom or I told
21:36
my mom and my dad or whatever, that it would
21:38
become heavier. So I was just kind of like testing
21:40
it out in this environment. You know, like with
21:44
my sexuality, it's like I needed to keep on like
21:47
moving outwards, outwards with it. Whereas with
21:50
my spirituality, it was like I was fully out
21:54
there as a kid, and then it was like it kept
21:58
on being taken away from me or I kept on being
22:02
asked to be more and more quiet about it, whereas
22:05
the world seemed to be demanding that I be louder
22:08
and louder about my sexuality. So a complete
22:12
juxtaposition then, and I've not asked you about
22:16
how you began exploring your abilities, but from
22:18
what you're saying there, you're saying that
22:20
they were pushed down. you were encouraged to
22:23
suppress them. However with your sexuality you're
22:26
being encouraged to celebrate that. I mean obviously
22:29
with the exception of that situation you just
22:31
explained but it was something to mark you out
22:34
from the crowd, something to make you different.
22:37
I was being confronted with all of these people
22:40
being attracted to me. So I felt like I was being
22:44
forced to take some kind of stance. So you've
22:48
said you're bisexual. I would then have experiences
22:52
with women where they would expect me to be attracted
22:56
to them because I was bisexual or that I would
22:59
want to, you know, explore or do something. And
23:02
that's when I first started realizing like, oh,
23:05
hey, and I mean, of course with me. as well,
23:08
like I felt like that didn't even need to be
23:10
said, you know? But then if you're with your
23:15
boyfriend or whatever and something comes up...
23:19
and you start talking about these types of experiences
23:22
or how you feel about like you know the opposite
23:26
gender or whatever and I would just be very easily
23:29
at that point in time be able to say yeah sure
23:30
I'm bisexual I've been with women and you know
23:32
blah blah blah blah it would then turn into something
23:36
like that was like re -sexualized for a man I
23:41
don't know that was like another thing that they
23:44
were going to just turn into part of their male
23:47
experience. but then with women I found that
23:51
there was like a lot of stickiness because they
23:54
would challenge me on like you know you had a
23:57
boyfriend now you're single why don't you want
24:01
to do things with women or why don't you want
24:02
to do something with me or whatever and so it
24:05
just kind of felt like people were wanting to
24:10
know me through knowing what my sexuality was.
24:16
And for me, it was like something that I felt
24:20
at a loss, you know, at a struggle to define.
24:26
And when somebody would try and pin me down,
24:29
it made me even less willing to open up or I'd
24:34
just say something for the sake of it to get
24:36
them off my back. That particular experience
24:39
of your coming out, did that shape the way that
24:44
you approached your spiritual path or your psychic
24:47
development? Like I said, I've really been thinking
24:50
about like how entwined these things are and
24:53
I guess I didn't really pay that much attention
24:55
to it until we started to have this conversation.
24:58
And now when I look back on it, I think that
25:01
definitely these two things have really been
25:04
flowing in and out of each other and it wasn't
25:07
until this stage of my life now that I can really
25:10
see that definitely they did, you know, especially
25:13
with the theme of needing to make myself small,
25:16
to make myself quiet. to feel like ashamed or
25:21
that I wasn't going to be accepted or trying
25:24
to find certain ways to present it so that I
25:28
would be accepted. I can remember another group
25:31
of friends that I had in my club days and there
25:35
was a girl in that group of people that I was
25:39
quite attracted to. We were attracted to each
25:41
other. It turned out that a few of them were
25:44
sleeping with each other, but there was this
25:46
sort of caveat that it was just for sex, whereas
25:50
I was the odd one out and that this girl didn't
25:55
really want to be having some kind of sexual
25:58
relationship with me because there was this undercurrent
26:00
of me really loving women. So there was this
26:03
sort of this overtone, this undertone of it being
26:08
too much. if I was going to turn out to be a
26:12
proper lesbian or something like that. And I've
26:15
thought about that just recently and I'm like
26:18
that's not what they were afraid of in me. What
26:21
they were afraid of in me is the same thing that
26:23
people see in my spirituality and that's a depth.
26:28
It's something that they're not. willing to go
26:32
towards or if they were going to go to that space,
26:35
they would really be needing to open themselves
26:38
up to a level of vulnerability that they're not
26:40
used to or comfortable with. Whereas for me,
26:43
that's where I live. And so it makes me very,
26:47
very hesitant to talk to people about either
26:51
of these things. I always consider myself as
26:55
being part of two different communities, the
26:58
queer community and spiritual community and within
27:02
both you've got different subsections in the
27:05
queer community you've got the L, the G, the
27:08
B, the T and everything else that goes under
27:11
that as well and in the spiritual community you've
27:16
also got tarot card readers, trance healers,
27:20
energy healers, people with an interest in crystals
27:23
mediumship And just as there are sometimes tensions
27:27
within the queer community, you know, you've
27:29
got some gay men who don't like gay women, you've
27:32
got some gay women who don't like trans women,
27:35
and so it goes on, you also have that clickiness
27:38
within the spiritual community. There are those
27:41
same tensions. You've got people that almost
27:43
enjoy finding that tension. Of course! I mean,
27:47
you can be incredibly spiritually gifted and
27:49
still be a dick. You can have psychic powers
27:52
out the wazoo and still have a huge ego. I just
27:55
think that, you know, like I was saying before,
27:58
that the more that you enter into it, the larger
28:02
ethical price tag it comes with, the more you
28:06
keep doing it, the more it demands of you, unless
28:09
you're a person that just wants to use what it
28:14
is that you've got and monetize it or something
28:17
like that. For an example, If I want to talk
28:21
about my spirituality, I can use the persona
28:25
of an artist because artists are allowed to be
28:29
crazy, you know, like for the longest time. That's
28:31
something that's been completely acceptable or
28:34
maybe even expected of you. And I also have a
28:38
job where I work in the spiritual field at the
28:41
moment. And so I can word that differently to
28:43
be palatable to people. At the moment, I want
28:48
to just say whatever it is that I want to say
28:51
whenever I want to say it, but I'm not quite
28:55
there yet, you know? So people will ask me questions
28:59
and I'll say something extremely vague and then
29:03
just sort of be very quiet. And when I am within
29:07
the spiritual community, I can just say... you
29:11
know, I'm a shamanistic practitioner, I'm a green
29:14
witch or I'm making ceremonial robes and ritual
29:16
objects and working with shamanism in the northern
29:19
tradition because that's my ancestry and like
29:21
all of these things that are true and they're
29:25
the correct, you know, labels for them. It's
29:28
very easy. But when you just meet somebody, you're
29:31
not really sure how. they're gonna get by you
29:36
mentioning one of these things. But I also feel
29:40
like I've come to a point where it's very important
29:43
for me to not value somebody else's comfortability
29:48
over me being able to proclaim. what it is that
29:55
I do with some pride because that's something
29:58
that I haven't been able to have at various stages
30:01
in my life and I just think that I've got to
30:03
a certain age where I'm feeling very fuck it,
30:06
you know, and I don't want to be kowtowing to
30:09
anybody. And once again, there is the perfect
30:13
bridge between sexuality and spirituality. When
30:17
you meet someone new, you can sometimes feel
30:20
there is this pressure, this tension to have
30:23
to explain to this stranger who you are, who
30:26
you are attracted to, or where you fit into society.
30:30
Yeah, well it's extremely difficult for me to
30:32
date, you know, because I'm always managing disappointment
30:36
and expectations because even if I explain, well
30:39
not even if, take that back, I do explain absolutely,
30:44
especially if it's a man, that There's not going
30:48
to be any sex the first time that we meet, regardless
30:51
of whether or not they're super hot or I find
30:54
them attractive, because my body just won't respond.
30:57
I don't work that way. It's really interesting.
31:03
Okay, in that way, it's really interesting because
31:06
I can see that if I go and we have a great conversation,
31:10
and I'm really good at making good conversation,
31:12
I'm an interesting person, most of the time,
31:14
if I decide to go on a first date, it's probably
31:17
going to be a pretty good time, right? So then
31:19
I know that at some point during that, I'm going
31:23
to then have to re -explain myself and it gets
31:28
really sticky sometimes because people want me
31:33
to just be over it or be different or whatever
31:36
and a lot of the time even if people say that
31:39
they've got the space for it they'll just ghost
31:42
me because they're like well when is this person
31:44
going to be available to be sexual you know which
31:47
is really disappointing to me because it means
31:51
that that my pool of people get smaller and smaller
31:55
and smaller which is okay and I think that with
32:00
spirituality because I'm intelligent and outspoken
32:06
when I am. in public when I'm not being an introverted
32:10
hermit and you know I'm doing a PhD and I obviously
32:16
have a lot of very centered and grounded opinions
32:20
when I mention spirituality sometimes or I tell
32:23
people like what it is that I do for work or
32:26
whatever I again have to manage this expectation
32:30
slash disappointment that I'm getting from this
32:33
other human being because they are they're like
32:35
oh but I had this picture painted of you that
32:38
I really like and now you won't fit into that.
32:47
Isn't what Delilah is saying absolutely fascinating?
32:50
I really don't think you have to be a part of
32:53
the LGBTQ plus community to hear what she is
32:57
saying or take something away from what she is
32:59
saying. If you want to reach out to me, you can
33:04
find me on Facebook, threads, Instagram, you
33:07
know the drill, the .psychic .explorer. I would
33:11
really appreciate it if you are listening to
33:14
this and you're enjoying it. A follow, a subscribe,
33:18
a comment, anything you like basically. I'm starting
33:21
to figure out how this podcasting thing works
33:23
and apparently it needs your input for things
33:26
to go further. And I love the idea that... This
33:30
little podcast project of mine is going further
33:33
and helping other people, especially if other
33:36
queer people can find this so that they know
33:39
that they are not alone. So with that said, I
33:41
will now get off of my soapbox and hand you back
33:45
to Delana. Delana, your bio is fascinating. Would
33:52
you mind just explaining what it is that you
33:56
do? What is this for a lead art? I know you also
34:00
do tarot so how do you, what is your practice?
34:05
Well at the moment my main offering is combining
34:08
all of these things together. I'm really concerned
34:12
with ancestry and appropriation and have been
34:15
ever since I was little. So I work in a shamanistic
34:19
way and the two parts of ancestry that I have
34:23
connection to are Italian and Scandinavian. So
34:26
tarot is Italian originally and I've been reading
34:31
tarot since I was... Well, probably 14 years
34:34
old. So that's like a scary number of years to
34:38
say now, like 20 something or whatever. So that's
34:42
something that's just always been part of my
34:44
life and my personality, I think. And I've also
34:48
been always fascinated by the runes, but I never
34:52
really owned them until halfway through my Kundalini
34:56
awakening when I discovered that I actually had
34:58
Scandinavian ancestry. And this happened at a
35:01
time when I was going through a certain type
35:05
of activation and I was working with two teachers
35:09
at the same time. And that really opened up something
35:14
huge in me and I found this intense passion for
35:20
and knowledge about the runes, how to use them,
35:23
how to read them. And at the same time, I was
35:27
making a collection, a super fiction collection
35:30
of jackets and I was working on those jackets
35:33
in a very shamanistic way. And what I mean by
35:36
that is that it was very purposeful, intentional,
35:40
intricate and As I was making the jacket, I was
35:44
thinking about all of these different metaphoric
35:47
things. symbols and meanings for what I was doing
35:52
and all of these things happened at the same
35:55
time and now they've all culminated together
35:58
into my business practice which is ceremonial
36:03
robes and ritual objects that I make but I make
36:07
them specifically for certain practitioners and
36:11
I tie in a tarot reading and using the runes
36:14
so that we come up with a bind rune. or a sigil
36:18
at the end of it that is an expression of their
36:20
power and then I sew that into the clothing or
36:23
carve it into the ritual object that I make.
36:27
Wow, that is deep. I love it. You also mention
36:31
in your bio a Kundalini awakening. What is that?
36:36
What is a Kundalini awakening? I only learnt
36:40
of a Kundalini awakening from my teacher because
36:42
it explained best what was happening in my system
36:45
and my body at the time. But Kundalini is an
36:49
ancient Indian term and it has to do with the
36:52
Shakti flow of energy through your body. And
36:54
Shakti basically is like your clear power flow.
37:00
So if you can imagine that there is a line of
37:04
energy that wants to move through your body.
37:07
uh and it wants to do so fiercely and joyfully
37:12
and freely and easily you know so uh if there's
37:17
anything in the way that energy wants to push
37:20
it out of your system and i think that I don't
37:23
know, probably most people are educated in the
37:26
fact now that trauma in a human being actually
37:30
results in a blockage in your body. So it can
37:33
either be somatic that it actually sits somewhere
37:35
in your body or it's psychological that you're
37:38
holding it in your brain. So when you have a
37:40
Kundalini awakening, what it does is it really
37:44
forces you to push. all of those bits of trauma
37:49
out of your body and deal with them because what
37:52
is often happening in somebody's system is that
37:56
Kundalini decides to activate, to awaken in this
38:01
person because they have spiritual powers that
38:04
they're not using. And the reason why they can't
38:08
access them is because the trauma is blocking
38:10
them. And that's that's like a, you know, like
38:14
a Kundalini for dummies. Brilliant. Thank you.
38:19
No, I appreciate the explanation. It sounds to
38:23
me and forgive oversimplifying this maybe, but
38:26
it sounds to me like a more mystical version
38:29
of shadow work. Yes. And they're they're all
38:33
part of a Kundalini awakening. So you would find
38:36
that all of these things that people are doing
38:38
at the moment can be traced back to a common
38:42
route. So it definitely is all I mean, even even
38:48
psychology at its roots is shamanistic. I mean,
38:52
that's part of what the shaman was doing for
38:55
the community. And even though when You go into
39:01
some practitioners, well no, I think that all
39:05
psychologists at some point or another would
39:07
be interested in forms of mysticism, but then
39:11
you... I was just going to say about psychology,
39:12
yeah about psychology. Yeah. because that's basically
39:15
where it comes from. So a lot of these things
39:18
that people are doing now, like even, oh, what's
39:21
that stuff called? NLP, Neural Linguistic Programming,
39:27
all of this kind of stuff that people are presenting
39:29
under different banners, it's all the same day.
39:33
It's just that people want to focus on a part
39:38
of it, you know? So trauma is definitely caught
39:42
up in your systems. availability to its subtle
39:47
channels, which are your clear powers. So everybody
39:50
knows what clairvoyance is, you know, or they've
39:54
heard of it before. I don't know if they would
39:56
really know what it is, but there's also clear
39:59
audience, clear sentience, and clear cognizance.
40:03
and they're governed by the switchboard of your
40:08
intuition. So you need to have all of these things
40:11
online and I believe very firmly that it's every
40:16
human's birthright to have access to these abilities,
40:20
that you're born with them. Some of them are
40:23
obviously going to be stronger in different people
40:25
because we're all this mishmash of wondrous variety.
40:30
But I believe that there's something that everybody
40:34
has because they've got a brain they're in your
40:36
brain they're part of your system and when you
40:41
have a lot of trauma it can really push you off
40:48
track but then there is this common thread of
40:51
the fact that people that have a lot of trauma
40:55
also are often sensitive people and sensitive
41:01
people tend to be more spiritually talented because
41:06
they are sensitive. So that's something that
41:09
I found very, very interesting because sensitivity
41:13
is often displayed as a weakness, whereas really
41:16
it actually is the herald of, I don't, hesitant
41:23
to use the word, but power, if you will. Do you
41:26
think your sexuality has impacted your connection
41:29
to spirit or your intuition in any way? Well,
41:34
my goodness, that's a very big question because
41:38
as you move through getting more and more aligned
41:45
and in tune with yourself, your sexuality will
41:48
fluctuate. And I mean, especially if you're the
41:50
kind of person that does have a Kundalini awakening.
41:53
What a Kundalini awakening does is want to have
41:57
a free flow of energy through your body. So just
42:00
imagine like water going through a twisty pipe
42:04
that's got blockages in some parts of the pipe.
42:08
So the water can only trickle through. Sometimes
42:11
the water doesn't get through at all or it takes
42:13
months or whatever. And what Kundalini wants
42:16
to do is to push all of those blockages out of
42:20
the way. And when that starts happening, you
42:23
realise that a lot of the things that you're
42:27
doing are trauma based. And when you take trauma
42:31
away from your identity and your personality,
42:35
you become a different person. You become attracted
42:37
to different things. You don't like certain things.
42:39
And I think that for me, I definitely found that
42:42
a large part of what I was doing with men was
42:46
mirroring my trauma from my father. I mean, you
42:49
know, how original. But it really became very
42:55
present to me. So even though my intuition was
43:00
telling me ever since day one that these things
43:04
were connected, when I really started going through
43:08
it, and Kundalini is not, she can be very rough.
43:16
If she thinks that you can handle it. It's not
43:18
this like soft blissful awakening process It's
43:21
really like a I kick up the bump and so I actually
43:26
had chronic fatigue for I don't know two or three
43:30
years and During that period in time the the
43:34
people that I was attracted to the things that
43:36
I wanted to do sexually vastly changed and the
43:41
more my intuition came online and the more my
43:46
spiritual abilities increased and I let them
43:48
in, the more demisexual and then asexual I became.
43:53
We were talking earlier on about how you present
43:58
yourself to the world, how you present your spirituality
44:02
to the world, but I wonder if you have found
44:06
support or even resistance. within the spiritual
44:09
community when you began to show the true Dalana?
44:14
Definitely some support. I mean as you were saying
44:18
before the spiritual community is huge and I
44:22
think that's something that you've got to take
44:24
into account to answer this question is that
44:27
the spirituality or being spiritual or being
44:29
spiritually gifted at the moment is popular.
44:33
And when something is popular, you're going to
44:37
get a whole lot of people attracted to a movement
44:41
that wouldn't otherwise be involved. So while,
44:45
yes, there is definitely a lot of support for
44:48
me within spiritual community, there's also a
44:51
lot of cliquey, high school, immature, ego -driven,
44:57
competitive stuff as well. I think that because
45:01
I'm very centered within myself, and what I do
45:05
is quite niche, and I've really done the work
45:09
and done the hard yards, I don't experience a
45:14
lot of shade. But, you know, it would definitely
45:17
be out there. And on the other hand, just emerging
45:22
now. from having been in my PhD cave, my COVID
45:26
cave, and my Kundalini cave for like, you know,
45:31
at least two, three years, I'm actually finding
45:34
a lot of support and people that are really intrigued
45:38
by what it is that I'm doing. I think that having
45:42
done it under the banner of a PhD, because I
45:45
mean, I guess your PhD is like an initiation
45:48
period as well, you know, like there's also the
45:50
PhD cave. I think that that makes it a little
45:56
bit more palatable for people, like a jumping
45:58
off point that they can engage with me to start
46:01
to talk about the conversation. But then, of
46:04
course, a PhD in itself is an extremely patriarchal
46:09
structure. And, you know, the world that we live
46:12
in, patriarchal structures have the most, what
46:17
word do I want to use? Prestige. Okay, so it's
46:21
really easy for somebody to use that as a jumping
46:23
off point to start talking to me about like,
46:26
Oh, isn't spirituality fascinating when you look
46:28
at it under the academic lens, you know, so I
46:32
guess in a way that's lucky, because I do definitely
46:36
have all of the other completely far out, you
46:41
know, star seed witchy woo woo stuff going on
46:44
as well. Proper woo woo. Which again brings judgement,
46:52
it brings difference, it brings a whole set of
46:57
other baggage. As it does in the, again, the
47:00
vertical one is the community. There's lots of
47:03
people within it who live very different lives.
47:07
And there is that clickiness as well. That clickiness
47:09
is renowned in the queer community. It's, yeah,
47:13
it's endemic. Well, I found the queer community
47:16
very difficult to break into. I've had some absolutely
47:20
gorgeous relationships with gay men. It's probably
47:24
my preferred, you know, human to human interaction
47:29
at the moment. Or it's just I guess those people
47:32
have been my like really, really safe space.
47:35
As far as just the community in general, I do
47:40
find that because I can't enter in by this vehicle
47:46
of my sexuality, that I often feel like there's
47:50
not really a place for me. Whereas within the
47:54
spiritual community, because I have, you know,
47:58
I've got... natural ability, things that have
48:02
been happening since childhood, things that I've
48:04
studied and, you know, moved into and know the
48:08
terminology behind and stuff like that. I find
48:10
that there is like a quite clearly delineated
48:15
place for me within the spiritual community.
48:18
Okay, you have said so much and it is all fascinating
48:23
and It's amazing, I've got all my questions written
48:27
down here but as you've gone along I've crossed
48:29
them out because as you've spoken you're answering
48:32
them as I go along. So thank you for making my
48:35
job much easier for me. That's a good thing.
48:38
I've got one final question though and bearing
48:41
in mind what you were just saying about the clickiness
48:44
that both communities can have and the pressures
48:48
to conform, the pressures to be different as
48:52
well. as you said, spirituality at the moment
48:54
is very popular. What advice would you offer
48:59
to someone who is LGBTQ plus and starting to
49:05
explore their abilities? What advice could you
49:09
give? I would say invest in yourself by getting
49:16
a teacher and getting some healing, especially
49:20
if it is something that's worrying to you or
49:23
you can feel it in your body or you know like
49:27
you feel like you might be having some kind of
49:29
awakening process and you're like oh but you
49:32
know I don't have very much money or whatever
49:34
really prioritize it because it changes your
49:39
life and in a very very good way and you realize
49:44
like we touched on before probably how much you've
49:48
been dulling your intuition by doing things that
49:53
aren't quite right for you because you want to
49:56
fit in and as you uncover those layers you feel
50:01
you'll feel a lot more comfortable with yourself
50:05
you know and be able to find a purpose that makes
50:09
you feel Satisfied. I mean, I think that happy
50:12
is probably a little bit of a dirty word for
50:15
me at the moment, but definitely, I can say satisfied.
50:19
So, yeah, find a teacher and don't be afraid
50:22
of making mistakes because sometimes that's just
50:27
the way to where you're going. Thank you so much,
50:30
Delana. I really enjoyed this evening. It's been,
50:33
as I suspected it would be, it's been really
50:35
deep. It's been really personal, so I want to
50:38
thank you for sharing so much about you, for
50:42
being vulnerable, for opening up and sharing
50:45
with not only me but also my listeners about
50:47
who you are and how you live, how you see the
50:51
world. Thank you so much. Where can people find
50:55
you? Okay, so I am the Museum of Magical Objects.
51:00
That's my website and my Instagram and that's
51:03
where I am at the moment. A little bit floating
51:06
around in threads with the same handle. I'm not
51:09
hugely frequent on social media. But I do take
51:14
clients all the time, and there are certain things
51:20
that I'm more interested in doing than others,
51:24
but I'm open for consultation and tarot readings
51:27
and rune work. And where I really shine are my
51:32
objects and ceremonial robes, but they come with
51:36
activation meditations and a reading. Delana,
51:41
thank you so much for joining me. I've really
51:43
enjoyed listening to your perspective. Thank
51:46
you so much. Thank you. Take care, Delana. Bye.
52:06
So there we have it folks, Delana Luna. I hope
52:09
you found that as enlightening as I did. As I
52:13
said before, when I was talking to Delana the
52:15
first time around, I knew it was going to be
52:17
a really deep conversation. And when we got recording,
52:21
the way that she explained her experience was
52:24
so in depth and so intellectual that I had to
52:28
go back and listen to it a couple of times. Again,
52:31
I really recommend that you do that because...
52:33
Every time I have gone back and revisited this
52:36
episode I have found new layers of what Delana
52:40
was talking about, new depths and I find that
52:44
really interesting because it makes me reflect
52:47
on my own experiences and how I may feel about
52:50
how sexuality interacts with spirituality and
52:53
vice versa. I know that in general people of
52:57
my generation are comfortable with the concept
53:01
of LGBT But when we add the Q and the plus, sometimes
53:07
people are not so sure what that might mean.
53:11
I think this is a good opportunity to expand
53:13
on that. So in the episode, you would have heard
53:16
Delana reference her sexuality as demisexual
53:20
and asexual. In case you don't know, and that
53:23
is absolutely fine if you don't know, because
53:25
if I'm honest, I had only heard of this term
53:28
a couple of years ago. Demisexuality is an orientation
53:32
where a person may not experience sexual attraction
53:37
as I might. So if there's someone really good
53:41
looking, got a good body, I would find that a
53:45
turn on. I would find that attractive. For a
53:48
demisexual person to desire a sexual encounter,
53:53
they would need to have formed a really strong
53:56
emotional bond with another individual. It's
53:59
not... based on physical characteristics. It
54:02
is more about the emotional bond. And asexuality
54:07
is an orientation where you feel little to no
54:10
sexual interest or desire for another individual.
54:15
So if there was any misunderstanding or uncertainty
54:18
around those terms, I hope that has made it clearer
54:20
for you. You will also have heard at the end
54:22
of that episode where to find Delana. And she
54:26
has very kindly offered a discount on her tarot
54:28
card readings to any Psychic Explorer listener.
54:31
So get in touch with her. Tell her that you listened
54:34
to this episode on the Psychic Explorer and she'll
54:36
give you a discount on one of her tarot card
54:39
readings. And that is it from me this week, guys.
54:43
Thank you so much for listening. I really hope
54:46
you are having a lovely summer. If you are part
54:48
of the LGBTQ plus AI community. That was done
54:53
in one take, my God. If I could frame that, I
54:57
would. Then have a wonderful rest of your Pride
55:01
season. If you are out, remember, have compassion
55:05
to those who are not. I don't know why I said
55:07
that. I feel like I had to say that because I
55:10
think once you're out, it's very easy to forget
55:13
that other people are not. So be compassionate.
55:18
Find love for one another. and above all especially
55:22
the boys be safe lots of love guys take care
55:25
bye Hey guys, it's ending Matt again. Just popping
56:20
in at the end of this episode because as you'll
56:23
be very aware, this episode touches on sexuality
56:27
and for many people this can be a scary thing.
56:31
If you are in a position where you feel you need
56:35
help or advice or just someone to talk to because
56:39
you don't know who else to talk to about your
56:42
sexuality, maybe you're in a situation where
56:44
you don't feel that you can talk to anyone else.
56:46
I would seriously recommend getting help. It
56:50
is a very lonely place when you feel that you
56:53
don't have anywhere to go. If you are in the
56:56
UK, I would highly recommend Switchboard. Switchboard
56:59
has been going for over 50 years. They have a
57:03
lot of experience and you can get in contact
57:06
with them many, many ways. The website is switchboard
57:09
.lgbt. Their phone number is 0800 0119 100. That's
57:18
0800 0119 100. You can also email them at hello
57:24
at switchboard dot lgbt or you can use the chat
57:29
service on their website. If you are in the US,
57:32
I know that I've got quite a few listeners in
57:34
the US. I know that things out there are scary
57:38
at the moment. There is the Trevor Project and
57:40
I know that the Trevor Project focuses on suicide
57:44
prevention for LGBTQ people. However, if you
57:49
need them, they are there 24x7. You can text
57:51
them by texting the word START to 678 678. You
57:58
can call them on 1 866 488 7386. That is 1 866
58:11
or if you're on the computer, laptop, whatever
58:14
it might be, go onto the website, thetrevorproject
58:17
.org, and you can start a chat with someone who
58:21
can help you out. Promise me you will not suffer
58:25
in silence. It is seriously not worth it. I am
58:28
sending you all my love. Take care, guys. Bye.