Indigenous Wisdom & Spirit Guides Becoming Physical - Spirit Talker Shawn Leonard

Shawn Leonard

 [00:00:00] 

Kara Goodwin: Welcome to Soul Elevation, Guiding Your Ascension to New Heights. I'm your host, Cara Goodwin, and I was so excited and honored to talk to spirit talker Sean Leonard in this episode. You're in for such a treat as we explore spirit guides, indigenous teachings, and Sean shares amazing stories of 

hearing and recording his guides voices, how they've appeared to him physically, and other really expansive stories. I've really gotten so much from Sean's book, Spirit Talker. I have it here. Spirit talker and his Oracle deck, and I highly encourage you to engage with those works. Sean Leonard is a heart centered indigenous Mi'kmaq spirit talker and psychic medium with over 25 years of experience

bridging the physical and spirit worlds, a proud member of the [00:01:00] Millbrook first nation in Nova Scotia, Sean takes an authentic approach to spirit communication through live events, media appearances, workshops, and his spirit talker tribe online course. At 16, after losing his father, Sean received a profound message from spirit that set him on his life's path since then he's dedicated himself to helping people worldwide connect with departed loved ones, receiving healing messages and gain deeper insights into their journeys.

He's the star and host of the TV show, spirit talker, author of spirit talker and wisdom of the elders, Oracle card deck.

And we'll dive in in just a moment. But first, I'm so excited to share about my book, Your Authentic Awakening, a guide to everyday spiritual living, which is available now. This book is designed to help you reach new heights of spiritual awakening. It's full of spiritual guidance, practical tools, and captivating personal [00:02:00] stories, all working together to expand your consciousness and open your heart.

find out more on KaraGoodwin. com, including how to get your own signed copy. And now enjoy this episode. Well, thank you so much for being here, Sean.

I'm so excited to have you on. 

Shawn Leonard: Well, thank you for having me on, Kara, and I'm really looking forward to our conversation today. I hear you're from Indiana. Have you ever been down that way? And, uh, maybe one day I'll get a chance to go down to your neck of the woods down there. But, as of right now, I don't have any plans up yet.

I think I'm going to New York. In August, uh, to, uh, a conference down there, but yeah, maybe I'll get there someday. 

Kara Goodwin: Yeah. And you're in Canada, right? 

Shawn Leonard: I'm in Canada. I'm in the Eastern part of Canada, uh, called Nova Scotia, uh, which is the, the farthest East you can go on the mainland. And, uh, yeah, just a little bit North of Maine and a little bit further East.

Kara Goodwin: Okay. Well, Canada is just beautiful. And you guys, is it, is it pretty [00:03:00] cold up there now ? 

Shawn Leonard: Actually, it's still cold, but it's not like freezing cold. Like, uh, you know, every now and then, you know, the ice starts to melt and the snow is pretty much gone. And so I'm really, I love this, you know, when it starts to become spring again, you know?

Kara Goodwin: Yes. Yeah. 

Shawn Leonard: I'm not a big fan of the winter stuff, no. 

Kara Goodwin: No. And we've had a really long, hard winter here. So I don't, and we're further south of course than you are, but I'm really looking forward to spring. We've got little whispers of it already. So, but it's been a long one. 

Shawn Leonard: That's right. Yeah. I'm traveling on tour soon, so I'm hoping that it warms up everywhere I'm going.

Kara Goodwin: Right. Yeah. Well, I love your book, Spirit Talker. So I have it here. If you're on the video, you can see this beautiful book here. And it talks about your. Psychic experiences and your kind of spiritual awakening and so forth, which is, which is profound and fascinating. Tell us a little bit [00:04:00] how you came to be spirit talker and you know, how this gift has, has shown itself to you over time.

Shawn Leonard: Sure. Uh, well, I'm a Mi'kmaq indigenous person from Canada, Eastern Canada, the Mi'kmaq people, the Mi'kmaq nation here. And, um, you know, we do have like, you know, people, medicine people within our, we call, we could call it our tribe or my territory, et cetera. But, you know, it, you know, nothing into the degree of how I kind of practice the work that I do today in the sense that I do.

I, you know, other than having the book Spirit Talker, the book, I have an Oracle Card deck with Hay House and within which I have 

Kara Goodwin: also in love. 

Shawn Leonard: Yes, that's awesome. And then I also have a TV show in Canada called spirit talker as well. And it's on a TV network called APTN. But, uh, I think there there's the first season, potentially the second season, you could get, find it on another app called Fossum, which is, uh, available down in the U S.

So if you check out Fossum, look for spirit talking, you might find me on there. [00:05:00] But you know, how. You know, did I come upon this journey? I guess. I think we all have a purpose and the reason why I wrote the book is, you know, it's, it's talking, you know, a lot about, you know, my journey, but it's a journey of self discovery.

And I think other people resonate with it because, you know, we've all been on a journey through life and what we've experienced. And I'd like to say that everything that we experienced through life is teaching us something. And, you know, we can say it's been a slow awakening, awakening through life of who we truly are.

I mean, it's not that, um, it's a discovery of who I am in culture in relation to as an Indigenous person, but it's also a story of relation to connection to the spirit world. And, you know, discovering that, you know, that true sense of self, I guess, that we, All are kind of like looking for within ourselves is that that connection to spirit because once we see ourselves as being spirit Having a human experience and then we start to kind of understand.

How do we interact? How do we communicate? How does that communicate with us? And how [00:06:00] you know, does it guide us through life, etc? And uh, and i've had these kind of like we'll say um awakening stories of things that have happened to me that, uh, and I know so many people write me and tell me and give me messages saying, you know what, I've had a similar experience, you know, this means so much to me because I wasn't quite sure about this, but now I understand it more fully.

So everybody's had similar experiences to these, I believe. And, uh, so I think there's like, when they hear my story, there's a story within themselves that is like, Oh my god, yes, you're aha, you know, and and I love that that that resonates with people in that way because I think You know a lot of people, um have beliefs about themselves and it could be limiting beliefs about thinking.

Hey, you know I'm, you know, this is not for me. I can't connect or you know I have to go see a psychic medium or a spirit talker or somebody Um that does this line of work that I you know, i'm not directly connected myself And that's what I really try to help people understand through my stories In teachings within the book is [00:07:00] that to help them discover who they are, their connection and how they understand that connections for themselves as well and how they may serve if they choose how psychic abilities really work.

And, uh, and my kind of awakening to that, uh, because nobody like sat down and gave me a class and said, Hey, Sean, this is what it is. This is how it works. This is how psychic abilities manifest through people. It was almost like. These things that happened to me were helping me understand what I say, like a language of sorts.

Because, uh, and I actually self published a book through Balboa Press prior to this book, called The Language of Spirit. It's no longer for sale. because it was for sale for probably about four years. And, uh, and, and when I put it out in the world, I just want, again, wanted to share teachings and stories to help people understand this concept and, you know, help people know who I am in regard to the work that I do.

And, uh, so anyway, when Hay House, um, you know, picked me up as an author, um, they wanted that book, but they wanted it to be [00:08:00] rewritten and. reworded and new chapters and new stories and some different teachings, etc. So this is the new manifestation of that as spirit talk of the book is that, and uh, and I'm really happy.

It's been out in the world, I think probably almost three years now, maybe two and a half years. Um, it just seems like the other freaking day. Yeah. And I just finished my second book for Eos too. Oh, 

Kara Goodwin: awesome. When will that come out? 

Shawn Leonard: Oh, I don't know. Probably the fall. I'm thinking potentially it's, it's about spirit totem animals.

Kara Goodwin: And, 

Shawn Leonard: uh, so I'm really looking forward to everybody having that, you know, that, uh, the stories in relation to that and helping them understand their own connection to spirit totem animals. And, um, you know, that's a whole other discussion, but no with, with, uh, You know, with me awakening, I guess, um, I say we're all on a journey through life and there's certain things that have happened to all of us to kind of say, Hey, you know, there's something, it could be that we feel nudged or guided or protected, and you may attribute that to an angel.

You may attribute that to a spiritual guide. It may be both, [00:09:00] maybe an ancestor that is giving you a message. And, and many times, um, you know, for me later in life, it happened to be that I started to have like. You know, profound connections with people that I didn't know that weren't my family. And, and that's when I started to kind of really discover like, okay, there's something to this, you know, this isn't just my imagination.

This is actually real because I can't know these things. And I'm not a mind reader. And, and as there was certain things that came through to say, Hey, Sean, this is like. You know, this person even doesn't even know this. You're talking to this person and they don't know it. So I can't be reading somebody's mind if they don't have it in their own mind.

Uh, so it was like really just hitting me over the head with it. And, and let's say I was a bit stubborn, you know, cause I'm human. I'm a male too. So maybe the male. That masculine brain there was a little stubborn at the take and I kept, but I kept wanting to go deeper and understand more and, and delve more into what I say that the bind language.

And, uh, and I'd like to say that I'm a pretty good translator at this point. Um, but it doesn't mean I'm not, [00:10:00] I've stopped learning or I know it all or that everything is like, you know, it's just, everything has come to me. It's not, you know, we're no matter where you are in life, it's a progression. And you're going to still be evolving and learning and growing about who you truly are.

And that connection and that communication that comes through from spirit always. 

Kara Goodwin: I love that. I, you know, as you mentioned the show spirit talker that you've been on, and I understand that you've been doing this show for years and that has helped you to. Um, get deeper into the indigenous teachings and different, um, lineages as well through the indigenous.

Can you talk a little bit about that? 

Shawn Leonard: Yeah. Yeah. Like, cause way back in the day, you know, I never, I never set out in life to be a Hayos author. I never set out in life to have a TV show or, you know, it's sometimes spirit when you're, when you're in alignment with your life. Yeah. And you're going in the direction you're supposed to be, things just align, the right people come, the right circumstances, just everything just kind of like, it sort of comes to you [00:11:00] through manifestation, I guess, even though I wasn't even purposefully trying to manifest it, that the TV show, you know, it's, there's a funny story around this, and it kind of connects to the Hayos thing, uh, because I, I probably In 2018.

So this is a little way, uh, ways back, but, um, I got, I had the ability and the opportunity to tour with another medium from Hayos named John Holland, and he came up to Canada, and I, I opened for him. So it was like I was able to, you know, share the stage with them. And we just really connected. He's a great guy.

He's from Boston area. Uh, and we connected and he's partly one of the reasons why I've got the publishing deal with Hay House. Not because he, um, he went in there, you know, fighting for me or anything like that. It was just that he was walking by an office at Hay House and somebody says, we should really think about getting some more indigenous authors.

And he backs up because what did you [00:12:00] just say? It was like, it was just like divinely timed, you know, and he goes, yeah, we were looking for a couple more indigenous authors for the Hayos family and such like this. And he goes, well, I just happened to know somebody, Sean Leonard, I toured with him like in 2018.

He's got, I think he put a book out through Balboa Press, you know, and so they looked me up and then I, you know, and, uh, I mean, I sold 5, 000 copies of my own book. So next, you know, I'm getting a call from Hayos. Uh, now that was years later, but with the TV show. It was funny because it's connected John. I did an event in Halifax, Nova Scotia with John Holland.

And I think there was, uh, 600 people there. So between, you know, the two of us, we had 600 people at our audience and we were doing a live presentation of readings and such. And, um, so we finished, he went home and I heard there was a TV show in Nova Scotia called The Curse of Oak Island. 

Kara Goodwin: And. 

Shawn Leonard: It's actually it's I think it's a season 13 for God's sakes and they've been looking for a treasure forever And it's [00:13:00] connected to the Knights Templar and a whole bunch of stuff, you know So I knew it was being filmed here and I had like keen interest in that type of genre stuff So I thought I'm going to give, uh, you know, somebody a call.

So I had to find out who I had to call. Uh, who was like a co producer or producer on the show or something. Because I just want to go out there and just vibe it out. You know, I don't want to be on TV. I just want to go out there and check it out and see. I've always wanted to go out to this, this place called Oak Island that has this rich culture and history.

So I phoned a friend who said, listen, uh, Ed Pyle of Telltale Productions, Telltale Productions. Uh, is one of the co, uh, uh, producers with, uh, Prometheus from, from California. You should give him a call. He's local. So I call him up and I'm like, Hey, uh, Ed, you probably don't know who I am, but my name is Sean Leonard.

And he's like, I said, Sean Leonard, because that is so weird. I was just going to call you. I have a piece of paper with your name and phone number [00:14:00] on it in front of me. And I'm supposed to call you next. Oh my gosh. He says, nobody told you to call me. I'm like, no, I said, really, I'm just calling you because I wanted, you know, I know that you're on Oak Island.

I'm looking to go out there because, you know, I had a writer, uh, Donna Gabriel, who works with me sometimes who went to your event with John Holland and she was so impressed with you that she wanted me to call you to see if I would be interested in doing a TV show. I'm like, so have you ever put too much thought into that?

I'm like, not really. No. I said, that sounds all awesome, but I just really wanted to go to Oak Island. And he goes, well, if you had some ideas, what would it be? I'm like, well, you know, I, I, I, in, in Canada, I've worked with the police often on in different cases. I said, maybe a missing and murdered, uh, indigenous, uh, person show would be a good show for me.

And he goes, well, that sounds like a pretty good idea. And he says, is there, so he says, I'll call this network. It's an indigenous network within Canada and see if they're interested. So he called [00:15:00] them and they said, uh, well, we, you know, there's a lot of legal things around naming people, pointing fingers at people on TV.

So it's probably not a significantly great idea, even though we love that you hop out in that way sometimes with different people, which it just, it would be very difficult for TV. So they said that they said we were interested, but see what else he can do. So he calls me back. They said, well, I do these live events and I read people in an audience and, um, pretty much, you know, around.

I mean, that's where Donna Gabriel saw me and she goes, well, how about if we went to different indigenous communities and you read people within the community and then you got to meet elders and learn about wisdom and such like this now, now prior to that. You know, because I, I was not raised on, uh, an Indigenous, uh, reservation or within a community itself.

My grandma was full Mi'kmaq, uh, and she never lived, uh, up till 13, she lived in a community that was, uh, all Indigenous people. But she married a Caucasian fellow and A fisherman in [00:16:00] Newfoundland and then had 16 children and lived in a little community. I know big family. My mom was the oldest. I'm the oldest grandchild.

And so my, my family lost that connection because even when my grandma was born in 13, I mean, Newfoundland, a province, like it would be equivalent to a state in the U S wasn't even part of Canada. Then for God's sakes, it was part of the British colonies and such like that. And it became a province in 1948.

When my mom was born and so that the indigenous communities weren't even established until 1980s. I think they're 1987 in Newfoundland So there was no there was this lost cultural connection and because of Unfortunately because of colonization to within Canada and I know probably it's affected the US greatly as well That, you know, you know, our culture and who we are as people is kiboshed a lot and our spiritual practices and our ceremonies and things.

So it was almost like a stigma. And, you know, they even had residential schools in Canada where, you know, children weren't even [00:17:00] allowed to speak their language or practice their culture in any way. It was really kind of like frowned upon. And even many children died as a result of it here in Canada, which is kind of a dark part of our history.

Kara Goodwin: Yeah, it's really tragic with what has happened, particularly in Canada with the schools and things. It's heartbreaking. And 

Shawn Leonard: it's a mix between church and, and you could solve it down in the US, you could say state, but it's, it's government and church kind of, uh, collaborated together to kind of do this.

And it was just, it was just bad, but anyway, you know, that's in the past and then, you know, and, and a lot of indigenous people are still healing from that. So, um, With the different indigenous communities across Canada. Um, we shot a pilot and the funny thing is, is that this is where synchronicity all ties in.

The first community went, we went to, we went to this community called List of Wish, which is MGMA for or for a place up near Quebec in New Brunswick border, and we shot a pilot episode of Spirit Talk of, we didn't even know it was gonna be gonna be called [00:18:00] Spirit Talker at that point. We're just filming the pilot episode.

So I'm doing my session in front of like maybe 120 people in the community, uh, live filming of me doing readings and then the producers then say, okay, we really like these top three readings. We'd like to bring them back for a one on one session with you. And then, um, And then you do further readings with them and then maybe do something with an elder within the community and then we'll send that off to APTN and see if they like it.

So we did that and they loved it and they wanted the show so we started filming 13 episodes very shortly. But speaking of the wisdom of the elders oracle cards. There was a lady I read in the audience in L'Histoire du Québec named Tracy Metallic. And, uh, in the show, I connected to her uncle and some other people, uh, with her and her aunt that were there.

And, um, so anyway, during the one on one session I did with her in the filming of the pilot, I, I tuned in to the fact that she was an artist. [00:19:00] And I said, okay, listen, I, you know, they're telling me that you, you, you're, uh, an incredible artist in, in so many ways. And they're saying that you, so after the reading, she shows me some of her and I said, you know, Tracy, I love your stuff.

I love it. She says, you know, and I told her then I said, listen, Tracy, I got a weird inkling that one day I'm going to get to do an Oracle card deck. I don't know when or how that's going to happen. But when it does, would you ever be interested in doing, uh, the art for it? And she said, I would absolutely love to, just give me a call when, when and if that ever happens.

So when I, when I, uh, signed the contract with Haos for Spirit Talker, they said, Hey, Sean, have you ever thought about doing an Oracle card deck? That is so funny that you mentioned that. 

Kara Goodwin: Wow. And this is 

Shawn Leonard: like years later, right? So I planted the seed, you know, I, I put it out there. I never searched out Hay House.

I mean, it was, I never like sent in a submission for my book to Hay House. I just was out there doing [00:20:00] what I'm doing. I never, you know, called somebody to say, Hey, can I have a TV show? It was like, I just called to see if I could go somewhere and just vibe a place out for fun. Next, you know, I'm like doing a TV show.

And later, uh, many years later, then, um, You know, when Hay House found out about me and, uh, via John Holland and, and that, that synchronistic passing by the door type of thing, that it led to, um, them checking me out and having a conversation and then, you know, signing a book deal and, and the book, like I think the one you held up has a sticker on it because in Canada it was, uh, it became a national bestseller for a week, mind you, but still it hit the bestsellers list in Canada, which is amazing.

And, uh, so which goes to show. That there's people out in the world that are searching for spirit, spirituality and understanding the spirit connection, communication, et cetera. It's not, it's not woo anymore. You know, I mean, maybe for some people it is, and like I said, not [00:21:00] everybody is on the same level.

Not everybody is in alignment with us. But that doesn't mean they won't catch up at some point. And it may take them many lifetimes, but I feel like there's a lot of people out in the world that will, there's something inside us all that is, that's kind of like nudging us to kind of learn more about who we are, not just in the physical form, but who we are as a spirit.

Kara Goodwin: And 

Shawn Leonard: that connection that we all have, it's not just for indigenous people. It's not just for, uh, witches and Wiccans and people as such, or people who are into black magic, what have you. It's, you know, it's, it's for all of us. And it's in, uh, you know, that's why religions were formed. 

Kara Goodwin: Right. And, 

Shawn Leonard: you know, there was like almost like.

You know back, you know thousands of years ago, right and and they still around and they still have buildings, you know I'm, not looking to start a church, right? I'm, not looking to do that at all. 

Kara Goodwin: Right, right. I know you have a little bit of experience with that actually I do yeah, you should 

Shawn Leonard: mention that right?

I thought [00:22:00] about it for a minute 

Kara Goodwin: well, it's really fascinating how you took that at the end because I just And I'm glad that this popped on here on the screen because I was going to say you are this bridge like you're a bridge to the indigenous traditions from those of us who are outside of those traditions and your bridge between the ancient teachings and the modern teachings.

So, you know, you talking about the, the new, you know, we're kind of entering this new age where so many people are awakening and they're, they're interested in spirit teachings. And that is kind of this. Maybe more of a new agey type of thing. And I don't necessarily mean new age in terms of like a genre, but like new, it's, it's a new way of, of interacting with spirituality apart from religion and dogma.

But when we have these indigenous teachings, of course, they're ancient and they're, you [00:23:00] know, they have this, this strong lineage with them. So it's this really interesting dance that you in particular. are suited towards and, you know, for just speaking for myself, like it, not as an indigenous person, but like, I remember being in social studies class in fourth grade and learning about Native Americans.

And I, I'm reading a textbook and I cannot get enough. And that was not like me, especially with social studies. I was not. Really interested in social studies. But when I came across native Americans and how they lived and how they lived with the land and they were connected with spirit and they lived in harmony and they paid attention to the seasons and all these things.

And I was like, Spellbound, like, I want to live like that. Why don't we live like that now? Can we live like that again? You know, and so. I've always been [00:24:00] very drawn to Native American traditions and, uh, wisdom teachings and so it's, I was, I paid a lot of attention when you came into my field of awareness, it was like, Oh, I want to hear what he has to say.

So. But it's also this, like, you know, you're very much on the forefront of this movement of how humanity is coming into a new level of awakening, but it's through these ancient teachings. So it's really fascinating, the old and the new and the, you know, the bridge in many, you're a bridge in many ways.

Shawn Leonard: Well, I feel, you know, Indigenous people, before we started to lose our ceremonies and our culture of who we are, um, and we're starting to remember that, you know, we're starting to remember our ceremonies, and a lot of the times, from the elders that I've met from different communities that I've gone to, for, you know, you know, during colonization, um, there were still elders that practiced certain ceremonies, but they had to be hidden in the backwoods and um, You know, with [00:25:00] like specific people that you knew that you weren't going to tell anyone because, you know, you could literally be injured or hurt and maybe even killed if you, people thought that you were practicing your culture, which is just, uh, you know, it's just our way of like connecting to the spirit world or it's, you know, connecting to our ancestors, connecting to the creator.

I mean, we're just, it's the same thing that a lot of people are doing a religion, right. And they have their ceremonies, right. And we have our ceremonies and our ceremonies. are more deeply, uh, and richly connected to Mother Earth, you know, and the sacred directions, you know, of Mother Earth and Grandfather Sun and Grandmother Moon and, you know, it, it's because we've learned to live our lives according to the cycles of life and the cycles of Mother Earth herself and the, and the ebbs and flow of the tides and everything that comes within the world, you know, it's, it's deeply connected to who we are in our livelihood.

We've had to kind of, like, pay attention and, um, you know, um, kind of mark our celebrations, um, and our [00:26:00] ceremonies based upon those things, but even pre contact, you know, our, our people, the Mi'kmaq people, very deeply connected and psychic. You know, and, um, and hence why we would have to hide some of these ceremonies.

One of the practices that we did as indigenous peoples, we would have medicine people, and it could be men or women or a two spirited person, which would be a person that kind of balances between those worlds, you know, um, that, you know, Oftentimes when this medicine person would connect, there would be a ceremony like a sweat, you know, which, uh, you know, would have four rounds, like the four directions, the four seasons, you know, we would base our, our ceremonies based on a lot of these kinds of principles.

And we'd always start with in the East, you know, where the sun rises, where the creator's light first hits, you know, mother earth and et cetera. Um, but one of the ceremonies we would do involve a game. And actually we had a game in Canada and I wrote about it in my book. It's called Waltas. [00:27:00] And, uh, it's a fun game.

I have, I have it up here on my shelf. Actually. It's a, it's a wooden maple bowl and we have like, uh, you know, five, um, dice in it that aren't really diced or like made of bones or antlers, and they have a symbol in one side and they're a little concave on the other side. So when we, we played the game, we usually say it's you and someone else that you play with.

It's a two person game and it could go on for days and days and days because There's people that are really competitive and good at it too. I don't know how, but they seem to be good at it because it seems to be so random, but yet not so random because I can't seem 

Kara Goodwin: to win. I think I've heard you say you don't win.

Yeah, I can't win. 

Shawn Leonard: So we, we have this bowl, we bounce it up and all these pieces are flying through the air. And, uh, you know, they either come all the way up, uh, or all the way down or all the way up, but one or all the way down, but one, and you get points, you know, and there's different sticks that you get given.

And it's, it's like a fun game. It's a fun game. And so anyway, we, but we used it for something [00:28:00] else as well. And this is pre contact from Western culture civilization, where you would think people staring into like crystal balls and Wiccan or anything like this is indigenous people had our own service.

There's something within us all. No matter where you're from, indigenous from Turtle Island of North America or from Europe and, you know, Wiccan and deeply connected to, you know, those, uh, those, like they call them pagan beliefs, pre Christian, I guess, you know, uh, that doesn't make them evil. Doesn't make them bad.

It just are different ways of connecting to the spirit world. It makes, it's just different ways of connecting to, you know, the creator. Right. So one of the ceremonies, we would fill the bowl full of water and we'd leave it out in the moonlight for four days or four nights, actually, where the moonlight would come out and shine light upon the water.

And it was just a way that we practice. I mean, it might have been a sacred fire that also we would have lit for four days and then we could have gone into sweats and we could have like, uh, fasted for those four days as well. Uh, there's so many different ceremonies that we would do as indigenous people.

And then. [00:29:00] After the ceremony, whoever could see, or who was the seer for the community, and often the seer would then hold the bowl for very direct and intentional reasons, like what should we do about this situation? You know, we need insight. What should we do with this person is not well, we need to figure out what medicines we need to go, uh, harvest in the forest to bring this person to help them be well.

You know, there's somebody who's struggling mentally, emotionally, you know, what message can come through their ancestors that may guide them to help them find a better space in life. So the person would then hold the bowl after those four days of ceremony, and then we just gaze into the water. And just as they would sit there and gaze into the water, they wouldn't stare into the water, just gaze upon the water.

And they would be kind of mindfully meditating just as they kind of gazed upon the water and in with through invitation inviting their ancestors, the ancestors of the people that needed the help to come to communicate to them. And [00:30:00] then they would have a vision about the plant they needed to pick, or how to best deal with the situation, um, or how to give the advice to help people through the difficult situation they were facing, you know, or maybe the message from the loved one that they were struggling so deeply with the grief that they were carrying.

To help them move through it in a better way, you know, so it'd be about healing and wellness and, uh, and love, you know, kindness and love and compassion. So they would have these visions and to give you an example of what those visions will look like. And I, you know, and I do this intentionally when I talk because, um, you know, just as I explained the story to you and you may have never seen a sweat or a sacred fire or even a shaman or somebody who would sit in front of a fire or even put water out in the moonlight for four nights, but I'm Everybody that's here listening or watching this, this interview, this podcast, visualize what I said to you, you somehow imagined [00:31:00] what I said, so your mind has an ability to see without its eyes, I didn't shove that in your brain and make you see it, you saw it, you maybe saw glimpses and maybe just fleeting, but you had impressions that came to your mind, it's, it's very much like what And when spirit communicates to us, that's what you would call, and this is where a Western word becomes married with something we already know, clairvoyance, right?

We didn't have the word clairvoyance. We didn't, we didn't. If you said clairvoyance, we wouldn't know what the hell you were talking about. But we knew what it was like to see and not with these eyes, but we knew what was to see and hear and hear. And that's where we would listen. We would, and it comes from a good space, a loving space, a kind space, a compassionate space, because this wouldn't be, you're going into the ceremony to do harm to anyone.

You're doing, you're helping people. You're helping your community. This is what you would do this for. You would [00:32:00] be doing it for guidance for yourself in some way. And, uh, and it's within us all. Whether you practice a special ceremony for it or not. It is there. And the more that you work at it, refine it, and trust, and, you know, kind of understand, because it is a language of sorts.

And sometimes it's very, you know, symbolic, sometimes it's very literal, and sometimes it's both. But it's then using your intuition, your inner knowledge, your inner knowing and feeling what does this mean? What is this message? Where is this guiding me? You know, I see this, but what does this mean to me?

What do I feel like this message is coming through because of this? When you start to ask yourself, then you can kind of sense it out, feel it out, right? So that's clairsentience. So there's other words that are Western culture that have always been around in that kind of beliefs and ceremonies that they practice.

Now, mind you, we're on different continents, right? So we, you know, I'm not saying the Indigenous way is the right way. [00:33:00] What I'm saying is the Indigenous people had ways. And, you know, that we were, were connected to the spirit as other people were in their own continent. So, without having contact, you know, let's say a thousand years ago, we still, there was something in my people, something in, in Caucasian people, Egyptian people, African people, there's something within all people, that there was a transcendence of communication from the spirit world to us all through different ceremonies.

And I think some of that got stigmatized. Let's say many of it, much of it because of colonization and religion, because then, you know, and I understand that, you know, when the belief system that many people had shared back in the day with colonization, that there was one way to, to, to the creator and, you know, all these other ways had no power, you know, there were, it was evil or demigod or, or something negative, right?

Which is far, the farthest thing [00:34:00] from the truth, but You know, and the strongest belief for the, you know, and what they say is history is written by the winners, right? And, uh, so history was written by the strongest group of people for the longest time. But we're remembering who we are. And it's not okay to hurt people because, you know, of your belief.

You freely can believe whatever you choose to believe. I'm hoping that if you're going to believe something about the Creator and Spirit, that it's coming from a really good space and place. 

Kara Goodwin: Right. 

Shawn Leonard: Anything negative is not going to serve you, it's not going to serve humanity, it's not going to serve anybody.

So you have to come from a good space because that's who you are. First and foremost, each of us all come from an unconditional loving source and space. 

Kara Goodwin: And if 

Shawn Leonard: that's your source, that's what we all have to kind of strive to connect to and be in alignment with. Anything less than that. Is an alignment with like a higher level energy.

It's, it's more of an egotistical [00:35:00] based energy of like, I'm right, you're wrong. And, uh, so we have to kind of like transcend that. And through, through my teachings and stories and such, like I, I've understand, uh, I've, I've come to understand different concepts. And through culture and, and, uh, connection to different elders and, and, and even through different ceremonies, I've been, uh, so grateful to be part of that.

It's taught me so much more to help me go deeper, even. And bridging these worlds, bridging the connections, bridging, you know, the understanding between my culture and Western culture. And we even actually have a word in Mi'kmaq that is called edamaktua, which means two eyed seeing. And now is the time, and it's Albert and Merdina Marshall who came up with the principle from Eskasoni, Nova Scotia, who are Mi'kmaq elders.

And, uh, and it's about bridging Western [00:36:00] culture and Indigenous culture together. And, you know, there's a time, because we can look and be, you know, Indigenous people, and there's many, trust me, I've met a lot, that are angry with Western culture and Western people and etc. But anger is not going to solve problems.

You know, we have to kind of see together somehow, because we are one world, we're one nation. There's four directions of the world itself, and there's different colors of people from around the world, and we have to come together as one nation, as the human nation. And that's an Indigenous teaching. So, you know, if you're going to be Indigenous and angry about, um, and I can understand learning from the concepts of what happened through colonization, but if you carry anger in your spirit, then that's what you have inside you.

And that could be anger about, you know, there's so many different people, even the black people of the world are also angry about, you know, how they've been treated and what's happened to them. And, you know, they're [00:37:00] entitled to have feelings about that, but you can't sit and stay in anger. There's no resolution.

So, you know, the medicine that you carry is the medicine that you have inside you. The medicine that you have inside you is what you give to the world. It's what you have. So I've been, um, trying to help people understand how to shift away from that into like a healing process. So when even spirit connects to me from the other side, many times when I connect or have spirit communicate to me for someone, Um, you know, it could be in a live audience because that's usually how I do my sessions in a live audience.

And I love that because when I do that in a live audience setting, everybody's witnessing the same thing. And even though, you know, maybe 13 people in the audience out of like hundreds of people are getting the sessions. 13 to 15 people, there's a message that I told this person that's going to resonate with that person and spirit is intelligent enough to know that [00:38:00] if these messages come through for these specific people, it's going to reach everyone.

So I trust that process and I think, um, you know, people, that's what I try to teach people when I do events like this is to see you, you, you, and I know that a lot of people are coming to me to, to make a connection as, as a spirit talk is a psychic medium. Because in my culture, I'm called a spirit talker.

And my, even my indigenous name is White Eagle Spirit Talker, which has been given to me by elders, uh, or an elder within my own community, uh, through ceremony. But when they come to me, you know, I can't read everyone, you know, I'm human. I, I, I have, I can only do so much within my lifetime. And trust me, I have people every day that'll message me.

She says, Sean, I need your help. Can you do a reading for me? And I'm, I cannot read everybody, but I teach too. I teach people how to make connections. I teach people how to, and I have a course called spirit, talk, or tribe that launches every year in September 7th to 30th, [00:39:00] where I teach people how to be connected for themselves.

So you don't feel like you need me 

Kara Goodwin: that you learn this 

Shawn Leonard: for you. 

Kara Goodwin: Right, and that's what I love about your book. I was going to mention that as well, that it's very practical. So you've got these beautiful, mystical, mysterious stories of connecting with spirit, and it talks about how you came to be a spirit medium because you were a postmaster.

At first I was for a little while. Yeah, right. Um, and, but there are very practical ways that you have at the end of many of the chapters of how people can do this for themselves, how they can connect deeper with their spirit and how they can. work with their own intuition, develop their own intuition, the Claire's that you mentioned, how we can work with those and figure out which one is more prominent for us and deepen the others.

And, and so it's very practical. [00:40:00] You also have some amazing stories in here about connecting with people's spirits and your own spirit guides. Now with your, what is that like for you when you're connecting with your guides? Have you, because it's the same, I know you've had one guy that you've had the whole time that you saw physically when you were little Sam, um, but I would just love to know more about what that's like for you.

Shawn Leonard: Well, it's sporadic, you know, it's not, I think everybody has a, uh, an expectation, I believe thinking that your guys are going to be just chatting you up all the time. Uh, that's not the truth. Uh, they may chat to guide you in subtle ways. You might not even realize it because like sometimes I'm like, uh, doing something all and I'm not thinking about anything.

All of a sudden I feel like, Oh, I'm supposed to call so and so. Like, where does that voice come from? I don't have like a little, little guy in the background going, Hey, excuse me, Sean, you forgot to call Joe 

Kara Goodwin: today. 

Shawn Leonard: And you better call Joe because I've, I, but all of a sudden, [00:41:00] occasionally I recognize that there's people that will nudge me to call, uh, the film guy.

Right? Um, you better, you should call Ed and ask him if you can go to, to, uh, Oak Island. I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna call Ed today. So, you don't even realize it's going on. Like, cuz it's just like, almost like, it's like, you think it's your own thoughts. Uh, uh, many times. That you think that through their own thoughts, sometimes they're very deliberate because I'll be teaching and then I'll hear somebody in my head go, Sean, you need to tell the story.

I'm like, Oh, okay. I got it. So I got to tell the story now, even people that I connected because I was like teaching the other night in my course with my students and, um, and my grandma, I was talking about my grandma. Cause we're this month, we're talking about making connections to our loved ones. So I was like telling people, you know, how different ways that you can communicate, different ways that you can make a connection to somebody you care about.

And predominantly it's just like talking to your people, right? You got to talk about them, tell stories about them. And, and, uh, so anyway, I'm like, [00:42:00] I'm telling a story about my grandma and then I hear her in my head for a second. Story. Okay. I'll tell you that she wants me to tell you this story. So I'm like, okay, this is like my, this is my grandmother's favorite.

So I have to tell you this one. So I, I, I, even though I thought it was going one way. You know, I, I was going in a different direction all of a sudden because spirit had guided me to go that way and that it's like the little mind thoughts that come into her head that where I notice that my, my personal guides are, are guiding me through life and, but sometimes my loved ones, if I'm especially talking about them, but they hear us, they, they're aware of what we're talking about, what we're teaching about, what we're, and they're trying to help us to, to teach or talk or communicate, uh, as best as we can.

And, uh, so I noticed that now all of their times. I'll actually hear my guide talk to me like I, and this is the cool part is sometimes not super often, but every now and then I can hear [00:43:00] like a voice that will speak to me out loud. And if I had a recorder going, I could record it talking to me so I could actually record somebody like calling my name and saying something to me.

Uh, it'd be very short. But I've recorded it many, many times throughout my life, uh, where I've recorded. And if you go to my YouTube channel, there's a 11 minute clip. Uh, that I have on there where I used to go out, uh, paranormal hunting back the day, and I used to record different spirits that would say things to me, but you'll hear my guide Victoria on there.

And there's another one where I, um, went out to connect to another man on, um, an Island here in Nova Scotia. That was, uh, he was hanging around. His name was Howard Carter. You'll hear him telling me his name is Howard Carter, and then you'll hear my guide talking to him for God's sakes. And it was the most coolest thing.

And this is like, I'm not even talking to him. She's talking to him. And I had recorded a brief [00:44:00] conversation between a spirit that was still hanging around the earth world for whatever reason. And my guy guiding him to the light. And she said something to him. She says, and you can almost hear like when they speak, sometimes it's very breathy, you know, they have this like, uh, this breathy voice and she's saying the light way.

The light is so she's saying the light is like the way to go for him, you know, the light way she's saying the light is the way, you know, the light is and she really emphasizes the is like she's, she's trying to get through to this man who has somehow lost his way and wants to hang around the earth world.

He's not, he's not a terrible person. He's just a person for whatever reason has been lingering around Odum McNab's Island. And, um, and she was guiding him to, to find his way home. I was trying to help him, but she was helping me help him. And when I, but you know, recording her voice and having that clip, like on my YouTube channel is, [00:45:00] is so cool because you get to hear a spirit.

This is not my words. It's not me speaking for spirit. This is actually weird speaking. So sometimes I will record things like that. And, uh, and I've other times, like I've had that there's a couple of stories. There's one story I didn't share in the book, actually. Um, Because I have a bunch of stories that I didn't share, of course.

And there was one where my, the guy, Ed Pyle from the production company, he was thinking about me doing another TV show, a different one, potentially about looking into unsolved things. And one of the ones that he wanted me to talk about predominantly, or he wanted to do a pilot about it was about this guy in Nova Scotia, who was a Bitcoin guy that mysteriously died in, um, India.

Now, mind you, they were investigating for criminal activity because [00:46:00] he scanned, scammed a bunch of people out of millions and millions of dollars. through Bitcoin stuff. And then, uh, him and his wife were setting up some type of, and this could be a story, setting up an orphanage of all things in, in East India.

And while he was there, he was supposedly, he had some type of underlying, uh, health condition, like Crohn's. Apparently he died of eating something and got really bad Crohn's attack and died in India. And they brought him home and nobody ever saw the body. Except his wife, which I'm pretty skeptical about anyway, so he wanted me to do a whole show on this.

So I sat with some people and um, and I recorded the conversation. 'cause when I'm sitting with Spirit sometimes and I have other people come sit with me and other students and other people who also doing what I do, I may sit around and you, and you may even call it like a modern day seance. But it's just sitting around and I, I might light some smudge and, you know, invite the spirits to connect.

[00:47:00] But I wanted to see if this man was really deceased. So I invited him to come and I recorded the conversation. And, uh, so anyway, I never recorded him. So he didn't come to me. I never heard him. So my suspicion is, is that he might be kicking around out in the world somewhere. 

Kara Goodwin: Oh, wow. 

Shawn Leonard: And he faked his own death.

Because he's like, uh, and, and they actually, I think it might even be on Netflix. There might be a, his name was Gerald Cotton, but, um, you know, he, he, um, you know, I think they did a documentary on Netflix potentially about his disappearance and stuff like that. So he wanted me to do the thing that Ed wanted me to do with the show was find Gerald Cotton.

Kara Goodwin: Wow. 

Shawn Leonard: But I mean, that sounds really cool and all. And, uh, but I, I, it's just, it doesn't, it's not my passion really. It's not something I'd rather help people healed than finding some guy that's like, you know, screwing people out of money somehow. Right. 

Kara Goodwin: Yeah. [00:48:00] I'd rather 

Shawn Leonard: help people heal, but I did try to see if I could make a connection.

Kara Goodwin: Yeah. And he was there with 

Shawn Leonard: everybody around. Now, I, uh, at the same time, I, I, I recorded my guides because I recorded them during the session. 

Kara Goodwin: During that same, like, seance when the, when Gerald didn't show 

Shawn Leonard: up? have five other people with me and I'm sitting there talking and in the background I recorded my spiritual guides.

I heard, because now, now mind you, this is really, it's really cool because I didn't again write about this in the book, but, um, I had a dream where I met a new guide. And I'm like, I met her. She was kind of a heavier set lady, dark hair, seemed very smart, very intelligent, very kind. She actually brought my cat stormy who passed away a long time ago.

And I got to spend some time with my cat. I was like, Oh my God. I mean, and I asked her who she was. I said, is she, is she one of my guides? And she kind of just smiled and nodded. And I'm like, okay, apparently you have a new guy, but she won't tell me who she is. And, um, [00:49:00] so during the session I'm recording and I hear Sam talking and I hear.

Victoria, my other guide, talking. They're talking to someone else. And they're both calling her the same name. And her name is Eliza. One called her Eliza, and one called her Eliza. And I have a recording of them speaking to her about what we were doing. 

Kara Goodwin: Wow. And 

Shawn Leonard: so they were consulting with her about our little session of connecting with Gerald Kahn.

So when I listened back to, to hear if I recorded anything, cause sometimes I may not hear it, I catch it later. So I went back to listen. I was like, well, there's Victoria, there's Sam, there's Sam, who's this Eliza girl? And then I heard in my head, I'm that guy you met in your dream. I'm like, apparently I have a new guy named Eliza that I've just discovered.

I mean, I'm sure she's been here, but I haven't needed to know who she was up to a certain point of [00:50:00] life. And I do feel like with guides, particularly that depending on what stage of life you're at, because in indigenous culture, we feel like we have four stages of life. We have infancy, we have youth, we have adult, and we have elder stages of life.

And it's, it's attributed to the medicine wind. And I feel at different stages of life, depending where you are, what you're going through, what you're learning, because we're all on different journeys, right? When I was young, um, you know, I wasn't, I was lots of, you know, psychic, spiritual things happened to me, but I wasn't practicing as a psychic medium, you know, in my twenties, I was, and I became more connected around that time because I started to really delve into my spiritual connection at that point.

And I really worked at it and I, and because it's, you know, it's a practice you have to keep working on and it's, you are an instrument. You are literally an instrument. If you tune your instrument. And continue to practice playing that instrument, which is, you know, the same as like working with the spirit world [00:51:00] communication and stuff like that.

You become a better player. You become a better person is more versed at playing the guitar. You're the guitar. And I love that 

Kara Goodwin: metaphor. 

Shawn Leonard: You just become better at it. And you know what I love is like, have you ever heard? Um, and this is something that Dr. Wa Dame, uh, wa, Dr. Wayne Dyer said back in the day, and I, and I love this quote, and he always says, you know, don't die with your music still inside you.

Kara Goodwin: Mm. 

Shawn Leonard: And that my music is my work. It's my connection, and there's something in each and every one of us that is wanting to express itself through you. And if you practice it, you, you, you, you engage in it, and you do it from a good, loving space, and you keep it, it becomes a big part of who you are. You know, then you become greater at it.

It becomes greater and it, and, um, so I, I like to say that he gave me the kind of the wisdom, you know, in the sense of connecting those two things together [00:52:00] that, you know, tuning my instrument, which means through my ceremonies, my personal ceremonies, my meditation, the prayers, the smudging that I do, uh, the connection and invitation the spirit to work.

Uh, that helps tune my guitar, but when I do sessions for people, that's when I'm playing my music. 

Kara Goodwin: That's so beautiful. Well, and I love that story about your spirit guides and it makes me think of another really powerful story from your book with your spirit guides where they were protecting you and they showed up.

In physical form, would you? This story is so powerful and I, I think too, the story you just shared because of the, the physicalization of the voices, like it really adds a different element than just kind of taking when it comes to spirit, we so often just kind of have to trust ourselves, which is so powerful.

But when we can get these physicalizations, it really helps to anchor something in [00:53:00] for us as physical beings. So I would love to, if you would share that story. 

Shawn Leonard: Yeah, I mean, I think, and I would, you know, tell everybody out in the world, if you want to make a connection to your God, invite them. Maybe, uh, light some, you know, smudge smoke or whatever sacred, you know, smudging medicine, which is a smoke, uh, and invite them and say a little prayer into your smoke as you are, you know, invite them to be part of your life, help them say, I invite you to help me know who you are, help, uh, I invite you to, you know, help me, I give you permission.

to allow you to, to let me know who you are and they may visit you in a dream. You may have this voice that all of a sudden calls your name or something. And you'll don't be scared for God's sakes. These are just people that love you and are watching out for and guiding you. And, and you'll notice how they're kind of like chiming in from time to time.

And you may even record them. You know, if you're doing a session or something like that where you're sitting around at home, take your phone and put on the digital recorder and just do your little ceremony and talk to your guides. If you listen, you might actually hear them in the background. 

Kara Goodwin: Mm. 

Shawn Leonard: It's, [00:54:00] it's not that far out there.

And once you do, it's gonna change your life. You're like, oh my God, there's really people here that aren't here. Right. 

Kara Goodwin: And 

Shawn Leonard: they are talking to me. They are saying something to me. And, you know, you may understand what they're saying. It may, it may take time to understand, who knows. But they're definitely, they're not just for me.

They're there for everyone. Now, back in the day, I was going through kind of a, a difficult time. You know, I was getting, I was getting, uh, divorced and, you know, I was having some trouble with one person particularly, not my ex wife or anything like that, but someone else. And I just talked to my guides and I said, listen, you know, I really need some help, you know, please, you know, keep this person away from me and, uh, it would really help me out if you could keep this person away from me, because it's just going to cause drama and problems.

And I'd rather not that. So I put it out into the spirit world and I said, you know, do whatever you got to do. And again, I was like, at this time, I was still working as a mailman, as a mail carrier, right? I would deliver mail by day and, and, and, and at night I deliver spirit messages. I would, uh, [00:55:00] which is kind of funny, paper messages by day, spirit messages by night.

It's like a male, male psychic superhero, sorry. But, uh, I was out delivering my, my mail in Halifax. And there's this, uh, there's one road that's called blower street and it's a hill, pretty steep, a lot of hills in Halifax because you have the ocean, you know, the, the Halifax, uh, Bedford basin, and then it just kind of goes up, right?

So I'm going up blower street. And delivering the mail. I'm there fairly early because I'm, I was a really quick mailman and there was one place that was open on that street and it was like, uh, this little, uh, it was like a magazine shop, coffee and magazines. And, uh, so, and they may have a few danishes and stuff like this and there was nobody in there.

Um, so I went up to deliver the mail and there's some of the story that never made it to the book. Just so you know. And because the editor edited some of it out. And this is, this is a really cool part that you're going to learn today. [00:56:00] But when it, before I went into the, the, the, the coffee or the, to deliver the mail, there was a man outside on the street sitting there.

And I tried to walk by him and he grabbed me by my hand and he said, excuse me, sir, can I just talk to you for a few minutes? I'm like, uh, okay. And he seemed like he was a homeless person. And anyway, I'm sitting there and I'm chatting with them and he's talking gibberish, literally talking gibberish. It makes no sense to me.

And then I try to leave and he goes, well, you know, so and so at your workplace. And I'm like, well, I do know that person. Like, how do you know this was, well, I knew him from a long time ago, you know, you know, and I was like, just so strange. How did you know that guy? And he wouldn't answer my question. And then eventually I just said, you know, man, I'm so sorry, but I have to keep going.

I have to keep, you know, I have to finish the, my mail delivery. I want to get home, but really nice talking to you. I go and deliver the mail and I'm going up the hill and I'm going to go around the corner. Uh, cause there's like a, there's a sharp corner. And [00:57:00] just as I go around the corner, this tall fellow and this kind of shorter lady with dark hair comes around the corner and he walks right up to me and I can't go around the corner because he's, they're both in front of me on the sidewalk.

He goes, excuse me, sir, I got a strange question for you, but, um, I'm not from around here, but we're looking for a good place to go for breakfast. I'm like, breakfast? That is so, what a weird question that was. I'm like, of course I would know the answer to this because I'm, that's like my favorite meal of the day.

I knew all the breakfast spots. I'm like, okay, well, there's so and so down the road, but I didn't get to say this. This is where it gets really kind of weird because I'm like, I'm thinking of, there's a restaurant in Halifax called the Blue Nose 2. And you could go there for like a little kind of home cooked breakfast type of thing, like a little diner, uh, and it's pretty good.

So I'm, I said, well, there's the Blue Nose 2. And he goes, well, I know there's Blue Nose 2 is just down the road. Oh, that's weird. So I'm [00:58:00] thinking, okay, well, there's Smitty's up on, on Spring Garden there, you know? And then he goes, well, I know there's also Smitty's up on Spring Garden. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. I'm like, I thought you said you weren't from around here.

Kara Goodwin: Right. 

Shawn Leonard: He goes, I know where I'm going. I'm like, you do? He goes, yeah. He goes, very nice talking to you. And he walked by me. As he walked by me, the person that I, I asked for help from was literally coming around the corner and going up the hill. And I saw them. I just saw them turn and go that way. And they were with someone else.

They didn't see me. And I froze. I'm like, Oh my God, that's that person. So I turn around immediately. Now those people that I was talking to because I'm thinking this and he even said his name was Sam for God's sakes and I'm like It was so strange because I'm like, there's no way this could have been my guide.

And I turn around because they literally just walked by me. One went one way, one went the other way. And the other person was going [00:59:00] up the hill. If there was like a fraction of a second difference, I would have bumped right into them. So I stop, I freeze, I turn around, I'm going the other way, but there's nobody there.

And I know none of the businesses are open because I'm delivering the mail and you can't get into any places except the coffee shop. So I go down there, go around the corner, I wait a few minutes, and then I go into the coffee shop, and I'm like hanging out there, like waiting for like five minutes, and I start talking to the guy, and I said, listen, and I started thinking about the homeless person sitting out front.

I said, where did that guy go? I said, that's where it all started getting weird, 

Kara Goodwin: right? 

Shawn Leonard: I said, I was here earlier, I delivered the mail, and you know, there was like a homeless man that I was talking to outside, he goes, I've been here all morning, man, there's been nobody outside. I know, I know, there was somebody there, I was talking to him, he kept grabbing my hand, he goes, listen man, I saw you out there talking too, I thought it was pretty weird cause you were talking to yourself.[01:00:00] 

Kara Goodwin: Really? 

Shawn Leonard: He said, I never saw anybody, you were just sitting there waving your hands, talking, and I thought you were a little weird. 

Kara Goodwin: What? 

Shawn Leonard: And then I said, and you didn't see any other people come down, they didn't come in here or anything like that? He's like, there's been nobody here but you. 

Kara Goodwin: Wow. 

Shawn Leonard: And I'm like, oh my god, that, that was, that was Sam, that was my guide, Sam, like from when I was a kid.

That was Victoria. Yeah. That's why she wouldn't look me in the eyes. Every time I look at her, she'd look away. Like, I was like, maybe she knew if I looked in her eyes, I would like, remember her. 

Kara Goodwin: Wow. 

Shawn Leonard: But they were solid people. Like it wasn't like they were like, wispy ghostly people that I was talking to.

These were like solid people. Like the homeless person was a solid person. And you know, the guy working at the counter, the only guy there staring at me talking to this man that doesn't exist. Right. Right. I, you know, everything got weird. It was just like, so cool. That is amazing. It was amazing. It was just amazing.

And I was like, I'm sure these [01:01:00] are my guides. Like I'm like 99. 99%, but you know, there's this 0. 1 part of my brain's going logically going. Maybe they just went somewhere else. 

Kara Goodwin: Yeah. Maybe they sprinted off and they broke a record. 

Shawn Leonard: I don't know what they did, but they just vanished. Literally. There was nowhere to go from being here turning around and there's only downhill to that coffee ship and all the other places are locked and closed because I can't deliver the mail.

Kara Goodwin: Right. 

Shawn Leonard: And uh, and there's nobody there. There's just nobody. 

Kara Goodwin: Yeah. 

Shawn Leonard: And I was just like, Oh my God, that was my guides. I was so excited. I was like, I know there was just my guys were here and I, you know, I did ask them for help and they did come and help me. I just, I never ever thought it would work out like this, but it was a 

Kara Goodwin: huge blessing.

Oh my gosh. So, you know, listeners. This book, Spirit Talker, it's full of stories like, I mean, not, they're not all physical like that, but just [01:02:00] like expansive stories. And these are the things that help us to be able to expand our consciousness so that we can tap into more of the, the non physical reality, the truth beyond the material world.

Thank you for having me. That is so important, um, for, at least in my world, that's such, such an important part of my, my life and what I came here to experience and, uh, you know, much more than just the physical experience. So I highly recommend getting spirit talker and the Oracle cards are just gorgeous and, and I've experienced a lot of synchronicities to using the Oracle cards to, um.

Surprising things like sweetgrass has come up a lot very strongly for me, which I which was surprising for me You know, I'm like that would not be the card that I would be like, oh that doesn't surprise me at all I'm like this card showing up all the time, 

Shawn Leonard: [01:03:00] right? 

Kara Goodwin: So 

Shawn Leonard: What that means your ancestors are really want you to know that they're around you supporting you 

Kara Goodwin: I love that 

Shawn Leonard: your ancestors the people that love you to carry your family from this life and other lifetimes Are deeply connected to you and helping you walk on your journey and they're they're guiding you probably a lot more than you know, 

Kara Goodwin: and 

Shawn Leonard: you know, that's the medicine because I I mean I have a little smudge bowl here and I mean my my sweetgrass isn't as long right now because I I use it and predominantly sweetgrass is a medicine like it's we call it medicine.

It's it's a um, a ceremonial medicine. That we use the smoke with our words, our prayers, our thoughts, and even with sweetgrass when it's braided, there's a ceremony to braiding it, to picking it. When you pick it, the ceremony begins. And then when it's picked, even when it's braided, there's two people that are putting their intentions into the sweetgrass while they braid it.

One person's holding it, and the other person's braiding it. Now the person that's braiding it is saying [01:04:00] prayers. The other person holding it is praying that your prayers are answered. So there's always this kind of two, two or more, I mean, think about this in the Western culture philosophy, when two or more people are gathered together, 

Kara Goodwin: this is like a 

Shawn Leonard: principle that we embodied without that understanding of Western culture and Christianity.

But it's something that it was already part of our spiritual practice. And then when people use it and they're putting their words, their, their prayers, you know, that it's releasing the prayers that were intentionally put into when we braided it. And it's releasing your prayers too. So it's like, it's even more than two.

So it amplifies your, your, that your ceremony, your words, et cetera. So when, uh, and, and the connection to the braid is it's stronger because it's put together because it's braided, but also, um, you're speaking to your set, your ancestors, you're speaking to your loved ones, the ancestors from the many lifetimes that you've lived.

And when you say your words that your [01:05:00] prayers, you know, you're releasing that smoke and that smoke is kind of going to dissipate into the ether, let's say, or the spirit world. But then it's like it's carrying the musical notes, because I think I probably put musical notes in relation to when you see smug smudge in the cards, right?

I couldn't depict any other way, because again, your music that's inside of you is coming out. It's your prayers, your words, your ceremony. So when you speak those words into your sweet grasses, it burns. And it goes up into the ether of the spirit world. It's like, it's carrying it everywhere around you.

It's carrying it to, to, to the spirit world and every space that surrounds you. And, um, but I really feel because you're drawn to, I actually feel that you, have lived an indigenous life before. Like I feel in a past life, you were deeply connected to indigenous people. I feel like that you in your heart, your spirit, this kind of this knowing that you have that you were these people once before.

And that's why it resonated with you so [01:06:00] strongly when you were reading these when you were young, 

Kara Goodwin: because 

Shawn Leonard: you were remembering who you were, that you had lived a life like this before. And I think that that's why these ceremonies speak to you as strong as they do. And I think the ancestors from that lifetime, the ancestors from this lifetime, you know, are trying to get your attention through that, that card.

Kara Goodwin: I love that. And I actually had a, um, a meditative experience where I started hearing. And I was even like kind of swaying to it and then I started seeing these feet and they had and they were like moccasins. They had fringe on the back and they were stomping. And then as I like could see more, I saw this like adolescent.

male with long hair dancing and dancing. And I, I felt like, I mean, it was, it was timeless. So I wasn't even surprised when I saw it. But then when I came out of meditation, I was like, what was that? [01:07:00] That was amazing. 

Shawn Leonard: Spiritual guides. And he says you can call him Jonathan if you want. 

Kara Goodwin: Really? Wow. If 

Shawn Leonard: you choose, you can call him Jonathan.

I don't, I think that would be a name easier other than the language that he said. But I think he, you know, I think he would be called something like, like two little feet actually or something like this. 

Kara Goodwin: Actually, I've gotten a TK with like a name. It's like a TK. Um, and that could be just a misunderstanding, but I'm like, it's, it 

Shawn Leonard: could be connected to the language of like his name, 

Kara Goodwin: but I would 

Shawn Leonard: say that's why he's telling me you can just call him Jonathan.

If you want. 

Kara Goodwin: Wow. And it's, and you said two feet, which is the first thing I saw, 

Shawn Leonard: right? Cause he's showing me two little feet or something like this. I think it is. It's connected to his name in some way. And he was trying to give you an understanding of who he was and he was showing you the dancing feet and there may be a connection to his name through, uh, through his culture that would say that.

Kara Goodwin: Wow. And 

Shawn Leonard: he was trying to kind of inform you of who he was. And I think he is one of your [01:08:00] spiritual guides. 

Kara Goodwin: Wow. Well, thank you for that. 

Shawn Leonard: Yeah. 

Kara Goodwin: I've seen other times a different, another dancing ceremony. I don't know if this resonates with you, but somebody wearing a headdress and as they're looking forward, it's going like this and it's almost like a yin yang almost symbol, but it's in it.

It's like almost hypnotizing. Like I'm seeing it in my mind's eye, but it, and it's like somebody with their head down and they're going like this and. It's like really interesting to see it, like what they might be invoking, you know, but you're kind of seeing it from a different perspective and I'm like, oh, I could see how spirits are drawn to these ceremonies.

I mean, it's attractive. They are. They are 

Shawn Leonard: drawn. I mean, they're in the spirit world. They're supporting you. Your ancestors will support you. I remember on, on Tancook Island when I was there, not Tancook, um, McNabs Island when I was out there and I was recording, like connecting to that same spirit that I connected to Howard [01:09:00] Carter.

At one point I recorded, uh, a drum. There were people drumming in ceremony. There were the community of Indigenous people were there and I recorded like a ceremony going on around us where they were helping me to help the person move on. 

Kara Goodwin: Wow. 

Shawn Leonard: So, you know, I, so I, I got like almost like indigenous chanting and drumming in the background of the recording.

And it's not that they're earthbound spirits. These are spirits from a higher realm that are supporting me and helping me to help the people that maybe need a little nudge to move on. 

Kara Goodwin: That's amazing. Yeah. What, what a blessed life you have. Well, we all do. 

Shawn Leonard: We all do. That's the thing. I'm not like, and I'm not, I don't want anybody to think I'm special because I'm not, I'm as equally connected as everyone within the world.

I just celebrate it and I practice it. 

Kara Goodwin: Right. 

Shawn Leonard: I practice my, my spirituality. I practice my culture and connection to spirit. [01:10:00] And it's because I'm so deeply, uh, connected to it. It just becomes very natural for me. And I don't question, I don't question like thinking, okay, this must be some strange people hidden in the woods, like drumming and chanting.

There's nobody lives on this island for God's sake. There's nobody here. It's, it's really something going on and, and I know spirit's working with us all. And I think the more you become, uh, aware of that connection that you have, and that's why I wrote the book. That's why I'm writing the cards, because they're helping you, uh, understand, you know, different principles and different philosophies and thinkings.

And so that you can kind of like understand these for yourself and look at the spirit world different, look at your own life in a little bit different way. And then it becomes something natural for you too. And then you can, you know, have that as a practice for yourself, your own ceremony, whatever that is, you know, it's not just, you have to do an indigenous ceremony.

It's your ceremony that you make that you do where you connect and you interact and you do it from a good [01:11:00] and high level energy space. It's there for all of us. Well, that's 

Kara Goodwin: what I, I, it's so valuable though, that you are in this specific position where you're public facing and you've got all of these mysterious things coming through, but you're in a position to share it because again, that bridge, you're like this gateway to help people because the more we do experience the mystery that you're experiencing, it does help to open it up to, so that we don't question when we experience it.

And it's this. portal, you know, which is so powerful. You 

Shawn Leonard: become the channel, you become a connected person yourself, and you can shift the people that are around you. And then you're, we're doing this now through a live zoom format type thing. But you know what, there's, there's, you could do this, like, just maybe talking to somebody at the grocery store for a second too.

Right. A friend that needs some advice, you know, and just utilize your intuition and trusting those [01:12:00] abilities that are there. You know, and if, once you understand how they work and you invite, and you're open to it, then, uh, it'll flow. And when you trust, and like I say, when spirit does start communicating to you, it may seem like somebody just turned the tap on for a second and it's just like, okay, we've got one drip here, but there's nothing else.

But if you, if you give up at that, that's all it will be. But if you keep trying, then next time it might be two or three drips that come through. And then next time you meet somebody, it might be going drip, drip, the drum, you know, that heartbeat of mother earth. That just comes through it just starts to flow and you're like, oh, okay I got this and then you're in the zone right and then then eventually kind of Peters off, right?

But it will come and go there's ebbs and flow of tides within the world It's not like meant to just flow constantly within your life We still have to stay grounded within the world because we're meant to be here But again, there's moments in different people and situations you meet through life that you're meant to be in that zone You're meant to be [01:13:00] inspired or in spirit And then let that drumbeat flow through you, your sacred drum within your heart, right?

Because your heart is a drumbeat. You know, dum dum, dum dum. Which is deeply connected to Mother Earth. And the ebbs and tides of flow of, uh, of the Earth. You know, and spirit itself. So don't, don't negate your connection and, you know, and be open to it. I mean, I think so many people have so many like limiting beliefs of thinking that I can't, or I, you know, this is like for special people or whatever, you know, you are the special person.

You just have to see yourself as that person that is equal to everyone else, and, and you know, don't put yourself above anyone ever, but at least on an equal playing ground that we're all in the same space and place, we all showed up in this world to come here to kind of learn who we are eventually, and hopefully shift and change the world around us.

And it may take many lifetimes for many people. But maybe it only takes you a few [01:14:00] to achieve this kind of what you would say, potential enlightenment, 

Kara Goodwin: you 

Shawn Leonard: know, and really enlightenment means just discovering the light within yourself. 

Kara Goodwin: Right. That's so beautiful. And others. 

Shawn Leonard: Because if you can see it in yourself and see it in others, that's true enlightenment.

Kara Goodwin: That's amazing. Thank you so much. Please tell people, I know you've got some live events coming up. How can people connect with your work, get your book, get your Oracle cards and see you live? 

Shawn Leonard: Right, if you go to my website, Sean Leonard. com, S H A W N, hyphen, which is the middle line, and Leonard, L E O N E R D dot com, you can go there and you can find all of my, uh, links to my social media.

My website will have my events all listed coming up, I'm actually starting one here locally on the 23rd, and then I'm flying to Vancouver, Canada. To do one there and then out on Nanaimo on the Vancouver Island and coming all the way East. Uh, and I think in August I will be in the mega center in New York.

So, uh, if you're, if [01:15:00] you're in around that area and want to check me out, please come see me there. 

Kara Goodwin: Beautiful. Well, thank you so much. This has just filled my heart. I've loved every second. Thank you, Sean. It's really been an honor to have you today. 

Shawn Leonard: Well, I appreciate you and thank you for having people like myself and thank you for sharing your light and being willing to get out there and be the person that you are and create a space so that we can all kind of work together, kind of to enlighten the world in a little bit, in a more greater way, let's say, because I think that's what we're all doing here.

I mean, even though we're not, we don't know each other in firsthand ways. We're all kind of like helping each other out to, uh, you know, shift the world in the way we think the way that we connect and, and the way that we're, we're going to, you know, and this will be out there forever, you know, 

Kara Goodwin: whether you 

Shawn Leonard: write a book or you do a podcast, I mean, you're sharing, you know, what you have inside you to kind of like shift and change the world.

So if there's something, not just you, uh, but everybody in the world, there's something inside you that wants [01:16:00] to express itself to do it. Do it with abundance and do it with, like, so much love in your heart because you're only here for a very limited time and you will return the spirit. 

Kara Goodwin: Right. When you 

Shawn Leonard: return the spirit and you look back at your life, do you feel like you did everything you felt like you had to while you were here?

Because that's why we have reincarnation because when we look back and reflect is where could have I done better? Where could have it done greater? But what could I've given more and I've showed up here to kind of give as much as I can for the time that I Have I'm 52 now. I'm hoping I'll be around for another 30 some years, but you never know, right?

Kara Goodwin: Right? 

Shawn Leonard: But until that time I'm gonna give everything that I can between now and then 

Kara Goodwin: well, beautiful. Thank you so much 

Shawn Leonard: Well, thank you. Thank you

Kara Goodwin: Thank you for listening to this episode of Soul Elevation. Please take a moment to think about someone in your life who might be uplifted or have their curiosity sparked by this content and send it on to them. [01:17:00] Let's keep sharing high frequency, empowering content to reinforce the highest potential for humanity.

I also invite you to subscribe to this content. Thank you for your support and I'll see you for the next episode of Soul Elevation.