Hidden Wisdom

Latest Episodes:

Hormone Health, Emotional Healing & Spiritual Growth, with Dr. Mike Fortunato Oct 13, 2026

Show notes

In this episode, Meghan and Mike explore hormone imbalance, fatigue, brain fog, low libido, menopause, mind-body-spirit connection, and PCOS—and why feeling physically better was only the beginning of his healing journey.

Dr. Mike shares his personal story of medical burnout, emotional disconnection, and the turning point that led him toward vulnerability, accountability, and a deeper relationship with God. Together, we discuss the body as part of spiritual life, masculine and feminine balance, and how inner work changed the way he showed up as a husband, father, and physician.

In this episode:

Hormone health and the connection between body, mind, emotions, and spirit
Dr. Mike’s concerns about endocrine-disrupting chemicals
His approach to women’s hormone health and bioidentical hormone therapy
Why physical improvement did not resolve his unaddressed emotional pain
Vulnerability, healthy masculinity, and presence beyond performance
Journaling, meditation, and asking for spiritual guidance
Personal accountability and growth within marriage

Explore Dr. Mike’s work: https://www.optimizemd.health/

This episode shares the guest’s experiences and perspectives for educational discussion. It does not provide individualized medical advice.

Timestamps

00:00 Hormones, inflammation, and insulin resistance
00:36 Introduction to Dr. Mike Fortunato and his work
01:46 Dr. Mike’s path from bartending to medical school
03:53 Burnout, depression, and disillusionment in medicine
04:57 Discovering hormone optimization through his own health struggles
05:59 Why physical healing can bring deeper emotional patterns to the surface
07:32 Building a practice focused on hormone care and women’s health
09:43 The connection between body, mind, heart, and spirit
10:20 Environmental endocrine disruptors and hormonal health
13:44 How hormone imbalance affected Dr. Mike’s energy, motivation, and libido
16:54 The endocrine system as the body’s “conductor”
17:56 Hormone treatment for women, menopause, and medical misconceptions
20:35 PCOS, insulin resistance, and women’s hormonal symptoms
23:17 Masculine and feminine energy through a hormonal lens
25:03 Motivation, healing, and choosing to change
27:17 Detoxification, toxic load, and rebuilding the body’s foundation
30:43 Looking inward: self-healing, meditation, and personal responsibility
33:21 Emotional healing after restoring physical health
33:52 Dr. Mike’s collapse, anger, and turning point
38:46 Rock bottom, honesty, and rebuilding a life
41:28 Vulnerability, masculinity, and emotional strength
48:17 Finding peace, faith, and a healthier marriage
51:30 Healing relationships through individual accountability
53:05 How to work with Dr. Mike
54:43 Closing reflections and gratitude

Guest Bio

Dr. Mike Fortunato is a board-certified physician, hormone optimization specialist, and founder of OptimizeMD. Trained in anesthesiology, he brings his personal experience with burnout, physical symptoms, and emotional healing to conversations about biology, identity, relationships, and spiritual well-being. His work with men and women centers on hormone health while making room for deeper discussions about how people feel and show up in their lives.

Reclaim your spiritual authority, practice discernment, and develop your spiritual gifts at the Sacred Knowing Workshop on November 13th in Huntsville UT.

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Rethinking Faith: The Hidden Connection Between Hermetic Law, Alchemy and Manifestation Oct 06, 2026

Show notes

Faith in Christ, spiritual alchemy, manifestation, and Hermetic principles come together in this exploration of spiritual transformation through LDS scripture. In this episode of Hidden Wisdom, Meghan Farner rethinks what faith means and how it becomes a lived, embodied relationship with truth.

Moving beyond faith as belief alone, Meghan invites us to consider how eternal truth becomes embodied in our emotions, choices, relationships, and everyday lives. Through the spiritual concepts of vibration, frequency, and resonance, she examines the distance between what is true and our present capacity to receive and live that truth.

This conversation explores why spiritual awakening can bring grief, fear, shame, and uncertainty to the surface—and why experiencing difficult emotions does not mean you have failed spiritually. Drawing on spiritual alchemy and the Sacred Spiral, Meghan traces four stages of growth: awakening, transformation, embodiment, and ascension.

She also considers the connection between faith and manifestation, the limitations of positive thinking, and a fresh interpretation of “faith without works is dead.” Through Christ’s pattern of descent, integration, and rebirth, this episode invites you to practice emotional honesty, trust the hidden seasons of spiritual growth, and allow faith to transform how you live, love, and connect with the Divine.

In this episode, we explore:

Faith as movement toward greater alignment with truth.
Vibration, frequency, and resonance as lenses for spiritual growth.
The difference between feeling difficult emotions and being governed by them.
Spiritual alchemy and the transformation of shame, fear, and control.
Why manifestation involves more than positive thinking.
A fresh interpretation of “faith without works is dead.”
Christ’s pattern of descent, integration, rebirth, and ascension.

Timestamps

00:00 — Faith produces evidence
00:30 — Welcome and episode overview
02:26 — What is faith?
04:10 — Truth, light, and intelligence
06:59 — Vibration, frequency, and faith
10:52 — Your current state of being
12:01 — Emotional states and the role of courage
15:05 — Resonance and coming into alignment with truth
17:17 — Lower emotions: acute feelings vs. chronic patterns
20:07 — Descent, healing, and repentance
25:25 — Alchemy as transformation of the soul
30:01 — Turning fear, shame, grief, and control into truth
33:47 — Scripture and the process of spiritual transformation
35:00 — The sacred spiral: awakening, transformation, gestation, rebirth
38:49 — Manifestation, creation, and the limits of positive thinking
42:02 — “Faith without works is dead”
43:49 — Christ’s pattern of descent, resurrection, and ascension
47:11 — Growing grace for grace
48:22 — Final definition of faith and closing reflections
50:38 — Wrap-up and invitation to respond

How does this understanding of faith resonate with you? Share your questions and reflections in the comments, and subscribe to Hidden Wisdom for more conversations about Christian mysticism, LDS spirituality, and embodied transformation.

Join Meghan’s email list through the website linked in the show notes to receive upcoming announcements.

Reclaim your spiritual authority, practice discernment, and develop your spiritual gifts at the Sacred Knowing Workshop on November 13th in Huntsville UT.

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New Age, Ayahuasca, and the LDS Temple: A Miraculous Encounter with Christ, with Larkin Swain Sep 29, 2026

Show notes

Larkin Swain left the LDS Church as a teenager and spent years searching for healing, spirituality, and truth. Her journey took her through yoga, meditation, energy work, plant medicine, and eventually ayahuasca—until an unexpected encounter with Jesus Christ changed the direction of her life.

In this episode of Hidden Wisdom, Meghan Farner sits down with Larkin to explore her remarkable spiritual journey from Utah to Bali and Thailand, through spiritual seeking and a profound conversion to Christ, and eventually back to the LDS faith and the temple.

Larkin shares the dark ayahuasca experience in which she saw Christ on the cross and heard the words, “It is finished.” She describes the prayer that followed months later, the unmistakable peace she experienced the next morning, and why she ultimately began reading the Bible, rediscovered the Book of Mormon, returned to church, and received her temple endowment.

But her story doesn’t end with returning to religion. Meghan and Larkin explore Christian contemplation, embodiment, mysticism, symbolism, ritual, Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother, and what it means to develop a deeply personal relationship with God while participating in a faith tradition.

They also discuss Larkin’s work as host of Sanctuary, a Faith Matters podcast exploring the LDS temple, sacred ritual, symbolism, transformation, and the mystical dimensions of discipleship.

This conversation is for anyone navigating faith transition, spiritual seeking, religious reconstruction, Christian mysticism, LDS temple worship, or the desire to experience God beyond intellectual belief.

Larkin Swain is a seeker of heaven and truth, contemplative poet, herbalist, and lifelong student of the healing arts. Raised in Utah County in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she stepped away from the faith at 15 and spent years exploring spirituality and healing practices. While living in Thailand, she experienced a transformative conversion to Jesus Christ that eventually led her back to the LDS faith with a renewed perspective on its doctrine, temple worship, symbolism, and ritual. She is the host of Sanctuary, a Faith Matters podcast exploring the temple, sacred ritual, and spiritual transformation.

Reclaim your spiritual authority, practice discernment, and develop your spiritual gifts at the Sacred Knowing Workshop on November 13th in Huntsville UT.

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How to Hear God Through Your Body: Embodiment, Intuition & Self-Trust, with Christina Beatty Sep 22, 2026

Show notes

What if your nervous system is actually a bridge to God? In this episode of Hidden Wisdom, spiritual embodiment coach Christina Beatty explores how embodiment, nervous system regulation, somatic healing, intuition, and self-trust can deepen our connection with God and help us access the wisdom already within us.

Christina shares her personal journey from postpartum depression and a profound moment of surrender to discovering a spirituality rooted in the body rather than something continually sought outside herself. She and the host explore what it actually means to be embodied, why spiritual growth requires us to feel rather than simply intellectualize our emotions, and how learning to discern the body's signals can transform our relationship with ourselves and the divine.

They also dive into the often-overlooked space between death and rebirth: the void, or gestation period, where transformation is integrated before something new can emerge. Christina explains why nervous system regulation doesn't mean remaining calm all the time, how resistance can actually reveal where healing is needed, and why curiosity, presence, prayer, and surrender are powerful embodiment practices.

In this episode, you'll discover how to build greater self-trust, work with resistance instead of bypassing it, reconnect with your intuition, create safety within your nervous system, and approach spiritual awakening as something you embody—not something you escape into.

If you've been navigating spiritual awakening, nervous system healing, a season of transformation, or a desire for a deeper connection with God, this conversation offers a grounded invitation to stop searching outside yourself and begin listening within.

00:00 — What embodiment looks like in everyday life
00:50 — Welcome and introduction to Christina Beattie
01:48 — Christina’s spiritual journey and surrender
05:25 — The nervous system as a bridge to God
07:42 — Self-trust, religion, and discernment
11:32 — Why reconnecting with the body matters
15:35 — Defining embodiment
17:50 — Simple ways to practice presence
19:09 — Regulation, dysregulation, and listening to the body
21:56 — Spiritual experiences through embodied awareness
29:25 — Death, rebirth, and the gestation phase
32:43 — The void, surrender, and co-creation
36:50 — Embodiment during seasons of change
37:58 — Practical tools: curiosity, resistance, and creating space
41:32 — Getting started with embodiment
47:42 — Prayer as an embodiment practice
48:54 — What surrender reveals about success and transformation
53:22 — Where to find Christina and her work

Christina Beatty is a spiritual embodiment coach who guides women home to themselves by helping them reconnect with their bodies, deepen their intuition, build self-trust, and cultivate a more intimate relationship with God. Her work blends nervous system practices, somatic healing, spirituality, and embodiment. Christina also offers one-to-one coaching and readings and hosts The Embodied Truth Podcast. She shares her work on Instagram and offers the Empowered Awakening program. Instagram: @Christina.soulempowered

Reclaim your spiritual authority, practice discernment, and develop your spiritual gifts at the Sacred Knowing Workshop on November 13th in Huntsville UT.

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Hearing the Spirit: Christian Mediumship, Ancestors & Spiritual Discernment, with Jennifer Bessire Sep 15, 2026

Show notes

If you’re exploring Christian mysticism, mediumship, spiritual gifts, hearing God, spiritual discernment, ancestral healing, Christ-centered spirituality, or the unseen world, this conversation offers a fascinating perspective on developing those gifts while remaining rooted in Christ.
Can Christians be mediums—and can communicating with spirits coexist with faith in Jesus Christ? Christian medium, author, healer, and PhD Jen Basir joins Meghan Farner to explore Christian mediumship, spiritual discernment, hearing the Spirit, ancestors, generational healing, and spiritual gifts.
Jen’s journey into the unseen began unexpectedly. After leaving her career teaching physical therapy, she began studying energy healing through the Emotion Code and Body Code. Then, while practicing muscle testing, a female spirit appeared beside her with a message that changed everything: the point wasn’t getting the muscle testing right—it was learning to listen to the Spirit.
In this conversation, Jen shares how she began seeing spirits and communicating with ancestors, why she believes God eventually called her to offer mediumship sessions, and how she discerns between spiritual influences. Meghan and Jen explore what happens after death, whether ancestors can continue to heal and progress, ministering angels and spiritual guides, generational trauma, communicating with plants and the earth, and the importance of agency in spiritual development.
They also explore a deeper question: How do we develop spiritual gifts without allowing fear—or even the gifts themselves—to distract us from God?

00:00 Opening quote: learning to listen to the spirit
00:07 Show introduction
01:16 Introducing Jen Besire
01:47 Jen’s path to faith, marriage, and a career change
05:00 First experience seeing a spirit
06:33 From energy healing to mediumship
08:13 Different ways of receiving spiritual guidance
10:28 Physical sensations, empathy, and boundaries
12:09 Ancestors, healing, and generational patterns
15:23 Progression after death and meeting Jesus
17:39 Spirit guides and Jen’s guide, Theodore
19:17 How Jen’s mediumship sessions work
20:25 Staying clear and grounded in spiritual work
22:32 An ancestor’s transformation after death
25:12 Discernment and connecting with spirits without fear
28:01 Communicating with plants, trees, and the earth
30:12 Agency, abundance, and asking bigger
32:29 Releasing fear and learning to trust
35:18 Giving, generosity, and the flow of money
37:58 A message for the audience: blessing the places around us
40:36 Words, water, food, and intentional blessing
44:22 Where to find Jen and her work
45:25 Closing reflections and outro

About Jen Basir
Jen Basir is a PhD, Christian medium, author, and healer who worked and taught as a physical therapist for 23 years before feeling called by God to a different path in 2014. Her work focuses on helping clients come into Christ, heal generational trauma, develop spiritual understanding, and create lives of greater freedom. Her practice incorporates energy healing, mediumship, spiritual transformation, and the intuitive gifts she has developed through her own healing and faith journey.
Website: https://drjenbessire.com/
Community: https://drjenbessire.com//group
Podcast/YouTube: Spirit Stories: Conversations with the Unseen

Reclaim your spiritual authority, practice discernment, and develop your spiritual gifts at the Sacred Knowing Workshop on November 13th in Huntsville UT.

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Beyond Religious Shame: Reclaiming God, the True Self & Spiritual Authority, with Valerie Hamaker Sep 08, 2026

Show notes

If you are navigating Mormon faith transition, LDS faith crisis, religious trauma, mixed-faith relationships, faith expansion, spiritual awakening, or healing after high-demand religion, this conversation offers a compassionate framework for growing without needing to erase where you came from.

What happens when a Mormon faith crisis becomes an invitation to spiritual growth rather than the end of faith? Licensed therapist and Latter Day Struggles host Valerie Hamaker joins Meghan Farner to explore faith expansion, religious trauma, spiritual authority, the true self, patriarchy, and how to build a deeper relationship with God after inherited beliefs begin to change.

Valerie shares her journey from deeply committed Latter-day Saint life—including serving a mission, graduating from BYU, temple marriage, Relief Society leadership, and working as an LDS Church preferred mental health provider—to eventually resigning from the Church after being called to a disciplinary council.

Rather than framing faith transition as simple deconstruction, Valerie and Meghan explore a model of transcendence and inclusion: allowing beliefs and identities that no longer serve us to change while honoring the experiences, wisdom, and spiritual foundations that helped us grow.

They discuss why a faith crisis can feel like death, the movement from externally sourced authority toward inner spiritual discernment, and the importance of rediscovering the true divine self beneath inherited identities, shame, perfectionism, and fear.

The conversation also examines transactional images of God, masculine and feminine expressions of divinity, developmental stages of faith, healthy versus dominator hierarchies, religious shame, mysticism, and the possibility of finding a more direct experience of the divine.

Timestamps

00:00 - Spiritual Autonomy After Faith Change
00:39 - Hidden Wisdom: Faith Renovation and Spiritual Discernment
01:20 - Meet Valerie Hamaker, Therapist and Faith Expansion Coach
02:24 - From Devout Mormon Life to Counseling and Healing Work
05:44 - Starting the Latter-day Struggles Podcast
07:36 - Healing, Integration, and Personal Spiritual Authority
09:16 - Leaving the LDS Church and Resisting Religious Control
13:21 - Staying Connected to Mormon Community After Resignation
14:38 - Faith Expansion Through Transcendence and Inclusion
18:14 - Discernment, the True Self, and Inner Spiritual Trust
22:11 - Divine Wholeness, Masculine and Feminine Spirituality
25:07 - Reframing Atonement, Shame, and Healing
27:15 - Faith Crisis as Death, Rebirth, and Personal Growth
32:21 - Healing Harmful God Images and Transactional Theology
37:07 - Patriarchy, Hierarchy, and Compassionate Spiritual Development
41:55 - Mysticism, Symbolism, and Direct Experience of the Divine
45:18 - Finding Spiritual Possibility Beyond Traditional Mormonism
48:01 - There Is More: Hope for Faith Expansion
49:02 - Valerie Hamaker’s Faith Healing Groups and Resources
50:13 - Hidden Wisdom Closing Invitation

Valerie Hamaker is a licensed therapist and certified coach specializing in faith expansion, mixed-faith relationships, and recovery from high-demand religion. She is the creator and host of the Latter Day Struggles podcast, where she combines clinical expertise with lived experience to help people navigate the psychological, relational, and spiritual challenges that accompany changing belief systems. Valerie also offers coaching, online courses, live events, faith-expansion groups, and other resources for individuals and couples seeking support beyond traditional religious frameworks.

Reclaim your spiritual authority, practice discernment, and develop your spiritual gifts at the Sacred Knowing Workshop on November 13th in Huntsville UT.

Learn more at: https://meghanfarner.com

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Divine Feminine and Masculine: The Missing Key to the LDS Gospel? Sep 01, 2026

Show notes

What do divine feminine and masculine energy have to do with Jesus Christ, the gospel, and becoming one? In this deep dive, Meghan Farner explores: What is divine feminine energy? What is healthy divine masculine energy? And how can balancing masculine and feminine transform our understanding of repentance, healing, and spiritual growth?

Drawing from Restoration scripture, ancient wisdom traditions, temple symbolism, and Christian mysticism, Meghan explores the law of polarity (or opposition) and the ancient “law of gender”—which she reframes as the law of masculine and feminine, or the law of creation.

Rather than treating masculine and feminine as simple opposites—or equating feminine with women and masculine with men—Meghan proposes that each person carries both. The feminine represents creativity, intuition, receptivity, transformation, divine connection, and the full spectrum of possibility. The masculine brings orientation, boundaries, stability, intentionality, protection, and execution.

What happens when these energies become wounded or distorted? And what might change when the divine feminine and masculine are healed and brought into inner union?

This episode connects these ideas to the natural man and true divine self, repentance and metanoia, Jesus Christ as an embodiment of masculine and feminine wholeness, LDS temple symbolism, becoming Zion, and the Gospel of Thomas teaching to “make the two one.”

Could becoming one in Christ begin with reconciling what has been divided within ourselves?

00:00 - Hidden Wisdom Welcome and Divine Masculine & Feminine Introduction
04:20 - Is Divine Feminine and Masculine the Key to Living the Gospel?
05:58 - Hermetic Laws: Polarity, Gender, and Spiritual Growth
06:31 - The Law of Opposition: Why Opposites Create Wholeness
08:06 - The Law of Creation: Masculine and Feminine Beyond Polarity
10:16 - Masculine and Feminine Energies in Every Person
13:37 - Feminine Energy: Intuition, Creativity, Vision, and Transformation
15:43 - Masculine Energy: Boundaries, Execution, Stability, and Safety
18:53 - Healthy and Unhealthy Feminine Energy: Responsiveness vs. Reactivity
22:20 - Healthy and Unhealthy Masculine Energy: Orientation vs. Control
25:29 - Full Spectrum Feminine Energy and Grounded Masculine Focus
28:54 - Healing the Natural Man Through Inner Masculine and Feminine Balance
30:11 - Healthy Feminine Energy: Abundance, Beauty, Trust, and Rebirth
33:12 - Healthy Masculine Energy: Purpose, Integrity, and Spiritual Direction
35:45 - The Natural Man and the True Divine Self
38:32 - Jesus Christ as the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine Archetype
40:49 - Inner Marriage, Oneness in Christ, and Becoming Zion
42:44 - Temple Symbolism and the Union of Masculine and Feminine
43:24 - Gospel of Thomas, Metanoia, and the Path to Wholeness
46:57 - Becoming Sons and Daughters of God: Closing Reflection

#DivineFeminine #DivineMasculine #MasculineAndFeminine #JesusChrist #ChristianMysticism #LDS #Restoration #LDSTheology #TempleSymbolism #SpiritualAwakening #SpiritualGrowth #DivineFeminineEnergy #MasculineEnergy #FeminineEnergy #Metanoia #GospelOfThomas #ChristianSpirituality #BecomingOne #HiddenWisdom

Reclaim your spiritual authority, practice discernment, and develop your spiritual gifts at the Sacred Knowing Workshop on November 13th in Huntsville UT.

Learn more at: https://meghanfarner.com

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The Heavenly Mother Wound: How Cultural Trends Expose Spiritual Motherlessness, with Jocelyn Pedersen Aug 25, 2026

Show notes

What happens when a culture loses its relationship with the Divine Mother? Meghan Farner and Jocelyn Pedersen explore the Heavenly Mother wound—and how spiritual motherlessness may be showing up in our relationships, religions, and cultural conflicts.

Rather than reducing today’s tensions between men and women to feminism versus patriarchy, Meghan and Jocelyn ask what might be underneath them. What happens when the feminine is feared, diminished, or disconnected from divinity? And how might reclaiming Heavenly Mother change the way we understand both feminine and masculine spiritual identity?

Together they explore the loss of the Divine Feminine, the deeper meaning of spiritual motherhood, masculine surrender and vulnerability, and Christ as a pattern of integration rather than hierarchy. They also consider creation and gestation as sacred symbols, feminine spiritual authority, women as mirrors and initiators, and the role of both masculine and feminine in the journey toward wholeness.

This conversation invites us beyond the battle between masculine and feminine and toward something deeper: the restoration and integration of both.

00:00 - The Divine Feminine and Our Cultural Moment
04:22 - Why Are We Seeing a Backlash Against Women?
09:17 - When Feminism and Patriarchy Both Miss the Point
14:37 - The Heavenly Mother Wound: A Motherless Culture
21:01 - Why the Feminine Is Feared
23:22 - Who Is the Divine Mother?
30:20 - Discovering Heavenly Mother
32:33 - The Divine Feminine in Christ
38:10 - Creation, Gestation, and the Feminine Pattern
44:03 - Spiritual Rebirth and Returning to the Mother
48:32 - Feminine Authority, Anointing, and Christ
52:29 - Mary Magdalene and the Hidden Feminine
56:20 - Masculine Healing: Surrendering the False Self
62:12 - Shame, Vulnerability, and Becoming Whole
64:19 - Women as Mirrors and Spiritual Initiators
68:02 - Reclaiming the Feminine Without Creating Division

Reclaiming the Woman in the Wilderness Retreat - September 11-12 - Lehi, UT

Reclaim your spiritual authority, practice discernment, and develop your spiritual gifts at the Sacred Knowing Workshop on November 13th in Huntsville UT.

Learn more at: https://meghanfarner.com

Connect with us:
• Instagram: @hiddenwisdompod
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Jesus the Stoic Sage: Faith, Wisdom, and the Inner Life, with Rob Nielsen Aug 18, 2026

Show notes

Meghan Farner introduces Rob Nielsen, an educator and writer whose book, Jesus the Stoic Sage, explores the overlap between Stoic philosophy and the teachings of Jesus.
This episode asks a practical question: how do we tell the difference between inherited assumptions and actual truth, and how can that clarity help us grow spiritually without collapsing our sense of faith or self?
We discuss philosophy as a wisdom tradition, the Stoic view of virtue, conscience, desire, and the body, and how Jesus’ teachings often emphasize inner transformation over outward performance. The conversation keeps returning to one central idea: embodied wisdom is not just something you believe, but something you practice.
Key topics:
In this episode, Rob Nielsen shares why he began studying Koine Greek and Latin to get closer to original texts and strip away translation baggage.
Philosophy as love of wisdom - not abstract arguing, but a tradition aimed at helping people live well and build better communities.
Stoicism and religion - the overlap is less about labels and more about what is ultimately good, true, and worthy of trust.
Symbols and teaching tools - both philosophy and scripture use images, stories, and metaphors to teach truths people may not yet be ready to receive directly.
The soul, psyche, and will - the conversation reframes the inner life as the part of us that perceives, chooses, and develops beyond the body.
Stoic emotional intelligence - Stoicism is not about suppressing feelings, but about understanding impressions, desires, aversions, and responses.
Repentance as metanoia - repentance is presented as a change in thinking, not just a behavior adjustment.
The importance of virtue - the Stoic virtues of wisdom, justice, courage, and self-control are contrasted with living as a slave to impulses or external approval.
Authority versus truth - Rob and Meghan unpack the limits of appealing to authority alone, including the Euthyphro dilemma.
Jesus as teacher of transformation - the focus is on actions, motives, and embodiment, not just belief or religious affiliation.
The body as ethically indifferent - the body is valuable as an instrument, but not inherently good or bad in Stoic terms.
Pure motives and embodied alignment - the widow’s mite, the fig tree, and other examples are used to show that what matters is not appearance, but fruit.
Timestamps:
(00:00) Hidden Wisdom’s mission and today’s focus on faith renovation
(00:58) Introducing Rob Nielsen and his book, Jesus the Stoic Sage
(02:14) How Koine Greek, Latin, and curiosity led Rob to comparative philosophy
(04:04) What philosophy really means as a love of wisdom
(06:53) Philosophy, religion, and the search for ultimate concerns
(09:36) Symbols, myth, and universal teaching patterns
(13:41) Why this conversation matters for spiritual seekers
(14:38) Psyche, soul, will, and the inner self
(17:23) What the Stoics actually meant by “stoic”
(20:13) Thoughts, feelings, impressions, and emotional response
(23:04) Repentance, healing, and subconscious triggers
(25:27) Metanoia as a change in the way you think
(28:00) Reason, conscience, and the “two or three witnesses” idea
(30:24) Desire, aversion, and what blocks perception of truth
(33:10) Virtue, excellence, and why the highest good matters
(35:06) Socrates, Euthyphro, and the limits of authority
(39:06) Why poking assumptions makes people uncomfortable
(41:01) The journey inward and the temple as the self
(43:09) The Stoic view of the body as ethically indifferent
(47:00) Hypocrisy, masks, and the importance of matching words with action
(48:54) Fruit, alignment, and what reveals what is truly good
(50:10) “Actions outshine words” and the sacramental pattern of embodiment
(52:23) Questioning inherited images of God through the lens of fruit
(54:16) Whether Jesus may have known Stoic ideas
(56:37) Tradition as inherited material that must be tested
(58:33) Why Jesus was not teaching passive obedience
(61:09) Trial, error, and experimenting upon truth
(62:28) The Stoic discipline of assent
(64:22) Desire, organization, and misplacing what is actually good
(65:17) The widow’s mite and pure motives
(66:45) What Rob gained from reading Jesus through Stoicism
(69:13) Meghan’s closing reflection on the book as an initiation to practice
(70:48) Closing invitation to the Hidden Wisdom app and community support

Reclaim your spiritual authority, practice discernment, and develop your spiritual gifts at the Sacred Knowing Workshop on November 13th in Huntsville UT.

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How Recognizing the Divine Mother in Scripture Transforms Your Faith and Identity, with Sherri Worth Aug 11, 2026

Show notes

In this episode, Meghan Farner speaks with Sherri Worth about rediscovering the divine feminine, specifically Heavenly Mother, within LDS faith and scripture. They explore how symbols, archetypes, and ancient texts reveal her presence and significance, encouraging a deeper, lived experience of the divine that nourishes faith and restores a vital aspect of spiritual identity.

In this episode:

The importance of moving beyond information to embodying spiritual truths
How personal motherhood deepens understanding and relationship with Heavenly Mother
The symbolism of Heavenly Mother in ancient texts and modern LDS teachings
The connection between Heavenly Mother and Holy Spirit, and their joint role in creation
The influence of ancient archetypes and symbols, like weaving and the tree of life
The historical suppression of the divine feminine and efforts to obscure symbols
Practical ways to recognize Heavenly Mother's presence through symbols and scripture
Resources and tools to deepen your relationship and awareness of Heavenly Mother

Timestamps:

00:00 - Moving from information to embodiment in spiritual journeys
02:17 - The global restoration of the divine feminine and its importance for LDS women
04:00 - Sherri's story: motherhood, trauma, and seeking Heavenly Mother
06:39 - How recognizing Heavenly Mother in scripture brought comfort and significance
08:52 - Impact of knowing Heavenly Mother on mothering and self-worth
10:12 - Heavenly Mother as the Holy Spirit: ancient texts and scriptures
11:38 - The symbolism of wisdom, unity, and divine motherhood in Proverbs and Psalms
12:37 - Textual evidence supporting Heavenly Mother as the Holy Spirit
14:03 - Symbols of Heavenly Mother in prayer and personal experience
15:23 - Recognizing Heavenly Mother through her symbols, names, and archetypes
16:53 - The importance of studying her names in original languages and scriptures
17:50 - The effort to obscure Heavenly Mother through cultural and political power plays
19:27 - Historical reforms aimed at consolidating power and erasing maternal symbols
21:50 - The meaning of the Tree of Life as Heavenly Mother and the symbolism in the Book of Mormon
24:16 - The veiling of the divine feminine and the ongoing unveiling in current times
26:10 - Woven archetypes of Heavenly Mother across cultures, from native mythology to Egypt
31:16 - Recognizing her in biblical figures like Deborah, Miriam, and Eve
33:00 - Exploring divine archetypes in the Song of Solomon and Queen of Sheba
34:11 - Patterns of divine femininity that illuminate personal faith and relationships
35:56 - Embodying Heavenly Mother’s qualities and recognizing her in our bodies and experiences
37:02 - The importance of cultivating relationship and recognizing her close presence
38:34 - Seeing her as the closest and most intimate aspect of ourselves and the cosmos
39:03 - How her presence is woven through the natural world, like Earth and water symbols
40:41 - The role of symbols and archetypes in understanding and connecting with her
42:24 - Resources available for deepening your recognition of Heavenly Mother
43:24 - Supporting others in understanding her significance and sharing these truths
44:56 - The invitation to explore ancient wisdom and recognize eternal divine femininity in everyday life

Resources & Links:

Connect with Sherri Worth:

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This episode invites you to see the divine feminine not as a distant or obscure concept but as an intimate, personal presence woven into scripture, symbols, and archetypes — a divine mother who longs to be known, loved, and understood by her children.

Reclaim your spiritual authority, practice discernment, and develop your spiritual gifts at the Sacred Knowing Workshop on November 13th in Huntsville UT.

Learn more at: https://meghanfarner.com

Connect with us:
• Instagram: @hiddenwisdompod
• YouTube: @hiddenwisdomldd

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