Enter the Mystic's Garden

Ellen M.Laura
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Religion & Spirituality
  • Updated Daily

Welcome to The Mystic’s Garden, where Power and Beauty are Reclaimed. This is for those who have known moments—or even seasons—of deep inner peace, subtle joy, wonder, and mental clarity, and who now find such experiences more rare, fragile, or harder to access. Together, we explore what nourishes vitality and joy, what diminishes them, and what it takes to return to what is sacred. New episodes on the new moon and full moon — short, soulful, and made for headphones. ellenmlaura.substack.com

Episodes

  1. Aug 11

    One Hand Touching Eternity

    Some endings really are endings. Others leave a seed behind. As this New Moon and solar eclipse arrive, I’ve been reflecting on what is ready to be released—and what still carries enough life to be nurtured. That question has become personal as Blossom Joyfully, a book born from the collapse of Amazon Vella, begins to find a new home. In this episode, I explore what happens after a taste of what I call the Nectar of the Divine—when the ordinary world is still waiting for you. My friend Brian Kimmel, an ordained meditation teacher in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, joins us again. As he chants the Loving Kindness mantra, allow the transmission to move through your body, mind, and spirit. And, naturally, Bella makes an appearance. Because perhaps this is the real practice: One hand touching eternity.The other washing the cup. The energy of an eclipse can be felt in the days before and after, so you may find yourself returning to this episode as its message continues to deepen for you. Listen for what is still alive. You can discover more about Brian Kimmel, his music, and his teachings on his website. Created and read by Ellen M. Laura. Produced and edited by Darrell K. Whaley. Opening Music by Ani Williams, “Mag-Ma-of the Deeps,” from the album Return of the Silent Ones, used by permission. “Washing the Cup” carries the heart of this episode into music—a gentle invitation to release what is too heavy to carry and nurture what is new and alive. Listen on YouTube. This is a reader-supported project. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Velvet Realms with Ellen M. Laura at ellenmlaura.substack.com/subscribe

  2. Jul 28

    What the Lotus Reveals about Rising Toward the Light

    Some seasons of life don’t look or feel like transformation. They feel like mud—grief, betrayal, exhaustion, or the relentless responsibility of holding everything together while some quiet part of you is still trying to breathe. We don’t always recognize our strength while it’s carrying us through the mud. You may believe you’re barely surviving when, in truth, something fierce and beautiful within you is already reaching toward the light. Or perhaps you’re shining brightly now—and ready to extend a hand to someone who is still finding their way upward. In this Full Moon episode of Enter the Mystic’s Garden, my dear friend Laura Zollar joins me to explore what the lotus reveals about rising: how we move through pain without allowing it to define us, how creativity can transform what we carry, and why loving ourselves harder doesn’t mean hardening our hearts. Laura is a gifted artist, energy healer, psychic, and tarot reader whose life has required her to embody the very wisdom expressed in her white lotus painting. She speaks candidly about grief, caregiving, psychic experiences, and the moment she finally looked back at everything she had carried and realized: I had to be superhuman. She also offers a special Full Moon tarot reading, tuned to those listening, revealing the themes that may be surfacing in your life now. Whether or not you’re familiar with tarot, her guidance may illuminate what you’re moving through—and help you meet it with greater clarity, discernment, and grace. You can follow Laura on her YouTube channel, Laura Zollar Tarot, or on her website: LauraZollar.com Created and read by Ellen M. Laura. Produced and edited by Darrell K. Whaley. Opening Music by Ani Williams, “Mag-Ma-of the Deeps,” from the album Return of the Silent Ones, used by permission. Thanks so much for listening and supporting this creative journey. Please share this freely. Get full access to Velvet Realms with Ellen M. Laura at ellenmlaura.substack.com/subscribe

  3. Jul 13

    The Prayer Beneath the Prayer

    What in your life feels as if it might be slipping away? A home. A career. A relationship. Your health and vitality? A sense that the world still holds beauty, sanity, tenderness, and magic. Sometimes the prayer beneath all our practical prayers is the one we barely dare to say: Please don’t let the good things disappear. In this episode of Enter the Mystic’s Garden, I explore the hidden longing beneath our desires, the discernment needed to know what truly nourishes us, and the difference between what merely excites us and what blesses us. SnowLion, a real white cat from my past, and Alaya, a real swan, return in symbolic form: the innocent seeker and the soul’s quiet wisdom. At the end, I share the song that grew from their moonlit conversation. You’re invited to hold the flame, hold the feather, hold the song we almost hear, and keep the blessings near. For those who feel drawn to SnowLion and Alaya, there’s more to the story. StarBorn Cats: A Shaman and a Swan offers another glimpse into my life with the small feline, the swan, and the strange, beautiful ways spirit weaves its threads. Created and read by Ellen M. Laura. Produced and edited by Darrell K. Whaley. Opening Music by Ani Williams, “Mag-Ma-of the Deeps,” from the album Return of the Silent Ones, used by permission. Thanks for listening and supporting my creative journey. Please share this freely. Get full access to Velvet Realms with Ellen M. Laura at ellenmlaura.substack.com/subscribe

  4. Jun 27

    A Season of Honey Under the Strawberry Moon

    As we move toward June’s Strawberry Full Moon, you’re invited to Enter the Mystic’s Garden. I share a reflection on love and loss from decades ago — a brief season of honey, a man who arrived at my door in Sedona carrying a book, the mystery of the Divine Feminine, and the magic of Maui, where the ocean slowly taught my body joy again. Kahlil Gibran wrote, “The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.” That line has followed me for most of my life. I understood early that some sorrow hollows us out in a way that can make more room for beauty, tenderness, and compassion. Under the Strawberry Moon, I invite you to listen for the difference. What has blessed you? What has drained you? And where is joy still trying to reach you now? The episode closes with my song, “Caravan of Light.” I’m also sharing The Shaman’s Bulldog, the book Renaldo carried into my life and later left in my care. Created and read by Ellen M. Laura. Produced and edited by Darrell K. Whaley. Music by Ani Williams, “Mag-Ma-of the Deeps,” from the album Return of the Silent Ones, used by permission. Thanks for listening. If this episode touched something sacred in you, please share it and carry this frequency into the world. If you feel called to come deeper into the garden, paid subscribers are invited into the more intimate rooms of this work, where story, reflection, and practice meet. Get full access to Velvet Realms with Ellen M. Laura at ellenmlaura.substack.com/subscribe

  5. Jun 12

    What To Do When Grace Doesn't Arrive on Schedule

    Sometimes we do everything we know to do. We pray, listen, walk, write, love, forgive, stay near beauty, and keep our hearts turned toward the sacred. And still, grace does not arrive on schedule. In this new moon episode of Enter the Mystic’s Garden, I return to The One Minute Healing Experience, the little book I wrote in 1996, now carried by the timeless voice of my dear friend Mary Jean Valente. I share why those exquisite healing moments can feel so rare and elusive, especially when the outer world is loud, the heart is tired, and joy feels harder to reach than we expected. This episode is a gentle reminder that the mystical life doesn’t begin after everything is fixed. It begins at the kitchen table, in the middle of real life, when the bills are real, the fear is real, the cat is real, and something unseen is still tapping on the glass. Listen when you need a quieter place to land, and a reminder that grace still knows where to find you. Created and read by Ellen M. Laura. Produced and edited by Darrell K. Whaley. Narration of The One Minute Healing Experience by Mary Jean Valente. Music by Ani Williams, “Mag-Ma-of the Deeps,” from the album Return of the Silent Ones, used by permission. Thanks for listening. If this episode touched something sacred in you, please share it and carry this frequency into the world. If you feel called to come deeper into the garden, paid subscribers are invited into the more intimate rooms of this work, where story, reflection, and practice meet. Get full access to Velvet Realms with Ellen M. Laura at ellenmlaura.substack.com/subscribe

  6. May 30

    Once in a Blue Moon: When Ordinary Love Becomes Sacred

    I didn’t want a lesson in impermanence. I wanted my cat. When my beloved Bella began losing weight, all the mystical teachings I’ve spent a lifetime exploring suddenly became very earthly: her warm body beside me, her familiar footsteps, her presence in my bedroom and kitchen, and my longing for more ordinary mornings with her. Then, out of the blue, a gift returned: a beautiful studio recording from my lifelong friend — and Bella’s godmother — Mary Jean Valente reading passages from a book I wrote nearly thirty years ago, The One Minute Healing Experience. In this Blue Full Moon episode of Enter the Mystic’s Garden, Bella’s purring presence, Mary Jean’s voice, and a wishing prayer released into silence come together around one truth: The mystical is not where we go to become less attached to what we love. It’s where ordinary love becomes sacred. Come into the garden for this rare moonlit offering, and listen for what is precious, unexpected, and quietly calling for your heart’s attention now. Created and read by Ellen M. Laura. Produced and edited by Darrell K. Whaley. Narration of The One Minute Healing Experience by Mary Jean Valente. Music by Ani Williams, “Mag-Ma-of the Deeps,” from the album Return of the Silent Ones, used by permission. Thanks for listening. If this episode touched something sacred in you, please share it and carry this frequency into the world. Get full access to Velvet Realms with Ellen M. Laura at ellenmlaura.substack.com/subscribe

  7. May 15

    The Truth Your Body Won't Let You Ignore

    Your mind can explain almost anything. Your feelings can romanticize what hurts. Your ego can even dress self-abandonment in noble language. But the body is harder to fool. Yoga teacher and therapist Nicky Yazbek brings her grounded, compassionate presence to the Mystic’s Garden for a conversation about the truths we carry in the body — especially those that restore our inner authority and vitality. At the heart of this conversation is the altar question: what have we placed at the center of our lives? What are we protecting, serving, defending, or refusing to let go of? And what does the body reveal when something has been receiving more devotion than it deserves? This is a conversation about nervous system regulation, embodiment, healing, authenticity, and the strange honesty of fatigue, anxiety, contraction, resentment, and loss of vitality. Not merely as signs that something is wrong with you, but as signals calling you back to wonder, joy, and the kind of truth your body can meet with a “hell yes.” Links mentioned in this episode: Nicky Yazbek’s podcast, The Connected Community Nicky’s interview with Ellen M. Laura on Human Design Created and hosted by Ellen M. Laura.Produced and edited by Darrell K. Whaley.Music by Ani Williams, “Mag-Ma-of the Deeps,” from the album Return of the Silent Ones, used by permission. Get full access to Velvet Realms with Ellen M. Laura at ellenmlaura.substack.com/subscribe

  8. Apr 30

    The Day a Song Healed My World

    As I continued to explore the three questions at the heart of this season — Who is in your bedroom? Who is in your kitchen? What’s on your altar? — this episode became a living answer. My longtime friend Brian Kimmel came into my home with warmth, music, and the kind of presence that clears the space without needing to explain or fix anything. He offered a song, a prayer, and the laughter needed to soften what grief had made heavy. The people we allow close to us shape the atmosphere of our lives. Some people drain the room. Others help us remember safety, tenderness, beauty, and joy. In this episode, Brian’s song becomes a doorway into presence, healing, and the quiet return of wonder. Bella, my feline companion, of course, adds her own perfectly timed contribution. Created and read by Ellen M. Laura. Produced and edited by Darrell K. Whaley. With deep gratitude to Brian Kimmel, whose song, laughter, and presence are at the heart of this episode. Music by Ani Williams, “Mag-Ma-of the Deeps,” from the album Return of the Silent Ones, used by permission. Get full access to Velvet Realms with Ellen M. Laura at ellenmlaura.substack.com/subscribe

  9. Apr 16

    A Return to Quiet Wonder and Joy

    If this offered you something meaningful, please share it. This space grows through the kindness of readers and listeners who share it. This podcast is for you, those who’ve known moments—or even whole seasons—of deep inner peace, wonder, and mental clarity, and who now find those experiences more fragile, fleeting, or harder to access. Here, we ask what has entered your inner life, who belongs there, and what must be guarded. If you’ve touched real stillness and real awe, and then watched something disturb that inner life, this space is for you. We explore the questions that cut closer to the truth: Who is in your bedroom? Who is in your kitchen? What’s on your altar? These conversations explore the deeper transformations that help us protect what is precious and reclaim what is sacred. Created and read by Ellen M. Laura. Produced and edited by Darrell K. Whaley. Music by Ani Williams, “Mag-Ma-of the Deeps,” from the album Return of the Silent Ones, used by permission. For more of my offerings, visit: Ellen M. Laura. Next episode: Full Moon, May 1, 2026. Get full access to Velvet Realms with Ellen M. Laura at ellenmlaura.substack.com/subscribe

  10. Mar 19

    A Prelude to the Mystic's Garden: The Healing Frequency

    The Healing Frequency, narrated by my dear friend Mary Jean Valente and drawn from a piece I wrote years ago, was first recorded nearly fifteen years ago, yet its message remains strikingly alive. Some truths do not expire. They wait beneath the surface of time, ready to return when they are most needed. I am sending this forth with the hope that it may offer a needed tone of healing in these tender and turbulent times. Mary Jean gave this piece a rare presence—steady, luminous, and intimate without becoming sentimental. What she brings is not simply narration, but atmosphere: a voice that makes space for reflection, inner quiet, and return. This offering also feels like a fitting threshold piece for the podcast, Enter the Mystic’s Garden. The larger arc of that work is about renewal—how we move through disorientation, exhaustion, grief, and creative wintering toward something more alive, more rooted, and more true. Before there are conversations, stories, and reflections, there is a need to pause long enough to hear what is happening within us. This meditation belongs to that space. You might listen in the early morning, at twilight, or whenever you need a small clearing in the day. Let it be a place to recalibrate. A quieter room inside the storm. May it reach those who need it.May it bring calm, remembrance, and light. With love and gratitude,Ellen Laura Get full access to Velvet Realms with Ellen M. Laura at ellenmlaura.substack.com/subscribe

  • 10 Episodes

About

Welcome to The Mystic’s Garden, where Power and Beauty are Reclaimed. This is for those who have known moments—or even seasons—of deep inner peace, subtle joy, wonder, and mental clarity, and who now find such experiences more rare, fragile, or harder to access. Together, we explore what nourishes vitality and joy, what diminishes them, and what it takes to return to what is sacred. New episodes on the new moon and full moon — short, soulful, and made for headphones. ellenmlaura.substack.com

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