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Spiritual Pyro

Spiritual Pyro

By: Sarah Carter and Corinne Shark
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 How do you reclaim your life after it's been burned to the ground by systemic corruption? Long-time friends Sarah Carter and Corinne Shark were forced to find out after joining brave survivors and speaking up about their own experiences of religious corruption and sexual misconduct within two organizations - a U.S. megachurch and an anti-trafficking non-profit.

Finally, after years of work to reclaim themselves and know their own stories, Sarah and Corinne are sharing it all with you.

The ruin.

The rise.

The return.

It's all here. Maybe your story lives in this rhythm, too.

Episodes release each Sunday.

Learn more at https://www.spiritualpyro.com1C Productions, Inc. Social Sciences
Episodes
  • S1E15: Returning to Ourselves - Excerpts from "Return" section of "the skies are full of us" by Sarah Carter and Corinne Shark

    S1E15: Returning to Ourselves - Excerpts from "Return" section of "the skies are full of us" by Sarah Carter and Corinne Shark
    Oct 6 2025
    S1E15 — Returning to Ourselves

    After the ashes of Ruin and the slow climb of Rise, comes Return — the sacred threshold where Sarah and Corinne find their way back to themselves. This is the part of the story where reclamation takes root: where the quiet becomes a kind of summoning, and where survival turns into something luminous and whole.

    Corinne reads from her “Sanctuary” chapter, a glimpse of reclaiming her thirteen-year-old self — the rebel, the dreamer, the girl who refused to disappear. It’s perhaps a reckoning with roots and rebellion, a love letter to the self that once ran wild and is finally being welcomed home.

    Sarah reads from “Kachina Woman,” a reflection on returning to the desert, the feminine divine, legacy, and the ancient rhythm of belonging that never really left her.

    Together, they explore what it means to return — not to who they were before, but to who they were always meant to be.

    ✨ This episode is an invitation to remember the parts of yourself you left behind, to listen for your own return, and to find beauty in the becoming.

    To connect with Sarah or Corinne, find them on Instagram: @heysarahcarter @thesaltyshark @sarahandcorinne

    For more information about Spiritual Pyro, visit www.spiritualpyro.com.
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    1 hr
  • S1E14 - Excerpts from "Rise" section of "the skies are full of us" by Sarah Carter and Corinne Shark

    S1E14 - Excerpts from "Rise" section of "the skies are full of us" by Sarah Carter and Corinne Shark
    Sep 21 2025
    S1E14 - Excerpts from "Rise" section of "the skies are full of us" by Sarah Carter and Corinne Shark

    After the "Ruin" section of "the skies are full of us" comes "Rise" - the place where Sarah and Corinne lift their eyes and begin pushing up from the ashes of their former selves.

    Corinne reads from her "desert muse" chapter:
    ...The desert air is thick with a femininity I’ve never noticed. Gorgeous blooms burst from every branch and stem, colors both subtle, like the palest pink of a flowering ironwood, and wildly audacious, like the fuchsia fruit of a prickly pear. Wildlife flutters and soars and scampers and slithers at every turn. Sunlight whispering through morning clouds, boldly declaring itself by midday and flinging a neon masterpiece across the sky through particles of dust and refracted rays just before dusk. Songs and scents ride the wind and moisture hangs from cumulus clouds, water swollen between cactus ribs and surging in streams that trickle beneath the ground. The sheer magnitude of her fullness will sustain her through the coming heat, and she is not afraid. She holds the momentum of her own cycles within herself. The desert flaunts her power...

    Sarah reads from her "solstice" chapter:
    ...A photo slipped out from a pile that still needed to be gathered in a box. I lifted it to the light and caught my breath. Emerson was about eight years old, sitting on his bike in the middle of our street, surrounded by his best friends from the neighborhood. His fist was raised high, pumping the air, wind in his hair, biggest grin on his face. A moment of raw joy. And now, a bittersweet memory of what we had and what we had to give up. I pulled the photograph close to my heart, knowing the move was causing a deep fracture not only in my world but in theirs. The loss and impact were massive, and I hated that I couldn’t protect all of us from it. I folded the photo and placed it in my wallet. I wanted to keep it there so that when I’d see it, I’d feel it. I didn’t want to forget the love or the loss. They both told the stories I wanted to practice telling. One without the other wouldn’t ring as true...


    To connect with Sarah or Corinne, find them on Instagram: @heysarahcarter @thesaltyshark @sarahandcorinne

    For more information about Spiritual Pyro, visit www.spiritualpyro.com.
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    45 mins
  • E13: Excerpts from the "Ruin" section of "the skies are full of us" by Sarah Carter and Corinne Shark 

    E13: Excerpts from the "Ruin" section of "the skies are full of us" by Sarah Carter and Corinne Shark 
    Sep 7 2025
    E13: Excerpts from the "Ruin" section of "the skies are full of us" by Sarah Carter and Corinne Shark   

    At long last, Sarah and Corinne share excerpts from their upcoming book, "the skies are full of us: a true story of speaking up, burning down, and the unbreakable bond of friendship" releasing from Rebeca Books on October 21, 2025. Each of these readings is from the first of the three sections - Ruin, Rise, and Redemption - into which "the skies are full of us" is arranged.

    Sarah's excerpt pulls back the curtain on the intimate and excruciating experience of her and her husband, Steve Carter, pressing "Send" on his resignation from Willow Creek Community Church. By allowing listeners and readers into this sacred moment of ending, she allows us to witness the pain, fear, heartbreak, and devastation with which both she and Steve wrestled as they fought to walk with integrity and love, even as it cost them dearly.

    Corinne's excerpt recounts that moment where the insulating bubble of travel from Thailand burst and she, her husband, and their small children exited the airplane back onto U.S. soil. They returned as shells of the hopeful, excited selves they'd been when embarking on what they'd believed to be world shifting work with The Exodus Road to fight human trafficking. With these words, Corinne lets us see the heart and devastation roiling beneath ashen skin and broken spirits.

    To connect with Sarah or Corinne, find them on Instagram: @heysarahcarter @thesaltyshark @sarahandcorinne

    For more information about Spiritual Pyro, visit www.spiritualpyro.com.
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    57 mins
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