Know Your Aura with Mystic Michaela
Episode 278: Aftertaste and Auras with Author Daria Lavelle
Release Date: May 8, 2025
Guest: Daria Lavelle, author of Aftertaste
Episode Overview
In this episode, Mystic Michaela welcomes author Daria Lavelle to discuss her debut novel, Aftertaste—a unique ghost story, love story, and exploration of food as a conduit for spiritual connection. Through a deep and engaging interview, they dive into the psychic sense of "clairgustance" (the psychic ability to taste spirit messages), grief, spiritual creativity, and the intersection of the culinary and afterlife realms.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Introducing Daria Lavelle and Aftertaste
- Mystic Michaela opens by highlighting Aftertaste's premise: What if you could have one last meal with someone you lost? (00:07)
- Scotty and Michaela discuss welcoming Daria and joke about bringing her kitchen utensils since food is integral to the novel. (00:42)
2. Clairgustance: Tasting the Beyond
- Michaela defines "clairgustance" as the psychic ability to taste something spiritually significant, often attached to messages from the deceased (01:06).
- Michaela shares anecdotes of experiencing other people's or animals' favorite foods during readings, underlining how taste can be a psychic sense:
- Example: Tasting cheese sticks during a dog reading, confirming the dog’s favorite treat (02:03).
- Example: Tasting unfamiliar soup and it matching a client’s grandmother’s recipe (02:19).
"It's a psychic ability to taste the beyond... Maybe you're tasting a recipe from Grandma that you remember..." – Mystic Michaela (01:08)
- Discussion on how many people may inadvertently experience clairgustance through food nostalgia or recreating beloved recipes (03:19).
3. Daria Lavelle's Aura Reading
- Daria shares her previous knowledge of auras—her friend once told her she had a "fern green” aura (09:16).
- Michaela reads Daria’s aura live on air: Green (organization, focus) and Indigo (empathy, emotional psychic ability) (09:55).
"I see a lot—two colors. I do see green, and I see a big indigo backdrop... I actually see a lot of Indigos as writers." – Mystic Michaela (09:55)
4. The Gift and Grief in Aftertaste
- Daria describes her main character Constantine, who after his father’s death, begins to taste dishes connected to the dead—a metaphor for grief and connection (11:32).
- She discusses inspiration from learning about the psychic “Clairs”—specifically clairgustance, and how food and memory intertwine as tangible, emotional bonds (13:09).
"It's this sort of like, pristine medallion cements a moment of memory in your mind, and that's kind of what it does for Constantine." – Daria Lavelle (14:13)
- Themes: Avoidance and eventual acceptance of psychic gifts, the struggle for closure, and healing through spiritual connection and memory (15:16).
5. Personal Spiritual Experiences
- Daria shares her own experiences with psychic intuition, including prophetic dreams and spiritually significant coincidences linked to family (19:10).
- Story of predicting her grandfather’s illness in a dream (19:10).
- Emotional account of conceiving twins on the anniversary of her grandmother's passing (21:09).
- Describes writing as a semi-sensory, even synesthetic, process—sometimes feeling words as textures (22:16).
6. Tarot and Nordic Runes
- Daria’s spiritual exploration includes using Nordic runes for personal guidance—a practice she’s followed since adolescence (22:52).
"It's not giving an answer so much as reframing your own question... Whenever I'm really stuck, I'll go find my little rune pouch and pull, and I'll either do, like, the single pull or the past, present, future." – Daria Lavelle (23:00)
7. Writing Process and Character Creation
- Daria embeds parts of herself in her characters, using different facets for each—immigrant background, need to be a hero, love of connection (25:10).
- Characters feel “real” to her, and even after writing, she finds herself thinking about how they’d react to situations (26:43).
8. Conceptualizing the Afterlife
- The book’s afterlife is inspired by multiple cultural portrayals—Greek myth, Beetlejuice, spiritual traditions that merge or separate food and spirit (27:28).
- Daria explores hunger as a metaphor: not just for food, but for affection, closure, and longing—both in the living and spiritual realms (29:30).
"There are so many ways in life that we hunger, and I think there's so many kind of different ways to be hungry... I think that doesn't end in the spirit realm." – Daria Lavelle (29:30)
9. Food as Spiritual and Emotional Connector
- Food in Aftertaste is more than sustenance: it's memory, forgiveness, closure, and an avenue to the soul (32:10).
- Examples of dishes tied to characters’ emotional breakthroughs—such as a burnt dish symbolizing a relationship’s failure, or a layered cocktail evoking nuanced memories (34:00).
"Every nuance of flavor became kind of a proxy for an emotion or a piece of the memory in my mind." – Daria Lavelle (34:00)
10. Culinary Inspiration and New York as a Character
- Every restaurant in Aftertaste (except one) is based on a real NYC spot; local flavor is integral (35:51).
- Daria is a self-proclaimed "foodie," drawing from New York’s diverse culinary scene and her family’s Ukrainian cooking (37:59).
11. Embracing Spiritual Gifts and Finding Support
- Constantine’s journey of hiding, denying, then embracing his psychic gift mirrors real-world experiences of spiritual suppression and eventual finding of community (39:30).
- Importance of validation—being heard and believed, especially for children or those with creative or psychic inclinations (40:05).
12. Balancing Parenthood, Life, and Creativity
- Daria shares strategies for writing while raising young kids: carving out time wherever possible, using notes apps, and never waiting for ideal circumstances (41:39).
"You kind of just like, anytime you have a free moment, you're kind of thinking about it in your head and you're creating... Write them down, incorporate them as you can." – Daria Lavelle (43:26)
13. Legacy, Intention, and Hopes for Readers
- Daria hopes readers will savor the emotional ride and be inspired to cherish connection—with food as a metaphor, but meaningfully in whatever way resonates (45:06).
- Michaela shares her own emotional response: the novel encouraged her to nurture her own connections with lost loved ones (46:13).
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- "I think that's part of what makes a character feel more real to me. When I can hone into something that I do and that happens in my life, it's kind of just like a grounding point..." – Daria Lavelle (25:10)
- “Every restaurant in Aftertaste is based on a real restaurant, with the exception of Dukh... There's a Michelin starred restaurant in the book where Kostya learns to cook that is based on Eleven Madison Park...” – Daria Lavelle (35:51)
- "For me, a big part of what I was trying to do with this book was think about what it means to lose somebody and how different people grieve in different ways, and how do you...bring them with you in your life?" – Daria Lavelle (15:16)
- "I hope you leave this book and think about, you know, what are the ways I'm connecting with the people that I love? How am I going to use that connection to honor them when we're no longer together..." – Daria Lavelle (45:06)
- "This book reminded me that it's important for me to connect with people I've lost too, because a lot of times it's just too much. And I'm sad, and I'm sad. And I get that from. I'm like, oh, I get that. Like, with Constantine and his dad..." – Mystic Michaela (46:13)
Important Segment Timestamps
- 00:07 – Introducing Daria Lavelle and Aftertaste
- 01:08 – Explaining clairgustance and its role in the novel
- 09:55 – Mystic Michaela reads Daria’s aura (Indigo and Green)
- 11:32 – Daria describes Constantine’s ability and grief’s influence
- 19:10 – Daria shares personal psychic/spiritual experiences
- 22:52 – Daria’s spiritual tools: Nordic runes
- 25:10 – How Daria embeds herself in her characters
- 27:28 – Portraying the afterlife and culture’s role
- 32:10 – Food as emotion: linking psychic and culinary senses
- 35:51 – Real New York eateries as inspiration; Daria as a foodie
- 39:30 – Denial and acceptance of spiritual gifts
- 41:39 – How Daria writes while parenting three young children
- 45:06 – Daria’s hopes for her readers
- 46:13 – Michaela’s moving reflection on her own grief
Episode Tone & Closing Thoughts
The conversation is insightful, tender, playful, and full of warmth—balancing mystical musings with practical advice for creatives and spiritual seekers. Daria’s depth, humor, and vulnerability shine, while Michaela’s empathy and curiosity make for a sparkling, heartfelt interview.
Connect with Daria Lavelle & Aftertaste
- Release Date: May 20, 2025 — Aftertaste available wherever books are sold; hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.
- Social: @darialavelleauthor (Instagram)
- Website: darialavelle.com (for tour dates and more info)
Recommended For: Fans of spiritual fiction, food writing, those exploring grief and closure, NYC lovers, and anyone seeking a fresh take on the afterlife through the lens of taste and connection.