Julie Francella: "Great Grandma Came To See Me"

Summary

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Woo Woo with Rachel Dratch

Episode: Julie Francella: "Great Grandma Came To See Me"

April 29, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this lively and heartfelt episode, Rachel Dratch and co-host Irene Bremis welcome Julie Francella—artist, writer, Indigenous Studies professor, trauma counselor, and citizen of the Ojibwe nation. Julie shares extraordinary personal stories of the mystical and unexplained, centered upon deeply meaningful family experiences and Ojibwe spiritual teachings. The discussion traverses indigenous wisdom about the interconnectedness of nature, multigenerational spirit encounters, and the merging of science with mystery—delivering warmth, humor, and gentle challenge to our ideas about reality.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction to Julie Francella and Her Work

[02:47 – 07:59]

• Background: Julie is a true “renaissance woman”—artist, writer, trauma counselor, former director of a domestic violence center, current professor of Indigenous Studies at Durham College, and co-host of “We’re Still Here” on Sirius XM.
• She reflects on a life full of different roles, sharing:

  “Sometimes I feel like I’m like 80 years old because I’ve had so many lifetimes in one.” (Julie Francella, 03:57)

• Julie is now focused on teaching, her Substack writing, and completing a YA novel inspired by her daughters’ difficult childhood moments.

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2. Ojibwe View of Nature and the Spirit in All Things

[08:00 – 15:45]

• Julie introduces Ojibwe beliefs: everything has a spirit (animism), and all living beings are relatives—plants, animals, humans, all equal in a circle.
• She shares how science is now confirming what Indigenous people have believed for generations: trees communicate underground via fungal networks and aid one another.
• Memorable moment:

  "Even in some Indigenous languages, the word for trees and plants translates to 'those who take care of us,' which I think is beautiful.” (Julie Francella, 08:31)

• Discussion of the sadness felt over logging in ancient forests, yet hope is found as organizations begin to apply “the seven generations rule”—making decisions with consideration for the impact seven generations ahead.

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3. The First Woo Woo Story: "Great Grandma Came To See Me"

[15:45 – 22:40]

• Julie recounts a profound, prophetic dream her then five-year-old daughter had, announcing that her great-grandmother (Julie's grandmother) had come to say goodbye during a nap—just before the real-life announcement of her grandmother’s passing.

  “She was going up, up in the sky... she came to say goodbye to me.” (Julie Francella, 15:57)

• Julie shares:

  “An hour later, my phone rings... and it was right around the time when my daughter was napping that my grandmother had died. And woo, woo, like, what else do you say to that?” (Julie Francella, 15:57)

• The story opens a conversation about children’s unique connection to the “thinner veil” between worlds.

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4. More Family Spirit Visitation Stories

[19:06 – 29:40]

• Julie’s youngest daughter, age ten, reported seeing her deceased grandmother in the hallway soon after her passing, accurately describing her attire (down to details the daughter couldn’t have known).

  “She said that my mother had on these fuzzy slippers and a light green gown... exactly what she was wearing, right down to the little triangles.” (Julie Francella, 21:20)

• The appearance brought comfort to the grieving family, especially Julie’s father.
• Julie also shares an experience ten weeks after losing her mother, hearing—together with a friend—her deceased sister’s voice calling out “Mom”, moments before getting the news of her sister’s death.

  “I want to believe… she was trying to find our mom, you know, on the other side… It gives me comfort.” (Julie Francella, 27:45)

• Julie reflects:

  “In my culture, we never say… people died. We'll say they're continuing on their journey.” (Julie Francella, 29:08)

• The hosts discuss how Judaism and Ojibwe teachings both leave room for mystery, highlighting comfort in the “great mystery” of the afterlife.

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5. The Power, Humor, and Teaching of Indigenous Elders

[37:41 – 44:42]

• Julie shares a collective haunting story from her time managing a residential treatment center: youth and staff consistently reported a shadowy figure in one room, which stopped entirely after an Ojibwe elder conducted a ceremony and smudging.

  “You can have all the… clinical training… but sometimes you just have to bring in an elder to clear up the space.” (Julie Francella, 39:26)

• The elder asked, “Was anyone whistling at night?” and explained in Ojibwe—never whistle at night, as it calls spirits (a teaching shared across multiple nations).
• Clarifies smudging can involve burning sage, cedar, sweetgrass, or tobacco, depending on the ceremony.

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6. Omen Lore and Cultural Teachings

[44:03 – 45:03]

• Julie shares that omens, like hearing an owl or seeing a north-facing coyote, are significant across Indigenous cultures and are often interpreted as warnings.

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7. Ojibwe Homeland, Language, and Cultural Tradition

[47:05 – 48:44]

• Julie describes growing up in Batchawana First Nation, on the divide of Lake Superior at the US-Canada border, a region settled due to the presence of wild rice.

  “It’s the place where wild rice grows in the water... Our people have lived there for thousands of years.” (Julie Francella, 47:15)

• Water is revered as a living relative.

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8. Art, Creativity, and Connection to Ancestors

[48:44 – 51:18]

• Julie’s family is full of artists; painting has been a lifelong passion and a vital part of her trauma counseling work.
• Art serves both as self-expression and as spiritual connection:

  “I feel like it’s a really good way to express yourself when you don’t always want to use, you know, words.” (Julie Francella, 48:52)

• Fun note: Musician Stevie Van Zandt owns one of Julie’s paintings.

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9. Indigenous Fashion and the Spirituality of Clothing

[51:32 – 54:34]

• Julie is organizing the second Indigenous Fashion Week in New York, featuring traditional ribbon skirts.
• Each person’s ribbon skirt incorporates colors tied to their spirit name, guiding their spirit “home” during sleep or spiritual travel:

  “It’s kind of like a lighthouse… our spirit can come back to it.” (Julie Francella, 53:10)

• Spirit names and colors are given by a medicine person and can change as a person’s life unfolds.

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10. The Woo Woo Pendulum (Listener Q&A Game)

[54:48 – 57:30]

• The episode closes with the playful “Pendulum” segment, where Irene and Rachel do “yes or no” divination.
  • Julie asks:
    • If fast food will “win the long game” against the president’s arteries (mixed answers, mostly “yes”).
    • If her youngest daughter in Australia will get married in the next year (strong “yes”).
• Laughter and gentle ribbing ensue:

  “Pendulum has spoken on that.” (Julie Francella, 57:28)
  “You’ve been touched by woo woo… Charges are pending!” (Julie Francella, 33:51)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “When we’re out there… trying to protect the water, we’re trying to protect the forest, the trees… we’re not just protecting it for Indigenous people, we’re protecting everyone.”
  — Julie Francella, 13:50
• “I always say, allegedly they died… we don’t know everything about these things. That’s why children are very in tune, because they haven’t been told not to believe in it.”
  — Julie Francella, 19:06
• “We never say… people died. We'll say they're continuing on their journey… we call it the great mystery in Ojibwe teachings.”
  — Julie Francella, 29:08 & 31:03
• “Sometimes you just have to bring in an elder to clear up the space.”
  — Julie Francella, 39:26

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Structure & Timestamps (Key Segments)

| Segment | Timestamp | |------------------------------------------------------|------------| | Julie’s Introduction & Background | 02:47–07:59| | Ojibwe View on Trees/Nature | 08:01–15:45| | Story #1: “Great Grandma Came To See Me” | 15:57–22:40| | Story #2: Youngest Daughter’s Spirit Encounter | 19:06–22:40| | Story #3: Sister’s Voice from Beyond | 25:52–29:40| | Indigenous Elders, Smudging, & Cultural Practices | 37:41–44:42| | Art & Indigenous Fashion, Spirit Names | 48:44–54:34| | Pendulum Segment (Divination Q&A) | 54:48–57:30|

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Tone & Style Notes

Rachel, Irene, and Julie keep the conversation buoyant, honest, and gentle—balancing wonder, humor (“Touched by woo woo—charges pending.”), and deep respect for both the unknown and Indigenous traditions. The episode invites skepticism but also leaves room for the beautiful, the inexplicable, and the healing power of story.

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Further Listening & Follow-Up

• Julie Francella: Substack (“The Fire I Keep”), social media @uliefranchella, Thursdays on Sirius XM’s “We’re Still Here.”
• Indigenous Fashion Week NYC: Look up “Relative Arts” for updates.

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This episode is a strong recommendation for anyone interested in personal woo woo stories, Indigenous spiritual wisdom, or heartfelt, humorous storytelling.

Transcript

[Rachel Dratch]

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[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

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[Rachel Dratch]

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[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

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[Rachel Dratch]

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[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

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[Rachel Dratch]

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[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

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[Rachel Dratch]

Welcome to Woo Woo with Rachel Dratch, the podcast that explores the unexplained with humor and curiosity.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Hello and welcome to Woo Woo with Rachel Dratch here with my pal, co host, friend, and everything else, everything wrapped into one. Irene Bremis. Hi, Irene.

[Julie Francella]

Hello, sweetie.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Hello, sweetie. Hello, sweetie. Well, Irene, today we have someone that you know from your days as a pod host with John Fugelsang.

[Rachel Dratch]

Right.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

That's how you met our guest. And our guest, oh my gosh, her dossier, if I may say that's the wrong word. But her, her list of achievements, let's put it that way, is like a total renaissance woman. She does it all. She's an artist, writer, trauma Counselor for over 30 years, past executive director of

[Rachel Dratch]

a domestic violence center, but now also

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

co host a weekly segment on Sirius XM Radio called We're Still Here with John Fugelsang. And that's every Thursday night at 10.

[Rachel Dratch]

We'll get into that.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Also a citizen of the Ojibwe nation and artist, as I mentioned. And also. Wait a minute, there's more. A professor of Indigenous Studies at Durham College. I mean, that's enough achievement for 10 people, but it's all rolled into one.

[Irene Bremis]

10 lifetimes.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Please welcome Julie Francella to the show. Hi, Jul.

[Irene Bremis]

Hi, Julie. Hi, everybody.

[Julie Francella]

Thank you so much for having me here. And sometimes I feel like I'm like 80 years old because I've had so many lifetimes in one.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

But you look fantastic. Well, not that an 80 year old can't look fantastic, but you don't look 80. Let's put it that way. You don't look 80.

[Irene Bremis]

You're a number, sweetie. But the sticks don't lie.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Sticks don't lie. You look like a million bucks.

[Julie Francella]

Thank you.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

When she came on, I had to say, oh, did someone tell you this is not for video? Because she looks so good, but she. I guess she just woke up this way. Anyway. Hi, Julie.

[Julie Francella]

Hi.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

So you guys met through John Fugelsang, right?

[Irene Bremis]

Yeah. So I was co hosting with John Fugelsang on his show Sirius xm, Tell Me Everything. And Julie would come in and she would just hang out and then I got to know her and she is literally. I honestly mean this. You have like multiple lives in terms of how talented you are and the achievements and the depth that you have. It's like you're an old soul and you're an incredible artist. I've seen some of your paintings that have literally wowed me and floored me. They're incredibly beautiful. And then she's a trauma therapist on top of being a professor of Indigenous Studies at Durham College. And you're just amazing. So how can I not fall madly in love with you and then beg you to come on the show. Let's be honest.

[Julie Francella]

Sweetie. That's so funny. Thank you so much. I feel sometimes like I have lived several lifetimes. I am also. I was a single mom, raised two daughters. They're, you know, off in the world living their lives. And so, you know, just trying to, to do good in the world as much as I can. It's a, it's a some dark times. And so, you know, I enjoy, you know, I do John Puglsang's show every Thursday night and I co host it with a friend, Simon Moyes Smith. And it's called We're Still Here because a lot of people don't realize that indigenous people are still here in the Americas. So, yeah, it's been fun. It's been fun and just enjoying, you know, being on shows like yours. I'm so excited to be here. What a great title. Woo Woo.

[Irene Bremis]

That's Rachel.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

We also feel the dark times and we love this little escape into Woo Woo. Because we talk about so many different topics and they're all, most of the time, they're pretty uplifting, enlightening, or even just thinking of spirituality or that there's another level happening. It sort of gives us our little boost for the week. Right, Irene? Oh, absolutely right, Irene. Irene, don't you agree with that? Irene, if I hadn't said it a million times in repeat, you're under contract with me right now. Yes. You love doing this every week. Literally.

[Irene Bremis]

Rachel. Debbie Downer is a Debbie Upper. Big spoiler, everyone. And then spoiler alert. This show is an antidepressant. You know, it's interesting. So it puts me in such a. It's like a happy pill.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

It really is. Wait, can I just ask, just for like, bigger context, like, what is your main focus these days? Because you have so many varied interests and skills. Like, what's your main thing now? Just so we know.

[Rachel Dratch]

And then we'll go into your right now.

[Julie Francella]

So I've stepped away from frontline work. I was a trauma counselor for many, many years. I stepped away from all of that. That, that's a very high burnout rate. And I think I was doing it for way too long. So I stepped back from doing that and I'm focusing now just on teaching. Teaching and writing. I write my substack. I'm actually in the process of editing my first book. It's actually a YA novel. I wrote it for my daughters about 15 years ago to help them through sort of their darkness with things that were going on in our lives at the time. And so it's taken me, you know, this long to kind of have the courage to kind of get it out there. So I have a wonderful literary agent that actually is the same agent as John Fugelsang's literary agent. That's Charlotte Sheedy, Ali Sheedy's mom. She's wonderful. And so she's really encouraged me, thinking that this book might be helpful for other people out there. So. So that's my focus now, is teaching and writing.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Gotcha.

[Rachel Dratch]

Yeah.

[Julie Francella]

So.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

So I know you wrote the subtract about the trees. Do you want to. Oh, by the way, and Irene also told me some of your other, like, you've had some crazy woo woo occurrences happen. So we can talk about all that stuff. But maybe let's kick it off with the tree.

[Rachel Dratch]

Yes.

[Irene Bremis]

We just posted an episode about mountains being here far, you know, before we were, and like, the mysteries that are within held in mountains. And then you wrote this beautiful article about trees that was so uplifting.

[Julie Francella]

So I come from a culture, the Ojibwe, and we believe that everything has a spirit. We are animists. We believe that everyone is our relative. Not just everyone, but everything. You know, every creature. The four legged, the winged, you know, the fish in the sea. They're all related. There's no hierarchy. Everything's in a circle. And we human beings, culturally, we don't center ourselves. You know, we're just part of the big ecosystem. And so we've always been taught that trees are our relatives. And even in some indigenous languages, the word for trees and plants translates to those who take care of us, which I think is beautiful. And so they're the old ones and the ones who stand there sort of quietly, you know, filter, filtering the air for us and, you know, giving us, you know, oxygen and food and, you know, fruit. And all of these things come from these trees. Medicine. Yes. And what I love is that science is kind of finally catching up to something that indigenous people have understood for a very long time that trees aren't just standing there, you know, doing these things, but underground. Their roots are linked by these fungal networks that move resources and pass along information. And the science is actually showing that they communicate with each other. And there's actually one article that I read about. When they're stressed or under attack, they release these chemicals in the air that will actually warn nearby plants. And those plants and trees can pick up on the cues and start sort of readying their own defenses. And I think that that's such a beautiful thing that as indigenous people, you know, we see these trees as our relatives, they give us shade and, you know, in the, in the summer, in the hot sun and, you know, shelter, you know, I don't know if you've ever been out on farmland in the prairies, but you'll see a house and there's trees planted all around it to shelter the house from the winds on the prairies. So it's a beautiful thing to know that for human beings that, you know, these things are out there. And I wrote this because I was walking down Lincoln, you know, near Lincoln center, and it was Christmas time and these trees were wrapped in these tiny little white lights and I just thought, oh, they must feel so special that they have these little cloaks of tiny stars. And I just thought, oh, I felt so happy for the trees. And I know that sounds kind of silly, but, you know, it's such a beautiful thing to acknowledge that we can't be breathing air and living on this earth if we don't have plants and trees to kind of help us with oxygen.

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[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Back to the trees. I was just gonna say that. When you're saying that they're part of us, like, this is. I was. This was just on my mind because I just read. And not to be a Debbie Downer here, but I just read how, you know, who just cleared all this logging to happen in ancient forests in the Pacific Northwest. And when I read something like that,

[Rachel Dratch]

as bad as all the crap that

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

they feed down our throats, like, that makes me so angry because that's all of ours, that belongs to all of us, and it can't come back. And it just makes me incense. So caring about the importance and the soul of the trees.

[Julie Francella]

Yes. And you know, Rachel, what you're saying, you know, we say this all the time. Like when we're out there at Standing Rock trying to protect the water, we're trying to protect the forest, the trees. Indigenous people are usually the. The first people out there trying to protect these things. And we always say we're not just protecting it for indigenous people, we're protecting everyone. All people. We all need this, you know, So I feel the way that you feel when I hear about this. It's just horrific. Yeah. Hurts my heart.

[Irene Bremis]

It does. It hurts all of our hearts because it's a purifier, it's a lover of land.

[Julie Francella]

You know, What I want to say is there is some hope because I was doing some work with the United Nations. We're doing a lot of climate change work. And a lot of these agencies are now starting to adopt what indigenous people have always used. It's called the seven generations rule. And so native people don't do anything, they don't make any big decisions unless they consider how will this impact seven generations ahead, seven generations down the road. And so we're now introducing that into some of these. Yeah, some of these, you know, agencies that are out there mining and all of that. Like, we're trying to have them understand that you're not going to have a planet if, you know, you keep doing this. And so consider seven generations down the road, you know, before you make any decisions.

[Irene Bremis]

Not only have a planet, Julie, but Also have a healthy environment and healthy people. It's like you were saying, you know, it's so much more. It far exceeds just the benefiting the Earth. It's benefiting our health, our breathing air, you know, our actual health, you know, So I just. I love that.

[Julie Francella]

I love that. And that is. It's. It's all connected. Like, you know, the environment impacts us. As you were saying, Irene? And that's, you know, we are part of this ecosystem. And if the ecosystem is sick, guess what? We're gonna be sick too. So.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

So Julie has some woo woo stories, and we're all eager to hear them. So where do you wanna begin? What was your first kind of like, woo Woo occurrence?

[Julie Francella]

Well, I've had many woo woo stories growing up in a culture where, you know, you're. That's just part of the daily life, like we're taught. Some of the teachings are about the little people. When I was younger, indigenous people, Ojibwe people, have these stories about little people that, you know, if something goes missing, it's usually the little people that take it, and then it'll appear again. And it's very consistent across many different nations. And they're mischievous, they're playful. And it's taught to us as children not to be something to be frightened of, but something to be respectful. Like, you're out there in the world, be respectful because the little people are watching you. Like, that kind of thing. So that wasn't really, you know, that's. That's something that I kind of learned when I was very young. But one of the stories, this is about my daughter, who now is 32 years old. She's my oldest daughter. I have two daughters. And this was about. She was five years old at the time, and she'd been napping in the middle of the day in just a regular afternoon. And she wakes up from her nap, and she comes into the room where I was, and she was just very calm. And she says, great grandma came to see me. So that's my grandmother in my dream. And I'm like, oh, that's cute. You know, totally normal grandma coming to see you in your dream. And then she says, yeah. And she made this hand gesture, like motioning up, lifting up into the sky. And she's like. She was going up, up in the sky. And she said that she has to, you know, go where the airplanes go. And she came to say goodbye to me, and I'm like, oh, that's so nice. But, you know, I just saw my grandmother, like, you know, Two days before. It's fine. And so I just thought, oh, nice little dream. And about an hour later, my telephone rings and it's my mother. You could tell that this was 27 years ago because the telephone rang and you know, when people actually called people. So I answered the phone and it was my mother. And she says, I have to tell you that, you know, Grandma just passed away. And I'm like, what? Like, that's crazy. And we figured out the timing, and it was right around the time when my daughter was napping that my grandmother had died. And woo, woo, like, what else do you say to that? But over the years as that that daughter, my oldest daughter, got older, she continued to be kind of prophetic in a lot of ways. Like it followed her through her life. And so I always tell her, hey, listen, if you ever have any dreams about me, keep it to yourself. I don't want any advanced warning. I don't need to know.

[Irene Bremis]

I know, because it's a little scary, but it sounds like teleporting. Something similar happened with my mother when she died. My neighbor said that my mother blew in her ear and said, go to my house. And my neighbor ran over to my house and she died. She had to go with Joanna. Cause my sister was alone and she got up and ran over in the middle of the night. Did I tell you that, Rachel? I feel like I might have not told you that part, but it's like a. Telling her story.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

I knew she went over. I don't think I knew about the

[Rachel Dratch]

blue in the ear.

[Irene Bremis]

Blue in the ear, which my mother. I mean, mom, just say wake up. Like blowing in somebody's ears. Ma, stop being difficult.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

All right. Wow.

[Irene Bremis]

But it's interesting. It's almost like, you know, just like a little last goodbye, I think. You know, it's a beautiful thing.

[Julie Francella]

You know, when we talk about death, I always say. I always think allegedly they died, you know, because what do we really know about death? You know, what do we really know for a fact about, you know, the afterlife or if there is an afterlife or, you know. So I am okay with understanding that we don't know everything about these things. And so I think that's why children often are very in tune with those things because they haven't lived through, you know, everybody telling them not to. Oh, it's just bunk. Don't believe it. I think they're very naturally open to those things. So. And then I have another one where my. My youngest daughter, who is now 27 and lives in Australia, she was about 10 years old when this happened. And this was April 20th of 2009. And that was the day that my mother died. And I was at the hospital with my father in the room with my mom. She was in a coma for a few days. And my youngest daughter stayed at my parents, her grandparents house. She didn't come to the hospital, so she didn't see my mother at all that day. And my mother died and my father and I went back to the house and you know, it's quiet, you know, at the house, you know, in that way when something big has happened and it's just me, my father, my uncle was there, my older sister Michelle was there and people are starting to gather. And there's this hallway that leads to my parents bedroom and at the other end is the bathroom. And so my daughter goes to use the bathroom and a couple of minutes later I hear her and she kind of lets out this little scream and she comes running and she kind of grabs onto me and she's really shaken and she says, mom, I just saw grandma in the hallway. And she described it as kind of standing in front of, you know, like their bedroom door. And my dad hears this and he's, you know, just devastated, grieving. My parents were together since they were 12 years old. And my dad's like, well, is she still there? Is she still there? And you know, you could just hear the hope in his voice, like maybe, maybe, you know, maybe she didn't really die, I don't know. But it was very sweet. And he starts asking questions like, well, well, did she look okay? Like was she sad or was she happy? And my daughter says, well, she was standing there smiling and kind of waving at me. And so someone else said, you know, well, well was she like, what was she, what did she look like? Did she look older or younger or with the same. And my daughter went on to describe what she looked like. She looked like, you know, the day that she died. And she described what she was wearing. I remember my daughter didn't see my mother. And she said that my mother had on these fuzzy slippers and a light green gown. And it had the, she described like these little triangle shapes, you know, design on it. And my dad and I look at each other because my dad had got my mom fuzzy slippers and put them on her feet, thinking that her feet might be cold. And she in fact was wearing this light green little, you know, gown with these little triangle designs, exactly what she was wearing, right down to the little triangles. And so, you know, I don't know what to do with that. But it gives you some comfort, you know, in a way that, like, oh, okay, maybe we don't know really what's going on. So I always say, allegedly, allegedly, she died. Allegedly people died. But it was very. Yeah, it stayed with me. It stayed with me. And I think it made my dad feel more comfort that, oh, she's okay. She's all right. Somewhere out there, wherever we go,

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Whether

[Rachel Dratch]

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[Tom Sykes]

I'm Tom Sykes and I'm the Royalist. I've been reporting on Britain's royal family for decades, and now I'm spilling all their secrets on the Royalist podcast. With generations of intrigue and unbelievable family feuds, the British royals have it all. Every Wednesday, I and the most informed insiders serve you every bit of royalty you could possibly want on the Royalist. Join us in the Throne room with new episodes. Episodes available every Wednesday. Wherever you get your podcasts.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

I love it that both, both of these things happen through a child. Cause like we always hear, you know, we're no experts, but you always general lore is like the kids have a sort of thinner veil to the other side. So that's. Wow, that's amazing.

[Irene Bremis]

Just so interesting that your dad, you know, it was touching that he was asking all those questions, you know, like, how did she look?

[Julie Francella]

You know, was she okay?

[Irene Bremis]

Was she really want to know that she's okay? You know, was she sad?

[Julie Francella]

What was she wearing?

[Irene Bremis]

Yeah.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

And it is a lesson to dress nicely every day because that's what you're wearing for eternity.

[Irene Bremis]

She certainly was not. She looked quite unattractive.

[Julie Francella]

Yeah.

[Irene Bremis]

With her. But it's interesting, you know, again, and we don't even have to put this in, but I just want to say this as a sidebar that, you know, my neighbor's daughter then said that she had a dream of my mother standing in the room. And I asked those exact same questions. You know, I, I was so devastated. I I5 alarmed Rachel Dratch immediately. She's my go to pal that I love with all my heart.

[Julie Francella]

Aw, that's sweet.

[Irene Bremis]

I immediately got on. Cause I was devastated that I wasn't there with her. But then I was like, what was she wear and how did she look? How old was she? Where was she standing? Was she smiling? Was she happy? Like all the things your dad asked? Yeah, it's so touching to me. Yeah.

[Rachel Dratch]

Oh, interesting.

[Julie Francella]

I just love the fact that, yeah. Like, you want to know if, you know, are they okay? Like, are they safe in distress? You know, those kinds of things. I mean, I have another one that happened 10 weeks after my mom dying, which. That one happened to me 10 weeks after my mother died. I was living in Mexico with my two daughters. That's a whole other podcast, but I float. I had flown back to Mexico after my mother's funeral and, you know, all of that. And so we're back in Mexico, my daughters are back in school, and I'm in the house and it's, you know, quiet. The house is kind of raised a little bit, so it's not near the street or anything. And I'm in this kind of room in the, in the back with a friend of mine, and we're doing some paperwork and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, clear as day, I hear mom, like somebody calling out. And it was in the room with me. And I just kind of stopped. And my friend who was there heard it as well, and he's like, did you just hear that? Like, sounds like somebody was in the room with us and just yelled out, mom. And I'm like, yeah, that sounded like my sister, my sister Michelle's voice. And he's like, yeah, that's crazy. Anyway, we go back to doing our paperwork and it was maybe 20 minutes later, I got a phone call from my younger sister. And she says that Again, this is 2009, ten weeks after my mom died. It's my younger sister, and she's crying on the phone, and she says, michelle's gone. And I'm like, what do you mean, she's gone? And my sister, at 37 years old, she died 10 weeks after my mother died. And I just sat there holding the phone, and I'm just devastated and, you know, probably very numb. Cause I hadn't even. I mean, we hadn't even. My dad hadn't even picked up my mother's ashes from the funeral.

[Irene Bremis]

Unbelievable. Julie.

[Julie Francella]

And, yeah, and so I like to believe that. I believe in science, but I also believe in, you know, not pretending that we know everything. And I couldn't deny that I heard that, because the other person in the room heard it, too. If that didn't happen, I probably would have thought, oh, I just imagined it. But no, it was, you know, this voice. It was Michelle's voice saying, mom. And I want to believe. And it gives me comfort to think that maybe she was calling out mom, like, trying to find our mom, you know, on the other side of wherever it is that we go. Because my sister was very devastated as well when my. We lost our mother. So I like to believe that, you know, she was trying to find her on the other side. But, yeah, that one. Really. That one. I mean, I still can't answer a telephone, like, because my sister calling me. And, you know, it's very. Yeah. Wow. So she won't ever call me. She always texts me now, like, I'm gonna call you.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Everything's okay. Right? Right. Wow.

[Julie Francella]

That.

[Rachel Dratch]

That.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

I could see that that would be some sort of comfort in terms of. It even sort of follows the pattern that your daughter saw your mom. And then you're getting these kind of signs, you know, I mean, the fact that someone else heard, too, I could find that to be somewhat comforting.

[Julie Francella]

Yeah. Like, oh, okay, maybe they're finding each other on the other side, you know, somewhere. Yeah. Like, it's. It's just, you know, in my culture, we believe. We never say. We don't use the word, like, people died. We'll say they're continuing on their journey. Given that we don't know, you know, we don't know where people go or whether what happens to the spirit and what. You know, we try really hard to figure it out. But I think there's comfort in that, too, that we don't know, you know, exactly. What happened?

[Rachel Dratch]

So I like that that's built in

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

from the time that you're a kid that we don't know the mystery, because that's what. I've sort of adopted that, like, we don't know. And that's what I tell my kid. But, like, I mean, I was raised Jewish, where it's just. I don't know, there's so many different forms of Judaism. But for us, it was like, I was always jealous of my Catholic friends because they were going to heaven and they were, like, looking forward to.

[Julie Francella]

As kids.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

You're like, well, they're in heaven. I wanted that kind of. But I mean, we had just always thought about heaven. It was like, oh, there's an answer, and that's cut and dry and there's a better place and all that. And I was kind of envious that, like, I would love to believe that, but I just not in my. And so in Judaism, it's more like, well, it's what you did on Earth, and it's like your memory is a blessing. It's like how you touch people on Earth and what goodness you've created here and how you're remembered. There's not really like an afterlife built in. But I was sort of woman one, maybe that's why I do this show. But I do like. I do like the built in mystery because there's so much we don't know. And so death is the big we don't know. That's the granddaddy of them all, you know, or the grand goddess of them all. I'm not gonna masculinize.

[Julie Francella]

Yeah.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

But anyway, so I like that that's kind of built in of the continuing journey.

[Julie Francella]

I love that. Yeah, yeah. And we call it the great mystery life. We call it the great mystery in Ojibwe teachings. It's just called the great mystery, which I love.

[Irene Bremis]

I love it too. And you know, you said something about, like, science and what we're talking about, they're not mutually exclusive. You know, we know that. I mean, I really, truly believe that we don't know what happens. But I know there is something else after this life, because energy doesn't die. And I love what you said, Rachel, about, like, what you do here on Earth stays, because that in itself is a form of energy that continues to live too. Because I don't believe anything that you do. It leaves an implant and it is energetic and it continues to die. It's unending. So, yeah, it is the big question mark looming. But at the same time, you Know what? I really believe there is a better place. You know, there is something else out there, you know, that we can.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Here comes the Staten island joke.

[Irene Bremis]

There's no Staten Island.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Oh, but no, no, I'm saying I was about to. No, because Irene lives on Staten island and she's always joking that she's on Staten Island. So I was like, well, you're. Well, you're on Staten island. So yeah, there's a better place. Irene over on Staten Island.

[Irene Bremis]

Oh, my God.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Come live near me so I can see you at a moment's notice, please.

[Julie Francella]

I'm so glad that you.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

That you. I was trying to beat you to the punch, Irene. No, because Irene's always bagging on Staten island. So I thought I'd jump in and take one. Take this one home. Take it home.

[Irene Bremis]

Swee, sweetie.

[Julie Francella]

Thank you.

[Irene Bremis]

That's hysterical.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Oh, my God. Yes.

[Julie Francella]

That's funny. I've been to Staten Island.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

It's nice.

[Julie Francella]

I mean, I just took the ferry. I just took the ferry over and back.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

I always make Irene come here. Well, Irene, I'm sorry. It's a big journey, but we did.

[Irene Bremis]

If I move to the city, I'm moving in your building.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Please, total sidebar. To lighten up the journey talk.

[Irene Bremis]

Wow.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Total sidebar. We did go to that restaurant, Irene in Staten Island. It was so good. The one that's based on the Nona's movie.

[Julie Francella]

Oh, the Nona's movie.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Have you. Have you gone to this restaurant?

[Julie Francella]

What's the three Nonna's?

[Irene Bremis]

Maria and Teka.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Maria. Enoteca. Right.

[Irene Bremis]

Enoteca.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Enoteca. But it was so funoteca. We had the best time. So Staten island does have its pluses. Besides Irene Bremis.

[Julie Francella]

Which Irene Bremis.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

She's the queen of Staten Island.

[Julie Francella]

The top cheddar.

[Irene Bremis]

Oh, that is the name of my next special. Thank you so much.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Okay, now. Now back to the other side.

[Irene Bremis]

I'm just gon Back to the literal other side.

[Julie Francella]

Back to the other side. And so.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Wow.

[Rachel Dratch]

So you.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

You've been like touched by. You've been touched by woo woo several times.

[Julie Francella]

Been touched by woo woo.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

That sounds bad. That sounds bad.

[Irene Bremis]

I've been touched by woo woo.

[Julie Francella]

Charges are pending. Charges are pending. Charges are pending.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Oh, God. Okay.

[Julie Francella]

Oh, my gosh.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Okay. But

[Rachel Dratch]

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[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

I was searching for. I was searching for a nutrition shake

[Rachel Dratch]

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[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

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[Rachel Dratch]

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[Em Schultz]

Hello, everyone. I am Em Schultz.

[Christine Schiefer]

And I'm Christine Schiefer. And we are the host of the scariest podcast. It's called and that's why we drink.

[Em Schultz]

I handle all of the paranormal and Christine handles every everything that's real and scary. Hopefully there's a little something for everybody on our podcast. But in case you like us even more than just wanting to listen to us, you can read books that we have written.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

We wrote two whole books.

[Em Schultz]

Our newest book is A Haunted Road Atlas. Next stop. And if that's not enough. We're also on tour.

[Christine Schiefer]

Yes. Okay. If you like what you hear, you can also see us live. We are currently touring the nation with some scripted live shows of actual ghost hunts that we have done. And we like to go across Trust the world and recount them to you with video evidence. Very dramatic. Anyway, find us on your favorite podcast listening platform. Wherever you listen to podcasts, you can find tickets to our live shows at. And that's why we drink.com live and you can see any of the troubling things we're doing on Instagram and Facebook, etc at atwwdpodcast.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

So Irene and I have both had our share of, like, you know, strange occurrences, too, which is maybe why we're so interested in doing this pod.

[Irene Bremis]

The for me is that I've had interesting occurrences, but I'm the only one usually that hasn't seen a ghost. But I slept with one, sweetie, but I've never seen a ghost. Have you ever actually seen a ghost, Julie?

[Julie Francella]

Let me think. Well, I have a story about the treatment center that I worked at where all of the staff saw what they thought was a ghost. So I was working at this. It's a residential treatment center. So young people would go there and live there in this. It's like a group home setting for, you know, periods of time, and they would receive treatment and, you know, group facilitation and all of those types of things. But there was this one room in the treatment center, and nobody ever wanted to stay in that room. Like, youth would come from all over the country, and anyone who ever stayed in that room would, like, complain that there's something in that room. And as staff were like, okay, you know, let's ground ourselves. Like, let's stay regulated guys place. Let's not jump to conclusions. Meanwhile, our night staff, they were like, just so, you know, we keep seeing, because the room is empty, a dark figure coming out of there and, like, going up and down the hallway to the point where our night staff were, like, scared, and they were saying. And I'm like, you can't put that in the report. You can't put that in, you know, our clinical reports that there's a dark figure coming out of the room. So it got to the point where, because we have to fill our rooms, you know, like, we have space for 10 youth. We have to fill the rooms. And so youth were refusing to stay in that room. And so our program manager, who was a very practical person, very logical person, he finally says, okay, we're gonna have to call in an elder. And so we. I. The onus was on me as an indigenous person. I went to one of the reservations nearby. I knew some elders and I explained what was happening. And so we invited an elder, an indigenous elder to come in. And the indigenous elder was just very matter of fact. Oh, yes, I know exactly what I need to do. And you know, he did ceremony and he smudged this space and everything. And we didn't tell. We did this at night, you know, whatever. The kids were out. We didn't tell the kids that we were doing this. And so after that, that no more complaints. The staff stopped. There was no more, you know, shadowy figures. And I remember thinking, you can have all the, you know, clinical training in the world and all the assessments and all the frameworks, but sometimes you just have to bring in an elder to clear up the space. And I kid you not. Like, our staff was just like, thank you so much. Like, it was so strange. And, you know, how do you explain that? So that's kind of like a crossover. And then also I knew a lot of psychiatric nurses that. That their hospitals would put extra staff on when there was a full moon. Police officers also.

[Irene Bremis]

That's true. Yes, absolutely. Were impacted by the moon, without a doubt.

[Julie Francella]

Yeah.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

I just think it's interesting because you have this population there that's like, you know, probably not gonna be believed a lot. Or like, oh, you're complaining. Cause you're.

[Julie Francella]

Yeah. Oh, you're disregulated. Yeah.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

It's interesting that, like. Well, I guess. Cause the staff were seeing it too, but that like they were believed and no one, you know, finally it got to the point where it had to be addressed like this inexplicable bad feeling.

[Julie Francella]

Right. Yeah.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

That's interesting.

[Julie Francella]

Yeah. And then this.

[Irene Bremis]

Yeah.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

And the elder. Will you tell me more about the elder?

[Irene Bremis]

Like, yeah, we love the elders that

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

they didn't even really know what. Like they weren't given the report of what was seen or whatever. They just were.

[Irene Bremis]

A question before, too, before you go into the elders, is the elder like a shaman sort of like a spiritual, like the hierarchy, A spiritual. Spiritual person that you call in?

[Julie Francella]

Yeah. We don't use the term shaman, but we have medicine people and everybody has different gifts. And so some of our medicine people are very connected to those things. And it's just a very matter of fact thing in our culture. It's. It's not, you know, question. It's just very matter of fact. So I remember the elder saying, was anyone whistling at night? And I'm like, no, because in our culture, it's. You don't whistle at night. There's actually. You can, you can look up. There's some really great. One of my friends who's a indigenous author, and they just wrote horror stories called, you know, don't whistle at night. That's one of the teachings. You know, you don't whistle at night because sometimes there's spirits that are lost, are wandering around, and when you whistle, you call them, and sometimes they'll come back with you, come back to your house with you. So it's in our Ojibwe culture, but also across many nations. You don't whistle at night. Ah. So that was funny because the, the elder had asked me, was anyone whistling at night? And I'm like, I don't think so.

[Irene Bremis]

Wow, that is amazing.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

And then when you say they smudge just for the listeners, do you mean like burning sage or smudging something different?

[Julie Francella]

Yeah, it depends on the. The elder in the nation. But we have four sacred medicines. Tobacco, cedar, sweet grass, and sage. That's my youngest daughter's name, Sage. And so there's different medicines that you use at different times. So I, I'm, I'm not sure exactly what. Okay, the ceremony was. But yes, smudging usually with sage is one of the ones that. Yeah. And you smudge the four directions. So there's a whole process to it. But whatever. Whatever it was, it. It worked. And that was the, that was the, that was the solution to something that was really causing a lot of problems. Right.

[Irene Bremis]

And you can't, you can't chalk this up to placebo because none of the kids were aware of this. You know, but suddenly that space is cleared and the negativity has been exercised.

[Julie Francella]

Right. And it was interest. I felt like the powers that were there, meaning, like the directors of the program didn't want the kids to think that, oh, there was something to be worried about. So that's why we didn't tell them that we brought in an elder. It's so interesting that it actually, it relieved the situation. So. Yeah. But, you know, the whole thing, it's so funny because I'm in this space now where I can sit in a room and talk about trauma and, and, you know, the nervous system and science based treatments and also be like. And maybe don't whistle at night just to be safe.

[Irene Bremis]

Well, I'm never gonna whistle at night again, sweetie. Make no mistake.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

All right, but that's such a good point. Like, you're, you know, you're Based in science, reality, all that stuff. But then. Then there's this stuff like, don't forget about.

[Julie Francella]

Yeah. Wait. Did you see it? Yeah. Did you see an owl? Did you see an owl on the way in? Like, that's not good, you know?

[Irene Bremis]

Right. Is that a thing with your culture? Because in our culture, in the Greeks believe that if you hear the owl a certain amount of time, somebody's gonna die. Is that a thing for. Yeah, yeah, you've said that.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

You've said that.

[Julie Francella]

Yeah, I've said that for many nations. I don't know if you watched. Did you watch Killers of the Flower Moon with Lily Gladstone?

[Irene Bremis]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Julie Francella]

Do you remember the owl, the mom. Every time she saw the owl? Yes, it was a. It was a. Gosh. Yes, it was an omen that, you know also. It's different in each nation has different teachings about it, but that. Lots of different. I know for the Navajo or the Dene, they call themselves the Dene. If you see a coyote facing north, especially facing north, you'll hear people say, oh, I saw a coyote on my way into the office today. And the question is, which way was it facing? And again, that's sort of. That something negative is on the horizon. It's kind of like an omen as well. So, yeah, it's fascinating. Order for Jennifer C. Is this my

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[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Uh, yeah.

[Rachel Dratch]

Can you handle that much caffeine?

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[Julie Francella]

That's great.

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[Julie Francella]

Yeah, you. You just said that.

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Did you say I just said that?

[Christine Schiefer]

Yeah.

[Rachel Dratch]

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[Julie Francella]

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[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

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[Rachel Dratch]

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[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

So.

[Rachel Dratch]

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[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Where did you grow up? Where was the Ojibwe based? In a certain part of the country? Or did you grow up among your own nation, or were you somewhere else?

[Julie Francella]

No, Batchawana First Nation is my nation, and it is situated right in the middle of the Great Lakes Lake Superior. So it's Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. So our nation was cut in two by the U.S. canada border. Yeah. So I grew up there. I grew up there and we had a teaching. There's something called. I guess we call it the place where food grows in the water. So our people, you know, were sort of traveling. We settled in that area because there was a prophecy that said, said keep going until you find the place where food grows in the water. And that's wild rice. And wild rice grows in the water there in Minnesota and Michigan and Ontario. And so that's. Our people have lived there for, you know, thousands of years. It's the place where. And so wild rice is very sacred to us. Yeah. So it's kind of. I love. I love it there. It's so beautiful. Lake Gitchigumi, which is the. The biggest, you know, Lake Superior. It's. It's beautiful.

[Irene Bremis]

Gorgeous there.

[Julie Francella]

Yeah. Again, water also is our relative. We believe that it is alive and we have to protect it. Yes, please. Yes.

[Irene Bremis]

I went to school on Lake Superior, like in UW Superior. So I was surrounded by that. Such a beautiful area there, you know. It's absolutely gorgeous.

[Julie Francella]

I love it. I love it there.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

What about. Did you want to talk about your art at all or like, like, creative inspiration or anything like that or. Yeah, I mean, you paint, right?

[Julie Francella]

I do.

[Rachel Dratch]

I paint.

[Julie Francella]

I've been painting since I was a young, young girl. My father is an artist. He has works in the. The National War Museum in Ottawa. He's very talented. My mother also was very talented. And so I've been painting since I was very young. I feel like it's a really good way to express yourself when you don't always want to use, you know, words. I. I used it in my counseling, you know, practice as well with young people, especially dealing with trauma, because oftentimes words don't really help you process. It's sort of getting it out by, you know, drawing or painting. And so that's why those things are very popular with. Especially in trauma counseling. Using art to kind of process emotions. So, yeah, I've been painting for a very long time. I. Stevie Van Zant actually owns one of my paintings. I did one of Gil Scott Harris and so he has it in his studio somewhere. So, yeah, I just. I've always painted. I love it. It's an inspiration to me because it connects me to my ancestors. A lot of my relatives are and ancestors were artists. Yeah. So it's kind of in the blood.

[Irene Bremis]

Your work is really incredible. She has Rachel. She has some paintings hanging up all over John Fugelsang's home. I love the one that you did of Sharmi. It's so beautiful.

[Julie Francella]

Thank you.

[Irene Bremis]

It's such an. You're very talented.

[Julie Francella]

Thank you.

[Irene Bremis]

Incredibly talented.

[Julie Francella]

Oh, thank you so much. That's so lovely. Yeah, I know. I've been painting. Do you guys paint? Do you guys do like.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

No, I'm. That's not my. That's not my area.

[Irene Bremis]

I was an artist. Well, I mean, I was an. What do you call it? An art major in college, actually. I do cartoons and animation type of stuff.

[Julie Francella]

Yeah, I love that.

[Irene Bremis]

But I can't. No, I can't say that I do paint. No, not at all, sweetie. The answer is no.

[Julie Francella]

I have to say I saw Rachel, our friend there, Mr. Nick Offerman.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Oh, yeah.

[Julie Francella]

And this is kind of a little woo woo. I think I thought I wasn't supposed to be able to go to see him because I had another event and I texted and I said, hey, I think I'll be able to make it. And I kind of zipped over at town hall and I got to see him and we're just talking and chatting and then like, oh, I'm gonna. I have to go because I'm gonna get up, you know, early and I'M gonna do Rachel Dratch podcast. And he's like, no way. I was just on last night on Colbert with Rachel. I'm like, really? And I just have to say I thought that was kind of woo woo that, you know, it's like the universe, you know, kind of knitting people together.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

That is woo woo. You manifested me and cheer life.

[Julie Francella]

Yes. So funny. That's so cute.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Do you have any other questions or things you want to talk about or

[Irene Bremis]

any projects that you're working on or something you'd like to push?

[Julie Francella]

Let's see. Well, we are doing the second Indigenous Fashion Week because that's, you know, one thing that if you look on, you know, the runways, Indigenous people are often not represented. So, yeah, we're. That's coming up in the fall. So that's our second annual Indigenous New York Fashion Week, which last year we did the first one. We ended up on, you know, Vogue magazine. And ours was much, you know, very much a celebration and how clothing also can be an expression, and it kind of ties us to one another. We did this whole story about ribbon skirts. So indigenous people, my nation, we have these ribbon skirts, and they're long, and they have our colors, because when we're given a name, our indigenous names, a spirit name. I have a spirit name, and we have colors that are attached to our name, and those colors are sewn into these ribbon skirts. And the colors represent. It's very specific. So I have five colors, and they're very specific just to me. And so my daughter has, you know, seven colors, all different colors. My other daughter has, like, six colors. And the combination, it's kind of like a lighthouse. And so we believe that when you sleep, your spirit travels and, you know, goes and visits, you know, our ancestors or people that have gone on and died before us. And then to be able to come back to your body, your spirit kind of looks for those colors. So you usually put them up where you sleep, the ribbons of those colors up where you sleep so that your spirit can come back to it. Almost like a little lighthouse. I think that's so cool.

[Irene Bremis]

It's so cool. It almost sounds. Is it, like, aura related somehow or.

[Rachel Dratch]

I'm not sure.

[Julie Francella]

It's never really been described as aura. But when you're given a name, like, my name is Akadewinowawashkeshikwe in my language, and that means brave, dear woman, standing strong from the heart. So that's my spirit name name. And I was given my colors that the. The medicine man, he has these, you know, he's the one that kind of has, you know, a vision or however he comes to the name. And your name can change over your lifetime based on, you know, things that happen to you or based on things that, you know, will help you move you in the direction that you need to go. So I. My original name was Brave Dear Woman. That was my name up until my. My 30s, and then I was kind of called back home, and Medicine man gave me another name, which is Standing Strong from the Heart. So I have two names. But, yeah. So anyway, related to clothing, that's what we're doing in the fall.

[Irene Bremis]

Wow.

[Julie Francella]

Indigenous Fashion Week. Yeah.

[Irene Bremis]

That's beautiful. Well, keep us posted, sweetie.

[Julie Francella]

I will.

[Irene Bremis]

Because we might show up at the Runway.

[Julie Francella]

Oh, my gosh, it's so fun. It's in the East Village. It's so. It's so fun.

[Rachel Dratch]

Really?

[Julie Francella]

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Okay.

[Irene Bremis]

That's right. So that's amazing.

[Julie Francella]

Yeah. Look up Relative Arts. Yeah. It's the only indigenous collective in New York that's indigenous. Yeah.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Well, Irene, do you have any other questions or anything, or do we go to the Pendulum?

[Irene Bremis]

I think we just cut to Peny because we have so much here. You've been amazing.

[Julie Francella]

Thank you so much for everything.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

So many great stories.

[Irene Bremis]

Hoan and woo woo and heartfelt and all of it, sweetie.

[Julie Francella]

So happy. I just love this idea.

[Irene Bremis]

Yes.

[Julie Francella]

I just love this podcast idea. Like, woo woo. Like, it's so lovely, and I do believe that it's uplifting. I think that people need. That they need to know that, you know, guys, like, we're not people, always ask me, you know, they get very down and depressed about the state of the world. And I. And I always say, indigenous people have been kind of fighting this for 500 years. Like, and I'm like, welcome to the resistance. You know, we survived it. And you'll survive it, too.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Yes, Great point. So the Pendulum question, it's a yes or no.

[Julie Francella]

Yes or no. Okay. That's what I mean.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

And we always say, don't ask somebody that's going to bum you out if it gives you an answer you don't want, so. But this is Irene's specialty. I just glommed on.

[Irene Bremis]

Rachel has a gift. Okay. I don't understand why, Rachel, you've been saying that your gifts have more than I am with this.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

No, my gifts have faded.

[Julie Francella]

Okay.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Okay. So think on your question.

[Irene Bremis]

Are you doing it with me?

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

I hope I am. What the heck? But, sweetie, you.

[Irene Bremis]

You're very gifted at this.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

No, my gifts have subsided. Okay. Here. Okay. All right, here we go. Okay. What did you get, Irene?

[Irene Bremis]

Hold on a second. Hold on. I got a no on this one.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Okay, that's funny, because I'm getting a mixed response.

[Irene Bremis]

Okay.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

I don't know what I'm getting, because I got a yes and a no, so that's why I don't have the gifts. What was your question? I hope a no isn't a bummer.

[Rachel Dratch]

Bummer.

[Julie Francella]

Kind of a bummer. But my question was, will fast food win the long game against our current president's arteries?

[Irene Bremis]

Oh, good question.

[Julie Francella]

Okay.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Okay. We've asked this many times. We've asked a lot of related questions, and we don't know. The pendulum seems to. Well, of course, now I'm getting a yes, now that I know what the question is.

[Julie Francella]

Putting your energy in there.

[Irene Bremis]

We don't do this.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

That's why we don't ask. Wait, do you want to. Do you want to ask. Do you want to ask one more? Do you have another one in you?

[Julie Francella]

Yeah.

[Irene Bremis]

Okay, so let me grab it.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Okay. Are you thinking of another question?

[Irene Bremis]

Oh, I got a widely swinging yes on this.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

I got a yes on that.

[Julie Francella]

Yeah, Wildly swinging.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

What was that?

[Rachel Dratch]

A wildly swinging yes. What was.

[Irene Bremis]

What was your question?

[Julie Francella]

My question was, is my youngest daughter in Australia gonna get married in the next year?

[Irene Bremis]

Wait, is she with somebody?

[Julie Francella]

Yeah.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Yes. Oh, that's good.

[Irene Bremis]

That's great.

[Julie Francella]

They've been together for seven years.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Whoa. All right. Well, the pendulum has spoken.

[Julie Francella]

Pendulum has spoken on that.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Yes. Okay, first of all, you're on John Fugelsang's show every Thursday at 10. Yes, we're still here.

[Julie Francella]

Yes.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Awesome. That's a segment on his show. Go check that out.

[Julie Francella]

Check it out.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

And the indigenous fashion. Yeah.

[Julie Francella]

Will be in the fall. You can find me on all social media. Uliefranchella. And you can also check out my substack. It's free. It's called the Fire I Keep. And, yeah, I'm gonna check that out for sure.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Julie, thank you so much. This was so amazing, enlightening, and fun.

[Julie Francella]

Yeah. It had everything. It had everything.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

You brought it all.

[Julie Francella]

I brought it all.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

Just like your resume there. You brought it all. You did.

[Julie Francella]

Thank you.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

All right, well, thank.

[Rachel Dratch]

And you can find me on Instagram @RayDratsch. That's R A E Dratch. And you can find Irene at irenebremis. That's B R E M I S Bremis.

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

And thanks for listening.

[Rachel Dratch]

Thanks for joining me on this journey

[Host (possibly co-host or main host)]

into the world of woo.

[Rachel Dratch]

Woo. Don't forget to rate review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Woo Woo with Rachel Dratch is a Q Code production executive produced by David Henning and Steve Wilson produced by Alexa Gabrielle Ramirez, edited by Will Tendi.