mysticism, chronic illness & the collapse of certainty [w/ Sophie Strand]

guest info: www.sophiestrand.com/ www.instagram.com/cosmogyny/ www.substack.com/@sophiestrand GO BUY HER BOOKS!!!! host info: www.hannawilliams.com www.patreon.com/gracepilled www.instagram.com/gracepilled In this episode of Gracepilled, I sat down with writer and “neo-troubadour animist” Sophie Strand for a sprawling conversation about mysticism, illness, ecology, beauty, paradox, and what it means to stay openhearted in a world that often feels unsafe. Together we explore Sophie’s unusual upbringing around Buddhist monks, interfaith spirituality, rescued animals, and ecological thought, as well as the role chronic illness played in dismantling simplistic spiritual narratives about healing, fairness, and transcendence. The conversation moves through topics like animism, Joan of Arc, climate anxiety, Groundhog Day as a spiritual text, mystical experience, riddles and parables, the difference between beauty and glamour, and why the deepest spiritual truths often live inside contradiction rather than certainty. This episode is ultimately about surrender: not as passivity, but as the willingness to remain in relationship with reality even when there are no guarantees, no explanations, and no “happy ending” waiting at the end of suffering. You can find Sophie’s work through her books, essays, and Substack.