Spiritual Pyro Podcast By Sarah Carter and Corinne Shark cover art

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
  • S1E10: Reconstruction

    S1E10: Reconstruction
    Jul 27 2025
    Reconstruction

    After you've deconstructed and set aside the beliefs that you've grown past, what's next? How do you go about rebuilding and reconstructing yourself? Sarah and Corinne explore the idea that leaving religion doesn't mean leaving yourself, though it may feel that way sometimes. They discuss the concept of benevolent patriarchy, which appears kind on its surface but actually serves as another way to negate a woman's agency over herself. Sarah explains more about IFS (Internal Family Systems) Therapy and the questions that are explored therein, specifically with regard to deconstruction and reconstruction.

    Corinne discusses her surprise during a visit to an indie bookstore when she opened a book on whales and read, "Show me the difference between a cathedral and physics." She recalls her time at Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona and its massive painting above the votive candles: a portrait of a woman, draped in reds, purples, and blues and staring evocatively at the parishioners. Her mind wanders to other examples of "cathedrals" she's encountered in both the natural and human-made worlds.

    Listen in as Sarah and Corinne discuss what it looks like to walk away from religion...and into an authentic life of spirituality and the sacred.

    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
  • S1E9: Phantom Faith

    S1E9: Phantom Faith
    Jul 13 2025
    Episode 9 - Phantom Faith

    While they’ve left their former religious tradition behind, Sarah and Corinne now must begin the arduous task of creating a new paradigm through which to live and understand. When Sarah’s beloved father-in-law passes, she falls back on her old ways and walks into a Christian church – only to be confronted with triggering music and environment that send her running outside in a panic. Corinne listens to Robyn Sherwell’s cover of “Landslide” and begins to identify with it in ways she did not before.

    Both women come to see that they gave up their own agency in order to live within the Christian tradition and that stepping outside of it requires a conscious change in habitual behaviors. Echoes of their former belief structure and church ecosystem ripple through their lives, leaving in their wake a phantom faith akin to an amputee’s sensation of the lost limb.

    They examine the intentions behind the oft-repeated Christian phrase, “I’ll pray for you,” and find that, while it could be about trying to affect a desired outcome, it also could simply be an expression of “with you.” It is this latter sentiment that still rings true amidst the ghostly waves of the phantom faith reverberations.

    Far from needing answers or outcomes for everything, they’re learning that questions don’t always need answers. Unknowing from an attitude of marvel and presence – sitting with each other in the uncertainty - can sometimes be the full experience.

    In the Christianity they practiced before, they outsourced wisdom and power to a being beyond themselves. Now they’re now coming to wonder if what they’ve been waiting for and needing has actually been within them all along.

    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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    42 mins
  • S1E8: Deconstruction Part 2 - Seeing Behind the Curtain

    S1E8: Deconstruction Part 2 - Seeing Behind the Curtain
    Jun 29 2025
    Deconstruction Part 2 - Learning and Leaving

    Sarah and Corinne discuss the experiences within and outside the church that led to their independent deconstructions of faith. From seeing behind the curtain of how churches operate to experiencing other faiths, they each came to similar places in a similar timeframe.

    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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    54 mins
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