Everyone's favourite expat druid and substacker, Rhyd Wildermuth, returns to the show this week. His latest book, Being Pagan: A Guide To Re-Enchant Your Life , forms the through-line of a wide ranging discussion on beingness, paganism, embodiment and the general state of the world. Electrifying stuff, as ever. Enjoy! Show Notes Rhyd's latest book . Rhyd's substack . Rhyd's website ....
Everyone's favourite Swedish polymath returns to the show for a discussion about the Black Pope, Anton LaVey, himself. This is on the occasion of the release of Carl's latest book, Anton LaVey and the Church of Satan . It's the biography LaVey boths needs and deserves. So we talk a little bit about his life but mostly we examine his legacy, what he might think of today's cancel culture and whether or not the ol' devil has got his dues yet. It's a great chat and had both Carl and I reminiscing ab...
Here is the next of the free or publicly available modules of the latest premium member course, Protection and Malefica . It is a discussion on morality frameworks and how, when and we we might magically intervene. The one and only Peter Grey of Scarlet Imprint joins us for a deep dive on one of Jack Parsons's most important texts, We Are The Witchcraft . This is a video discussion with slides and such , but if you would prefer to listen to it like a normal podcast, this audio version is eminent...
The one(s) and only(s) Miguel Conner of Aeon Byte Gnostic Radio and Chris Knowles of The Secret Sun join the show this week for a discussion of all things astro-gnostic. We discuss the true antiquity and use of star lore, stars in the Bible, gnostics in history as well as a gnostic study of history as well as which components of gnosticism may or may not be universal. This chat was arranged in honour of a conference that Miguel is arranging that Chris and I will both be speaking at next month (M...
This week, we welcome to the show astrologer, philosopher and shamanic practitioner, Michael Ofek. Michael and I have a great chat about topics very near and dear to our hearts: star lore, star magic, and the true antiquity of what we can broadly call astrology, or perhaps coming into relation with Sky Country. Along the way, we also talk about the metaphysics of light, the shamanic origins of Greek and European civilisation, hag attacks and spontaneous OBEs. Good times! (Note: This is a repost ...
This week we complete our revisitation of classic blog post series from back in the day. And we have saved my favourite for last: Apocalypse Pharmaka. It's my favourite for a bunch of reasons that I explain in the episode. But, basically, the contested landscape of medicine and power and the body is where the witch and the cunning person has always lived. (Not that you'd know it from looking around in the past couple of years, although the shrillness is mercifully receding.) So if you want to sa...
Researcher, energy healer and fellow Scarlet Imprint author, Peter Mark Adams, returns to the show this week. We discuss his book, The Power of the Healing Field . We also have a fantastic chat about what the field even am, and why it is an idea and framework whose time has come. We explore various energy-based healing modalities and pause to consider that we should not even be using the word 'alternative' for such disciplines, as the majority of the population of the planet incorporates them in...
We begin the new year with the traditional podcast catch-up with Conner Habib. This time around we explore the full cosmic significance of the heart, the metaphysics of blood and blood sacrifice and then spend a lot of time with the notion of prophecy: What it is, what it isn't, which medicines it holds, what it says about time and what it can say about our moment. Then we turn to 2022 and thrash out some frameworks for sin, trauma and forgiveness. A splendid start to the year! Show Notes Conner...
Austinmas comes but twice a year! Yes, it's the traditional half-yearly forecast with the one and only Austin Coppock. Join us as we explore the space weather for the next six months, as well as a discussion on how to be with said space weather. (And stick around for the amusing tech fails on both sides of the call.) Enjoy!
This week, we are joined by essayist and filmmaker, Niles Heckman. Among other things, Niles is the co-creator of the Shamans of the Global Village series. So we talk about that, obviously. And we also talk about creativity, filmmaking, the power of the essay format, as well as how -or if it's possible- to participate in cross-cultural learning in non-extractive ways. Great chat. Enjoy! Show Notes Niles's website, podcast and blog . Watch Shamans of the Global Village . Trailer for Episode 1 . T...
Continuing our revisitations this week, we turn to the archonology series -a long running exploration of power and conspiracy. And you know what? A lot of these have held up pretty well. I especially like how so many of the videos shared in the posts are now gone from YouTube, and how many links have died. It's like burning the edges of a pirate map. Adds character. Enjoy! The Archonology Series Things That Persist: Archonology (Part 1) . While We Pray For A Long Summer: Archonology (Part 2) . S...
A bumper episode this week and a veritable romp through the Fortune's Fools project as the finish line appears over the horizon. I was told going into a project like this that it would show up in your life in strange ways: seeing a cardiologist the week of the Heart card, having a friend lose is eyebrow ring at your house the week of the Ring card, taking ayahuasca the week of the Tree card. None of these things were planned out beforehand but if you read cards, you know these things tend to hap...
Continuing our whistle-stop tour of classic blog series, this time we revisit a term I lifted from the (pre-cancelled) Joss Whedon film, Serenity . It's the term I use to better frame the totality of digital systems and social media in the context of how they see the world and what it is they seek to do to ours. For people who may be unaware, I had a career in digital media and publisher strategy before doing whatever it is you call what I'm doing now. And I've long been interested in that overl...
Based on some suggestions that came out of the recent solo show on the story of Rune Soup , I'm going to be revisiting the classic blog post series from back in the old timey bloggy days of yore. The first such series is The Whisky Rant : where the name came from, the benefits and shortcomings of alternate history, which UFOs are actual aliens and which of the various rants stood the test of time. For new people, this was a series that covered off all the exciting hits like ruins on Mars and the...
It's that time of year again! And for the traditional Halloween special, we are joined by astrologer, witch and counsellor, Sasha Ravitch. Sasha joins us to talk about star spirits, astrology and the dead, and what sort of ancestral curses and blessings can show up in your natal chart. Awesome stuff. Show Notes Sasha's website . Sasha's Linktree . Sasha's Instagram . Sasha's Twitter . Sasha's Patreon . AstroMagia conference website ....
This week, we welcome to the show author, teacher and herbalist, Seán Pádraig O'Donoghue. Seán joins us today to talk about his journey to animist herbalism, how he defines it, and what constitutes health in a living framework. Really good, timely stuff. Enjoy! Show Notes Seán's website, Otherworld Well . S eán's course, Holistic Pharmacology for Herbalists ....
A long-overdue solo show this week, telling the story of Rune Soup from its beginnings as a blog in Bristol, through the books, through the development of the podcast, and the membership and the events and so on. At the end, there is also some discussion of where to next. Subscribe to Rune Soup on Rumble . Subscribe to Rune Soup on Odysee . Check out Fortune's Fools ....
Author, magician, returning guest and friend, Ivy Bromius, joins us again this week on the occasion of the publication of her completely free book, The Cancer Grimoire . We talk about her experiences treating and overcoming cancer, blending allopathic and holistic methods, and finding meaning in our own health crises. An important discussion at the best of times. Probably more so now. Download the episode directly here or watch along on YouTube below. Show Notes Find everything Ivy has going on ...
This week, we are joined by the hosts of one of my very favourite podcasts, Fucking Cancelled. Clementine and Jay talk to us about their own journey to activism, through what they call the nexus -that toxic combination of social media bullying and neoliberal group thing- and out the other side to a genuine left they call 'socialism with freaky options'. Along the way we discuss what cancellation is, how old it is, why it works and whether or not its efficacy is fading. Super fun show with some s...
This week, we welcome back to the show Dr Matthew Segall. Matt joins us to talk about his recently released book, Physics of the World Soul: Whitehead's Adventure in Cosmology . So we chat about the shortcomings of materialism, what science could be like and how it could be done. We also discuss the concept of the Anima Mundi -or World Soul- and what the point of the universe might be. Show Notes Get Matt's book, Physics of the World Soul . Matt's blog . Matt's YouTube channel ....
This week we welcome to the show Karen Johnson. Karen is a shaman, healer, and former judge. She was catapulted into the life of a healer when her son died suddenly of a heroin overdose at the age of twenty seven. Leaving her old life behind, Karen embarked on a multi-year spiritual quest around the world, ultimately discovering -among many modalities and sources of spiritual nourishment- shamanic energy medicine. (Karen is actually my teacher at the Four Winds Academy, which comes up a couple o...
Christmas only comes but once a year, which makes the half-yearly astrological forecasts twice as good as it! Big thanks to the one and only Austin Coppock -as well as the premium members and patrons who join the call. As is now tradition, we look at the previous six months, the upcoming six months and situate our discussion in the context of longer cycles. I always look forward to these chats!
Something a bit different and exciting this week in lieu of a normal show. One of the things the premium members will be doing over the coming month is participating in calls and Q&As with thinkers who have something to share or contribute to this notion of operating at the level of the living field. First cab off the rank is none other than Rhyd Wildermuth. Finding The Ekumen gets its name from Ursula K. Le Guin's space utopia, effectively an anarchist version of Star Trek's far more milita...
Comedian, author, ceremonialist and healer, Nick Sun, joins us this week. Back in January, Nick wrote a piece on Medium called Watch Your Dreams Die And Be Happy Now . It's about how childhood dreams in general and the insistence we all follow them is not always a good thing. In fact, it can even be pathological. Obviously that sort of piece has Big New Year Energy given the world is awash with resolutions at the time. But it is also good and insistent medicine for now -particularly for younger ...
This week, we welcome to the show the author of Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save The World -genuinely one of my favourite books ever- Tyson Yunkaporta. In addition to being an author, Tyson is a poet, an artist, a wood carver, a linguist and and is senior lecturer in Indigenous Knowledges at Deakin University. I had a fantastic time with this chat. We talk about ceremony, metaphor, the pitfalls of the new age, right relation and all that good stuff. We also talk about communicating vi...
Author, speaker and Scarlet Imprint co-founder, Peter Grey, returns to the show this week to talk about his latest book, The Two Antichrists . This means we explore the Babalon Working(s), the influence of Jack Parsons on science fiction and science fiction's influence on Jack Parsons, the sophistication in Parsons's later work, L. Ron Hubbard's fascination with Aleister Crowley -as well as some of the ways he managed to out-Crowley the Beast himself. We also talk about what witchcraft could and...
This week, we are speaking with Danish historian and animist, Rune Hjarnø Rasmussen. Animism is the main topic of our discussion, inevitably. We talk about what it looks like in the doing, and what academic work does and still might come from operating within an animist framework rather than a materialist-naturalist one. We also examine both some of the opportunities and risks inherent in learning from and with indigenous ways of thinking and being. Absolutely killer chat. Enjoy! Show Notes Rune...
Microbiologist, teacher and ritualist, Dr Siobhan Watkins joins the show this week. We have a really great chat about the how and why of coming into right relation with the microbial world, what all forms of biology look like from an animist perspective and the ancestral implications of being a composite being. Awesome discussion. Enjoy! Show Notes Microanimism website . Thinking Like A Plague course . Siv on instagram ....
Ethnobotanist, ecologist, author and teacher Jonathon Miller Weisberger joins us this week. We talk about growing up in Ecuador, living among various Amazonian nations, ecology, eco-spirituality, environmental activism and the difference between ayahuasca and yagé -among many, many other topics (including being dispatched by Terence McKenna to buy a paddleboat). This is an amazing and lengthy chat which I have wanted to have since reading Jonathon's book, Rainforest Medicine , a few years ago. A...
One of our most popular returning guests joins us again this week. Denmark's very own Queen of Swords is back to talk about the latest book in her Read Like The Devil series, which is about something near and dear to my own heart (and diamonds), fortune telling with playing cards! So we discuss the in's and out's of the various suits, how significators work in playing card readings, which questions might be better 'suited' to playing cards and which ones to tarot, which spreads play to their var...
