Mancy

RJ and Elle explore the life and inventions of Wolfgang Von Kempelen. His speech making machine, the great great great great great great great grandfather of Hatsune Miku, and his wondrous "Mechanical Turk" A chess playing automaton that stunned the world by defeating Chess legends and world leaders.  RJ then reveals the Mechanical's turks secret and Elle discusses the implications. RJ does a brief overview of fortune telling arcade machines, such as Zoltar.RJ and Elle then venture to a nearby mall to consult a Zoltar machine for 2 readings.Support the show

Elle and RJ begin their coverage of Mechanomancy, divination by Machine. RJ discusses the life of John Murray Spear and his transition from the Unitarian faith into Spiritualism. RJ goes into detail about Spear's attempts to build a Mechanical Messiah that will usher in an age of New Motive Power. RJ an Elle recount their trip to San Francisco to the Musee Mecanique where RJ acquired a vintage Zoltar reading. Elle interprets the reading on the card. Support the show

RJ and Elle continue their coverage of bug magic. RJ discusses maggot therapy and its historical uses. RJ then discusses the demon known as Beelzebub aka The Lord of the Flies. After a quick diversion into the origins of Pokemon, RJ brings up the Kodoku spell and draws a comparison between the two. Elle and RJ then travel into the mountains and Elle turns over some rocks and logs to perform and Entomancy reading for Jana.Support the show

RJ and Elle recount their experiences with  spiders and RJ discusses the history of spiders in mythology. RJ recounts Ovid's story of Arachne and reads an anthropologists recorded Anansi story. RJ and Elle then discuss the arachnomancy readings that are currently popular in West Africa. RJ and Elle then find a black widow spider  and Elle divines a question for Christon using the web.Support the show

This is an episode written by Elle Alder and presented to RJ Walker. Elle leads the audience through a guided meditation or astro-travel ceremony of a Zar - a healing magic ceremony that comes from the geographical region of the horn of Africa. The surprise modern take of this ritual is Elle taking RJ for an afternoon of Ecstatic Dance. RJ is delighted by the number of willing interviewees and finds a wide range of reasons for people doing this Sunday Ritual of dance. Thank you to the Utah Arts Alliance and the Art's Castle.Elle and RJ give the thumbs up to Ecstatic Dance. Visit the Lady's Literary club in Salt Lake City, Utah on Sundays to visit, participate, or experience. Support the show

RJ and Elle continue their coverage of Geomancy, earth magic. RJ describes the Harmonic Convergence event that took place in 1987 around the world. RJ also describes the history of Sedona's magical "vortexes" that are rumored to amplify spiritual and psychic energies. Elle then re-performs the readings for Christopher Fox Graham's kids. The readings coincide with their ancient greek namesakes and Elle uses Astragalomancy to add clarification to the reading.  Support the show

RJ and Elle begin their coverage of Geomancy, divination using the Earth. RJ goes into the history of Ley Lines and how these debunked theories have continued to this day. RJ describes the Earth Mysteries movement and the beginnings of the New Age movement and teases the Harmonic Convergence event that helped put Sedona Arizona on the map. Elle and RJ describe their journey to a Sedona Vortex and RJ admits that he messed up the recording at the Vortex and Elle re-records the reading she performed for Lewis using Geomancy and adding an Astragalomancy reading for clarification.  Support the show

RJ and Elle continue their coverage of hexes. RJ discusses the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn's supposed hexing of the Nazis during WW2. Elle weighs in on hexes as liberation. RJ discusses the recent history of Hexes for political action. RJ and Elle discuss the 1960's and 70's political group known as WITCH. They then discuss the recent hexing of Brett Kavenaugh. Elle then provides information on how to perform a hex on oneself to excise internalized hatred. Support the show

Mancy returns to kick off a new season! Hexes, magic intended to do harm. RJ dives into the Powow magic of the Pennsylvania Dutch and explains the disambiguation between their brand of hex magic what is commonly accepted as a hex or curse. Elle reads hexes from a grimoire and RJ attempts to use one of the hexes to cure hir chronic headaches. RJ discusses the history of the nithing curse, odinism, and the volkish movement. Elle weighs in on the magic battles practitioners can sometimes engage in. Elle hexes a person who left a racist message in an immersive art exhibit. Support the show

RJ and Elle continue their discussion of Seances live at the UAA Art Castle. RJ goes over the biography of Cora Scott, a medium and notable organizer in the spiritualist movement. He discusses fraud psychics, and the debunkers. RJ goes over the history of The Ghost Club and the Society for Psychical Research or SPR. The drama between spiritualists and skeptics. And also the drama between skeptics and other skeptics that continues to this day. Support the show

A special live episode of Mancy recorded from the UAA art castle, a historic church built in the 1800s. This live episode is made possible by the Utah Arts Alliance offering this venue. RJ discusses the history of Seances in America and does a short biography of medium Leafy Anderson who spearheaded the spiritualist movement for black americans.  He discusses Leafy's spirit guide, Black Hawk, and the ways in which she led the charge for black spiritualists. RJ also discusses the seances performed in the white house at the behest of Mary Todd Lincoln so that she could communicate with her dead sons. Elle performs 3 mediumship readings for live audience members in the spiritualist tradition. Support the show

A special announcement! We're kicking off Season 5 on October 26th 2022 with a special live show! We're going to be covering Seances and you can be in the audience while Elle performs a Live Seance at the UAA Art Castle. Tickets available here:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/seance-mancy-podcast-live-tickets-430465141827?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=escb Support the show

Elle continues her coverage of the Akashic Records, her specific area of expertise. She brings Jennifer Martin into the studio, another professional psychic who received similar training on the akashic records. Elle begins by answering questions posed by listeners of the show, and then moves into an introduction of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (HPB) the founder of the theosophical movement and controversial figure among psychics and other magical practitioners. Support the show

RJ and Elle finish their coverage of charms by looking at the remaining charms present in Lucky Charms Cereal. RJ and Elle give their backgrounds with breakfast cereal. RJ opens by describing what a blue moon is, and why we call it that. He then talks about when the moon actually turns blue. He then discusses some of the mythology and magic connected to rainbows, the lucky and unlucky parts as well as some historical background on the pride flag. He discusses the legend associated with pots of gold, and then finally the historical background of Lucky Charms cereal.  Elle then performs a charm casting reading using Lucky Charms cereal.Support the show

Elle and RJ continue their coverage of charms. RJ looks into the egyptian ankh and Elle provides context with her experience from Egypt. RJ then continues his coverage of each lucky charm in lucky charms cereal. Starting with clovers, then hearts, and then finally balloons. RJ gets a guest reading from @theworkerinclay on tiktok using a magnus archives themed charms set. Support the show

RJ and Elle kick off Season 2 with coverage of charms. Lucky or otherwise. RJ and Elle discuss lucky or sentimental objects that serve as charms for them. RJ starts the episode with the lore behind the Lucky Rabbit's Foot and the ways it has been culturally appropriated. RJ then discusses the grusome Hand of Glory charm, and the lore surrounding horseshoes. The Pennsylvania Dutch are brought up again in relation to Barn Stars and Hex Signs. Elle finishes the episode by performing charm casting using her specific lucky and magic objects.Support the show

RJ and Elle continue their coverage of Astragalomancy. RJ discusses the history of loaded dice and cheating dice. RJ also comes clean about using loaded dice in games of Dungeons and Dragons. RJ then dives into some of the history of DnD, the good and the bad. A slight dive into the satanic panic that arose from the game in the 1980's. RJ goes over a very unique and specific case involving the disappearance of James Egbert and how some believed Dungeons and Dragons was responsible. Elle finishes the episode by performing Astragalomancy using a standard set of polyhedral dice, the likes if which would be used in games of Dungeons and Dragons. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

RJ and Elle begin their coverage of Astragalomancy, divination with Dice. RJ begins by describing his father's passion for Craps and Elle describes a dice tarot variant that used to be available in her store. RJ then begins the long, complex history of dice which goes well into pre-history. RJ describes the egyptian game of Senet and the Royal Game of Ur as some of the earliest examples of board games we know of. RJ then describes Astragali, the earliest dice which were made from a very specific knucklebone from a sheep. He then describes the ancient greek practice of Astragalomancy, where these bone dice were rolled to divine messages from the gods. RJ describes the statue of Hermes which has 56 different dice rolls and what they mean. Next, RJ describes the culture of gambling that grew from this divination practice and how it eventually grew into the Craps tables we know of today. RJ and Elle then roll the Astragali and see what messages the statue of Hermes has for them. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

RJ and Elle conclude their coverage of Augury by looking at research conducted on birds.  RJ establishes the intelligence of Corvids, and then discusses the sad relationship humans have with pigeons. He brings up the domestication of the pigeon, and messenger pigeons. He then discusses pigeons who are decorated war heros including Cher Ami and G.I. Joe who saved hundreds of lives by delivering intelligence during the world wars. RJ also discusses Project Pigeon, which was an attempt to train pigeons to be suicide bombers during world war 2. RJ concludes by looking at the future of homing pigeons, specifically the joke/not joke of IPoAC which is a theory that carrier pigeons would be faster and more efficient than the internet at delivering data. Elle does a reading for Jonathan at the Tracy Aviary. Specifically, the helmeted curassow from Venezuela imparts its wisdom.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

Continuing coverage of Augury, RJ discusses the folkloric significance of birds as they relate to psychopomps. RJ and Elle discuss the practice of sky burials and maritime lore about birds. RJ retells the Rime of the Ancient Mariner and then follows that up with a mormon folktale known as the Miracle of the Gulls, which is the reason the California Gull is Utah's state bird and is venerated among mormons. RJ then does a long list of different birds and the omens they portend. RJ and Elle then head to Allen Park, a former bird sanctuary turned ghost town. Elle performs Augury for Anya with the wildlife there. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

In this series RJ and Elle discuss Augury which is the practice of divining with birds, and a few other methods, but mostly birds. RJ tells the story of the Owl in his yard named Novartis, and Elle discusses her general aversion to birds, as well as tells the story of an ill omen she encountered in california when a crow fell from the sky. RJ goes over the history of Augury as an ancient roman practice. Augers would divine from birds prior to any political action be taken and RJ goes over the political power they wielded. RJ also discusses the "One for Sorrow" nursery rhyme as it pertains to Augury. Elle performs a reading as if she were an Augur, going on the hunt for birds in the wild and divining the political future from the auspices the birds foretell. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

Elle takes the reigns and has written an episode about the Akashic Records. Elle is an expert on this subject on this esoteric and obscure topic. Elle does a brief history of the Akashic records, with promises for more in future episodes on it. Because Elle knows so much about this subject, there will likely be several parts interspersed throughout seasons of Mancy. Elle describes her personal history with the Akashic Records, who she learned about them from, and how she has applied them. RJ asks ethical questions about the Akashic records for Elle to answer and also asks clarifying questions about the more complex concepts regarding the Akashic Records. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

RJ and Elle continue their coverage of rodent magic. RJ discusses pop culture mice and explains the haunted history of Mickey Mouse. He then tells the tale of Suicidemouse.avi. After that RJ does background information on the bubonic plague and the pseudo cryptic known as The Rat King. RJ then describes 3 different rodent studies. The Universe 25 experiment conducted by Dr. Calhoun in the 60's which featured a mouse utopia. The Rat Park addiction study, and the more recent Cherryblossom Rat study. Elle performs a myomancy reading for friends of the show using their pet rats who are retired psychology research subjects. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

RJ and Elle discuss myomancy, divination and magic with rodents. RJ and Elle discuss their relationships with mice and rats, with RJ sharing a story of an infestation. RJ then goes on to give an RIP to Mr. Goxx, and then he discusses the history and continued practice of Groundhog day. Following that, he goes over a few folk tales with Elle. The story of the Pied Piper, and the legend of the Mouse Tower. Elle performs a Myomancy reading by observing a little gray rat at the Marks Ark pet store. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

RJ and Elle continue their coverage of Dendromancy. First, RJ discusses monster trees, starting with the Joboko of japanese folklore. Then he discusses other tales of Man Eating Trees concluding with the mystery of Who Put Bella in the Witch Elm. Elle attempts to psychically find answers for the mystery. RJ goes over the main theories. RJ then discusses different species of tree and their spiritual meanings in various cultures. Then he discusses the practice of Wishing trees including coin trees, bottle trees, shoe trees, and panty trees. Elle performs a pet psychic reading by scrying bark from Pando the Trembling Giant.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

Dendromancy, magic with Trees. RJ and Elle discuss their relationship to trees as well as the importance of trees to life on earth. The episode begins with trees being connected to divinity or as divine beings. RJ goes over the christian creation story, as well as the mormon relationship to the Tree of Life and the beliefs connected to it. RJ also discusses the Sefirot as another divine tree. Then he moves on to concepts of trees representing the world or holding up the world. He goes of Yggdrasil, the mayan Kopul Tree, and the practice of Warden Trees in scandinavia. Then they discuss the scientific tree of life which is used to track the evolution and genetics of all living creatures on earth. RJ and Elle discuss the importance of forests, including the Amazon Rainforest and the threat of climate change. Finally, RJ and Elle discuss Pando: The Trembling Giant which is the largest organism on the planet by weight and the biggest tree in the world. RJ cuts to a recording of Elle doing a reading at the Pando Aspen Clone where she performs dendromancy for a patreon subscriber. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

RJ and Elle have had quite a few winter adventures that have kept them from uploading new episodes, but that won't stop the 2021 Christmas Special! This time Elle writes the Christmas special and plays fast and loose with the script. RJ Tells the story of attempting to create a toy uprising at the Evermore Theme park, Elle tells about her family's Christmas traditions regarding Santa Claus and asks RJ his. Elle poses a theory of Santa being a post colonial American deity. RJ tells the story of how he may have encountered Odin's Wild Hunt while wandering through a blizzard. Elle does Favomancy following the mostly lost Ubykh tradition. She performs it for RJ, and herself, and then does it for friends of the show Patrick and Zay.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

Elle and RJ Continue their exploration of Canomancy, divination and magic with Dogs. RJ discusses a dog named Boy, who was rumored to be a practitioner of the dark arts and a familiar of Prince Rupert during the english civil war. RJ then explores the mythology concept of the Hell Hound and discusses a myriad of mythologies that connect dogs to the afterlife or underworld. Elle gives her theory as to why dogs are so connected to death. RJ then explores the folklore of the Black Dog, a cryptid from europe and its various sightings. RJ also discusses some of the more problematic roles dogs have played in history with their use as police dogs, and also unethical breeding practices, particularly the Pug breed which has health problems due to inbreeding. RJ also discusses tragic instances of doggy suicide and how doggie depression may be connected to our obsession with pure-bred dogs. Elle's Dog Rocco then performs a reading using a fortune telling dog toy.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

RJ and Elle continue their dive into Theriomancy, which is magic involving specific animals, this time discussing dogs. RJ has a difficult time finding specific instances of Canomancy in history, however Noodle the Pug has become a canomancy phenomenon. RJ also discusses Saint Guinefort, a holy dog revered in 13th century france. RJ also discusses Sigmund Freud's dog, Jofi, and Elle explains the symbolism of the dog on The Fool tarot card. RJ tells the legend of the famous sled dog, Balto, and then describes the real events. He does a biography of the real legendary sled dog, Togo. Elle performs Canomancy with her dog Rocco. Because of his behavior issues, he's taken to a remote area away from people, a Ghost Town called Iosepa. RJ discusses the history of the ghost town as Rocco explores the surroundings and Elle observes his behavior. RJ and Elle also encounter some interesting wildlife and Elle discusses the symbolism of encountering this wildlife. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

It should be no surprise that Halloween is RJ and Elle's favorite holiday. Elle wrote a special bonus episode looking at the history of All Hallows Eve as Samhain, the celtic festival at the root of Halloween. Elle discusses the energy of the time of year, and RJ does some story telling of popular halloween myths and folklore including Jack O' Lantern and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Elle discusses the Danse Macabre and Santa Muerte. RJ goes off on a tangent about the origin of The Monster Mash. Elle closes with thoughts about Dia De Los Muertos. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

RJ and Elle continue their coverage of Ailuromancy, Divination and magic with Cats. Spectre continues to help with the episode by providing cuddles. RJ discusses the relationship ancient egyptians had with cats, along with the history of cats being domesticated. RJ discusses the belief that the purr of a cat has healing properties. The episode closes with RJ discussing the curious case of Oscar that cat , who can predict death. RJ and Elle then take a trip to Tinker's Cat Cafe where Elle performs an Ailuromancy reading by observing the behavior of the cats in the cat cafe.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

Season 3 is going to feature some dives into Theriomancy, magic involving animals. We're starting with Ailuromancy, divination with cats. RJ and Elle are joined by Spectre, RJ's cat. RJ begins with viking cats, and the way cats are connected to norse mythology and folklore. He also dives into celtic folklore and some of the reasons why Cats are considered bad luck and the familiars of witches. RJ also discusses maritime lore involving cats, and farmer superstitions involving cats. Elle and Spectre perform an Ailuromancy reading in which spectre selects 5 tarot cards from an oversized deck. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

RJ and Elle continue their Mancy Atlas coverage of Salt Lake, moving on from the old history and into the more modern urban legends and secret locations in the city. RJ discusses the eclectic Gilgal Gardens, the grave of Lily E. Gray, and the ghost town in the heart of the city, Allen Park. Elle does a reading by scrying a horrific bowl of green jello.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

Live from Salt Lake City and the Utah Humanities Book Festival! This special Mancy Atlas episode of the podcast takes a look at how Magic has been a driving influence behind the culture and construction of Salt Lake City, Utah. RJ discusses the reason for SLC's efficient road system and the magic that inspired it. He also takes a look at the Deseret Alphabet that was intended to replace the latin english alphabet we currently use. He also discusses the mormon secret police, and the dark Blood Atonement ritual that still affects the justice system in Utah today. After, Elle does a reading using RJ's Mormon scriptures that he used on his mission.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

Sponsored by the Utah Humanities Book Festival and Under the Umbrella Press! Elle takes control for this bonus episode on the relationship between magic and queerness. She uses the book Queer Magic by Tomas Prower for research, and takes the time to cover some of the things he left out involving queer femmes and and gender nonbinary narratives and their connections to magic and mythology. Elle explores queer narratives in Hindu mythology, greek mythology, egyptian mythology and history. Elle finishes the episode by discussing Santa Muerte and her connection to queer magic.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

Join the Mancy Podcast on October 2nd for a special Live episode of the show! We're going to be covering the Magic that influenced the creation and culture of Salt Lake City. Sponsored by Utah Humanities, the event is totally free to attend at the Utah Arts Hub at 7pm Mountain Time. We'll also being going live on TikTok if you're unable to make it to Salt Lake for the episode!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

CW FOOD NOISESRJ and Elle continue their coverage of Food Magic. RJ discusses the cryptid known as Alphito, the flour witch. RJ also goes over the ritual of Corsned, or The Sacred Morsel. RJ Eats 10oz of bread while Elle recites the magic words to find out if his soul is pure. RJ also discusses the practice of The Corn Mother, along with Kitchen Witch poppets. RJ attempts a Kitchen Witchery recipe he found online, and Elle gets a reading from Tiktok's Hot Sauce Oracle @slogdobber.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

RJ and Elle had a busy week and were in need of a vacation. RJ procrastinated writing Kitchen Witchery Part 2, so the podcast will Be Right Back. For Vacation, RJ and Elle visited the haunted Lava Hot Springs Inn which once served as a post world war sanatorium. RJ asks Elle how haunted these holistic bathing pools were and if the rumors of ghosts were true.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

TW: Food Noises!RJ and Elle discuss food magic. First RJ discusses the neo-pagan concept of kitchen witchery, and then discusses the cultural significance of food. RJ begins covering the individual ingredients of food, starting with Ovamancy, egg magic. The extra spell is about the Evil Eye, and how it relates to eggs. Then, RJ moves on to Flour divination, possibly the oldest form of food divination, Aleuromancy. RJ then goes into the history of fortune cookies, which is this episode's divination method. Before that though, RJ and Elle share a story about a play they saw at the fringe festival where RJ admits something embarrassing. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

After discussing mediums materializing spirits, RJ and Elle discuss Tulpas. These beings are thoughtforms brought into existence by psychic power or spiritual energy. They discuss the origins of Tulpas in tibetan buddhism, then they discuss Tulpas as cryptids or rather, cryptids as Tulpas. The phenomenon of Tulpas in Pop Culture may have given rise to the modern day practice of Tulpamancy, the practice of materializing thoughtforms and allowing them to inhabit your mind, body, and spirit. Tulpamancers are part of a fringe subculture that exists primarily online, and RJ discusses their reasons and methods for creating tulpas and does some ethnography work on this subculture. Elle compares their practice to the concept of spirit guides, and the episode ends with RJ interviewing Elle's spirit guide, Charlie. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

RJ and Elle dive back into the world of Necromancy and discuss victorian and turn of the century mediums. Materialization is the psychic or paranormal ability to give spirits and entities physical form. Ectoplasm was a theoretical substance that would physicalize psychic power or energy. Psychics were rumored to excrete this substance whenever they were manifesting spirits. Mediums have used this theory in their shows and would have streams of ectoplasm leaking from their ears, nose, and mouth. Eva Carieariee was one such medium who was known for her scandalous shows and ectoplasm materialization. Another medium they discuss is Helen Duncan, who's ectoplasm antics led her to becoming that last person ever to be convicted of Witchcraft. Elle ends the episode by performing a medium reading for RJ, who vigilantly watches for signs of Ectoplasm.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

RJ and Elle continue their coverage of Cybermancy, Divination by computer. RJ discusses some of the odd and bizarre things people have done with AI neural networks, particularly experiments done by Janelle Shane on her AI Weirdness blog. Then RJ feeds an AI one of his poems and the AI attempts to recreate it with an image. Elle does an interpretation of this abstract image. Afterward, RJ discusses internet urban legends such as Polybius and The Bunny Man. RJ gives the history of CreepyPastas and how the internet has changed Folklore. At the end of the episode, Elle performs divination for the Spooky Science Sisters podcast using an AI called The Library of Babel, which was inspired by a short story by Borges. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

Cybermancy, Divination by Computer and AI. So much of our daily existence is determined by Predictive Analytics and algorithms. These algorithms and analytics are the closest humanity has come to true pre-cognition and AI is getting more effective every day. RJ discusses the existing implications of algorithm based prediction, especially the ways in which it is used to control people. RJ also dives into Predictive Policing, and the AI nightmare it has caused for people in the US and China. Elle provides ethical insight, as the ethical issues that Psychics have faced through history, now plague AI and Prediction Engines. The Extra Spell is a dangerous thought experiment known as Roko's Basilisk, and the apocalyptic potential of AI. As a way to de-escalate the horrible implications of AI, RJ introduces the AI Weirdness blog, to show some of the hilarious ways AI has been used. Elle Performs a StumbleUpon divination for one of our patreon supporters.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

Elle continues the bonus episode coverage of Baba Vanga, the blind bulgarian clairvoyant that made waves all through the 20th century. Elle concludes the bonus episode by performing readings using Baba  Vanga's methods involving a sugar cube and a wristwatch.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

RJ Needed a break so Elle took over for this special Bonus episode of Mancy all about Baba Vanga, the mysterious Bulgarian soothsayer that made waves with her bizzare and accurate predictions. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

RJ and Elle continue their coverage of Crystallomancy: Divination by gazing into a crystal. RJ discusses the Crystal Ball's history in stage magic and some notable stage magicians who have used it. The Extra Spell is all about the mysterious history of Crystal Skulls, including some famous examples of "magic" crystal skulls. RJ then goes into a short biography of John Dee, Queen Elizabeth's court magician who saw angels inside of a crystal ball. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

RJ and Elle dive into Crystallomancy, Divination by scrying a crystal. The most famous example of this is the Crystal Ball. RJ discusses the earliest written accounts of crystal gazing, the Druid's Beryl Ball, and Lord of the Rings. RJ discusses the science of how crystal balls might work and why people might believe they are magic. In the Extra Spell RJ discusses the very real dangers crystal balls pose if you leave them uncovered. The superstition surrounding Bloodstone, and also the fushigi and contact juggling.  Afterward Elle performs a reading for Seattle using her personal crystal ball. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

RJ and Elle continue their coverage on the history of Alcohol and Magic. RJ dives deeper into the history of alcoholism and it's connection to demonic and spiritual possession. The history of alcohol as a magic tool in other cultures around the world, and in the introduction of Alcohol to America. RJ discusses the tragic history of Alcohol as a tool of colonialism and genocide used against Native Americans. Big trigger warning for America's genocidal history. RJ discusses the damaging fire water myths spread by american colonists. When Peyote was outlawed for Native American rituals, alcohol was used. In the extra spell is about the Bizarre 90 year cheese conspiracy that has been going on in America. After that, RJ discusses the Medieval history of Tyromancy or cheese magic. Elle performs the Nathan Kessel method of Tyromancy by throwing swiss cheese onto a random book page. The Tyromancy is performed for Eli of the Flore podcast. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

Oinomancy and Tyromancy. Divination by wine and divination by cheese. RJ and Elle discuss the history of Alcohol as a tool for magic. The consumption of Alcohol goes well into pre-history, with the earliest records existing in ancient mesopotamia. RJ Gags remembering alcohol poisoning patients he treated as an EMT.  They also discuss the Maenads, ancient greek priestesses of Dionysus who used alcohol to commune with their god. They performed several rituals at their Baccanals before the practice was outlawed by the Roman Government. In the Extra Spell, RJ discusses the history of Witches Brew and how our current image of the witch with pointy hat, cat, broomstick, and cauldron come from female brewmasters. RJ finishes his portion by touching on the history of alcoholism.  Elle performs Oinomancy in the ancient greek tradition for Shanna. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

Part two of our coverage of Alchemy, the blurry line between magic and science. In this Episode, RJ discusses notable alchemists and their scientific achievements. Zosimos of Panopolis, Mary the Hewbrew, Ge Hong in ancient China, Jabir the Alchemist, Henning Brand, Paracelsus, Johan Faustus, and John Dee. Each of these alchemists contributed to scientific discovery in ways that would affect humanity forever. Inventions like Hard Liquor, Painkillers, Disinfectant, Glow in the Dark, and more were all the products of alchemy. At the end of the episode, RJ and Elle perform Molybdomancy, a type of metallurgy John Dee performed back in the 1500s. They attempt to help Christopher, a Middle School Science Teacher,  decide what science unit to teach next. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)

Alchemy. The science of understanding, deconstructing and reconstructing matter. Of all the Mancy's we have covered on the show, Alchemy has had the largest impact on the progress of humanity by far. Once at the forefront of academic thought, Alchemy was both controversial and revered. In part 1, RJ discusses the principals of hermeticism and gnosticism which make up the basis for alchemical thought and philosophy. The Hermetic philosophy of "as above, so below" helped inform alchemists experiments and fueled their pursuit of divinity through the accumulation of knowledge and discovery. RJ discusses Hermes Trismegistus, Zosimos of Panopolis, and Issac Newton's pursuits in alchemy. The extra spell is about the philosopher's stone, the Alchemists holy grail said to grant eternal life and transmute lead into gold.  At the end of the episode, Elle performs divination by scrying a Discovery Kids chemistry set for Jo! The chemistry set is a "build your own lava lamp" with 10 different experiments. RJ and Elle try two of them. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mancy)