Sacred Wisdom

If you are interested in astrology, then this episode is for you. After studying archetypal astrology with Rick Tarnas last semester for my PhD, I have become fascinated with planetary archetypes, and wish to convey the scientific substance of astrology to as many people as possible. Astrology isn't something you "believe in" - that's like saying you "believe" the Earth is round. We get into this in the podcast.My guest today is the archetypal astrologer Dr Renn Butler, who studied with Stanislav Grof and Richard Tarnas at the Esalen Institute in California beginning in 1980, certifying as a Holotropic Breathwork® facilitator in 1989, and recertifying in Grof® Breathwork in 2023. We also talk about Stan Grof's work and his collaboration with Tarnas on the perinatal matrices.Renn offers workshops in British Columbia and abroad, as well as archetypal astrology consultations with clients around the world. I had a session with him this year and could not recommend him highly enough!! Renn's first book, Pathways to Wholeness, is about astrology and psychedelic experiences, was published in 2014, followed by The Archetypal Universe in 2018, which focuses on dreams, and The Astrology of Love and Relationships in 2022, which is about relationships. Renn received his PhD in Archetypal Astrology and Transpersonal Psychology from Ubiquity University in 2022, and has also worked part time as a health care worker with physically, mentally, and emotionally challenged adults for over thirty years and lives in Victoria, B.C.For more information, please go to his website at the link below -->www.rennbutler.comIf you are interested in doing one of his courses, see the links below -->22-week course in Archetypal and Holotropic Astrology (starts September 30th 2023)www.rennbutler.com/online-courses Our 8-week course in Grof Studies (starts October 1 2023)www.grofstudies.com/courses ANN – Archetypal News Networkhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPhz4c6KHp5LP81F-Ky-2sg Grof Legacy Training Internationalhttps://grof-legacy-training.com/ ........................................................................For anything related to me, please go to https://www.arabellathais.com

Hello. This is my first episode in a LONG time. I started a PhD in August 2022 and it has been pretty intense. But here we are - I'm back in the game. This is a badass episode to get the ball rolling again. One of my favourite topics - dissolving the patriarchy and creating a new reality where the Great Cosmic Mother is revered and we all surrender to the Cosmic Vagina. Yes. That's my stance, anyways. My  guest today is Dr Alka Arora, and she has far more expertise than me. I learned a lot from listening to Alka and am sure you will as well. I really feel like this is actually taking the conversation around the sexes FORWARD, rather than beating the same old drum. Dr Arora is associate professor of women's studies and women's spirituality at the California Institute of Integral Studies, where she has been teaching since 2011.  For over a decade, Dr. Arora has been developing the field of integral feminist education and feminist spiritual activism, working alongside sister scholars to offer a trans-disciplinary and socially-engaged approach to the study of gender, spirituality, and religion.

Academic, astrologer and creative writer, Dr Eliza Robertson, limns the relationship between the mysterious, mythic figure of Lilith with her astrological counterpart, 'Black Moon Lilith'. Lilith is oft-understood to be the first wife of Adam - a defiant rebel who refuses to submit, Lilith has long been associated with the void, the unknown, the uncultivated and the uncontrolled. She is a voice for the oppressed Feminine, as well as being shrouded in mystery.This is explored in depth in today's show, and is so beautifully articulated by Dr Eliza, who is an acclaimed, prize-winning author. We also touch on the topic of her PhD thesis, and one of my favourite subjects: rhythm. Such a fertile and fascinating areas that is rarely explored. As always, I couch these ideas in my understanding of consciousness and cosmic evolution. Today's episode was a real joy, and so informative. I hope that you find it as rewarding as I did. -----> SUPPORT ME ON PATREONhttps://www.patreon.com/sacredwisdomFollow Elizahttp://www.elizarobertson.comSee Lilith essayhttp://www.archai.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Eliza-Robertson-Lilith.pdf

Cosmologist, Futurist and Planetary Healer Dr Jude Currivan joins me today to discuss the intrinsic quality of this universe that we call home. Newsflash: it isn't a 'thing', as such. It's a thought. Yes - this reality that you and I inhabit is but a thought of the Cosmic Mind. And we are part of it. As Dr Jude explicates, this isn't a whimsical new age proposition, but the actual reality of our existence. This paradigm is fully supported by cutting-edge science: quantum physics and what Jude calls 'infodynamics', which is the next level of physics, fully integrating thermodynamics while moving beyond it. The ideas discussed here are as paradigm shifting as Darwin's evolutionary ideas were for the nineteenth century, and I am both excited and relieved for the shift that is occurring.My entire life is dedicated to the dismantling of the erroneous, outdated and inhibitive materialist paradigm. The restrictions of the reductive materialistic worldview are touched upon in this episode as Jude and I deep-dive into multidimensionality, consciousness, cosmic mind, ancient cosmologies, and more. Please check out https://www.wholeworld-view.org for more information on this cosmology and the implications it has for humanity. ................Support me on Patreon -->https://www.patreon.com/sacredwisdom/membership

What does it mean to be in a liminal space? How does that relate to the epic transformation of human consciousness that we are currently experiencing? These are the sorts of big ideas explored on today's show, with guest Jeremy Johnson. This is a deep dive into philosophy, integral ecology, poetics and so much more, as we consider the birthing of a new humanity, and a new structure of consciousness on this planet. We are both integral philosophers so, as you might expect, we both adopt a holistic and multi-disciplinary worldview. Jeremy is an author (Seeing Through the World: Jean Gebser and Integral Consciousness), publisher (Integral Imprint), managing editor (Integral Leadership Review), podcaster (Mutations) and integral philosopher. Jeremy has written as a contributing editor for Reality Sandwich magazine, OMNI, Disinformation, Evolve Magazine, and Kosmos Journal.His academic research, writing, and publishing advocates new forays into integrative thinking and praxis—aligning the scholastic, poetic, and spiritual—as existentially crucial work for pathfinding in a time of planetary crisis. Jeremy currently serves as president for the International Jean Gebser Society, and is working on his doctorate in the Philosophy of Religion at the California Institute of Integral Studies. His second book, Fragments of an Integral Future (Integral Imprint) is forthcoming in late 2022..................................Please consider supporting me on patreon --->https://www.patreon.com/sacredwisdom/membership

This episode is unlike any other I have recorded. It is, quite simply, a narrated excerpt from my book, Being and Becoming. This is one of the post deeply personal and vulnerable things I have shared, insofar as, it is my writing - it is my expression of the literary art. Any artist will know that to put one's creation out into the world is a somewhat frightening thing, but here goes.The thrust of my book is the meaning of existence and the individual  journey of self-discovery - not simply mine, but all of us. I have not finished writing yet, and therefore it is not published. I will share a handful of excerpts from it, but this is a work to be read - because reading is silent - the word in one's head is the essential word because it does not make a sound...................................Please support me on Patreon -->https://www.patreon.com/sacredwisdom

This is a solo episode in which I explain some key concepts around my academic research, and why I believe that consciousness is the most pressing issue of our times. I delineate scientific materialism, and outline its deficiencies, as well as present the preface for my counter-argument. I am making. case for the existence of higher intelligence, and how this corresponds to a new worldview. Because I believe that this new worldview will provide the essential platform from which new planetary systems can be born.I will delve further into maths/science and philosophy in later episodes on this subject............................Please support me on patreon https://www.patreon.com/sacredwisdom.........................Further resources -Ervin Laszlo, The Intelligence of the CosmosRupert Sheldrake, The Science DelusionSheldrake, McKenna and Abraham, The Evolutionary Mind

Tim Freke is an English philosopher who has devoted extensive scholarship to the Christian Gnostics. He argues that Jesus Christ was not a historical figure but a mythic archetype belonging to earlier Pagan cults. We explore this in the podcast, and we also discuss Tim's concept of 'Unividualism', a term he coined to describe a new syncretic state of spirituality that is applicable for Western society.  I also explicate my especial relationship with T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets, an how this body of poetry seems to have quite literally inspired an awakening. .....................Support me on Patreonhttps://www.patreon.com/sacredwisdomWatch Tim's TED talkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hHzzS4y-8kTim's websitehttps://timfreke.com

This is a conversation about Patriarchy and Capitalism with Alnoor Ladha, board member of Greenpeace International USA, and a visiting lecturer at New York University (NYU) and Columbia University.  Alnoor is a writer and speaker on new forms of activism, the structural causes of inequality, the link between climate change and poverty, and the rise of the Global South as a powerful organizing force in the transition to a post-capitalist world.More recently, he co-founded the intentional 'community', Brave Earth, in Costa Rica. This is how I know him. Brave Earth is perhaps better described as a living laboratory, for it inquires  into how we can adapt, create more resiliency and become more attuned to the current cultural context. This context is referred to as the Anthropocene, late-stage capitalism or the Kali Yuga.  As a living laboratory it asks crucial questions for our collective evolution: how do we decolonize our minds from the dominant culture of capitalism, patriarchy, racialized hierarchies, scarcity logic and oppressive systems of control? How do we become stewards in service to all Life? This is an in-depth, thorough examination and semantic dissection of capitalism and patriarchy. Alnoor makes the case that there is simply no place for either of these structures if we are to evolve. ...................................Please support me on patreon to keep this show on the road:https://www.patreon.com/sacredwisdomhttps://www.braveearth.comhttps://www.arabellathais.com

Ervin László is one of my greatest influences and inspirations, and it is such a great privilege to have interviewed him. He is a genius thinker and a true visionary who has offered humanity a. tremendous contribution to the advancement of knowledge. Originally a classical pianist, who gave his first piano concert with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra at the age of nine he went on to become a philosopher of science, systems theorist, and integral theorist.He has been twice nominated for the Nobel peace prize he has published more than 75 books and over 400 articles and research papers.  Laszlo is the founder and president of the international think tank the Club of Budapest and of the prestigious Laszlo institute of new paradigm research.In this interview, Laszlo tells us about the intelligence of the cosmos. This notion of a cosmic mind and the true nature of reality which is precluded by the mainstream scientific view is my undying passion, and my life's work.Please consider supporting me on patron for a small amount a month. https://www.patreon.com/sacredwisdom

Today's guest is Sean Stone. stone is an American actor, filmmaker, and television host. With Tyrel Ventura and Tabetha Wallace, Stone hosts the RT America show Watching the Hawks. Stone and Ventura also host an online talk show named Buzzsaw. He also wrote a book called 'New World Order: A Strategy of Imperialism'. Today we discuss a wide range of topics centred around what is happening right now on the Planet. freedom of discussion and debate is paramount to a free society and this is what today's podcast represents. It is somewhat of a departure from my usual focus on Sacredness, but we do examine the meaning of consciousness and explore many metaphysical ideas, rather than getting into the nitty gritty of vaccines etc. 

I am joined today by Dr Bruce  Greyson, to discuss the phenomenon of the Near-Death-Experience, and what this may tell us about consciousness.Dr. Bruce Greyson is the Chester Carlson Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia.  He was previously on the medical faculty at the University of Michigan and the University of Connecticut, where he was Clinical Chief of Psychiatry. Dr. Greyson has consulted with the National Institutes of Health and addressed symposia on consciousness at the United Nations and at the Dalai Lama's compound in Dharamsala, India. He has earned awards for his medical research and was elected a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, the highest honor bestowed by that organization.Dr. Greyson's interest in near-death experiences began just a few months after graduating from medical school, when he treated an unconscious patient in the emergency room who stunned him the next morning with an account of leaving her body. That event challenged his beliefs about the mind and the brain, and ultimately led him on a journey to study near-death experiences scientifically, leading to more than a hundred publications in medical journals. He co-founded the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS), an organization to support and promote research into these experiences, and for 27 years edited the Journal of Near-Death Studies, the only scholarly journal dedicated to near-death research. Through his research, he has discovered common and universal themes in near-death experiences that go beyond neurophysiological or cultural interpretations, as well as patterns of consistent aftereffects on individuals' attitudes, beliefs, values, and personalities.Dr. Greyson is the author of After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal About Life and Beyond. The book challenges our everyday ideas about our minds and our brains and offers key insights on how we can begin to live a more meaningful and fulfilling life.www.arabellathais.comhttps://www.brucegreyson.com

I am thrilled to present my guest on today's show:  Professor Allan Combs, PhD.Professor Combs is a consciousness researcher, neuropsychologist, and systems theorist at California Institute of Integral Studies where he is the Director of the Center for Consciousness Studies. He is the author of over 200 articles, chapters, and books on consciousness and the brain, and is the founder and past President of the International Society for Consciousness Studies, as well as the recent recipient of their Lifetime Achievement Award for advances in consciousness studies. This award was personally delivered by Deepak Chopra. He is Editor of the journals, CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century, and The Journal of Conscious Evolution. He was also the winner of the 2002-2003 National Teaching Award of the Association of Graduate Liberal Studies.Professor Combs' most widely read books include Consciousness Explained Better: Towards an Integral Understanding of the Multifaceted Nature of Consciousness; Synchronicity: Through the Eyes of Science, Myth, and the Trickster (with Mark Holland); and Thomas  Berry: Dreamer of the Earth (with Ervin Laszlo).Show Notes:Animal consciousness; past lives; morphic resonance; ghosts; sacred places and spaces; the Imaginal Realm; Virginia Woolf and phenomenology; consciousness is not confined to the brain; brain is a transceiver; the relationship between fractals, consciousness and poetry, and what this tells us about the nature of RealitySUPPORT ME ON PATREON -->https://www.patreon.com/sacredwisdompodcast?fan_landing=truehttps://www.arabellathais.comFor more information about Professor Combs visit, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Combs 

Professor Dean Radin joins me today to talk about consciousness and magic. Professor Radin is Chief Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Science (IONS) and Associated Distinguished Professor of Integral and Transpersonal Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). For over three decades he has been engaged in research on the frontiers of consciousness.He is author or co-author of hundreds of scientific, technical, and popular articles, four dozen book chapters, and four popular books, including Real Magic - which we discuss.His 500+ talks have included presentations at Harvard, Stanford, Cambridge, Princeton, Columbia, and many many more. I could keep listing Professor Radin’s accolades but they are extensive, In essence, he is a world leading expert on consciousness, and that’s what makes his research and findings all the more riveting. What Radin has to say about parapsychology and psychic phenomena isn’t conjecture or anecdotal. Its thoroughly substantiated and completely flies in the face of what a materialist scientist would tell us about our mind, the brain, and the nature of consciousness. In this episode we discuss – among other things - why the materialist paradigm simply doesn’t work when it comes to consciousness; telepathy, prophetic dreams and other ‘psi-phenomena’; the nature and practice of magic, why so many materialists are resistant to expand their paradigm, my personal evolution from a materialist anti-theist to where my beliefs stand now,  Schrodinger’s cat, remote viewing, and aliens.Small heads up, the day we recorded this conversation there were power outages in the remote jungle of Costa Rica in which I live – there are a couple times that the sound glitches a bit, which isn’t ideal, but it’s not too disruptive. I hope that you enjoy the show. 

Carter Phipps is an author, speaker, and thought leader who works at the intersection of business, personal development, and culture.His recent book Conscious Leadership – which he co-wrote with Wholefoods founder John Mackey and Steve McIntosh–  was selected as a Financial Times Fall Book Pick 2020 and has been praised by some of the business world’s leading thinkers, including New York Times bestselling author Adam Grant, who called it “Living proof that we don’t have to choose between purpose and profits.”Carter could be described as a visionary writer, business futurist, and evolutionary. He co-founded of the Institute for Cultural Evolution, a non-profit social policy think-tank based in Boulder, Colorado, and inspired by the insights of Integral Philosophy, which seeks to better understand and influence the cultural roots of America’s challenges.Show Notes:Evolution and culture; Carter's think-tank that looks at evolution and politics, and addresses polarising issues within the united states of America; the notion of political progress; why it’s neither good nor realistic to wish for an entirely new paradigm without tackling our current systems; conscious leadership and conscious capitalism, and the counter-argument to the anti-capitalist stance; are we being pulled by the future or pulled by the past?; the notion of Telos and a teleological universe; the Omega Point and Teilhard de Chardin; the miniature worlds theory in quantum mechanics and carter’s opinion on it; whitehead’s notion of adjacent potential; why we have reached a stage when mysticism needs to participate in the evolution of humanity; is consciousness involved in cosmological evolution?; the intelligence involved in ontogenesis – i.e when chemistry becomes biology; transhumanism and the supplanting of the Sacred through AI.  https://www.carterphipps.comhttps://www.arabellathais.com 

Debashish Banerji is the Haridas Chaudhuri Professor of Indian Philosophies and Cultures and the Doshi Professor of Asian Art at the California Institute of Integral Studies. He is also the Program Chair for the East-West Psychology department. Prior to CIIS, he served as Professor of Indian Studies and Dean of Academics at the University of Philosophical Research, Los Angeles. He has taught as adjunct faculty at the Pasadena City College, University of California, Los Angeles and University of California, Irvine. His interests lie in postmodern, postcolonial and cross-cultural approaches to Indian philosophy, psychology and culture. His most recent books are Integral Yoga Psychology: Metaphysics and Transformation as Taught by Sri Aurobindo and Meditations on the Isha Upanishad: Tracing the Philosophical Vision of Sri Aurobindo Among other things, Professor Banerji and I discuss his notion of integral anthropology and the mystical experience; the life and teaching of Sri Aurobindo; the concept of a Supermind, and the existence of a cosmic consciousness; the trajectory of evolution, Being and Becoming, animal consciousness, and yoga. https://debashishbanerji.comhttps://www.arabellathais.com

I am thrilled to welcome Stef Sifandos as the guest on today's show. Stef is a trained educator and relationships expert with a background in behavioral science. He is passionate about leading people to closer to their highest potential and to each other. Stefanos’ philosophy merges the best of Eastern and Western methodologies to promote spiritual balance and empower people in life and love. From trauma release to navigating the murky waters of modern masculinity, to helping women understand the men in their lives, he helps people escape negative patterns and cultivate a positive sense of self. Stefanos has worked with thousands of men and women from all walks of life; special forces soldiers, Olympic gold medalists, elite fighters, and everyday people have relied on him to restructure and reframe their relationships.Today we deep-dive into the meaning of masculinity - its healthy embodiment as well as its shadow expression. Stef tells us about how we can understand what it means to 'be a man', exploring cultural and biological contexts. We examine how the loss of healthy rites of passage for boys and young men has had a devastating impact on the masculine expression. We talk about the Father wound - which is something close to my heart - and the way this plays out for men and women. Toward the end of the conversation we move onto sacred ecology and the concept of a more regenerative world. For more information on Stef, please see his handles below.https://stefanossifandos.comhttps://www.facebook.com/stefanossifandos https://www.instagram.com/stefanossifandos/instagram ~ @stefanossifandoshttps://www.arabellathais.comhttps://www.facebook.com/sacredwisdompodcast

The Irish Poet and mystic William Butler Yeats is the central topic of today’s show. For any of you interested in poetry, mysticism and the occult, then you are in for treat. I discuss Yeats with Danny Rhodes, a Yeatsian academic who completed his PhD at Queen Mary University – titled ‘Radiant Matter: Alchemy, Radium and Field Poetics in W. B. Yeats and Ezra Pound’. Dannyhas given multiple papers on the alchemical interpretation of radium, ectoplasm and anti-atomist theories of matter, all in relation to modernist poetics and the work of Yeats and Pound. In this episode, Danny and I talk about Yeats’ life and work including the influence that the visionary William Blake had on him; his relationship with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn; Yeats’ thoughts on consciousness, individual, collective, and cosmic, and how that exactly co-insides with Carl Jung’s theories; the micro and macro nature of reality, and how for millennia mystics intuited what science then proved to be true. Danny also explicates Yeats’ entangled love life, and offers analysis of the poem Leda and the Swan and how this tells us about the mystical shift in society that was occurring at that time.For further reading please see the podcast Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/sacredwisdompodcast

This episode is a solo riff on Power and Empowerment. This subject is of endless fascination to me - the true meaning of what it is to be powerful. Unfortunately our society has conflated power with material wealth and exertion of control over others - which is a corrupted vision of power. What we need, more than ever, is to recalibrate our understanding of power. We all need to become fully empowered - to free ourselves from our own shackles and limiting beliefs. Hope you enjoy the show.https://www.arabellathais.com

My guest is Dr Miles Neale, a Tibetan Buddhist practitioner and psychotherapist in private practice. Miles is also a faculty member of Tibet House in New York, and author of Gradual Awakening: The Tibetan buddhist path to becoming fully human.Miles has more than twenty years integrating the mind-science and meditative practices of Tibetan Buddhism with psychotherapy, trauma research and neuroscience. Today in the show Miles and I discuss the path of Lam Rim, that is, the path of gradual awakening, as well as the meaning of Nirvana, transforming trauma, Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey and its application to the individual's life, fatherlessness and forgiveness, shadow integration, and what Miles calls 'the sickness of paradigm'.This episode is a must-listen for those of you who sense there is more to reality than meets the eye, but are struggling to navigate a path forward. When we come to understand that our individual life is as much of a heroic journey as Odysseus or Hercules or Harry Potter, then we are much better placed to handle the obstacles and challenges that come our way. For it is through difficulty that we realise our destiny. I hope you enjoy the show. https://www.milesneale.comhttps://www.arabellathais.com

My guest today is Bruce Parry, an English documentarian, film-maker, indigenous rights advocate, author, explorer, trek leader and former Royal Marines commando officer. Bruce rose to prominence for the various series he did for the BBC, most notably ‘Tribe’ and ‘Amazon’, in which Bruce explored extreme environments, lived with remote indigenous peoples and highlighted many of the important issues being faced on the environmental frontline. Although brought up in a devoutly Christian environment, Bruce’s extensive exposure to indigenous tribes opened his spiritual horizons. He now describes himself as a born again Rational Animist delighting in the mysteries of Being. Spirituality and the meaning of the Sacred is something we get into in the podcast, but the main focus for the conversation is the theme of egalitarian societies, and re-connecting with our deep ancestral wisdom – because, contrary to popular belief, humans have not always been patriarchal and hierarchical.Show Notes: Bruce tells us about his journey making documentaries with the BBC He briefly explains his current project which is based around an egalitarian manifesto Bruce explains how many of the tribes he’s lived with across the world are actually modern people – no matter how ancient they may appear, or how flamboyant theor customs.The impact of bruce’s encounter with the Penan people of Borneo, and the Benjali of Africa. What does an egalitarian paradigm really look like? The ways in which these small nomadic societies cultivate and maintain equality? (note: equality does not mean sameness)How these societies are connected with a power greater than themselves – with reference to Viktor Frankl’s “A Man’s Search for Meaning’How addiction is correlated with the spiritual bankruptcy that is rife in modern Western societies – we mention the work of gabor Mate and Charles EisensteinBruce talks about foraging and hunting as meditative practices which help us gain access to the Sacred.The meaning of the Sacred, as Bruce understands it, and how it corresponds to the left and right hemispheres of the brain. https://www.arabellathais.comhttps://www.bruceparry.com

Today I have with me the archaeologist and academic Paul Pettit – Professor of Archaeology at Durham University - for a riveting discussion on Ice Age Cave Art, and the origins of humanity's artistic expression.Professor Paul and I deep-dive into the lives of the pre-historic peoples who walked the Earth many tens of thousands of years ago. We discuss the art that these people were painting, often kilometres into remote and dangerous cave systems – how they did it, and what it meant for them. Professor Paul tells us about the scientific methodologies used to discern such information, as well as the philosophical theory of mind, animism, totemism, Palaeolithic funerary rites, and what the Sacred might have meant to these ancient people.Show Notes -- What the Palaeolithic period actually was- The overlap between Homo-Sapiens and Neanderthals - The oldest example of cave art is 65,000 years ago and from Neanderthals- The evolution from abstract art to figurative art - What drew Professor Paul to study such remote and distant past- The scientific methodologies that Professor Paul uses to discern information about the lives of these ancient hunter-gatherers- What daily life was like for hunter gatherer people – emotionally, psychologically and practically- The separation between spirituality and survival- The phenomenon of artistic expression that is particular to human beings- The role of cave art for these early peoples – how it cannot be extricated from ritual – art was born as a holistic and complete ritual experience- How our brains have evolved to be impressed and affected by animals- The great discrepancy between the Palaeolithic experience of consciousness and ours in our modern life - How human are hard-wired to find meaning - A philosophical theory of mind and how it pertains to our consciousness - What would the sacred have been for these people?- How we can analyse the animistic belief systems of these early peoples- Totemism and the relationship with animals – how the caves were a sacred place – as opposed to the profane - Caves were a place of ritual destination – these people were not living in the caves- The kinetic effect of cave art – the role of light and dark- The creation and subsequent experience of the art would have been a holistic and multi-sensory experience- Through the expression of the cave art, these people were also exploring the inner terrain of their own consciousness as much as anything - Totemism and animism - the roles these played for the early hunter gatherers- How these people were dialled into a truth that speaks more to quantum physics than the Abrahamic religions- Funerary rites – liminal realms and having a cyclical understanding of time and space

I’ll be supplementing the interview format with more solo podcasts like this one, on various topics around mental health, self-empowerment, literary figures and ideas that I love to geek out on, as well as guided meditations and readings of my own poetry and the poetry of others. Today’s episode is on the theme of power, and empowerment. I explicate the notion of power - what it means to be truly powerful, because most of us have no idea how powerful we really are. So many of us live lives that do not reflect our potential and our purpose; so may of us feel disempowered, and we become victims of our life circumstances. I played this out in my own life for many years. My intention is that people realise their power - the more empowered people are, the fewer slaves there will be to the systems that keep us stuck; to the systems that keep us desperately unfulfilled. Similarly, so many of us conflate 'power' with material wealth, fame and influence. As I explore, these are some aspects of power, but definitely not the whole picture, and are fragile in and of themselves, because they can be lost. https://www.arabellathais.com

The Irish Poet and mystic William Butler Yeats is the central topic of today’s show. For any of you interested in poetry, mysticism and the occult, then you are in for treat. I discuss Yeats with Danny Rhodes, a Yeatsian academic who completed his PhD at Queen Mary University – titled ‘Radiant Matter: Alchemy, Radium and Field Poetics in W. B. Yeats and Ezra Pound’. Danny has given multiple papers on the alchemical interpretation of radium, ectoplasm and anti-atomist theories of matter, all in relation to modernist poetics and the work of Yeats and Pound. In this episode, Danny and I talk about Yeats’ life and work including the influence that the visionary William Blake had on him; his relationship with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn; Yeats’ thoughts on consciousness, individual, collective, and cosmic, and how that exactly co-insides with Carl Jung’s theories; the micro and macro nature of reality, and how for millennia mystics intuited what science then proved to be true. Danny also explicates Yeats’ entangled love life, and offers analysis of the poem Leda and the Swan and how this tells us about the mystical shift in society that was occurring at that time.www.arabellathais.com

Today on the show I have with me, John Stewart, an Australian-based systems theorist, evolutionary philosopher and activist who is a core member of the Evolution, Complexity and Cognition Research Group of the Free University of Brussels. As an evolutionary theorist his main focus has been on the trajectory of evolution. His work on the directionality of evolution and its implications for humanity has been published in a number of key papers in international science journals. These include papers on the potential for humans to enhance their psychological capacities through the future evolution of consciousness, and he is the author of the internationally acclaimed book ‘Evolution’s Arrow: the direction of evolution and the future of humanity’. Show notes- John tells us about what it means to be an evolutionary philosopher and systems theorist - The meaning of the material world and how it correlates to systems - The trajectory of evolution thus far, and why it now needs to become intentional - The nature of co-operation in the course of evolution- The nature of adaptability and trial and error in the course of evolution - The emergence of human intelligence and cultural evolution- Understanding the imperative to move toward intentional evolution: we will not improve the state of the world automatically because natural selection has run its course- We talk about the concept of enlightenment, and how it can be understood as an evolutionary faculty - Why we must move to a global system and implement global governance- How far do we have to transcend the negative impulses within us in order to achieve a truly unified global society?- We explore why our economic system is not properly governed yet. John likens our current state of economics to cancer in the body.- Sociopathy is rewarded by our economic paradigm, while co-operative altruists are not. (I get a little over excited here).- More and more human beings need to come to understand intentional evolution - Having an effective global seat of power is essential – like the United nations but with actual power to implement governance- We discuss animal farm, how power has a tendency to corrupt and why all revolutions that have occurred thus far have ultimately failed - the magna carter as a key evolutionary moment - The inherent problem is not self-interest – it is unregulated, unrestrained self-interest that is the problem – so, the real problem is with organisation- John extrapolates – as per the general theory of evolution – that our trajectory of evolution is taking us to an inter-planetary and then inter-galactic level of co-operation and interaction, with other evolved beings - What does an evolved global society actually look like? What freedoms and rights do we have?- I express my personal feelings on the suppression of women in Saudi Arabia- Why our ability to transcend our instincts and thoughts will be key........https://www.arabellathais.comhttp://www.evolutionarymanifesto.com/JCS.pdf

World-leading alchemist Avery Hopkins joins me on today’s show to discuss all things alchemy, from its inception and cultural development, to the practice of alchemy today. Avery and I talk about the nature of consciousness and how alchemy cannot be extricated from it, as well as the notion of channelling information from the cosmic mind. I also get a little bit overexcited talking about truth, paradox and spirals in T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets, and we see how even this pertains to alchemy. This episode is guaranteed to stimulate the intellect – definitely one for those who wish to expand their mind. And what’s really cool is that this isn’t just about the theory of alchemy – it’s about the PRACTICE of it: Avery has a laboratory where he extracts oils from metals, among other things, and he has a range of products that have proven to assist profound transformation in people, and provide them with enormous benefits. I tried the oil of copper myself when I met up with Avery in New York, and it was pretty spectacular. Show notes: - We deconstruct the meaning of alchemy - What is consciousness? - Soul as actuating cause - Soul/Spirit/Body 5.30- Prima Materia and Alchemical symbols- Alchemy as Internal metaphor or external practice - Understanding vs knowledge - Apprehending the Divine - The history of alchemy’s cultural emergence - The ancient Egyptians and alchemy - Alchemy and the Renaissance - The origin of the Hermetica - Channelling from the cosmic mind - Paradox and truth - Ts Eliot’s four quartets, paradox and spirals- Poet as medium - Alchemy as the origin of everything - The practical processes of alchemy in the laboratory - The role of gold in alchemy - how oil of gold can heal us - Avery’s work with metals- Their connection to our endocrine system and chakra system- Sacred alchemical numbers - Transmuting negative thoughts - You are eternal - you are not your thoughts - you are not your ancestry - The relationship between intuition, cognitive processing and time - What the sacred means to Avery ................Please see www.kymiaarts.comfor more details – Instagram @kymiaartsSee the podcast Facebook page for links to further reading – https://www.facebook.com/sacredwisdompodcast www.arabellathais.com@arabella_thais (Instagram)

This episode is entitled ‘Setting the Scene’, because it sets the scene for all episodes to come. I outline the scope of this project, my intentions with it, and give an in-depth exploration of various ideas, such as the meaning of spirituality – as I have come to understand it – and the notion of a cosmic consciousness. I draw upon philosophers, physicists, poets, as well as what I have learned about the deeper nature of reality through direct experience. This episode – as with all future episodes – offers suggestions and potential insights designed to provoke thought and expand perspectives, as opposed to proclaiming any definitive ‘truth’. This episode is part manifesto, part rallying cry for humanity, and part me sharing some of my story – because the journey to get to where I am today is inextricable with the nature of the content and the ethos belying the podcast. I share about my experience of fatherlessness, rejection, shame, body dysmorphia, addiction, and bipolar. Moreover, I examine what it means to transmute your trauma and become your own inner alchemist. Because suffering need not be futile – to the contrary – it can become the fertile ground to liberate your soul. http://www.arabellathais.comhttps://www.arabellathais.com/podcast@arabella_thais (instagram)