Podcasts about Animism

“We don't go to other planets because our planet is dying. Our planet dies, specifically because we perpetually want to go somewhere else.” Fresh off of the Initial Public Offering of Space X, the largest IPO in human history, it's worth revisiting the deeper implications of humanity's incessant drive... beyond. Today on the podcast, we look at humanity's increasing obsession with transcending planet Earth, in the context of the mythologies of human restlessness. How human beings, whether through certain religious visions of transcendence or through the increasing transhuman and supernatural focus of modern science, are ultimately looking to be anywhere but right here, with ourselves, in nature. This misplaced spiritual drive, in which we perpetually seek wholeness out there when wholeness ultimately lives right here, has been the subject of some of our most central stories about ourselves. Many in fact, have seen it as… a primordial curse.Support the show

We're at a pivotal moment in world geopolitics. Increasingly the masks and the gloves are both off - but it's not a binary choice any more between two sets of suits in slightly different coloured ties: now we have the right showing its true colours  - and a chance for the progressive majority in this country to find its feet and lead us towards a genuinely thoughtful, emotionally literate, high-bandwidth politics that ditches the toxic tribalism and instead lays the ground for a future that could actually work. We're joined this week by Neal Lawson, co-founder and Executive Director of the progressive pressure group, Compass; and Rupert Read, Co-Director of the Climate Majority Project. Neal is a member of the Labour Party, and Rupert of the Green party and we came together to discuss the forthcoming by-election in Makerfield, where Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester is standing as a candidate, with a view to standing for leadership of the Labour Party if he wins.  His main challenger is the Reform party led by Nigel Farage.  The Greens are newly invigorated after their recent win in the Gorton and Denton by-election in Manchester, so there has been a lot of conversation in progressive circles as to whether the Greens should step away to give Burnham a clear run. This seemed a good moment to have a vigorous conversation - to explore the possibilities and potential and the routes forward should Burnham win. CompassThe Climate Majority ProjectAndy Burnham in the Observer committing to PR Jamie Driscoll's post in The Canary - There's Nothing Pragmatic About Centrism The Fraud by Paul Holden —About Accidental Gods—We offer three strands all rooted in the same soil, drawing from the same river: Accidental Gods, Dreaming Awake and the Thrutopia Writing Masterclass Our next Open Gathering offered as part of our Accidental Gods Programme is 'WALKING THE PATH OF THE INNER WARRIOR' which will run on Sunday 28th June 2026 from 16:00 - 20:00 GMT - details are here. You don't have to be a member of Accidental Gods to come along - but if you are, all Gatherings are half price.If you'd like to join us at Accidental Gods, this is the membership where we endeavour to help you to connect fully with the living web of life. If you'd like to train more deeply in the contemporary shamanic work at Dreaming Awake, you'll find us here. If you'd like to explore the recordings from our last Thrutopia Writing Masterclass, the details are hereManda and Louise both offer one-to-one Mentoring Calls.  Manda is fully booked just now, but if you'd like to contact Louise, details are here.

This is a fascinating conversation with Jon Bracken and Abby as we talk about Art, Nature, The Universe, Interconnectedness, Non-Human Intelligence (NHI), Animism, The Supernatural, Ghosts, and much more...Plenty more in the Patreon Segment for this show as well. Outro Music is Bent Peg with Contradict Me To YouBecome a Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/SeriahAzkath for extra content, commercial free shows, early access, and bonus content as well! All this for only $3 a month! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joscha Bach is back on the show, and Vance opens by asking the question almost everyone is asking right now: should we be afraid of AI? Joscha's answer is no, and his reasons are not the usual ones. AI is creating more jobs than it removes, it's already the most equitable technology ever built (a $20-a-month plan gives anyone in the world access to a thousand Einsteins), and most of the fear is a media reaction to a business model under threat — not a reflection of what's actually happening in the economy.From there the conversation moves through the strangest version of an AI episode you'll hear. Joscha frames hallucinations as the natural state of a “dream machine” not coupled to reality, dreams themselves as fine-tuning on synthetic data, the history of why neural nets won over symbolic AI (Rich Sutton's “bitter lesson”), and why every modern model — including Grok — inherits the same biases from the same training data. He and Vance then turn to religion as the same problem from another angle: why modern secular thought is structurally a form of Protestantism, why Harvard became its Vatican, why birth rates are collapsing in liberal societies, and why Joscha worries we are badly underprepared for a coming religious conflict.The episode reaches its philosophical core when Joscha lays out what he calls cyber animism — the idea that spirits are real, and that they are literally self-organizing software running on physics. Your “self” is not your cells or your electricity; it's the pattern that keeps the cells coordinated, the same way a religion keeps a civilization stable across generations. Vance, who has heard Joscha describe this idea for ten years, says this is the first time it has actually landed. They close on Joscha's upcoming inaugural machine consciousness conference, MC001, hosted by the California Institute for Machine Consciousness: https://machine-consciousness.ai/ .https://Articulate.Ventures/IBC/https://LegacyInterviews.com/

s it any wonder that people living intimately with the Earth view all things as having life, spirit, and personhood? This encompassing perspective sees these three qualities inherent even in those things Western philosophy has relegated to the lowly, inanimate classification. They are treated as pretty much irrelevant in the grand scheme and completely devoid of that spark that gives life and agency to the animate. If we were to stuff the close to the land people into a religious box, that box would be labeled Animism. Animists know the natural world is alive and relational, rather than a collection of inert objects. The Animist philosophy sees humans as part of a larger community of living and spiritual beings, not separate from nature.

Honoring Bridges as literal metaphors …..let us aspires to be a bridge…. as are the people, the living and the dead, whom we honor this hour… the bridging work of Idries Shah, his son, Tahir Shah, Fatema Mernissi, and Peter Kingsley…. The Moroccan Journey is never ending… Noting the resonance of 5+ Taurus, whose Sabian Image is “ a Cantilever Bridge over a Rocky Gorge….building connections…finding a way to get from here to there…..finding a way outta noway…..like High John de Conquer … When MLK Jr was born, Chiron was at 5+ Taurus When he was assassinated Mars was at 5+ Taurus When George Floyd was born – Mars retro at 5+ Taurus When Rene'e Good was  born – Jupiter was at 5+ Taurus Tim Walz – a living bridge, has Mercury at 5+ Taurus, And my relocation chart for Marrakech, has 5+ Taurus rising… Honoring literal and metaphoric bridges…. Reminding us of the demonic destruction of the Karaj B1 Bridge in Iran, by US Dementors….. Dark o Moon – we gather to guide  – to Saturday's New Moon, exalted in Taurus of participatory Animism…. And honor the mythological resonance of place…. ________________________ CoyoteNetworkNews.com · Events, Councils, & More Visionary Activist on Patreon The post Bridges Literal and Metaphoric appeared first on KPFA.

Patreon backer Sam brings you this special episode all about the belief in a world full of spirits! If you're enjoying the show, why not consider supporting it on Patreon? You'll get access to lots of new bonus content, including my other podcast, Patron Deities! Thanks to Ray Otus for our thumbnail image. The intro music is a clip from "Solve the Damn Mystery" by Jesse Spillane, used under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Want more exclusive content?! http://prometheuslens.supercast.com to sign up for the "All Access Pass" and get early access to episodes, private community, members only episodes, private Q & A's, and coming documentaries. We also have a $4 dollar a month package that gets you early access and an ad free listening experience!==================== Summary:Join us as Bernie Taylor explores the origins of Hercules, mythological stories, and their astronomical connections, revealing deep insights into ancient civilizations and their shared narratives.Key Topics: Origins of Hercules and mythological stories Astronomical evidence linking cave art and constellations Shared narratives across ancient civilizations Animism and archetypes in early human culture The hero's journey in prehistoric art ==================== 

The dragon, or serpent, in myth and story, is the coiling, spiraling power of nature itself. And so, how cultures have treated the dragon depends a lot on how they view nature and how they view the world. Some have celebrated and honored the serpent power, some have sought to harness or direct it, others to contain or tame it, while some have labeled it as chaos and sought to subdue and slay it. The history of the Western world's relationship with dragons and serpents is fraught, and Western mythic tradition is rife with monstrous serpent beings that are vilified as 'evil'.  How does this primal undulant power come to be seen as 'evil'? As author Veronica Strang explains, it has to do with how human beings interact with forces we cannot control. With the rise of large scale societies, forces outside the civilizational order — floods, unpredictable weather, and movements of the water cycle — became labeled as 'chaos.' Whereas once 'chaos' signified primal oceanic generativity, chaos became seen as wanton disorder, and in Western tradition, a polarity forms between that which is stable and eternal and good that which is shifting and changing and undulant and evil. This dichotomy — this fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of stability and movement, of boundary and flow — informs the entire history of the Western world and is still playing itself out across the sociocultural, political, and spiritual spectrum today.  In traditional systems, this power is not dichotomized but is met with deep protocol, in which it is understood that the dragon-serpent power is not to be vilified, nor is it to be invoked without caution. For in relational polytheistic systems, there may be serpent powers that are helpful and those that aren't, and there may be powers that require deep preparation before they are met. So the dragon-serpent asks us — what does it mean to be in real relationship with that which is awesome, powerful, and potentially dangerous? How do we treat... the dragon? Featuring interviews with author Veronica Strang, Nyoongar Elder Noel Nannup, Shipibo professor Eli Sanchez Pakan Meni, and Mythosomatic practitioner Eve Bradford and featuring music from Victor Sakshin, Travis Puntarelli, Jeunae Elita, and Marya Stark, enjoy this spiraling journey that concludes our exploration of THE DRAGON. Support the show

Robert Moor, bestselling author of On Trails, discusses how we can think more like trees, how cultures around the world celebrate trees, and what it's like to climb to the top of a 300-foot giant sequoia. Robert's new book is In Trees: An Exploration.

On this episode, find out what Jason Mamoa smells like!  Find out what Scarlet is harboring in her bathroom!  Speaking of harbors, that is what the episode is all about this week- the witches discuss what the card could be between the Tower and The Star.  No surprises, y'all, a lighthouse is the PERFECT symbol for where this yet-to-exist card falls.  If you are jumping from your own personal tower, the best thing you could possibly hope for is, well, hope - but before you reach the hope that the Star brings, Blackbird and Scarlet talk about what could lead you to a more gentle landing.  The lighthouse is a perfect image for leading you to safer shores.  While you sail the freeway seas on Monday, may your commute be full of magic (because you are checking out this episode!) 

If everything is one, then why not look at everything as one. No separation at all. If an atom is an atom and there's just varying degrees of awareness, is there actually such a thing as an inanimate object? Stay weird!To Follow Us On Patreon—> https://www.patreon.com/c/MetaMysticsEmail Us!—> MetaMystics@yahoo.comSubscribe to our Youtube—> http://www.youtube.com/@MetaMysticsTo Follow Us On TikTok—> https://www.tiktok.com/@metamysticsGive us a follow on Instagram—> @MetaMystics111Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/meta-mystics--5795466/support.You Don't Know What You Don't Know!

Stags and boars are two animals that pop up a lot in Heathen and Pagan spirituality.  Join your host for a short talk on how they appear in Nordic myth and what stags and boars represent.Want to support this podcast and my other work?  Sign up for my Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/c/wayw... or contribute to my KoFi here: https://ko-fi.com/ryansmithwfiI am teaching classes in Heathen spirituality!  You can find out more and sign up at www.onblackwings.com/classes

If the Earth were a Person, how would you describe what they are like, and how would you describe your relationship with them?I was brought up in a religion that taught me that nature is something separate from us and subservient to us.It's alive in a sense, but definitely not conscious. I was taught that it's impersonal, and it definitely didn't have a soul or spirit.It's beautiful, sure, but it's mainly a utility that exists to resource humans. It's here to be the support system and backdrop to the most important existence of humans.Basically, it's inanimate.But in the last couple of years, especially ⁠after my first psychedelic experience⁠, I see things completely differently.Throughout most of human history, human beings believed in animism, and it doesn't contradict religion (or, it doesn't have to.)Animism is the belief that everything in Nature is alive and has a spirit or consciousness—not just humans and animals, but also trees, rivers, rocks, mountains, and even weather systems.It's one of the oldest belief systems in the world and is found in many Indigenous and earth-based traditions.Animism teaches that the world is made up of relationships - that we're in constant dialogue with the more-than-human world, and that everything is interconnected and deserving of respect.Press play to learn: myths and creation stories about the Earth being personal and relationalpractical and magical ways to be more connected with Nature - to receive physical and mental health benefits and also to receive messages from your Intuitionhow to see Nature as a mirror for what's happening in our inner world through its cycles of growth and restHow we can walk together:Join the next gathering of the ⁠⁠⁠Wild Wellness Women's Circle.⁠⁠⁠ More of a one-on-one person? I love that too! Learn more ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Let's connect on⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!Grab any of my Free Resources ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here.⁠

Send us Fan MailWhat does it really mean to practice with respect when we borrow from folklore, deity work, and traditions outside our own direct lineage? In this episode, Leandra Witchwood and Elyse Welles explore the importance of cultural attribution in witchcraft and why naming the roots of a practice matters. They talk about the difference between appropriation and respectful engagement, how social media often strips spiritual traditions of their depth, and why it is not enough to simply repeat something because it looks magical online.Join monthly coven classes and experiences.  A customized 28-day Moon Magick Program Sacred Wild Wednesdays is a live weekly gathering with Elyse Welles featuring tarot readings for participants, magickal musings, and grounded spiritual teaching. Held in real time, this space offers guidance, perspective, and connection for those walking the Path of the Sacred Wild.Support the Podcast!

This is a follow up interview with Dr. Aaron Breidenbach.  In our first episode (EOTR 326), we discussed the crystals of Zn-Barlowite and Herbertsmithite that he grew and studied in his PhD at Stanford.  These crystal have the potential to be used in applications in future quantum computers.  See our first episode here:  https://open.spotify.com/episode/5YlHkGM3p6nfzSGU4yZjAv These crystals also grow naturally in the Atacama Desert in Chile.  Aaron recently returned from an expedition with Chilean Anthopologist Vincente Carrasola Vega.  They were successful in finding natural crystals of Herbertsmithite.  These crystals are likely to be purer than laboratory synthetics, and this could enable new experiments in quantum physics.  Tragically, however, these crystals are currently being destroyed in massive quantities as low-grade copper ore in ecologically damaging mining practices.  We discuss the implications of this discovery, and the irony and tragedy of overextraction. We conclude this episode by talking about the relation of this disovery to Ayni, the local indigenous system of animistic reciprocity with the land.  Aaron proposes a return expedition to Chile to look for one of the country's most famous lost archeological artifacts; a crystal ball found at the summit of the sacred volcano Licanabur.  He believes that the ancient people of the land may have used these spheres to focus sunlight onto mineral samples to learn more about their properties.  He hopes to replicate this experiment with the help of indigenous Aymara and Atacamenian collaborators.  Aaron can be reached at: https://thequantumarcheologist.org/ This podcast is available on your favorite podcast feed, or here:https://endoftheroad.libsyn.com/episode-336-aaron-breidenbach-quantum-physicsanimism-ii Have a blessed weekend!  

In a culture where age is, at best, ignored, how do we rebuild a cohort of genuine Elders fit for the rapid transitions of the 21st Century: those who can combine the wisdom of wide boundary perspectives with the humility that allows flexibility of thinking, feeling and being? This is one of the core questions of our time and this week's guest is working to find answers. Alain Gauthier is co-founder and coordinator of the Regenerative Elder Process at the Elders Action Network. With John Izzo, he is co-host of The Way Forward Regenerative Conversations podcast and over his long life, he has been an international consultant, facilitator, coach, researcher-educator, and author. His book Actualising Evolutionary Co-Leadership: To Evolve a Creative and Responsible Society was published in 2014 - and is only available on Kindle (sorry) - but it is nonetheless a fascinating and inspiring read. A graduate from HEC (Paris), with an MBA from Stanford University, Alain was once a senior consultant at McKinsey & Company, As you'll hear, a life-changing experience led him to co-found Core Leadership Development in Oakland, California and to focus his professional work on developing co-leadership, partnering and coaching capabilities. Now in his eighties and as an elder, he devotes his time to co-creating conditions for elders to explore how they can live a regenerative life and collaborate with younger generations in transforming education and community life.  Over the last seven years, he has been an active member of the Elders Action Network (EAN), where he initially led a visionary planning process and now co-leads the Regenerative Elder Process (REP) – which, this April (2026) is offering for the seventh time an in-depth exploration called Embodying Regenerative Worldviews. He co-leads the REP Community and is a member of the Advisory Council of Elders Rising, EAN's educational arm. This was a rich, deep and heart-felt podcast.  Enjoy!LinksElders Action Network https://eldersaction.org/Regenerative Elders Process https://eldersaction.org/regenerative-elder-processIntroductory Exploration of Regenerative Elder Process https://sutra.co/space/2eqo2s/register - New Cohort April 2026 Alain's book (only on Kindle) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Actualizing-Evolutionary-Co-Leadership-Creative-Responsible-ebook/dp/B00JE4FRHY/The Way Forward Regenerative Conversations Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-way-forward-regenerative-conversations/id1651941803Peter Senge's Centre for Systems Awareness https://systemsawareness.org/person/peter-senge/Jeff Carreira's Mystery School https://mysteryschool-memberscircle.com/Otto Scharmer's Presencing Institute https://www.presencing.org/About Accidental Gods - What we offer. We offer three strands all rooted in the same soil, drawing from the same river: Accidental Gods, Dreaming Awake and the Thrutopia Writing Masterclass If you'd like to join our next Open Gathering offered as part of our Accidental Gods Programme, it's 'FINDING YOUR SOUL'S PURPOSE' on Sunday 22nd March 2026 from 16:00 - 20:00 GMT - details are here. You don't have to be a member - but if you are, all Gatherings are half price.If you'd like to join us at Accidental Gods, this is the membership where we endeavour to help you to connect fully with the living web of life. If you'd like to train more deeply in the contemporary shamanic work at Dreaming Awake, you'll find us here. If you'd like to explore the recordings from our last Thrutopia Writing Masterclass, the details are hereManda and Louise both offer one-to-one Mentoring Calls.  Manda is fully booked just now, but if you'd like to contact Louise, details are here.

Sunday school class on Religions of the World (Part 2): Animism, taught by Elder Pat Devine. March 8, 2026.

This episode dives into the place of two particular animals in Nordic myth: goats and horses. Join your host for a short trip through the examples we have of goats from Nordic myth, the best of horses, the qualities of both animals in myth, and more!Want to support this podcast and my other work?  Sign up for my Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/c/wayw... or contribute to my KoFi here: https://ko-fi.com/ryansmithwfiI am teaching a new round of classes!  You can find out more and sign up at www.onblackwings.com/classes

Join Leilani and Kimberlyn as they explore both the psychological needs satisfied by birthdays and the magical, metaphorical, and metaphysical aspects of such celebrations.Their check-ins:  Kimberlyn is working through the ethical and spiritual implications of training her puppy; Leilani shares her insights about creativity, energy, success, and her dance practice.Mentioned in the episode:   Rachel Yukimura's booklet Animism, Anarchism, and… Dog Training?  Tricia Hersey's book  Rest Is Resistance:  A Manifesto; Morgan Harper Nichols' poem, “Let July be July.” Get exclusive content and support us on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/WitchyWit  Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/WitchyWitPodcast Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/Witchy_Wit  Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/3azUkFVlECTlTZQVX5jl1X?si=8WufnXueQrugGDIYWbgc3A  Apple Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/witchy-wit/id1533482466 Pandora:https://pandora.app.link/nNsuNrSKneb  Google Podcast:Witchy Wit (google.com)

A significant aspect of this project has been research into the location of the recording - the Colombian Chocó department, one of the rainiest regions on Earth. With dense rainforest and flooding, the terrain is uncompromising and one of the most isolated regions of Colombia, with no major infrastructure due to underdeveloped roads, yet it is one of the most richly biodiverse zones on the planet.Since the recording was made, there has been ongoing desecration of the land from both violent conflict and extraction of its gold leading to enforced displacement, cultural disruption, poverty and lack of healthcare and resources. The more I learnt about this volatile status in Chocó in relation to both its natural and violent political climate, the more I felt a responsibility to understand the impact on the Indigenous communities such as the Emberá, as well as the historical roots of the AfroColombian diaspora. The dense and remote jungles have historically provided refuge for African slaves escaping from gold mines and plantations. This dichotomy of the land as both a place of refuge and isolation inhospitable to settlement offered dynamic scope for where this could be taken as a sonic journey of nature and its wilderness doing what it does. This called to mind the concept of the genius loci, Latin for the spirit of a place and the indigenous belief in Animism, the living soul of natural phenomena.My reading around this subject led me to how the elders and shamans of the region are dedicated to the preservation of their ancestral cultural heritage and traditions. Natural forces such as rain are associated with energies called “Jai” and a Jaibaná (shaman) is the intermediary who interacts with these energies to restore balance in the natural world.  The intensity of the rain in the recording evokes a sense of the water element unequivocally dominating the land. I wanted to remain sympathetic to this and imagine the nuances within the interaction of this force of nature with the land itself and to consider what we may hear if we were inside the underworld of the forest, beneath the canopy of trees. We were inspired to consider the torrential rain and wind interacting with an imaginary Jaibaná who summons a call and response to the forest catalysing a sequence of entrainment with the drum and the heartbeat of the forest, as if a natural electrical current has been ignited. The final composition contains both analogue and digital methods. Live recordings of gong, rattles, singing bowls, hand drum, vocal overtoning and other sound effects such as insects and wing sounds created with paper. In shamanic tradition, the shaman's drum is described as being the horse that journey on, so I had this in mind with the drumming as a gateway into this communication with the elements. Granular sampler Modular synths Reaktor/ Steam Pipe Bastl Leploop Microgranny 2Main software / Ableton Live Panning and filtering in mixing process to create 3D immersion. This piece was created in honour of the land and its Indigenous population and to Jonathan Ambache & Richard Saunarez Smith for their contribution to ethnographic sound history. María Christofi (The Sound Apothecary) composition and analogue instruments/voice. Jules Dickens (Abstract Source Music) digital sequences and mastering. Torrential rain in Colombia reimagined by The Sound Apothecary and Abstract Source.———Part of the project A Century of Sounds, reimagining 100 sounds covering 100 years from the collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford. Explore the full project at citiesandmemory.com/century-sounds

Dragon lore is everywhere in global mythology — no matter what continent you live on, the land you inhabit holds dragon story, and quite possibly was shaped by dragons, or has sleeping dragons in it. Such dragons have captured human imagination across hundreds of cultures and thousands of years. But the dragon is much more than a category of fantastical beast.  In many traditions the world-dragon, or world-serpent, is creator, land-shaper,  present in the water cycle and in weather systems and in the vast temporal cycles of the cosmos itself. More deeply, the dragon is related to kinetic power — to all that moves in spirals. So the coils of the dragon draw us in to a deep discussion of the fundamental energetic power of a cosmos whose basic movements are serpentine —  coiling and releasing, gathering and dispersing, shedding and regenerating — one sinuous energy that is also multifaceted. This power is paradoxical — it creates and destroys, it births and it devours. Like the world itself, it is beautiful and it is terrifying. So this power is met in vastly different ways — with awe and reverence, and with fear and suspicion. How a culture views dragons says a lot about how they view... the world. For the dragon is the primal power of creation, and to explore dragon story is to explore how human beings have interacted with the world and its powers, its cycles and convolutions, across cultures and generations. Discussions on the world-dragon have deep relevance at a time when socio-historical power patterns are repeating, and forgotten monsters waking, and old power structures crumbling and new ones rising. At stake are questions of how we as human beings treat vast, monstrous, beautiful, paradoxical, primal powers. Featuring interviews with Nyoongar Elder Noel Nannup and Shipibo Professor Eli Sanchez Pakan Meni and original music from Victor Sakshin, Jeunae Elita, Travis Puntarelli, Charlotte Malin Collins and Marya Stark, this episode asks us to stare deep into the eyes of the flashing, feathered, scaled, fractal power at the heart of creation itself. Enter.... THE DRAGON. Support the show

In the noble quest to understand our minds, today we take a new angle. We track how grunts turned into gossip, myths, and the weird human habit of blushing when we screw up. You'll see why your brain is basically a compression algorithm: squeezing an entire inner universe through a tiny mouth-shaped funnel. We go from jellyfish nerve nets to gossip networks, and beyond. How shared stories make money, nations and even your job “real”. Along the way, we poke at shame, status, and why your reputation now travels faster than any spear ever did. It's part history, psychology, mindset lesson, and part mirror. You'll probably recognise more of yourself than you'd like: Use “compression” as a mental model to communicate ideas more clearly. Spot how gossip and reputation are driving your current career decisions. Rewrite one story you've inherited about status, success, or failure. Listen in, and update the story your brain is running in the background. SPONSORS

In this episode, we take a closer look at how modern films like Sinners and Marvel's Black Panther draw heavily from ancient and indigenous religious traditions, often positioning them as morally superior or more "authentic" than Christianity. Chuck explores the symbolism, storytelling choices and cultural messaging behind these movies and asks, what does it mean when Christianity is sidelined or reframed in popular entertainment? Is this just creative world-building, or does it reflect a deeper shift in spiritual values being promoted on screen?

Send a textWe're joined by Patricia Robin Woodruff of The Roots of Slavic Magic to explore what Slavic magic is, and why it's often misunderstood. From house spirits like the Domovoy to plant lore traditions involving mugwort and mullein, this conversation weaves animism, folklore, and ancestral cosmology into a grounded introduction for modern practitioners.Learn more at https://patriciarobinwoodruff.com/ and explore her book Slavic Deities: Their Worship and Roots here: https://www.amazon.com/Slavic-Deities-Their-Worship-Roots/dp/1735614920Loose-leaf Tea and Sacred Apothecary A Five-Day Audio Program to Clear the Noise and Transform Your Practice. This is where serious Witches belong. The Witch's Reset exists for witches who are done dabbling,who are ready to stop circling the work and step into competence, coherence, and embodied trust.  https://leandrawitchwood.com/witchs_reset The Healing Our Feminine Wounding Immersive is a sacred retreat devoted to untangling inherited shame, silence, and survival patterns carried in the feminine body. Through ritual, reflection, and land based temple arts, we work gently and honestly with what has been passed down so that a truer, steadier way of being can emerge. Sacred Wild Wednesdays is a live weekly gathering with Elyse Welles featuring tarot readings for participants, magickal musings, and grounded spiritual teaching. Held in real time, this space offers guidance, perspective, and connection for those walking the Path of the Sacred Wild.Support the Podcast!

The witches hope that everyone is beginning to thaw out, and are wishing everyone an Imbolc to remember!  A new beginning is around the corner, even though it doesn't feel like it for some of us - brrr, remove us from this deep freeze!  But with the celebration of the full moon, what better cards to contemplate than those that deal with the very nature of change?  Scarlet and Blackbird pose thought-provoking questions to each other and to you, dear listeners.  What could be the midpoint in between these two cards?  As has been customary in this series, the witches are loving the sharing of ideas and collaboration, and are excited to share these with you.  Enjoy and thank you for listening! 

As the old paradigm splinters into rage-filled, grief-stricken fragments, how can we lay the foundation for the total systemic change we so badly need?Even beyond the listeners to this podcast, it is obvious by now that there is no going back. As Oliver Kornetzke wrote in a particularly sharply written piece on Facebook back on 22nd January - before Alex Pretti was murdered by Trump's Federal Agents - what white America is not experiencing is not new, and is not a flaw in the system, it is the system.  This is what he says in more detail: White Americans are not witnessing the collapse of something noble. They're witnessing the unveiling of what has always been true. The rot now visible is not a flaw in the foundation. Rather, it is the foundation. It was poured with concrete, inscribed into laws, and baked into the American mythos. The violence, the inequality, and the selective application of “justice”—none of it is a betrayal of the American promise. It is the American promise, applied unevenly by design.For centuries, Black, Indigenous, and other marginalized communities have lived under the weight of this system—disenfranchised, disappeared, surveilled, caged, and killed. They were told to be patient, to be peaceful, to vote harder, to “work within the system.” And when they told the unvarnished truth—that the system is the violence—they were mocked, criminalized, and ignored.Now the machinery begins to grind down those it once served, and only now does the shock begin to register. But this isn't the system breaking. It's merely the mask coming off.The laws of this land protects power and wealth. It has always protected power and wealth. The state defends itself. And democracy here has always been ornamental—used to sanctify what power had already decided. The rule of law is not impartial. It's a weapon, a performance, a convenience afforded to the privileged. The pageantry of justice is reserved for those never meant to feel its weight.What you're seeing now is not the end of the American dream. It is the truth of the American reality, finally uninterested in disguising itself. The empire is simply turning inward.Many will not want to read this. They will flinch, deflect, and rationalize. They will call me divisive, bitter, and extreme. They will attack, argue, and dismiss. And in doing so, they will only prove the point by choosing their comfort over clarity, and their denial over responsibility. Because that, too, is by design: the privilege of ignoring the truth until it shows up at your own door.So what do we do?  It is a founding principle of this podcast that there is still time to turn the bus that is humanity from the edge of the cliff of species-level extinction. We believe the Egregor, the Super-Organism, the death cult of predatory capitalism... whatever you like to call it, is in its death throes.  In its flailing, it might yet take us all with it, but that's not a given and in every single act of compassion, courage and community that we're seeing around the world from Greenland, to Venezuela, to Minnesota and beyond, we are building the leading edge of a new system. But we need a spiritual base to this.  I genuinely think we get through only if we can lift ourselves out of our Trauma Culture and into a new way of being - an Initiation Culture fit for the twenty first century.  We talk about this a lot on the podcast, and sometimes, we talk to other people who get this, and who are working explicitly towards a shift in consciousness of the whole human race.  Today's episode is one of those. Our guest is Marc-John Brown who describes himself with characteristic humility, as an integration coach, transpersonal life coach, and spiritually-oriented business coach. Since 2019, he has been an apprentice of the Shipibo-Konibo tribe of the Peruvian Amazon Jungle and an ally and collaborator among multiple other living indigenous peoples. Having met him, I'd say that Marc-John  is deeply connected with the spirits of the land in a way that is both profoundly wise, and deeply grounded.  He is one of those who comes to Elderhood at a young age, moving through the world with dignity and humility, helping others to reach the core of what it is to be human at this moment of total transformation.  Born and raised in Scotland, he has a deep spiritual connection to south America and to the indigenous peoples of that land. With his wife, Erika Huarcaya a native Peruvian of the Chanka peoples, Marc-John runs the Native Wisdom Hub, which seeks to bring people of our culture - the white, western culture that is currently eating itself alive - into authentic, enduring connection with the web of life such that we can all begin to change the way we are in the world.  On a recent Substack post, Marc-John says, 'We believe that, in large part, healing happens through nervous system co-regulation between indigenous wisdom keepers and modern seekers. Building healthy relationships. Creating psychological safety. Allowing trust to grow where mistrust has festered.'So this conversation delves deeply into the nature of the trauma we experience - and how we might heal the relationships between all parts of ourselves, ourselves and each other, ourselves and the web of life.  LinksNative Wisdom Hub https://www.nativewisdomhub.com/NWH on FB https://www.facebook.com/nativewisdomhub/Marc-John's Substack https://substack.com/@marcjohnbrownOliver Korntezke on FB https://www.facebook.com/okornetzkeWhat we offer—If you'd like to support us, come along and join the Accidental Gods Membership. Here, you can share in the ideas, the programme that will help you connect to the Web of Life in ways that will last—and you can come to the Gatherings half price. Or if that doesn't appeal, come along to one of the Gatherings. Or buy a subscription/Gathering for a friend... do something that feels like a good exchange of energy and minimises our connection with old economic paradigm. Remember that if any of this is difficult, contact us and we'll find something that works for you. Details below: We offer three strands all rooted in the same soil, drawing from the same river: Accidental Gods, Dreaming Awake and the Thrutopia Writing Masterclass If you'd like to join our next Open Gathering offered as part of our Accidental Gods Programme, it's 'Honouring Fear as your Mentor' on Sunday 8th February 2026 from 16:00 - 20:00 GMT - details are here. You don't have to be a member - but if you are, all Gatherings are half price.If you'd like to join us at Accidental Gods, this is the membership where we endeavour to help you to connect fully with the living web of life. If you'd like to train more deeply in the contemporary shamanic work at Dreaming Awake, you'll find us here. If you'd like to explore the recordings from our last Thrutopia Writing Masterclass

Show NotesAdam's doctoral thesis and time in the AmazonIatrogenesis and Healing CultureEpistemic HumilityOur Traumadelic StoriesClash in Understandings of CausationDisneyfication of Plant MedicineIndividual vs Relational HealingPsychedelic Tourism's Local ConsequencesSpirit Realm FalloutAnimistic PerspectiveNarrative, Cults, and Conspirituality Get full access to Chris Christou at chrischristou.substack.com/subscribe

Come join my private discord and learn how to practice techno animism with me! https://discord.gg/HjWYJxqtFq

Leilani and Kimberlyn are revisited by Kimberly (Ep. 22) as she shares her intricate dance integrating her shamanic, astrology, and witchy practices.Mentioned in the episode:  Michael Harner's The Foundation for Shamanic Studies; The Society for Shamanic Practice; Tom Cowan's book Fire in the Head: Shamanism and the Celtic Spirit, Jane Burns, Amantha Murphy's book The Way of the Seabhean; The Association for the Study of Women and Mythology (ASWM); Carla Ionescu's podcast, The Goddess Project; John O'Donahue's poem, “Axioms for Wildness;”  Astrology with Kimberly, Facebook, Instagram.Get exclusive content and support us on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/WitchyWit Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/WitchyWitPodcast Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/Witchy_Wit  Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/3azUkFVlECTlTZQVX5jl1X?si=8WufnXueQrugGDIYWbgc3A  Apple Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/witchy-wit/id1533482466 Pandora:https://pandora.app.link/nNsuNrSKneb  Google Podcast:Witchy Wit (google.com)

"If you want to have a relationship with the more than human world, you have to spend time in the more than human world." – Mo Judith This week on Everything You Didn't Know About Herbalism, we are once again joined by the Earth-centered herbalist who bottles the alchemical intelligence of plants through the spagyric process, Mo Judith. Join Tommy and Mo for this special PART TWO episode as they expand on: The Tri Prima (three essentials) of spagyrics: soul, spirit, body  Spagyrics being about curiosity and humility, not hierarchy The spagyric process expanding beyond tinctures Honoring plants by using all its parts Dosage differences in spagyrics tinctures As always, we thank you for joining us on another botanical adventure and are so honored to have you tag along with us on this ride. Remember, we want to hear from you! Your questions, ideas, and who you want to hear from are an invaluable piece to our podcast. Email us at podcast@mountainroseherbs.com to let us know what solutions we should uncover next within the vast world of herbalism.

In this episode, I connect with a teacher, folk practicioner and witch from my birth country of Poland. We discuss animism, how to practice, how we try to reach people and share some stories about connecting to our local land relatives.

"Alchemy is the biodynamic system that recognizes the soul and intelligence within the chemical reaction." – Mo Judith This week on Everything You Didn't Know About Herbalism, we are joined by the Earth-centered herbalist who bottles the alchemical intelligence of plants through the spagyric process, Mo Judith. Join Tommy and Mo as they explore: Consciousness expanding beyond human consciousness Spagyric tinctures vs. botanical tinctures Separation and recombination to build wholeness Perceiving life through animism: nothing is inanimate Alchemy bridging the gap between science and spirituality As always, we thank you for joining us on another botanical adventure and are so honored to have you tag along with us on this ride. Remember, we want to hear from you! Your questions, ideas, and who you want to hear from are an invaluable piece to our podcast. Email us at podcast@mountainroseherbs.com to let us know what solutions we should uncover next within the vast world of herbalism.

Come have a chat about the future of AI in our spiritual system. https://www.philipryandeal.com/

Support Midgard Musings By Clicking Here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/MidgardMusings⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here to visit Fjallvaettir Workshop: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://fjallvaettir.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Donate to my mother's-in-law GoFundMe for medical equipment upgrades: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://gofund.me/43c134d0

Founder of the Fungi Consultant, Oli Genn-Bash is a mycotherapy educator, psychedelic writer and musician exploring the intersections between functional mushrooms, animism, altered states, and human well-being. Though courses, consultancy, and creative work, Oli blends scientific research with traditional wisdom to make mushroom based healing accessible and grounded.   He is the creator of Mycomastery:  The Functional Mushroom Buyer's Toolkit and is the "Saturnian" saxman of the band Codex Serafini.   Check out his many offerings at:  https://thefungiconsultant.com/  @oligennbash @codexserafini_band Musical tracks in the podcast are from Codex Serafini's new album "Mother, Give Your Children Sanity." This podcast is available on your favorite podcast platform, or here:  https://endoftheroad.libsyn.com/episode-328-oli-genn-bash-animismthe-fungi-consultantcodex-serafini   Have a blessed weekend!      

The sermon centers on the critical importance of understanding and engaging with people's worldview—particularly in cross-cultural missions—arguing that true conversion requires confronting not just intellectual beliefs but the experiential and spiritual dimensions of a person's belief system, such as animism, ancestor worship, and spiritual powers. It critiques the Western Christian tendency to operate from a deistic, dualistic worldview that separates the natural and supernatural realms, leading to a diminished perception of demonic forces and the Holy Spirit's active presence. Instead, the sermon advocates for a biblical worldview that affirms three functional realms—God's sovereign realm, the angelic realm, and the human realm—where angels actively serve God in sustaining creation, guiding believers, and engaging in spiritual warfare. The ultimate call is for missionaries and believers alike to move beyond superficial cultural adaptation to deep identification, especially at the level of kinning, where shared worldview enables authentic community and effective spiritual transformation.

Do you love the dark?  Do you yearn for sunset and the amber glow of a fire with the night growing deeper, more inspiring all around you?  Most of us don't - though our ancestors through all of history have lived by firelight, moonlight, starlight... until the modern era of light at the flick of a switch.  But there's a world out there of sheer, unadulterated magic that is only revealed when we put aside the lights and the phones and the torches and step out into the night  - as this week's guest has done. Leigh Ann Henion is the New York Times bestselling author of Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark and Phenomenal: A Hesitant Adventurer's Search for Wonder in the Natural World. Her writing has appeared in Smithsonian, National Geographic, The Washington Post, Backpacker, The American Scholar, and a variety of other publications. She is a former Alicia Patterson Fellow, and her work has been supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Henion lives in Boone, North Carolina.  Wall Street Journal says of this book. "Lovely…truly inspired…and very clever…An appreciation of nature's nocturnal organisms can help us reset our relationship with the night…That's the gift of Night Magic: It may make you think differently about the night."Leigh Ann's Website https://leighannhenion.com/Night Magic book (UK): https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/night-magic-leigh-ann-henion/7832118

Jemma Deer's Radical Animism: Reading for the End of the World (Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2020) invites the reader to take a moment and to ponder on the way of reading. In her book, the author challenges the narcissistic position of the human being: a status that has been established for some time and which has already been challenged before but does not seem to be changing quickly. The Anthropocene reveals the dangers which are connected to the human centrality and power; on the other hand, it requires new ways of engaging with the environment. These new ways are not limited to the gestures of consideration in relation to the profound changes that led to climate change in particular. They ask for a new mode of thinking when the inanimate is part and parcel of the human being. In this regard, Jemma Deer draws attention to reading and writing as ways and modes of engaging with the inanimate and with the environment that serves as a habitat for the acts of reading and writing. The book offers strategies for reading literary texts across cultures and times: the works by Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll, Virginia Woolf reveal new echoes in the context of the Anthropocene. Radical Animism is a gentle invitation to abandon human superiority and to explore the ways that subvert a conventional hierarchy of the human and the non-human. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Jemma Deer's Radical Animism: Reading for the End of the World (Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2020) invites the reader to take a moment and to ponder on the way of reading. In her book, the author challenges the narcissistic position of the human being: a status that has been established for some time and which has already been challenged before but does not seem to be changing quickly. The Anthropocene reveals the dangers which are connected to the human centrality and power; on the other hand, it requires new ways of engaging with the environment. These new ways are not limited to the gestures of consideration in relation to the profound changes that led to climate change in particular. They ask for a new mode of thinking when the inanimate is part and parcel of the human being. In this regard, Jemma Deer draws attention to reading and writing as ways and modes of engaging with the inanimate and with the environment that serves as a habitat for the acts of reading and writing. The book offers strategies for reading literary texts across cultures and times: the works by Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll, Virginia Woolf reveal new echoes in the context of the Anthropocene. Radical Animism is a gentle invitation to abandon human superiority and to explore the ways that subvert a conventional hierarchy of the human and the non-human. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory

Jemma Deer's Radical Animism: Reading for the End of the World (Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2020) invites the reader to take a moment and to ponder on the way of reading. In her book, the author challenges the narcissistic position of the human being: a status that has been established for some time and which has already been challenged before but does not seem to be changing quickly. The Anthropocene reveals the dangers which are connected to the human centrality and power; on the other hand, it requires new ways of engaging with the environment. These new ways are not limited to the gestures of consideration in relation to the profound changes that led to climate change in particular. They ask for a new mode of thinking when the inanimate is part and parcel of the human being. In this regard, Jemma Deer draws attention to reading and writing as ways and modes of engaging with the inanimate and with the environment that serves as a habitat for the acts of reading and writing. The book offers strategies for reading literary texts across cultures and times: the works by Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll, Virginia Woolf reveal new echoes in the context of the Anthropocene. Radical Animism is a gentle invitation to abandon human superiority and to explore the ways that subvert a conventional hierarchy of the human and the non-human. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/environmental-studies

There is a weight to modern existence — perhaps you've felt it. In a world in which social and environmental crises only seem to be deepening and our familial, communal and spiritual support systems are steadily crumbling, individuals are buckling under the weight. This weight is not simply metaphorical. When the web of relationships that traditionally hold human culture together is fractured, then sociocultural, ecological, and even cosmic burdens are funneled to individuals to carry. We often try to tackle these burdens on our own — but they are far too big for one person to bear. Traditional cultures, by contrast, tend to be constructed around networks of support — not only in their sociocultural and spiritual systems, but in their understanding of a cosmological and ecological mandala of animate forces, gods and goddesses and spirit helpers that literally bear weight. So animate traditions invoke various weight bearers, from turtles to elephants to the great mother goddess herself — who is known as the 'support' of everything that is. Such figures invite us into a deeper vision of support that is not generated or borne by us alone and that requires that we rethink the human role in the web of life. In such relational visions, people are not gods. They have responsibilities to the web of life, but they are not responsible for bearing everything. The tendency of the modern individualist mind to put itself at the center of the cosmos and try to bear universal burdens on its own has roots that go back to the creation story that lives at the heart of western history, a story that imbues individual beings with the greatest burden of all — the burden of salvation. If we look closely this unconscious burden is still at play everywhere, across the social and political spectrum, in wellness narratives and psychotherapeutic narratives, and even in the stories we tell about how it's our imperative to 'save the world.' Perhaps it's time to unpack this deeply rooted burden and regrow it as something else. Featuring a beautiful telling of the story of Sky Woman by Mohawk Chief Beverly Cook, and original music from Beya, Balladir, Olivia the Bard, Hummbbugggg, Victor Sakshin and Marya Stark, This episode dives deep into the roots of the cosmic burdens that individuals in modern culture bear, and explores what it means to redistribute the burden as we find cosmic, ecological, and communal support.Support the show

Dr. Aaron Breidenbach recently completed his PhD dissertation in Physics at Stanford.  His doctorial studies focused on the growth and magnetic measurement of the crystals Herbertsmithite and Zn-Barlowite.  His work went a long way towards proving that these crystals are "quantum spin liquids," a novel state of magnetic matter that has potential applications in quantum computing. These same crystals also grow naturally in the Atacama desert, where the local Atacamenian people hold rich animistic traditions which weave in their mountains and mummified ancestors through spiritual traditions.  Sadly, these living mountains are currently being over-mined for Copper and Lithium.  This process has led to many ecological issues, including the poisoning of the Atacamenian groundwater with arsenic.  The cruelest irony is that Herbertsmithite, a strong candidate to the the silicon of quantum computing, is regularly found in toxic waste tailings from these mines.   Aaron now is embarking on a journey to the Atacama to try to help restore these animistic traditions, bring balance to the land, and help advance the future of quantum computing.  For more information about Aaron, please see:  https://thequantumshaman.wordpress.com/ This podcast is available on your favorite podcast platform, or here:  https://endoftheroad.libsyn.com/episode-326-dr-aaron-breidenbach-quantum-computingcrystalsanimismatacama Have a blessed week!

At long last, Key goes into one of our most hotly requested "sequel" episodes: a follow up on his exploration of the chaos magic of the DKMU. This time, he goes over one of its most notable offshoots and developments, being the Hexorian Movement. In covering the basics of its principles and appreciation for urban spirits, Key explores what it is to fall in love with the city you live in and how to establish a reciprocal relationship with its guardians and guides.Support us on patreon.com/TheFrightfulHowls .

Many seers report seeing spirits in nature — in trees, rivers, mountains, or storms. Some Christian voices call all of this witchcraft. Others embrace pagan ideas of “elementals.” So what's really going on?In this episode, Doug and Emily begin to unpack the biblical, historical, and spiritual realities behind nature spirits.We'll look at what ancient cultures believed about “elementals,” how Scripture uses the word stoicheion, and what it means that creation “praises God.”- We also discuss nature spirits in pre-Christian Europe and medieval imagination- Stoicheion and the biblical worldview of “elemental powers”- How creation worships by functioning as God designed... but there are other ways to read those passages.- Why fear-based, hyper-religious teaching about nature spirits distorts truth- How false prophets minister to spirits, but true prophets minister to humansWe shares frustration with modern Christian fear-mongering online, and together we respond with a Kingdom of God mindset:“Learn to hear the Holy Spirit, know the Scriptures, and find freedom in Christ.God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.”Whether you're a seer, a skeptic, or simply curious about how creation reveals God's glory, this episode invites you to see the world the way Jesus did — alive with meaning, yet under His authority.We unpack a lot, and decide Doug is left wanting to think about what was discussed, to conclude the conversation on nature spirits next week.

How do the stories we tell ourselves and each other about ourselves, each other and our place in the web of life shape our world?How can we craft narratives that can shift the way we see and experience the world? Is this even the best leverage point to start off with or is there a deeper/wider/more effective acupuncture point we could explore as we evolve to become…what?  What are we aiming for? What—who—do we want to be and how might we reach places we can't even express - and do it in the face of a world where narratives are becoming more black-and-white, more constrained by circumstances, more held by those with power? In a week that's seen our world become both more complex, more ugly and more beautiful, we're talking to story-crafter and narrative-explorer, Paddy Loughman. Paddy's work explores the role of narrative and communications in navigating beyond our predicament. He is curious about how we might come together to appreciate what science and wisdom traditions reveal about entangled, relational reality, and the potential of more viable, beautiful worlds. He works independently, collaborating with activists, academics, philanthropists, creatives, community organisers and more, orienting towards just, transformational change. He has also co-initiated a number of efforts, including Inter-Narratives with Ella Saltmarshe. Earlier in his career he worked as a strategist in commercial and political communications, before jumping into climate campaigning with a wide range of organisations, from the UNFCCC to grassroots activists, and once upon a time he trained as an actor.This is my first conversation after a life-changing time away from my desk and it was a genuinely generative, consciousness-expanding conversation. I'm in the space where reality, dream and experience are overlapping seamlessly and Paddy felt like one of those people who can stand on the edge of all our spaces and look into what we might become and how we might get there.  So…with this as your baseline, please do join us in our exploration of possibility. LinksStories for Life https://stories.life/Inter-Narratives https://inter-narratives.org/Paddy on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/paddyloughman/Go Deep or Go Home Medium Post by Paddy Loughman and Ella Saltmarsh https://medium.com/inter-narratives/go-deep-or-no-home-the-essential-power-of-deep-narrative-9124e69ee2aa'Stop Trying to Change Mindsets. Do This Instead' by Jessica Boehme https://jessicaboehme.substack.com/p/the-greatest-leverage-to-change-a'Raging against the dying light: a systems view of human futures' by Julian Norris https://wolfwillow.substack.com/p/raging-against-the-dying-light-a'Who is Organising the Poor White Folks' by Amhara Spence  https://amahraspence.substack.com/p/who-is-organising-poor-white-folksAntidote Project: https://www.antidotelive.studio/Imandeep Kaur https://civicsquare.cc/The Dawn of Everything David Graeber and David Wengrow https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-dawn-of-everything-a-new-history-of-humanity-david-graeber/bb3d95f3af2350dfWhat we offer: Accidental Gods, Dreaming Awake and the Thrutopia Writing Masterclass If you'd like to join our next Open Gathering offered by our Accidental Gods Programme it's  'Dreaming Your Death Awake' (you don't have to be a member) it's on 2nd November - details are here.If you'd like to join us at Accidental Gods, this is the membership where we endeavour to help you to connect fully with the living web of life. If you'd like to train more deeply in the contemporary shamanic work at Dreaming Awake, you'll find us here. If you'd like to explore the recordings from our last Thrutopia Writing Masterclass, the details are here

In times of rising frustration over the state of nations, times of personal, ecological, societal, and planetary impasse, when cycles of senseless suffering seemingly repeat themselves over and over, and all the global upheaval still isn't bringing about change... in times when stuck energies need to move and forces that have been restrained for generations long to break free, the myths offer visions of roarers, bellowers, trumpeters, and conch-blasters. These movers and shakers do more than release pent up energy. They awaken, they transform, and they announce the transition from one world to the next. So the howling storm gods of the Vedas "move the immovable" and the Goddess herself trembles the worlds with her cosmic roaring laughter and ushers in a new age. But the roar of the goddess is not just the roar of speaking truth to external powers — it is also an internal reckoning, a moment of reconciliation that takes place within us — a recognition of all those places in us that have gone dormant and need waking and all those old patterns that need to be shaken free. As bodies try to somatically process and metabolize the times we are living in, sometimes we need a good mother roar.... and we can learn much from traditions that harness the power of uttered sound to invoke help, to guard against intrusion, to dispel negative forces, and to carry us into states of deeper connectivity. Ready yourself for roars and bellows, trumpets of judgement, announcing angels, and a deep dive into the Norse Ragnarok myth with Rune Rasmussen of the Nordic animism channel. Because sometimes you gotta go full apocalyptic to meet the energy of the times. Featuring music from (and an interview with) Sakha songstress Snow Raven, songs, yelps, bellows, and shrieks from Marya Stark and Travis Puntarelli, appropriately doomy guitar from Sunny Reinhardt, and angelic calls from Jeunae Elita, this episode is designed to MOVE STUCK ENERGY, and then ultimately to channel it in creative and life-affirming ways. Listen loud and shake it free. Support the show

In times of rising frustration over the state of nations, times of personal, ecological, societal, and planetary impasse, when cycles of senseless suffering seemingly repeat themselves over and over, and all the global upheaval still isn't bringing about change... in times when stuck energies need to move and forces that have been restrained for generations long to break free, the myths offer visions of roarers, bellowers, trumpeters, and conch-blasters. These movers and shakers do more than release pent up energy. They awaken, they transform, and they announce the transition from one world to the next. So the howling storm gods of the Vedas "move the immovable" and the Goddess herself trembles the worlds with her cosmic roaring laughter and ushers in a new age. But the roar of the goddess is not just the roar of speaking truth to external powers — it is also an internal reckoning, a moment of reconciliation that takes place within us — a recognition of all those places in us that have gone dormant and need waking and all those old patterns that need to be shaken free. As bodies try to somatically process and metabolize the times we are living in, sometimes we need a good mother roar.... and we can learn much from traditions that harness the power of uttered sound to invoke help, to guard against intrusion, to dispel negative forces, and to carry us into states of deeper connectivity. Ready yourself for roars and bellows, trumpets of judgement, announcing angels, and a deep dive into the Norse Ragnarok myth with Rune Rasmussen of the Nordic animism channel. Because sometimes you gotta go full apocalyptic to meet the energy of the times. Featuring music from (and an interview with) Sakha songstress Snow Raven, songs, yelps, bellows, and shrieks from Marya Stark and Travis Puntarelli, appropriately doomy guitar from Sunny Reinhardt, and angelic calls from Jeunae Elita, this episode is designed to MOVE STUCK ENERGY, and then ultimately to channel it in creative and life-affirming ways. Listen loud and shake it free. Support the show

Clear Channels, our newsletter course and creativity challenge begins on September 7th! Sign up here.What if your anxiety was actually the key to unlocking personal transformation?In this compelling conversation, Sarah Faith Gottesdiener sits down with psychotherapist and psycho-spiritual coach Halle Thomas to explore the intersection of therapy, spirituality, and lived experience. From reframing anxiety as creativity to honoring ancestral wisdom, Halle shares how weaving together brainspotting, animism, and intuition can open new pathways to healing.You'll hear:How Halle blends clinical training with spiritual practice to support clients in profound waysWhy anxiety can be understood as both a protector and a pointer toward unmet needsThe role of ancestry and identity in shaping how we heal and growWhat brainspotting is and how it unlocks deeper layers of memory, release, and creativityThe importance of showing up authentically as a practitioner—and how that invites deeper client workThis is a deeply resonant episode about anxiety, identity, and the power of integrating all parts of ourselves on the path to wholeness.Halle Thomas is a licensed psychotherapist in the states of Colorado and Oregon and psychospiritual coach worldwide. Born under a new moon, Halle uses her relationship with liminal spaces, voids, and mycelial networks to create offerings that help people feel safer as they explore their personal underworlds. She is especially invested in helping high achievers of all disciplines bring their minds back into harmony with their bodies, so they can break free from constant anxiety and experience the world through the lens of self-trust. You can experience her blend of Brainspotting, parts work, animism, tarot, and channelled ancestral wisdom in weekly 1:1 sessions or one-off intensives.Connect with Halle:Chicory Counselingchicorycounseling.comIG: @chicorycounselingNewsletter: The Chicory Root - chicorycounseling.com/newsletter-sign-upCoaching Offeringslivingyourafterlife.comIG: @livingyourafterlife Upcoming Events:September 6, 2025 + September 7, 2025: Clear Channels Online Workshop – https://moon-studio.co/products/clear-channels-fall-2025?variant=50100396327207 Join Our Community:Join the Moon Studio Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/themoonstudioBuy the 2025 Many Moons Lunar Planner: https://moon-studio.co/collections/all-products-excluding-route/products/many-moons-2025Subscribe to our newsletter: https://moon-studio.co/pages/newsletterFind Sarah on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gottesss/

Today Luis chats with Dick Schwartz, developer of Internal Family Systems (I.F.S.). Dick started his career as a family therapist. Upon asking the question, "why isn't family therapy working?" he began to develop what has become I.F.S. He learned from being in the field, and from making mistakes, how to tend to the parts of us that are usually frozen in the past. Dick found that when we talk to the inner critic with compassion, the deep healing work unfolds.Luis asks if Dick's work sprang from a spiritual or clinical place, and how he feels about it now. They discuss their views of "self sabotage", and they delve into the intersection of psychedelics and I.F.S. The cherry on top of this black bean brownie is the journey Dick guides Luis on to tend to his own inner critic. If you follow alongside Luis on your own journey, please drop us a comment below and let us know what, or who, you find. You can read more about Dick Schwartz, and the IRF Institute, here: https://ifs-institute.com/about-us/richard-c-schwartz-phdYou can register for the FREE Food Therapy session here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/events/food-therapy-supporting-adhd-with-nutrition Join Luis for a three-day in-person workshop connecting whole foods nutrition, somatic wisdom, and stress recovery at Kripalu. You can read more about, and register, here. Sign up for our 6-month Embodied Relationships group, beginning in October: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/relationship-groupUse the discount code QJSVR73G to save 10% if you register before August 31st.----You can learn more on the website: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/ Learn more about the self-led course here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/self-led-new Join the waitlist to pre-order Luis' book here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/the-book You can follow Luis on Instagram @holistic.life.navigationQuestions? You can email us at info@holisticlifenavigation.com