Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Altered Mates
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Altered Mates
Altered Mates episodes
- Episode 29: “We are the Weirdos, mister”: on The Craft
The Craft (1996) directed by Andrew Fleming and written by Peter Filardi, was pivotal in the representation and perhaps the construction of a new kind of witch; of a young, teenage girl with dark makeup, dark clothes and black nail polish, surrounded by red candles, pentagrams and tarot decks. It really was the season of the witch in the late 90s, with Sabrina the Teenage Witch hitting global television screens later in 1996, followed by Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 1997 and Charmed in 1998.
Fleming hired Wicca consultant Pat Devin, high priestess of Covenant of the Goddess in developing the film, and the attention to detail in the rituals and ceremonies are a feature of the film.
In this episode we do our best to cover the plot and themes of the film but as usual, we go on a few tangents; considering, for example, feminism, Satan & Christianity, power, community, and the relationship between witchcraft and psychedelics.
References
- The Craft (1996)
- Part of Five (1994 — 2000)
- The Beatles — Revolver (1966) — Tomorrow Never Knows
- Scott J. Hill (2019) — Confrontation with the Unconscious
- Altered Mates — Episode 12 — On Scott Hill’s “Confrontation with the Unconscious”—Part One
- Altered Mates — Episode 13 — On Scott Hill’s “Confrontation with the Unconscious”—Part Two
- Witch (BBC Podcast)
Links
Altered Mates Website
Altered Mates Instagram
Music for the show by Si Mulumby
Altered Mates Substack
Altered Mates Patreon
A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama
- Purchase the novel here (hard copy, ebook and audiobook).
- Listen to the free serialised audiobook here.
1 hr 47 min - Episode 28: On Synchronicity
In this episode we examine the phenomena of synchronicity, a term coined by Carl Jung to designate the meaningful coincidence of a psychic and a physical state or event, which have no causal relationship to one another. According to Jung, such synchronistic phenomena occur, for instance, when an inwardly perceived event (dream, vision, premonition, etc.) is seen to have a correspondence in external reality: the inner image of premonition has "come true." Neither the one nor the other coincidence can be explained by causality, but seem to be connected primarily with activated archetypal processes in the unconscious.
Jung: "I chose this term because the simultaneous occurrence of two meaningful but not causally connected events seemed to me an essential criterion. I am therefore using the general concept of synchronicity in the special sense of a coincidence in time of two or more causally unrelated events which have the same or a similar meaning, in contrast to 'synchronism', which simply means the simultaneous occurrence of two events."
We base our discussion around Jung’s lecture On Synchronicity, which can be found as an appendix in a larger work: Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle.
Throughout the discussion we scatter in a few of our own personal experiences of bizarre synchronicities. Alejandro refers Tobias to a number of photographs as evidence of synchronicity—a collection of which will be made available next week, in Alejandro’s upcoming written post.
When considering ‘mystical’ experiences, in Varieties of Religious Experience, William James wrote that ‘no account of the universe in its totality can be final which leaves these other forms of consciousness quite disregarded.’ In this episode we reach a shared thesis, wonderfully articulated by Tobias: that synchronicity seems to be a roadmap towards these ‘other forms of consciousness’, and an expression of them at the same time. We could very well echo James and argue that any account of the universe that fails to account for or at least consider the ‘meaningful coincidences’ of a synchronicity, is incomplete.
References
- C.G. Jung (1960). Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle
- Maria Popova — Atom, Archetype, and the Invention of Synchronicity: How Iconic Psychiatrist Carl Jung and Nobel-Winning Physicist Wolfgang Pauli Bridged Mind and Matter
- Arthur Miller (2024). How the unlikely friendship of Pauli and Jung led to the discovery of CPT symmetry
- Beverley Zabriskie (1995). Jung and Pauli: A Meeting of Rare Minds. [link]
- DEVS (2020)
- This episode is definitely not about Paulie Gualtieri from The Sopranos but go watch Christopher Moltisanti & Paulie Gualtieri Get Stuck In The Pine Barrens anyway.
- Matt Ruff (2016) Lovecraft Country
- Homer — Odyssey
- Alan Chapman (2008) Advanced Magick for Beginners
- Christophe Le Mouël (2021). Experiencing the Unus Mundus.
- David Tacey (2009) Edge of the Sacred : Jung, Psyche, Earth
- Stuart Davis — Man Meets Mantis
Links
Altered Mates Website
Altered Mates Instagram
Music for the show by Si Mulumby
A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama
- Purchase the novel here (hard copy, ebook and audiobook).
- Listen to the free serialised audiobook here.
1 hr 57 min - Episode 27: On the Borderline (Part Two)
This episode is a continuation of our discussion on Borderline Personality Disorder, which is a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts. Whereas in Episode 26 — On the Borderline, we concern ourselves with the defining BPD, and getting our heads around the diagnostic criteria in the DSM V, in this episode we discuss treatment and causes of the disorder, as well as considerations around its social construction. It should be remembered that a diagnosis of a personality disorder like “borderline” says a lot about the society in which the diagnosis was developed. Keep in mind, these disorders are “decided upon” rather than “discovered”. And though they are certainly pointing towards something, they must be understood as constructions, born of particular social, historical, economic, and political factors.
References
- Bjorklund, P., 2006. No man's land: Gender bias and social constructivism in the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Issues in mental health nursing, 27(1), pp.3-23. (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01612840500312753)
- James ‘Fish’ Gill: https://www.instagram.com/james_fish_gill/ // Buy Fish’s new book: How To Fall In Love With Humanity
- Johnstone, Lucy & Boyle, Mary & Cromby, John & Dillon, Jacqui & Harper, David & Kinderman, Peter & Longden, Eleanor & Pilgrim, David & Read, John. (2019). Reflections on responses to the Power Threat Meaning Framework one year on. Clinical Psychology Forum. 2019. 47-54. (https://explore.bps.org.uk/content/bpscpf/1/313/47)
- Stanley Kubrick (1987) Full Metal Jacket
- Cracked: Why Psychiatry is Doing More Harm Than Good (2013) written by James Davies
- Altered Mates — Episode 16 — On “Cracked: Why Psychiatry is Doing More Harm Than Good
- Lester, R. (2013). Lessons from the borderline: Anthropology, psychiatry, and the risks of being human. Feminism & Psychology. 23. 70-77. (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0959353512467969)
- IFS Institute — The Internal Family Systems Model Outline
Links
Altered Mates Website
Altered Mates Instagram
Music for the show by Si Mulumby
A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama
- Purchase the novel here (hard copy, ebook and audiobook).
- Listen to the free serialised audiobook here.
1 hr 7 min - Episode 26: On the Borderline (Part One)
In this episode we discuss Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), also referred to as Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD). Somewhat unintentionally Alejandro gives an overview of the TV show Bojack Horseman but this leads to a discussion of the characteristics of BPD using the character of Bojack as an example. We also bring in Anakin Skywalker as another example of a fictional character who may potentially fit the characteristics of someone diagnosed with BPD.
We centre our discussion around a 2006 paper written by Pamela Bjorklund titled, “No man's land: Gender bias and social constructivism in the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder”.
In the process, we break down the diagnostic criteria used in the DSM V for BPD but if you’re interested, see below:
Borderline Personality Disorder:
A pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) or the following:
- Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment (Note: Do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behaviour covered in Criterion 5)
- A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterised by alternatingbetween extremes of idealisation and devaluation
- Identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self
- Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g. spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating) (Note: Do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behaviour covered in Criterion 5)
- Recurrent suicidal behaviour, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behaviour
- Affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood (e.g. intense episodic dysphoria, irritability or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days)
- Chronic feelings of emptiness
- Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g. frequent displays of temper,constant anger, recurrent physical fights)
- Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms
References
- Bjorklund, P., 2006. No man's land: Gender bias and social constructivism in the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Issues in mental health nursing, 27(1), pp.3-23. (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01612840500312753)
- Johnstone, Lucy & Boyle, Mary & Cromby, John & Dillon, Jacqui & Harper, David & Kinderman, Peter & Longden, Eleanor & Pilgrim, David & Read, John. (2019). Reflections on responses to the Power Threat Meaning Framework one year on. Clinical Psychology Forum. 2019. 47-54. (https://explore.bps.org.uk/content/bpscpf/1/313/47)
- Lester, R. (2013). Lessons from the borderline: Anthropology, psychiatry, and the risks of being human. Feminism & Psychology. 23. 70-77. (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0959353512467969)
- Molly Adler — Back from the Borderline Podcast — https://pod.link/1576242501/episode/b66e124fcbc8095cac0f959cac5f32a1
- Girl, Interrupted (1999). Director by James Mangold. Story by Susanna Kaysen.
- Episode 15 — One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) directed by Milos Forman
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962) written by Ken Kesey
- Bojack Horseman (2014—2020)
- Bojack blogpost on Tumblr by @characterdiagnosis
- Star Wars Episode III — Revenge of the Sith (2005)
- intense dysphoria and “that” ayahuasca ceremony… Episode 22 — Ayahuasca & The Fear
- Gabrielle Brand, Monash University
- Brand G, Wise S, Walpole K. A dis-ordered personality? It's time to reframe borderline personality disorder. J Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs. 2021 Jun; 28(3):469-475 (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jpm.12682)
Links
Altered Mates Website
Altered Mates Instagram
Music for the show by Si Mulumby
A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama
- Purchase the novel here (hard copy, ebook and audiobook).
- Listen to the free serialised audiobook here.
1 hr 26 min - Episode 25: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
In this episode we go on a savage journey to the heart of the American Dream through an immersion into Hunter S. Thompson and Terry Gilliam’s nightmarish Las Vegas. We discuss Hunter S. Thompson’s 1971 masterwork of “Gonzo” journalism, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and along side it, Terry Gilliam’s wonderful 1998 film adaptation. In our usual way we get fully derailed for a while and just as we seem to be driving our huge Chevy convertible away from Las Vegas, we finally answer that call from our attorney to head straight back in to the belly of the beast to consider the demise of the American Counterculture of the 1960s and finish off this savage, sweat inducing, blood and rum soaked trip of an episode.
References
Hunter S. Thompson (1971) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Terry Gilliam (1998) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Jack Kerouac (1957) On the Road
Diane di Prima
James Truslow Adams (1931) The Epic of America
Black Sabbath — Master of Reality (1971) — Sweet Leaf
Rage Against the Machine (1992) Know Your Enemy. (recent live version here).
BBC — Planet Earth II — Iguana vs Snakes
Altered Mates — Episode 6 — F-ing the ineffable: William James, Mysticism, and the Psychedelic Experience
Links
Altered Mates Website
Altered Mates Instagram
Music for the show by Si Mulumby
A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama
- Purchase the novel here (hard copy, ebook and audiobook).
- Listen to the free serialised audiobook here.
1 hr 37 min - Episode 24: MORE Sex Secrets of the Black Magicians EXPOSED!
In this episode of the podcast we continue our discussion of the first thirty pages of Ramsey Dukes’ essay on magical thinking; “Sex Secrets of the Black Magicians Exposed”, commonly abbreviated to S.S.O.T.B.M.E.
Dukes’ model of compass directions differentiates between Art, Magic, Religion and Science, and the modes of thinking associated with each direction. In Dukes’ model of the four compass directions Dukes suggests that, “Magic, Art, Religion and Science represent movement towards Wholeness, Beauty, Goodness and Truth respectively.” These compass points, according to Dukes, don't have to conflict with each other; they can exist alongside each other. One doesn’t have to be correct and the rest wrong. An intelligent person can allow them to co-exist and use or adopt one or more as each situation calls for them.
We take our time to discuss functional specialisation in the brain, and in particular, hemispheric specialisation. Research into the human brain has consistently found areas of functional specialisation. For example, verbal cognition is processed largely in the left hemisphere of the brain of most people, and imagery or spatial cognition is largely processed in the right hemisphere of most brains, and the frontal lobes in each hemisphere are responsible for executive functioning, or higher cognitive functions like organisation, planning and decision making. Prominent researchers Miller and Cummings used PET (Positron Emission Tomography) and fMRI (functional magnetic imaging) scans to support functional specialization of the frontal cortex—finding the left frontal cortex active in verbal working memory processes and and visuospatial working memory in the right frontal cortex.
In our discussion we agree that there seems to be some more occluded areas of the brain or nervous system responsible for some of the functions Ramsey Dukes is evoking when he writes about the kind of processing going on in magical thinking. Dukes writes, “I want to suggest that our brains have evolved a non-logical data processing facility which is, in its own way, every bit as useful and sophisticated as reason but which we tend to play down or analyse away because its causal connections seem so tenuous. This facility which I call ‘feeling’ acts much faster than reason and seems to process vast amounts of data in parallel rather than sequentially like logical thought. As such it is hard to put into words, the words chosen tend to be feeling words, and the process is more akin to Art than Science.”
As an exercise in understanding we attempt to take Tarot Divination and map it against Dukes’ model of the four compass directions of Magic, Art, Religion and Science.
It’s also worth mentioning, especially now that we have reached the second of our two-part series on this text, that Dukes never actually reveals the sex secrets of the black magicians, and neither do we…
References
- Ramsey Dukes (1974) — S.S.O.T.B.M.E: an essay on magic
- Altered Mates — Episode 17: The Big Lez Show — Choomah Island 2
- Marzoli, D., D’Anselmo, A., Malatesta, G., Lucafò, C., Prete, G., & Tommasi, L. (2022). The Intricate Web of Asymmetric Processing of Social Stimuli in Humans. Symmetry, 14(6), 1096. https://doi.org/10.3390/sym14061096
- Altered Mates — Episode 4 — Understanding Ourselves through IFS & Episode 5 — Big Self Energy
- Watson, A. (2025). Vibes-based methods. Qualitative Research, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14687941241308707
- Alan Watts — A Conversation with Myself
- Altered Mates — Episode 20 — Surrender!
- James Hillman — The Soul’s Code (2017)
Links
Altered Mates Website
Altered Mates Instagram
Music for the show by Si Mulumby
A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama
- Purchase the novel here (hard copy, ebook and audiobook).
- Listen to the free serialised audiobook here.
1 hr 8 min - Episode 23: Sex Secrets of the Black Magicians EXPOSED: On Magical Thinking
According to Ramsey Dukes, “Magic is a technique by which the human mind attempts to operate upon its world. As such it is similar to Art, Religion and Science, but note that the term ‘its world’ is meant to embrace not only the physical universe but also all phenomena, objective and subjective, which do not respond to direct control.”
In this episode we consider Ramsey Dukes’ essay on magical thinking; “Sex Secrets of the Black Magicians Exposed”, commonly abbreviated to S.S.O.T.B.M.E. Well, that was our intention anyway… it takes us a while to meander around the concept of magic, our exposure to the concept of magic and even early aversions to it. Eventually, we discuss Dukes’ model of compass directions differentiating between Art, Magic, Religion and Science, and the modes of thinking associated with each ‘direction’. In this essay, Dukes comes to a similar conclusion to Carl Jung: human thought is comprised of four distinct elements: intuition, observation, logic and feeling. Dukes argues that, “any practical method of thinking demands at least two of these four elements, one to serve as an input of impressions and the other to process them.”
Our primary concern in tackling this obscure text is to determine what magic or magical thinking actually is, and whether or not this a relevant term for us to use.
References
- Ramsey Dukes (1974) — S.S.O.T.B.M.E: an essay on magic
- Black Sabbath — Black Sabbath (1970) — The Wizard
- Chef (2014) & The Chef Show (2019)
- Wilfred Owen (1921) — Dulce et Decorum Est
Links
Altered Mates Website
Altered Mates Instagram
Music for the show by Si Mulumby
A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama
- Purchase the novel here (hard copy, ebook and audiobook).
- Listen to the free serialised audiobook here.
1 hr 7 min - Episode 22: Ayahuasca and The Fear
In the second episode of season 2 the altered mates continue our discussion of our personal experiences with ayahuasca.
In this episode, Alejandro relates his rather disturbing experience in one particular ceremony from his ayahuasca retreat in Iquitos, Peru in August 2024. Alejandro recounts his evening of existential dread—which he describes at one point as, "the worst feeling I’ve ever felt,” and Tobias offers insight and interpretation in response.
In the later stages of the episode, Tobias considers his intentions going into an upcoming ayahuasca ceremony.
Links
Altered Mates Website
Altered Mates Instagram
Music for the show by Si Mulumby
A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama
- Purchase the novel here (hard copy, ebook and audiobook).
- Listen to the free serialised audiobook here.
1 hr 4 min - Episode 21: On Ayahuasca
In the first episode of season 2 we begin a discussion of some of our most profound and significant personal experiences with ayahuasca over the past ten years. We consider the prospect that ayahuasca might be a “highly evolved conscious entity”, or at the very least, an entity possessing an intelligence and possibly having a message to communicate with humanity.
References
- The Temple of the Way of Light
- Tobias Penno — How Ayahuasca Offers Psychosocial Wellbeing
- Caffyn Jesse — Ecstatic Belonging: A Year on the Medicine Path
Altered Mates
- Episode 1 — Challenging Psychedelic Experiences
- Episode 6 — F-ing the Ineffable: William James, Mysticism, and the Psychedelic Experience
- Episode 18 — Coming out of the psychedelic closet
- Episode 19 — A Glimpse of Eternity
- Episode 20 — Surrender!
Links
Altered Mates Website
Altered Mates Instagram
Music for the show by Si Mulumby
A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama
- Purchase the novel here (hard copy, ebook and audiobook).
- Listen to the free serialised audiobook here.
1 hr 25 min - Episode 20: Surrender!
In this, the final episode of Season 1 of the Altered Mates Podcast, we (Alejandro Tuama and Tobias Penno) discuss what is on the immediate horizon for us both. Tobias gives us a little taste of his PhD—in terms of both the subject matter of his research and the origin story as well—which is in the final stages of submission and approval! And Alejandro talks about his upcoming trip to South America.
Along the way we discuss the concept of “character loops” which Alejandro brings in from the HBO TV Series “Westworld”.
We reflect on how we can “de-armour” the ego and what it truly means to “surrender” to the medicine.
We find time to reflect on a recent mushroom ceremony, and in particular, the implications of this recent ceremony for Alejandro and his upcoming meeting with “the medicine” in the Peruvian Amazon.
And we toss around the concept of the “Daimon”, which Alejandro brings in from James Hillman’s book “The Soul’s Code”, and in particular consider the implications of what we call “daimonic derailment.”
As we mention in the episode, this will be the final episode for Season 1 of the Altered Mates Podcast. We are both keen as mustard to get cracking on Season 2, which will happen just as soon as I (Alejandro) return from South America.
Adios Amigos!
References
- Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Joy — Westworld (2016—2022)
- Hayao Miyazaki — Spirited Away (2001)
- The Daniels — Everything, Everywhere, All At Once (2022)
- The Wachowskis — The Matrix Franchise
- Chris Letheby — Philosophy of Psychedelics (2021)
- Game of Thrones — Dothraki
- James Hillman — The Soul’s Code (2017)
Links
Altered Mates Website
Altered Mates Instagram
Music for the show by Si Mulumby
A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama
- Purchase the novel here.
- Listen to the serialised audiobook here.
1 hr 30 min
About Altered Mates
From the publisher's feed
Altered Mates is a podcast where two mates, each fascinated by altered states, meet to discuss the psychedelic experience and its implications for society, culture, health, science, and philosophy.…
Alejandro is novelist and a teacher of english and psychology. Tobias is an academic and a lecturer in social work and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Our conversations are always grounded in our own direct experiences with a range of ‘altered’ states of consciousness. Hero of the podcast, William James, suggests that, “Our normal waking consciousness… is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely different… No account of the universe in its totality can be final which leaves these other forms of consciousness quite disregarded.” You could say that we are trying to construct a better account of our universe, and we are taking James’ advice to heart, by seriously regarding those “other” forms of consciousness. Through our research and our subsequent discussions, we seek to find, update, and/or create, working models of the mind, and of reality, that help us to make sense of our world. We endeavour to integrate our own psychedelic experiences through the power of conversation. But we also seek to integrate the revelations of “the” psychedelic experience, and come to terms with the implications, from cultural, philosophical, and spiritual perspectives. Having said all that, we’re also just two normal blokes who enjoy each other’s company. And our fancy Socratic dialogues are filtered through our own unique brand of Australian banter. After all, we’re just two mates trying to enjoy our limited time on this planet, and to create a more meaningful life for ourselves and our community while we’re here.