One thing people like to do when they’re given some liberties — or when they take the liberty that’s usually there for the taking, if anybody wants it bad enough — is to go on a long walk. Whether you call it a pilgrimage or walkabout or "through-hike" or country ramble, such excursions really take you out of the day-to-day, even as you occasionally rub elbows with other people doing the same thing.

PLUS: Information regarding the October 20 show at Jacumba Hot Springs and the October 29 Campfire Stories at Yucca Valley's Tiny Pony Tavern. Thanks for supporting this advertising-free radio show & podcast via Patreon!

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October is the time for ghost stories, in this season of growing darkness. Tonight we are visited by a mysterious geist, in an ancient old city that is notorious for such restless spirits. ALSO: Details regarding the October 20, 2023, show at Jacumba Hot Springs and the October 29, 2023, edition of Campfire Stories live at the Tiny Pony in Yucca Valley. Haunted new soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver; written and produced by Ken Layne.

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This autumn is getting off to a strange start, as here in the Mojave High Desert there are carpets of little yellow wildflowers thanks to the hurricane, old Hurricane Hilary which soaked us all pretty good a month ago. Never seen so many weeds in late September. Happy Equinox from Desert Oracle Radio, celebrating 200 episodes with tonight's show.

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Early September, Jupiter tucked under the 2/3 moon at midnight, heaviest of La Luna’s many forms and phases: low over the eastern horizon, like the Death Star under construction. The owls are hooting in three different octaves, a whole choir by relay, a choir of the night. The night air has turned cool again, the wind only whispering.This is Episode #199 of Desert Oracle Radio, broadcasting from Joshua Tree.

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Ever seen a water witch at work? It’s a beautiful thing to behold. We have ancient reserves of great power within us. This is Episode #198 of Desert Oracle Radio, after the hurricane.

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When you look at the big red danger zone in the middle of the Weather Service maps this evening, you will see that we are in it, right up at the north end of the highest predicted rainfall and flooding. Maybe that means we don’t get it as bad or for as long as our friends from the border zone up through Coachella Valley to Palm Springs and Desert Hot Springs, maybe it means nothing of the sort. Prepare for a lot of rain, maybe a couple of years worth of rain. Prepare for a lot of water in a lot of place we don’t often see it. And up here around Joshua Tree and Yucca Valley and 29 Palms, prepare to hang around for a while. You may not be able to get down the hill for a while.

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Real gods require no faith, they just are: expressed in the life force of the pronghorn herd racing across the High Desert, the mountain lion traveling hundreds of miles as master of its environment, the invigorating violence of a summer thunderstorm, the lightning strike of a rattler upon its prey, the mourning dove pair bringing up each of their dozen offspring with the same determination and patience and love, one after another, all summer long.

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The United States military branches and intelligence agencies do not control what happens around the world all the time, much as they’d like to.

The things we call UFOs occur in the backwoods and on backroads, over the lonely desert playas and mountain lakes, eternally floating around the sacred springs and sacred groves and sacred mountains of every culture and continent, for as long as human beings have existed. If you want to see something supernatural, go somewhere quiet, put down your camera-phone, and tune in.

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If you want to cool off in this brutal desert summer, you need to get up someplace higher, around 7,000 feet — the high-desert plateau around Los Alamos is real nice, at an elevation of 7,320'.

Lots of people have fallen in love with the climate and clean dry air up there, such as  J. Robert Oppenheimer & Gore Vidal & William S. Burroughs. Burroughs was supposed to be a War Captain, following orders, but it never quite worked out that way. Instead, he would go to war with Human Language . . . using the weapon of the oppressor.

With new war-march soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Thanks for supporting this advertising-free podcast on our Patreon page!

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Tonight we are talking about witches. And interesting religions, new & old. And especially California's incredible occult countercultures—the esoteric stuff that Los Angeles Times reporter Deborah Netburn covers for her official newspaper beat: "Faith, Spirituality and Joy." Some of the interesting tales we will discuss tonight:

• The working witches of Los Angeles just want you to be your best self
• Psychics and astrologers are huge on Instagram. Now scammers are impersonating them
• This feminist witch introduced California to Goddess worship

New soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Thanks for supporting this advertising-free podcast via our Patreon page!

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle

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