Mountain Whispers

In this episode, I chat with writer and philosopher Layman Pascal about his book, Gurdjieff for a Time Between Worlds, and how it can be practiced in the wild.

G.I. Gurdjieff was a Greek-Armenian philosopher and mystic active in the late 19th/early 20th centuries. Often referred to as a crazy wisdom teacher, his Fourth Way teachings have been influential in many of today's leading thinkers in transformative culture.

We explore what it looks like to practice Gurdjieff-style teachings for deeper grounding and connection to the animate, more-than-human world.

We also explore Gurdjieff's model of suffering as a way to make sense how transformative states come after suffering (and why Spartan races and ultramarathons are so popular).

You can get a copy of Laymans book Gurdjieff for a Time Between Worlds here. I also recommend Layman's Labyrinth LLM if you're looking for a study guide to better understand these ideas.

Other links mentioned in this conversation

• Three Dangerous Magi — P.T. Mistlberger, for an overview and understanding of crazy wisdom teachers and the left-hand path.
• The Soul's Code: In Search of Character and Calling — James Hillman, for understanding the concept of the daemon and tapping into deeper purpose.
• In Search of the Miraculous — P.D. Ouspensky, for the fullest written account of Gurdjieff's Fourth Way system

You can support this podcast by leaving a review on the podcast platform you use, or connect with Tim on Instagram @timstewnz.

Zach is an educator and founder of Agora Academy, guiding young people in cultivating a meaningful life, deeply connected to the natural world.

In this conversation we explore the role of "The Underworld" in one's growth and maturation, how we can use dreams and symbols to make sense of our path, and what soul maturation means in the context of these challenges.

You can find more of Zach at agoraacademy.org

Some books to go deeper on the thinkers Zach references:

1. Wild Mind - Bill Plotkin
2. The Wild Edge of Sorrow - Francis Weller
3. Of Water and the Spirit - Malidoma Somé
4. Long Life, Honey in the Heart - Martin Prechtel

You can support this podcast by leaving a review on the podcast platform you use, or connect with Tim on Instagram @timstewnz.

Matthew Duffy (Duffy) is a myco-poet, writer, musician, and cultural alchemist. From 2018-2023, Duffy was instrumental in making Denver the first city to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms, and later making Colorado the first state to fully decriminalize psilocybin and other entheogenic plants.

We explore the initiation Duffy went through that led to this calling, as well as the trials and tribulations that followed it.

Through it we discuss mythopoetics, human development, and what it means to wake up, grow up and show up.

You can find more of Duffy at:

• Duffy's substack: Our Will to Live (OWL)
• Duffy's instagram @mycelial_mischief
• Duffy's interview on Life's a Festival Podcast

Links to dive deeper on the people/topics discussed:

• Stephen Jenkinson Interview: Elderhood: Coming Of Age In Troubled Times
• Joanna Macy interview: On the World as Love and Self

You can support this podcast by leaving a review on the podcast platform you use, or connect with Tim on Instagram @timstewnz.

Meghan Walla Murphy is a wildlife ecologist, educator, and guide who helps people remember their ancestral kinship with the more-than-human world.

In this conversation we move between the wisdom of elephant seals and bears and the ecosystems we share with them, experiments in wilderness solitude and animal tracking as a path to remembering.

Links mentioned in the conversation:

• Meghan's fundraiser to Help Kalahari Bushmen Keep Their Indigenous Wisdom Alive
• Meghan's website
• Article on The river that came back to life: a journey down the reborn Klamath

You can support this podcast by leaving a review on the podcast platform you use, or connect with Tim on Instagram @timstewnz.

Here I sit down with existential psychologist Dr. Alex Sielaff to explore how our awareness of death subtly shapes everything, from our beliefs and identities to our relationships and search for meaning.

We dive into Terror Management Theory, peak states of consciousness, and the ways adventure, discomfort, and integration can help us live more fully in the face of mortality.

It’s a conversation about fear, freedom, and the quiet power of choosing presence over certainty.

You can contact Alex via email at [email protected]

Some of the references discussed in this conversation are:

• The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker
• Rude Awakening: Perils, Pitfalls, and Hard Truths of the Spiritual Path by P.T. Mistlberger
• Robert Anton Wilson's idea of Maybe Logic for holding multiple worldviews at the same time

You can support this podcast by leaving a review on the podcast platform you use, or connect with Tim on Instagram @timstewnz.

Rob Ó Cobhthaigh is a former elite whitewater kayaker turned psychotherapist and psychedelic facilitator. He's run some of the most intense waters in the world and completed exploratory first descents in rivers of Iran and Norway.

After retired from whitewater, Rob shifted to the exploration of inner realms, training as a psychotherapist as well as in the Celtic shamanic tradition. He now leads psychedelic retreats in Amsterdam and Costa Rica with his organization inwardbound.nl.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Rob's article on Risk in Whitewater Kayaking: In the Eye of the Storm
• The Irish Centre for Celtic Shamanic Studies

You can learn more about Rob's work at inwardbound.nl or robocobhthaigh.com

You can support this podcast by leaving a review on the podcast platform you use, or connect with Tim on Instagram @timstewnz.

In this episode, I chat to author Maria Coffey.

Maria has written 10 different books, including Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow: The Dark Side of Extreme Adventure and Explorers of the Infinite: The Secret Spiritual Lives of Extreme Athletes-and What They Reveal About Near-Death Experiences, Psychic Communication, and Touching the Beyond.

We chat about why it is the brushes with death that make us feel most alive, the experience of transcendence and the wild stuff that comes with it.

Links mentioned in the conversation:

• Maria's website
• Touching the Void Movie
• Stephen Venables survival story on Everest
• Hans Lindermann's 1956 kayak crossing of the Atlantic
• Robert Anton Wilson Explaining Reality Tunnels

You can support this podcast by leaving a review on the podcast platform you use, or connect with Tim on Instagram @timstewnz.

Peter Chrzanowski is an extreme skiing pioneer and Sea to Sky legend.

He has atleast 18 ski-mountaineering first descents to his name, including Wedge, Mount Currie, Atwell, Serratus, and Mount Waddington and has also directed or produced 19 ski, paragliding, or action sport movies since the 80's many of which are credited with bringing big mountain, extreme skiing to the level of popularity it is at today.

We chat about his life of adventure, how he deals with fear, what he's learned from having more brushes with death than one could imagine, and much more.

You can purchase Peter's book I Survived Myself on Amazon here.

Links mentioned:

• A clip from Peter's movie: The North Face: Seven Years on Mount Robson
• Recommended film: K2 The Impossible Descent

You can support this podcast by leaving a review on the podcast platform you use, or connect with Tim on Instagram @timstewnz.

Dom Francks is a modern day renaissance man, having honed his craft at everything from elite golf, to climate tech, to outdoor leadership.

The current expression of this craft is Vivify, a transformative journey for adventurous professionals and leaders. It blends 4 months of online leadership coaching with a unique 8-day off-trail backpacking expedition in the High Sierra.

In our conversation we go deep on how one can create transformative spaces in the time they spend outdoors, and more importantly, how one can use these peak states to ultimately be of greater service to those around us.

You can find links to go deeper on some of the topics here:

• Dom's piece on Ritual vs Discipline
• Josh Schrei's The Emerald Podcast: Animism is Normative Consciousness
• Josh Schrei's The Emerald Podcast on Ecological Grief: I Wish It Could Have Been Another Way
• The Great Simplification | Film on Energy, Environment, and Our Future | FULL MOVIE
• Dom's piece on The “Spiritual Infrastructure” of Climate

Dom is offering $500 off this May's Vivify program for listeners of Mountain Whispers. To inquire, follow this link.

You can support this podcast by leaving a review on the podcast platform you use, or connect with Tim on Instagram @timstewnz.

Lauren Bond is a wilderness guide and founder of The River's Path, offering canoe journeys for deep connection and personal transformation.

We explore what is actually means to foster deeper connection to the more than human world and how one can access these subtle states of consciousness.

We dive deep into how Lauren facilitates this experience in a group setting, as well as how confronting fear and opening yourself to synchronicity are key parts of moving in these spaces.

Links mentioned in the conversation:

• Neuroscientist David Eagleman explaining "The Umwelt"
• Lauren's upcoming trips at The River's Path

You can find more of Lauren at The River's Path link above. You can support this podcast by leaving a review on the podcast platform you use, or connect with Tim on Instagram @timstewnz.