Rune Soup

The show returns with some actionable findings from almost a year of regular sigil work. We look at

• The ways you mess up your own magical results by not admitting what you want.
• The ways you mess up your own magical results by not admitting where you are at.
• What to do about it.

And toward the end, I lay out the plans for the premium member glow-up over Q4 and Q1, including completely re-recording and remastering all the existing member courses.

We're trialling a new format this week, as I am in the Bay of Fires for work. A visit to a beer-drinking pig inspired some ruminations on how and why we connect as this idiotic, digital hellscape builds itself around us.

The episode discusses the manipulation and sanitization of reality through digital currencies, IDs, and the evolving media landscape, including the shift to 'private' or enclosed digital engagement opportunities like Mighty Networks and Substack, aiming for authenticity in an increasingly controlled and artificial world.

00:00 Introduction: The World Without Sin 00:21 Filming in the Bay of Fires 00:27 The Pub in the Paddock and Priscilla the Pig 01:58 Exploring the Concept of 'The World Without Sin' 05:18 Digital IDs and Global Changes 09:08 Cultural Reflections and Media Strategy 16:50 The Gap Between Public and Private Discourse 22:55 Media Evolution and Personal Adaptations 39:09 Conclusion: Navigating the World Without Sin

In lieu of show notes, here is a picture of a pub, followed by a pig. You're welcome.

This week, we welcome to the show Mexican-Bolivian-Chilean healer, Red Path shaman and teacher Julián Katari.

Fun fact about Julián: He was my translator for my recent trip up to stay with the Kallawaya in the Bolivian High Andes. So we talk about that, of course.

We also talk about his own remarkable journey of spirit:

⭐ Vision quests ⭐ Aztec dance ceremonies ⭐ Peyote ⭐ Andean shamanism

We then discuss the sacred Mayan calendar and what it teaches us about the structure of the universe.

Super cool chat. Julián is the archetypal weird kid!

NOTE: Julián will be teaching a 20-week course on the Mayan calendar that will be available to purchase for $99 on the Rune Soup Premium Member Mighty Network. This is a discount of $400 and will only be available for purchase for the duration of the Time Magic course. Afterward the course will be available on his own site at its full price.

This is one of the best deals I have ever made available to premium members and it is, just on its own, worth joining. I've been in ceremony with Julián in the High Andes. He's a great teacher. 

Show Notes

• Julián's website.
• Julián on Instagram.

00:00 Introduction and Childhood 06:00 Embarking on a Spiritual Journey 19:04 Finding the Red Path 22:43 Exploring the Maya Cosmology 30:55 Teachings from a Maya Elder 39:18 Connecting with Nature and Community 44:38 Exploring the Complexity of the Mayan Calendar 49:52 Understanding the Mayan Worldview: A Code for Time and Space 57:16 The Practice of Day Keeping in the Mayan Calendar 01:03:31 The Role of Human Perception in the Creation of Time and Space 01:24:38 Uncovering My Bolivian Roots 01:27:23 The Magic and Mystery of Bolivia 01:34:17 Journeying with the Kallawaya Healers 01:46:26 Exploring the Maya Calendar

Witch, author, biochemist and oriental medicine specialist, Maja D'Aoust, joins us to discuss Time Magic and the I Ching.

We explore:

• The impact childhood illness can have on the practice of magic.
• The difference between ancient Chinese and more 'Western' experiences of time.
• The origin of the I Ching as a gift from serpent spirits.
• The sort of answers you can get with the I Ching.
• What sort of coins to use.

Great stuff! Enjoy!

Show Notes

• Maja's website.
• Maja's latest book: Astrology of the Shadow Self.
• Maja's I Ching book.

The dynamic duo behind Weird Studies, Phil Ford and J F Martel, join the show to explore the ways in which art is a form of evocation.

We look at:

• Orson Welles as divine shamanic faker.
• Hollywood's vaudeville origins.
• What is a trick and what is a lie and can you even use those words if they show you the 'truth'?
• 'Western' and non-'Western' understandings of the imaginal and the artist.
• Where 'inspiration' and even 'thoughts' come from and what that might mean.

An amazing chat. Enjoy!

Show Notes

• Weird Studies episode about Orson Welles mentioned in the show: Art Is Another Word For Truth.
• Weirdosphere - Weird Studies Member Community.

Media theorist and internet legend Douglas Rushkoff joins the show this week.

We explore:

• Is there even such a thing as 'media' anymore?
• The promises and (many) failings of the tech world.
• UBIs, digital utopias and dystopias.
• Where we look for hope and optimism now.
• Where magic sits in our shared realities.

An amazing chat with one of the greats!

Enjoy!

Show Notes

• Rushkoff.com
• Team Human

Two contemporary deck creators, Balthazar Blacke and Natalia Lee, join the show this week for a round table on fortune telling and the role oracle cards specifically should have in your cartomantic practice.

We explore:

• The things oracle cards can do that tarot cannot. (And vice versa!)
• Which situations call for which type of deck.
• Some historic resistance to using oracle cards among western practitioners.
• Some advice on different spreads and the role of significators.

A super fun chat with some some fun people!

Show Notes

• Balthazar's website.
• Divine Gypsy Mother.
• Balthazar's YouTube channel.
• Natalia's website.
• Saint Cyprian's Deck of Cards.

Legendary cultural curator, media theorist and provocateur Richard Metzger joins the show this week.

Richard, of course, co-founded The Disinformation Company, founded Dangerous Minds and has spent decades observing and participating in the changing media landscape.

He is with us now to talk about his latest project, Magick Show, an extended documentary project featuring discussions with

• Grant Morrison
• Douglas Rushkoff
• Mitch Horowitz
• Gary Lachman
• Bri Luna
• Geraldine Beskine

And many more -including the last-ever interview with Kenneth Anger!

We cover magic, the failed promises of the internet, mind wars, propaganda and the perennial Rune Soup question: what is ours to do?

Find out more about Magick Show here, including ways in which you can support the project.

Enjoy!

This week's solo show forms part of a collection of observations lining us up for the beginning of the five-month, gargantuan Time Magic course we're starting in August.

Here, we explore the quiet politics of magical thinking:

• The origin of the term.
• How it sort of is and sort of isn't like magical realism.
• Examples of it in the history of western esotericism.
• How you can make that inward turn toward magical thinking, and what any blocks in that process might be telling you.

Enjoy!

Chance Gardner and Vanese McNeil, producers of the legendary documentary series Magical Egypt, join the show this week.

We discuss

• Getting history right and wrong.
• The legacy of John Anthony West and R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz.
• Materialism and its impact on studying history.
• The latest series of Magical Egypt -which Gordon is in!

I mention at the outset that this episode was actually recorded six months ago. The plan was to release it at the same time as a video on hermeticism that I was going to shoot at an Ancient Egypt exhibition in Canberra (which is mentioned in my animism series). But that didn't happen, and then I thought I would do it at the Island of the Sun in Bolivia, and so on. Anyway, it's not six months later and I am choosing to blame the curse of the mummy, lol.

A super fun chat, nonetheless. And a real high point in my own life to actually be in the legendary Magical Egypt series myself.

• Watch the latest series of Magical Egypt here.
• Follow Magical Egypt on YouTube.