Some Other Sphere

Joining me as my guest for this episode is Sue Terry. Sue is an academic of weird and occult literature – her research interests involve her exploring the relationship between 'the occult' and literary fiction and understanding how texts of all kinds can help us interpret paranormal phenomena to develop a better appreciation of it.

She is currently writing a book on fantasy author Alan Garner as well as researching her PhD in feminist occult literary modernism at the University of Surrey and it is these two areas which my conversation with her focuses on.

Alan Garner’s work is deeply connected to the local landscape of Cheshire in Northern England where he grew up and often features the emergence of mythic and fantastical events in the everyday world – sometimes in a subtle way but not always. His fascination with the relativity of space and time is also prevalent and means that his stories are full of high strangeness, with ancient evils, gateways to otherworldly realms and the lasting effect of mythic betrayal and murder featuring prominently in some of his most beloved works, such as Elidor and The Owl Service.

I begin the interview by talking with Sue about her research and her PhD thesis, after which we talk about Alan Garner – from his traumatic childhood which may have ignited his imagination onto some of his best known works and the themes they explore.

Further details on Sue, her work and the courses she runs can be found at her website https://www.sueterryacademic.com/.

If you would like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.

My guest for this episode is Dr Diana Walsh Pasulka, who joined me to talk about her new book ‘Encounters: Experiences with Non-human Intelligences’.

Diana is a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. She writes and teaches about the history of the catholic tradition and new religious movements, particularly as they intersect with digital technologies. Her published work has explored topics as varied as from the catholic doctrine of purgatory to UFOs, to human potentials and has received international acclaim, with her 2019 book ‘American Cosmic’ especially offering an intriguing insight into the religiosity of the UFO mystery.

In Encounters, she writes about the work of experts across a range of fields who are endeavouring to connect humanity with unknown life-forms and help to encourage a rethink on some of our most basic assumptions about life and its manifestations beyond our experiences.

I begin the interview by talking with Diana about her first book about purgatory, and how researching and writing that led on to her other writing projects such as American Cosmic. We then move on to her new book and talk about some of the people featured in it, and the work they are doing to help reorientate our understanding of the world around us.

To find out more about Diana's research and her books go to https://dwpasulka.com/.

If you would like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.

My guest for this episode is Victoria Jaye. Victoria is a folklorist, writer, podcaster and author whose areas of research is demonic experiences, narratives, and phenomena. She runs a blog called The Demon Folklorist and her first book ‘The Black Hours: Modern Demonic Experiences and Folklore’ is due to come out in October 2023.

I begin the interview by talking with Victoria about her own experience that prompted an interest in demons. We then discuss the enigmatic nature of what these entities might be (and also what they aren’t), how they are primarily contextualised via the route of ritual magic and religion, what drives their hostility towards humans and the role pop culture has played in a modern understanding of these beings in the western world.

Victoria has also developed her own system for identifying a demonic presence using the five senses as a measure, which we talk about in some detail, along with a couple of well-known cases of demonic possession.

Further details about Victoria and her new book can be found at her website https://demonfolklorist.com/.

If you would like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.

Joining me for this episode is intuitive artist, writer, researcher and podcaster Claire Casely. Claire’s creative projects are inspired by the presence of faeries which she experiences through nature connection, faerie sight and during journeying in meditation and dreams.  Together these practices have helped her to form a multi-sensory method of connecting with the otherworld, which she calls ‘Faery Whispering’.

In the interview I begin by talking with Claire about how her interest in faeries started as a child growing up near Dartmoor and some of her experiences with those types of beings as she grew older. We discuss what faeries are, what faerie whispering is and explore the relationship that seems to exist between these entities, ourselves, the places we live and on a deeper level, the natural world. Claire also offers some advice on how to develop your own connection with otherworldly beings such as these.

Further details on Claire's creative projects (such as her podcast) can be found at https://www.faerywhisperer.co.uk/ and you can support her work at https://www.patreon.com/faerywhisperer. She also has a YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@TheFaeryWhisperer.

If you would like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The Some Other Sphere them if from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.

My guest for this episode is researcher and author Fred Andersson, who joined me to talk about his new book, ‘Northern Lights – High Strangeness in Sweden’.

This is the first book written in English entirely devoted to the subject of high strangeness, UFOs, and other mysteries in that country. Sweden has a long history of weirdness, unexplained observations, and eerie encounters, often connected to the countryside, desolate roads, and empty fields. From gnomes, elves, and trolls of the past to UFOs and aliens in modern times.

The book takes an in-depth look at a wide range of peculiar incidents recorded throughout Sweden's history, spanning from 1920 to 2013 and delves into a myriad of extraordinary encounters, diving into the mysterious realm of the unknown. The primary emphasis of the narrative remains on the gripping subjects of UFOs and extraterrestrial beings, examining their profound impact on both the personal experiences of witnesses and the rich tapestry of Swedish culture.

In the interview I begin by talking with Fred about his interest in the paranormal and how the idea for the book came about. From there we explore some of the strange incidents it covers and discuss Fred’s own insights into the high strangeness of his homeland.

Fred is a lively presence on social media and can be found on X (formerly Twitter) here. 'Northern Lights: High Strangeness in Sweden is available from your bookseller of choice. 

If you would like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.

My guest for this episode is author Simon Miles, who joined me to talk about his recent book 'The Map and the Manuscript'. 

This debut work documents an investigation of over more than twenty years into the "Affair of Rennes", a tangle of puzzles that has fascinated readers and researchers alike for half a century. A minor riddle of local history centered on a tiny village in the south of France became a global phenomenon, yet its greater secrets have remained tightly sealed. 

Amongst a sequence of breakthrough original insights, "The Map and the Manuscript" reveals for the first time the traces of a remarkable artefact of the ancient world, a geometrical complex laid out with impressive accuracy and at large scale between certain peaks, churches and châteaux in the landscape of the Pyrenees mountains. This discovery leads to a far-reaching exploration across a rich expanse of topics, from sacred geography to French poetry, from alchemy to dreams, from the Temple of Delphi to the streets of Paris, from hidden designs in old books to secret codes in manuscripts.

In the interview I talk with Simon about how he became interested in these mysteries, and the key aspects of his research and investigation which have made a significant contribution to a wider reappraisal of the capabilities of landscape architects in the ancient world.

Further information on Simon's writing, including the 'The Map and the Manuscript can be found at https://www.simonmmiles.com/ and the book is available from your literary retailer of choice. To visit his YouTube channel, featuring videos of the alignments detailed in the book, go to https://www.youtube.com/c/SimonMilesresearch.

If you would like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.

Joining me for this episode of the podcast is previous guest and good friend of the show Matt Hopewell, AKA AP Strange.

AP is a paranormal researcher, writer and self-described Discordian Flying Saucer Enthusiast, Certified Kook, Donut Wizard and Master of Mystical Flapdoodle.

He has a distinctly fun and light-hearted method of exploring Forteana on his blog 'AP Strange's Weird Writings', with articles on an impressively varied array of unusual subjects.

In the interview I talk with him about his approach to researching the paranormal and how helpful a sense of humour can be when doing that. Our conversation is a wide-ranging one, covering cryptids, poltergeists, UFOs, Star Trek, ancient Greece, the ideas of Robert Anton Wilson and much more.

AP Strange's Weird Writings can be found at https://www.apstrange.com/.

If you would like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.

My guest for this episode is legendary paranormal investigator and author Lionel Fanthorpe.

Lionel has had a prolific writing career dating back to 1952 which has seen him pen hundreds of books. Not only has he written science fiction stories, but together with his wife Patricia, also non-fiction books on an array of subjects, most notably the paranormal, unexplained mysteries of the world, poetry and religion.

He has travelled the world in search of the unexplained, endeavouring to unravel such mysteries as the ‘Oak Island Money Pit’ and ‘The Creeping Coffins of Barbados’. He has presented a number of television series, perhaps the best known being the cult Channel Four show, ‘Fortean TV’. During this time in his career he was also a practicing Anglican priest, which added a novel element to his televisual exploration of the unknown. Currently he is also the president of the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena.

As well as being a major contributor to paranormal research, he is a former journalist, teacher, head teacher, army rock climbing instructor and also a World Judo Association Black Belt Fifth Dan.

I begin the interview by talking with Lionel about his early experiences of the paranormal and how his interest in that field developed. From there we discuss his writing career, his time as a journalist, what prompted him to become an Anglican priest and how all of these things have in some way influenced the way he investigated and contemplated the unusual phenomena he has encountered.

Further information about Lionel can be found at his official website https://www.lionelfanthorpe.co.uk/. He also has a YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@lionelfanthorpeofficial5752.

If you would like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.

For this episode my guest is art historian Emily Leon. Emily’s research focuses on modernism and the esoteric interests of late-19th and early-20th century western artists, with a particular concentration on abstraction and the links between art, science, and religion. Since 2017, much of her scholarship has focused on the social, spiritual, and theoretical implications of Swedish artist Hilma af Klint’s work. Most recently, in 2023 she presented “Past-Future, Present-Future, Future-Future: Hilma af Klint in Three Temporal Dimensions” for the Modernist Futures conference, hosted by Modernist Studies in Asia. 

Emily is also the founder of the transdisciplinary working group 'In the Eggshell', a five-part lecture series that seeks to redress modern art by turning to how the sciences, religious beliefs, and occult traditions provide a better articulation of the subject.

In the interview I begin by talking with her about the origins of the relationship between esotericism and modern, abstract art. From there our conversation moves on to Hilma af Klint, specifically the occult ideas that influenced her art as well as the unusual methods she used such as spirit channeling that were a vital aspect of her craft. We also discuss the deeper meaning of Af Klint’s artwork and the vision she had for how it was meant be displayed, before concluding by talking about Emily’s own efforts to encourage a better understanding of the relationship between modern art, science and esotericism with the 'In the Eggshell' lecture series.

Emily can be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DisincarnateEVL and more details on 'In the Eggshell' are available at https://desertsuprematism.com/.

If you would like to support the upkeep of the podcast you can do so via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - ' Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.

My guest for this episode is photojournalist Shannon Taggart, who joined me to talk about her 2019 photobook - 'Séance'. This project was the culmination of two decades of research into the history, rituals, practices and exponents of Spiritualism, a religious movement which emerged in the mid 19th Century in update New York in the USA and is now established across the globe.

Shannon's interest in the subject stems from an experience as a child attending a service at a spiritualist church in Lily Dale - which is perhaps the town most emblematic of the movement in the United States.  For the book, she expected to spend one summer figuring out the tricks of the Spiritualist trade but instead the mysterious processes, earnest practitioners, and neglected photographic history became an inspiration which would see her travel to the United Kingdom and Europe in order to see the project to its conclusion.

'Séance' features 150 of her original images, complimented by historical photographs, a commentary on her experiences, and a foreword by Dan Aykroyd, who himself is a fourth-generation Spiritualist. It concludes with a debate over ectoplasm and how Spiritualism can move forward in the twenty-first century.     

In the interview, we begin by discussing Shannon's initial experience at a spiritualist service and from there talk more about Lily Dale, and how the idea for the 'Séance' project came about.  From there our conversation explores the relationship between photography and spiritualism, the practices and methodology that are used, and the mysterious, controversial substance that is ectoplasm.

Further information about Shannon and her work can be be found at https://www.shannontaggart.com/.

If you would like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.