Spirits and Psychics

In this episode, Morgan takes Norm along the path of how Richard Alpert became Ram Dass. They explore the guru experience and how Ram Dass and his spiritual satsang championed causes that are common now, like hospice care and aging with awareness. They cover how a twist of nature humbled him and led him to the most expansive time in life as an older man. How a man goes from searching for enlightenment in tabs of acid to dying beloved in Hawaii. It is the journey of a seeker who found what he was looking for and in doing so, made going on a trip of spiritual enlightenment to India forever a cliche.

Sources & Further Reading:

• Dass, Ram. Being Ram Dass. Sounds True, 2022. 
• Dass, Ram. Remember, Be Here Now; Here Be Now, Be Now Here, Now Be Here. Lama Foundation, 1971. 
• “Love Serve Remember Foundation.” Ram Dass, 16 Oct. 2023, www.ramdass.org/. 

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Psychedelics and the spiritual journey is a massive topic! Morgan & Norm step into the ring by discussing the two people your boomer parents definitely think of when they see magic mushrooms on the voting ballot. Morgan takes Norm into who Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert were before they became their public personas: "The Most Dangerous Man in America" & the beloved spiritual teacher Ram Dass. This covers their time at Harvard, how they first got "turned on" to psilocybin, their famous experiments and how salty student journalists can derail careers.

Sources & Further Reading:

• Lattin, Don. The Harvard Psychedelic Club: How Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Huston Smith, and Andrew Weil Killed the Fifties and Ushered in a New Age for America. HarperOne, 2011. 
• Hatsis, Thomas. LSD-the Wonder Child: The Golden Age of Psychedelic Research in the 1950s. Park Street Press, 2021. 
• Dass, Ram. Being Ram Dass. Sounds True , 2022. 
• Roberts, Andy. Divine Rascal: On the Trail of LSD’s Cosmic Courier, Michael Hollingshead. Strange Attractor Press, 2019. 
• Reynolds , Gareth, and Dave Anthony. “Timothy Leary Party 1.” The Dollop, episode 433. 

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After the funding gets cut, the adventures don't just stop! Morgan & Norm follow up on just what happened to various people involved in the remote viewing story.

Sources & Further Reading:

• Ronson, Jon. The Men Who Stare at Goats. Picador, 2012. 
• McMoneagle, Joseph, et al. Memoirs of a Psychic Spy: The Remarkable Life of u.s. Government Remote Viewer 001. Hampton Roads Pub. Co., 2006. 
• Smith, Paul H. Reading the Enemy’s Mind: Inside Stargate America’s Psychic Espionage Program. Crossroads Press, 2011. 
• International Remote Viewing Association
• Schnabel, Jim. Remote Viewers: The Secret History of America’s Psychic Spies. Dell, 1997. 
• Targ, Russell. The Reality of ESP: A Physicist’s Proof of Psychic Phenomena. Quest Books, Theosophical Publishing House, 2012. 
• Tertre, Nancy Du. Psychic Intuition: Everything You Ever Wanted to Ask but Were Afraid to Know. New Page Books, 2012. 
• Swann, Ingo, et al. Penetration: The Question of Extraterrestrial and Human Telepathy. Swann-Ryder Productions, 2020. 
• Swann, Ingo, Marilyn Ferguson, et al. Everybody’s Guide to Natural ESP: Unlocking the Extrasensory Power of Your Mind. Swann-Ryder Productions, LLC, 2018. 
• Vasiliev, Leonid. Mysterious Phenomena of the Human Psyche. Defense Technical Information Center, 1967. 

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What would happen if the government really had psychic intelligence? Morgan shows Norm how it would die a slow bureaucratic death. Despite convincing demonstrations in front of members of Congress, even proven psychic abilities can't withstand the realities of working in an office.

Sources & Further Reading:

• Ronson, Jon. The Men Who Stare at Goats. Picador, 2012. 
• McMoneagle, Joseph, et al. Memoirs of a Psychic Spy: The Remarkable Life of u.s. Government Remote Viewer 001. Hampton Roads Pub. Co., 2006. 
• Smith, Paul H. Reading the Enemy’s Mind: Inside Stargate America’s Psychic Espionage Program. Crossroads Press, 2011. 
• International Remote Viewing Association
• Schnabel, Jim. Remote Viewers: The Secret History of America’s Psychic Spies. Dell, 1997. 
• Targ, Russell. The Reality of ESP: A Physicist’s Proof of Psychic Phenomena. Quest Books, Theosophical Publishing House, 2012. 

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Everyone's a critic and everyone wants proof of psychic phenomena under lab conditions. Morgan takes Norm into the origins of Remote Viewing protocols. They cover why it's helpful for your experiments to be designed by former stage magicians, how psychic abilities may be latent in all of us and just what happened with the CIA gets involved...

Sources & Further Reading:

• Ronson, Jon. The Men Who Stare at Goats. Picador, 2012. 
• McMoneagle, Joseph, et al. Memoirs of a Psychic Spy: The Remarkable Life of u.s. Government Remote Viewer 001. Hampton Roads Pub. Co., 2006. 
• Smith, Paul H. Reading the Enemy’s Mind: Inside Stargate America’s Psychic Espionage Program. Crossroads Press, 2011. 
• International Remote Viewing Association
• Schnabel, Jim. Remote Viewers: The Secret History of America’s Psychic Spies. Dell, 1997. 

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Morgan and Norm keep on with HPB and Henry Steele Olcott but now that they are in India, things are different. They cover the chum's rocky start, bad people skills, how Olcott took a left turn to becoming a white savior in Sri Lanka and how HPB got cancelled by the Society for Psychical Research. They touch on her seminal work, the Secret Doctrine, have a cameo by Mahatma Gandhi, how Olcott got his face on a postage stamp and what is the legacy Theosophy leaves today.

Sources & Further Reading:

• Lachman, Gary. Madame Blavatsky: The Mother of Modern Spirituality. Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2012. 
• Steiner, Rudolf. Theosophy, an Introduction to the Spiritual Processes of Human Life and the Cosmos. Wilder Publications, 2018. 
• Prothero, Stephen R. The White Buddhist: The Asian Odyssey of Henry Steel Olcott. Indiana University Press, 2011. 
• The Theosophical Society in America
• The Theosophical Society in Adyar

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As Morgan takes Norm intro the next chapter of Madame Blavatsky's life, they encounter Henry Steel Olcott also known as the White Buddha. They explore his background, what primed a well respected lawyer to fall into her aura, as well as their business ventures, apartments, accusations of fraud and ultimately, setting their sights on India.

Sources & Further Reading:

• Lachman, Gary. Madame Blavatsky: The Mother of Modern Spirituality. Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2012. 
• Steiner, Rudolf. Theosophy, an Introduction to the Spiritual Processes of Human Life and the Cosmos. Wilder Publications, 2018. 
• Prothero, Stephen R. The White Buddhist: The Asian Odyssey of Henry Steel Olcott. Indiana University Press, 2011. 
• The Theosophical Society in America
• The Theosophical Society in Adyar

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In this episode Morgan introduces Norm to the Mother of Modern Occultism: Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. Gifted for sure, but gifted with what? Diving into the first part of her life, Morgan & Norm work through what is known about her Villain Origin Story and the context it lends to understanding the origins of the Theosophical Society.

Sources & Further Reading for this series:

• Lachman, Gary. Madame Blavatsky: The Mother of Modern Spirituality. Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2012. 
• Steiner, Rudolf. Theosophy, an Introduction to the Spiritual Processes of Human Life and the Cosmos. Wilder Publications, 2018. 
• Prothero, Stephen R. The White Buddhist: The Asian Odyssey of Henry Steel Olcott. Indiana University Press, 2011. 
• The Theosophical Society in America
• The Theosophical Society in Adyar

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Morgan takes Norm into Spiritualism, the movement that changed how the West understands death, the spirit world, and how you could talk to the other side. They also touch on the roots of stage magicians like Harry Houdini and the great legacy of debunking spiritual mediums by people who in their hearts (probably) want to believe. They also don't leave out the more compassionate cosmology spiritualism because even in the 1800s people thought there had to be more than just life-is-hard-and-then-you-die.

Sources & Further Reading:

• Morton, Lisa. Calling the Spirits: A History of Seances. University of Chicago Press, 2022. 

Jaher, David. The Witch of Lime Street: Séance, Seduction, and Houdini in the Spirit World.

• Broadway Books, 2016. 
• Braude, Ann. Radical Spirits Spiritualism and Women’s Rights in Nineteenth-Century America. Indiana University Press, 2013. 

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