Test Tubes and Cauldrons

Try to keep your feet on the ground as we dive into UFOs, extraterrestrials, and all things paranormal! From primordial soup exobiology and ancient myths reimagined as alien encounters to Buddhist world-systems and Crowley's cosmic pen pals, we're exploring how spirituality and UFO lore shift through time. We'll explore the paraUFOlogy debate, why some spirits absolutely aren't aliens (looking at you, Enochian angels), and how New Age UFO culture gave rise to starseeds, downloads, and a whole galaxy of grifters. Strap in and let us know if you believe in aliens by the end!

Follow Levi on IG: @Saint.Vid

Episode resources:

Vital Dust: The Origin and Evolution of Life on Earth by Christian de Duve (on the primordial soup hypothesis among other things)

The Super Natural: A New Vision of the Unexplained Hardcover by Whitley Streiver and Jeffrey J. Kripal

Newkirk Museum of the Paranormal

Haunted Objects podcast

Hellier

The Mothman Prophecies by John Keel

They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers by Gray Barker

Don’t drink the Kool-Aid just yet, we’ve got a new episode for you! This week we are diving into the world of cults. What defines them, how they intersect with the occult, and why high-control groups can be so hard to spot, especially on social media. From mystery cults of the ancient world to modern movements like Scientology, Jonestown, NXIVM, we unpack the psychology, power structures, and tactics that keep people hooked. Strap in as we talk about charismatic leaders, doomsday prophecies, brainwashing myths, and the BITE model.

Episode Resources:

Let’s Talk About Sects Podcast has many discussions around cults and high-control groups!

Dr. Alexandra Stein - An authority on cults and totalitarianism, her work is crucial in this field! We really recommend her book “Terror, Love, and Brainwashing: Attachment in Cults and Totalitarian Systems.”

“Teaching New Religious Movements” by David Bromley (the chapter on Moral Panics is especially relevant to this episode)

Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field by Benjamin Zablocki and Thomas Robbins: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3138/9781442677302

Pseudoscience versus Minority Religions; An Evaluation of the Brainwashing Theories of Jean-Marie Abgrall: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4419-9094-5_9

The Cult of ISIS by Florence Gaub: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292675728_The_Cult_of_ISIS

Combating the Cult of ISIS: A Social Approach to Countering Violent Extremism by Joel Day and Scott Kleinmann (available on Google) When corrections fail:

The persistence of political misperceptions: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2010-08932-007

The Backfire Effect: https://daily.jstor.org/the-backfire-effect/

You are getting very sleepy…listen to our voices…

Hopefully you haven’t fallen into a trance-induced hypnosis just yet as there is a new episode to listen to! This contentious episode explores both the history of hypnosis and its more modern understanding. There’s a surprising amount of science behind this favored Victorian party trick that also has roots in spiritual practices.

Strap in as we discuss magnets, mesmerism, MRIs, and…The Pope?

Episode Resources:

What is hypnosis and how might it work: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6357291/

James Braid: https://theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2022/01/james-braid-the-father-of-modern-hypnosis/,

How does this all work: Hypnotic induction decreases anterior default mode activity: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19782614/

The neurophenomenology of neutral hypnosis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22579225/

Functional Brain Basis of Hypnotizability: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4365296/

Hypnosis for the management of chronic and cancer procedure-related pain in children: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22917107/

Hypnosis and clinical pain: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12848218/

Review of the efficacy of clinical hypnosis with headaches and migraines: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17365074/

Efficacy, tolerability, and safety of hypnosis in adult irritable bowel syndrome: systematic review and meta-analysis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24901382/

Use of Hypnosis Today: Where the imaginal appears real: a positron emission tomography study of auditory hallucinations: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9465124/

Hypnotic visual illusion alters color processing in the brain: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10910791/

The brain under self-control: modulation of inhibitory and monitoring cortical networks during hypnotic paralysis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19555654/

Mesmerizing memories: brain substrates of episodic memory suppression in posthypnotic amnesia: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18184572/

Hypnotic illusions and clinical delusions: hypnosis as a research method: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19866383/

Welcome back to part 2 of our 'Science of Prayer' series! Back in April we discussed prayer with Aiden the VVitch, with a focus on the use of prayer in a variety of spiritual and occult settings. In this episode, the hosts tackle the science behind prayer, investigating the mechanisms behind how prayer affects our brains as well as the controversial fields of faith healing and whether prayer can benefit our health.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Lancet Review of religion, spirituality, and medicine which touches (heh) on faith healing: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(98)07376-0/fulltext
• Intercessory prayer for...COVID?! https://www.cell.com/heliyon/fulltext/S2405-8440(23)09619-6
• Some small benefits to health observed from a prayer practice: https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.58.1.36
• What happens to our brain during prayer? A review: DOI: 10.1097/HRP.0000000000000232
• Neural mechanisms of pain modulation during prayer - the 'Mr Hansen' study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5487465/ fMRI during
• Quran recitations: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-023-15588-3
• How valid is neuroimaging during prayer, anyway? https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039124
• The wild 'sutra is stored in the frontal lobe' story https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13554790903559689

Hello from Hanne, Fel and Astra! It's been quite the year and we're excited to get back into it. In this episode we discuss some personal, practice and podcast updates as well as talk about what we're doing to start this year off magically. The next episodes after this one will be some back recordings. So excited to be back!!

It's a science-heavy one this week, everyone! This week the hosts discuss the intriguing world of epigenetics, where nature and nurture collide. Can you change your DNA? What effect does the world have on our genetics, and on us as people? Does this have any spiritual consequences, as some people claim? Tune in this week to hear about the science behind epigenetics and our thoughts on how this somewhat contentious field has been appropriated by the spiritual world.

RESOURCES & BIBLIOGRAPHY

• A great beginner page for genetics https://www.yourgenome.org/
• A deep dive into the history of DNA structure and function https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/discovery-of-dna-structure-and-function-watson-397/
• The classic 'smoking grannies' epigenetic study https://www.nature.com/articles/s41431-022-01081-2 && https://clinicalepigeneticsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13148-019-0631-3
• The Dutch Hunger Winter https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2579375/
• Trauma and heritability https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6952751/
• Review article summarising how epigenetics can unify Lamarckian and Darwinian principles https://academic.oup.com/gbe/article/7/5/1296/605886

We are back with a long-awaited episode of our Occultists & Scientists series focusing on the life of John Dee and his scryer Edward Kelley. A renaissance man in every right, Dee was a physician, engineer, theologian, astronomer, cartographer, and magician - working with the angels to develop a unique system of angelic magic now described as Enochian. But this tale of the great magician has dark secrets…imprisoned for performing astrology, rumours of being a spy, hooking up with others wives, oh my! Perhaps like most magicians of his time, piousness was just a rumour. Join us as we soar to the skies and explore the magnanimous life of Dr. John Dee.

REFERENCES:

• The Scientific Spirit in England in Early Modern Times (c. 1600): https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/225631
• The Magic and Astrology of John Dee: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1057/9781137399472_8.pdf
• John Dee and the sciences: early modern networks of knowledge: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3778877/pdf/main.pdf
• The Mathematicall Praeface to Elements of Geometric of Euclid of Megara by John Dee: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/22062/22062-h/22062-h.htm
• At the crossroads of magic and science: John Dee’s Archemastrie: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/occult-scientific-mentalities/at-the-crossroads-of-magic-and-science-john-dees-archemastrie/9D21A2FB0A2E33D9F4D2C0F85A7787E4

BOOKS:

The Queen’s Conjuror: The life and magic of Dr. Dee by B. Woolley

Enochian Vision Magic by Lon Milo Duquette

The Essential Enochian Grimoire by Aaron Leitch

In this episode, the hosts dive into the science of smell & the odiferous side of the occult Why is incense such a popular offering? Does an oil's odour reflect its properties? And what on earth does a saint smell like?! This episode features four case studies across different traditions to explore the seemingly-ubiquitous - but surprisingly diverse - role of fragrance in the occult. You can also expect to hear about science of smell & how odour can interplay with cognition.

smell ya later x

REFERENCES

- Brief summary: the science of smell! // Sell, C. S. (2006). On the unpredictability of odor. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 45(38), 6254-6261.

- Amazing book on the chemistry behind perfumery // Pybus, D. H., & Sell, C. S. (Eds.). (1999). The chemistry of fragrances (Vol. 17). Royal Society of Chemistry.

- Olfaction and memory - how odour interplays with PTSD & emotion // Vermetten, E., & Bremner, J. D. (2003). Olfaction as a traumatic reminder in posttraumatic stress disorder: case reports and review. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 64(2), 202-207. && Zald, D. H., & Pardo, J. V. (1997). && Emotion, olfaction, and the human amygdala: amygdala activation during aversive olfactory stimulation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 94(8), 4119-4124.

- Tapputi, one of the world's first chemists (and perfume makers)! // https://arkeonews.net/the-3200-year-old-perfume-of-tapputi-the-first-female-perfumer-in-history-came-to-life-again/ - Odour in antiquity // https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/handle/10871/17556/GrantG.pdf

- The role of scents in traditional Chinese religion // Habkirk, S., & Chang, H. (2017). Scents, community, and incense in traditional Chinese religion. Material Religion, 13(2), 156-174.

- Osmogenesia & sensing the saints Saucier, C. (2010). // The sweet sound of sanctity: sensing St Lambert. The Senses and Society, 5(1), 10-27. && Harvey, S. A. (1998). St Ephrem on the scent of salvation. The journal of theological studies, 49(1), 109-128.

- Amusing paper on 'oilers' with a lot in there about MLMs // Kieffer, K. G. (2021). Smelling Things: Essential Oils and Essentialism in Contemporary American Spirituality. Religion and American Culture, 31(3), 297-331.

This week the hosts dive into the intersection between conspiracy theories and the occult, all the way from the wacky to the outright terrifying. This episode explores the basis of the psychological concept ‘magical thinking’ and how it relates to spirituality, as well as how this mode of thinking might help or hinder one’s practice. It also features a discussion on why conspiracy theories are unfortunately so prevalent in the occult world, how to spot them, and the potential dangers they pose if left unchallenged.

REFERENCES:

- Some degree of magical thinking is normal: Peters, E. R., Joseph, S. A., & Garety, P. A. (1999). Measurement of delusional ideation in the normal population: introducing the PDI (Peters et al. Delusions Inventory). Schizophrenia bulletin, 25(3), 553-576

- Stress might pre-dispose us to magical thinking: Keinan, G. (2002). The effects of stress and desire for control on superstitious behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(1), 102-108. && Keinan, G. (1994). Effects of stress and tolerance of ambiguity on magical thinking. Journal of personality and social psychology, 67(1), 48.

- The ‘dual model’ hypothesis of magical thinking & superstition - system 1 vs system 2: Risen, J. L. (2016). Believing what we do not believe: Acquiescence to superstitious beliefs and other powerful intuitions. Psychological review, 123(2), 182.

- The basics – LSU’s guide to conspiracy theories: https://faculty.lsu.edu/fakenews/about/rumors.php

- Historical connections between conspiracy and esotericism: Asprem, E., & Dyrendal, A. (2018). Close companions? Esotericism and conspiracy theories. In Handbook of conspiracy theory and contemporary religion (pp. 207-233). Brill.

- You might also want to check out our earlier episode on bias!