The Alchemical Mind

As  we continue our deep dive into Gnosticism, I take a look at The Secret  Book Of John. This is part two of a multipart series on this important  Sethian text, as we look at the intricate Gnostic cosmology. On this episode, we'll go into how the universe was created according to the Sethians, what the nature of god is, how physical reality came to be, why there is an "evil" god in their cosmology, and how humanity can return to the Pleroma (or the fullness) of the one true god through the cultivation of our innate inner spark. This is a fantastic piece of the Gnostic puzzle, but be sure to listen to part 1 before diving in.

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Before we dive into part 2 of The Secret Book of John and dive deep into Gnostic cosmology, I wanted to bring you a bit of commentary on Gnosticism and the early Christians from none other than audience favorite, Terrence McKenna. In the first part of this episode, McKenna talks about the influence of Rome on the development of early Christianity and how Eastern ideas, as well as various Western mystery schools influenced the development of Gnostic and Christian thought. In the latter half, McKenna of course dives into the sacred mushroom and how psychedelics have influenced mystery schools throughout history, all interspersed with a little commentary from yours truly.

If you'd like to check in touch, follow the podcast on Twitter, @MindAlchemical, or just leave a voicemail directly on Anchor.fm.

If you haven't subscribed yet, be sure to do so on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Leave a review, and share with a friend. Music provided by Kabbalistic Village. Huge thanks!

On this episode of The Alchemical Mind, it's time to look at some of the practical applications of finding gnosis as I take a look at how we can determine what is and isn't true. This is not some esoteric view of finding some sort of "ultimate Truth," but rather some simple things we can do to analyze information and weed out false information.

In part 2 of this series, we begin by discussing the story about the fiery dragon in the garage from Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark before diving into some of the philosophical fallacies to watch out for when analysis information to be true. I conclude the episode with a fantastic bit from George Carlin on weasel words that wraps the discussion up nicely.

If you missed part 1, you can listen to it here. I also reference my series on finding an regaining your own authority which you can find links to below.  You Are It: Understanding That You Are The Ultimate Authority I Am That I Am: Authority And Religion

If you haven't subscribed yet, be sure to do so on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Leave a review, and share with a friend.

Music provided by Kabbalistic Village. Huge thanks!

On this episode of The Alchemical Mind, I go a bit off-topic to talk about the news today that life may have been discovered on Venus. What does this mean in relation to topics I usually discuss on the podcast? Is this huge news or a sign of things to come? 

As always, do your own research on the topics discussed on the podcast. The article I referenced on this episode is entitled Life on Venus? Astronomers See a Signal in Its Clouds.

If you'd like to check in touch, follow the podcast on Twitter, @MindAlchemical, or just leave a voicemail directly on Anchor.fm.

If you haven't subscribed yet, be sure to do so on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Leave a review, and share with a friend. Music provided by Kabbalistic Village. Huge thanks!

As we continue our deep dive into Gnosticism, I take a look at The Secret Book Of John. This is part one of a multipart series on this important Sethian text, as we look at the intricate Gnostic cosmology. The Secret Book Of John is key to understanding how the Gnostics view the idea of god (hint: it's very non-dual), what man's place in the universe is, and how the world was created by an evil, ignorant god known as Yaldaboath, Saklas, or simply as the demiurge, which leads into a discussion of the similarities between Gnostic ideas and those that we see among the Hermeticists, Platonist, Pythagoreans, and more.

If you'd like to check in touch, follow the podcast on Twitter, @MindAlchemical, or just leave a voicemail directly on Anchor.fm.

If you haven't subscribed yet, be sure to do so on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Leave a review, and share with a friend. Music provided by Kabbalistic Village. Huge thanks!

I took the day off from recording, but that doesn't mean you won't be getting a new episode of The Alchemical Mind! For this special episode, I bring you a great speech by Alan Watts on the early Christian thought, the importance of gnosis in the early church, and its similarities to similar ideas from Buddhism and Hindu traditions. Then, Watts ties it all together in a nice little bow by discussing how true gnosis and dogma are not necessarily mutually exclusive, even though they may appear to be and why the pursuit of spiritual truth does not need to be tied to ritualistic boredom.

If you haven't subscribed yet, be sure to do so on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Leave a review, and share with a friend. Music provided by Kabbalistic Village. Huge thanks!

On this episode of The Alchemical Mind, it's time to look at some of the practical applications of finding gnosis as I take a look at how we can determine what is and isn't true. This is not some esoteric view of finding some sort of "ultimate Truth," but rather some simple things we can do to analyze information and weed out false information.

We begin this series by examining Carl Sagan's baloney detection kit from his book The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark and how we can use the scientific method in to determine if something is "true" or not - even when dealing with spiritual, philosophical, and other epistemological endeavors. 

I do mention a terrific interview with Tim Freke which you can find here. I also reference my series on finding an regaining your own authority which you can find links to below.

If you haven't subscribed yet, be sure to do so on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Leave a review, and share with a friend.

Music provided by Kabbalistic Village. Huge thanks!

The Gospel of Thomas is a fascinating text from early in Christian history and one of the most accessible texts from the group that is generally dubbed as the Gnostics.

On this episode of The Alchemical Mind, I begin an exploration of Christian Gnostic thought with a book that has fascinated me for many years. The Gospel of Thomas is unique from many other sacred texts in that it is simple a book of sayings - 114 to be exact. Let's dive into just who the Gnostics were (or weren't), what it means to be a Gnostic, the group's relationship with Hermeticism, and the influence of Buddhist ideas on early Christianity.

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Music provided by Kabbalistic Village. Huge thanks!

Welcome back to another episode of The Alchemical Mind. This episode is part four of my deep dive into The Hermetica and since this text has inspired so much of Western esoteric thought, what better way to wrap this discussion up than by talking about mystery schools. What are mystery schools? What does Hermes have to say about the mysteries? Should knowledge be kept hidden? I'll dive into all this and more, as well as a brief reading from Manly P. Hall's The Secret Teachings Of All Ages to try to get a grasp on the subject.

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Music provided by Kabbalistic Village. Huge thanks!

This episode of The Alchemical Mind serves partially as a departure from our discussion on The Hermetica, but also as an added bonus with additional information on the influence of this work and the traditions it is based on on Western theology and philosophy. I'm sure many of you know Terrence McKenna from his work with psychedelics, but he was also deeply knowledgeable in theology and philosophy, so for this episode, I bring you a speech from McKenna on the hermetic tradition, magic, and mysticism. 

I will return on Monday with the final part of our discussion of The Hermetica as I dive into a discussion of mystery schools in preparation for what will serve as a basis for much of podcast for the month of September. 

If you haven't subscribed yet, be sure to do so on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Leave a review, and share with a friend.

Music provided by Kabbalistic Village. Huge thanks!