The Deep State Consciousness Podcast

Chris Johnston is a former member of the Buddhafield cult, the subject of the 2016 documentary film, 'Holy Hell'. After leaving, Chris went on to study cults and religious movements, attempting to make sense of what he'd been through. In this interview he sheds light on what happened at Buddhafield and what factors caused him to be drawn into an abusive relationship with a man proclaiming to be a guru.

Chris' insights are valuable for anyone seeking to better understand the phenomenon of cults and appeal of authoritarian leaders. They are also invaluable in addressing the question of how do we move beyond these types of relationships in our personal lives, spiritual groups and wider society.

Holy Hell website

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Chris Johnston is a former member of the Buddhafiled cult, the subject of the 2016 documentary film, 'Holy Hell'. After leaving, Chris went on to study cults and religious movements, attempting to make sense of what he'd been through. In this interview he sheds light on what happened at Buddhafield and what factors caused him to be drawn into an abusive relationship with a man proclaiming to be a guru.

Chris' insights are valuable for anyone seeking to better understand the phenomenon of cults and appeal of authoritarian leaders. They are also invaluable in addressing the question of how do we move beyond these types of relationships in our personal lives, spiritual groups and wider society.

Holy Hell website

Facebook Page

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Netflix

iTunes

Sign up to the newsletter for details of future interviews

Dr. Richard Ellefritz is an assistant professor of sociology who completed his PhD researching the 9/11 Truth movement. He did this from a position of being within the movement himself. In this interview I ask ask him about how his own position on 9/11 formed and how it can be that different groups in society can interpret this pivotal day in history in such radically different ways – leaving us living in very different world from each other.

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Notes

Short video of WTC7 collapse

Documentary architects and engineers speaking out

Michael Parenti

Lies, War, and Empire

The Gangster Nature of the State

Lance deHaven-Smith

Conspiracy Theory in America

Understanding Deep Politics Conference

Wexler and Haver's article, "Conspiracy: A Dramaturgical Explanation" 

My doctoral dissertation, Discourse of the Truthers and Deniers of 9/11

Resource on the CIA "conspiracy" Dispatch

Where are the whistleblowers?

Nicole's guided meditation from the August Unbreaking the Mirror group.

Ronnie Aaronson is a psychotherapist specialising in the treatment of addiction, focusing particularly on alcoholism. She is the author of Addiction, This Being Human, a book she was inspired to write by societies dehumanisation and 'othering' of people struggling with certain 'unacceptable' addictions.

Ronnie is also a founder of The Swan Project, a charity set up in Bristol to help people struggling with alcoholism. The charity utilises the skills of trainee therapists to provide low cost treatment to an incredible number of people. What makes this model particularly fascinating is that it's replicable anywhere.

Psychologist, therapist and host of the Scottish Liberty Podcast Antony Sammeroff joins me to discuss his presentation, The Psychology of Statism. Antony first explains how he came to hold his unconventional anarchistic views on government. He then talks about the psychological factors that prevent people from rationally and reflectively engaging in dialogue but rather lock them into their existing points of view. Finally, putting his therapists hat on, Antony talks about the role of resolving trauma in freeing ourselves to embrace a wider spectrum of ideas and becoming able to communicate more effectively with others.

Show Notes

Get Antony's free ebook Procrastination Annihilation

The Scottish Liberty Podcast

Antony's Enrich Your Life YouTube Channel

Read Antony's article How to Change Someone's Mind

Antony mentions Stefan Molyneux and Lloyd deMause for their work on childhood trauma, peaceful parenting as the way to create a better society. Here are three playlists (the first one features Lloyd) on that topic.

The Origins of War in Child Abuse

The Truth about Spanking

The Bomb in the Brain - The True Roots of Human Violence

Antony also mentions trauma therapist Dr. Robert Scaer

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Twelve years ago Linzi Kemp developed Fibromyalgia, a debilitating condition of chronic pain and fatigue. This led her on an inner journey of self healing, ultimately becoming a student of The Rudra Devi Technique. Now fully recovered, Linzi works with this spiritual/emotional based approach to help others emerge from chronic pain.

Details of Linzi's work here

Simon Small returns to the show to discuss the UFO/alien encounter/abduction experience. Simon has been fascinated with this most confusing of phenomenons for most of his life, due to his own 'encounters'.

I was interested to draw on his experience as a contemplative mystic, to see what insights approaching the phenomenon from that perspective has given rise to. Can we point to an objective reality underpinning these experiences? Are they the same as the old Fairy faith? Why do some people find them spiritually transformative and others horribly abusive? What's going on with disclosure? We explore these questions and more.

Get Simon's book, Star Pilgrim, on Amazon (UK) (US)

Nicole and Richard talk about their work running a spirituality based support group for body image concerns and wider mental suffering. They describe what a mindful or spiritual approach to human suffering might look like, drawing from their own life's journeys

Filmed at the Mindful Man Festival 2018, on the Isle of Man

More details of Nicole and Richard's group here

LuAnn Keener-Mikenas is a writer and psychotherapist who has also pursued spirituality for the past thirty years. We talk about what the integration of these things looks like, the cultivation of a deeper and more secure sense of being and the implications of this on a personal and societal level

LuAnn's therapy site

LuAnn's writing site