What is the fourth dimension, and could it hold the key to understanding higher realities, including the divine? In this episode, we dive into astronomer Carl Sagan’s classic explanation of the fourth dimension, including how this concept could intersect with ideas of spirituality and magic. Could the divine be a higher-dimensional intelligence?

Whether you’re into philosophy or alien communication, this episode will stretch your mind in all directions.

Episode Resources & Easter Eggs:

Books & Media:

• Browse Edwin Abbot’s Flatland for free.
• Watch the Carl Sagan video we mention (+2 if you draw your own illustration).
• Watch Interstellar and try not to cry.

People:

• Learn about Carl Sagan.
• Read about Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Art:

• Stare at NASA’s 1990 Pale Blue Dot photo (+2 if you manage to escape an existential crisis).
• Study Salvador Dali’s Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus) (1954).

Other Things:

• Explore the Voyager Golden Records with NASA.
• Analyze the Pioneer Plaque (+5 to draw your own).
• Fall into a hole as you try and understand “as above, so below.”
• Try and draw a tesseract (good luck...)
• Revisit the Tao.

Follow the Magic on Instagram & TikTok

Music Credit: “Space Race,” from silvermansound.com (2023).

In this episode, we explore the timeless wisdom of Lao-tzu’s Tao Te Ching, one of the foundational texts in Taoism. What does it mean to live in harmony with the Tao, or the Way? What is the role of knowledge compared to direct experience? And why is water, often perceived as soft and yielding, the ultimate teacher? We journey into the practice of wuwei (non-action) and consider how letting go and embracing non-resistance can lead to a more effortless life rooted in the present.

Episode Resources & Easter Eggs:

Taoist Fundamentals:

• Read the Tao Te Ching(+3 if you buy used).
• Discover the basics of taiji.
• Compare, contrast, and see the similarities in yin/yang.
• Explore wu-wei and put your learning into practice.
• Dive into the principle of the uncarved block.

The Tao cont. (let’s go beyond wading!):

• Listen to episodes one and fifty of the podcast What’s This Tao all About?
• Descend into a brief rabbit hole on Jane and Bataan Faigao.
• Learn how Winnie the Pooh is the uncarved block in Benjamin Hoff’s The Tao of Pooh.
• Read about Zhuangzi, another core Taoist text.

Bookish Things to Explore:

• Check out Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
• Spiral into a new and dark world by reading Burroughs’ Naked Lunch.
• Practice reading Ginsburg’s Howl aloud (+5 if you can recite in one breath).
• Browse The Buddhist Review’s new issues online.
• Revisit David Hawkins’ The Map of Consciousness Explained (+2 if you’ve read this in more than two episode descriptions).
• Reread Octavia Butler’s The Parable of the Sower.

Other Concepts to Explore:

• The Big Bang Theory. Remember that?
• Tabula Rasa, or blank slate (+2 for philosophy majors and/or acolytes).
• Compare The Fool, in the tarot deck, to the uncarved block.

 Follow the Magic on Instagram & TikTok

Music Credit

Music: “Zen Garden,” from silvermansound.com (2016).

In this episode, we explore major spiritual themes in the iconic children’s show, Avatar: The Last Airbender (ATLA), including nonviolence, imbalance, and the constant push and pull of destiny and responsibility.

From the Fire Nation’s imperialism and its use of technology to the tension between the physical and spirit worlds, ATLA reveals itself as far more than a kids’ show—it’s a series of parables with real-world resonance.

Is anyone truly enlightened in Avatar: The Last Airbender? And what does it mean to find your own path in alignment with harmony?

Episode Resources & Easter Eggs:

Media:

• Watch (or rewatch) Avatar the Last Airbender.
• Missed Kung Fu Panda? Check it out here.
• Explore the steampunk Legend of Korra (pretty sure we said cyberpunk in the ep, oops).
• Watch Timothy Chalamet ride a sandworm in Dune 2.

Books:

• Read George Orwell’s 1984 (+1 if you read this in school).
• Read about Earthseed in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower.
• Revisit David Hawkins’ The Map of Consciousness Explained (+5 if you rate the other ATLA characters).

People & Things:

• Read about Gandhi.
• Check out Taoism.
• Understand the Chakras.
• Read about Ayurveda.
• Connect with Qigong.
• Learn about Brahman.

Follow the Magic on Instagram & TikTok

Music Credit

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/oakvale-of-albion/riffs-and-rhymes

License code: 09FKTDPVJUMTNEQA

Join Amanda and James as they explore David Hawkins’ Map of Consciousness—a model for understanding the different emotional and mental states on the path toward enlightenment. Do you need your basic needs met to seek higher awareness? What does it mean to operate out of love rather than fear? And how does letting go of ego shift the way we experience life? No matter where you are on your journey, this conversation opens up new ways of thinking about how we evolve, as well as what might be holding us back.

Episode Resources & Easter Eggs:

Books & Media:

·     Dive into Hawkins’ The Map of Consciousness Explained.

·     Explore Richard Cavendish’s The Black Arts, a history of the occult through the ages.

·     Listen to Bo Burnham’s Welcome to the Internet, from the Netflix special Inside.

People:

·     Learn more about Eckhart Tolle.

·     Not sure if you exist? Look into Descartes.

·     Fall down a rabbit hole and into Carl Jung’s collective unconscious.

Spiritual Concepts:

·     Learn about “the all” by reading The Kybalion for free.

·     Read up on Buddha mind.

·     Practice Sufism’s remembrance (+4 for completion of the suggested exercise.)

·     Flip through Ram Dass’ Be Here Now.

·     Explore the alchemical symbol of the Ouroboros (ever seen a snake eating its own tail? +2 for visual evidence).

·     Dive into Extrasensory Perception (ESP).

·     Identify how the siddhis work.

·     Discover shamanism.

·     Read about Taoism.

·     Refresh your memory on qigong (+2 for first time explorers).

Follow the Magic on Instagram ⁠@themagicalsalon⁠

Music Credit

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/the-cleaner

License code: T3ULLC7VOT4NVY6B

Join Amanda and James in episode 2 as they talk about the books that sparked their love for reading and kickstarted their interest in magic. From childhood favorites like Eragon to epic fantasies like The Priory of the Orange Tree, they describe how reading acts as both a portal and a practice one that encourages creativity, immersion, and play. What does it mean to be a reader? How do schools shape our relationship with books? If you’ve ever carried a story with you, this one’s for you.

Episode Resources & Easter Eggs:

Childhood Favs:

·     Explore Avatar the Last Airbender.

·     Read Christopher Paolini’s Eragon.

·     Immerse yourself in James Patterson’s Maximum Ride series.

·     Summon your own favorite book characters by reading Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart.

·     Re-read the Spider Wick Chronicles (+3 for detailed self made field guides.)

·     Want a book with an included wand? Check out Wizardology.

Recent Recommendations:

·     Lose yourself in Karl Ove Knausgård’s quotidian My Struggle series.

·     Flip through Ram Dass’ Be Here Now.

·     Explore the world in 4D by reading Mircea Cărtărescu’s Solenoid.

·     Lose yourself in Samantha Shannon’s fantasy epic The Priory of the Orange Tree.

·     Dive into Stephen King’s It.

Read a Classic:

·     Read Virginia Woolf’s short and accessible Mrs. Dalloway.

·     Annotate Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter (+3 for screengrabs of color-coded notes).

·     Explore religion in Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov.

·     Race Amanda to finishing Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina (+5 if you beat her).

Follow the Magic on Instagram ⁠@themagicalsalon⁠

Music Credit

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/trendsetter License code: HYUQLMBOL1GHYGFW

How do we make meaning in our lives? Does magic exist in the real world, and if so, what does it look like? In the inaugural episode of The Magical Salon, Amanda and James discuss how magic represents a paradigm shift in spiritual self-empowerment, and chart major milestones on their journeys, including some of their key methods, or portals, for tapping into a higher state of being.

Episode Resources & Easter Eggs:

Spiritual Concepts

·     What is Qigong?

·     Dive into the Taoist concept of  wu wei, or “inaction.”

·     Read about Zen Buddhism’s mushin, or “no mind.”

·     Check out the meanings of the tarot cards.

Books

·     Explore the Tao Te Ching.

·     Discover how to transcend different levels of consciousness by reading The Map of Consciousness.

People

·     Read about author Elizabeth Gilbert.

·     Learn about British occultist and magician Aleister Crowley.

Media

·     Watch Avatar the Last Airbender on Netflix.

·     Watch sci-fi/horror film They Live.

·     Watch Kung Fu Panda and capture a screengrab of this episode’s Weekly Wisdom (+3 points).

·     Listen to Bon Iver’s Everything is Peaceful Love and tell us how we should pronounce the band’s name.

Follow the Magic on Instagram @themagicalsalon

Music Credit

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/ben-mcelroy/the-dream-world

License code: H6OZ3JHFT1QYCYIR