The Spirit Box Podcast

Today we welcome back the great Joshua Cutchin to discuss his masterwork of scholarship and research, Ecology of Souls

Today we welcome back the great Phil Hine on his new book Queerying Occultures.

What is Queerying Occultures? 'Queerying' is a portmanteau word from 'Queer’ and 'Query'—classic Phil Hine word play. Occulture is another portmanteau word meaning 'Hidden Culture' (from ‘Occult’ and 'Culture').

The occult is Queer. Historically. Intrinsically. Radically. Wonderfully Queer. Yet at times this essential fact can feel unacknowledged in wider Occulture dialogues. Addressing this, Phil Hine’s Queerying Occultures is a collection of queer-themed essays exploring, questioning and reflecting on the diverse trajectories that might arise from applying queer questioning to occultural themes and practices. Drawing on perspectives from Queer Theory, history, Continental Philosophy, and shared experience, Hine explores subjects as diverse as Shamanism and gender-variance; the rise of the Queer Pagan approaches; the uncomfortable history of occult homophobia; Queer perspectives on Tantra, Pan, Sacred Spaces, and Crowley in Boy Bar Berlin. This far-reaching, necessary book is both a celebratory resistance text and indispensable investigation of the Queer in Occulture.

In the Plus show we get into the Aghori, ideas on the left hand path and the innate queerness of the left hand path. The Shivite story of the woman who became a ghoul. We get into the history of Masquerade balls, and discuss the relationship between the battle brothers Cuchullian & Ferdia and the curse of Macha of birth pain on the men of Ulster

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Show notes:

Salicrow is a natural psychic medium who weaves the traditions of her Irish Traveler and Blackfoot heritage with modern magical techniques. For more than 30 years she has worked as a spirit channel, seer, and intuitive healer, offering readings and teaching workshops throughout the United States and internationally. She is the author of several books and today we are discussing her latest book, Spirit Speaker: A medium’s guide to Death and Dying/

In this compassionate and straightforward guide to the spiritual process of dying and what happens after death, psychic medium Salicrow answers the most common questions asked by her clients over her decades of work as a spirit speaker. Seeking to normalize the spiritual aspects of end-of-life care, she explains how active dying exists outside of normal reality, in a state in which the dying person and their caregivers often experience a heightened state of consciousness. Describing how the spirit is separate from the body and continues to exist after death, she shares thought-provoking stories of spirit contact and synchronicities that occurred for those actively involved in the dying process. She reveals how these encounters are common and act as guideposts along the journey into death, helping to ease the transition. She offers simple techniques for helping loved ones who are stuck or struggling to cross over and shares practices designed to help honour our beloved dead and develop living relationships with our ancestral spirits.

Presenting an outline of what may be experienced during the dying process and beyond, Salicrow explores the time when a soul is actively dying or recently departed. She explains the multiple ways spirits reach out to communicate with us and provides a deep understanding of the signs, symbols, and sensations that spirits use to contact us as well as ways to strengthen that connection. She also explores challenging situations such as suicide, murder, and healing unresolved issues with the dead.

Crafted through years of spirit communication sessions, this guide details how the spirit world works while revealing the beauty, healing, and love that exist in death.

In the Plus show we get into the subject of body locks which keep people stuck in their bodies when dying. Salicrow also takes us through the moving account of being with her close friend during their assisted suicide. We go through the importance of a practical approach to the spirit world and the state of mind that is most conducive to spirit communication. Salicrow takes us through the many ways in which the beloved dead communicate with us and visit us from time to time. We wrap up discussing how there has been a spike in people having psychic experiences and how Spirit Speaker came out of that as a way to address this and help people navigate these experiences.

Show notes:
Sali’s website https://www.salicrow.com/
Sali’s Instagram https://www.instagram.com/salicrow/
Sali’s Facebook https://www.facebook.com/salicrowpsychicmedium/

Keep in touch?

Today we welcome medium, occult practitioner and spiritual cleaner Andy Starkweather.

Andy has been a medium for over 20 years ago and has had ‘a wild ride’. Everything from being attacked by spirits to bizarre animal interactions to cleansing properties of trapped spirits and dealing more sinister entities.

Andy has a wealth of information derived from practical experience and regales us with many stories from his 20 years of work as a medium. One thing I really found useful was Andy’s view on boundaries and how he would employ discernment when working with spirits.

In the Plus show we get into some of Andy’s cases and strategies employed to deal with them, ranging from hauntings to poltergeists to demons. This is rich stuff. We also go through the challenges of shadow work and the occult… spoiler, it ain’t pretty. To close we discuss and compare our own past life regression experiences.

Enjoy!

Show notes:

https://instagram.com/starkweather_93?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Today we are joined by J.M. Hamade on the subject of Al- Khidr.

J.M. Hamade is an interdisciplinary artist, astrologer, writer, and educator residing in New York City. Focusing on the aesthetics of esoterica and the occult, they’re work bridges contemporary artistic practice with archaic forms of knowing. They have lectured, exhibited, and enacted live performances in the conjuration of phantom forms and ritual magic.

Al-Khidr is a figure described but not mentioned by name in the Quran as a righteous servant of God possessing great wisdom or mystic knowledge. In various Islamic and non-Islamic traditions, Khidr is described as a messenger, who guards the sea, teaches secret knowledge and aids those in distress. The meaning of the name has traditionally been taken to be "the Green One" or "the Verdant One". Which connects him to folkloric figures such as the green man and spirits of spring and of ‘greening’. We discuss Khidr’s liminal nature and his role as guide and get into the mysteries of the northern poles.
In the Plus show we discuss Khidr’s association with being two horned and Mose’s being depicted with two horns. We get into the ideas around the non-human language of nature and what Khidr as a spirit of creativity means to our guest. To close we get into the similarities between Khidr and Krishna.
Enjoy!
Show notes:
https://starnightdwell.com/

Keep in touch?

Today we welcome magicians and the hosts of the Soapbox podcast. Reverend Janglebones and Kurt Huggins. Reverend Janglebones is an animist practitioner, prayer writer, course facilitator, Buddhist dabbler, recovered addict, podcast host, musician, and accidental Diogenes channeler. Kurt is a New York times bestselling illustrator who has worked in comics, films, and television. A long time spelunker of the imagination and believer that all creative acts are acts of magic he does his best to stumble into profundity as a co-host of the soapbox podcast.

Show notes:

The brilliant Sasha Ravitch is back on the Spirit Box!  Sasha is a practitioner of Stellar Witchcraft, passionate Astrolater, and Devotional and Oracular Writer. She seeks out meaning, magic, patterns, connection, and intimate co-creation betwixt the Self and the Other in every golden meadow, ocean floor, and subway station available to her. Her desire to blur the line between the ensorceled forest of Elphame and the mundane road-more-traveled is a priority from the moment she wakes up, to the moment she falls asleep. In the show Sasha discusses her work in Stellar witchcraft and the experience of being the vessel for received writing. How you undergo changes in lifestyle in preparation of the work to come.   

Today we welcome back the one and only Peter Mark Adams! In his new book Hagia Sophia / Sanctum of Kronos, he presents a remarkable study of the esoteric beliefs and spiritual traditions contained within the architectural and decorative features of Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia.

As with Adams’s previous books, this is a meticulously researched, captivating and illuminating piece of work. Punctuated with carefully selected, evocative photography and illustrations, it deconstructs the Hagia Sophia to reveal its esoteric heart.

In the Plus show we discussed why Saturn is a focal point of Peter’s research and how the other plays a part in his creative process. We get into his next project in this Saturnian current  and the relationship with providence and fate. We wrap up the show on the subject of energy work and healing and how this is foundational to Peter’s work and indeed his life

Keep in touch?

Music by Obliqka

For episode 6, season 2 we welcome podcast host, folklorist, researcher and Lover of all things wyrd Jo Hickey-Hall.

Jo is the researcher behind The ‘Modern Fairy Sightings‘ Project which collects and preserves contemporary experiences and explores the resistant cultural taboo surrounding disclosure. It also provides a community for people to share their experiences with others who have experienced similar.

She is also the host and creator of The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast which was launched in 2020 and features fairy encounters told first hand.

In the Plus show we discuss the fairy teas Jo uses to help build a connection with the fae. We discuss listening to children in relation to their experiences with entities and spirits and letting them express themselves. Jo stresses the importance of not dismissing childrens accounts but helping them navigate the other.

Keep in touch?

Today we are joined by Traditional witch and host of the Lavender Scare podcast, Keanu Baxter.