Tag Archives: Christianity

Hands on healing, Himmelbriefs, and hex signs: The Pennsylvania Dutch healing tradition with Robert Phoenix on AEWCH 199!

16 Sep

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FRIENDS! We are on our way to AEWCH 200 – that‘s 325 HOURS of free listening for everyone! – The ONLY way Against Everyone With Conner Habib exists is through support from its listeners via patreon.

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Friends,
I grew up in small town Pennsylvania which always seemed outwardly magickless back then. De-enchanted, not spiritual except for the very obvious and plain religious traditions happening around me. What a striking discovery that the area I grew up in and even my tiny little town had its own healing, symbolic, esoteric christian tradtion: Powwow or braucherei. The tradition is found in books like The Long Lost Friend and hew symbols on barns and even in a nearby murder.

Learning about all of this grounded me in my past, it made me feel less confused about why I was born where I was born. So I wanted to talk about it. I asked powwow practitioner and author of The Powwow Grimoire, Robert Phoenix onto the show and we had a great conversation of all things powwow.

Very happy to have had such a friendly and enlightening conversation about the spiritual pulse of where I’m from.

This is the last episode on the way to AEWCH 200, which is a massive episode.
Enjoy it, friends!
C

SHOW NOTES

WHAT BOOK YOU SHOULD READ?
I was introduced to powwow in two ways. By a former professor of mine who recommended I look into it, but also in a form you can access – the book Occult America: White House Seances, Ouija Circles, Masons, and the Secret Mystic History of Our Nation by frequent AEWCH guest Mitch Horowitz. It’s the first thing I read by Mitch, and it remains one of the best scholarly works on the occult in America, and its very particularly American forms.

WHAT OTHER AEWCH EPISODE YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO?
Perhaps a surprising selection – but AEWCH 112 with Peter Bebergal, on which we talk about occult technology. The idea of “how occult tech works” flows in and out of my conversation with Robert. I wouldn’t say a definitive answer arises on either episode, but it’s good to hear differing perspectives, both of which indicate something “coming through” rather than “being done.”

MORE ON ROBERT
Robert’s website is full of posts, resources, and information. It’s an excellent site to learn about powwow. Maybe even better? Robert’s YouTube channel, which had a ton of short videos on the topic. Finally, here’s an interview with Robert (and Jason David) on the What Magic Is This? podcast.

He’s also a member of a paranormal researchers group, Spirit Searchers, which is available for investigations in Pennsylvania.

Until next time friends,
Be made whole,
CH

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Christ and the robots. I talk tech and occultism with MysTech founder Andrew Linnell on AEWCH 183!

30 Mar

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Friends,
In the midst of 2022, so many of us are seeking peace and meaning. So here’s my series on one meaning-rich tradition and religious stream: Christianity.

But this will be a different sort of Christianity: occult and esoteric Christianity. Some of it might look familiar. Some might seem absolutely bizarre. All of it, I hope will stir a feeling of warmth and depth of meaning for you, whether you feel any affinity with Christianity or the occult. The first episode in the series was AEWCH 181, featuring Rev. Patrick Kennedy from the Christian Community – a religious tradition informed by occultism. The second, AEWCH 182, was on with writer and spiritual teacher Lisa Romero.

One of the main wellsprings of meaning in our time is also one of the main vampiric forces in our time, sucking meaning from each day at the same instant it offers it up: technology. How do we find our way into the spiritual aspects of technology? Does esoteric christianity have an indication?

I invited a spiritual educator with over four decades in tech – Andrew Linnell – on to the show to discuss all of this. In addition to teaching anthroposophy Andrew is the cofounder of the tech-and-spirituality study group, MysTech, and he’s also the author of multiple books, including The Uncomfortable History of Christianity and The Hidden Heretic of the Renaissance: Leonardo.

I’m so excited to share this episode with you. It goes deep into the challenges – and pathways through them – of our time.

SHOW NOTES

WHAT BOOK YOU SHOULD READ? Normally I wouldn’t throw you into the deep end with the reading, but let’s face it: with this episode, we’re already in the deep end! So, a great supplement is Rudolf Steiner’s lecture series, The Influences of Lucifer and Ahriman: Human Responsibility for the Earth. It’s a lot to take on if you’re new to esoteric Christianity, but as with most occult truths, you sometimes just have to not-know in the reading and contemplation until you find your way to knowing via experience. See how it goes for you!

WHAT OTHER AEWCH EPISODE YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO? I did a whole series of episodes on tech back in 2020, and the one that stands out the most for me in relation to this episode is AEWCH 112 featuring writer Peter Bebergal. We discuss what occult technology but never quite get to the precipice of the rabbit hole Andrew and I go down into here. So I think the episodes compliment each other really well.

WHAT SHOULD YOU LOOK INTO FURTHER? There’s an easy spiritual exercise offered by the esoteric Christian group, The Researchers of Truth called the Introspection exercise. It’s done a bit differently by anthroposophists, but I think the Researchers version is so simple that it’s a great place to start if you’ve never done meditation or spiritual exercise before.

MORE ON ANDREW The best way to engage with Andrew’s work is by enrolling in one of the MysTech study courses. But you can also read the MysTech journals which feature Andrew and other contributors, and you can subscribe to the monthly MysTech newsletter.

Until next time, friends,
Love.
CH

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Esoteric Christianity as the path of freedom and non-materialism: AEWCH 182 featuring Lisa Romero

18 Mar

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Against Everyone With Conner Habib is funded exclusively by listeners like you. Do you find value in this show? If so, support the podcast. SUPPORT THIS PODCAST via Patreon

Friends, In the midst of 2022, so many of us are seeking peace and meaning. So here’s my series on one meaning-rich tradition and religious stream: Christianity.

But this will be a different sort of Christianity: occult and esoteric Christianity. Some of it might look familiar. Some might seem absolutely bizarre. All of it, I hope will stir a feeling of warmth and depth of meaning for you, whether you feel any affinity with Christianity or the occult. The first episode in the series was AEWCH 181, featuring Rev. Patrick Kennedy from the Christian Community – a religious tradition informed by occultism.

So… how is esoteric Christianity used? Or put differently, how does it work into and through our being and then act on the world? How can we form a new picture of reality out of it and proceed into thinking, feeling, and willing a new one into being?

To discuss this, I spent some time in rural Ireland with spiritual teacher and writer Lisa Romero. Lisa last appeared on the show three years ago on AEWCH 68 to discuss the occult picture of sex and sexuality. It was a profound conversation for me, but it barely approaches this one in terms of depth and breadth. We talk about Christianity at work in us, around us, and in the world. We discuss why esoteric symbols are used (why, for instance, is a star shape important and not just arbitrary?). And we discuss so much more.

Lisa the author of multiple books, all filled with spiritual exercises, including A Bridge to Spirit: Understanding Conscious Self-Development and Consciousness-Altering Substances and Spirit-led Community: Healing the Impact of Technology .

This is one of my very favorite episodes, I’m so happy to share it with you.

SHOW NOTES

WHAT BOOK YOU SHOULD READ? If you’d like to spend some time with one of the great Christian mystics, a good place to start is The Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila.

WHAT OTHER AEWCH EPISODE YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO? For another look at forgiveness and understanding, a great episode is AEWCH 162 with Dr. Gwen Adshead, who works with violent offenders and seeks to greet them with compassion. It’s a powerful episode and Gwen’s work is so utterly moving to me.

WHAT SHOULD YOU LOOK INTO FURTHER? Lisa mentions St. John of the Cross, and there’s a great series of episodes about him on the podcast Turning To The Mystics. There’s so much there and so many episodes, so I suggest you start with this one.

MORE ON LISA Lisa co-runs the EduCareDo initiative, which offers anthroposophy-based distance learning, and she also offers her own courses and pathwork: The Inner Work Path , which stems from her own esoteric research. The book the exercise comes from is The Inner Work Path: A Foundation for Meditative Practice in the Light of Anthroposophy. And here’s a great interview with her on AEWCH 181 guest Patrick Kennedy’s podcast (in this case his co-host Jonah Evans is interviewer), The Light In Everything.

Until next time, friends, Love. CH

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A new series of episodes on Against Everyone With Conner Habib: Occult Christianity. My first episode, AEWCH 181 featuring Rev. Patrick Kennedy from The Christian Community

8 Mar

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Against Everyone With Conner Habib is funded exclusively by listeners like you. Do you find value in this show? If so, support the podcast. SUPPORT THIS PODCAST via Patreon

Friends,

Now in the midst of 2022, so many of us are seeking peace and meaning. But one of the primary sources of meaning, religion, can feel outdated or even cruel and anti-peace if judged by its historical pathways of violence. Yet many of us find the longing to connect with religious traditions that fascinated us, comforted us, or even just interested us at other points in our lives.

So I’m going to spend the next few episodes connecting us with one religious stream: Christianity. But this will be a different sort of Christianity: occult and esoteric Christianity. Some of it might look familiar. Some might seem absolutely bizarre. All of it, I hope will stir a feeling of warmth and depth of meaning for you, whether you feel any affinity with Christianity or the occult.

The aim is to discuss how to revitalize the spirit of any endeavor or phenomenon – religion, the natural world, technology, social justice, history, and politics – with the profound mystery secrets of Christianity.

The main headquarters, so to speak, of this exploration, will be the approach to the world developed by late 18th/early 19th Century philosopher/spiritual teacher/scientist/artist Rudolf Steiner, called anthroposophy.

First up in the series is Reverend Patrick Kennedy, who along with Rev. Jonah Evans, hosts one of my favorite podcasts, The Light In Everything. Patrick is a reverend in The Christian Community, the gathering of Christians in service and ritual informed by Rudolf Steiner’s guidance and Rosicrucianism. He’s extremely thoughtful, warm, and his voice is a beautiful light in the world.

SHOW NOTES

WHAT BOOK YOU SHOULD READ? One of the best books on Christianity seen from an esoteric point of view is Wilt Thou Be Made Whole: Healings in the Gospels by Georg Kühlewind. It’s a beautiful book that will both lead you through all the instances of healing in the Bible, and also lead you into the experience of them through meditation and contemplation.

WHAT OTHER AEWCH EPISODE YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO? In this series, I’ll be focusing mostly on esoteric Christianity inspired by anthroposophy and the work of Rudolf Steiner. But there are other valuable and potent esoteric Christianity streams that deserve everyone’s attentiveness. One can be found in the work of Daskalos and the Researchers of Truth, which I go into in-depth on AEWCH 67 with one of Daskalos’s students, Daniel Joseph.

WHAT SHOULD YOU LOOK INTO FURTHER? Well, the Christian Community, of course! One of the best ways to do that is to see if there’s a service near you and then attend one. Nothing will be expected of you, no one will try to get you “in” to the group. You’ll just encounter what all encounter: the baseline of the service is always the same; the Act of Consecration of Man. And then some talking afterward.

MORE ON PATRICK Aside from listening to Patrick’s podcast, you can support his endeavors on The Light in Everything’s patreon.

Love.
C

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Reading, thinking, and conversation are noble pursuits and reasons to live. AEWCH 177 featuring Zena Hitz on the value of intellectualism.

20 Jan

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Friends,
Happy New Year! Here’s the third in the series of episodes on How To Live in 2022. The first, AEWCH 175, was with occult scholar Mitch Horowitz, and the second, AEWCH 176, is on why reincarnation matters for us now. It’s not just the obviously spiritual that we must bring to bear on how to live now, though. It’s how we spend our time, and what we give our days and thoughts over to. For me, intellectual pursuits – especially literature, film, music, philosophy – are what I long to spend my time on. But I resent, deeply, the idea that they have to be “for” something, even self development. It’s not that they can’t contribute to self development, rather, that they only contribute to self development when we don’t force them into the role. So how could I do an episode on how-and-why-to-be-an-intellectual without forcing it all into functionality? Luckily, public intellectual, teacher, and philosopher Zena Hitz‘s, book, Lost in Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life, is hugely clarifying on this. After reading it, I knew I had to speak with her. I hope this conversation is clarifying for you, too.

SHOW NOTES

WHAT BOOK YOU SHOULD READ?
Susan Sontag’s Regarding the Pain of Others offers a great exploration of how to view art, the news, the world in general, without becoming numb: numb in the way we become numb to what we see again and again, and numb because of the narratives (or lack of them) that surround what we’re regarding. It’s a short book full of declarative and illuminating sentences.

WHAT OTHER AEWCH EPISODE YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO?
A good companion episode for this one is AEWCH 141 with religious scholar Jason Josephson Storm. We talk about knowing beyond academia, beyond postmodernism, beyond the old ways of taking in knowledge… but without discarding the most useful aspects of all the above. We also get really weird about it.

WHAT SHOULD YOU LOOK INTO FURTHER?
Since we discuss “spectacle” so much, I think I should direct you to the Situationists, the anarchist art/culture/politics group from 20th Century. One of the best entry points is via Ken Knabb’s super plain but very rich site, Bureau of Public Secrets.

MORE ON ZENA
Buy her book, of course. And visit her website, which is extensive; lots of interviews and thoughts and links and media. You can also look into the great books tutorial series Zena founded, The Catherine Project. And here’s a good talk from Zena at the Thomistic Institute.

Until next time, friends!
CH

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Navigating 2021: An occult Christian perspective on the year ahead.

5 Jan

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This podcast is only possible because listeners like you support it. Do contribute to my mission by supporting Against Everyone With Conner Habib on Patreon!  Thank you so, so much.

Friends,

What a year behind, but also: what a year ahead! I know a lot of you are anxous, so I’ve decided to help give a picture of what’s to come and how to deal with it.

In this solo episode, I talk about the hidden poison of “community,” vaccines, the proximity of the spiritual, hw we all create each other’s sins, and why blood matters.

Love,
CH

(PS: If you’d like to learn more about the painting for the title card of this episode, it’s Mano Poderosa (The All-Powerful Hand), or Las Cinco Personas (The Five Persons). Click here to  see its page at the Brooklyn Museum.)

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AGAINST EVERYONE WITH CONNER HABIB 111: GLOBAL SOLIDARITY WITH PROTESTORS

2 Jun

 

Against Everyone With Conner Habib · AEWCH 111: GLOBAL SOLIDARITY WITH PROTESTORS

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Thank you for your support in this time, friends.

This podcast is only possible because listeners like you support it. If the show is keeping you company in isolation, please give what you can.

Contribute to my mission by supporting Against Everyone With Conner Habib on Patreon! Thank you so, so much.

Friends,

We must form a global solidarity movement in support of protestors. Please listen and do what you can to overcome the obstacles in thinking, feeling, and behaving, that I talk about in this episode.

Love.

CH

SHOW NOTES
AEWCH 15 with Mark Bray on antifa
AEWCH 29 with Alex Vitale on the end of policing
AEWCH 83 with Franco Bifo Berardi on theory and action

 

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The Greatest Stripper Occult Priestess You’ve Never Heard Of! Diana Young-Peak on AEWCH 97!

21 Jan

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This podcast is only possible because listeners like you support it. Do contribute to my mission by supporting Against Everyone With Conner Habib on Patreon!  Thank you so, so much.
AEWCH97TitleCard
Friends,
I’m so excited to introduce you to my friend, and one of my spiritual teachers and comrades, Diana Young-Peak, a priest of The Church Of The Living Christ, Order Of Melchizedek. This episode was part of my first try at starting a podcast, way back in 2011, which is also when I recorded AEWCH 91 with Lynn Margulis.
The Order is small, dates back to the 19th Century, and is almost completely unknown. And yet, it continues to resonate with power and depth, through Diana’a wisdom and work, as well as the work of her spiritual partner, Robert Young.
Each month, The Order holds services in the Bay Area, around a theme, with a presentation of Diana and Robert’s mediations and contemplations. Then there’s discussion, and then a ritual. It’s a simple and beautiful service. And it’s informed by Diana’s experience of being in contact with a spiritual landscape and spiritual beings.
The Order has an interesting history, but even more enthralling in Diana’s history, as a stripper who was contacted by a spiritual being she felt she had been prepared her whole life to meet, starting with her dreaming/astral projection as a child where she encountered people from the Bible.
Diana has been a wonderful and warm light in my life, and I’m so happy to share her efforts and wisdom with you.
SHOW NOTES
• For information on The Church Of The Living Christ, Order Of Melchizedek, reach out to Diana or Robert, who runs the Order with her
Robert W. Young, O.M.: robwyoung@mindspring.com
Diana G.B. Young-Peak, O.M.: dgbyoung@aol.com
• Here’s the Order’s description:
“Founded in Great Britain in 1939, by Grace Hooper Pettipher, Ph.D., D.D., it continues today to practice a metaphysical understanding of universal unity and transcendent spiritual nature, sharing a philosophy that is beyond the limitations of evolutionary religion.
We are an inclusive congregation honoring the many paths and faiths by which we may travel to the realization of the One.  For us, the great mystery of the Divine is within, accessible through the realization of the Christ, the true self and eternal Being at the heart of Humankind. This Christ self is eternally one with the Creator Parent, beyond gender, a Being both immanent and transcendent, everywhere present within Creation, yet surpassing it, being That from which it arises.
The white-gold blood of spiritual communion fills the chalice of our sacred celebration, and the substance of divine presence is the nourishment we are offered as the bread of life. “
Screen Shot 2020-01-21 at 3.45.58 PM• There’s very little public information available about Grace Hooper Pettipher (pictured here), but she is mentioned briefly in Beyond The Occult by Colin Wilson, via a story about UFO researcher Jacques Vallee. You can also read her book (if you can find it!), Philosophy of Reality.
• If you’re interested in the Saint Germaine Foundation, and their spiritual path of I AM (which is very different than the path laid out by Grace/Diana) here’s their site.
• The Esoteric Orders and Their Work by Dion Fortune is a wonderful book, and if you’re interested in the occult landscape, you should read it.
• I talk more about my experience at Occult Emporium on AEWCH 62.
Until next time!
CH
(me just before doing a ritual with the Order)
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Is God powerful? Is He lonely? I talk theology & loneliness with Padraig Ó Tuama on AEWCH 81!

20 Aug

 

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Friends,
We talk so much about the occult on this show – about angels and esoteric philosophies, about magic and materialism – but I don’t get a chance to talk about God often. Which is why I invited writer, theologian, and peace maker Padraig Ó Tuama onto the show.
Padraig is the author of several books, including In the Shelter: Finding Welcome In The Here And Now and Sorry For Your Troubles . He also served as the leader of Ireland’s peace and reconciliation committee, the Corrymeela Community, for seven years, which resulted in the book Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community.
That time, and his huge body of experience dealing with deep divisions and aggressive oppositions, serves as the foundation of much of our talk, which circles around conflicts and how God, power, and powerlessness mediates them.
This is an episode unlike any other, and I’m so happy to share it with you.
We talk:
  • Whether or not we should pray to God or ourselves
  • The good and boring versions of Superman
  • Seeking, wielding, and letting go of power
  • The economy of victimhood
  • How to resolve conflict with fascists (potential and otherwise)
  • Keeping an eye on who’s exploiting every conflict
  • Brexit and the British Border (Padraig’s better name for the “Irish Border)
  • Taking an interest in what people value in every situation, and the erosion of that interest
  • Loneliness and confidence
And Padraig also reads his beautiful poem “Day of the Dead”.
STKR

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Conner Habib + Pete Holmes: Seeing the spiritual adventure!

2 Jul

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Friends,
Who better to go on a spiritual adventure with on the podcast than my pal Pete Holmes! There are lots of places you might know Pete from; his stand-up, his spirituality-meets-comedy podcast You Made It Weird, his HBO show Crashing, or his new book, Comedy Sex God. Pete and I have been wanting to record another show since our epic conversation on Pete‘s podcast, and it’s a great and wide-ranging discussion but for me, the big news is that we do a short but totally accessible spiritual experiment to unravel the weirdness of the universe just through paying attention to our own experiences.
We also discuss
  • what toxic masculinity means if no one really has a definition of masculinity
  • identity and certainty
  • whether or not lucid dreaming is good for us
  • just how much free will do we have, anyway?
  • what Louis CK represents to people, especially in his “comeback” set, and why it’s important to think about those representations
  • contending with evil
  • what happens when we investigate our sight
  • death as a project we all engage in
  • the fear of God and how God unfolds through us

For extensive show notes, click here.

XO
CH

 

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