Tag Archives: occult

What are the new Mysteries of the Heart? Lisa Romero returns to AEWCH to talk about esoteric christianity and what it gives us moving forward.

30 May

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Friends,
Here is a episode five in a series of on occult & esoteric christianity, an evolving tradition that offers vitalizing insight into how to move forward.

Across these episodes, I’ll be talking about various streams and fruits of occult & esoteric christianity, as well as some of its key figures. Rather than presenting the typically dogmatic, dominating, and totalizing christianity — which is always in danger of being seized by people, especially conservatives, with power — this series will present a different and truer form. Open, wounded, individuated, and powerless; a tradition that relates to other spiritual paths without seeking to control or diminish them.

The first in the series, AEWCH 220, featured Rev. Jonah Evans, and the second, AEWCH 221 featured Rev. Patrick Kennedy, the third, AEWCH 222, was a conversation about Peter Deunov (Beinsa Douno) with spiritual researcher and writer David Lorimer. And the fourth was AEWCH 223, a discussion on Cypriot esoteric teacher and healer, Daskalos, with Daniel Joseph and Aki Toshimitsu, which concluded with a beautiful meditation from Aki.

This time, I wanted to talk about how esoteric christianity is unfolding into new tasks, new work, new mysteries: the Mysteries of the Heart. What does that even mean? To discuss it in a clear but very in-depth way, I invited writer and teacher Lisa Romero back onto the show.

We discuss

  • What “all you need is love” means
  • How to find and dispel any inner fascistic tendencies you have
  • What the limits of “manifesting” are on the spiritual path
  • The light of the cosmic and earthly roses
  • Meeting in the mystery chamber of the spiritual heart
  • Why utopia matters

And so much more.

Lisa has been on the show four other times, most recently on AEWCH 209, when we talked about the pitfalls or psychedelic drugs and magick. She’s the author of many books, including Spirit-led Community: Healing the Impact of Technology and A Bridge to Spirit: Understanding Conscious Self-Development and Consciousness-Altering Substances.

One of her latest efforts is the Astral Arc, an ongoing series of videos with different themes. First, “Questions on the Path,” where she discusses spiritual development with young people. And now a series on the virtues – which can help us enter this Mystery School of the Heart that Lisa and I talk about on the show, each related to a zodiacal sign. Here’s the introductory video. And you can find the others here.

SHOW NOTES

WHAT SHOULD YOU READ?
Light on the Path by Mabel Collins is a little book that covers so much esoteric development. It’s a small $7.00 book and you can read through teh entire thing each day if you want. It’s beautiful.

WHAT OTHER AEWCH EPISODE SHOULD YOU LISTEN TO?
I looked into the heart, and why it is absolutely necessary for our political work, with journalist Abby Martin on AEWCH 160. It was a, well, heartfelt episode on which Abby got to talk about WHY she does what she does instead of just detailing the challenging pictures of the world events she covers.

MORE ON LISA
Lisa is offers courses on the festivals throughout the year. The one happening just after this episode posts is on St. John’s Tide. You can find all that info here. You can also work with Lisa one-on-one here. And if you’d like to check into some of Lisa’s other books, they’re all on here site, where she also has a short audio clip detailing the books and her work. Lisa has also been on the Duncan Trussell Family Hour, my pal Duncan Trussell’s podcast.

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An esoteric Christian stream you may have never heard of + A beautiful active meditation: Daniel Joseph and Aki Toshimitsu on AEWCH 223 talking about Daskalos and the Researchers of Truth!

23 May

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Friends,

Here is a episode four in a series of on occult & esoteric christianity, an evolving tradition that offers vitalizing insight into how to move forward.

Across these episodes, I’ll be talking about various streams and fruits of occult & esoteric christianity, as well as some of its key figures. Rather than presenting the typically dogmatic, dominating, and totalizing christianity — which is always in danger of being seized by people, especially conservatives, with power — this series will present a different and truer form. Open, wounded, individuated, and powerless; a tradition that relates to other spiritual paths without seeking to control or diminish them.

The first in the series, AEWCH 220, featured Rev. Jonah Evans, and the second, AEWCH 221 featured Rev. Patrick Kennedy, the third, AEWCH 222, was a conversation about Peter Deunov (Beinsa Douno) with spiritual researcher and writer David Lorimer.

While I’ve gone to a handful of Christian Community services and am relatively new to Peter Deunov’s work, this episode features a stream of esoteric christianity and a figure I am more familiar with,: Cypriot healer and esoteric teacher, Stylianos Atteshlis, better known as Daskalos. I studied with the group that carries out Daskalos’s work, The Researchers of Truth, and two of central figures in the group, Daniel Joseph and Aki Toshimistsu. Daniel was last on the show way back on AEWCH 67.

Daniel is the author of three books, including Swimming with the Whale: The Miracles, Wonders & Healings of Daskalos & The Researchers of Truth. Aki teaches meditation and guides people in Japan through Daskalos’s teachings. They both appear on the Researchers of Truth podcast, which hasn’t updated in awhile, but has a wealth of information and wisdom. They also hold events and seminars that you can find here.

In addition to a deep and loving conversation about the esoteric christianity of Daskalos and the Researchers of Truth, Aki offers a beautiful and active meditation at the end of the episode. Obviously, don’t be driving, and also be somewhere that you can encounter the meditation without interruption. It is rather intense and profound.

SHOW NOTES

WHAT SHOULD YOU READ?
For more on Daskalos, you can read The Magus of Strovolos: The Extraordinary World of a Spiritual Healer, which provides an excellent introduction to Daskalos. Unfortunately, the follow up books by the author are, according to multiple witnesses and testimonials, mostly fabricated after the author had a break with Daskalos and the Researchers of Truth. So stick with the first book. You can also read Esoteric Teachings or other books by Daskalos, which are on the Stoa series website.

WHAT OTHER AEWCH EPISODE SHOULD YOU LISTEN TO?
Daskalos said that his healing came from God, and that’s the same as people practicing in the Powwow or braucherei – the Pennsylvania Dutch healing tradition – including AEWCH 199 guest, Robert Phoenix. There’s quite a bit to learn about esoteric christianity and healing in that episode, as well!

MORE ON DANIEL and AKI,
If you’re interested in more from Daniel and Aki, go to the Researchers of Truth patreon, where you can support their work and get access to more lectures, Q&As, and meditations. Daniel is also the author of Diving With The Whale: Experiences & Revelations with Daskalos & the Researchers of Truth.

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The esoteric christianity of Peter Deunov (Beinsa Douno) on AEWCH 222 with writer and researcher David Lorimer.

17 May

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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,

Here is a ep 3 in a series of on occult & esoteric christianity, an evolving tradition that offers vitalizing insight into how to move forward.

Across these episodes, I’ll be talking about various streams and fruits of occult & esoteric christianity, as well as some of its key figures. Rather than presenting the typically dogmatic, dominating, and totalizing christianity — which is always in danger of being seized by people, especially conservatives, with power — this series will present a different and truer form. Open, wounded, individuated, and powerless; a tradition that relates to other spiritual paths without seeking to control or diminish them.

The first in the series, AEWCH 220, featured Rev. Jonah Evans, and the second, AEWCH 221 featured Rev. Patrick Kennedy.

For this episode, I’m moving from looking at esoteric christianity overall and towards one of its most profound figures, Peter Deunov (1830 – 1918), also known as Beinsa Douno. Deunov was a Bulgarian spiritual teacher, the creator of a system of spiritual movement called paneurythemy, and a composer. His spiritual teachings, for instance his expression of the Christian qualities of the pentagram, are vast and often seem simple… until you spend a silent moment with them, which is when they reveal their depth. If you’re not familiar with Deunov, there are new lessons there to be found.

A real engagement with Deunov’s work can be difficult in the same was as engaging with other esoteric christian figures like Steiner or Swedenborg. So I asked David Lorimer, on the show.

David is the author/editor of Prophet for Our Times: The Life & Teachings of Peter Deunov and more recently a fantastic collection of spiritual essays, A Quest for Wisdom: Inspiring Purpose on the Path of Life. He’s also the program director of The Scientific and Medical Network which explores and researches common ground between science, medicine, and spiritual traditions.

WHAT SHOULD YOU READ?
If you’re willing to throw yourself into the deep end with all of this, Rudolf Steiner’s Christianity as a Mystical Fact is awaiting you. If you’d rather wade in on the scientific end, Lorraine Daston and Peter Galison’s book Objectivity is a good place to start.

WHAT OTHER AEWCH EPISODE SHOULD YOU LISTEN TO?
An episode which touches on so many of the themes here – mutual aid & spirituality, the dangers of entheogens in spiritual development, materialism, and more – is AEWCH 200, Part 3, featuring Mitch Horotowitz, Dean Spade, Duncan Trussell, and Lisa Romero. It’s a massive and wide-ranging episode, and a listener favorite.

MORE ON DAVID
David’s podcast, Imaginal Inspirations, features David in conversation with spiritual and scientific luminaries. There’s a great episode where David’s daughter interviews him on his own development (and how he was deeply influenced by Colin WIlson). He also has multiple other books, including Resonant Mind: Life Review in the Near-Death Experience.

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Is occult/esoteric christianity just another religion? Can it inform religion? I talk with Rev. Patrick Kennedy on AEWCH 221!

10 May

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SUPPORT THIS PODCAST via Patreon

Friends,

Here is a ep 2 in a series of on occult & esoteric christianity, an evolving tradition that offers vitalizing insight into how to move forward. 

Across these episodes, I’ll be talking about various streams and fruits of occult & esoteric christianity, as well as some of its key figures. Rather than presenting the typically dogmatic, dominating, and totalizing christianity — which is always in danger of being seized by people, especially conservatives, with power — this series will present a different and truer form. Open, wounded, individuated, and powerless; a tradition that relates to other spiritual paths without seeking to control or diminish them.

The first in the series, AEWCH 220, featured Rev. Jonah Evans.

With the episode, I’ll continue on with questions for the Christian Community, one of the only religious streams of esoteric christianity, with Jonah’s close colleague and co-host of The Light In Every Thing podcast, Rev. Patrick Kennedy. 

Patrick was last on the show on AEWCH 181, and is a reverend in The Christian Community, the gathering of Christians in service and ritual informed by Rudolf Steiner.

WHAT BOOK YOU SHOULD READ?
To get an idea of the foundations of the Christian Community, you can read First Steps in Christian Religious Renewal: Preparing the Ground for the Christian Community by Rudolf Steiner. Like all of Steiner’s lectures, it can be a bit difficult for a beginner, but if you encounter it with openness, understanding can come later.

WHAT OTHER AEWCH EPISODE YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO?
Though it’s a bit of a sideways connection here, AEWCH 198 with philosopher of religions and culture, Federico Campagna, has quite a bit about looking at reality carefully and allowing the rest of life to come from that view.

MORE ON PATRICK
Patrick has a patreon which offers early access to each episode of The Light in Every Thing and other benefits. And one of the best ways to understand some of what Patrick and  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.

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Why esoteric christianity? A new series of episodes on occult streams of christianity begins with AEWCH 220 featuring Reverend Jonah Evans!

2 May

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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 via Patreon !

Friends,

I’ve spoken a lot about what we need to move beyond to meet the challenges of our time and the future: manifestation, magick, entheogens, wellness, and more. But what should we move towards?

Here is a series of episodes on occult & esoteric christianity, an evolving tradition that offers vitalizing insight into how to move forward.

Across these episodes, I’ll be talking about various streams and fruits of occult and esoteric christianity, as well as some of its key figures. Rather than presenting the typically dogmatic, dominating, and totalizing christianity — which is always in danger of being seized by people, especially conservatives, with power — this series will present a different and truer form. Open, wounded, individuated, and powerless; a tradition that relates to other spiritual paths without seeking to control or diminish them.

(And if you like this series, listen to last year’s series on the same topic, which started with AEWCH 181 and ended with AEWCH 185 – which I’ve linked to because it has links to all the other episodes in the show notes.)

To begin this series, it seemed important to me to ask:
Why esoteric christianity at all?

So I asked someone who works daily in one stream of esoteric christianity – the Christian Community, which offers christian services and gatherings based on religious renewal offered to ministers and theologians by Christian occultist Rudolf Steiner.

Jonah Evans is a reverend and seminary director in the Christian Community in Toronto. He is cohost of one of my favorite podcasts (right up there with Weird Studies!) The Light In Every Thing. And he helps edit the series of Rudolf Steiner lectures offered by the Community, and offers workshops and conference around the world.

This episodes gives a picture of Jonah’s experience of receiving esoteric christianity into his life, and why he decided to let it in, as well many christian mysteries, like:
Why does the name of Christ have any power outside of the christian tradition?
What is the mystery of the two Jesuses?
Does Hell exist?
What role do the dark forces play and how do we recognize them without a violent or merely dogmatic morality?

SHOW NOTES

WHAT BOOK SHOULD I READ? A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are by Byron Katie and her husband, Stephen Mitchell. We mention the book on the show, and, because it blends an Eastern tradition – Taoism – with a Western perspective – The Work – and because the Tao helped both Jonah and I prepare the way for esoteric Christianity, I think it can be a helpful supplement to the series, even though it’s not esoteric Christianity.

WHAT OTHER EPISODE SHOULD I LISTEN TO? Jonah’s closest colleague is Patrick Kennedy, who was the guest on a favorite episode of mine, AEWCH 181.

MORE ON JONAH Jonah has a YouTube channel, Living with Christ, with lots of video lectures. Here’s an interview with Jonah about The Christian Community and his role. Jonah’s podcast with Patrick Kennedy has a patreon which offers early access to each episode and other benefits. And one of the best ways to understand some of what Jonah and 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.

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Can magick help us in our spiritual development? Duncan Barford on Against Everyone with Conner Habib 219

18 Apr

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So I ask listeners if they’d like to support the show by sharing what they can via patreon. Thank you!

Friends,
DUNCAN BARFORD and I met in London at legendary occult bookstore Treadwells to have a conversation in front of an audience about my debut novel, Hawk Mountain. It was a magical moment; as we went into the basement where the event was, the news that the Queen had died was spreading through the city and the world. And there we were, surrounded by magickal artifacts, talking about fiction.

Duncan is perhaps best known for his collaborative projects with Alan Chapman, including the Baptist’s Head – a (currently out of print) series of books detailing their path to enlightenment – and the podcast WORP FM. He’s is also the creator of the podcast Hierophany; on which he discusses a different spiritual theme on each episode. author of many other books, including Occult Experiments in the Home: Personal Explorations of Magick and the Paranormal and The Magick of A Dark Song: The Abramelin Ritual in Fiction and Reality.

This is a wide-ranging but very deep episode about the occult, drugs, magick, and enlightenment, a sort of how-and-why (and why-not-to) do certain practices on the way to spiritual development.

I’m so happy to share it with you.

SHOW NOTES

WHAT BOOK SHOULD I READ?
A book that does not directly relate, but is productively adjacent, to this conversation, is Rudolf Steiner’s The Spiritual Foundation of Morality: Francis of Assisi and the Christ Impulse. A small book filled with depths of wisdom.

WHAT EPISODE SHOULD I LISTEN TO?
The episode is probably most resonant with my conversation with Lisa Romero on AEWCH 209 about going beyond sorcery and psychedelics.

MORE ON DUNCAN
Duncan’s patreon features plenty of posts to explore. He’s also appeared on Weird Studies for a great conversation about magick. Duncan’s other books are available via his site, as well as a substantial blog. Duncan is also a counselor; here’s one of his therapy-related articles, on narcissism, in Therapy Today.

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MARCH 11 EVENT: THE MYSTERIES OF THE TAROT: IMMERSIVE WORKSHOP + READINGS with CONNER HABIB, RACHEL TRUE, and SARAH MARIA GRIFFIN – Early bird discount on tickets before March 1!

24 Feb

Three readers. Three decks. Infinite journeys.

TICKETS

Friends:

The landscape we find ourselves in in 2023 feels uncharted and dangerous, filled with new possibilities and new challenges. It’s no surprise that so many are turning to a time-worn and powerful tool for guidance: The tarot.

But what’s the best way to read the cards? What are the cards and what’s behind them? And when and why should we consult them, anyway?

This year, let’s investigate

THE MYSTERIES OF THE TAROT

Join Conner Habib, Rachel True, and Sarah Maria Griffin for a unique and potent one-time workshop on the secret truths held in the cards, and how to best relate to them for guidance and revelation.

This workshop and Q&A – with an option to receive a reading from the teachers – will alter your perception of the tarot by coming at cartomancy through three different decks, three cards, and three perspectives.

Each of the three readers has different experiences with the tarot and uses different decks; so instead of a one-size-fits-all approach to the tarot, we’ll show you the many, many paths the decks open for you… as well as what is more fixed as what, if anything, is fixed and foundational to reading the cards.

Whether you’re an absolute beginner or a seasoned reader, the three-pathway approach in this workshop will point you in new and exciting directions.

Together, we’ll:

  • Investigate what is it that you’re accessing when you read the tarot, anyway.
  • Examine which deck you should choose and why.
  • Consider when should you consult the tarot?
  • Create a spread using cards from three different decks to show how a spread and each card can be interpreted in many ways.
  • Look at why the cards matter on a personal level.
  • Talk about the process of learning the 78 cards, as well as how to best remember what the cards mean.
  • Uncover whether or not each card has a fixed meaning or if it’s up to the reader
  • Look at the differences – and challenges – in reading for yourself vs reading for others.
  • Listen and respond to participant questions about tarot.

And much more!

Plus, participants who want readings from the course teachers can sign up for the READINGS ticket and stay on after the workshop for an EXTREMELY LIMITED engagement. Readers will be assigned AT RANDOM.

All participants will receive 30 days access to a recording of the talk.

In 2023, let’s move forward… with 78 helpers from the deck by our side, and infinite pathways at our feet.

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AGAINST EVERYONE WITH CONNER HABIB 214: PETER ROLLINS on SIX SPIRITUAL REVELATIONS

22 Feb

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The best way to support this show, my writing, my events & courses, is to give an annual or monthly pledge to  Patreon.com/connerhabib.

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Friends,

The intellect is important, but only serves as a two-dimensional reflective surface without the combined depth of experience. I try to make as much of what I say as possible stem from the ways my life has been shaped by spiritual experience meeting my philosophical and political outlook. I wanted to pull on this thread a bit, and to push the boundaries of what I discuss on AEWCH.

So I invited one of the most frequent (and liked!) guests on AEWCH to meet me in this: my friend the theologian and philosopher Peter Rollins.

This episode is a bit different: Peter and I each tell three short stories about moments of spiritual revelation and formation in our lives. Then we discuss them with each other and try to find the patterns there.

It’s a very personal episode for both Peter and I, but it’s also a picture of friends walking our separate paths, together.

I am so excited to share this with you.

SHOW NOTES

WHAT OTHER EPISODE SHOULD YOU LISTEN TO
Though it’s not directly related to the content, I’m recommending AEWCH 81, with theologian and writer (not to mention Peter’s friend)s, Padraig O’Tuama, as a complement to this episode. Padraig and I talk at length about God, but rather than grounding that in experience per se, we ground it in poetry. It’s another way to address revelation.

WHAT BOOK SHOULD YOU READ?
Since we’re on the topic of spiritual autobiography and revelation, you may want to read Rudolf Steiner’s Autobiography: Chapters in the Course of My Life, 1861-1907, to look into the life events of a spiritual teacher and how they informed his path forward.

MORE ON PETER
Support Peter’s patreon here. And also, there’s lots on Peter’s website . Two of Peter’s many books include The Divine Magician: The Disappearance of Religion and the Discovery of Faith and the first book I read by Peter, The Orthodox Heretic and Other Impossible Tales. Two recent appearances on the podcast include AEWCH 167 on Lacanian therapy, and AEWCH 200 with Mark O’Connell about transhumanism and God.

Until next time, friends,
CH

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Is nature spiritual? Listen to AEWCH 212 on How To Live: Beyond Nature Worship with legendary spiritual teacher, David Spangler!

31 Jan

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SUPPORT AGAINST EVERYONE WITH CONNER HABIB

The best way to support this show, my writing, my events & courses, is to give an annual or monthly pledge to Patreon.com/connerhabib.

When you use patreon, you’re not only supporting me, but accessing an economic model that isn’t about paying people for their labor, and instead showing care and appreciation of who they are.

Friends,
Welcome to the How To Live Beyond series of eps on AEWCH! To open 2023, each episode in this series will consider a set of tools or way of thinking that are useful but that we’re ready to go beyond in 2023. We’ll be looking at abundance and manifestation, magick and entheogens, the wellness industry, and more. The first episode (AEWCH 208) featured Mitch Horowitz on How To Live: Beyond the New Age. The second (AEWCH 209) featured Lisa Romero on How To Live: Beyond Psychedelics & Sorcery. The third (AEWCH 210) featured Pilar Lesko on How To Live: Beyond Money Magic. And on the fourth (AEWCH 211), we went beyond wellness with Fariha Róisín.

These are the techniques and traditions we use to cope with and confront the challenges of our time, but risk –  if we can’t consider them deeply – getting us stuck in those challenges or worse, funneling their strengths back into those challenges. These episodes aren‘t a call to forget about these techniques and traditions, but instead a call to bring forward what they‘ve offered without the barbs of the problems they’re tangled up with.

This time:

Everywhere we turn, there are conversations of ecology and disaster, the environment and its needs, the planet’s and humanity’s shared future. If they are not purely materialistic conversations (and the majority are), they often offer only a shallow sense of the spiritual. People talk about “nature” as having its spiritual work removed from relationship with us, as if no more exploration into its actual spiritual orientation is needed. Or we have (some, not all, of course!) neo-pagan views that don’t go much further than translocating the names of old gods and onto the natural world. Or we have neo-primitivism and object oriented ontology which in which humans are supposed to somehow be de-centered, even though humans are the ones coming up with these concepts and pretending to the magically decenter themselves.

So how can we approach nature from a spiritual perspective? And how can we work with the being and being-ness in nature in a real way? For example, should we engage with the trees? The formative forces of the trees? The postmodern assemblage of “tree” or “becoming-tree?” The “dryads” in the trees? The tree gods? The “nature spirits”? We don’t have the taxonomy or the navigational aptitude to even know what we’re encountering, so how can we hope to know how to help?

So I invited David Spangler onto the show. David’s huge and generous body of work includes being the person who coined the term “New Age;” being a prime developer of the Findhorn Community in Scotland; popularizing the concept of manifestation as long ago as the 1970s; founding the Lorian Association, which helps people encounter the lessons developed by David and others on the path of Incarnational Spirituality, authoring many books (including the one we touch on the most here, Techno-elementals); and more.

SHOW NOTES

WHAT OTHER EPISODE SHOULD YOU LISTEN TO
I went into the exploration of fairies (particularly fairies in Ireland), and why we don’t take them seriously enough, with anthropologist Dennis Gaffin on AEWCH 187.

WHAT BOOK SHOULD YOU READ?
Although David does some of the best work expressing the many different kinds of elemental beings, for a one of the greatest expressions of how the elemental beings intermingle, no one to my mind does it in plainer, easier-to-udnerstand language than Cypriot healer Daskalos. I recorded an episode of the show – AEWCH 67 – with one of Daskalos’s students, Daniel Joseph. His book, Swimming with the Whale: The Miracles, Wonders & Healings of Daskalos & The Researchers of Truth is very helpful in this area.

MORE ON DAVID
Many of David’s books (and related books) are available from Lorian Press, which David developed in conjunction with the Lorian movement. You can also find self-study modules on David’s site here. David’s lectures on manifestation, written decades ago, are so far advanced that they move us beyond most people’s current writings on the topic. You can find them in this book The Laws of Manifestation. And one of my very favorite books by David, which is not so easy to find these days, is Reimagination of the World: A Critique of the New Age, Science, and Popular Culture.

A photo I took earlier this month at the stone circle in Drombeg, Co. Cork

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Conner on the esoteric christian podcast The Light In Everything talking about the spiritual truths of horror.

16 Jan

Friends,

I’m so honored to be on one of my favorite podcasts, The Light In Every Thing, talking about horror with AEWCH 181 guest, Rev. Patrick Kennedy!

The Light In Every Thing is a podcast of the Christian Community; which is the non-dogmatic christian tradition developed in consultation with Rudolf Steiner, with over 100,000 members worldwide and churches on six continents.

I discussed this topic at length on AEWCH 201, a solo episode. But here, Patrick and I go deep into how, exactly, horror relates to Christ and the spirit. It was such an enlivening conversation for me.

Listen, enjoy, share,
X
C

***

Here’s the description of the episode:

What begins to unfold and unfurl when we explore the presence and meaning of horror in art, in life and in the story of Christmas and Epiphany? We hope you will join us for this nearly two hour conversation between Patrick and Conner Habib. Its a wide-ranging conversation that takes us down many paths, including the call to christen Paganism and the wild nature spirits in our time, all while Conner and Patrick begin to uncover the meaning of the horrific elements woven into the mystery of Christmas and Christianity.

Many of our listeners will already know Conner from when Patrick was interviewed on his podcast, Against Everyone with Conner Habib. Conner is truly a rare voice in our time, connecting with people in the arts, sciences, philosophy, politics, music, literature, and spirituality and sharing these deeper conversations built on honest thinking and compassionate listening. Conner has schooled himself in entering what is often uncomfortable, uncommon territory and finds true treasure there.

One of those ‘territories’ is horror.  A long time fan of horror fiction and film, Conner is also a published author, with his first full-length novel, Hawk Mountain, releasing in July of 2022.  You can hear his own uninterrupted reflections on the value and power of art that includes the element of horror in this episode from his podcast.

In our conversation, we turn our attention to the Christmas mystery and look to understand the presence of horror – of true darkness – at the birth of Christ.

The festival of Christmas in its full form is not a one day event. It begins on the Holy Night of the 24th and lasts over twelve days, culminating in the festival of Epiphany on January 6th. Spiritually, there is a profound path taken from the shepherds, angels and peace of Luke’s gospel on Christmas Day to the Kings, the star and Herod’s massacre of children to protect his power and crown as described in Matthew’s gospel.  From the paradisiacal innocence of Christmas we are led into the depths of moral darkness, danger and threat to the child, the true king, who is born.  All of these “icons” of Christ’s nature foreshadow what we will all turn our attention to during Holy Week and Easter. The Christian story is told, without doubt, with profound elements of horror.

But why? And why does the genre of horror itself seem to be growing in popularity in mass culture?  What is it that is revealed in the art of horror that has a role to play in our human becoming?  What is it in the reality of true evil in our time that has to do with the new appearance of Christ?

A great and hearty thank you to Conner Habib for his willingness to explore these questions with us.

New Year’s and Epiphany blessing to you all!

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