Consensus Unreality

The first in a new series of episodes on the dizzying feedback loop of east-meets-west in the occult tradition. We open in an unlikely place: Sax Rohmer and his hugely popular, though now mostly rejected Fu Manchu novels. Why did Kenneth Grant choose Rohmer's Dope, alongside Richard Marsh's beloved gothic-exotic horror classic The Beetle, as reference texts for his monumental book The Ninth Arch?...

In this interview with writer and artist Marianne Dages, we discuss her most recent artist's book Tales of Fort Denial, the influence of dreams on art and life, book arts and the book as talisman, quest narratives and grail literature, use of the Burroughs/ Gysin cut-up technique, other chance based compositional methods, and more.    Buy and read Marianne's work at: https://www.mariannedages.com...

In this Patreondiumship + Patreon Preepisode on Enchated Travel, Garden Mythos and Current Readings exclusive pre-episode, we discuss Dave's recent trip through Appalachia, the Midwest and the Bible Belt, featuring mounds, haunted dolls, and bigfoot, plus Ben's recent thoughts on gardens and mind control, some books read of late, and much more in a classic freewheeling discussion. Then, in our mai...

In this interview with filmmaker, Talking Weird podcast host, and flying saucer scholar Dean Bertram, we take a long overdue deep dive into the Shaver Mystery. Topics include: the foundational nature of the Palmer-Shaver relationship in the UFO mythos; Bertram’s documentary short on the subject, and his forthcoming Palmer/Shaver feature The Man Who Invented Flying Saucers; Shaver’s art, philosophy...

In this long conversation with Willow Trueman of the Nonsense Bazaar podcast, we discuss the shifting nature of a paranormally- tinged life. The paths of synchronicity; talismanic use of embarrassment and narrative; hypnotic and sleep-walking experiences; the language of Flying Saucer literature; past lives and dream lives; Peter Pan; and tons more.  The first hour is free, but to hear the whole c...

A brief missive from the upturned tortoise shell wherein a soup of syncs bubbles over. Audiobook vortices, the on-high writer writing the writer, and more reckless cosmic speculation.  Join at patreon.com/consensusunreality to access tons of exclusive episodes, full episode archive, written content, discord server, printed journal and more! Merch https://consensus-unreality.printify.me/products

UNLOCKED This was originally a patreon exclusive episode released on 10/13/2022 as part of our Saucers of Despair Series. We continue to release regular exclusive episodes on patreon as well as a printed journal, written content and more. Join up at www.patreon.com/consensusunreality In this third part of our Saucers of Despair series we delve further into Gnostic and Mithraic mysteries, the magic...

In this interview with artist and recent Orgonon resident Sarah Chait,  we discuss the life, work, and legacy of the great Wilhelm Reich, from  his early involvement with Freud and leftist organizations in Europe to  his landing in rural Maine and later prison time.  Contemporary Reichian therapeutic practices, cloudbusting, orgone  boxes, the tranquil surreality of summer at Orgonon, Reich's uniq...

Testing connections along the fairy and astral-Theosophical to UFO pipeline... Yep,  still fully operational. NJ’s own W. Y. Evans-Wentz and his fairy faith research,  The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett, C W.  Leadbeater’s astral scenery and non-human inhabitants, plus recent ufologick happenings and how they might be 21st century communications from elementals, ascended masters, or the ineffabl...

Unseen resonances, John Keel's early work, nefarious tendencies in the UFO subculture, and more in this conversation. Susan Lepselter's poetic-ethnographic book and John Keel's classics Jadoo and Operation Trojan Horse are consulted. Hermes fashions his lyre from a turtle. What's that mean for our turtle synchs? We discuss our newest exquisite corpse experiment and perform a new randonaut generati...

In a classic wide-ranging CU discussion, we cover Kenneth Grant's  bizarre ufological synthesis in his book "Outer Gateways", new MK Jessup  weirdness, Jung's dense concept of the "psychoid" and how it relates to ufological events and the victims of artifact. We also talk on the trickster as applied to UFOs, "Operation Trojan Horse" the foundational survey of UFO related phenomena by John Keel, th...

In this in depth conversation with artist and researcher Carmelo Pampillonio we talked conspiracy culture and the allure and line of synchronistic and paranoid thinking in the artistic process and otherwise. We spoke in length about the nature of banned content concerning conspiracies and how that informed Carmelo's recent project "Apophenic Realism". We also dove into all mess of subjects like ch...

In this episode, we interview writer, musician, psycho-geographer, and English Heretic Andy Sharp. We discuss his two books, the immediate classic The English Heretic Collection and the recent mystic travelogue The Astral Geographic, diving into subjects and figures as wide ranging as Kenneth Grant, place-based ritual, Winston Churchill's druidry, Dion Fortune, folk horror, the trickster, film's f...

A long, thoughtful saunter through some new and some familiar terrains.  We dive headfirst into D. W. Pasulka's new book Encounters, with its of-the-moment diagnosis of the UFO culture, its odd Rosicrucian connections, new angles on the same old flying discs, and vaguely apocalyptic tone. AI, angelic visions, Jacques Vallee's library,  squaring the circle, and more. Plus: Macer-Story's rare classi...

In this interview with photographer and Spiritualism archivist Shannon Taggart, we discuss her incredible book, SÉANCE and the long, buried history of America's innovative Spiritualist tradition. Topics covered include the intertwined histories of photography and Spiritualism, the Burned-Over District of New York, the connection between the explosion of American New Religions and the creation of t...

It’s the witching hour! In this long-form Patreon exclusive, and a companion to our previous episode on the vampire, we discuss some of the many forms the witch has taken over the centuries. From shamanic to persecuted to modern Wiccan, this often ambiguous figure raises question after question, some of which we attempt to answer here.  Cathars, Templars, sorceresses and sorcerers, ceremonial magi...

Bwah! In this episode we chat about the folklore, fiction, and cultural power of the figure of the vampire. Hammer horror, the Romantic era shift to a gentlemanly vampire, magical energy vampires, the navigation of death and the cost of averting it, Mark Fisher's take on the subject, and much more packed into this discussion. Plus, we start off with a discussion of Arthur Machen's classic weird fi...

In this interview with comics artist and musician Christopher Forgues (C.F., Kites, Universal Cell Unlock, Daily Life etc.), we talk the cross-media creative process, music as ritual, the 00s noise scene, CB radio culture, occult theories of electronics and perfomance, tales of hauntings, the logic of the comic page, and more. A great conversation covering themes old and new to the CU universe. PL...

We're back in the interview game! A great conversation with documentary filmmaker Brad Abrahams, known for Love and Saucers, Do You See What I See,  and others, leads us down some of the many corridors of contemporary  fringe culture.  We talk about his experience of working with and  filming controversial personalities like artist David Dees, as well as  his nuanced portrait of contactee-artist D...

Here is our recent long-form interview with Dan Dutton. Originally presented on patreon.com/consensusunreality where consistent episodes are regularly posted these days. If you enjoyed this interview check us out there... Dark Dan cometh! In this interview with repeat guest, composer, artist, musician, and myth-weaver Dan Dutton, we cover a wide range of subjects, focusing mainly on artistic pract...

In this interview with Fortean author (and returning guest!) Joshua Cutchin, we discuss his new two volume book on the connection between death and the paranormal, Ecology of Souls. From the initiating Anne Strieber remark — “This has something to do with what we call death”— to McKenna’s psychedelic exploration and Jung’s framing of the flying saucer phenomenon, Cutchin’s new work fills a void in...

The ufonaut cipherer is here! In this lively interview with legendary ufologist and occultist Allen Greenfield, we discuss: that strange grey area between the paranormal and the occult that we love so much on CU; Allen’s time in the OTO; his experiences before that as a young UFO buff; the discovery and applications of his infamous Secret Cipher; a potential explanation for the sometimes interrela...

In this interview with Nicole Cushing,  Bram Stoker Award-winning author of A Sick Gray Laugh, Mr. Suicide, and the forthcoming Mothwoman, we talk horror fiction’s relationship with  the paranormal, the Shaver Mystery, synchronicity-driven belief system shifts, the weird Midwest, meta-fiction, and more! + Patreon Exclusive follow up on the interview, meta-narratives, the Lovecraftian sphere of inf...

In this episode, we dive into the present day popular imaginary of the UFO— tic tacs, Tom Delonge, military-industrial madness and the Disclosure Movement— through the lens of a recent Steven Greer joint, The Cosmic Hoax. Is Greer himself to be trusted, however? Listen to find out!    You can support CU and gain access to full exclusive episodes and discussions + written content and more at https:...

In this return to the comfort of the alien abduction phenomenon, we trace the alchemical, mystical, and conspiratorial webwork of the legendary Andreasson Affair and excavate strange connections beneath the surface of seemingly unconnected events and subjects. In a bonus Patreon discussion, we talk about the evolution and current state of the abductee culture. Plus— a return experimental Ouija?  Y...