Garden of Thought

Heather Arnolds shares her latest adventures, findings and questions regarding ancient technologies, megalythic structures, a world wide mound building culture, and giants. From the once called Useless Islands (now Aruba, Bonaire and Curacuo), to Easter Island, the American Southwest, New England, and beyond, she discusses elaborately built mounds, aligned to specific astrological events, and even...

Tammy Tilson is a matchmaker. She didn't start off as such. It wasn't even a thought. But as a psycho-therapist who had gone through her own divorce, she started taking note of how one skillset was useful to the other. Her time she built up a database and formalized her business from dating coach to matchmaker. She tells some tips, dos and don'ts, and some of her methods. Just in time for Valentin...

We welcome back Andy, the host of The History of Africa, podcast, to answer: who were the Moors? Only to learn that's not a simple answer. We learn what an exonym is. You think I'm telling you in the description? But after much discussion and information, we come to a working definition. We also reflect on the Moops, El Cid. Hamites, and other fun topics. We then move on to Madagascar myhtology on...

The Persian Version's A. Darius Kamali rejoins us to introduce us to Iranian mythology, which requires a bit of historical and religious context relating to Zoroastriasm, Mithras, Islam and others. Our focus then shifts to creatures or monsters ranging from the dragon to the manticore. Darius introduces us to several heroes of old; mythical and partly historic, As always, there is some comparing a...

What's a garden of doom without protection? Where do you find protection or forces for things you don't want to do yourself, or can't? This episode explores mercenaries. Soldiers-of-Fortune. Gendes d'Armes. Known as Private Military Contractors or PMCs. Mike Hilliard from the Red Line podcast joins us once again to give us the facts and some scenarios. The banal to the extreme. It is a free market...

Professor Henry Hertzfeld, is a Research Professor of International Affairs and an Adjunct Professor of Law at the George Washington University and the Elliott School of International Affairs, Being involved in both the legal and economic aspects of the growing and emerging areas of space law, he has insights into our continuing exploration of this legal frontier. Professor Hertzfeld introduces us...

Mark Olly returns to the Garden to appropriately talk about the Green Man because it's a universal symbol of the Earth's anthropomorphic male defender. But first we discuss the Druids and the historical Merlins. Yes, plural. And the relationship with Joseph of Arimathea and a guy named Jesus. We get into the history involving the Greeks, the Romans, the Celts, the Picts, the Saxons, among others....

Laurel & Derek of The Midnight Myth Podcast re-enter the Garden to give us the run down on the Arthurian legends from a literature and media perspective. From the halls of academia, we get a Master's level course on the origins, the historical period involved, the historical influences of the various writings, Merlin, Excalibur, The Round Table, Morgana, Mordred, Avalon and The Holy Grail. We...

Lawrence L. Muir, Jr. has worked with cybersecurity issues for the past decade. Mr. Muir has had professional experience with cybersecurity and related issues as a White House official, a strategic consultant, a computer crime prosecutor, and as an adjunct professor of cybercrime law at two prestigious law schools. That multidisciplinary background translates to the ability to use various perspect...

We conitnue with Ralph Ellis, a historian who has done the research and studied the texts and religious writings and found a clear path backed by facts that re-write much of history including the identity. life and "death" of Jesus. He continues with his researched findings on the political landscape surrounding King Izsus and resets major dates by 3-4 decades. He explains why in a compelling case...

We all think of the Old and New Testaments as something of a historical record. But is it? Is it all metaphor and re-tellings of other, older stories? Or is there another answer? Is the history there but the orthodoxy have looked in some of the wrong places at some of the wrong times. This show is part 1 with Ralph Ellis, a historian who has done the research and studied the texts and religious wr...

Urban legands, lore and some of our favorite media of the year

Award winning poet, Jennifer Sutherland, re-enters the Garden to go over Christmas. We discuss the Solstice, the bringing of the light, Baldar, Yule. Mithras, Saturnalia, and more. A full history of the many traditions that led to the current version of Christmas. We visit upon the Elves and Fae Folk. Dark elves, light elves, big elves, small elves, leprechauns, you name it. What's with goats? How...

Ajit Padmanabh rejoins the Garden to discuss the basic tenets of Hinduism. It's adherents do not consider it a religion; it is a way of life. He also explains how hinduism is a form of mysticism. There is no one without the other. In this journey we touch on astrology, history, geography, and philosophy. Of course we cover the concepts of reincarnation, karma, sacred cows, nirvana, tantra and the...

Ginny Myers Sain is the New York Times bestselling author of DARK AND SHALLOW LIES (2021) and SECRETS SO DEEP (2022), both from Razorbill Books/Penguin Teen. Her third YA novel, ONE LAST BREATH will be released in 2024. In addition to hitting the New York Times list, her debut novel, DARK AND SHALLOW LIES, also hit the Independent Bookstore Bestseller list as well as winning the 2022 CRYSTAL KITE...

Yana Yakushina is a lawyer and Ph. D. candidate at the University of Ghent in Belgium. She's an attorney with a focus on space law and is my colleague at the Space Court Foundation. Her cause is light pollution both here on Earth and in our skies. This impacts our mental health and the environment. Many animals are having their environment and migratory patterns disrupted. It's a big problem. But...

J.P. Bristow, host of The Russian Empire History Podcast, rejoins us once again to explore the mysterious origins of the Hunic peoples. Better known as the Huns. We've all heard of Attila the Hun, but these peoples have a long history that's shrouded in mystery and confusion. For starters, despite Hungary being their Westernmost "home" for periods of time, Hungary is not named after the Huns. Gues...

We are rejoined by Rev. Jim Willis, the author of numerous books on religion of theology. He's also been an ordained minister for over 40 years. He introduces us to the shamanic roots of the world's major religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Judiasm). These roots go back at least 45,000 years and expanded through many culture, peoples and continents. We explore spirituality and t...

This episode is courtesy of The Drew Yari show, where I am part of his rotating cast of characters. He gave me some of his favorite movie monsters or demons to discuss their history, etc. You know, like we do. We got a surprise visit from Anthony Missionary Thomas of Wrestling Soup. Enjoy the crossover nobody knew they needed, but do!

Professor Michael York has studied comparative mythology and is a pagan. We discuss what Paganism actually is and go to the Steppe and beyond to explore the Proto Indo European speakers and myths. He expounds on the dualities, the twins, the tracking of language and cognates. From Deus to Zeus. From Deities committing Patricides to generational usurpations, we're covering India to Egypt; Persion t...

Chris Hearsey, Esquire, has done a lot. He worked for Bigelow Aerospace, the U.S. Department of State, ran for Congress, and worked on a Hague Convention. He's also the co-founder of the Space Court Foundation. We discuss legal issues in space that you need to aware of right now, and some of the items SCF is working on.

Brandon Safford is a Shaman of 30+ years experience. He's a Heliotheist and his mantra is “Be Good. Do Good.” He's a member of Sac and Fox (Sauk) Native American tribe and has studied many disciplines and is invested with the Oral histories of his, and other, First Nation's peoples. We discuss his journey, creation stories, doctrines, extraterrestrial and other outer worldly beings, religious myth...

Science journalist and science fiction author, Matt Williams, visits again for us to review the space epic series, Babylon 5. We frame the universe, the races, the conflicts and main characters. We also give an overviw of the biggest themes and the pivotal parts of the seasons and some associated canon. We also go full GoD on it and explore theosophical and mythological relationships and symbols....

There are two things they say you can't escape: Death and taxes. Well, there are also taxes surrounding death. That's where estate planning comes in. It's not all about avoiding taxes. There are tons of important issues including incapacity and end of life decisions, etc. This episode addresses a lot of the above with a focus on taxes. We're rejoined by JD and LLM (in taxation) Elizabeth Burlingto...

Stephanie Theban joins us to give an evolution of horror in literature and to tell some scary stpries. Give yourselves a treat this Halloween and enjoy this educational and entertaining expose, stpry telling and discussion. From the communal fire to the campfire, scary stories served many functions. From the grim Brothers Grimm to the Greeks to Mary Shelley to Stephen King and beyond, we assert ju...