Rune Soup

The one and only Camelia Elias returns to the show this week to talk about demons and crosses. Specifically, we explore what demons actually are and their relation to human desire. We examine the curious case of Andromalius, the final spirit of the Goetia. We discuss occult style. Then we turn to the role and function of crosses in cartomancy: Why and how is the cross so potent in the tarot? And w...

What is transhumanism? Is it different from technocracy? What about posthumanism? Where do these ideas originate, and how have they become so prominent today? In this week's solo show, we look at the history of some mostly-insane ideas and explore their significance for today's magical folk. Join Gordon as we continue our series looking at the arrival and impact of AI from the perspective of a liv...

Writer, speaker, filmmaker, podcaster and cultural theorist J. F. Martel joins the show this week to explore art, creativity, UFOs and the Imaginal. We discuss C. G. Jung, David Lynch, Ramsay Dukes, Bergson, and Corbin. We look at what insights might come from having a better definition of 'image' when it comes to UFO phenomena. We talk about creativity as and with magic. And generally try to wres...

This week, we welcome to the show artists, musicians, authors and fellow podcasters Risa Dickens and Amy Torok. Amy and Risa from the  Missing Witches project join us for a deep dive into the archetype of the witch. What is it? What changes does it portend? What does it mean when it is so close to the surface? What are our obligations to it? We also talk ancestors, reclaiming history, art-as-magic...

Continuing our multi-part exploration of AI and its implication for These Capitalised Times we are living through and with, we look at the metaphysics of technology this week. What are the implications of Artificial Intelligence for The performing of magic? Living in a magical universe? What is an animist understanding not just of 'intelligence' but 'artifice'? What -if any- is the difference betw...

Author and (post)activist Dougald Hine joins us this week for a powerful discussion about our moment and what -if anything- we should 'do' with and about it. The springboard for our chat is Dougald's recently-released book,  At Work in the Ruins . We unpack the title -what do we mean by 'work'- as well as what we mean by 'ruins'. Physical? Cultural? Social? We talk about what it means to hospice m...

Legendary ethnobotanist, Mark J. Plotkin, joins the show this week for a fascinating chat about traditional medicine, Indigenous knowledge, plant healing and modern medicine.   Dr Plotkin studied under the great Richard Evans Schultes himself and has been exploring the Amazon as a friend and researcher for five decades. He is the co-founder of the Amazon Conservation Team -a nonprofit that partner...

In this solo show, we dive deep into the origin of our understanding of prophecy, how it is different from prediction and where this understanding is useful for sorcerers, astrologers and magicians. We explore the Old Testament prophets and how their roles changed over the centuries, how they positioned themselves toward power and what kind of 'Prophetic moment' we might find ourselves in. Enjoy!

Alkistis Dimech and Peter Grey of Scarlet Imprint return to the show for an exploration and celebration of Jake Stratton-Kent: In particular his thought, his research and his impact on the western magical world. We discuss: His generosity as a thought leader.  His attitude to academia and academics. His role in the return of spirit-centric approaches to the grimoires.  His revitalisation of blue g...

In the middle of the Philippines archipelago is the mysterious Siquijor -known variously as the Island of the Witches, the Island of Sorcerers or the Island of Healers. This remarkable place is home to several thriving magical and healing lineages. Here is my story of visiting and encountering these traditions during the time of year where the healers travel up sacred Mount Bandilaan in order to c...

In the middle of the Philippines archipelago is the mysterious Siquijor -known variously as the Island of the Witches, the Island of Sorcerers or the Island of Healers. This remarkable place is home to several thriving magical and healing lineages. Here is my story of visiting and encountering these traditions during the time of year where the healers travel up sacred Mount Bandilaan in order to c...

Legendary storyteller and mythologist, Dr Martin Shaw joins the show this week. On the occasion of the release of his remarkable and uncharacterisable (although I try) new book, Bardskull. We talk about the weakness of the word archetype, we talk about place and story and transformation, we talk about myth and landscape, we talk about Tolkien, Gandalf and Merlin, we talk about defending indefensib...

This week we welcome to the show the legendary Rosita Arvigo. Rosita is the author of ten books, she is a naprapathic physician, a herbalist and a specialist in traditional Mayan healing. For decades she has lived in western Belize, operating a healing practice and maintaining an organic farm. During this time she studied under Don Elijio Panti -a powerful and famous shaman then in his nineties. (...

Peter Mark Adams joins us today on the occasion of the imminent release of his new book, Hagia Sophia: Sanctuary of Kronos . Like The Game of Saturn before it, this is an exploration of curious survivals of pagan cosmologies hidden in seemingly plain sight -in this case Hagia Sophia in his home of Istanbul. Check out the show notes at runesoup.com for some companion images. Along the way, we also...

This week, we discuss morality, where to intervene in the world, in your life and why. Enjoy!

Parapsychologist Dr Brian Laythe joins the show for a discussion on ghosts and haunted places. We explore definitions: what IS a ghost? That's a slippery question right there. We look at what makes a place 'haunted'. Are they haunted because they have ghosts or do they have ghosts because they are haunted? And we investigate how ghost encounters fit into the wider ecosystem of High Strangeness. Ca...

After last year's Astro-Gnostic conference and some extended jungle experience, I want to revisit some comparisons between 'gnosticism' and 'animism' -whatever they happen to be. And in particular I want to make the case for how the assertion that the cosmos is a prison built by an evil God and the cosmos is a community of beings can share co-presence in the same overall framework. So this is a ga...

This week we welcome to the show hunter, leather maker, tracker, artist and educator Harmony Cronin. Over the course of her career, Harmony has been a big game skinner, she has convened and continues to convene women's hunting groups, she provides support for Indigenous buffalo hunts and has lived in a tent she built herself beside Yellowstone, where her neighbours were a wolf pack she fed with ro...

Join me for the first solo show of the year! In this episode, we walk through a presentation that can help best situate you to achieve and transform in 2023. Extreme ownership. Correctly setting priorities. How to build a map of both official reality and reality. Stepping into an attitude that thrives in chaos. Using time magic to shift from 'goals' to 'sites of magical transformation'. Oh, and if...

Tis the season once more for our annual chat with the one and only Conner Habib. We started by discussing Christmas and then ended up having quite a detailed exploration of ceremony, place and context that set the theme for the rest of the chat. So this one is a little different from our usual new year chats. Enjoy! Show Notes Conner on Patreon . Conner's debut novel, Hawk Mountain .

Continuing our End-of-Year run, the legendary Lynne McTaggart returns to the show to talk about working with The Field and the Power of Intention for healing, manifestation and transformation. We catch Lynne up on some of the work of the Rune Soup Premium Member intention groups, compare notes and experiences and speculate as to how all this stuff might 'work'. Always a good time. Enjoy! Show Note...

Welcome to the 300th episode of Rune Soup! They grow up so fast, eh? To celebrate the occasion, I had two options: The first was to hold a big party and then slip on a magic ring mid-speech, vanishing before your very eyes. The second was to invite onto the show perhaps the most-requested guest, John Michael Greer. And really this timed very well because John has a new book out called The Occult P...

A Christmas tradition to rival eggnog and embarrassing yourself at the office party, this week we once again have the astrological forecast for the first half of 2023 with the incomparable Austin Coppock . Enjoy!

Greg Carlwood from The Higherside Chats joins the show for a countdown of the 10 best conspiracy books of all time. UFOs, technocracy, CIA coups, predatory capitalism, ancient aliens, Big Pharma, elite networks… here's the list! Some you might expect. Others you most definitely will not. And half the fun is hearing the justification for why one book made it into the list and another didn't. I had...

The one and only Julio Cesar Ody returns to the show for our annual Halloween special! Julio joins us from his native Brazil for a fascinating romp through his country's magical landscape: Spiritism, Umbanda, Quimbanda, Candomblé. The impact of Diaspora African frameworks, Amazonian plant spirits, ayahuasca. The impact of Catholicism and the role of the saints. The disastrous impact of modern, eva...