Rejected Religion Podcast

*This is the Free Content version of my interview with Mike Fiorito. To access the entire episode, please consider becoming a Tier 3 'Garden of Arcane Delights' member, or you can purchase this episode for a one-time fee. My guest this month is Mike Fiorito. An Adjunct Professor of English at City Tech (CUNY), Mike is a freelance journalist and author of several books: For All We Know, Mescalito Riding His White Horse, Falling from Trees, The Hated Ones, Sleeping with Fishes, Call Me Guido, Freud’s Haberdashery Habits, and Hallucinating Huxley. Mescalito Riding His White Horse received the 2024Independent Press Distinguished Favorite Award in Spirituality. Falling from Trees received the 2022 Independent Press Distinguished Favorite Award in Short Stories. For All We Know, his UFO themed science-fiction novel, published in May 2024.Mike’s new book, UFO Symphonic-Journeys into Sound, was published February 1st, 2025. UFO Symphonic: Journeys into Sound explores the profound connection between music and the mysteries of existence. The book delves into music as a form of complex communication and a potential bridge to other realms. Through personal accounts and stories from experiencers, Fiorito examines the symbolic language of sound, dreams, and high strangeness. It invites readers on an extraordinary journey into the unknown, raising thought-provoking questions about the role of music in connecting past, present, and future.In this discussion, Mike and I talk about his latest book, and Mike shares several anecdotes from different people that Mike interviewed. Some highlights from this conversation include:-          the concept of “The Harmony of the Spheres” that emphasizes the interconnectedness of the cosmos and the spiritual journey of the soul; the main idea of which is that the cosmos is ordered by mathematical principles, and that planets and stars move in harmony with these principles, producing a kind of eternal music;-         How the stories Mike shared bring up a lot of ideas related to the notion of ‘tapping into’ a larger system (that we might call consciousness, or cosmos; additionally, it seems to be suggesting a type of mind-universe alignment;-         Joshua Cutchin’s story about creating a new narrative that combines folklore and UFO phenomena; and the connection between paranormal phenomena and death (which lines up beautifully with a book we read for our prior Patreon book club meeting -- Dr. Jeff Kripal and Whitley Strieber’s book, The Super Natural: A New Vision of the Unexplained. In the Dedication, Whitley Strieber notes that his wife Anne said, after carefully reading and organizing the numerous letters that they received, that the UFO experiences all had something to do with death, too.);-         Sebastiano De Filippi’s section, who also discusses similar ideas to Joshua’s about music in his work as a conductor;-         Concepts such as entanglement and tulpas; and much more! PROGRAM NOTESMike Fiorito AuthorUFO Symphonic-Journeys into Sound : https://a.co/d/g1vsfHa Music and Editing: Daniel P. SheaEnd Production: Stephanie Shea

*This is the Free Content version of my interview with Dr. John E. Browning. To access the entire episode, please consider becoming a Tier 1 ‘Gates of Argonath’ member, or you can purchase this episode for a one-time fee. My guest this month is Dr. John E. Browning. A professor in the greater Atlanta metropolitan area, John Edgar Browning, Ph.D. has contracted or published 20 academic and popular trade books as well as over 100 shorter works on subjects that cluster around cultural studies, critical media literacy, Dracula, vampires, monstrosity, and horror. Included among his work in film and media studies is his decade-and-a-half-long ethnographic fieldwork with the human or real vampire subculture (a topic in which there are perhaps five scholars worldwide). In addition to academic venues, Browning has published on the real vampire subculture in public forums such as The Atlantic (2015) and Discover Magazine (2015 and 2018), and his unique expertise in this area has helped facilitate several public appearances as a guest scholar on, or service as a consultant for, over two dozen television and streaming networks, professional podcasts, and radio programs, including Discovery channel, National Geographic, Animal Planet, AMC Visionaries: Eli Roth’s History of Horror, History channel, Disney+, Netflix, Discover Magazine’s “It’s Only Science” podcast, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, NPR, The Howard Stern Show network, BBC Radio, RTÉ—Ireland’s National Television and Radio Broadcaster, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Georgia Public Broadcasting, and SLATE among others. In this interview, John and I discuss his research into the Real Vampire Community. He talks about his motivation to begin looking into this subculture, as well as what he’s learned over the years. As this topic somewhat overlaps with my own research into the Otherkin community, I take the opportunity to ‘compare notes’ so to speak, and ask questions to gain more clarity on this group. John also discusses to what degree contemporary expressions of the vampire in popular culture have influenced the real vampire community, and how his research has contributed to changing perceptions of this subculture. He talks about his term ‘defiant culture’ as it relates to people who have been labeled ‘Other’ or ‘deviant’ and also mentions how his research has helped forensic professionals that deal with crimes that seem, on the surface, to involve people who label themselves ‘vampires’. We also touch upon the Temple of the Vampire, a group that is viewed as a religious organization, and how this group relates to the larger vampire community in the US. PROGRAM NOTESJohn Edgar Browning - Savannah College of Art and DesignForeword to The Palgrave Handbook of the Vampire (ed. Simon Bacon)"The real vampires of New Orleans and Buffalo: a research note towards comparative ethnography""Life Among the Vampires" (THE ATLANTIC, October 31, 2015)Vampire Fictions and the Conflation of Violent Criminality with Real Vampirism: A Practical OverviewJohn Edgar Browning - WikipediaAmazon.com: Dracula: A Norton Critical Edition (Norton Critical Editions): 9780393679205: Stoker, Bram, Skal, David J., Browning, John Edgar: BooksDr. John Edgar Browning (@jedgarbrowning) • Instagram photos and videosAll Music and Editing: Daniel P. SheaEnd Production: Stephanie Shea 

Vanessa Sinclair, PsyD is a psychoanalyst in private practice, who works remotely online with people all over the world. She hosts the internationally-renowned podcast Rendering Unconscious, which was awarded the Gradiva Award for Digital Media by the National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis (NAAP).Dr. Sinclair is the author of Things Happen (2024), Scansion in Psychoanalysis and Art: The Cut in Creation (2021), The Pathways of the Heart (2021), and Switching Mirrors (2016).She is the editor of Psychoanalytic Perspectives on the Films of Ingmar Bergman: From Freud to Lacan and Beyond(2023), as well as the Rendering Unconscious: Psychoanalytic Perspectives book series.Dr. Sinclair co-edited The Queerness of Psychoanalysis: From Freud and Lacan to Laplanche and Beyond (2025) with Elisabeth Punzi and Myriam Sauer, as well as Outsider Inpatient: Reflections on Art as Therapy (2021) with Elisabeth Punzi, On Psychoanalysis and Violence: Contemporary Lacanian Perspectives (2019) with Manya Steinkoler, and The Fenris Wolf vol 9 (2017) and The Fenris Wolf vol 11 (2022) with Carl Abrahamsson. She is a founding member of Das Unbehagen: A Free Association for Psychoanalysis, sits on the International Advisory Board for the journal Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society, and is Editorial Advisor for Parapraxis Magazine.Vanessa and I talk about her upcoming course with Morbid Anatomy, “The Cut in Creation: Exploring the Avant-Garde, Dada, Surrealism, Modern Art, Noise Music, and Performance Art through a Psychoanalytic Lens.” This course will be taking place on Sundays, from May 25- June 15, and all classes will be recorded for those who can’t make it to the live class for whatever reason.As the Morbid Anatomy website states: Drawing on the theories of a variety of psychoanalysts, including Freud, Lacan and Laplanche, the course will explore the long and rich relationship between psychoanalysis and the fine arts – from painting and music to poetry, collage, photography, film, and performance art, including the use of technology and body modification to explore aspects of identity, gender and sexuality. Through immersion in the work of these artists and psychoanalytic ideas, participants will walk away with a better understanding of the transformative process inherent of the act of creation itself, especially when used as a powerful disruption of narrative, and hopefully feel inspired themselves to create! In this discussion, Vanessa gives a sneak peek into each of the four parts of the course. Some highlights are: talking about the inspiration for the course;outlining the events that led to the creation of psychoanalysis as well as the avant-garde movement;expanding on the historical backdrop – what was happening during these years that created this paradigm shift;looking at the years leading up to WW1, and what was taking place then, focusing on psychoanalysis and the avant-garde art scenes;focusing on surrealism and later developments in experimental film, followed by some discussion on the Beat Poets, and outlining how these three are interconnected;focusing on the birth of pop art, and art as it moved from the galleries to the streets, as well as performance art that included the body as an important vehicle/tool of expression. PROGRAM NOTES:Vanessa’s website (with all links): Dr Vanessa SinclairMorbid Anatomy Course:The Cut in Creation: Exploring the Avant-Garde, Dada, Surrealism, Modern Art, Noise Music, and Performance Art through a Psychoanalytic Lens, Led by Vanessa Sinclair, PsyD, Begins May 25 — Morbid AnatomySelected Works:Amazon.com: Scansion in Psychoanalysis and Art (Art, Creativity, and Psychoanalysis Book Series): 9780367567262: Sinclair, Vanessa: BooksAmazon.com: The Queerness of Psychoanalysis: 9781032603827: Sinclair, Vanessa, Punzi, Elisabeth, Sauer, Myriam: BooksPodcast Rendering Unconscious:Podcast – Dr Vanessa SinclairInstagram:InstagramRobert Frank, Me and My Brother (1968)Me and My Brother (1968) - IMDbMusic, Editing and Video Production: Stephanie Shea

Dr. Jeff Howard, an Associate Professor of Games and Occulture at Falmouth University, dives into the fascinating intersection of gaming and the occult. He introduces 'ludomancy,' where play and magic merge, and discusses how games can reflect deeper spiritual themes. Howard examines the evolution of magic in gaming, critiquing simplistic mechanics in favor of immersive experiences. He also highlights the powerful influence of language in gaming, drawing from Ursula Le Guin’s works to explore how words shape our perception of reality.

*This is the Free Content version of my interview with Dr. Liana Saif. To access the entire episode, please consider visiting www.patreon/RejectedReligion and become a Tier 1 'The Gates of Argonath' member, or you can purchase this episode for a one-time fee. The Patreon page offers much more content as well, including a book club that meets 4 times per year via Zoom. If you are interested in esoteric topics, please check it out!  ~ Many thanks, StephanieIn 2021, Liana Saif joined the Centre for the Study of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents at the University of Amsterdam as Assistant Professor in the History of Esotericism in the Middle Ages. Liana’s work focuses on Islamic esotericism and the occult sciences, with a special interest in the exchange of esoteric and occult knowledge between the Islamic and Latin inhabited lands. Her book The Arabic Influences on Early Modern Occult Philosophy was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2015. She is currently preparing a long-awaited critical translation from Arabic into English of the grimoire known as the Picatrix. A few of her research projects include the tenth-century secret brotherhood known as The Brethren of Purity, and the pseudo-Aristotelian Hermetica. She also worked as a project curator at the British Museum, deepening her interest in the material and artistic manifestations of the occult and the esoteric.Liana is a founding member of the European Network for the Study of Islam and Esotericism (ENSIE). Editorial roles include being a board member for Aries: Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism and Brill’s Islamic Translation Series, and an associate editor of the journal Early Science and Medicine.In this interview, Liana speaks at length about Islamic Esotericism. This is an area of esoteric history that I haven’t yet touched upon, so I was happy that Liana agreed to share her extensive knowledge on this topic. Some highlights of our discussion include: why the views and discourse of Islam within the area of “Western” esotericism is problematic; academic debates and disagreements in this area, how Liana defines Islamic esotericism, including paradigms and social orientations; and why the relationship between the idea of an eternal truth and the Islamic law raises anxiety in how Islamic esotericism is interpreted. Liana also discusses her research that deals with the 17th century Maltese inquisition, in particular the trial of Sellem the Moor, a Muslim enslaved person who was accused of being a magician. This work is part of a larger volume called Magic in Malta, and Liana examines this trial on three interconnected levels, and is a down-to-earth, practical example of how magic was being used by people at this time. Be sure to check out the program notes for links to all of the articles discussed in this episode. I hope you enjoy! PROGRAM NOTESLiana Saif | University of Amsterdam - Academia.edu"What is Islamic Esotericism", Correspondences, Vol. 7, issue 1 (2019)The Past and Future of the Study of Islamic EsotericismMagic and Divination Lost in Translation: A Cairene in a Maltese InquisitionA Preliminary Study of the Pseudo-Aristotelian Hermetica: Texts, Context, and DoctrinesResearch: Dr. Liana Saif - HHP | History of Hermetic Philosophy and related currentsAll Music and Editing: Daniel P. SheaEnd Production: Stephanie Shea

Amy Hale is an Atlanta based writer and critic with a PhD in Folklore and Mythology from UCLA (1998). Her research interests include contemporary magical practice and history, art, culture, women and Cornwall. She has written widely on artist and occultist Ithell Colquhoun, and has been an academic advisor to the 2025 Colquhoun retrospective at Tate St. Ives and Tate Britain. She wrote the first scholarly biography of Colquhoun, Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern Loved Gully (Strange Attractor, 2020) followed by the collection Sex Magic: Diagrams of Love, (Tate Publishing, 2024), and A Walking Flame: Selected Magical Essays of Ithell Colquhoun (Strange Attractor 2025).  She is also the editor of the groundbreaking collection Essays on Women in Western Esotericism: Beyond Seeresses and Sea Priestesses (Palgrave 2022). She has written extensively on magic and contemporary art, and has written for Tate, Burlington Contemporary, Art UK, The Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Correspondences Journal and other institutions.She is an Honorary Research Fellow with Falmouth University in Cornwall, a trustee of the UK Charity Rediscovering Art by Women (RAW) and a member of the British Art Network. Beyond the Supernatural: Magic in Contemporary Art is due to be published with Tate Publishing in 2026.In this discussion, Amy shares the inspiration for the upcoming 10-part series, “Magic in Contemporary Art,” in collaboration with Treadwells Bookstore  and the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, beginning on March 30th, 2025. The current interest in magic and art is not a fad, as Amy explains. She gives us a sneak peek of the first four sessions, that cover topics such as “ecofeminist art,” the influence of Hermetic magic on art, and philosophical feminism as found in the works of Donna Haraway and Karen Barad. Amy then talks in more detail about her inspiration with the work surrounding the artist Ithell Colquhoun, including the current exhibition at the Tate St. Ives Museum in Cornwall, as well as her own writings on the life and work of Colquhoun. This was a wonderful opportunity for me to learn more about this amazing woman, and I hope you enjoy the interview! PROGRAM NOTESLinktree:        https://linktr.ee/amyhale93?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=d4c380a2-24b1-4488-af02-5eb31ced3e86         Amy Hale   https://www.instagram.com/amyhale93/     Chasing the Supersensual | Amy Hale | SubstackMagic in Contemporary Art, Ep. 1 – Lecture & Discussion | TreadwellsHome - Museum of Witchcraft and MagicBlogs - RAWIthell Colquhoun | Strange AttractorSex Magic – Abrams BooksTheme Music and Editing: Daniel P. SheaEnd Production: Stephanie SheaNote: The full episode can be found at my Patreon page, www.patreon.com/RejectedReligion, and can also be purchased for a one-time fee.                                                                                                                                                                                                               

This Spotlight was scheduled to be uploaded in February 2025, but due to illness and scheduling issues, it was postponed.Conjuring Creativity: Art & the Esoteric #3 ‘Inhabiting Esoteric Ecologies’MKII, 71 - 75 Powerscroft rd., Lower Clapton, London, E5 0PT                                              15-16/3/2025In this month's Spotlight, I'm joined by guests Geraldine Hudson and Ben Jeans Houghton from the Conjuring Creativity Conference.Geraldine is an interdisciplinary artist, art educator and curator. Participating specifically at the intersections of site, ecological communion and otherness regarding the relationships between magic/folklore/myth, the female body and our more than human world.This manifests as performance, sculptural installation, short film, text, soundscapes and participatory workshops. Working alchemically with materials which are often site/time dependent such as earth/clay, ash, human hair and plant matter.She has exhibited and curated widely in Europe and beyond, whilst speaking on the relationship between magic and art at conferences such as ESSWE, Trans - States and Occulture. She is a previous board member of Fylkingen in Stockholm, founder of project space Konstapoteket and a founding member of the Magickal Aktivist Artist group NKK in Sweden. She is currently studying towards her masters in fine art at Goldsmiths, UAL.'I enact rites, actions and pilgrimages which then feed back into an exhibited practice, choosing to engage in an art making which is often cyclical, mystical or site sensitive, engaging in embodied acts of connection whilst attempting to align with cosmological time. I utilise my own esoteric practices and knowledge as a conduit between the public 'spectacle of art and reconciliation with the other, claiming magick as a technology of selfhood' . Ben Jeans Houghton is a multidisciplinary Artist and Astrologer, working in sculpture, installation, film, drawing, poetry, essay and performance. Through these media he explores magic; the art of transformation, its methodologies, technologies, agencies, implications and praxis, from astrological, animistic, gnostic and philosophical perspectives.Ben has exhibited internationally in Africa, Germany, Greece, Japan, South Korea and the USA and in the UK with organisations such as CCA - Glasgow, Workplace Gallery - Gateshead, Gymnasium Gallery - Berwick, Bloc Projects - Sheffield, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art - Gateshead, Generator Projects - Dundee, Whitstable Biennale - Whitstable, BFI - London, Circa Projects - Newcastle, NGCA - Sunderland and Channel Four - UK.Geraldine and Ben talk about the upcoming third edition of the Conjuring Creativity: Art & the Esoteric - ‘Inhabiting Esoteric Ecologies’ Conference is taking place this month, in London, on the 15th and 16th of March. They give some background about themselves, and Geradling discusses what led her to organize the conference several years ago in cooperation with Dr. Per Faxneld.They also talk a bit about the lineup this year, and what some of the topics will be, as well as why events like theirs are so important for the larger community of people involved in ‘the esoteric’.It was a pleasure to talk with them about their work. Please see the Notes below for more information about the conference and the artists.PROGRAM NOTESConjuring Creativity: Art & the Esoteric #3 ‘Inhabiting Esoteric Ecologies’MKII, 71 - 75 Powerscroft rd., Lower Clapton, London, E5 0PT                                              15-16/3/2025This two day interdisciplinary conference brings together practitioners, scholars and artists who all have a shared interest in the fields of occultism and esoteric methodologies.This upcoming edition intentionally focuses on the entangled relationships between magick and the more-than-human, exploring how esoteric, occult and mystical strategies are being utilised within and alongside contemporary art to recognise, repair and re-member our innate relationships, to our earthly ecologies, spirits, pan-species kin and the unseen companions who inform and inhabit our terrestriality. * NOTE about Tickets: there are have a limited amount of weekend tickets and single day tickets available at the door in the morning.TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE ON A SLIDING SCALE FROM: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/conjuringcreativity  https://www.instagram.com/conjuring.creativitywww.conjuringcreativity.orgMusic: Stephanie SheaVideo Production: Stephanie Shea/ Rejected Religion

Ayesha Adamo is an academic, performing artist, and filmmaker currently working towards a PhD in Religion at Rice University under Jeffrey J. Kripal. Her dissertation project explores fluid cosmological ideas, both historically and in current quantum mechanics. She holds an MA in Religious Studies from Universiteit van Amsterdam’s Centre for the History of Hermetic Philosophy & Related Currents and is a graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University, with a degree in music. Rumor has it she was once in an Asian pop band on EMI Records. Her most recent articles can be found in Anthropology of Consciousness and Religious Studies Review. She is also an ordained Hierophant and Grand Chief of Temple of Thelema.In this discussion, we first look at Georges Bataille and his interpretation of the Acéphale. Bataille (1897-1962) was a philosopher and intellectual, interested in surrealism, and anti- fascist, who, in 1937 founded two groups with the goal of exploring how combinations of power and ‘the sacred’ were at play in society. The first group was called the College of Sociology that gave lectures (exoteric group); the second group was Acéphale, an esoteric ‘secret society.’ Additionally, a public review by the same name, whose emblem was a headless man, was published in 1936. Ayesha talks a bit about this Acéphale emblem and what this represents, including remarks about the connections to Aleister Crowley’s concept of The Abyss; the notion of receptivity, and the difference between the ‘magical’ and ‘mystical’ currents. Moving from Bataille to George Balanchine, the famous choreographer who co-founded the New York City Ballet Company in 1948; Balanchine is probably most known for his plotless ballets and minimalism, and has a famous quote, “Don’t think Dear, just do!’ Ayesha shares how are she is linking these two figures and the concept of the Acéphale. She is currently thinking about how the meditative state is the artist’s state as well.Ayesha then expands on her 2023 article, “The League of Endarkenment: Hakim Bey and the Way of Disappearance into Nature” talking about “Endarkenment” and how this fits into this same area of headlessness, the mandrake, and disappearance.Lastly, taken from her paper abstract, Ayesha talks more about what she means by “the open fluidity of no-mind”  and “the performance of headless meditation.”*Note 1: I mistakenly say ‘Endarkment’ instead of ‘Endarkenment’ (my apologies!); plus, around the 29:00 minute mark, the name ‘D.T. Suzuki’ is unfortunately cut off due to audio issues. Please find more information about Suzuki in the program notes below.*Note 2 (Not Ignoring the Elephant in the Room): Peter Lamborn Wilson, who wrote under the name ‘Hakim Bey,’ was a controversial figure, and unfortunately, rumors have arisen surrounding some of his writings regarding NAMBLA. Accusations were made by a particular website (run by one person, a fellow anarchist) against Wilson, and due to the nature of the internet, damaging assumptions were made. This article A Tribute to Peter Lamborn Wilson - The Brooklyn Rail is a collection of testimonials, and discusses this matter in more detail, giving much needed context.PROGRAM NOTES:Ayesha Adamo | Student | The People of Rice | Rice UniversityAyesha Adamo | Rice University - Academia.eduInstagramAyesha Adamohttps://www.hds.harvard.edu/faculty-research/programs-and-centers/program-evolution-spirituality#:~:text=The%20Program%20for%20the%20Evolution%20of%20Spirituality%20%28PES%29,also%20prepares%20students%20for%20ministry%20in%20these%20mov (More information forthcoming regarding this program and how to join remotely!)It Takes a Lunatic | Officiële Netflix-websiteORGCHAOSMIK - GUSTAF BROMSD. T. Suzuki: A Biographical Summary - Association for Asian StudiesWhat are Superfluids and Why Are They Important?Is 'Perpetual Motion' Possible with Superfluids?Ayesha’s article in The Fenris Wolf (#13) is forthcoming; I will post a link (on Patreon) when it becomes available.Music and Editing: Daniel P. SheaEnd Production: Stephanie Shea

This is the 'Free Content' version of this interview, the full episode can be found at my Patreon: www.patreon.com/RejectedReligion My guests this month are Dr. Sarah Perez and Dr. Cavan McLaughlin.Sarah is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bern. While her previous research focused on early modern pamphlet about deathbed visions, she is currently working on contemporary spirituality with a focus on eco- and online-spirituality as well as youth culture.Cavan McLaughlin is a Senior Lecturer in Media Production at the University of the West of England (UWE), with research interests related to the role and function of occulture. Editor of the volume Trans- States: The Art of Crossing Over (2019), Cavan has also published on Crowley, esotericism and narrativity, open-source occultism, and contemporary occulture. Having recently defended a practice-based PhD entitled ‘Occultural Production as Re-Vision and Weird Worlding, they remain a practicing filmmaker, artist, and all-around creative media practitioner. As a media professional of over twenty years, Cavan has been involved in almost all aspects of audiovisual production, specializing in video art, music videos, and visual poetry. Cavan is the founder and Chair of Trans- States (trans-states.org); co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Monad: Journal of Occultural Studies (monadjournal.com); and, a trustee of the Research Network for the Study of Esoteric Practices (www.rensep.org). Cavan has a profound affection for cows, fungi, and rainbows. This is a discussion that I have wanted to have since the last ESSWE 9 Conference in 2023. In the session “Creativity and Occultural Production” I attended, Cavan and Sarah presented some very interesting papers. I also presented on another day about my research regarding tulpas and Otherkin, and as Cavan and Sarah’s topics were in this general area as well, I thought to myself, how wonderful it would be if we could get together and talk about all of this in more detail.We each take turns talking a bit about our own projects, and from there, the discussion leads into sharing our insights and the interconnectivity of our individual research, and how underrepresented this is within academia. Some key concepts that came forward were: imagination, mind/consciousness, Cavan’s term ‘alienated agency’, power dynamics, new materialisms (inspired by Donna Haraway and Karen Barad), and serious play. We also discuss how other-than-human cultures overlap with neurodivergence and gender, as well as the importance of being ethically responsible (as researchers) and being cognizant of this very normal diversity in expression.   Theme Music and Editing: Daniel P. SheaEnd Production: Stephanie Sheahttps://www.relwi.unibe.ch/about_us/personen/dr_des_perez_sarah/index_eng.html#pane1299843https://westengland.academia.edu/CavanMcLaughlinhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sfb_AmzPZw4  [Cavan McLaughlin - ‘Another Girl, Another Planet’ (Occulture Conference 2023)]https://uva.academia.edu/StephanieShea 

Matt Marble is an artist, author, audio producer and director of the American Museum of Paramusicology. Both creatively and through historical research, his work explores the inspired intersections of art and metaphysics and the intuitive disciplines they mutually employ. Matt is the author of Buddhist Bubblegum: Esotericism in the Creative Process of Arthur Russell, and the producer/host of Secret Sound, a podcast exploring the metaphysical biopics of American musicians, and The Hidden Present, an audio interview series exploring intuitive discipline and spiritual imagination. Additional works have been featured by the California Festival, Warp Records, and the Philosophical Research Society. His writing, research, media production, and personal archive constitute the American Museum of Paramusicology (AMP), through which he also publishes the monthly AMP Journal.The term “paramusicology” was first coined in 1993 by author Melvyn Willin to address psychic and pagan histories of music. Musicology being the study of music, paramusicology is the study of paranormal music experience. Though the term has struggled to find solid footing, the paranormal generally refers us to that which is "beyond" or “outside” the normal—to experiences or phenomena which cannot be explained by scientific reasoning, objective perception, or causal agency. This points our awareness to what may be called the numinous* in human experience. Due to its abstract nature, to even convey the numinous requires active imagination and symbolic communication. The AMP explores how the numinous informs human listening. And it unpacks the esoteric philosophies and intuitive disciplines which facilitate and draw from our spiritual and auditory imagination.In this discussion, Matt shares a bit about his background, as well as his inspiration for creating his platform. He talks about his visual art project known as Wondering Stars, a mixture of music and physical visual works, and how this came out of his dreamwork.He also talks about his podcast, The Secret Sound, and his 7-part series called The Hidden Present, and we even go into a short discussion about musical modes (as used in Western music  - (*thanks to my brother Dan for making that distinction) and their ‘moods’, as well as how these can be useful tools for creativity.We then move to talk about the AMP Journal, and focus on Issue 16 from last August called “Spirit Invocations.” In this issues, Matt wrote about the film Longlegs and how sound (not ‘song’, as I misspoke in the introduction) is key to this film, including the role of folk music and rock and roll and the esoteric aspects of these, along with how Marc Bolan served as inspiration and perhaps as blueprint of sorts for the main character. He also discusses the concept of the Fohat ( taken from the Theosophical Society) and how this may have inspired the ideas behind the metal balls that Longlegs placed inside the doll heads in the film.PROGRAM NOTEShttps://www.mattmarble.net/matt-marble (all links at the top of the page)https://www.mattmarble.net/buddhist-bubblegumhttps://www.mattmarble.net/amp-longlegshttps://mattmarble.bandcamp.com/https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanMuseumofParamusicologyhttps://www.instagram.com/americanmuseumofparamusicology/Full episode can be found at https://www.patreon.com/RejectedReligion, or purchased for a one-time fee. Music and Editing: Daniel P. SheaEnd Production: Stephanie Shea