Rune Soup

Latest Episodes:

Cards Against Divinity - Balthazar Blacke & Natalia Lee Jul 25, 2024

Show notes

Two contemporary deck creators, Balthazar Blacke and Natalia Lee, join the show this week for a round table on fortune telling and the role oracle cards specifically should have in your cartomantic practice.

We explore:

The things oracle cards can do that tarot cannot. (And vice versa!)
Which situations call for which type of deck.
Some historic resistance to using oracle cards among western practitioners.
Some advice on different spreads and the role of significators.

A super fun chat with some some fun people!

Show Notes

Magic, Media And Chaos with Richard Metzger Jul 19, 2024

Show notes

Legendary cultural curator, media theorist and provocateur Richard Metzger joins the show this week.

Richard, of course, co-founded The Disinformation Company, founded Dangerous Minds and has spent decades observing and participating in the changing media landscape.

He is with us now to talk about his latest project, Magick Show, an extended documentary project featuring discussions with

Grant Morrison
Douglas Rushkoff
Mitch Horowitz
Gary Lachman
Bri Luna
Geraldine Beskine

And many more -including the last-ever interview with Kenneth Anger!

We cover magic, the failed promises of the internet, mind wars, propaganda and the perennial Rune Soup question: what is ours to do?

Find out more about Magick Show here, including ways in which you can support the project.

Enjoy!

Magical Thinking 101: What It Really Is And How To Improve Your Life With It Jul 12, 2024

Show notes

This week's solo show forms part of a collection of observations lining us up for the beginning of the five-month, gargantuan Time Magic course we're starting in August.

Here, we explore the quiet politics of magical thinking:

The origin of the term.
How it sort of is and sort of isn't like magical realism.
Examples of it in the history of western esotericism.
How you can make that inward turn toward magical thinking, and what any blocks in that process might be telling you.

Enjoy!

Magical Egypt and The Legacy of John Anthony West | Chance Gardner and Vanese McNeil Jul 02, 2024

Show notes

Chance Gardner and Vanese McNeil, producers of the legendary documentary series Magical Egypt, join the show this week.

We discuss

Getting history right and wrong.
The legacy of John Anthony West and R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz.
Materialism and its impact on studying history.
The latest series of Magical Egypt -which Gordon is in!

I mention at the outset that this episode was actually recorded six months ago. The plan was to release it at the same time as a video on hermeticism that I was going to shoot at an Ancient Egypt exhibition in Canberra (which is mentioned in my animism series). But that didn't happen, and then I thought I would do it at the Island of the Sun in Bolivia, and so on. Anyway, it's not six months later and I am choosing to blame the curse of the mummy, lol.

A super fun chat, nonetheless. And a real high point in my own life to actually be in the legendary Magical Egypt series myself.

Show Notes

Astrology Forecast H2 2024 - Austin Coppock Jun 27, 2024

Show notes

Six moons have passed and so the Council of the Wise was summoned once again. Also I was there.

Austin Coppock returns to the show for the traditional half-yearly forecast. Join us as we talk about Mars retrogrades, eclipses, elections and proxy wars.

Stick around till the end for some TV recommendations, because why not?

Enjoy!

How To Be A Synchromystic - Christopher Knowles Jun 20, 2024

Show notes

The legendary Christopher Knowles of the Secret Sun joins us this week to explain how to be a synchromystic. We learn

✅ What is synchronicity? ✅ What role synchronicity plays in modern mysticism. ✅ The importance of symbol sets in this pursuit. ✅ How this modern practice is really an ancient one described.

Whilst it's always a pleasure to have Chris back on the show, this particular episode happens on the occasion of the release of his latest book. The Secret Sun Synchromystic Handbook!

Iamblichus, Theurgy and The Body | Professor Gregory Shaw Jun 12, 2024

Show notes

Gregory Shaw, Professor of Religious Studies at Stonehill College, joins the show to discuss, theurgy, the work of Iamblichus, and how we have probably got the Neoplatonists' attitude to the body quite wrong.

We discuss

The DESCENT of rather than ASCENT TO the gods.
The theurgic imagination and how it relates to the spirit world.
The role of divination in the development of the soul.
How Imablichus can teach us a better way to compare between cultures.
The necessity for ceremony.

Professor Shaws joins us to discuss his latest book, Hellenic Tantra, which I am pretty sure is the best book I've read this year. Get it here.

Adventure As Epistemology | Solo Show May 17, 2024

Show notes

Let's make the most of my jet lag and jump right back into regular live streams the morning after I arrive back on the farm!

In this episode, we discuss

How and why Wade Davis is my hero.
The definition of adventure and why that matters for magicians.
How adventuring creates reality.
Sacred travel, how it is and isn't different from adventure.
Tips and advice for your own adventures.

Then I also share some stories from the High Andes, from Lake Titicaca, from the steamy cities of Paraguay and the mountains of Southern Brazil.

Note: As this was a live stream episode, and the Q&A starts around the 92 minute mark.

And it's May, so don't forget to contribute to the Missing Witches fundraising and reparations drive!

Jake Stratton-Kent's Night School | Erzebet Barthold May 08, 2024

Show notes

Hadean Press's Erzebet Barthold returns to the show this week, on the occasion of the release of Cyprian's Offices of the Spirits -the posthumously published final volume in Jake Stratton-Kent's Night School.

We talk about goetia, we talk about the sublunar, we talk about English Qaballa -all the Jake hits, really.

And, inevitably, we reminisce about the man himself:

His main ideas and contributions.
Who influenced him and who he influenced.
What future generations will make of his work.
Who he was as a friend and a person.

All in all, a lovely chat, and especially timely as the snappily-titled premium member course Grimoires: Our Greek Inheritance (The Jake Edit) starts this weekend!

Show Notes

Get the second volume of Night School, Cyprian's Offices of Spirits here.
Join Rune Soup here.
Gift a 3 month Rune Soup membership to someone here.

How To Get Good at Magic - Notes From Bolivia | Solo Show Apr 25, 2024

Show notes

Coming to you from the shores of Lake Titicaca! Some lessons on how to get good at magic, specifically sigil magic, learned on the road in Bolivia.

The short answer is your first hundred sigils will teach you more about magic than any book ever will. The long answer is.... this podcast.

Here I share my notes and observations from spending time in mountaintop villages with lineaged shamans descending directly from the Incas, San Pedro ceremonies in the mountains and client encounters in the Witches Market in La Paz.

We talk about: