#110 Witchcraft with Susan Demeter

Susan Demeter’s book Cosmic Witch: Magic, Witchcraft, and the Supernatural

To listen click HERE.

On September 15, 2020 Fahrusha welcomed Susan Demeter back to “Shattered Reality Podcast” for an interesting conversation. Her new book is Cosmic Witch: Magic, Witchcraft, and the Supernatural.

At the beginning of the show Fahrusha talked a little bit about the relationship of animism to witchcraft. Many people around the world are still maligned and persecuted for practicing what is perceived as witchcraft. Susan is very brave to wear the appellation “witch” proudly. Because the word “witch” means different things to different people, Fahrusha broke it down to its most basic tenet, a tenet that runs through almost all of the various varieties of witchcraft. That tenet is animism, the attribution of consciousness to plants, inanimate objects, celestial objects and natural phenomena.

Susan began by speaking about her awesome experiences with UFOs and that dovetailed nicely into the practice of witchcraft. Her book is filled with her personal experiences which are extremely relatable.

She espouses strong powerful womanhood, empowering others, and a sex positive point of view as well. We spoke a bit of a mutual friend, Stephanie Quick, a practitioner of red magic, sometimes called sex magic. Fahrusha spoke about the vilification and denigration of Mary Magdalene by the patriarchal Roman Catholic Church.

There is an Italian language version of the book called La Strega. Both versions of the book are published by Due Torre in Italy.

Fahrusha apologizes for the quality of her audio. Being out of Bill’s excellent audio studio due to the lockdown has been difficult, but she feels it is necessary to persevere in the face of adversity.

Fahrusha invites listeners to submit their anomalous stories for inclusion in “the Listeners’ Corner”.

#100 David Perkins talks Cattle Mutilations and more

David Perkins, boots on the ground investigator of the anomalous in Colorado and New Mexico.

To listen, Click HERE.

On February 4, 2020 Fahrusha welcomed researcher David Perkins to “Shattered Reality Podcast” to speak about his firsthand experiences with cattle mutilations and related phenomena. Firsthand experiences are most frequently the best accounts to pay attention to when investigating anomalous phenomena and Perkins has been on the scene for over forty years.

Perkins has been a member of an intentional community called Libre in Colorado since the late 60s. He built two houses on the mountain there. There were then and are still today cattle mutilations happening in that area. Every time he thought he had the solution to the phenomena, it would shift and change as if to taunt him or prove him wrong. He is still investigating today. We spoke of the roles of black helicopters, UFOs and drones in conjunction with cattle mutilations.

Today David Perkins is highly persuaded by the work of British ecologist James Lovelock regarding the Gaia Hypothesis which says that Our Mother Earth is conscious and a self-regulating system. David thinks that many unexplained phenomena could be viewed as unrecognized forces of Nature. Fahrusha added in that the Earth and the Sun might likely be communicating with each other and referred to a blog post she wrote a few years ago.

Perkins and his late wife Cari Seawell at Santa Clara Pueblo investigating a cattle mutilation some years ago.

Fahrusha thanks audio engineer Bill M. for his tireless service to make “Shattered Reality Podcast” possible and to currently absent co-host Kate Valentine for her support.

Shattered Reality Podcast welcomes and answers all polite comments. If you would like to participate in our Listeners’ Corner, please contact fahrusha@fahrusha.com. Fahrusha can read your account on the show or you can speak it yourself. You can be anonymous or give your full name or just a nickname. It’s all good.

#92 Susan Demeter St.Clair and the Folklore of the Strange

Susan Demeter St.Clair, author of Making Mountains out of Mashed Potatoes: UFOs as a ParaPsychological Event, a chapter of the book UFOs: Framing the Debate

 

Click HERE to listen.

On September 17, 2019 Susan Demeter St.Clair joined Fahrusha on “Shattered Reality Podcast” to speak about UFOs and the folklore of the strange. Susan is a native of Ontario, Canada who is currently residing in Northern Italy. She is a researcher on the UFO phenomena and on European and Native American paranormal folklore especially the Italian Benandanti. The Benandanti were from the Friuli region of Italy of north eastern Italy, although it is thought that the tradition was probably very widespread in slightly varying forms in much of agrarian, Pre-Christian Europe. Meaning literally “the good walkers”, members participated in out of body travels on a number of Thursdays to war against evil forces that might destroy crops. They were also healers. They were viciously persecuted as heretics by the Roman Inquisition.

Varying possible explanations for UFOs and for the famous Philip Experiment (Canada) were discussed. Our interview with Dr. Jim McClenon also mentions the Philip Experiment in the context of the SORRAT Group. Susan was kind enough to share with us her personal UFO experiences that changed the course of her life.

Towards the end of the episode, Fahrusha read an amazing account from a longtime listener who had a life changing UFO experience in western New York State. The listener requested to remain anonymous, something that we at “Shattered Reality Podcast will always respect. If you, dear listener, have a paranormal experience, be it a UFO, a near death experience, an out of body experience, a cryptid encounter or other high strange unexplainable phenomenon, we want to hear from you!

Please contact Fahrusha at fahrusha@fahrusha.com if you would like to share a high strange experience with us.

#88 Conversations in Cosmology Michael Grosso

Philosopher Michael Grosso PhD. author of The Final Choice: Death or Transcendence

To listen, Click HERE.

Fahrusha welcomed philosopher Michael Grosso, PhD. to “Shattered Reality Podcast” to have a conversation about cosmology and his updated book, The Final Choice: Death or Transcendence. He is very involved with the primacy of consciousness over reductive materialism. He came into this point of view through his experiences with the epi-phenomena of psychic functioning.

Dr. Grosso explains how through the study of psychic functioning one is brought to the understanding that consciousness is fundamental. He gives examples in near-death experiences, Goddess manifestations, UFOs, psychokinesis and dreams. Amazingly, Michael predicted the shooting and survival of President Ronald Reagan through a dream.

Michael Grosso, Ph.D. is an independent scholar and part of an ever growing group of scholars and thinkers critical of the prevailing materialistic view of the world. He has taught humanities and philosophy at Marymount Manhattan College, City University of New York, and City University of New Jersey. Among his other books are The Man Who Could Fly: St. Joseph of Copertino and the Mystery of Levitation, Experiencing the Next World Now, The Millennium Myth: Love and Death at the End of Time, Soulmaking: Uncommon Paths to Self-Understanding and Frontiers of the Soul. He is co-author of a number of books, most prominently Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century.

Consciousness Unbound is Michael Grosso’s very interesting blog.

Fahrusha (red-faced), who has enjoyed visiting Charlottesville more than a dozen times, apologizes for renaming the city Charlottesburg.

The Final Choice: Death or Transcendence by Michael Grosso, PhD.

#82 Botanicas, Magick Stores and Gris-Gris Shops

Jason Mizrahi, manager, and Jack Mizrahi, founder, of Original Products Botanica Supplies in the Bronx

Click HERE to listen.

Fahrusha warmly welcomed Jason Mizrahi, manager of Original Products and David B. Metcalfe, paranormal researcher to Shattered Reality Podcast to discuss the growing business of magickal supplies around the world. The founder of Original Products, Jack Mizrahi (retired), pictured above, is the father of Jason and an incredibly erudite businessperson. He started the business with his longtime friend Milton Benezra in the 1950s upon returning home from the Korean War. Because he could speak Ladino the language of the Sephardic diaspora, it was easy to understand Spanish, as Ladino has its roots in Old Spanish. As a result of his facility with languages and innate humor and common sense, Original Products became a successful institution in the South Bronx, catering to the Latin American community’s spiritual supply needs and later to the Afro-Caribbean  community. Today Original Products’ reach spans the globe and their products are used by people of many different spiritual traditions.

Also featured on this episode is return guest, David B. Metcalfe, a prominent paranormal researcher, writer and multimedia artist focusing on the interstices of art, culture, and consciousness. He is a contributing editor for Reality Sandwich, The Revealer, the online journal of NYU’s Center for Religion and Media, and The Daily Grail. His blog is Exploring the Outer Edges of Society and Mind. He has worked extensively with Andrew Chesnut who has researched the Santa Muerte tradition and is the co-developer of the website Most Holy Death.

David B. Metcalfe, intrepid researcher of the paranormal

We had a lively discussion about emerging spiritual traditions, magickal supplies, and what it is like to be involved in paranormal studies.

Shattered Reality Podcast encourages listeners to submit their own paranormal experiences for inclusion in the “Listeners’ Corner” featured on some episodes.

 

Andrew Chesnut and Santa Muerte #30

 

 

Andrew Chesnut, author of Devoted to Death, Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint

Listen HERE

Andrew Chesnut, Ph.D., author of Devoted to Death, Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint, joins Kate Valentine and Fahrusha for this thirtieth episode of Shattered Reality Podcast. He is the Bishop Walter F. Sullivan Chair in Catholic Studies and Professor of Religious Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University School of World Studies.

The worship of Santa Muerte is the fastest growing in the Western Hemisphere. Santa Muerte can be considered to be a religious syncretism between the Spanish European Grim Reaperess and the the death diety of the Aztec goddess, Mictecacihuatl.  She is widely worshipped by the very poor, drug dealers, prison guards, and the lovelorn. Devotees believe the Bony Lady to be the fastest and most efficacious miracle worker.

We also compare Santa Muerte to other folk saints both in the Americas and Europe and discuss the commonalties and differences as well as religious trends.

Andrew Chesnut will be appearing at the Morbid Anatomy Museum in Brooklyn on May 30, 2016.

Andrew Chesnut’s book, Devoted to Death, Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint