#114 Plant Intelligence with Krissy Eliot

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Krissy Eliot, author of Edge Science Magazine‘s Special Edition “Sentient Plants: A Product of Nature or Human Imagination?“

On December 29, 2020 journalist Krissy Eliot joined Fahrusha to discuss the intelligence of plants. Krissy wrote an entire special edition of the Society for Scientific Exploration’s Edge Science Magazine. Giving credit where credit is due: this was the brainchild of editor Patrick Huyghe who also facilitated the connection with “Shattered Reality Podcast”.

The article is a compendium of contemporary study of the consciousness of the vegetative kingdom, with a few notable nods to the past. We strongly recommend that you read Eliot’s article to have more comprehension of what the podcast covers. There is so much to absorb.

Fahrusha contends that the language one speaks has a strong effect on one’s perception of the nature of one’s environment. Even in closely linked Indo-European languages the presence of multiple gendered articles of speech (Italian, Spanish, and German) versus one (English) can color perception. When we consider, for example, some indigenous North American languages with no past and future tenses, the differences can be mind boggling. Fahrusha apologizes for poor accent reproduction.

One of the most impressive studies comes from Italian researcher, Monica Gagliano, who bravely spent time alone in the jungle with several different plants to learn their thoughts. However to all those researchers who say plants must have a mammalian type brain, we say, “Squid, squid, squid”. To Fahrusha, the question comes down to the difference between consciousness and self-consciousness, and that jury is still out.

Co-operating trees courtesy of Edge Science Magazine.

Trees and other plants and fungi can be perceived to have friends and foes of the same and different species and often practice cross species co-operation. Forrester Peter Wohlleben in Germany studies co-operation and friendship between trees.

“Shattered Reality Podcast” welcomes and answers all polite comments and questions. Please feel free to contact Fahrusha (fahrusha@fahrusha.com) privately if you’d like to participate in our Listeners’ Corner.

#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”.

#101 Asian Shamanism

Kevin B. Turner is the Director for Asia of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies (FSS), founded by Michael Harner.

Click HERE to listen.

On February 11, 2020, Kevin B. Turner of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies joined Fahrusha to speak about Asian shamanism. Though born in Arizona, USA, Kevin has lived in Asia for over 20 years and currently has a shamanic healing practice in Bali, Indonesia and Kyoto, Japan. He has written the informative book Sky Shamans of Mongolia: Meetings with Remarkable Healers.

Cover of the book by Kevin Turner Sky Shamans of Mongolia: Meetings with Remarkable Healers.

The shamans in present-day Mongolia are plentiful and most fall within three general traditions: the Khalkhs (the ethnic majority in Mongolia whose shamans have been somewhat influenced by Buddhism), the Buryat (inside northern Mongolia and across the Russian Federation border in the Republic of Buryatia and influenced by Siberian shamanism) and the Darkhad (from the remote region of Khuvsgul and perhaps the most original form of Mongolian shamanism). Kevin visited members of all of these groups. He received a remarkable healing and was tested as a shaman, as a result of which he participated in amazing and arcane rituals.

Shaman Kevin B. Turner

Shamanism is widely practiced around the world but is most prevalent in places wherein the inhabitants are animists. Animism is the belief that natural objects, natural phenomena, and the universe itself possess souls and the belief that natural objects have souls that may exist apart from their material bodies. Shamanism is not a religion but a practice of Magick.

Fahrusha is facilitating a dreamwork course lead by Dale E. Graff, a physicist and a former Director of the D.I.A.’s Project STARGATE (remote viewing) at Fallbrook Farms in Geneseo, NY scheduled for July 16-19, 2020.

#96 Dr Gregory Shushan and NDEs over Time and Cultures

To listen click HERE!

Gregory Shushan, Ph.D. author of Near-Death Experience in Indigenous Religions and Conceptions of the Afterlife in Early Civilizations.

On November 26, 2019, Fahrusha welcomed Dr. Gregory Shushan to “Shattered Reality Podcast”. He is an expert on the subject of NDEs (Near-Death Experiences) over time and cultures. He is the author of two books, Near-Death Experience in Indigenous Religions and Conceptions of the Afterlife in Early Civilizations. You can find out more about Dr. Shushan’s work at: https://www.gregoryshushan.com/

Fahrusha has been dismayed over the narrow view of near-death experiences which are held by certain religious groups. In speaking with Dr. Shushan she hoped to uncover what features of NDEs are common over cultures and over time, thinking perhaps there could be some ecumenical agreement. Dr. Shushan rose to the occasion explaining how although there are cultural differences, often experiencers return to life having been healed, with new abilities, or bringing comfort to their communities.

At the end of the podcast, Fahrusha briefly shared an orb experience from listener Jaime and also one of her own orb experiences. Listeners are invited to share their experiences by sending a comment or emailing Fahrusha at fahrusha@fahrusha.com.

#94 Sociological Research on Remarkable Experiences with Dr. Jim McClenon

Dr. James McClenon, sociologist and author of The Entity Letters, A Sociologist on the Trail of a Supernatural Mystery

To listen Click HERE

Fahrusha was happy to welcome Dr. James McClenon to Shattered Reality Podcast for the second time to discuss the different way that a sociologist researches paranormal and anomalous experiences. He was the guest on an earlier show in which he discusses his excellent book The Entity Letters, A Sociologist on the Trail of a Supernatural Mystery.

We covered a variety of topics from healing to shamanism to UFOs to out of body experiences and extrasensory perception but with a focus on the near death experience (NDE), all from the perspective of sociology. McClenon worked by collecting the extraordinary experiences of individuals by distributing questionaires. He had his students distribute questionaires as well. At first most of the answers came from a rural area in North Carolina where he taught. Later he distributed questionaires from a teaching cruise ship that sailed around the world making stops at a variety of locations. The conclusions he came to were from a different point of view than those of parapsychologists, philosophers or physicists. It was very refreshing to look at these subjects from a differing perspective. Most surprising, perhaps, is his assertion that in other cultures individuals don’t necessarily remember their near death experiences as paradigm changing events that were hyper-real. As a person who has had transcendent experiences but not an NDE, I (Fahrusha) cannot judge this, but it seems counter to other research.

Much of the material we covered on this episode can be found in Dr. McClenon’s book Wondrous Healing.

Wondrous Healing by Dr. James McClenon

Several listeners have expressed interest in participating in our “Listeners’ Corner”. If you would like to relate your paranormal or anomalous experience on “Shattered Reality Podcast”, please email me at fahrusha@fahrusha.com. You can write down your experience and we can read it for you on the show, or you can come on the show and speak it yourself. We also encourage comments.

 

#85 Owls, UFOs and Synchronicity

Owls and their relationship to UFOs and synchronicity are the subjects of Mike Clelland’s work.

To Listen, Click HERE.

On March 12, 2019 Fahrusha welcomed Mike Clelland, an avid outdoorsman, illustrator and UFO researcher, to “Shattered Reality Podcast”. He has written extensively on the subject of owls, UFOs, and synchronicity. This episode was particularly conversational, with Fahrusha contributing some of her experiences to the mix. The short take-away from this is that people who have experiences with owls in the wild often also have UFO experiences and many of them may be abductees as well. Some folks see owls that are impossibly big to be flesh and blood owls. Under hypnosis these people sometimes find that what they saw were actually small grey aliens.

Though Mike’s research centers around the owl/UFO connection, Fahrusha drew parallels to other animal/UFO connections involving raccoons, cats and opossums among others. Fahrusha is a city chick, but she is a good spotter of birds and mammals in the wild. Owls have the best hearing of all birds and excellent night vision as well. Their feathers are specially equipped for silent flight. Cats and dogs also see more than the spectrum visible to humans, and may be sensitive to invisible intruders. All human companions of cats have been unnerved by the felines staring intently at something the human cannot see.

Clelland has written two books on owls and their relationship to the UFO enigma: The Messengers and Stories From the Messengers, both of which are an engaging read. He writes an interesting blog at http://hiddenexperience.blogspot.com/

Mike Clelland, author of two books involving UFOs, Owls and Synchronicity and other books on backpacking.

 

#83 Contactees with Bishop and Gorightly

“A” is for Adamski is the book written by Greg Bishop and Adam Gorightly

 

Listen HERE.

Fahrusha was happy to welcome Greg Bishop and Adam Gorightly authors of the entertaining book named A is for Adamski: The Golden Age of the UFO Contactees. The contactees are people who claim (largely) benevolent contact with the denizens of flying saucers. Their heyday was in the 1950s, but there were contactees before Roswell and after the fifties into the current period.

The book is arranged alphabetically by the person and there is a photo for each entry. There is a kitsch element to these photos that is definitely entertaining and fun. We spoke extensively about the reality or lack thereof of these experiences. I tried to make a possible connection between contactees and near death experiencers and to a lesser extent remote viewers.

Greg Bishop, co-author of A is for Adamski

 

 

 

 

Adam Gorightly, co-author of A is for Adamski

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are many overlaps between different people in the book as some of them knew one another, especially those that gathered with Adamski and VanTassel at Giant Rock in the southern California desert over the years. There are also many questions about the honesty of some of the most notorious of the people profiled, but by and large, most were sincere. It must be understood that what ever they encountered had to be processed by the reducing valve of their brains which may have overlaid the experience with something familiar or understandable to them.

Kudos also to Douglas Curran whose photos inspired the book.

Errata: The near death experiencer Fahrusha referenced but couldn’t remember the name of is Anita Moorjani. She is representative of a number of NDEers.

#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.

 

#81 Rupert Sheldrake- Science and Spiritual Practices.

 

Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, Author of 12 books including Science and Spiritual Practices:Transformative Experiences and their Effects on our Bodies, Brains and Health

Click HERE to listen.

Fahrusha was very pleased to welcome Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, to “Shattered Reality Podcast” to speak about his new book Science and Spiritual Practices:Transformative Experiences and their Effects on our Bodies, Brains and Health and other related topics. We began our conversation with an explanation of the hypothesis of morphic resonance in biology.

We continued onward to expound on the seven rather universal spiritual practices that can have transformative effects on one’s mental and physical health. Most basic of these practices is meditation, the sort which can silence the mind’s chatter and promote joy. Next comes gratitude which can be practiced as prayer, grace before meals, or simply earnestly thanking individuals for small or large acts that they have done.

“More than human” is the practice in which a person relates to the 99.9999% percent of the Universe which is not human or about human beings. This is probably my favorite. A sub-category is relating to plants as living beings. These first four practices can be accomplished solo, but Sheldrake is clear about the way in which doing things in community with others brings added benefits to the practioner.

Among the group practices are the practice of rituals with other humans, although it is possible to do some rituals solo. Singing, chanting and music have amazing effect on the human being and the benefits are multiplied when groups participate together. Going on pilgrimages and visiting holy places can be done alone or with a group. The practice of walking meditation is one that bridges both the category of meditation and pilgrimage.

Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, is the author of 13 books including his newest: Ways to Go Beyond and Why They Work: Seven Spiritual Practices in a Scientific Age which is only on order currently in the UK.

Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, and Fahrusha, after small group dinner in NYC. Courtesy of Andrew Dornenburg

Errata: During the introduction to this episode of “Shattered Reality Podcast” Fahrusha mistakenly said that it was the 82nd episode when in fact it was the 81st.

Any listeners to “Shattered Reality Podcast” are welcomed and encouraged to submit the names of thoughtful researchers into the Mandela Effect to be possible guests on the show.

#65 Laird Scranton: Ancient Cosmologies

Author Laird Scranton

Click HERE to listen.

Fahrusha was pleased to welcome Laird Scranton to “Shattered Reality Podcast” to discuss an overview of his work in eight books listed below. He is an independent software designer who became interested in Dogon mythology and symbolism in the early 1990s through the works of Jerome Clark and Robert Temple. He has studied ancient myth, language, and cosmology since 1997 and has been a lecturer at Colgate University. He also appears in the late John Anthony West’s Magical Egypt DVD series.

He has written the following books:

The Science of the Dogon: Decoding the African Mystery Tradition;

Sacred Symbols of the Dogon: The Key to Advanced Science in the Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs; 

Seeking the Primordial: Exploring Root Concepts of Cosmological Creation;

The Cosmological Origins of Myth and Symbol: From the Dogon and Ancient Egypt to India, Tibet, and China;

Point of Origin: Gobekli Tepe and the Spiritual Matrix for the World’s Cosmologies;

The Velikovsky Heresies: Worlds in Collision and Ancient Catastrophes Revisited;

The Mystery of Skara Brae: Neolithic Scotland and the Origins of Ancient Egypt;

Decoding Maori Cosmology: The Ancient Origins of New Zealand’s Indigenous Culture.

Laird Scranton has been a contributor to several other books.

Cosmology as defined by Miriam Webster dictionary: 1 a: a branch of metaphysics that deals with the nature of the universe, b: a theory or doctrine describing the natural order of the universe. 2: a branch of astronomy that deals with the origin, structure, and space-time relationships of the universe; also : a theory dealing with these.

On this episode we will look at development of our cultural cosmologies from the end of the Ice Age 12000 plus years ago to today, with nearly religious fixation on UFOs by some, and the worldwide cultural mythos of aliens from space via films to an idea of ‘others” as ‘interdimensional ‘ beings. Our guest’s work is rich and complex. He uses the languages and symbols of preliterate cultures and early literate cultures to decode what the ancients thought and finds coherence between cultures geographically dispersed. For instance, the word “etymology” itself has Greek roots: “etymos,” which means, “true sense,” and “logia,” which means, “study of.” Besides helping one to understand the origin of a word, knowing its roots can help one understand other words with similar roots, and can lead the astute to discover amazing mysteries through time.