Right Where You Are Sitting Now

Exploring The 8 Circuits With Antero Alli

This week we delve back into the realm of reality hacking with our guest Antero Alli. Antero has been involved in the study of the 8 circuit model of consciousness for many years now, and has authored two books on the subject. Antero is also involved in a unique consciousness experiment called 'Paratheatre', in which initiates and researchers experiment, and more importantly, experience consciousness change.

This week we discuss: The 8 circuit model of consciousness, Timothy Leary, Paratheatre, the difference between reading about a ritual and actually experiencing it, and much more.

Not one to miss out on some consciousness change, Daddytank returns with his musical implements which he calls MySpace Heroes. This week's objects of musical expression are:

Perhaps Contraption - Hard Cutlery

Heat From A Dead Star - Seahorse Seafish
Haunted Stereo - Lock The Doors

f you have any queries, suggestions, insults etc. Please feel free to email ken@sittingnow.co.uk.

Enjoy!

Antero Alli Bio:

Born 11/11/1952 in Helsinki Finland, Antero Alli is the author of ANGEL TECH, TOWARDS AN ARCHEOLOGY OF THE SOUL, ASTROLOGIK, THE VERTICAL ORACLE, and THE AKASHIC RECORD PLAYER. Antero's deep background in theatre and paratheatre have resulted in numerous original performance works since 1977 and he is currently artistic director of ParaTheatrical ReSearch, a Berkeley-based group of trained physical performers exploring asocial ritual dynamics.

Since 1991 Antero has been writing, directing and producing his own films, which include six feature fictions, three paratheatre video documents and about twenty short works. Between 1991-95 he was editor and publisher of Talking Raven Quarterly, an iconoclastic literary journal in Seattle which featured the writings of Robert Anton Wilson, Hakim Bey, and Rob Brezsny among others. Between 1992 and 2002 Antero curated the successful Nomad VideoFilm Festival, a west coast touring venue dedicated to showing experimental short films and videos. In 1996 Antero teamed up with his future wife, Sylvi to form Vertical Pool as an intermedia film, music and publishing company. He is also a world renown astrologer and currently resides in Berkeley, California.

Raising Pan with Brian Butler

This week we venture back into the worlds of the Occult, and film-making. Brian Butler is a film-maker, Magician, and colleague to legendary director Kenneth Anger.

In this weeks episode, we discuss Jack Parsons and his magickal journey, The Night of Pan, Kenneth Anger, and how the occult can influence the film-making process.

Brian is screening his new film 'The Night of Pan', as well as performing live music with Death in Vegas' Richard Fearless in London this week, make sure you don't miss it - the event is free, and you can get more details here.

Daddytank returns with his excellent MySpace heroes (which for some reason includes a rant by Alex Jones); this week's heroes are:

Wakamiya - Pretty Pretty
Waiting Life - It's In Your Court
Wally Quid - Nebula

(more links when I get sent them)

If you have any queries, suggestions, insults etc. Please feel free to email ken@sittingnow.co.uk.

Enjoy!

Brian Butler Bio:

Brian Butler is a musician, writer, and filmmaker living in Los Angeles.

He has written on occult related subjects for numerous magazines including Dazed and Confused and Tease. His writings have been published in books such as Disinformation’s Book of Lies, which features his “Wormwood Star” article on life of Jack Parson’s wife and muse Marjorie Cameron. He has appeared on television internationally as an expert on the occult. He recently worked as a consultant for Showtime Networks Development on the biopic of Jack Parsons.

He directed, wrote and produced the documentary Raising Lucifer: Story of a Cursed Film (2008), which deals with the production of Lucifer Rising, and features an exclusive interview with Manson family murderer Bobby Beausoleil from prison. Other film projects include documentary segments for the Disinformation DVD (2004) such as Satanism, Rocket Boy and Uncle Goddamn. Butler also produced and edited the Kenneth Anger film Ich Will! (2008)

He has recorded and or performed music with artists such as VON LMO, Rozz Williams (Christian Death), and Moving Units. Current music projects include the experimental Clouds Without Water and Technicolor Skull — a multimedia performance collaboration with Kenneth Anger, which premiered at Donaufestival in Austria on April 30th, 2008 and has subsequently toured Europe at such instutions as the National Museum of Art in Copenhagen and The Serravales Museum in Portugal.

Recent film projects include producing the Kenneth Anger film Brush of Baphomet (2009) and directing the short “Night of Pan” which features Vincent Gallo and Kenneth Anger and has screened all over the world including the Cannes Film Festival, the Athens Biennale , and the Festival Internazionale Del Film Di Roma.

UFOs and Underground Bases with Dennis Balthaser

It's been a while since we've visited the realm of UFO investigation; so we felt when we did return, we would need to bring along a true expert in the field. Luckily for us, we found just that in Dennis Balthaser. Dennis actually lives in Roswell New Mexico and has been studying the famous 'Roswell Incident' for many years. He has appeared on countless television and radio shows and is often published in UFO Magazine.

This week we discuss The Roswell Incident, Dulce underground base, Area 51, The state of Ufology today and much more.

As if tipped off to the incident; Daddytank, and his army of musical flying saucers attack this week come in the shape of:

Hills Like White Elephants - Foundation

Vector Trio - The Road To Solola

Vaetxh - Clipper

If you have any queries, suggestions, insults etc. Please feel free to email ken@sittingnow.co.uk.

Enjoy!

Dennis Balthaser Bio:

As a young man, Dennis Balthaser would look into the night sky and wonder at the secrets it held. Some years later Dennis bought a book about UFOs and his wonder turned to investigation. Today he has a library with over 90 books in reference to ufology.

Dennis served 3 years ('59-62) with the United States Army in the 815th Engineering Battalion.

After some 33 years in Civil Engineering, Dennis retired from the Texas Department of Transportation in 1996. Having been keenly interested in the Roswell Incident of 1947, Dennis decided to move to Roswell, New Mexico, to pursue his avocation: Ufology.

Initially Dennis worked as an Engineering Consultant in Roswell, volunteering his time at the International UFO Museum and Research Center on weekends. Nine months later he resigned from the engineering firm, assuming the duties of IUFOMRC Operations Manager. He served on the Board of Directors and became the UFO Investigator for the Museum as a full-time volunteer from 1996 until 1998, then began his research as an independent researcher.

Due to his love of ufology, his dedication and his exhaustive work, Dennis is regarded as a leading investigator and ufologist by his peers, communicating regularly with such well-known researchers as Stanton Friedman, Frank Warren, Scott Ramsey (scottr@ExpressWireServices.com), and others in their quests to find the truth.

Dennis is a Certified Mutual UFO Network Field Investigator, a member of Great Pyramid of Giza Research Association, and belongs to several ufology organizations.

Above Top Secret with Jim Marrs

We take a break from the recent onslaught of occult-related episodes and delve head-first into the world of conspiracy theory with legendary author Jim Marrs. Jim is the author of the New York Times bestseller 'Crossfire: The plot that killed Kennedy', Above Top Secret, The Sisterhood of the Rose and many more.

This week, we discuss: Did the Nazis ever really go away, Who killed JFK, was Lee Harvey Oswald a Patsy or the lone gunman, and much more.

Joining Ken is SittingNow veteran Jacob 'JW' Williams, a man plagued with questions about the Kennedy assassination. One such question, "was Kennedy's door open?", is now available for your digestion:

[caption id="attachment_1792" align="aligncenter" width="446"] Jacob's eagle-eye spotted this[/caption]

As regular listeners know only too well, there is a plot hatched by ourselves each week, and our lone gunman, Daddytank, has 3 shots of music for you in the shape of:

Ubertweet - I'm Not Dreaming Of You
U-bahn - Camphor
ùƒØ!))))) - Bloody Murder

If you have any queries, suggestions, insults etc. Please feel free to email ken@sittingnow.co.uk.

Enjoy!

 

Jim Marrs Bio:

Jim Marrs was born in Fort Worth. After graduating from University of North Texas he joined the United States Army. On his release in 1968 he joined the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He served as police reporter and general assignments reporter covering stories locally, in Europe and the Middle East. After a leave of absence to serve with a Fourth Army intelligence unit during the Vietnam War, he became military and aerospace writer for the newspaper and an investigative reporter. Marrs began to take an interest in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. After interviewing several members of the Dallas Police Department he became convinced him that the Warren Commission was a cover-up. Marrs continued to investigate the case and interviewed several important witnesses as well as city and county officials.

In 1976 Marrs began teaching a course about the assassination for the University of Texas at Arlington. He left the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 1980 and worked as a freelance journalist while continuing to investigate the death of Kennedy. Marrs eventually became convinced that Lee Harvey Oswald had been set up by the government and in 1989 he published Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy. Published to critical acclaim and reached the New York Times Paperback Non-Fiction Best Seller list in mid-February 1992. It also became a basis for the Oliver Stone film JFK and he served as a chief consultant for both the film's screenplay and production.

Since 1980, Mr. Marrs has been a freelance writer, author and public relations consultant. He also published a rural weekly newspaper along with a monthly tourism tabloid, a cable television show and several videos. Beginning in 1992, Mr. Marrs spent three years researching and completing a non-fiction book on a top-secret government program involving the psychic phenomenon known as remote viewing only to have it mysteriously canceled as it was going to press in the summer of 1995. Within two months, the story of military-developed remote viewing broke nationally in the Washington Post after the CIA held a press conference revealing the program but putting their own spin on psychic studies. Psi Spies is now available from JimMarrs.com.

In May, 1997, Marrs' in-depth investigation of UFOs, Alien Agenda, was published by HarperCollins. Marrs has been a featured speaker at a number of national conferences including the Annual International UFO Congress and the Annual Gulf Breeze UFO Conference. Publisher's Weekly described the book as "the most entertaining and complete overview of flying saucers and their crew in years." The paperback edition was released in mid-1998 and has since become the best-selling UFO book ever in the United States. Beginning in 2000, he began teaching a course on UFOs at the University of Texas at Arlington.

In early 2000, HarperCollins published Rule by Secrecy, which traced the hidden history that connects modern secret societies to the Ancient Mysteries. In 2003, his book The War on Freedom probed the conspiracies of the 9/11 attacks and their aftermath.

Other books by Jim Marrs includes Inside Job: Unmasking the 9/11 Conspiracies (2004), Terror Conspiracy, The: Provocation, Deception and 9/11 (2006) and Rise of the Fourth Reich (2008)

Modern Magick with Donald Michael Kraig

This week we discuss: Being a 'modern magician', Sex Magick, Tantra, Initatory orders, Occult novels, secret rituals of certain orders, how a magickal order should survive the information age, and much more.

I am joined this week in the palacial SittingNow studio by new  co-hosts Cameron Leonard-Schroff, and Paul Powney.

As is tradition and lore in the ancient ways of SittingNow; Frater Daddytank and his secret order of underground musicians perfom their musical rites, this weeks noise-niks are:

The Jack Parsons Project - Corinth
Factura - Piano Exp 2
Karakoid - Too Much Space (Factoid Remix)

If you have any queries, suggestions, insults etc. Please feel free to email ken@sittingnow.co.uk.

Enjoy!

Micheal Donald Kraig Bio:

Donald Michael Kraig graduated from UCLA with a degree in philosophy. He has also studied public speaking and music (traditional and experimental) on the university level. After a decade of personal study and practice, he began ten years of teaching courses in the Southern California area on such topics as Kabalah, Tarot, Magic, Tantra, and Psychic Development. He has been a member of many spiritual and magical groups and is an initiated Tantric.

Occult America with Mitch Horowitz

This weeks guest, Mitch Horowitz, is the author of the excellent new book 'Occult America: How Mysticism Shaped our Nation'. Mitch has held a lifelong interest in the Occult and Supernatural, and after pursuing the subject for as long, naturally, became the editor of one of the largest publishers of Occult and Supernatural works Tarcher/Penguin.

In this weeks episodes we discuss: Freemasons, Mesmirism, Theosophy, Astrology and the dark side of American occultism.

Daddytank and his army of flying (musical) monkeys return this week in the shape of:

Memories of Tree's - Snakes and Headaches

Diamond District - I Mean Business

Vlooper - Muzungu

Enjoy!

Mitch Horowitz Bio:

Mitch Horowitz is a writer and publisher of many years' experience with a lifelong interest in man’s search for meaning. The editor-in-chief of Tarcher/Penguin in New York, he is the author of Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation (Bantam, September 2009).

A frequent writer and speaker on metaphysical themes, he has appeared on CBS Sunday Morning, Dateline NBC, The History Channel, The Montel Williams Show, All Things Considered, Air America Radio, and Coast to Coast AM. He has written for U.S. News and World Report, Parabola, Science of Mind, the Religion News Service, and the popular weblog BoingBoing.

At Tarcher/Penguin, Horowitz has published some of today’s leading titles in world religion, esoterica, and the metaphysical. He has also published notable works in philosophy, social thought and politics. His recent titles include Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity by David Lynch; 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl by Daniel Pinchbeck; The American Soul: Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Founders by Jacob Needleman; The Secret Teachings of All Ages: Reader’s Edition by Manly P. Hall; and Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush’s War on Iraq by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber.

Druids, Satan and Crud with Isaac Bonewits

We finally did it, we reached episode 30! To celebrate the 'big 3 0' we decided to invite back co-hosts Raymond Wiley and Austin Gandy to get the proceedings in full swing, and booked a guest that we've been hankering after for a while now. To top this off, we also recorded the show live (something we plan to do from now on), and our audience gave us some great questions!

The guest in question, Isaac Bonewits, has had a fantastically rich career in occultism. From becoming the ArchDruid of  the RDNA, to helping reconstruct the 'Caliphate' branch of the OTO, Isaac gives us a fantastically engaging, frank and often funny, interview.

Discussed this week: Why Neo-paganism appears to be changing, How to get thrown out of the Church of Satan by Aton Lavay, being awarded the only recognised academic degree in 'Magic', the effect of 'crud' on estoterism, and uncle Aleister.

Of course, no show would be complete without a musical interlude from the amazing Daddytank and his chorus of noise! This weeks entertainers:

Each Paw Gremlin Small - IIIsey

e.r.o.d.e - R03

Early Paintings - Fundamentalist

We'll keep you posted on the site for when we're doing the next live show. You can also follow site developments on Twitter, just follow @sittingnow

enjoy!

Isaac Bonewits Bio:

Bonewits, P. E. I. (Isaac) (1949–?) One of the brightest and most colorful figures of the Neopagan movement, Philip Emmons Isaac Bonewits is best known for his leadership in modern Druidism. He is a priest, magician, scholar, author, bard and activist, and has dedicated himself to reviving Druidism as a “Third Wave” religion aimed at protecting “Mother Nature and all Her children.“

Bonewits was born on October 1, 1949, in Royal Oak, Michigan — the perfect place, he likes to joke, for a future Archdruid. The fourth of five children (three girls, two boys), he spent most of his childhood in Ferndale, a suburb of Detroit. When he was nearly 12, the family moved to [Southern California, first on the actual beach of Capistrano Beach, later to] San Clemente, California.

From his mother, a devout Roman Catholic, Bonewits developed an appreciation for the importance of religion; from his father, a convert to Catholicism from Presbyterianism, he acquired skepticism. He bounced back and forth between parochial and public schools, largely due to the lack of programs for very bright students — his I.Q. was tested at 200.

His first exposure to magic came at age 13, when he met a young Creole woman from New Orleans who practiced Voodoo. She showed him some of her magic and so accurately divined the future [and so successfully performed spells] that he was greatly impressed. During his teen years, he read extensively about magic and parapsychology. He also read science fiction, which often has strong magical and psychic themes.

In ninth grade, Bonewits entered a Catholic high-school seminary. He soon realized, however, that he did not want to be a priest in the Catholic faith. He returned to public school and graduated a year early. After spending a year in junior college to get foreign language credits, he enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley in 1966. At about the same time, he began practicing magic, devising his own rituals by studying the structure of rituals in books, and by observing them in various churches.

His roommate at Berkeley, Robert Larson, was a Druid, an alumnus of Carleton College, where the Reformed Druids of North America (RDNA) had been founded in 1963. Larson interested Bonewits in Druidism and initiated him into the RDNA. The two established a grove in Berkeley. Bonewits was ordained as a Druid priest in October 1969. The Berkeley grove was shaped as a Neopagan religion, unlike other RDNA groves, which considered the order a philosophy. The Neopagan groves became part of a branch called the New Reformed Druids of North America (NRDNA).

During college, Bonewits spent about eight months as a member of the Church of Satan, an adventure that began as a lark. The college campus featured a Spot where evangelists of various persuasions would lecture to anyone who would listen. As a joke, Bonewits showed up one day to perform a satirical lecture as a Devil’s evangelist. He was so successful that he was approached by a woman who said she represented Anton Szandor LaVey, the founder of the Church of Satan. Bonewits attended the church’s meetings and improved upon some of their rituals but dropped out after personality conflicts with LaVey. The membership, he found, consisted largely of middleclass conservatives who were more “rightwing and racist” than Satanist.

Bonewits had intended to major in psychology but through Berkeley’s individual group-study program fashioned his own course of study. In 1970 he graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in magic [and thaumaturgy], the first person ever to do so at a Westem educational institution. He also was the last to do so in the United States[?]. College administrators were so embarrassed over the publicity about the degree that magic, witchcraft and sorcery were banned from the individual group-study program.

The fame of his degree led to a book contract. In 1971 Real Magic was published, offering Bonewits’ views on magic, ritual and psychic abilities. A revised and updated edition was published in 1979 and reissued in 1989.

In 1973 Bonewits met a woman named Rusty [Elliot], a folksinger in the Berkeley cafes. They moved to Minneapolis, where they were married, and where Bonewits took over the editorship of Gnostica, a Neopagan journal published by Carl Weschcke of Llewellyn Publications. He gaveGnostica a scholarly touch and turned it into the leading journal in the field. But the job lasted only 1 1/2 years, for the editorial changes resulted in the loss of many non-Pagan readers, who found the magazine too high brow.

Bonewits remained in Minneapolis for about another year. While there he established a Druid grove called the Schismatic Druids of North America, a splinter group of the RDNA. He also joined with several Jewish pagan friends and created the Hasidic Druids of North America, the only grove of which existed briefly in St. Louis, where its membership overlapped with that of the Church of All Worlds. In 1974–75, Bonewits [partially] wrote, edited and self-published The Druid Chronicles (Evolved), a compendium of the history, theology, rituals and customs of all the Reformed Druid movements, including the ones he invented himself.

[During this same time] he also founded the Aquarian Anti-Defamation League (AADL), a civil liberties and public relations organization for members of minority belief systems, such as the Rosicrucians, Theosophists, Neopagans, Witches, occultists, astrologers and others. [See The Aquarian Manifesto.] Bonewits sought to convince such persons that they had more in common with each other than they realized. By banding together, they could effectively fight, through the press and the courts, the discrimination and harassment of the Judeo-Christian conservatives.

Bonewits served as president of the AADL and devoted most of his income — from unemployment insurance — to running it. The organization scored several small victories in court, such as restoring an astrologer to her apartment, after she had been evicted because a neighbor told her landlord that her astrology classes were “black magic seances.” In 1976 Bonewits and Rusty divorced, and he decided to return to Berkeley. The AADL disintegrated shortly after his departure.

In Berkeley, Bonewits rejoined the NRDNA grove and was elected Archdruid. He established The Druid Chronicler (which later became Pentalpha Journal) as a national Druid publication in 1978. He attempted to make the Berkeley grove as Neopagan as the groves in Minneapolis and St. Louis, which caused a great deal of friction among the longtime members. After a few clashes, Bonewits left the organization. Pentalpha Journal folded.

[Also in 1978 , he researched and wrote Authentic Thaumaturgy, essentially a rewrite of Real Magic for players of fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons. It was published in booklet format, shown left, in 1978 and 1979 by The Chaosium, publishers of the Runequest and Call of Cthulu games. “A.T.” became highly influential in the RPG community, even though no more than 1,000 copies were ever printed. Many years later, in 1998, he published a dramatically expanded and updated edition, shown right, for Steve Jackson Games, which released it as a large trade paperback. Excerpts from this new edition can be foundhere.]

In 1979 he married for a second time, to a woman named Selene [Kumin]. That relationship ended in 1982 [after a brief stay in Santa Cruz, California, where he worked as a typesetter]. In 1983 he was initiated into the New Reformed Order of the Golden Dawn [the San Francisco Bay Area’s best known, and stereotypically “eclectic,” Wiccan tradition]. The same year, he married again, to Sally Eaton, the actress who created the role of the hippie Witch in the Broadway musical, Hair. [During the early 1980s, Bonewits and Eaton were heavily involved in the California revival of the Ordo Templi Orientis, or “O.T.O.,” best known for its most important historical figure, Aliester Crowley.] They moved to New York City in 1983 where Bonewits met Shenain Bell, a fellow Neopagan, and discussed the idea of starting a Druidic organization.

The fellowship, Ár nDraíocht Féin (“Our Own Druidism” in Irish Gaelic), was born as a fresh Neopagan religious organization with no ties to the ancient Druids or to the RDNA, which by this time was apparently [but not exactly] defunct. Bonewits became Archdruid, and Bell became ViceArchdruid.

In 1986 Bonewits and Eaton separated, and he moved to Kansas City for several months, where he worked as a computer consultant. He then returned to Berkeley but could not find work in Silicon Valley, which was in a slump [they had a glut of unemployed technical writers at the time]. He moved back to the East Coast, to Nyack, New York, near Manhattan, in November 1987, with his intended fourth wife, Deborah Lipp, a Wiccan high priestess [and married her in 1988]. He continued work as a computer consultant and worked on the building of Ár nDraíocht Féin. He also began work on a book on the creation, preparation and performance of effective religious rituals [finally published as Rites of Worship: A Neopagan Approachin 2004 and as Neopagan Rites in 2007].

[From 1988 through 1995, Bonewits and Lipp were partners (along with several others across the continent) in making ADF the largest and most successful Neopagan Druid organization in North America, with legal standing and tax exempt status in the USA. For most of this time, they were also partners in running a Gardnerian Wiccan “Pagan Way” group and then a coven in New York and New Jersey.]

[1990 saw the birth of Bonewits’ first known child, Arthur Lipp-Bonewits, at their home in Dumont, New Jersey. Arthur quickly became known among East Coast Neopagans as an intelligent, self-aware, and hyperactive child. 1990 also saw, however, a serious blow to Bonewits’ health, when he began showing symptoms of a newdisease called Eosinophilia Myalgia Syndrome, caused by chemically contaminated L-Tryptophan tablets manufactured in Japan and consumed by tens of thousands of Americans in 1989. This multisystemic disease caused Bonewits an increasing inability to perform his secular or Archdruidic duties, leading to his loss of employment in 1992 and his resignation as Archdruid of ADF, and assumption of the Archdruid Emeritus title, on January 1, 1996.  In 1997 and 1998, Bonewits began to show signs of recovering from the disease’s worst effects, except for relapses in the winter months, but by this time the disease had also caused severe damage to his marriage with Deborah, and in 1998 they separated.]

The “10–year gap.” Bonewits has discovered, he says, a “10–year gap” between many of his views and their acceptance among Neopagans. In 1973 he was the first Neopagan to state publicly that the alleged antiquity of Neopagan Witchcraft (Wicca) was “hogwash.” The Craft, he said, did not go back beyond Gerald B. Gardner and Doreen Valiente [Now he is willing to push it all the back to the 1920’s. See Witchcraft: A Concise Guide]. Bonewits was held in contempt by many for that, yet by 1983, Neopagans generally acknowledged that Neopagan Witchcraft was a new religion, not the continuation of an old one. The Aquarian Anti-Defamation League was also ahead of its time. In 1974–75, Neopagans were not ready to admit that they needed public relations and legal help. By a decade later, a number of such organizations were in existence.

Around 1985 Bonewits began regularly discussing the need to provide social services for domestic and personal problems and drug dependencies. Neopagans, he points out, represent a cross section of the population, and such problems cut across religious lines. Bonewits estimates that as many as 80 percent of Neopagans come from “non[‘dys-’]functional family” backgrounds. Neopagans, he observes, are brighter and more artistic than average, but also, therefore, “more neurotic.” [He now thinks much of it may be related to “Aspergers Syndrome”] The community has been quick to address these social issues with programs [such as various “Pagan 12-Step Programs”].

Bonewits also began lobbying for financial support for full-time Neopagan clergy (the priesthood is essentially a volunteer job), but the idea fell on uninterested ears. In 1988 Bonewits was pursuing a goal of buying land and establishing an academically accredited Pagan seminary. [As of 2006, there are dozens of Pagan-owned land sanctuaries, and a few Pagan seminaries earning accreditation from the national accreditation agencies. Alas, ADF is not among them, though a couple of ADF groves own their own land. A few Neopagan clergy have managed to obtain employment via the Covenent of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS) as UU ministers.]

[On July 23, 2004, Isaac was handfasted to ceremonial magician, Wiccan priestess, and early member of CUUPS, Ms. Phaedra Heyman. On December 7th of 2007, Isaac and Deborah were legally divorced and Isaac and Phaedra were wed on December 31, 2007. They now reside in Rockland County, New York, and have recently written a book together: Real Energy: Systems, Spirits, and Substances to Heal, Change, and Grow (New Page, March 2007).

High Weirdness By Email with Rev. Ivan Stang

Praise 'Bob', We return in a week shaped week (for a change), and who better to fill your sound cavity for this weeks show than this weeks guest?

BEHOLD! High Weirdness by email, in which we, together with the most holy Rev. Ivan Stang, discuss cults, pagans and other weirdness.

BE TURNED ON! by possibly the first ever mating call of the Subgenius captured on a earthly recording device.

PRAISE 'BOB'! as we discuss, X-Day, The Starwood Festival,  no-good-no-Bob-niks, 9/11 truthers, Isaac Bonewits, SATAN, and of course J.R. Bob Dobbs.

The right honourable Daddytank returns from the soundmines, tools in hand, to deliver another astounding MySpace Heroes. This weeks solid-gold prospects:

Zano Bathroom - Live and Direct
Cubist Upshot - Resonants III 
Curios - The Tiling Song

See you 'next week'...and don't forget to enjoy!

PRABOB

Ivan Stang Bio:

Rev. Ivan Stang, born  August 21, 1953 in Washington, D.C., raised in Fort Worth,Texas, and attended the St. Mark's School of Texas. He is best known as the author and publisher of the first screed of the Church of the SubGenius. He is credited with founding the Church along with his pal Philo Drummond in 1979, though Stang himself denies this and claims the organization was founded in 1953 by J. R. "Bob" Dobbs. Since the publication of the first SubGenius pamphlet in 1980, Stang has embarked on a worldwide crusade (spanning at least three continents) to promote the Church. In May 2006 he finished writing, editing and designing a new SubGenius book for Thunder's Mouth Press, 'The SubGenius Psychlopaedia of Slack: The Bobliographon'. He has appeared on several national radio and television shows, including the The Jon Stewart Show on MTV. Stang is an instructor on the faculty of the Maybe Logic Academy. Both he and J.R. "Bob" Dobbs appear as characters in John Shirley's science fiction novel Kamus of Kadizar: The Black Hole of Carcosa.

Aleister Crowley's Magick with Rodney Orpheus

After the most month-shaped week in history, we return to game with a great new episode of SittingNowish delights. This weeks guest, the fantastic Rodney Orpheus, gives us a great interview about the infamous Aleister Crowley. Discussed: Magick, The Abbey of the Thelema, The Ordo Templi Orientis, The A∴A∴, why Crowley is still so revered, Doing thou will, and our plot for a strange Victorian porn film.

Hyde to Kim's Jekyll, Daddytank, returns with a nostalgic, but great MySpace Heroes. This weeks Musikal weapons:

Twiggy and the K-Mesons : Preset Love
Yellow Then Blue : The Black Rose
Raleigh St Clair : Alphabet

Books recomended by Rodney:

Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley & The Eye in the Triangle: Interpretation of Aleister Crowley

Rodney's own fantastic book:

Abrahadabra: Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thelemic Magick

Don't forget to give us a review on iTunes when you have a spare 2 minutes, we'd really appreciate it.

Enjoy!

Rodney Orpheus' (impressive) Biography:

Rodney Orpheus was born in Northern Ireland, and in the past years has lived in Hamburg, Germany and Los Angeles, California. He currently lives in The Cotswolds in England.

For the past twenty years Rodney has been well-known as a musician, record producer, and author. He lectures frequently at colleges and music business events, where his ability to present highly technical matters in an entertaining, understandable style has made him very much in demand.

Rodney has acted as a consultant with many of the top companies in the music instrument industry in the past years, most notably with Steinberg and DTS, as well as writing a regular monthly column for Computer Music magazine and running the ground-breaking musicians community at mi7.com

After the release of his seminal band, The Cassandra Complex's first records Orpheus spent several years touring Europe, originally basing himself in Aachen, Germany, where he joined Ordo Templi Orientis. Orpheus had been studying the works of Aleister Crowleyand other occult authors since his teenage years, and previously had been founder and editor of the UK occult newspaper Pagan News along with Phil Hine. While in Aachen he began work on the book Abrahadabra, published originally by Looking Glass Press in Sweden, later republished by Weiser Books. The book has been described as "a significant contribution to the field of thelemic, or Crowleyan if you will, magick." and "one of the very few competent and readable introductory texts to Thelemic magick."

He still also occasionally gets time to play with The Cassandra Complex on stage and in the studio. He is currently completing work on his second book.

What happened to the Counterculture?

Just when you thought we were 'pod-fading' (whatever the hell that means), we return with a BANG!  Back in the early 1990's a strange thing occurred: fringe-culture exploded. Not only did we see shows like The X-Files take centre stage; but also the apparent rise of a new fringe-community online. But, like all really cool things, it seemed to evaporate at the begining of the new Millennium.

In this weeks bumper episode, we talk to three 'fringe-savants', all of whom were major contributors to this scene (and continue to innovate to this day):Douglas Rushkoff,Richard MetzgerandR.U.Sirius, to find out what happened to the Counterculture. Discussed: Pre-millennium tension, Countercultural-personalities, Made culture, defining counterculture and loads more.

Joining me in the ever expanding co-host chair is Kim 'Daddytank' Monaghan, who draws some rather profound inspiration from, of all places, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Of course, no episode of SittingNow would be complete without some fine musical selections from the Interwebs, this week taking the form of:

Gypsum- Bonaissance
Daemien Frost- Slut Style
Cabbage- Industrial Tourism
Adventure Fiddler Daevid Bragger- My Four Reasons

We'll be back next week with the Rev. Ivan Stang (praise "Bob")!

enjoy!

Douglas Rushkoff has a fantastic new book imminent, check it outhere

R.U.Sirius also has a great new book outhere, and check out his amazingH+ magazine

Richard Metzger is about to launch a great new site, until then check out his new web-show'Dangerous Minds'

 

The Three Stigmata of Phillip K. Dick, with Erik Davis

BACK IN THE SADDLE! We finally return to the world of audio podcasting after a few weeks of video capture and training (coming June 2009). This week we dream of android-sheep, with cultural critic and social theorist Erik Davis. In this (the first of many we hope) interview, we decided to focus on Erik's study of visionary-author Phillip K. Dick, as well as a brief look at Davis' own 'Techgnosis' studies. In this episode, we discuss Phillip K. Dick's bizarre life, the 'pink laser' experience, the Valis-trilogy, Dick's exegesis, Technosis and much more.

While our first-officer, Claire Lumiere, remains aurally-absent again this week; our sub-mariner, Daddytank, and his navy of musical vessels, defend our shores of the alternative once again with his excellent 'Myspace Heroes'. This week's high-yield torpedoes come in the shape of:

Migration - They Said That Committed Suicide
action world ! - am i paranoia
Dotted Fielda - rainDance
Xela - Beatae Immortalitatis

Join us next week, and we mean next week this time, with an amazing interview with returning guests Douglas Rushkoff and Richard Metzger!

Erik Davis Biog:

Erik Davis is a San Franciso-based writer, culture critic, and independent scholar. His book TechGnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information was released by Harmony Books in the fall of 1998. It has been translated into five languages, and has achieved, in certain circles, the vaguely enviable status of a "cult classic." Davis is a contributing writer for Wired magazines, and wrote "The Posthuman Condition" column for the sadly departed online magazine Feed. His essays have appeared in over half a dozen books, including Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics (Chronicle), The Disinformation Book of Lies (Disinfo), Prefiguring Cyberculture (MIT Press) and Paul "DJ Spooky" Miller's Sound Unbound (MIT). He has contributed articles and essays to a wide variety of publications, including Bookforum, The Wire, ArtByte, the LA Weekly, Gnosis, and the Village Voice. His articles have been translated for publication in countries ranging from Japan to Brazil to Hungary.

Davis has taught at the California Institute of Integral Studies, the New York Open Center, and Esalen, and was one of the organizers of Planetwork, a conference on information technology and global ecology held in San Francisco in 2000. He has been interviewed by CNN, has popped up on radio shows internationally, and appeared prominently in Craig Baldwin's underground film, the SciFi media critique Specters of the Spectrum. His in-depth studies of the science fiction author Philip K. Dick have been acknowledged by the New Yorker. Davis has also lectured internationally on topics relating to media arts, contemporary electronic music, and spirituality in the postmodern world.

Davis is a fifth-generation Californian, and is currently working with the photographer Michael Rauner on California Visions, a photo-essay travelogue through the Golden State's landscape of alternative spirituality. He is also at work on a short book about Led Zeppelin, and various fragments of bardo fiction.

 

Explaining the Universe with Jim Elvidge

This week we chat with author Jim Elvidge about our assumptions of reality. Jim is the author of the excellent 'The Universe Solved'. In this weeks episode, we discuss alternate realities, living in a programmed reality, Quantum and String theories, existence, and over-clocking time and space.

Claire remains absent for now, however, DaddyTank fires a barrage of musical excellence from his secret bunker. This week's heavy artillery is:

DJ Lobsterdust - It's Fun To Smoke Dust www.myspace.com/djlobsterdust
Xicana Machete - A Sordid Flavour www.myspace.com/xicanamachete
Under Embellished - Pill Farm www.myspace.com/filmtape
Ars Dada - Butcher www.myspace.com/arsdada

We return next Friday with 'Behind Closed Doors - Broadcast #002' and Saturday with Episode 26 of SittingNow!

Enjoy

Jim Elvidge bio from his excellent http://theuniversesolved.com

Jim Elvidge holds a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University. He has applied his training in the high-tech world as a leader in technology and enterprise management, including many years in executive roles for various companies and entrepreneurial ventures. He also holds 4 patents in digital signal processing and has written articles for publications as diverse as Monitoring Times and the IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing. Beyond the high-tech realm, however, Elvidge has years of experience as a musician, writer, and truth seeker. He merged his technology skills with his love of music, developed one of the first PC-based digital music samplers, and co-founded RadioAMP, the first private-label online streaming-radio company. For many years, Elvidge has kept pace with the latest research, theories, and discoveries in the varied fields of subatomic physics, cosmology, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and the paranormal. This unique knowledge base has provided the foundation for his first full-length book, “The Universe-Solved!”

Voodoo, Dumps and Chaos Magick with Andrieh Vitimus

This week we hook-up with author Andrieh Vitimus abut all things Chaos Magick. In this weeks episode, we delve deep into the practice of Chaos Magick, How going for a dump can be of use, Haitian Voodoo, the joys and head-f*cks of Astral work and much more.  Andrieh has just authored and released a great new book 'Hands-On Chaos Magick', published by the great Llewellyn Books.

Again, we are Claire-less this week, but never fear, DaddyTank is here with another great MySpace Heroes:

Bab - My Sea Life  www.myspace.com/babexperimental
made out of wool - ghjjjjjjjjjj www.myspace.com/madeoutofwool
Yatsumiki Diturimoto - Uptake Cynical  www.myspace.com/yatsumikiditurimoto

Andrieh Vitimus Biog:

Andrieh Vitimus has been a practicing magician for over 15 years in multiple systems. He holds the highest initiatory rank in Haitian Vodou, that of Houngan asogwe.  He is an initiate of the Roots Without End Society, initiatory son of Mambo Racine Sans Bout.  He has taught metaphysical classes at Alchemy Arts in Chicago for the last 6 years. He has had several store appearances through out the Midwest and has taught at conventions including Aeonfest, Ancient Ways, Convocation, and Sirius Rising.    Andrieh Vitimus's magical career, however, began with a undergraduate degree in psychology with a strong emphasis on cognitive science.  He is a Usui and Karuna Reiki Master Teacher, and is a licensed hypnotherapist.  In addition to the formal training as a Reiki master and Qigong practitioner, Andrieh Vitimus comes from a line of magically inclined individuals whose lineage include Asowge level Haitian Voodoo priests, Jesuit priests, psychics, and natural healers.  He is a member of the prestigious Illuminates of Thanateros, which is one of the most difficult magical organizations to enter.

Enjoy!

A Tribute to Robert Anton Wilson

HAIL ERIS!!! This week we present you with a BUMPER two hour Robert Anton Wilson tribute spectacular! Joining me, amongst a plethora of guests, is the host of the Disinformation Companies Podcast Joe McFall (Mort also joins us for one section). In this weeks episode, we jump into the enlightening concepts of Discordianism, Magick, Conspiracy Theories, Subgenius, General Semantics, The CounterCulture old and new amongst other Wilsonian subjects. Also check out the chance to win a copy of the amazing Maybe Logic DVD, courtesy of the amazing Deep Leaf Productions.

We are joined in our discussion by returning guests Rev. Ivan Stang from the Church of the Subgenius, Thelemic author and all-round Magickal chap Lon Milo Duquette, co-founder of the Disinformation Company Richard Metzger and Experimental Magician Taylor Ellwood.

Of course, no episode of SittingNow would be complete without the infinite musical wisdom of DaddyTank, who this week presents us with:

Yeknom Susej - Monkey Pickle

Yellow Then Blue - C Mass

Beta Central - Massacre Component

Youngdental - Full and Empty Country

Clips used in the show are used courtesy of Deep Leaf Productions, and Sounds True Audio.

Check out both of these recordings, I would recommend them to anyone!

Looking back at 2008

This week we mark the end of our holiday break by discussing some of our 'favorite bits' of 2008. Topics covered in this show include Anonymous, The end of Neo-Paganism as we know it?, Patriots and the Georgia Guidestones and of course Obama (or in this case OBAWWWWMA).

Joining me for this episodes banter is Sir Raymond Wiley and Lord Austin Gandy from ye olde Out There Radio and the all new Disinformation The Podcast.

Of course Lady Claire Lumiere delivers us the latest Weekly Weird News and the Nobleman that is Daddytank serves up another great MySpace Heroes in the shape of:

District Of Evolution - New Paper Crusader
Magnetic Stripper - set 5a
Zabutom - Leningrad Vodka Rush
A Boy And His Recorder - Ice Cream Chuck

The episode of Out There Radio that Raymond plugs with no shame throughout the show can be found at www.outthereradio.net

Join us weekly again from now, as we examine counterculture, the Occult, underground and all the usual good stuff...so you don't have to.

Enjoy

Open Source Reality with Douglas Rushkoff!

This week we talk to one of my all time favourite writers and thinkers Douglas Rushkoff. In this episode we discuss, Obama's potential to tap into bottom-up politics, what happens if we stop believing in the economy, Conspiracy Cultre, hacking reality, what the next renaissance might look like, writing comics, why advertising doesn't work and Magick. I really hope you enjoy this special 20th episode of the show. I'm a HUGE fan of Mr Rushkoff making this a very special episode for me!

Joining me in the examiners chair this week is Media-Underground's George Mortimer and FINALLY our very own Claire Lumiere!

Daddytank hits in with another baby killingly (this will make sense if you listen) awesome 'Myspace Heroes', featuring:

Babies In A Woodchipper
Klam
Made For Chickens By Robots
The Battery Davis
Zano Bathroom

Enjoy!

Douglas Rushkoff Bio (pinched from Wired.com)

Douglas Rushkoff is an author, professor, media theorist, journalist, as well as a keyboardist for the industrial band PsychicTV. His books include Media Virus, Coercion, Nothing Sacred: The Truth About Judaism (a book which opened up the question of Open Source Judaism), Exit Strategy (an online collaborative novel), and a monthly comic book, Testament. He founded the Narrative Lab at New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program, a space which seeks to explore the relationship of narrative to media in an age of interactive technology.

Enochian Vision Magick with Lon Milo Duquette

This week we chat once again to the amazing Lon Milo Duquette! In this weeks episode we discuss the interesting topic of John Dee and Edward Kelly's Enochian Magick, the controlled-schizophrenia of Magick, how angels give you Ferrari's and 'why Magick?'

Joining me in the co-host dungeon this week is our newest initiate in the mystery-school that is SittingNow, Adrian Dobbie, who you may remember has written some great articles and reviews for the site. Once again, Mort of the fabulous Media Underground returns to aid us in our endeavours.

Claire provides yet another great Weekly Weird News, in which she bemoans the loss of the worlds ugliest dog, and DaddyTank's amazing  'Myspace Heroes' returns for its second week, you can check the featured artists here:

Vicsid -  http://www.myspace.com/vicsid

Kramer V Kramer V Godzilla - http://www.myspace.com/kvkvg

Twiggy and the K-Mesons - http://www.myspace.com/twiggyandthekmesons

Next week we interview the Social Philosopher and Media Theorist Douglas Rushkoff, a personal hero of mine, about all things open-source, so keep em peeled for that!

Enjoy!

Hunting Monsters with Jonathan Downes!

This week we chat to the amazing Jonathan Downes, the director of the Centre of Fortean Zoology. Jonathan is a real-life monster hunter and has uncovered many mysteries surrounding bizarre and weird sightings of unknown and unidentified creatures. In this weeks episode we discuss The Owlman and the decline of education, The Chupacabra and tiny goats, Hitler's Koi Carp and many other weird and wonderful topics.

My new co-host is George Mortimer of the amazing Media Underground, who's been adding the great new 'Armchair Anarchy' feature to the site. As is usual, Claire brings us this weeks Weekly Weird news.

Our new music feature comes from DaddyTanks 'MySpace Heroes' music picks:

Pang - http://www.myspace.com/pangmusic

Disolved - http://www.myspace.com/dissolvedamberrooms

Raleigh St. Clair - http://www.myspace.com/raleighstclair

Background music comes courtesy of the amazing Martin Denny, and even Mark Snow (if you listen to the interview closely).

We'll be back next week with Lon Milo Duquette, who you'll remember from episode 5 of the show.

[powerpress]

Jonathan Downes is a cryptozoologist, author, film-maker, journalist, composer and singer-songwriter, with a background in radical politics and mental health care. His father, the explorer and Colonial Service Officer J. T. Downes, authored several books on wide range of subjects, such as African history, theology and Devonshire dialect. His mother Mary Downes was a broadcaster and author who published several collections of Nigerian folklore under the pen-name `Yar Kunama`.

He is currently the editor of Animals & Men; the journal of the Centre for Fortean Zoology, the editor of Exotic Pets - a magazine published by CFZ Press, and until August 2007 was and the Deputy Editor of Tropical World magazine, a tropical fish magazine published in the UK. He has also edited and contributed to several other publications over the years.

According to his autobiography and other writings, as a child he lived in Nigeria, and then Hong Kong (then a British Crown Colony), and returned to the UK in 1971, when his father was 'invalided out' of the Hong Kong government. He was educated at Bideford Grammar School, (1971-6) and later West Buckland School from which he was expelled. He worked as a psychiatric nurse between 1981-90 and between 1990 and 1994 ran the fan club for Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel.

Magick 101 with Austin Gandy

In this weeks show we chat with the fantastic Austin Gandy about the basics of Magick. Austin knows his subject and delivers the goods this week in another great interview. Fans of our friends Out There Radio will know Mr Gandy from his work on the 'Invisible College' episode of the show, as well as being their guest for some of the best episodes. In this episode we look at the real basics of magick, as if the listener was a would-be adept, walking through their local occult bookstore, pondering where to get stuck in!

Claire delivers once again with her awesome Weekly Weird News, and we make a desperate plea for attention from our fans! Next week we'll hopefully be heading back into the paranormal world with an interview about Crypto-Zoology!

Music this week comes in the shape of Kid606, you can download this track for free here, background music this week comes from Earth and Don Cab!

See you next time!

Uncovering Quackery with ‘The Amazing’ James Randi

In this weeks show we chat to everyones favourite magician and seeker of paranormal-proof, 'The Amazing' James Randi. James is well known throughout the United States for shedding light on con-men and women that claim to posses paranormal gifts. One of his most famous cases, of which he has written a book, is Uri Geller who, as you'll hear in the show, still manages to maintain a successful career even after numerous 'outings' by the likes of James.

In this interview we discuss James's million-dollar reward for proof of the paranormal, Oprah Winfrey's belief in 'The Secret' (or Magick for housewives, as it should be titled), rouge faith-healers, Johny Carson, the Large Hadron Collider and why people need to believe in quackery!

Also in this episode, Out There Radio and DisInfoCast host Raymond Wiley stops by to make an announcement, including some exciting news for some of the Sitting Now crew.

We finally get Claire on the show with her 'Weird Weekly News', and we discuss all the latest features and articles on the site.

Music this week comes courtesy of Kylesa and their amazing tune Hallow Severer from the album Time Will Fuse Its Worth, thanks to those guys for giving us permission to play the track and buy the album, it's great!

Enjoy!

Official James Randi Biography:

James Randi has an international reputation as a magician and escape artist, but today he is best known as the world's most tireless investigator and demystifier of paranormal and pseudoscientific claims.

Randi has pursued "psychic" spoonbenders, exposed the dirty tricks of faith healers, investigated homeopathic water "with a memory," and generally been a thorn in the sides of those who try to pull the wool over the public's eyes in the name of the supernatural.

He has received numerous awards and recognitions, including a Fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 1986.

On October 19, 1993, the PBS-TV "NOVA" program broadcast a one-hour special dealing with Randi's life work, particularly with his investigations of Uri Geller and various occult and healing claims being made by scientists in Russia.

He is the author of numerous books, including The Truth About Uri Geller, The Faith Healers, Flim-Flam!, and An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural. His lectures and television appearances have delighted - and vexed - audiences around the world.
"We may disagree with Randi on certain points, but we ignore him at our peril."
-Carl Sagan

In 1996, the James Randi Education Foundation was established to further Randi's work. Randi's long-standing challenge to psychics now stands as a $1,000,000 prize administered by the Foundation. It remains unclaimed.