
Arnemancy
Explore esotericism, magic, and the occult with Reverend Erik. All of your favorite occultists, astrologers, magicians, and historians of esotericism sit down for casual and informative chats about the bizarre, unusual, and meaningful.
Latest episodes

Dec 9, 2020 • 51min
The Abaton of Asklepios
This episode of the podcast visits the Abaton of Asklepios to incubate a dream from the god for the purposes of healing. This is not a typical episode, and is intended to be used as an episode to help you get to sleep while also performing dream magic and oneiromancy.
The first segment of this episode will give you instructions on preparing your ritual space and explaining the ritual. Relevant parts of those instructions are included below just in case you want to get a jump start on things before listening to the episode.
The second segment is the ritual itself. I look forward to hearing feedback about this episode. Please send me reports of your results with this new and unusual experiment!
Preparing Your Abaton
To prepare for your dream incubation, you will want the following items available.
Pen and paper next to your bed and within easy reach of your sleeping area.
A bed with fresh bedding.
Frankincense incense or essential oil in a diffuser
Flickering LED candles (because you can't leave real candles burning!)
An image of Asklepios or the rod of Asklepios.
Food and drink as an offering to the god.
Incubation Ritual Steps
These steps are explained in the podcast and are typed out here to make things easier for you.
Change your bedding and clean your sleeping area.
Hang the image of Asklepios or his rod over the head of your bed.
Write your healing wish on a piece of paper, and put that paper under your pillow.
Light the frankincense and LED candles.
Take a ritual shower or bath with the intent of cleansing yourself to enter the dream abaton.
Enter your sleeping area reverently.
Perform your usual ritual opening; if you do not have one, at least offer a prayer to the Most High.
Get into bed and listen to the rest of the podcast.
My Gratitude
This is a very different sort of episode and it stretched my skills and got me to work in new ways. I couldn't have done it without the help of these fine folks:
T. Susan Chang
Matt Anthony (also follow him on Instagram!)
Hermanubis Lodge of the Hermetic Federation
My wonderful Patreon supporters
Sources
Orphic hymn №66 to Asklepios
Orphic hymn №85 to the Divinity of Dreams (Oneiroi)
Greek Magical Papyri (PGM) VII. 628-42 and VII. 664-85
Description of Greece by Pausanias
Links
Who is Asclepius?
Asklepios on the Theoi Project
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Listen on Podcrypt

Nov 25, 2020 • 1h 14min
Hermetica with Sam Block
There is a good chance that you are already familiar with my guest on this episode. Sam Block, AKA @polyphanes, is the prolific genius behind the Digital Ambler, his blog covering a wide swath of esoteric and occult topics. Earlier this year, he took on the ambitious project of completing his own translation of the third book of the Corpus Hermeticum, the collection of classical philosophical texts that forms the core of Hermeticism.
We begin this episode with a discussion about the nature of the Corpus Hermeticum and the Hermetica in general, and then we get into Sam's project. We talk about his inspiration, the challenges of the translation, and what he learned through the experience. We discuss stories of creation in the Hermetica, how we use Hermetic concepts in our practices, and how to learn this stuff.
This conversation ranges from the relaxed to the serious, from the frivolous to the deeply thoughtful. I am releasing it the week of Thanksgiving in the United States in the hopes that our conversation will add something special to everybody's lazy holiday.
Links
Sam's translation and commentary on Corpus Hermeticum III
The Digital Ambler
@polyphanes on Twitter
Sam's Etsy shop
Sam's writing on the Heart Sutra
Copenhaver's Hermetica
Salaman's Way of Hermes
My blog post about Corpus Hermeticum XIII
Sam Block on Geomancy and the PGM (back on My Alchemical Bromance)
Hermetic House of Life Discord
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Listen on Podcrypt

Nov 11, 2020 • 59min
True Nature with Rafa Martinelli
Rafa Martinelli is a musician, podcaster, sound healer, and meditation guide. His intuition and curiosity led him to transcendental experiences which awakened in him the quest to remember who we are and how to become more of who we are. In this episode, he joins me from Uruguay to discuss his spiritual journey and how we can address the great secret of our true nature.
Rafa's story is fascinating, and involves adventures and travels with a Taoist doctor of Chinese medicine. We discuss psychedelics, spiritual dimensions, meditation, surrender, and how our ego tends to get in the way.
Links
Rafa's podcast on YouTube
Rafa's music on Bandcamp
@atmanrafa on Instagram
Reverend Erik's guest appearance on Mystic Times
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Listen on Podcrypt

Nov 4, 2020 • 1h 7min
Halloween Showdown with the Alexxcast
This is the audio-only version of the 2020 HALLOWEEN SHOWDOWN live episode that I recorded with Alexx Bollen of the Alexxcast. We had a number of special guests, including Stephanie Quick, Wesley Martusewicz, and Charlie Claire Burgess of the Word Witch.
The original was broadcast live on Halloween 2020 on YouTube. You can watch the original video at this link.
Links
Arnemancy Patreon
Alexx's Patreon

Oct 28, 2020 • 1h 3min
Bruno and the Future with Scott Gosnell
Scott Gosnell recently finished translating his seventh Giordano Bruno book, Song of Circe & On the Composition of Images. Through this long process, he has become more familiar with Bruno's work than probably 99.9% of the people on the planet. We have talked many times on this podcast and the Arnemancy blog about how brilliant Bruno is, and Scott's insight into this Renaissance genius has influenced his understanding of the modern world.
In this episode, we discuss not only Scott's work on Bruno, but the state of the world today, how we can make sure our information about the modern world is good, and how we can start preparing for an uncertain future. He discusses the importance of looking for diverse perspectives in order to understand the information bubbles we all live in, and how other ways of looking at things can help us find new ways to think.
Here in the United States, the national election is right on top of us, and there are plenty of whispers about the uncertainty of this country's future. Scott's advice for evaluating politics through a broader lens and intelligently planning for the future meshes well with my season one conversation with Andrew Watt in Wizards of the Future and can help you take a closer look at your own preparations.
Scott Gosnell is an entrepeneur, scholar, and startup consultant who helps with risk management and personal coaching.
Links
Song of Circe & On the Composition of Images by Giordano Bruno and translated by Scott Gosnell
The Collected Works of Giordano Bruno translated by Scott Gosnell
bottlerocketscience, Scott's blog
Scott Gosnell's writing on Quora
@infinite_me on Twitter
"Ur-Fascism" by Umberto Eco
Resilience Maps - Simple Critical Infrastructure Maps
Halloween Livestream with Alexx Bollen
J Swofford's Picatrix Talisman cards
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Listen on Podcrypt

Oct 14, 2020 • 53min
Surviving Lockdown with Alexx Bollen
Returning regular guest Alexx Bollen joined me in Creston Park in Southeast Portland for a socially distant interview. Our primary topic was dealing with depression during the COVID-19 lockdown, but we got into a number of different topics, including synchronicities, chaos magic, microdosing, and Randonautica.
Note that there is some wind noise and plenty of background park noise in this episode. We recorded outdoors and it had been a while, so unfortunately we just have to live with it!
We discuss the general state of Portland during the lockdown. What's it like on the ground? Where are the people? How are the parks? What happened when the federal government invaded our city? When we get into the politics, we really just wanted to make a few things clear:
We don't want to live in a police state.
We don't want to be murdered by our government.
We don't want anybody to be murdered because of bigotry.
Black lives matter!
The narrative should not be that Portland is burning down.
This should not be a partisan issue!
Alexx and I both acknowledge that none of you are here to hear us talk about politics, and for that we apologize. But politics gets into our occult communities, and if we are not paying attention, then suddenly we get Neo-Nazis and alt-right assholes running corners of our occult world.
Though Alexx and I both had mixed results with Randonautica, we brainstorm some interesting techniques for expanding upon the theme. One that I think is a worthwhile effort is to combine the random destination of Randonautica with the defixio technique from Patrick Dunn's Magic Power Language Symbol. If you are in Portland, Oregon, join me in trying this out at ///senses.deflection.lived.
Links
The Alexxcast
Periphery by Alexx Bollen
Microdosing and Depression
Adventures in Randonauting on the Alexxcast
Randonauts find a dead body
Reed College campus closed
what3words
///senses.deflection.lived
Magic Power Language Symbol by Patrick Dunn
Introduction to Sigils
The featured image for this post is from Rawpixel.
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Listen on Podcrypt

Sep 30, 2020 • 53min
Psychics and Shadows with Nicole Burron
Nicole Burron is a psychic medium, energy worker, shadow guide, death doula and grief counselor. She's been communicating with spirits and feeling spirit energy since childhood, and her current work includes a number of topics which are familiar to any serious occult practitioner. In our conversation, we cover the nature of psychic mediumship and shadow work, and discuss the particulars of working and communicating with spirits. Nicole also discusses working with ancestors and guides.
One of the fascinating things about this conversation is that the language of the psychic medium — which is not the same as the language of a ceremonial magician — frequently seems to describe similar phenomenon, entities, and methods for both work and communication with those entities.
Links
Oh-So Magical Life (Nicole's website)
@nicoleburron on Instagram
Shadow Work Journal Prompts
My appearance on Nicole's podcast
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Listen on Podcrypt

Sep 16, 2020 • 26min
Revisiting the 2020 Forecast
Season two is finally here, and this solo episode opens with a discussion of the current state of the world in 2020. Oregon is on fire, my city is shrouded in smoke, and the rest of the world is in difficult shape, too.
It's time to revisit the 2020 forecast episodes that Andrew Watt helped me with from January of this year. Join me in looking at what we can learn from our predictions from July through December. What's already happened, and what should we be getting ready for? We need to be getting ready to be the wizards of the future!
Finally, this episode also discusses the format of season two. What is changing? What is remaining the same? What can you look forward to? Tune in and find out!
Links
Forecasting 2020 with Andrew B. Watt (part 2)
Wizards of the Future with Andrew Watt
What is Planetary Magic?
Planetary Magic in the Arnemancy Shop
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Listen on Podcrypt

Sep 2, 2020 • 1min
Season Two Trailer
The Arnemancy Podcast is back for a second season! Join the host, Reverend Erik, as he explores the practice, philosophy, and history of the occult, esotericism, and the paranormal.
The Arnemancy Podcast features interviews with historians, practitioners, and scholars to bring light to difficult topics, such as magic, the art of memory, Kabbalah, Tarot, spiritualism, Hermetic philosophy, and more.
Season Two of the Arnemancy Podcast, featuring Reverend Erik, is coming to your favorite podcast service in September of 2020.
You can also find the Arnemancy project on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook – just search for Arnemancy!
Season two of the Arnemancy Podcast promises all the explosions and twice the garden gnomes! Subscribe now!
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Listen on Podcrypt

Jun 24, 2020 • 54min
Sexuality and Gender in Paganism with Misha Magdalene
Author, pagan, and sorcerer Misha Magdelene joins me to talk about the intersection of gender and sexuality with magic and polytheism. Misha is the author of Outside the Charmed Circle: Exploring Gender & Sexuality in Magical Practice and is also the author behind the Patheos blog, Outside the Charmed Circle. We talk about cracking open the ways we are "programmed" to look at the world and how various esoteric practices seem like a perfect place to explore new ways of looking at the world and deconstructing concepts and cultural cues that most of us are never forced to look at very carefully.
Our conversation explores gender and sexuality across a variety of esoteric traditions, including Wicca, modern polytheism, ancient religions, Kabbalah, and more. We discuss the art of writing a book, and Misha's approach to authoring their book. We also discussed how to get started learning about LGBTQ topics and issues, and how to face the fear that keeps us from confronting components of our own identity that might be deeply significant but not of our own making.
This episode wraps up Season One of the Arnemancy Podcast. Season Two will kick off in September, and in the meantime I will be releasing some bonus material for my Patreon supporters, so head over to the Arnemancy Patreon page and check it out.
Links
Misha's book: Outside the Charmed Circle: Exploring Gender & Sexuality in Magical Practice
Find it at Amazon here.
Misha's website
Their blog, Outside the Charmed Circle
@mishamagdalene on Twitter
@mishamagdalene on Instagram
Their Facebook page
Gardnerian Wicca
Anderson Feri tradition
Annie Lynsen's Major Arqueerna
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Listen on Podcrypt
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