Rejected Religion Podcast

Robert Cabrales delves into the origins of Hyperstition, the intriguing idea that fiction can shape reality through belief. He revisits William Burroughs' concepts of time and control, emphasizing the impact of magick and semiotics. The conversation features explorations of the CCRU, the mystical Lemurian Time War, and notable figures like Aleister Crowley and Lovecraft. Cabrales and Burroughs dissect how these narratives intertwine, revealing the liberating potential of merging fiction with our understanding of reality.

Part 2 of Tommy's interview continues with an in-depth look at the cut-up method, and why it's relevant to Burroughs's beliefs about the archons (and what these beings are). We also discuss Gnosticism and the links to Burroughs's ideas, how he viewed magic(k) and why Tommy personally finds Burroughs so interesting.Episode Notes:Tommy P. Cowan's academia.edu page: https://amsterdam.academia.edu/TommyPCowan/Correspondences Journal: https://correspondencesjournal.com/The Exterminator : https://www.sea-urchin.net/books/moloko-print/william-burroughs-brion-gysin-the-exterminator-redux/The Yage Letters + Junky ( & other works): https://all-med.net/pdf/the-yage-letters/And The Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks, with Jack Kerouac (& other works): https://newbooksinpolitics.com/political/and-the-hippos-were-boiled-in-their-tanks/The Soft Machine: http://miltonthed.weebly.com/uploads/1/4/1/6/14162844/burroughs_william_seward-the_soft_machine.pdfNaked Lunch: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7437.Naked_LunchOther authors/ persons of interest mentioned in this episode:Brion Gysin, The Dreamachine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DreamachineJeffrey Kripal, author of The Super Natural : https://www.amazon.com/Super-Natural-New-Vision-Unexplained/dp/1101982322Barry Miles, author of Call Me Burroughs: A Life: https://www.amazon.nl/Call-Me-Burroughs-Barry-Miles/dp/1455511935Ted Morgan, author of Literary Outlaw: The Life and Times of William S. Burroughs: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23949.Literary_OutlawRobert A. Heinlein, sci-fi author: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/h/robert-heinlein/Terrance & Dennis McKenna: https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Landscape-Mind-Hallucinogens-Ching/dp/0062506358Kill Your Darlings (film): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1311071/Naked  Lunch (film): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102511/Episode art credit: photo by Richard Avedon

In Part 1, Tommy will be delving into Burroughs's background in order to explain how Burroughs's experiences influenced his worldview and his writing. We also discuss some important research findings of Tommy's concerning the Mayan 2012 prophecy and the link to Burroughs, the importance of the alien insect overlords found in Burroughs's writings, and expand further on Burroughs's interest in the occult, including why most literary critics ignore this aspect of Burroughs entirely.Episode Notes:Tommy P. Cowan's academia.edu page: https://amsterdam.academia.edu/TommyPCowan/Correspondences Journal: https://correspondencesjournal.com/The Exterminator : https://www.sea-urchin.net/books/moloko-print/william-burroughs-brion-gysin-the-exterminator-redux/The Yage Letters + Junky ( & other works): https://all-med.net/pdf/the-yage-letters/And The Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks, with Jack Kerouac (& other works): https://newbooksinpolitics.com/political/and-the-hippos-were-boiled-in-their-tanks/The Soft Machine: http://miltonthed.weebly.com/uploads/1/4/1/6/14162844/burroughs_william_seward-the_soft_machine.pdfNaked Lunch: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7437.Naked_LunchOther authors/ persons of interest mentioned in this episode:Brion Gysin, The Dreamachine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DreamachineJeffrey Kripal, author of The Super Natural : https://www.amazon.com/Super-Natural-New-Vision-Unexplained/dp/1101982322Barry Miles, author of Call Me Burroughs: A Life: https://www.amazon.nl/Call-Me-Burroughs-Barry-Miles/dp/1455511935Ted Morgan, author of Literary Outlaw: The Life and Times of William S. Burroughs: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23949.Literary_OutlawRobert A. Heinlein, sci-fi author: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/h/robert-heinlein/Terrance & Dennis McKenna: https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Landscape-Mind-Hallucinogens-Ching/dp/0062506358Kill Your Darlings (film): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1311071/Naked  Lunch (film): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102511/Episode art credit: photo by Richard Avedon

In Part 2, we discuss in depth Thomas's own interesting findings regarding an important concept and stage of development in Crowley's system called 'the crossing of the Abyss.' We also talk about the various misunderstandings about Crowley, how he has influenced popular culture, and also why Thomas finds Crowley so appealing.References:Sources mentioned in the podcast by Aleister Crowley:The Book of the Law - http://lib.oto-usa.org/libri/liber0220.htmlMagick (Book 4) -  https://hermetic.com/crowley/book-4/indexMagick Without Tears - https://hermetic.com/crowley/magick-without-tears/indexThe Confessions of Aleister Crowley - https://hermetic.com/crowley/confessions/indexThe Equinox - http://www.the-equinox.org/  https://keepsilence.org/the-equinox/

In Part 1, Thomas and I will be discussing Crowley's background, his start in the magical group known as The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the concept of intiation, and Crowley's own magical system called Thelema. References:Sources mentioned in the podcast by Aleister Crowley:The Book of the Law - http://lib.oto-usa.org/libri/liber0220.htmlMagick (Book 4) -  https://hermetic.com/crowley/book-4/indexMagick Without Tears - https://hermetic.com/crowley/magick-without-tears/indexThe Confessions of Aleister Crowley - https://hermetic.com/crowley/confessions/indexThe Equinox - http://www.the-equinox.org/  https://keepsilence.org/the-equinox/ 

This episode discusses what I mean by 'rejected', plus some important terms and concepts that will act as a foundation for the interviews to come.Reference material used in this episode:Wouter Hanegraaff, Western Estotericism: A Guide for the PerplexedOlav Hammer's chapter, "Esotericism in New Religious Movements," found in The Oxford Handbook of New Religious MovementsChristopher Partridge's "Introduction," found in The Occult WorldTwo more books that might be of interest are -Contemporary Esotericism, edited by Egil Asprem and Kennet GranholmNew Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought, by Wouter Hanegraaff (with special attention on Chapter One about "Channeling" and Chapter Seven about "Meta-Empirical and Human Beings"