Our Numinous Nature

Laura Stotts is a North Carolina photographer, genealogist, and writer known as Diary of Abandonment, dedicated to the lost histories of abandoned houses. We begin with her recent preservation work, a field day chinking a cabin at the world's largest collection of log structures. Then we're in the deep end as Laura shares her moving life story, from her trials of addiction & hopelessness to finding a divine calling & a meaningful connection to God, a journey of healing paved with synchronicities that involved abandoned places, saving the life of an elderly veteran and the funeral of a Tuskegee Airman lost since WWII. From there we get into the rubble and hear about her adventures exploring abandoned houses: from booby-traps; to an unhinged & armed landowner; to an ominous basement; and a haunting story about finding a stack of WWII letters between sons at war and their mother & wives at home.  We come to an end of this subtly gothic episode, hearing of illuminating dreams in which Laura's grandparents delivered important encouragement about her role as the family historian, furthering her appreciation for the difficult lives of her ancestors. Check out Laura's website Diary of Abandonment [https://diaryofabandonment.com/] and follow her on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/diaryof_abandonment/#] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/therealdiaryofabandonment].  Support Our Numinous Nature on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/ournuminousnature]. Follow Our Numinous Nature [https://www.instagram.com/ournuminousnature/] & my naturalist illustrations on Instagram Check out my shop [https://ournuminousnature.bigcartel.com/] of shirts, prints, and books featuring my art Contact: herbaceoushuman@gmail.com

Donna La Pré is an esotericist and biodynamic farmer who under the name Tender Flower creates potent perfumes and natural skincare products in her home workshop in Rappahannock County, Virginia. On this highly esoteric exploration of unseen worlds through an Anthroposophic lens, Donna begins by introducing the 19th-century Austrian clairvoyant, Rudolf Steiner & his wisdom path known as Anthroposophy. We deep dive into topics such as: primitive clairvoyance; Christ as the living power of love; the physical, astral, and etheric bodies; reincarnation; and natural rhythms as an antidote to the negative effects of our hyper-technological world. Artificial Intelligence and the creepiness of transhumanism shifts the conversation to the deceptive, materialistic, coldly intellectual being Steiner called Ahriman whose aim is to harden our souls and halt human evolution. For the last third we get into the elementals, the entities or forces of the natural world. Donna ends with three enchanting tales of how she has tangibly experienced the elementals, from building a community-healing urban garden to the etheric medicine emanating from a holly tree.  Check out Tender Flower [https://tenderflower.net/] and follow Donna on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/tenderflower.botanicals/].  Support Our Numinous Nature on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/ournuminousnature]. Follow Our Numinous Nature [https://www.instagram.com/ournuminousnature/] & my naturalist illustrations on Instagram Check out my shop [https://ournuminousnature.bigcartel.com/] of shirts, prints, and books featuring my art Contact: herbaceoushuman@gmail.com

Phoenix Aurelius is a modern day alchemist & founder of the Phoenix Aurelius Research Center [specializing in spagyric medicine] tucked away in the mountains of Webster County, West Virginia. On this esoteric excursion into the mind of an alchemist, we open on the four dimensions of our multi-dimensional reality: the physical, the astral, the causal, and the spiritual. From there we delve into the history and teachings of Paracelsus, the 16th-century alchemist & physician, exploring topics such as: fire-water-air-earth; sulfur-mercury-salt as the soul-spirit-body of any material; life-death-rebirth and reaching immortality in the laboratory; the difference between herbalism & spagyria; and the historical alchemists' fixation on generating gold. Phoenix then describes in vivid detail the recipe for creating the legendary Philosopher's Stone, that if ingested, according to lore, brings everlasting life! Following is a wild story about a FBI phone call & the death of a fellow alchemist. After thoughts & impressions on past-lives, dwarves, and Carl Jung's alchemical psychology, Phoenix shares a potent story about his near-death experiences as a kid with lucid visions of ancestors & the lobby of heaven. Pop open your bubbling lab flask & take a huge swig of this mind-bending sonic elixir!  Learn more about Phoenix, his spagyric products & research at PhoenixAurelius.org [https://www.phoenixaurelius.org/] Music by BAILE [https://open.spotify.com/artist/135mViPxje2MED7hOnn2j9?si=N-Q72yMfQkq4t0963nZwjA] "Follow" [https://open.spotify.com/track/73fSIBrSPp9F3Vqj6mBLLb?si=57ab9f411f714d77] Written & Performed by BAILE & Ellyn Woods "Intro" [https://open.spotify.com/track/3OhcmhuXBxvoUo5aoWmMsO?si=99e38e2d3df0476c] Written & Performed by BAILE "Diner" [https://open.spotify.com/track/1AbIB14ZHWNmSTTHjk23N1?si=deca6b0b92114e11] Written & Performed by BAILE "Dent" [https://open.spotify.com/track/6rvlMzVUzKP3DB1calhhXn?si=37658583dc804bac] Written & Performed by BAILE Support Our Numinous Nature on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/ournuminousnature]. Follow Our Numinous Nature [https://www.instagram.com/ournuminousnature/] & my naturalist illustrations on Instagram Check out my shop [https://ournuminousnature.bigcartel.com/] of shirts, prints, and books featuring my art Contact: herbaceoushuman@gmail.com

Dan Wells Ph.D. is a scholar of American religious history, consulting faculty at Duke Divinity School, Methodist pastor, and hunter outdoorsman in Muskingum County, Ohio.  On this episode focused on the Christian God & wild snake handling churches of Appalachia, we begin with a haunting story about Dan's ancestors' old home-place. Back-&-forth we share experiences about our Christian upbringings, early skepticisms on the likes of hypocrisy and the problem of evil, followed by Dan's religious calling as an intellectual pursuit. From there we're into the serpents with Dan describing his first-hand experiences at a Kentucky snake church, diving into the history, beliefs, deaths and legal restrictions of these serpent handling practitioners opening conversations about martyrdom & sainthood, the Hopi snake dance, Biblical snake symbolism, and rattlesnake catch-&-release hunting. From there we bring together Christianity and reverence for nature through the teachings of the early desert fathers and mystics. We end on dreams and an allegorical hunting story about God's fatherly protection over his spiritual children. Reading from Foxfire 7 [https://www.foxfire.org/shop/foxfire-7/]: "The People Who Take Up Serpents" by Elliot Wigginton Learn more about Dan at DrDanWells.com [https://drdanwells.com/] Support Our Numinous Nature on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/ournuminousnature]. Follow Our Numinous Nature [https://www.instagram.com/ournuminousnature/] & my naturalist illustrations on Instagram Check out my shop [https://ournuminousnature.bigcartel.com/] of shirts, prints, and books featuring my art Contact: herbaceoushuman@gmail.com

William Hess-Martin of Venatic Opus is a writer, hunter, artist and Jungian in Southern Quebec, Canada. On this Jungian walkabout, we explore a handful of the ideas of Swiss psychoanalyst, Carl Jung, as they relate to hunting. After Jungian readings about hunting taboos & ritual in native cultures, we begin with musings on Canada, America, Europe, Catholicism and Protestantism all leading to St. Hubert [the patron saint of hunters] for a discussion about the symbology, history and legend of the saint's conversion before the divine stag. From Hubert's stag to William's buck, we hear the story of William's first whitetail hunt and what that meant for him opening conversations on instincts, the search, and the numinous. Through the symbol of the white deer, William dives into Carl Jung's study of alchemy as a metaphor for personal transformation, a combining of the material with the spiritual; including the Greek myth of the huntress Atalanta appearing in an alchemical text from the 1600's. Then we're on to the fantastical unicorn of medieval legend & lore with William beautifully describing the famous Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries with their Edenic forests, hounds, huntsmen, and the pure-hearted virgin. We end this Jungian trek on the most Jungian topic possible...the interpretation of dreams, and hunting dreams no less!  Reading from Shadow and Evil in Fairy Tales [https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Fairy-Tales-Foundation-Books/dp/0877739749/ref=asc_df_0877739749?mcid=89e81d1efe6e3e85a80d293dd098b4f6&hvocijid=12688135046359534381-0877739749-&hvexpln=73&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=730312820598&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12688135046359534381&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9008963&hvtargid=pla-2281435178778&psc=1] and Interpretation of Fairy Tales [https://www.amazon.com/Interpretation-Fairy-Tales-Marie-Louise-Franz/dp/0877735263/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1V7PQI5UFV3Q4&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.wdeGrC3x54JPLE5fadznboT94qTkKFx8uDpGYN7lwU4JaTLzAniNZOiYsZJQpEEGl_j6qz524bZde6Zv5WW116mPwtEBErhOxute0stO4rOtpctD5dU_zBKXU-0x1KiFSgdWP1I6OKTmXtjqgR4qdXLed3QqjAKUVeGAQdGoj2wiy_jjSoTCsno0uOZJiizACen78UEbJmomAQg6GFRQQ_ibtZTdaY-QWzhP3x0co7Q.Y5TA1ny5_FjFEVYwDcyxX0emIliaWra837sHyeXnVZw&dib_tag=se&keywords=interpretation+of+fairy+tales&qid=1740074913&s=books&sprefix=interpretation+of+fairy+tale%2Cstripbooks%2C105&sr=1-1] by Marie-Louise von Franz.  Check out William's Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/venatic_opus/] and Venatic Opus [https://www.venaticopus.com/] blog. Support Our Numinous Nature on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/ournuminousnature]. Follow Our Numinous Nature [https://www.instagram.com/ournuminousnature/] & my naturalist illustrations on Instagram Check out my shop [https://ournuminousnature.bigcartel.com/] of shirts, prints, and books featuring my art Contact: herbaceoushuman@gmail.com