Episode 36: "Vibe or die!" On psychedelics, dancing and ritual murder in 'Midsommar'

Episode 36: "Vibe or die!" On psychedelics, dancing and ritual murder in 'Midsommar'

In this episode we discuss the folk horror film Midsommar, written and directed by Ari Aster. While we make a reasonable attempt at recounting and analysing the plot of the film, we focus our conversation on the themes of the film—on the contrasts between the stifled, technologically-mediated communication of the industrialised west and the embodied, empathic relationships of the Harga. We consider the nuclear family and the evolved nest; the isolation of individuality versus engulfment in the communal; psychedelics, anthropology, in-groups, out-groups and cultural relativism. We explore what it means to be ‘attuned’ to a community (and what it means to fail in this attunement, or in other words, fail to ‘vibe with’ a community). We consider the limitations of the horror genre and speculate as to whether the western mind is even capable of imagining a style of community-centered living like the Harga, without there being some inevitable horrible darkness that ruins it and allows us to rest assured that even though our current way of life in the industrialised west—despite rampant depression, anxiety, isolation, disconnection, relentless consumption, addiction and fear—is better than any alternative. And if by the end of all that, you’re still thirsty for more, we save another thirty minutes or so for a bonus episode, to be released on our patreon [https://www.patreon.com/c/AlteredMates?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink] and substack [https://alteredmates.substack.com] next week. References * Midsommar [https://a24films.com/films/midsommar] (2019) written and directed by Ari Aster * Cary Elza (2023) ‘“Do you feel held?”: Gender, Community, and Affective Design in Midsommar [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14797585.2023.2218629]’ * Darcia Narvaez — The Evolved Nest [https://evolvednest.org] * Rite Felski (2015)— The Limits of Critique [https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/L/bo21386290.html] * Sara Ahmed [https://www.saranahmed.com] * For more detail on the metaphor of “the room” mentioned in this episode, check out Altered Mates — Episode 30 — Where are my minds? On the Left Brain / Right Brain Divide [https://www.alteredmates.com/30] * Shirley Jackson (1948) — The Lottery [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1948/06/26/the-lottery] * Ursula Le Guin (1973) — The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas [https://shsdavisapes.pbworks.com/f/Omelas.pdf] * The Wicker Man [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wicker_Man](1973) directed by Robin Hardy Links Altered Mates Website [https://www.alteredmates.com] Altered Mates Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/altered.mates/] Altered Mates Substack [https://alteredmates.substack.com] Altered Mates Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/c/AlteredMates?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink] Music for the show by Si Mulumby [https://www.instagram.com/wildmarmalade/?hl=en] A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama * Purchase the novel here [https://books2read.com/u/m2eWjG] (hard copy, ebook and audiobook). * Listen to the free serialised audiobook here [https://www.patreon.com/collection/560595?view=expanded].

Episode 35: The Visionary Psyche: Jung's Analytical Psychology and Its Impact on Theories of Shamanic Imagery

In this episode we examine a 2014 paper written by Australian academic Emma Scott titled “The Visionary Psyche: Jung's Analytical Psychology and Its Impact on Theories of Shamanic Imagery”. The paper considers the shaman’s visionary experiences (especially with spirit beings) from the critical viewpoint of Richard Noll’s cognitive approach and Michael Winkelman’s neurophenomenological perspective on shamanism. In her paper, Scott analyses these two approaches in light of Jung’s concepts of the archetypes, the collective unconscious, and the individuation process. We begin our discussion by trying establish what set of assumptions we each bring to this kind of study, after which we attempt to make sense of the paper and cover Scott’s key arguments. Along the way, of-course, we make time to speculate on how Disney et al is colonising the visionary aspects of the psyche and how AI is colonising the cognitive aspects of the psyche and so we are effectively offloading the entirety of our brain/mind to corporate-machines (as our brains are super effective at conserving energy we are following that to its logical conclusion which is to outsource our whole brain). We draw comparisons between the art of Tolkien and the healing functions of shamans, and we end up discussing Jungian individuation. If you enjoy this conversation, then please check out our Patreon and/or Substack in a week, as we will release an extra hour or so of this discussion over there. References * Emma Scott (2014) The Visionary Psyche: Jung’s Analytical Psychology and Its Impact on Theories of Shamanic Imagery [https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/anoc.12020] * Tool — Lipan Conjuring [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8r5rnamdaI] — 10,000 Days * Ramsey Dukes (1974) — S.S.O.T.B.M.E: an essay on magic [https://www.amazon.com.au/SSOTBME-Revised-essay-Ramsey-Dukes/dp/0904311082] * Altered Mates — Episodes 23 — Sex Secrets of the Black Magicians EXPOSED: On Magical Thinking [https://www.alteredmates.com/23] * Altered Mates — Episode 24 — MORE Sex Secrets of the Black Magicians EXPOSED! [https://www.alteredmates.com/24] * Richard Noll (1983) Shamanism and Schizophrenia: A State-Specific Approach to the "Schizophrenia Metaphor" of Shamanic States [https://www.jstor.org/stable/644263] * Altered Mates — Episode 30 — Where are my minds? On the Left Brain / Right Brain Divide [https://www.alteredmates.com/30] * J.R.R. Tolkien — The Lord of the Rings [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings] * Mike Judge (2006) Idiocracy [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiocracy] * Andrew Stanton (2008) WALL-E [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WALL-E] * Ursula Le Guin (1968) A Wizard of Earthsea [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Wizard_of_Earthsea] * Altered Mates — Episode 7 — Jung, The Shadow, and A Wizard of Earthsea [https://www.alteredmates.com/7] Links Altered Mates Website [https://www.alteredmates.com] Altered Mates Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/altered.mates/] Altered Mates Substack [https://alteredmates.substack.com] Altered Mates Patreon [https://patreon.com/AlteredMates?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink] Music for the show by Si Mulumby [https://www.instagram.com/wildmarmalade/?hl=en] A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama * Purchase the novel here [https://books2read.com/u/m2eWjG] (hard copy, ebook and audiobook). * Listen to the free serialised audiobook here [https://www.patreon.com/collection/560595?view=expanded].

Episode 34: ‘Your scientific illiteracy makes me shudder!’ on The X-Files: Jose Chung’s From Outer Space

The X-Files is an American television series created by Chris Carter. It was originally aired in the 90s but enjoyed a brief revival in late 2000s. The series follows FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully in their investigations of the "X-Files" (unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena). Both Mulder and Scully are effective agents but Mulder believes in the existence of the paranormal, whereas Scully is a medical doctor and skeptic who has been assigned to scientifically analyze Mulder's case files. The episode we are looking at in today’s discussion is called 'Jose Chungs From Outer Space' and was Episode 20 of Season 3. In an attempt to analyse and recount the plot of this episode of The X-Files we spiral out into many different zones: Carl Jung on flying saucers, alien abduction experiences revealed through hypnosis, reconstructed memories, rebirthing & breathwork, EMDR, CIA brainwashing programs, and so on… If you enjoy this episode then, this time next week, check out the 'X-Files Addendum' (Altered Mates -- Bonus Episode #13) wherein we will unleash upon the Altered Mates Patreon and Substack, another hour's worth of content from this discussion. References * The X Files: Jose Chungs From Outer Space — Season 3, Episode 20 (1996) * J.F. Martel — Reality is Analog: Philosophizing with Stranger Things / Part One [https://metapsychosis.com/reality-is-analog-philosophizing-with-stranger-things-part-one/] * J.B.S. Haldane — Possible Worlds and Other Essays (“Now, my own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose”) * C.G. Jung — Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Sky (1959) * Leonard S. Newman and Roy F. Baumeister — Toward an Explanation of the UFO Abduction Phenomenon: Hypnotic Elaboration, Extraterrestrial Sadomasochism, and Spurious Memories (1996) * Frank Herbert — Dune (1960) * X-Files — Eugene Tooms [https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Eugene_Tooms] * Alanis Morissette — All I Really Want [https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&hs=DOkp&sca_esv=285e626a6b10f4fc&rls=en&sxsrf=ANbL-n4AvP4VOFs77XrB5w5nbU3G2P1ONg:1776748372956&q=Alanis+Morissette+All+I+Really+Want&si=AL3DRZGzed_qbdr7bllYQYsaUXeuIcnEI2GUk45PAjv1vqqZiLW1-m63RaOHgQ7kvTaJCk2cWqSj4vhea9kcCEDUT9D6pAQoHXDXCPtCk9kB-f9bImprItcX1FXWPnBmY52ADfav34svTW4p3aQLD28UHYG8gOgPas6su47ZfwKK6qkRv6iGZ1I%3D&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjG_v-8l_6TAxW0bGwGHQKNCrYQ_coHegQICxAB&ictx=0] — Jagged Little Pill (1995) * Radiohead — Subterranean Homesick Alien — OK Computer (1997) * Tool — Rosetta Stoned — 10,000 Days (2006) Links Altered Mates Website [https://www.alteredmates.com] Altered Mates Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/altered.mates/] Altered Mates Substack [https://alteredmates.substack.com] Altered Mates Patreon [https://patreon.com/AlteredMates?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink] Music for the show by Si Mulumby [https://www.instagram.com/wildmarmalade/?hl=en] A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama * Purchase the novel here [https://books2read.com/u/m2eWjG] (hard copy, ebook and audiobook). * Listen to the free serialised audiobook here [https://www.patreon.com/collection/560595?view=expanded].

Episode 33: On Conspiracy: A preliminary discussion

According to Brian Keely, who wrote a widely read paper published the journal of philosophy in 1999, “A conspiracy theory is a proposed explanation of some historical event (or events) in terms of the significant causal agency of a relatively small group of persons—the conspirators—acting in secret.” In this episode we try to get a handle on what a conspiracy is, what a conspiracy theory is, and what this has to do with us and our podcast. We neither push nor debunk any conspiracies in this discussion; that’s not really what we are interested in (though we do toss up a few to chew on…think the assassination of Julius Caesar, the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, Nixon and the Watergate scandal, Scientology and Operation Snow White, CIA & Operation Paperclip, MK-Ultra, and even pharmaceutical conspiracies…). It was our intention to discuss in detail another session from the 2001 interview with Robert Anton Wilson ('Robert Anton Wilson Explains Everything, or Old Bob Exposes His Ignorance'), and while Wilson looms over this conversation, we decided to come back a week later to have another crack at his ideas; so if you’d like to hear more, then check out our Patreon in about a week, as we we will be releasing that discussion as a bonus episode. References * Robert Anton Wilson Explains Everything: Or, Old Bob Exposes His Ignorance [https://www.soundstrue.com/products/robert-anton-wilson-explains-everything?srsltid=AfmBOoplQ1oIURvUtolaBKMzE6Or_Pot9FP4LFXsIqoW8ozBzLqud9ch]: Session Four - Politics And Conspiracy Theory (2001) * Uscinski & Enders—What Is a Conspiracy Theory and Why Does It Matter? [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08913811.2022.2115668] * Tool — Right in Two [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bndL7wwAj0U] — 10,000 Days (2006) * 2pac (1995) Me Against the World [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me_Against_the_World] * Nera & Schöpfer — What is so special about conspiracy theories? [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09593543231155891] * Alan Moore — V for Vendetta [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_for_Vendetta] (1982—1989); film version [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_for_Vendetta_(film)] written by The Wackowskis and directed by James McTeigue in 2005. * Altered Mates—Episode 11—Giving LSD to kids! (…to treat severe childhood schizophrenia) [https://www.alteredmates.com/11] * Altered Mates—Episode 12—Confrontation with the Unconscious: Part One — Psychedelic Experience and Psychosis [https://www.alteredmates.com/12] Links Altered Mates Website [https://www.alteredmates.com] Altered Mates Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/altered.mates/] Altered Mates Substack [https://alteredmates.substack.com] Altered Mates Patreon [https://patreon.com/AlteredMates?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink] Music for the show by Si Mulumby [https://www.instagram.com/wildmarmalade/?hl=en] A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama * Purchase the novel here [https://books2read.com/u/m2eWjG] (hard copy, ebook and audiobook). * Listen to the free serialised audiobook here [https://www.patreon.com/collection/560595?view=expanded].

Episode 32: Chakras, Jung, and Avatar: The Last Airbender

In this episode we explore the concept of the chakras as outlined in Hindu and Buddhist yogic and meditation traditions, though we focus our conversation on one episode of children's animation Avatar: The Last Airbender. Specially, we discuss Season 2 — Episode 19: The Guru. Tobias brings to the table a lecture series delivered by C.G Jung called 'The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga', and we each reflect on our own experience of the emotional material we can associate with these strange centres of energy spinning around in our physical and energetic bodies… References * Avatar The Last Airbender — Book 2: Earth, Episode 19 — The Guru * C.G. Jung — The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga: Notes of the Seminar Given in 1932 (edited by Sonu Shamdasani) [https://www.routledge.com/The-Psychology-of-Kundalini-Yoga-Notes-of-the-Seminar-Given-in-1932/Shamdasani-Jung/p/book/9780415149266] * Harold Coward — Mysticism in the Analytical Psychology of Carl Jung and the Yoga Psychology of Patañjali: A Comparative Study [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1398935?origin=crossref] * If you want to hear more about Alejandro’s deepest darkest fears then check out Episode 22 [https://www.alteredmates.com/22] (Ayahuasca & The Fear). * The Sinner — Season 3 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ObEhFtP9dE] Links Altered Mates Website [https://www.alteredmates.com] Altered Mates Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/altered.mates/] Altered Mates Substack [https://alteredmates.substack.com] Altered Mates Patreon [https://patreon.com/AlteredMates?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink] Music for the show by Si Mulumby [https://www.instagram.com/wildmarmalade/?hl=en] A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama * Purchase the novel here [https://books2read.com/u/m2eWjG]. * Listen to the serialised audiobook here [https://www.patreon.com/collection/560595?view=expanded].