Blue Beryl Podcast

Final Episode (and Launch of the Black Beryl)

The podcast known as The Blue Beryl is changing its name to The Black Beryl, as we are embracing the darkness! Please visit and subscribe to the new podcast at blackberyl.substack.com [https://blackberyl.substack.com/]. In today’s episode, we are launching the new pod with the tables turned. Producer Lan Li takes over the microphone to interview me about spirit healing and related practices. Lan has been trying to ask me these questions for the last two years, but I’ve continued to put them off. Now it’s finally time to put some things on the record and clear the air. So in this episode, we dive right in to questions like do spirits exist? Are mystical experiences real? What are the best talismans for healers? We’re also going to talk about different kinds of possession and the benefits of holding more than one ontological perspective at the same time.I hope you enjoy the conversation, and please subscribe to The Black Beryl wherever you get your podcasts and at blackberyl.substack.com. Our episodes are going to continue to be free as always, but we now have paid subscriptions where we can make exclusive resources available to members for a small fee. Your payments help us with production costs of the pod, so thanks for your support! Resources mentioned in this episode: * Pierce Salguero, [https://amzn.to/4fiHcqB]A Lamp Unto Yourself [https://amzn.to/4fiHcqB] (preorder) [https://amzn.to/4fiHcqB]. Resources provided for members on blackberyl.substack.com [https://blackberyl.substack.com/]: * Full manuscript of the short book book Traditional Thai Medicine: Buddhism, Animism, Yoga, Ayurveda (2106), with chapters on spirit healing, talismans, and other topics covered here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blueberylpodcast.substack.com [https://blueberylpodcast.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Meta-Practice

Today I sit down with Volker Scheid, an interdisciplinary scholar and longtime practitioner of Chinese medicine. Together, we take an intellectual deep dive into his thoughts about the importance of blurring disciplinary boundaries and how “meta-practice” can make sense of the many different kinds of Chinese medicines. Along the way, Volker and I discuss the commensurability of Chinese medicine and biomedicine, the importance of connecting the self with the ten thousand things, and how premodern ideas can be the basis of a new politics for modern times.If you want to hear more from experts on Buddhism, Asian medicine, and embodied spirituality then subscribe to Blue Beryl and don’t miss an episode! Resources mentioned in this episode: * Volker’s website [https://www.volkerscheid.net/] * Volker Scheid, [https://amzn.to/4fCgust]Chinese Medicine in Contemporary China: Plurality and Synthesis [https://amzn.to/4fCgust] (2002) [https://amzn.to/4fCgust] * Volker Scheid, [https://amzn.to/3YIaqIa]Currents of Tradition in Chinese Medicine 1626-2006 [https://amzn.to/3YIaqIa] (2007) [https://amzn.to/3YIaqIa] * Paul Unschuld, [https://amzn.to/4exMWLL]Chinese Medicine: A History of Ideas [https://amzn.to/4exMWLL](2010) [https://amzn.to/4exMWLL] * Annemarie Mol, [https://amzn.to/4ekgHzn]The Body Multiple: Ontology in Medical Practice [https://amzn.to/4ekgHzn] (2003) [https://amzn.to/4ekgHzn] * Pierce Salguero, “A Polyperspectival Asian Medicine Practice” (2020) [https://www.asianmedicinezone.com/p/a-polyperspectival-asian-medicine-practice] * Slavoj Žižek, “From Western Marxism to Western Buddhism” (2001) [https://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/2/zizek.php] * Volker’s blog [https://www.volkerscheid.net/blog] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blueberylpodcast.substack.com [https://blueberylpodcast.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Critique, Wonder, and Chinese Anatomy

Today I sit down with Blue Beryl’s producer, Lan A. Li, a historian of Chinese science, medicine, and the body. We talk about their life-long practice of qigong, the limits of academic critique, and the integration of divergent epistemologies in studying Chinese anatomy. Along the way, we discuss Lan’s new book, Body Maps: Improvising Meridians and Nerves in Global Chinese Medicine, Lan’s relationship to Islam, and how to cultivate wonder through academic study. If you want to hear more from experts on Buddhism, Asian medicine, and embodied spirituality then subscribe to Blue Beryl and don’t miss an episode! Resources mentioned in this episode: * Lan’s website [https://lan-a-li.com/] * Lan Li, “The Vital Other: Integrative Medicine and India” (2012) [https://lan-a-li.com/THE-VITAL-OTHER] * Lan Li, “Acupuntura e Moxabustão” (2023) [https://lan-a-li.com/Acupuntura-e-Moxabustao] * Lan Li and Pierce Salguero, Jivaka Project Philadelphia (2015-2020) [http://www.jivaka.net/philly] * Pierce’s blogs on Ugly Truths about Grad School [https://piercesalguero.medium.com/some-ugly-truths-i-wish-i-knew-before-going-into-a-phd-program-2fe55bdf208], Metamodernism [https://piercesalguero.medium.com/whats-the-point-of-a-college-education-in-the-humanities-d10b798a0862], Metamodern Asian Medicine [https://asianmedicinezone.com/p/a-metamodern-approach-to-asian-medicine], and Polyperspectivalism [https://www.asianmedicinezone.com/p/a-polyperspectival-asian-medicine-practice] * Lan Li, [https://amzn.to/3Ng3NYe]Body Maps: Improvising Meridians and Nerves in Global Chinese Medicine [https://amzn.to/3Ng3NYe] (2025) [https://amzn.to/3Ng3NYe] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blueberylpodcast.substack.com [https://blueberylpodcast.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

The Body in Classical Hathayoga

In this episode I sit down with Ruth Westoby a scholar, teacher, and practitioner of yoga. We discuss Ruth’s work on the body in early hatha yoga texts. We talk about the broad diversity of approaches to the material body in these sources, including their ideas about gender, the cultivation of powers, and approaches to liberation. Along the way, we touch on yogic sex, practices to stop menstruating, and the courageous work that modern practitioners have been doing to expose abuse by yoga gurus.If you want to hear more from experts on Buddhism, Asian medicine, and embodied spirituality then subscribe to Blue Beryl and don’t miss an episode!Resources mentioned in this episode: * Preliminary published results from Ruth’s research [http://www.enigmatic.yoga/portfolio/raising-rajas-in-ha%E1%B9%ADhayoga-and-beyond/] * Mallinson and Szántó, The Amṛtasiddhi and Amṛtasiddhimūla [https://amzn.to/4cRHOBg] (2021). * Jason Birch, The Amaraugha and Amaraughaprabodha of Gorakṣanātha [https://amzn.to/4cVAepd] (2023). * Elena Valussi, “The Physiology of Transcendence for Women [https://brill.com/view/journals/asme/4/1/article-p46_4.xml?rskey=L7TtSc&result=1]” (2009) * BBP episode with Dominic Steavu [https://blueberyl.buzzsprout.com/2044347/14812906-psychedelics-mysticism-aliens-and-the-dao-with-dominic-steavu] * Hatha Yoga Project [http://hyp.soas.ac.uk/] * Articles on guru abuse by Pattabhi Jois: Anneke Lucas [https://www.yogacitynyc.com/single-post/2016/03/07/Why-The-Abused-Dont-Speak-Up], Karen Rain [https://medium.com/an-injustice/understanding-sexual-violence-in-context-2b8dc5453ded], Amanda Lucia [https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lfy025] * Inform Project [https://inform.ac/] * Video footage of Ruth doing historical āsanas [https://vimeo.com/202547441] * Ruth’s website and email newsletter [http://www.enigmatic.yoga/], Facebook page [https://www.facebook.com/enigmatic.yoga], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ruthwestoby/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blueberylpodcast.substack.com [https://blueberylpodcast.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Yoga, Disability, and Animism

Today, I sit down with Theodora Wildcroft, a researcher, anthropologist, and long-time teacher of what she calls “post-lineage yoga.” We discuss Theo’s ethnographic research on yoga in the UK, focusing on its connections with animism, paganism, and other somatic practices. We also dive into Theo’s personal approach to yoga as a liberatory practice that allows diverse bodies and minds to thrive. Along the way, we touch on disability, neuro-divergence, cultural appropriation, and the inescapable influence of colonialism for contemporary yogis. Enjoy! and subscribe to Blue Beryl for monthly episodes. Resources mentioned in this episode: * Theodora Wildcroft, [https://amzn.to/4dgse2P]Post Lineage Yoga: From Guru to #MeToo [https://amzn.to/4dgse2P](2020) [https://amzn.to/4dgse2P] * Theo Wildcroft & Harriet Mcatee, [https://amzn.to/3ywUEGL]The Yoga Teacher’s Survival Guide: Social Justice, Science, Politics, and Power [https://amzn.to/3ywUEGL] (2024) [https://amzn.to/3ywUEGL] * Barbora Sojkova & Theodora Wildcroft, [https://amzn.to/3yvN2Ex]Yoga Studies in 5 Minutes [https://amzn.to/3yvN2Ex] (2025) [https://amzn.to/3yvN2Ex] * Theo’s website: https://theowildcroft.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blueberylpodcast.substack.com [https://blueberylpodcast.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]