Rune Soup

Or why our horrible internet is good, actually. Sick in an AirBnb in Paraguay, I make the case for co-creation still being the best way to exist with our ever-enhorribling media landscape. Show Notes * End The Day With Ceremony, Not Distraction [https://runesoup.substack.com/p/end-the-day-with-ceremony-not-distraction]. * Two things to watch or listen to with your lunch (of brains)? * Gordon on THC [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te2r7TM1z6E]. * Kelly Brogan on THC [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5xEqqlwEEg].

Dan Waites joins us to discuss the literal long view, which is to say the things we can see and the frameworks we can find when we widen our perspective out to millennia-long cycles and epochal shifts. We explore: * The Kali Yuga and why it may have ended THIS year. * The Age of Aquarius and how it turns out to be both real and totally fashionable. (You heard me.) * The long cycles of outer planets and their role in birthing new religions. * UFO Disclosure, Mayan Apocalypses and the 'true' astrology of Atlantis. Show Notes Find Dan at: * On Youtube. [https://www.youtube.com/@UC0aTKbKUCDvl5Zj3zmCOHsA] * At World Astrology Report [https://www.worldastrologyreport.com/]. * On Substack [https://worldastrologyreport.substack.com/].

Note: Before we begin, my six-week Shadow Work Intensive, The Shaman’s Devil [https://runesoup.com/shamans-devil], Is Now Live. There are only a few spaces left, so if you think you might be interested, move quickly. If you know me, you'll know this is a pretty big deal for me. The one and only Dr Alberto Villoldo joins the show this week. We discuss * Why you came to earth in the first place. * What healing is and how to achieve it. * How the academy and culture's understanding of shamanism has changed in the five decades he has been working in the field. Bio Dr. Alberto Villoldo is a medical anthropologist, psychologist, and shamanic teacher who has spent decades studying the healing practices of the Amazon and Andean shamans. He founded The Four Winds Society to bring ancient energy medicine into dialogue with modern neuroscience. His work bridges worlds—science and spirit, biology and ceremony—to help people remember who they truly are. Show Notes * This is the interview with Andre Duqum I reference at the end [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wuFmuCzxm4]. * The Shaman's Devil [https://runesoup.com/shamans-devil].

I spent way too much time trying to shoehorn a Warhammer 40K reference into this episode title, and it devolved into something that would make a Chaos Marine blush. So we're keeping it professional (kinda) and diving straight into the space weather for 2025's back 9. Watch along on YouTube here, if you like. This is what we cover. Space Baby Update & Good Enough Goals  Austin's 30-pound toddler is harder to carry than heavy deadlifts, and "good enough" is our 2025 achievement mindset Failed 40K References & First Half Lookback  From the eternal Mars season to the Carnival of Chaos that delivered perfect tariff confusion Iran & Playing for All the Marbles  Why this could mark the start of World War III and how it connects to the Jupiter-Saturn square Uranus Enters Gemini: The Pilot Episode  The seven-year transit that historically reshapes America, plus the flying wedge formation of outer planets The Bow and Arrow Configuration  Peak craziness in August with Mars-Saturn tension creating a cosmic weapon aimed at change The Pause That Does Not Refresh  September's retreat into swampy Pisces energy—like WWI trenches where your feet rot in gross water Pisces-Virgo Eclipse Season  The tail of the dragon's Buddhist letting go vs. the head's overwhelming hunger for the dream Neptune in Aries & Individual Glory  From woke-era uniformity to the pursuit of personalised excellence and looking combat-ready Jupiter in Cancer Magic  Learning what you really need and how to ask the divine for surgical beneficence Personal Updates & H2 Plans  Austin's book progress, Gordon's Peru trip for the Festival of the Sun, and preparing for a louder 2026

I've been revisiting Ursula K. Le Guin's brilliant essay "The Child and the Shadow". Le Guin was defending fantasy against the sterile modernism of her era—but what happens when that defence needs to evolve? We're no longer fighting a battle between "good" and "bad" fantasy. Instead, we're caught in something potentially more insidious: the tension between authentic imagination and the ersatz. From the disaster of Rings of Power to the destruction of Star Wars, from AI-generated Jung content flooding YouTube to the Soviet-style creative orthodoxy dominating our cultural institutions—we're witnessing the systematic neutering of the imaginal. But here's the thing: they can't actually touch the real. They break upon authentic creativity like waves upon rock. Through Le Guin's profound analysis of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Shadow" and Jung's psychology, I explore why confronting our shadow isn't just personal development—it's the key to understanding why authentic fantasy endures while corporate imitations crumble. Plus, I reveal how Bulgakov got there first in The Master and Margarita, showing us exactly what happens when the vital imaginal meets bureaucratic control. This isn't just about books or movies. It's about the difference between surface-level engagement and the depths where real creativity lives. Chapter Timestamps: 0:00 - Opening: The Shift from Good vs. Bad to Ersatz vs. Genuine 3:45 - Le Guin's Defence of Fantasy in the Modern Era 8:20 - The Rings of Power Problem: When Creators Think They're Fans 12:15 - AI Jung Slop and the Corruption of the Imaginal 16:30 - Bulgakov's Prophecy: The Master and Margarita's Cultural Critique 22:10 - Reading "The Child and the Shadow": Andersen's Dark Fairy Tale 28:45 - Jung's Psychology: Ego, Shadow, and the Collective Unconscious 35:20 - The Ethics of Fairy Tales: Why Gretel Can Push the Witch 42:15 - Tolkien's True Complexity: Frodo, Sam, and Gollum as Psychic Journey 48:30 - Why Fantasy is the Language of Moral Truth 52:40 - The Problem with "Realistic" Children's Literature 57:25 - Luke in the Cave: Star Wars as Genuine Imaginal Work 60:10 - Closing Thoughts and Shadow Project Tease