The Hagstone Podcast (A New Hearth from Old Embers)

Laying the foundation for a second episode with Tyler Daneman, where we will discuss the use of AI in the casting of spells, generation of sigils, and experiments in channeling disembodied entities through chatbots we are re-sharing this conversation from last year on Techno-Animism. In a time that is marked with the increasing complexity of technologies, intelligent and otherwise, there are important questions to be asked about the animacy of these beings. Is our animism a stylish suit we can take on and off at will leaving out that which doesn’t fit with our values, or aesthetic tastes? Or indeed is it a much more troubling ontology that asks us to engage with the potential livingness, and undeniable agency of all things asking us to change not only how we think about Techne, but also how we practice and live with these beings.

Welcome to the Northern Spirit House Podcast. Our first guest is ritualist, scholar, and sanctuary of the strange Tyler Daneman. The dialogue covers much ground but weaves around the central node of Techno-Animism. What kind of world is possible when we engage with the beings of the world, including our technologies, acknowledging their aliveness?

Tyler points out that all beings must be fed, and in the absence of a ritual culture of feeding the Goddess Techne (Technology), we have ended up feeding of our time and attention. What kind of relationality might be possible if we offer technology a different kind of meal?

Tyler asks us all to step into the crucible of these hard questions in a time when AI, and proliferation of other technologies are being cast as the Grendel at the door of our humanity. With a heart and ethic of compassion what might happen if we invite Tech into the glow of fellowship, building a relationship of allyship and heart? It is truly a rich and bizarre alchemy.

https://holyoakdivination.com

On today’s episode Chaise speaks with Erik Ohlsen. Erik is a Permaculture teacher, an author, herbalist, storyteller, and practitioner of Nordic magical traditions. He is the founder of  Permaculture Artisans and The Permaculture Skills Center.

Since 2000 Erik has worked with the Reclaiming Tradition, mentored under a Swedish Galdrakarl gathering the living traditions of ancient Norse galdr and authentic rune lore and he has spent years mentored under a globally recognized teacher of a Nordic Magical Folk Tradition called Trolldom.

In their conversation they speak about building a magical practice that is centered on relationships. Particularly relationship with ancestors and relationship with the earth. We hope that you enjoy the episode.

References:To Speak for the Trees - Diana Beresford Kroeger

Trolldom

erikohlsen.com

In today’s episode of the Northern Spirit House Podcast Tyler and Chaise dive into their thinking and practice with Techno-Animism 8 months on from the first dialogue. They muse on the core values of empathy, and dignity and the necessity of re-evaluating our value judgements on what is and is not animate.

In the second half of the conversation they take the theory into the realm of practice and speak about AI generated sigil magic, smart-phone magic, and the interpenetration of these seemingly “new” fields of practice and more traditional magical arts.

The whole conversation casts a weird-magic aimed directly at the human heart; moving us to widen the ontological frame and cooperate for the liberation of all beings.

References:Perelandra -Machaelle Small Wright

Animism: Respecting the Living World - Graham Harvey

Josephine McCarthy

Martín Prechtel

Sigil Witchery - Laura Tempest Zakroff

For Episode 4 of the Northern Spirit House Podcast, Chaise sat down with Lien de Coster to speak about the practice of Utiseta. Lien is a Soul-centric Ceremonialist, Nature Connection Mentor, and Permaculturalist based on the West Coast of Sweden. Lien’s love of the landscape and story was born at the end of a cobblestone street in Flanders and has been a golden-thread leading her ever since. Through Leaves of Lien Lien is reviving the practice of ‘sitting out’ (Utiseta) as a vital pathway for those longing to become of place. As well as developing place-based grief rituals, pilgrimages, and soul-centered mentoring.

Lien’s upcoming Utiseta on the West Coast of Sweden is linked here:The Well of Memory: July 27th- August 5th

More info on this Winter’s Tears of Amber and Gold (a place-based grief ritual) can be found here:Tears of Amber and Gold

Simon Hodges has a lifelong love affair with both myth and non-duality - a combination he attempts to make sense of in his newsletter the Linden Bower.

He organises storytelling locally and for disadvantaged groups, and writes for a living. His work with story focuses on the electric contact possible between ourselves and the nature to sustain inspiration in a disordered world.

In our conversation, Simon takes us on a journey with a traditional story from Friesland in the Netherlands. We talk about how it amplified certain realisations at this stage of his life and contact with the intense wideness of Friesland.

We talked about wonder as the base camp of experience and how stories can return us to it.

This month on the Northern Spirit House Podcast Chaise speaks with Roy Arthur Blodgett. Roy is a naturalist and writer currently living in Jerusalem Valley, within the ancestral homeland of the Lake Miwok. In the episode they speak about the braid of the love of language with the love of the land, what the duty of the poet might be in these times, and the possibilities of becoming “of a place.”

Roy Arthur Blodgett is a naturalist and writer currently living in Jerusalem Valley, within the ancestral homeland of the Lake Miwok. His work explores the intersections of natural and cultural history, power and privilege, ancestry, memory, and human responsibility in the cosmos. Roy is a graduate of three years at Weaving Earth Center for Relational Education, where he studied nature connection, social and environmental justice, permaculture, and traditional ecological knowledge, among other devotions. In addition to being a writer of poetry and prose, he is a certified wildlife tracker, master herpetologist, novice woodcarver, herpetoculturist, and an enamored apprentice to all that animates this world. He has self-published two chapbooks - Usal Beach to Ferndale (2015), and Soil and Shadow (2018, with Heavy Letters Press) - and has completed a third, Five Years, which is soon forthcoming. 

You can find Roy online at https://www.royarthurblodgett.com or on Instagram @roy_arthur

Greetings dear subscribers of the Northern Spirit House,

Andreas and myself are so grateful for the last 18 months we have shared here on substack. Your comments, engagement, submissions, and continuing of the work fill us with joy and keep wind in the sails when the seas of life get rocky. We are writing because we are going to turn on a paid subscriptions function of the substack. All essays, and our monthly podcast will remain free for all but in the coming months we will begin sending out essays on practical matters such as ritual development, spell-work, connecting with land-spirits, utiseta, and so much more. If you would like access to these practitioner invitations you can join us around the Hearth Fire. Any contribution supports the both of us to bring more life and energy to this work, as well as supports the thriving of both of our families.With deep gratitude, and spell-songs of blessing surrounding your life.

Audrey Nova di Mola is a Queens, New York City-born oral tradition storyteller, lifelong writer/artist, creative facilitator, and sacred space-holder; a wing-footed accompanist through the wilds of the deep heart.

She is underworld-grown, grounded in the learnings of her descents and dedicated to carrying the revivifying waters of re-story-ation into our modern society. The sacred ecology of earth, story, spirit, and community were what literally saved her life. Through her mythopoetic heart-work (adventurous, care-oriented online/in-person gatherings, 1-on-1 journeys, and unique mythic-inspired support) Audrey offers wondrous embodied experiences with the old stories in the oral tradition as well as journeys into the urban mythic and our own personal legends. They are uniquely enriched by her somatic sensitivity, mental and holistic health advocacy, and inborn capacity for “seeing with the eyes of the heart.”

For over a decade (15 years and counting?!), Audrey has been lovingly gathering souls to safely/bravely and artistically explore their inner and outer landscapes. She has hosted and curated many (MANY!) multidisciplinary events, workshops, and performances such as Nature of the Muse, Church of the Sacred Body, How We Create & How We Cope: Intersections of Art & Mental Illness, and countless outdoor happenings for hundreds of thousands at Socrates Sculpture Park, the waterfront art-park and community space where she served as Director of Public Programs from 2016-2021.

Prior to more fully living into the dream of carrying the old stories, Audrey’s performative artistic career has spanned theatre, movement, song, and the spoken and written word. This encompasses arts journalism and writing/editing, four books of original poetry and prose (most recently “WILDLIGHT” and “The Book of Legend”), a few brief but utterly depth-full years in the core ensemble of Gurdjieff-inspired experimental theatre company, Dzieci (2019-2021), offerings in venues both intimate and massive (from The Cathedral of Saint John The Divine to the School of Myth in Devon UK to the addiction treatment center in her neighborhood), work published in Mad in America and Dark Mountain Project, and large-scale immersive art and poetry graffiti installations including “trusting the inmost angel” and “go slowly, see miracles.”

Audrey holds the mythic “both/and space” of depth and play, warming light and fertile dark. She is assistant to the first Steward of the Mythsinger Legacy Project, gratefully and enthusiastically carrying on the work of her late great storytelling teacher Daniel “3D” Deardorff; was the resident storyteller for Dr. Sharon Blackie’s Mythic Imagination Network from 2022-2023 (and continues to be featured on her popular “The Art of Enchantment” Substack!); and has deeply enjoyed immersive courses with Dr. Martin Shaw, Francis Weller, and Perdita Finn, among many others.We encourage those who find this podcast moving to check out this piece of writing Audrey shared with the northern spirit house, entitled knowing your own mythology: the life saving act.

Find her in the Turtle Hut. Search your heart, you’ll Know the way.

Find her in the digital otherlands here:Instagram: @wildbodydreaming

Substack: Audrey Nova di Mola

audreydimola.com

Join Audrey and Chaise for an exploration of suicidality and madness, stringing a weave between personal and mythic stories.

September 22nd, 2024 at 11-2 PM EST / 8-11 AM PST on Zoom

REGISTER HERE

Marcus McCoy

A student of plants since he was a child, Marcus R. McCoy holds a A student of plants since he was a child, Marcus R. McCoy holds a degree in Transpersonal Anthropology with a focus on the ethnobotany of magical plants. He is the progenitor of Bioregional Animism, and has published his works on the subject of plant teacher shamanry in Reality Sandwich. Marcus has also been published in Verdant Gnosis Volume 1, and is one of three editors of the book series. Marcus studied south american vegetalismo for many years, which is where he started his focus on perfumerismo. He is a professional perfumer and proprietor of House of Orpheus and alchemical practitioner, studying with Robert Bartlett. Marcus is also an established blacksmith and metal artist with special interest focusing on the occult art of herbal quenches working within the context of alchemical philosophy and folk magic. His smithy is called Troll Cunning Forge, and he produces custom made occult iron work for the occult community. Marcus is also a teacher of folk magic and has ongoing classes on the Botany of the Dead as well as the folklore of the magical projectile. He lives in the forests of the Olympic Mountain range in Washington with his lovely partner in the cunning crafts, Catamara Rosarium.

https://viridisgenii.com/symposium-organizers/

https://www.instagram.com/trollcunningforge?igsh=Z3l1eGI1eWVreGtz

Albert Shiell is a practicing folk magician and seiðkarl from Lewes, Sussex, England. Today he lives in Reykjavík, Iceland where he spends time in the land and working with spirits. He is the author of the two books: Icelandic Folk Magic, Witchcraft of the North and Icelandic Plant Magic: Folk Herbalism of the North. His work focuses mostly on the union of Iceland magical plants, folklore and magical staves.

We speak to him about his life, about grimoires, plants, and what it is like to take spirit flights through the Icelandic landscapes.More of Albert’s work can be found on his website or his Instagram:

https://pellarcrafts.com

sussexpellar

Josh Hroðgeir Rood is a researcher, musician, and Goði (Old Norse ritual performer) in Norway. His research, through the University of Iceland, specializes in Old Norse religion, its contemporary revival, as well as traditional and indigenous traditions as a whole. His research is a part of his spiritual conviction that Old Norse religion is still a relevant knowledge system in modern world, and he has dedicated his life to sharing that knowledge system through ritual, performance, lectures and workshops. He has performed ceremonies and given lectures across Europe, North America, and even Thailand. Rood is also a musician, and his main project is the Icelandic black metal band Nexion, which in many ways is also an expression of his convictions and beliefs. Rood has also been in bands such as the Nordic, World Music band Nebala, and has helped with lyric and translation work for musicians such as Kati Rán, and Kjell Braaten

Here we dive into a fascinating and an in-depth conversation - we speak of making and crafting rituals, the exciting beginnings of the old Norse religion and its many new expressions; plus singing galder and joik (and black metal).

A great session!

You can find Jósúa on Instagram: @eagleandtheash

This week on the Hagstone Podcast Chaise sat down with Nay Noordmans of House of Gnomi on Instagram to chat all things Gnomes. The conversation moves through topics of connection to place, the benefits of working from folklore to develop relationships with the ecology, and the ever present question are the Gnomes just mushrooms after all?References in the episode include:

* A Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and Salamanders, and on the Other Spirits by Paracelsus

* Pagan Christmas: The Plants, Spirit, and Rituals at the Origins of Yuletide by Christian Rätsch and Claudia Müller-Ebeling

* Witchcraft Medicine: Healing Arts, Shamanic Practices, and Forbidden Plants by Claudia Müller-Ebeling, Christian Rätsch, Wolf-Dieter Storl

* The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications by Christian Rätsch

Nay recommends that anyone interested in all things gnome, and mycology check out the work of gnome_cunning on Instagram, especially the workshop they gave on Ghost Pipe Mushrooms at Viridis Genii Symposium this year. You can find a lecture recording here.You can find Nay’s work on instagram at @houseofgnomi

On this week’s episode of the Hagstone Podcast Chaise is speaking with Z. Hudelot. Z is an educator, historian, researcher, and a forager working at the intersection of folklore, folk practice and scientific study. It is a fascinating and wide ranging conversation covering Z’s work with the Mycoheterotrophs (including the Ghost Pipe), gnomes, Paracelsus, mummer’s plays and so much more. If you want to know more about the HMS Terror Z. has offered up this article.You can find Z on Instagram at : gnomecunningYou can also find Z’s lecture at the 2024 Viridis Genii Symposium on Mycoheterotrophs here.

The concept of egregores is nothing new, the ancient Greeks knew them as the "Watchers," and in Tibet they are called "Tulpas." They can be best described as immaterial entities born out of human thoughts, created from the power of a group mind - a nation is a perfect example of a large historical egregore - a nation is an idea that seems like an entity as it acts like a god and its spoken about as if it were a god.

Today, we are living in the grip of egregore symbolism and it’s getting stronger. When there is excessive egregore possession, our collective group entity becomes destructive and we run into fundamentalism, especially religious fervour mixed with nationalism. The Egregore of Uncle Sam is making a move to become a god. Many generations previously had to learn the hard way of stopping the feeding of these symbols, we have many examples when nations were thrown into a mass hypnosis in the past. Often education is required to acquire freedom from polarity and dualistic possessions, but its not an easy route, division is always easier, like walking down hill.

Here is a great interview with one of my favourite thinkers at the moment Dr. Ben Joffe, a Tibetologist and Buddhist practitioner who speaks of the Tulpas (egregores) and this phenomenon of the mind and how it affects the world. This is part 1. Part 2 we will go into other topics such as the consecration of statues in Tibetan and Hindu tantra practices, which relates to Old Customs practices here at Northern Spirit House - and much more!

Latest offering with Andreas Kornevall, co-founder of Northern Spirit House:LETTERS AS SPIRITS (Rune-Mageia) - A spring time offering - 8th March, 6pm - 7:30pm - £18

The most powerful symbols we possess are our letters. For a name to exist, including yours, it must have a sound, or a graphic depiction. Our alphabet contains 26 phonetic-letter-glyphs, these glyphs have built our world: everything that you know and all knowledge leans on them.

The great magician Alan Moore says: "Two dozen phonetic glyphs, they are the titans on whose shoulders the entire Earth is resting. Alive as abstract animals, they animate us, galvanise our inert culture with sublime significance.”

Letters offer us a field of endless exposition and we are all hypnotised; we have all been spelt.

There is an old Icelandic magical idea: it is that the shape of the letters (runes, staves, lines) carry the "primary agency." Therefore, combining rune-stave-lines-shapes, a magician can perceive new views, new feelings and new worlds.

Drawing from practices, runes, alphabets, signs, and symbols. I am offering an intensive course on how to become post-literate. To use our hands to conduct new lines and shapes, expressing our emotions in lettered shapes found in streets, trees, feathers, rocks, furs, snail trails, or ripples of water. To become founders of new alphabets, and play with whim, explorations, spell-metres, new hidden passes and obscurities. To free a magical language from the landscape and from within us - to retrieve new hieroglyphs. This effect the world around us and it can liberate us from the peripheries of meaning which are limited to only the lettered perception. When we read the lines of the leaves, the Earth's language becomes mysterious. We are so familiar with the words on the page that we have long lost the ability to look at the sigils of nature in their poetic fullness.

And yes, what can a post-literate expression look like? And what consequences can it have on our thinking? We will also explore the counter measures of resisting the power of text less sigils such as logos - countering their effects, a technique called "the Demblem."

We will journey into the language of something greater: we will enter into the provocation of new thought.

Eventbrite here

On this week’s episode of the Hagstone Podcast Chaise is speaking with Arrowyn Craban Lauer. Arrowyn is an artist, a witch, and a mother who is based in Portland, Oregon. Arrowyn is the co-creator of Hex Magazine which ran from 2007-2014.

It is a weaving conversation about the power of dreams, following your wyrd, the power of visual magical practice, and so much more.In the episode Arrowyn shares several stunning pieces of her art, she has generously offered high resolution versions of the images here for the show notes.

Oak Tree

Stargazer Lily

Living the Goat Life

Silk MothIf you want to find more of Arrowyn’s art you can find her on Etsy here:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LittleGoldFoxDesigns

and follow her on Instagram: little_gold_fox

Show Notes:Arrowyn shares about the poetry of the Babylonian poet Enheduana, they can be found here:https://enheduana.org/enheduanas-poems/

Andreas Kornevall sat down with Dr. Ceallaigh S. MacCath-Moran and had a conversation around didactic fiction, making art with our fears and hopes and how to start the wheels turning in a way that lobbyists and governments aren't.

Conscious art making is an act of resistance.

We speak of how there was a time when Skalds and Bards were highly valued and how we can revive this today through poetry, song, painting and textiles. Ceallaigh has worked with ancient ballads in a dozens of variations that were written down. Also, quantum physics tells us that we may well live in a multiverse and we hear about the great horse Sleipner and what it means to travel between worlds. Join us in this latest episode of the Hagstone Podcast.

Bio: Dr. Ceallaigh S. MacCath-Moran holds hold B.A. in Celtic Studies from the University of Toronto, an M.A. in English and Creative Writing from the University of Maine, and a PhD in Folklore from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. She is also an author, poet, and musician under the name C.S. MacCath. Her long-running Folklore & Fiction Project integrates these passions with a focus on folklore scholarship aimed at storytellers, and she brings a deep appreciation of animism, ecology, and folkloristics to her own storytelling. You can find her online at csmaccath.com, folkloreandfiction.com, and linktr.ee/csmaccath