Tag: Magic

Government is Religion – Episode 194

by Kurt Robinson on June 10, 2018 in Podcast • 0 Comments

The Story: States are compulsory cults

In the USA, many children go to school and say a prayer to a piece of cloth, affirming their faith in a deity called a “nation”. Many of them will grow up to continue worshipping the flag, repeating the words of their pledge of allegiance impressed on them when they were too young to even sign a contract. If someone desecrates the flag, urinating on it or burning it, they will get angry, because they know it means something – in fact, in their minds, it’s very difficult to separate any flag from their god – their nation.

The American bald eagle is no longer endangered in the United States, but it’s still illegal to harm one. To the lawmakers, the bald eagle is also a sacred image, a totem that represents the unity of their tribe. If you question whether obedience to the state is really beneficial or necessary, it’s normal to hear the response “It’s the law!” as if just by virtue of being declared a law makes it worthy of reverence, deference, and subjugation. The code of the government is sacred, no matter what it says, no matter how absurd.

All around the world, people have similar practices, blurring the lines between government and religion. In fact, they may be the same thing. Worshipping the government is just a particular kind of religion, a “civil religion”. In this episode, Kurt interviews entrepreneur, traveller and thinker, Shamus Mac, as he presents his case that governments are imposing their own compulsory religions, convincing or brainwashing their subjects into believing that their government, their country, their symbols and the spirit of them are all identical. Join us on another deprogramming adventure on … The Paradise Paradox!

The Links:

Civil Religion video

Robert Bellah’s Civil Religion in America essay

Peace of Westphalia on Wikipedia

Etymology of “religion”

Huichol Indians

What on Earth is happening – website of Mark Passio

The Cash:

If you enjoy our posts, please like and follow The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit.

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The Episode:

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Value is everywhere – Episode 170

by Kurt Robinson on July 26, 2017 in Podcast • 0 Comments

The Story: How to pay for your dreams

Many people have seen “The Secret” and are familiar with its claim that people can manifest their desires simply by imagining them. Others think this view is a fantasy – how can your thoughts really affect reality?

In fact, there is already scientific data to support the claim on some level – data that shows your attitude affects your health. If your attitude can have subtle effects on your own body, it may have subtle effects on your surroundings, the interactions you have with other people. I know this to be true from my own experience attempting to charm women. If you expect that the woman won’t be interested in you, you will falter, and she will see your lack of faith. If you believe that the woman will be attracted to you or want to date you, that prophecy will fulfill itself.

Projecting those points, we can guess that it goes even deeper than that. Feeling the emotions of a scene you imagine from the future brings that scene into reality.

Some will respond, “You can’t get something for nothing!” and this seems sensible. To get something good, you must give something good. What they might not realise is, value goes far beyond the hours you put in at work, the unpaid overtime, or the money you invest. You are in a position to provide value to those around you in every waking moment – by giving them a smile, a compliment, encouraging them, even just by being vulnerable and showing your humanity.

In this episode, Kurt encourages you to be valuable, dream a better future and find contentment in the present. Join us on a secret-revealing episode of … The Paradise Paradox!

The Cash:

If you enjoy our posts, please become a patron on Patreon, or have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.

The Episode:

To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.

Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.

If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.

See the world with new eyes – (a short) Episode 147

by Kurt Robinson on January 13, 2017 in Podcast • 0 Comments

The Story: Three simple exercises to make the world magical again

In our dreams, we might often be surprised by events, as the things that happen might seem so unusual it might even appear that something is happening which has never happened before, that something purely spontaneous, divine and magical is happening in that moment. Yet, when we awake, we forget those important messages of our dreams – firstly that new and amazing things are always possible, and secondly, that wonder and surprise are always possible. “The ongoing ‘wow!’ is happening right now.”

Thinking about this upon waking, I scribbled down three exercises which might help us allow the wonder to enter and engulf us:

1. Easy mode – look around you with new eyes. See things as if you’re looking at them for the first time. If you had never known the building where you live, the park near your office, the ferris wheel that stoops over the city – could you have imagined them? The moment you’re experiencing is just for you, right now. What you’re seeing, what you’re experiencing has never happened before, and it will never happen again. This is just for you. This is a special gift.

To get into this state of being, you can try a classic technique from Keith Johnstone’s “Impro”. Walk around the room and point at random objects. Whenever you point at one, say a word for it – but not the usual word for that thing. Call that thing what it isn’t. If you see your sweater, call it a “neverlump”; if you see a table, name it a “noose”; if you see a shopping bag, call it “Cambridge bridge society”, and so on. After a minute or two, you will start to see things with new eyes.

2. Medium mode – thank someone. While you’re looking at those around you in that way, find something magical about what they’re doing, and thank them for it. Magical moments are meant to be shared. Gratitude is magic.

3. Hard mode – do something magical. Create a spontaneous moment for yourself and others. Walk down the street with your guitar singing, gather the family around the piano like you did when you were kids. When someone asks how you are, respond in a way that you’ve never responded before. Tell them that, by pure chance, the universe has come together to give life on Earth and you’re here living it. Do something that makes people think for a moment that they might be in a dream, and anything is possible. Because they are, and it is.

The Links:

Keith Johnstone’s Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre

The Cash:

If you enjoy our posts, please have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.

The Episode:

To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.

Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.

If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.

Homeopathy: Just water? – Episode 144

by Kurt Robinson on December 20, 2016 in Podcast • 0 Comments

The Story: Are homeopathic solutions nothing more than water?

For many educated people, the argument against homeopathy as a system of medicine is pretty straightforward: it’s just water. That is to say, homeopathy involves diluting substances to a level that you can’t reasonably expect any of the original substance to remain, and therefore any medicinal effect that it has can’t be better than regular water, or a placebo. However, they’re mistaken.

This is a fallacy of composition – it assumes that because water molecules are identical, anything made from a bunch of water molecules must also be identical. A simple analogy to demonstrate the error in this line of thinking would be to say, all Tetris squares are identical, and so any Tetris board formed with 20 squares has the same properties. Or, all oxygen atoms are equal, and therefore any combination of them must also be equal – which is not true, oxygen atoms can form in molecules of O2, O3, O4 and O8.

In fact, there are at least three studies suggesting that homeopathic solutions are not “just water”, but something else – something with a measurable difference. Join me in finding out how in the next watered-down episode of The Paradise Paradox!

The Eps:

The Links:

Homeopathy: Just water? essay

Physical properties of ice

Luc Montagnier takes homeopathy seriously

Fallacy of composition

Thermoluminesce of ultra-high dilutions of lithium chloride and sodium chloride – Louis Rey study

The defining role of structure (including epitaxy) in the plausibility of homeopathy – Penn State study

Randomised placebo-controlled trials of individualised homeopathic treatment: systematic review and meta-analysis

The Cash:

The Episode:

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Ayahuasca Reloaded: Ayahuasca Identity – Episode 142

by Aaron Battle on December 5, 2016 in Podcast • 0 Comments

The Story: Ayahuasca and who you are

Taking a shamanic medicine such as ayahuasca can be an intense experience. It can also be a painful experience, and a confusing experience. These psychedelics can show us parts of ourselves that we didn’t know existed, and ask questions that we didn’t know needed answering. Ayahuasca can be tough with us, especially when you attempt to evade or deny what She’s trying to show you.

In this episode, Kurt explains the second half of his second ayahuasca journey, explaining the lessons that it taught him about identity, asking himself who he wants to be, how he wants people to see him, and which 6 interlocking stories he wants to tell himself and others to establish his sense of self. What do you want people to write on your epitaph? How can you align your life towards that purpose?

Join us on another psychedelic, self-questioning epic in the next episode of… The Paradise Paradox!

The Eps:

Ayahuasca Reloaded: Alien Ayahuasca Trip

The Links:

DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor’s Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences
Documentary: Inner and outer worlds
Graham Hancock The War On Consciousness TEDx Talk

The Cash:

The Episode:

To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.

Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.

If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.

Ayahuasca Reloaded: Alien Ayahuasca Trip – Episode 141

by Aaron Battle on November 21, 2016 in Podcast • 0 Comments

The Story: Kurt Revisits Mother Ayahuasca

In preparation for an ayahuasca trip, it’s best to prepare the body physically through a strict diet, for at least three days beforehand. However, one must also prepare oneself mentally by asking the question: what is the purpose of this journey? Some people will tell you that thinking deeply about your purpose isn’t necessary, because no matter what you come up with, Grandmother Ayahuasca is going to show you what you need to know, not what you want to know – which is true – but in my (Kurt’s) opinion, contemplating your purpose is vital, because you have to remember that the medicine is going to reveal a great truth to you, so you must be ready, if not to accept it, at least to face it, when it appears.

Before this, my second journey with ayahuasca, I tried to strip away some of my mental barriers – thinking that, I don’t really know what these visions are capable of showing me, so I have to ask myself the question: what knowledge would I ask for, if I knew I could receive the answer to any question?

At first I considered asking for some journeys to other realms, meeting strange beings, friendly buddhas on the astral plane, and extraterrestrials from distant star systems or adjacent realities. Yet, after some consideration, I decided to ask something more earthly, and perhaps more practical – to continue the work in healing my heart, to make my soul more complete.

In the end, I’m not entirely sure if I received the answers to either of these questions, or if I received answers that went far beyond my questions. Join us in the next universe-defying, soul-shivering adventure in … The Paradise Paradox!

The Eps:

Ayahuasca Diaries 1
Ayahuasca Diaries 2
Ayahuasca Diaries 3

The Links:

The Cash:

The Episode:

To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.

Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.

If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.