Some Other Sphere

My guest for this episode is author and folklorist Hugh Williams, who joined me to discuss his new book The Horn of Mercia; The Wild Hunt and The Spectral Huntsman of Central England. In the book, Hugh explores the history of the legendary Wild Hunt, delving into the ancient origins of the idea, it’s emergence as a supernatural phenomenon in Medieval Europe and how it has been recorded and reported in the folklore of the English Midlands, where he grew up. He also writes about both the mythic figures who were said to lead the hunt and those that were solitary, most notably Herne the Hunter a character famously mentioned in the Shakespeare play The Merry Wives of Windsor. Hugh investigates the legend of Herne in depth and, using an evidence-based approach, theorises a new origin for this legendary phantom. I begin the interview by talking briefly with Hugh about the medieval kingdom of Mercia. From there he discusses the history of the Wild Hunt legend, and goes through his theory about the origins and evidence for Herne the Hunter. You can find out more about Hugh's book, along with his 'Mysteries of Mercia' social media accounts at https://www.mysteriesofmercia.com/. If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you! The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

My guest for this episode is paranormal author and researcher Fiona Dodwell, who joined me to discuss her new book A Cursed Collection of Haunted Dolls. Fiona has been passionate about the paranormal for many years. She has studied demonology, applied paranormal research, exorcism, and theology. In the interview we begin by talking about her background and interest in the subject of haunted dolls, the famous examples such as Robert the Doll and Annabelle and the variety of theories connected to the phenomenon. After this we discuss some of the dolls that Fiona has personally interacted with and what those experiences were like. A small item of housekeeping – there were some technical difficulties toward the beginning of the interview, so our conversation is a little shorter than I’d hoped for. However it turned out this kind of interruption isn’t unknown to her when discussing haunted dolls, which she also talks about in the interview. You can find out more about Fiona and her writing at https://linktr.ee/Fiona.Dodwell. If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you! The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

My guest for this episode is artist, filmmaker, occultist and magical practitioner Francesca Way. Francesca is an expert Tarot reader and specialises in Ceremonial Magic and Witchcraft. Their practice is grounded in deep spiritual transformation and a life-changing connection with her Holy Guardian Angel, something which is only developed through an intense magical rite lasting many months known as the Abramelin Operation. She also helps people with their own esoteric development in one-to-one sessions which can involve tarot readings, divination, intuitive guidance and a variety of other techniques. In the interview I begin by asking Francesca about how their magical practice began and then we talk about the experience of going through the Abramelin Operation. From there we discuss the relationship between Francesca’s magical practice, artwork and film-making which leads into a broader conversation about the connections between magic, occultism and the paranormal. You can find out more about Francesca at their website https://francescaway.com/. If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you! The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

My guest for this episode is author and researcher Tony Wright, who joined me to talk about his recent book Things Aren’t Right: The Disappearance of the Yuba County Five. The book explores the strange and tragic 1978 disappearance of five friends in the Plumas National Forest in Northern California; Ted Weiher, Jack Madruga, Bill Sterling, Jackie Huett, and Gary Mathias. Four of these men had intellectual disabilities while one was diagnosed with schizophrenia. On Friday, February 24, 1978, they left the Yuba County, California area in Madruga’s 1969 Mercury Montego to attend a basketball game in Chico, California. Four days later the car they were traveling in was found abandoned on a snow-covered road in the mountains of the Plumas National Forest, some seventy-five miles in the wrong direction from home. Four jurisdictions of law enforcement would investigate and search for the missing men. Psychics were brought in, and there were strange reports of sightings of the five from numerous people. One witness came forward with an incredible story of seeing the men disappear into the forest that night. Yet every lead came to a dead end. About four months after they vanished, four of the five men’s remains were found some twelve miles from the car, with one discovered in a US Forest Service trailer with plenty of food and fuel to keep them alive for months. Once described as ‘Bizarre as hell’, the case of the Yuba County Five has baffled law enforcement and the families of the missing men for over forty-five years. Tony’s meticulous research has rightly earned him the reputation of being one of the foremost authorities on the subject, and his conclusions are likely as close as anyone will come to making sense of what happened to Ted, Jack, Bill, Jackie and Gary. You can find out more about Tony and his book on his Facebook page. Nick Kyle's The Missing Enigma YouTube channel also has some excellent videos about the Yuba County Five case. You can find out more at https://www.youtube.com/@TheMissingEnigma. If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you! The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

My guest for this episode is author and academic Alice Vernon. Alice is a Lecturer in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Creative Writing at Aberystwyth University and her research primarily involves the intersection between storytelling and the history of medicine, with a particular interest in sleep disorders, hallucinations and parapsychology. She has written two books connected to these subject matters and the most recent of these - ‘Ghosted: A History of Ghost Hunting, and Why We Keep Looking’ is the subject of our conversation. In Ghosted, Alice examines the history of paranormal investigations, beginning in the séance rooms of Victorian era Britain and moving across time through the aftermath if WW1 to the technology driven ghost hunts of recent times. The book explores how approaches to studying paranormal phenomena have changed over the decades in response to technological advancements and shifts in cultural attitudes to the paranormal and shows how the pursuit of contact with otherworldly entities has enthralled people for so long. I begin the interview by talking with Alice about what prompted her to write the book and then we delve into the pages of Ghosted itself, which leads to a varied conversation on the ways that people have continued to try and interact with paranormal phenomena and what it is about doing that that makes it such an enduring pursuit. ‘Ghosted: A History of Ghost Hunting, and Why We Keep Looking’ is published by Bloomsbury and information about the book can be found here. Further details about Alice are available on her staff profile page at Aberystwyth University If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you! The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

My guest for this episode is paranormal investigator, researcher and writer Kate Ray. In addition to scientific rigour, Kate’s approach to investigating hauntings is influenced by appreciating how these sorts of happenings were understood and described in pre-industrial societies and preserved in the local folklore. A good example of this is how what might be described as poltergeist activity in the present day could in the past have been considered the actions of a displeased house spirit, or fairy. Kate has written extensively on a range of Fortean subjects, including two books inspired by the Wollaton Gnomes case and regular articles appearing in Haunted magazine. In addition, she hosts a faery inspired podcast called Hare in the Hawthorn. In the interview I talk with Kate about how her career in paranormal investigation began and has developed around the connection between hauntings and the presence of beings which might best be described as fairies. The conversation opens out into a wide-ranging discussion on the nature of paranormal phenomena and the role that experiencers have as part of that. I also talk with Kate about the Wollaton Gnomes case and we conclude with her relating a very unusual entity encounter she had whilst visiting an ancient earthwork known as Wayland’s Smithy. You can find further details about Kate's paranormal investigations and podcast at her Youtube channel Hare in the Hawthorn. If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you! The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

My guest for this episode is writer and researcher Paul A.T. Wilson, who joined me to talk about his ongoing involvement in developments relating to a paranormal encounter that happened on the Isle of Wight in the UK over fifty years ago – that of Sam the Sandown Clown. To describe the events of the initial encounter as unusual is somewhat of an understatement. In 1973, two young children were out playing near Sandown when they met the titular Sam – who was described as wearing a pointy hat, having triangular markings for eyes and a square nose on a pale face and arms and legs that seemed wooden. The children spent some time with Sam in a small hut and spoke with him, after which they left, and both he and his dwelling had disappeared. This encounter eventually featured in a journal of the British UFO Research Association in 1978 after which, the strange events of that day in 1973 faded somewhat, becoming a small part of paranormal history. That was until a few decades later, when Paul was put in contact with someone who claimed to be one of the children who encountered Sam and has been given the pseudonym ‘Fay’. Paul was allowed to meet with Fay and talk to her about her initial encounter with Sam in the process of which she revealed she had met him again on four other occasions. These developments have been part of a renaissance of interest in the Sandown Clown incident, which has seen the adoption of Sam by Sandown as something of a fortean mascot, and him becoming an important part of the islands recent folklore. The interview begins with Paul providing a brief summary of the initial incident, after which we talk about how his own interest in those events started, and how he came to meet with Fay. We discuss the memories she has of her first meeting with Sam, and then go into the subsequent encounters she had with him, exploring the themes they include which may offer some clues as to Sam’s true nature. We end by talking about the recent upsurge of interest in the Sandown Clown case, what makes Sam an important part of the Isle of Wight’s culture. You can find Paul on Bluesky as Tales of Wihtlore. If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you! The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

For this episode, I welcome back previous guest Laura Lewis-Barr. Laura first appeared on Some Other Sphere in episode 116, where we discussed her work as a stop-motion filmmaker, creating short movies inspired by myths, fairy tales and the ideas of people such as Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell. This time around, Laura joined me to talk about the relationship between states of illness and paranormal phenomena. The idea for this subject matter was prompted by an experience she had whilst on holiday in Greece in 2024, during which she suffered from an attack of Bell’s Palsy. The interview begins with Laura describing the events that led up to the attack, along with the symbology and archetypal imagery she noticed around that time. From there our conversation opens out into a broader discussion on the liminality of being unwell, centred around an article by Dr Sabina Dosani titled ‘Ghosts and Angels: The Supernatural in Illness Narratives’. We discuss the effect illness can have on a persons sense of self and their perception of the world around them. and we finish up talking about some of the mythic characters and stories that feature motifs of illness and injury. A full account of Laura's illness experience can be found at https://www.storysanctum.org/post/speaking-symbols-with-gorgons. The article by Dr Sabina Dosani that Laura and I discuss in the interview is available at https://medicalhealthhumanities.com/2025/02/25/ghosts-and-angels-the-supernatural-in-illness-narratives/. If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you! The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

My guest for this episode is author Raphael Cormack, who joined me to talk about his new non-fiction book, Holy Men of the Electromagnetic Age. The book explores what it describes as a ‘golden age of the uncanny’ centered around the Eastern Mediterranean in the years following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. This was a time when Clairvoyants, fakirs, mind-readers, miracle-workers and jinn-summoners enthralled people and audiences with the idea that unseen spiritual powers commanded a realm of hidden human potential. The story Raphael tells focuses on the lives of two such characters in particular; Tahra Bey, who took 1920s Paris by storm as a self-styled Fakir with remarkable displays of bodily endurance and mind reading ; and Doctor Dahesh, who combined a similar skill set with techniques from Spiritualism into something which would eventually evolve into a pan-religious faith in Lebanon. Travelling between Cairo, New York and Jerusalem, Paris, Istanbul and Rio de Janeiro, these two mystics reflected the desires and anxieties of a troubled age, beginning in the aftermath of World War One and extending into World War Two and more recent conflicts in the Middle East. In the interview I talk a bit with Raphael about his background, and how the idea for the book came about. From there our conversation loosely follows the structure of the book itself, first talking about Tahra Bey, and then Doctor Dahesh. It is a conversation more about a time in recent occult history, represented in microcosm by these two men, rather than an exploration of their purported abilities but it still provides a fascinating insight into a world that is quite recent, but mostly forgotten today. You can find out more about Holy Men of the Electromagnetic Age at https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/holy-men-of-the-electromagnetic-age/. If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you! The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

My guest for this episode is folklorist and author Dagrún Ósk Jónsdóttir, who joined me to discuss her new book Ghosts, Trolls and The Hidden People; An Anthology of Icelandic Folk Legends. Dagrún Ósk’s research on the folklore and legends of Iceland has included the topics of cannibalism, Ouija board traditions, supernatural beings and, for her PhD thesis, women, femininity and gendered power relations. Her new book is a window into the mythic and supernatural history of the Icelandic people. The six chapters of the anthology are each based on a different setting: farm, wilderness, darkness, church, ocean and shore. It features translated tales from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as well as introductions from Dagrún Ósk herself, which place these often-supernatural happenings in the context of Icelandic society. The legends include stories of hidden people, trolls, ghosts, sea monsters and even polar bears, exploring themes of love, revenge and conflict. The book highlights the tension between Christianity and paganism, past and present, nature and humanity, and divides within society. More details about Ghosts, Trolls and The Hidden People; An Anthology of Icelandic Folk Legends can be found at https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/ghosts-trolls-and-the-hidden-people. If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you! The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

Joining me for this episode is philosopher Kimberly S. Engels. Kimberly is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Molloy University and her research focuses on existentialism, phenomenology, and ethics. In 2023 she started a new research project on the UAP phenomenon, focusing on the lived conscious experience of individuals who report these kind encounters, and how they integrate these experiences into their understanding of self, other, and world. This work has seen her become Research Director at the John Mack Institute, and Advisory Board Member for the Society for UAP Studies. Phenomenology is the direct investigation and description of phenomena as consciously experienced, without theories about their causal explanation. In the interview I begin by talking with Kimberly about her background and exploring phenomenology in more detail. From there we discuss how its methods can be applied in the of study of extraordinary experiences such as those people have with UAPs/UFOs and also how it can help experiencers understand those events on a personal level. Further details about Kimberly's research is available at https://kimberlyengels.academia.edu/ and to find her blog posts for the Society for UAP Studies, go to https://www.societyforuapstudies.org/blog. Kimberly also has a podcast series called 'Phenomenology of the Phenomenon' which is available on the Society for UAP Studies YouTube channel here. If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you! The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

My guest for this episode is author and historian Karl Bell, who joined me to talk about his new book, The Perilous Deep: A Supernatural History of the Atlantic. Karl is Associate Professor in Cultural and Social History and Co-Director of the Centre for Port Cities and Maritime Cultures at the University of Portsmouth. Prior to his latest work, he wrote The Legend of Spring-Heeled Jack, which was winner of the 2013 Katharine Briggs Award. As its title mentions, The Perilous Deep focuses on the Atlantic Ocean. This is a place whose vastness and unfathomable depths have inspired tales of ghost ships, reports of encounters with mermaids and sea monsters, and legends of mysterious islands for centuries. These stories were told by both seafarers and coastal communities and formed an important part of their culture. In the book, Karl explores why these stories were told, how they were repeated and mutated and what fears, anxieties and desires they helped to express. It offers an insight into the supernatural history of the Atlantic Ocean and some of its neighbouring seas, showing how seafaring peoples have developed knowledge and a sense of control over nature through myths and legends. The Perilous Deep is published by Reaktion Books - further details are available at https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/the-perilous-deep. If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you! The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

My guest for this episode is paranormal podcaster and author Jim Harold. Since 2005, Jim has built a global following with his flagship shows The Paranormal Podcast and Jim Harold’s Campfire. Jim’s podcasts have been downloaded over eighty million times and consistently rank alongside major networks on the podcast charts. Going full-time in 2012, he has also authored six books in his Campfire series, which collect together the spooky stories and weird happenings people have reported to him from all over the world. In the interview we focus on the Campfire project. I begin by talking with Jim about the origins of his interest in the paranormal and ask how his career in podcasting started. From there Jim shares some of the stories from the latest volume of the Campfire books, which leads us into to a wide-ranging conversation about the nature of paranormal experience, how that might relate to consciousness and the importance of storytelling in human cultures, and much more. Further details about Jim, his podcasts and book series can be found at https://jimharold.com/ If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you! The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

Joining me for this episode is returning guest Susan Demeter. Susan is a Canadian born author, artist, and witch. The themes of her writing, research and art incorporate a lifelong interest in exceptional human experiences, UFOs, nature, social history, mysteries, and magic. She was previously a guest back in 2021 for episode 62 of Some Other Sphere, where we discussed her book Cosmic Witch: Magic Witchcraft and the Supernatural. This time around, Susan joined me to talk about a recent paper she has written about three roads in Ontario, Canada which each have haunted reputations. The paper explores the paranormal history of these places—Mississauga’s Trail, Texas Road, and Buck Hill Road—both through her first-hand observations and research of primary and secondary sources. I begin the interview by talking with Susan about what drew her to this subject matter and her own unusual experiences when visiting Mississauga’s Trail. From there the conversation opens out to cover the other two sites included in the paper and consider why some roads seem to attract paranormal phenomena. We discuss the symbolism present in some of the folklore and otherworldly beings connected to the roads, their role as both practical , imaginal and mythic spaces, the relationship between people and nature and what that all might indicate about the nature of our reality. You can find out more about Susan and her writing at https://susandemeter.wordpress.com/. If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you! The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

My guest for this episode is Clive Bloom, who joined me to talk about his new book, London Uncanny: A Gothic Guide to the Capital in Weird History and Fiction. Clive is Professor in Residence at Hull University, Emeritus Professor at Middlesex University and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Western Timisoara, Romania. He is a feature writer for several newspapers and the author of many books on topics from literature to politics, including the London political histories Violent City (2003) and Riot City (2012). In London Uncanny, Clive takes the reader on a psychogeographical tour of the capital’s uncanny literature, arcane events and its infamous and imagined locations. The urban landscape is presented as a space of wonder and madness, both haunted by its past and haunting the present. With stories of death and murder, spiritualism, lunacy and the occult the London in the book is one where dreams and nightmares meet. In the interview I talk with Clive about how the idea for London Uncanny came about, and some of the themes that are present throughout its pages. We discuss how different versions of the city intersect, such as the ancient and modern, the ways that some people have found ways to interact with the imaginary and mythic London, and how the effect of modernisation, such as the construction of the London Underground, have given rise to new mythologies and uncanny experiences. You can find out more about Clive and his work at https://www.clivebloom.com/. If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you! The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

Joining me for this episode is research scientist and author Dr. Bob Davis. After receiving his doctorate in 1981 Bob served as a professor for the State University of New York for over thirty years, where he conducted extensive research in the behavioural and neurosensory sciences, taught, and held many high-level administrative roles. Following retirement, he published several articles in the Journal of Scientific Exploration and Edge Science and has given lectures at national and international conferences on consciousness, spiritually transformative experiences, and unidentified anomalous phenomena. He has also published four books - The UFO Phenomenon: Should I Believe?; Life after Death: An Analysis of the Evidence; Unseen Forces: The Integration of Science, Reality and You and most recently The Consciousness Connection: Extraordinary Human Experiences and the Nature of Reality, which has also been turned into a documentary. As you can imagine with a subject as vast as consciousness, my interview with Bob is wide-ranging. I begin by talking with him about his early life and what drew him to a career in neuroscience, and then move onto how his interest in studying the more esoteric and fortean aspects of consciousness developed. We discuss how he moved past the materialist outlook he had developed from a career in science and the extraordinary experiences he had which helped him to do that. From there we discuss how such experiences are best looked at scientifically and what they suggest about the nature of consciousness and beyond that, reality itself. You can find out more about Bob and his research at https://bobdavisspeaks.com/. If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you! The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

My guest for this episode is Nick Literski. Nick is a Jungian scholar, spiritual guide, author, and retired attorney. Dissatisfaction with a career working in law, together with the experience of coming out as part of the LGBTQ+ community, led them to rebuild their life and pursue their interest in the intersection of spirituality and psychology. After three years of training as a shamanic practitioner, Nick’s desire to help facilitate the spiritual journey of queer persons led them to earn a master’s degree in Spiritual Guidance at Sofia University, where their thesis work focused on how gay men from non-affirming religious backgrounds create their own sustaining, affirming spiritual practices. This work, in turn, inspired Nick to pursue further graduate work in depth psychology and attain a PhD in that subject. Their dissertation work involved a depth psychological analysis of Palaeolithic cave art, through Carl Jung’s technique of active imagination, with an eye toward what these images can reveal about the human religious instinct. Nick is an accomplished author, having essays and articles published in multiple academic journals. They also co-authored Method Infinite: Freemasonry and the Mormon Restoration, published in August 2022 by Greg Kofford Books. In addition, Nick served briefly as Assistant Editor of the journal, Anthropology of Consciousness. I begin the interview by talking with Nick about the life events that led up to their decision to change career and pursue their passions for psychology and spiritual development. From there we discuss some of the methods they use to help their clients and this leads into an interesting conversation about how best to understand extraordinary experiences and the importance of personal meaning and subjective reality in trying to do that. You can find out more about Nick and their work at https://www.dancingancestors.com/ and they can by contacted by email at [email protected]. If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you! The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.

My guest for this episode is author Liz Williams, who joined me to talk about her new book Rough Music: Folk Customs, Transgression and Alternative Britain. Liz holds a PhD in the History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Cambridge and is a widely published journalist and writer of both fiction and non-fiction. In Rough Music she examines the influence of themes such as transgression and shame in British folk customs, from ancient times to the present day. The book investigates a variety of ceremonial traditions in Britain such as May Day parades, Bonfire Night and other seasonal events and reveals the roots and roles of violence, mockery, protest and public shaming in some of these. In the interview I talk with Liz about her background and interest in this subject matter and the connections between some of the customs detailed in her book and otherworldly folkloric entities such as Woodwoses, the Green Man and Black Shuck. We also discuss the debate around the origins of some of these traditions and how this contrasts and compares with the timeless quality that they possess, which is something that they share with a lot of paranormal phenomena. You can find out more about Liz and her book Rough Music at https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/rough-music and further details on the 2025 Black Shuck festival are available at https://blackshuckfestival.com/. If you enjoy what I do with Some Other Sphere and would like to support its upkeep you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you! The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.