Some Other Sphere

Episode 100 - Shannon Taggart - Séance: Spiritualist Ritual and the Search for Ectoplasm

My guest for this episode is photojournalist Shannon Taggart, who joined me to talk about her 2019 photobook - 'Séance'. This project was the culmination of two decades of research into the history, rituals, practices and exponents of Spiritualism, a religious movement which emerged in the mid 19th Century in update New York in the USA and is now established across the globe.
Shannon's interest in the subject stems from an experience as a child attending a service at a spiritualist church in Lily Dale - which is perhaps the town most emblematic of the movement in the United States.  For the book, she expected to spend one summer figuring out the tricks of the Spiritualist trade but instead the mysterious processes, earnest practitioners, and neglected photographic history became an inspiration which would see her travel to the United Kingdom and Europe in order to see the project to its conclusion.
'Séance' features 150 of her original images, complimented by historical photographs, a commentary on her experiences, and a foreword by Dan Aykroyd, who himself is a fourth-generation Spiritualist. It concludes with a debate over ectoplasm and how Spiritualism can move forward in the twenty-first century.     
In the interview, we begin by discussing Shannon's initial experience at a spiritualist service and from there talk more about Lily Dale, and how the idea for the 'Séance' project came about.  From there our conversation explores the relationship between photography and spiritualism, the practices and methodology that are used, and the mysterious, controversial substance that is ectoplasm.
Further information about Shannon and her work can be be found at https://www.shannontaggart.com/.
If you would like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!
 
The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.
 

Episode 99 - Emma Kathryn - Wild Witchcraft

My guest for this episode is witch and author Emma Kathryn. Emma has had an interest in witchcraft from an early age and her practise has developed to include a combination of british magical traditions with the afro-caribbean ones of Myal and Obeah. She has written books such as Reclaiming Ourselves, Reclaiming Food, Wild Witchcraft and Witch Life and champions the positive relationships that can exist between people and nature through an interest in the supernatural.
I begin the interview by asking how her interest in witchcraft started and developed over time with the mixing of different magical systems. From there we talk about the path that she followed to becoming an Obeah woman, some of the deities she works with as part of that and the relationship and differences between Obeah and Myal. We also discuss our shared interest in animism, and how immersing yourself in the natural landscape can bring about a deeper connection with the other.
For more information on Emma and her writing please visit the Wild Witchcraft website at https://emmakathrynwildwitchcraft.com/.
If you would like to support the upkeep of the podcast you can do so via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!
 
The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.
 

Episode 98 - Emma Heard - Weird Wiltshire

Joining me as my guest for this episode is Emma Heard, creator of the Weird Wiltshire blog.
Emma has had a lifelong interest in the paranormal and experienced many unusual occurrences that are hard to explain. During the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020 she had a chance to write a blog for fun and so Weird Wiltshire was born, offering a place to explore the history, folklore and spooky tales which overflow the county.
I begin the interview by talking with Emma about how her interest in these subjects began and developed when she moved to Wiltshire. We also discuss some of her own experiences of the paranormal and then move on to the weird history of Wiltshire itself, which is so often connected to the ancient monuments and landscape that exemplify the area.
To visit the Weird Wiltshire blog go to https://weird-wiltshire.co.uk/. You can follow Emma on Twitter at https://twitter.com/WeirdWiltsBlog.
If you would like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!
 
The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.
 

Episode 97 - Gregory Forth - Between Ape and Human

My guest for this episode is Gregory Forth, who joined me to discuss his book Between Ape and Human: An Anthropologist on the Trail of a Hidden Hominoid.
Gregory received his doctorate at Oxford and was a professor of Anthropology at the University of Alberta for more than three decades.  He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and is the author more than one hundred scholarly papers and several academic books.  Between Ape and Human is his first book for a general audience.
While doing fieldwork in the Lio region of the Indonesian island of Flores, he came across people talking about half-apelike, half-humanlike creatures called Lai Ho’a that once lived in a cave on the slopes of a nearby volcano. Over the years he continued to record what locals had to say about these mystery hominoids while searching for ways to explain them as imaginary symbols of the wild or other cultural representations.
In 2003 however, skeletons of a small-statured early human species named Homo Foresiensis were excavated in a cave in western Flores. In view of this timing and the striking resemblance of floresiensis to the mystery creatures described by the islanders, Gregory began to think about the creatures reported to him as possibly reflecting a real species, either now extinct but retained in ‘cultural memory’, or perhaps even still surviving.
I begin the interview by talking with Gregory about how his interest in researching ape-man encounters in Flores started, and then the discussion moves to the book itself, which across four sections examines the space the Lai Ho’a occupy in islanders’ culture as both natural creatures and as supernatural beings.
Between Ape and Human is published by Pegasus Books - for further details go to http://pegasusbooks.com/authors/gregory-forth. You can purchase a copy from the publisher or by ordering it from your favourite bookseller.
If you would like to support  the upkeep of Some Other Sphere, you can do so via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!
 
The Some Other Sphere theme is provided by Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.
 

Episode 96 - Patrick Harpur - Daimonic Reality

Joining me as my guest for this episode is author Patrick Harpur.  Patrick has written extensively on a range of fortean subjects but is perhaps best known for his 1994 book Daimonic Reality: A Field Guide to the Otherworld. This applied the ideas of people such as William Blake, W.B Yeats and Carl Jung to examine the connections across a wide range of paranormal phenomena and explore the history of the realm many believe exists between the states of body and spirit.
The book is regarded as classic of it’s kind and a must have for the bookshelves of people interested in the sort of subjects It covers.
In the interview I begin by talking with Patrick about the concept of daimonic reality and what that term describes. From there we discuss the book and how it came about and then move on to the daimons themselves, what they are, their interactions with humanity and how and why they manifest in our world the way they do.
More information about Patrick and his writing can be found at http://www.harpur.org/patrick.htm.
You can support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere with a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!
 
The Some Other Sphere Theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.
 

Episode 95 - Jeremy Harte - The Devil in the English Landscape

My guest for this episode is folklorist and author Jeremy Harte, who joined me to talk about his new book Cloven Country: The Devil in the English Landscape.
Jeremy has written extensively on local history, folklore and the supernatural and is the curator of the Bourne Hall Museum at Epson and Ewell as well as secretary of the Romany and Traveller Family History Society.
In Cloven Country, he explores the background of those stories where the Devil played a part both in creating the English landscape, as well as his relationships with the people who populated it – which could range from being hoodwinked by cunning cobblers, to punishing wealthy merchants and landowners for their greed and avarice.
In the interview I begin by talking with Jeremy about what inspired the idea for the book and then look at the history of the Devil's appearances in English folklore, and some of the themes and motifs that are most common there. We also talk about the relationship between this kind of folklore and peoples personal experience of the supernatural, and how the latter has become much more prevalent in modern times, to the extent that presence of the 'landscape devil' in recent storytelling is hard to discern.
Cloven Country: The Devil in the English Landscape is published by Reaktion Books - more details can be found at https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/cloven-country and the book can be purchased from your local bookshop.
You can support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere with a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee, go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!
 
The Some Other Sphere Theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.
 

Episode 94 - George Popov - Filmmaking and the Paranormal

Joining me for this episode is filmmaker George Popov. George is half of the creative partnership behind Rubicon Films, who since 2022 have released a series of paranormal themed documentaries under the title of ‘Sideworld’.
To quote George, a sideworld exists “where the line between fact and fiction is enshrouded in mist and shadow, and beyond that threshold is a place that can change our perspective on everything we think we know.”
The three Sideworld documentaries made so far have explored the haunted forests of England, terrors of the sea, and English villages with ghostly reputations. Prior to that, Rubicon made two feature films  - Hex in 2017 and The Droving in 2020, which both include folk horror themes and fortean subjects.
In the interview I begin by talking with George about his interests in the paranormal and filmmaking, and the relationship they have had as part of his career. From there we  go on to discuss the Sideworld documentaries and some of the subjects they cover, as and explore how these sorts of things represent the sideworld concept itself.
More information about George's films can be found at https://www.rubiconfilms.co.uk/.
You can support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere with a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!
 
The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.
 

Episode 93 - Vuk (Tracing Owls Podcast) - Gaia Theory

My guest for this episode is Vuk, host of the Tracing Owls podcast.
A quirky but nuanced exploration into Fortean philosophy, Tracing Owls focuses on the roles of Mother Nature, the Trickster and the experiencer in shaping paranormal phenomena, with a healthy amount of humour and humility along the way.
Could Cryptids, UFOs, High strangeness and paraweird anomalies all originate from the same source? Vuk seeks to catalogue the overlooked, spotlight the disregarded, and show that the cosmic expanse is much greater than our understanding of it.
A good example of this are his thoughts on Gaia Theory, expanding on the ideas of James Lovelock and Lynn Margoulis. This is the focus of the episode, exploring how paranormal happenings could be manifestations in the workings of a vast global consciousness.
More information on the Tracing Owls Podcast can be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/TracingOwls.
If you'd like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere you can do so with a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!
 
The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub', by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.
 

Episode 92 - Sarah Janes - Initiation into Dream Mysteries

Joining me for this episode is author and dream researcher, Sarah Janes. Sarah has been an enthusiastic lucid dreamer since childhood and has written about dreams, dream culture and the anthropology of dreaming for a number of academic journals, the Idler magazine and more. 
Sarah’s first book Initiation into Dream Mysteries, Drinking from the Pool of Mnemosyne was published recently and explores the ancient history and philosophy of dream therapy and sleep medicine, beginning in deepest antiquity through to ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt and Greece. It also has seven stories in it which are inspired by Sarah’s own dream incubation practices. These stories are designed to act as psychomagic narratives to influence your dreams and take you on a self-initiatory conscious dream quest. 
In the interview we talk about how Sarah’s interest in dreams and dreaming began, and then move on to discuss the history of dream therapy and interpretation in ancient times, along with examples of that such as temple sleep and dream incubation. We also chat about the role and importance of divine entities in these practices, and what the use of dream therapy in ancient societies can inform us on about the worldview and reality of those cultures as a whole.  Our conversation was recorded in November 2022.
For more information on Sarah's new book and dream culture research go to her website https://themysteries.org/
If you would like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere with a donation you can do so via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!
 
The podcast theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey amd Chris Martyn.
 

Episode 91 - Dr Liz Savage - A Beginner’s Guide to Dickensian Cryptozoology

My guest for this episode is Dr Liz Savage, who joined me to talk about the concept of Dickensian Cryptozoology.
Liz earned her PhD from Durham University on nineteenth-century literature, focusing on Charles Dickens and the uncanny. Her current research continues to focus on the strange and unusual in literature, film, and other media.
Dickensian Cryptozoology is the subject of a paper she has written which proposes a new approach to the writers texts that examines the character and places he created through the lens of creature myths and legends that persist today.
Central to these ideas are his Mudfog Papers, a fantastical set of stories complete with robots, circus fleas, and overenthusiastic scientists studying the mathematical implications of children’s books alongside annuals that run on milk.
Later Dickens works are also included to help demonstrate how cryptozoological and Fortean readings of character and places are not only possible, but create a fun, unique, and unexpected research angle for both seasoned academics and those new to Dickens.
We begin the interview by talking about the otherworldliness of Dickens writing, and how there are examples of that in many of his works. We then discuss the Mudfog papers themselves, and some of the stories and characters which represent the ideas Liz is interested in.
Liz is presenting her talk about Dickensian Cryptozoology at a Dickens Day symposium which is happening at the School of Advanced Study (University of London) on Saturday February 25th 2023. More details can be found at https://ies.sas.ac.uk/events/dickens-day-2022.
She can be found on Twitter as @LizAnneSavage where there is a bio with links to more of her talks and contact information.
If you would like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere, you can do so via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!
 
The podcast theme is from Purple Planet Music - ' Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.