Saturday, October 31, 2015

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #200 - 31OCT15

The Mystical Positivist is now a weekly radio show on KOWS-LP 107.3 FM, Occidental, CA. Listen live on Saturday evenings from 4:00 - 6:00pm, PST, via the web at KOWS Live Stream
This week's podcast features:
  • A conversation in the studio with Sam Webster, founder of the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn. Sam Webster is a writer, Thelemite, a member of the Golden Dawn tradition, as well as an initiate of Wicca. Webster holds a Master of Divinity degree from the Starr King School for the Ministry at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, and a Ph.D in History from the University of Bristol. He is notable as one of the pioneers of open source religion - the use of the open source paradigm in the field of spirituality. He has authored a number of articles and essays on occult and Pagan topics, publishing both online and in periodicals such as Green Egg, Mezlim, Gnosis, and PanGaea. Many of his essays on PaganDharma and Thelema have also been made available online. In 2001, he was one of a number of Neopagans interviewed in Modern Pagans - An Investigation of Contemporary Pagan Ritual, a feature article in the counter-cultural journal RE/Search.

    He has founded (or cofounded) several occult and Pagan organizations, including the Chthonic-Ouranian OTO (1985), and the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn (2002). Webster's book Tantric Thelema was published in 2010. His Ph.D dissertation, The History of Theurgy from Iamblichus to the Golden Dawn, was published in 2014.
More information about Sam Webster's work and interests can be found at:

Saturday, October 10, 2015

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #199 - 10OCT15

The Mystical Positivist is now a weekly radio show on KOWS-LP 107.3 FM, Occidental, CA. Listen live on Saturday evenings from 4:00 - 6:00pm, PST, via the web at KOWS Live Stream
This week's podcast features:
  • A conversation in the studio with This week our guests in the studio are Laura Morgan, MD, and Jim Sullivan. Laura Morgan is the author of Three Jewels, a natural history/field guide to three trail systems in west Sonoma County. Jim Sullivan teaches animal tracking, is a landscape painter, and is writing a book combining the newest information in the cognitive sciences with what he has learned from daily practice of our species' most ancient pursuit—animal tracking.

    Laura Morgan describes her spiritual background this way: “My father's father was to be the next "Mirshimun", the spiritual and secular head of the Assyrians and their Orthodox Church at the time of the Armenian/Assyrian massacre in northern Iran in 1915.

    “I was raised Episcopalian but had an enduring "born again" experience at age 16, the year I first laid eyes on the landscape of West Sonoma County. I came back to live here and attended Sonoma State, graduating with degrees in music and literature.

    “During my last year of college, I met Eknath Easwaran at the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation in Tomales and subsequently lived in the community for 10 years. He asked me to become a physician, so I did, through the UCB/UCSF Joint Medical Program. He hoped to perform research studying the effects of meditation. When difficulties led to an exodus of many community members in the '80s, I continued my residency at Community Hospital of Sonoma County, in family practice.

    “During the 30 years of medical practice that ensued, I stuck with passage meditation and trail-running as my anchors. I primarily worship nature. Austin Creek backcountry is my religion of choice. Jesus, the Buddha, Aunty Pema and Uncle Eckhardt also make daily appearances in my life.

    Jim Sullivan is a 4th generation Sonoma county native who lives near Occidental, California. A long time environmental activist, he also wrote a popular column for the Bodega Bay Navigator for eight years. He is perhaps best known for having led the campaign to open California State beaches for night access, and for serving as the first president of both the Rural Alliance and of the Sonoma County Farmlands Group, and for his involvement in a number of contentious land use issues. He also served on the boards of over a dozen other non-profits, from the Sonoma Land Trust and C.O.A.A.ST, to Native Species Network.

    A graduate of Notre Dame in biology, he also studied in Vienna, Austria, and did graduate work at several other universities and still takes--and teaches-- classes and workshops at Santa Rosa Junior College and elsewhere. He served 4 years in the infantry, including an extended tour in Korea with the United Nations occupation forces, where in 1962 he resigned his commission in protest over US policies in Asia. Upon return to the States, he lived in Santa Barbara, but by the mid-60s found himself in the Haight Ashbury where he became involved in the Civil Rights and Anti-war movements. During that time he also was instrumental in launching the Natural Foods movement, got married, moved to Marin county and raised 4 kids.

    Returning to Sonoma County with the back to the land movement in 1976, he settled on Joy Ridge, near Bodega, where his ancestors settled in the early 1870s. After a career as a landscape designer/contractor, he retired in the early 90s and has been painting almost daily since.

    In May, 2010, Jim was qualified by Mark Elbroch as one of about 600 internationally certified animal trackers. Currently he is teaching two monthly tracking/bird language classes a month, as well as frequent workshops and several lectures a year.
More information about Laura Morgan's work and interests can be found at:
More information about Jim Sullivan's work and interests can be found at:

Saturday, October 3, 2015

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #198 - 03OCT15

The Mystical Positivist is now a weekly radio show on KOWS-LP 107.3 FM, Occidental, CA. Listen live on Saturday evenings from 4:00 - 6:00pm, PST, via the web at KOWS Live Stream
This week's podcast features:
  • A conversation in the studio with Sky Nelson-Isaacs. He is a singer-songwriter, physicist and speaker with a unique vision. He communicates about the physics of synchronicity, encouraging people to worry less, trust more, and keep awareness open to the opportunities that are in constant motion around us. He offers a scientific model for understanding synchronicity that can lead to a new level of problem resolution. The model focuses upon an idea called “selfless confidence”, which is relevant in business, problem-solving in politics, or relating to family, as well as accomplishing personal goals. Sky is the author of the recently released eBook, What are the Chances: Science, Serendipity, and seizing the Moment.

    Sky speaks at Sunday services and afternoon workshops for Centers for Spiritual Living and Unity Centers around the country, as well as scientific conferences and business meetings. His peer reviewed articles have appeared in the Journal for Scientific Exploration, and the Conference Proceedings for American Association for the Advancement of Sciences. He has presented his work investigating quantum theory, special relativity and synchronicity at the Society for Scientific Exploration Annual Meeting (2010, 2012), Towards a Science of Consciousness (2010, 2012), SAND (2010, 2011, 2012) and the AAAS (2011). Sky’s popular writings have been published in Science of Mind Magazine and New Thought Magazine. Sky received a nomination in 2012 for the coveted Positive Music Award for his song Live in Love. His album of original music The World Ocean and his eBook What are the Chances are available for sale on his websie.

    Before studying physics at UC Berkeley, and careers in education, music, and software, Sky Nelson-Isaacs was a childhood student of Swami Satchidananda. Alongside calculus and electromagnetism, he found personal meaning and glimpses of a deeper truth in the sacred texts of Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism. In Fall 2015 he is returning to graduate school to study physics at San Francisco State University. Sky is a father and husband, living in Santa Rosa, CA.
More information about Sky Nelson-Isaacs's work and interests can be found at: