This week’s show is with Richard Nikoley. Richard was born and raised in Reno, Nevada, the son of a German immigrant. He attended a private, church-run high school before moving on to Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga for his first year of college. He later transferred to Oregon State University, where he graduated in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, along with minors in mathematics/computer science and naval science. During his time at OSU, he was a member of the NROTC unit and was commissioned as a Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) in the U.S. Navy upon graduation.

Richard’s naval career began with eight months of training in San Diego, California, followed by a deployment to Yokosuka, Japan. There, he served on the USS REEVES (CG-24) from 1984 to 1987 in various roles, including Assistant Missiles Officer, First Lieutenant, and Electrical Officer. He then joined the U.S. SEVENTH FLEET aboard the USS BLUE RIDGE (LCC-19) from 1988 to 1989, managing a substantial fuel budget as Assistant Fleet Scheduling Officer and Assistant Logistics Officer.

After five years in Japan, Richard moved to Monterey, California, to study French at the Defense Language Institute. This led to an exchange officer position with the French Navy from 1989 to 1992, where he served as Navigator on the FNS COLBERT (C 611) and FNS DUQUESNE (D 603). He left the Navy in 1992 and returned to the San Francisco Bay Area.

In 1993, Richard founded a company that grew significantly over a 20-year period. Although he was married for much of that time, since 2019, he and his former spouse have maintained a friendly relationship while pursuing separate lifestyles.

Since January 2020, Richard has been living in Thailand as an unintended expat. Initially planning to be digital and nomadic, he decided to settle more permanently due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, he built a house in a rural province and wrote extensively about COVID-19, masks, lockdowns, and global drug trials - earning recognition for his insights.

Currently, Richard manages multiple income streams while engaging in various creative pursuits. He writes, makes videos, takes long walks, swims and snorkels in the tropical ocean, rides a motorcycle without a helmet, and enjoys cooking and eating exquisite food. A self-proclaimed gym junkie and honorary "Bro," Richard is known for his clever and well-crafted writing.

In this show, Richard and Lian explore the intricate connections between community, diet, and the microbiome, weaving together science, storytelling, and spirituality.

They delve into how inner and outer communities shape human experience and how ancestral diets can connect us to the wisdom of the past.

They reflect on the distortions of industrial society, the transformative power of dietary choices, a shamanic perspective on consumption and well-being, and the mysterious interplay between nutrition and our psyche.

We’d love to know what YOU think about this week’s show. Let’s carry on the conversation… please leave a comment wherever you are listening or in any of our other spaces to engage.

What you’ll learn from this episode:

• The microbiome is more than a physical system - it’s a dynamic ecosystem influenced by diet, community, and the stories we tell about ourselves. Understanding and honouring this interplay can lead to profound transformation.

• By adopting practices, like eating more fibre and cooking and cooling starchy foods for resistant starch, we can support gut health and reconnect with natural ways of eating that shaped human evolution.

• What we eat can shape not only our physical health but also the content of our dreams, illuminating symbols for self discovery - which suggests a greater link between our food and our psyche than is generally discussed.

Resources and stuff spoken about:

• Richard’s Free The Animal blog

• Richard’s book: Paleo Perfection: How to Lose Weight and Feel Great

• Richard’s PDF downloads

• Richard on social: Facebook and X

• Join UNIO, the Academy of Sacred Union. This is for the old souls in this new world… Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth.

Be Mythical

Join our mailing list for soul stirring goodness: https://www.bemythical.com/moonly

Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth: https://www.bemythical.com/unio

Go Deeper: https://www.bemythical.com/godeeper

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There's a fresh episode released each week here and on most podcast platforms - and video too on YouTube. If you subscribe then you'll get each new episode delivered to your device every week automagically. (that way you'll never miss a show).

This week’s show is with Sarah Janes. Author, researcher, curator, retreat/workshop facilitator and public speaker, Sarah Janes specialises in the ancient history and culture of dreaming and has been an enthusiastic lucid dreamer since childhood. Sarah is passionate about the potential of dreaming for physical, emotional, creative and spiritual upliftment, not just for individuals, but for culture and society.

Sarah is co-director and curator of Dream Palace Athens, a symposium and deep-dreaming residency project in Greece. She is also the host of popular online lecture series Explorers Egyptology. Sarah has collaborated with Rupert Sheldrake and the British Pilgrimage Trust to reinvigorate the practice of dream incubation at sacred sites around the UK.

Currently leading retreats to the ancient dream incubation sanctuaries of the Mediterranean, Sarah is now based between Hastings in England and Archaia Epidavros in the Peloponnese.

Sarah’s book: Initiation into Dream Mysteries: Drinking from the Pool of Mnemosyne explores the history and culture of dreaming in the Western Esoteric Tradition and is available from all book sellers and on Audible.

In this show, Sarah and Lian delve into the profound world of dreams and lucid dreaming, exploring how these altered states of consciousness shape our understanding of reality. They discuss Sarah’s lifelong passion for dreaming, the philosophical implications of lucidity, and the potential for personal growth and transformation within the dream realm.

They explore the connection between lucid dreaming and hypnagogic states, highlight the transformative nature of these experiences, and share practical techniques for achieving lucidity. Together, they reflect on the role of ancient wisdom in dream practices, consider the cosmic perspective lucid dreaming provides, and emphasise the significance of memory and intention in shaping our dream experiences.

We’d love to know what YOU think about this week’s show. Let’s carry on the conversation… please leave a comment wherever you are listening or in any of our other spaces to engage.

What you’ll learn from this episode:

• Dreams offer a unique intersection of sleep and wakefulness, providing a space for insight and creativity that taps into our deepest desires and fears. Through lucid dreaming, we can actively engage with these elements for self discovery.

• Hypnagogic states, those transitional moments between wakefulness and sleep, can be used as a pathway into lucid dreaming, allowing us to consciously enter the dream realm. In this state, we are connected to ancient cultural practices that viewed dreams as essential tools for decision-making and self-understanding.

• Lucid dreaming is not simply a binary experience but can manifest in varying degrees of awareness - lucidity is a spectrum. By setting intentions, practicing memory recall, and recording dreams, we can deepen our understanding and appreciation of the dream world as a transformative and healing space.

Resources and stuff spoken about:

• Visit Sarah’s website

• Sarah’s book: Initiation into Dream Mysteries: Drinking from the Pool of Mnemosyne

• Join UNIO, the Academy of Sacred Union. This is for the old souls in this new world… Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth.

Be Mythical

Join our mailing list for soul stirring goodness: https://www.bemythical.com/moonly

Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth: https://www.bemythical.com/unio

Go Deeper: https://www.bemythical.com/godeeper

Follow us:

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Thank you for listening!

This week’s show is with Aidan Wachter, an animist, author, and healer. Aidan has been involved in practical magic since the 1980s.  He is an animist and is deeply concerned with the effects of modern Western life-ways on the human animal, on both physical and spiritual levels. 

Aidan views a living magical practice as a path to heal many of the problems we face today and a way of being that is intrinsic to the creatures we are. He is the author of Six Ways: Approaches & Entries to Practical Magic and Weaving Fate: Hypersigils, Changing the Past & Telling True Lies, and Changeling: A Book Of Qualities.

In this episode, Aidan and Lian explore the concept of vessels in magic and witchcraft - and especially vessels for self-discovery and transformation.

Aidan reveals lessons from a significant breakdown - which he sees now was catalysed by the very work of his book Changeling - which is about this notion of vessels.

They discuss the fluid nature of identity, examine the qualities that define a witch, and consider the role of power in personal growth and the impact of reclaiming our energy from misaligned places.

We’d love to know what YOU think about this week’s show. Let’s carry on the conversation… please leave a comment wherever you are listening or in any of our other spaces to engage.

What you’ll learn from this episode:

• A vessel isn’t just a container—it’s a channel that holds and directs energy, shaping the flow of our lives and the choices that define us. What we choose to hold within shapes our identity and anchors us in life.

• Power, often viewed as corrupting, becomes transformative when consciously claimed. For a witch, power is an inner resource to guide growth, create change, and hold responsibility.

• Honouring our ancestors roots us in a lineage that offers wisdom, invites healing across generations, and strengthens our connection to purpose.

Resources and stuff spoken about:

• Visit Aidan’s Website

• Join Aidan on Patreon

• Join UNIO, the Academy of Sacred Union. This is for the old souls in this new world… Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth.

Be Mythical

Join our mailing list for soul stirring goodness: https://www.bemythical.com/moonly

Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth: https://www.bemythical.com/unio

Go Deeper: https://www.bemythical.com/godeeper

Follow us:

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Instagram

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Thank you for listening!

There's a fresh episode released each week here and on most podcast platforms - and video too on YouTube. If you subscribe then you'll get each new episode delivered to your device every week automagically. (that way you'll never miss a show).

This week’s show is with Anthony Metivier. Anthony is the founder of the Magnetic Memory Method, a systematic, 21st Century approach to memorising foreign language vocabulary, names, music, poetry and much more in ways that are easy, elegant, effective and fun.

In this show, Anthony and Lian explore the profound themes of memory, identity, and spiritual practice.

They delve into the intricate nature of memory, exploring its definitions, implications, and the philosophical questions surrounding it. Anthony shares his fascination with memory science, the various types of memory, and the metaphorical engines that contribute to our experiences. They discuss the limitations of language and metaphors in understanding memory, the relationship between memory and consciousness, and the idea of reincarnation through language and memory. The conversation highlights the complexity of memory as both a scientific and philosophical topic, emphasising the importance of questioning and exploring rather than seizing definitive answers.

We’d love to know what YOU think about this week’s show. Let’s carry on the conversation… please leave a comment wherever you are listening or in any of our other spaces to engage.

What you’ll learn from this episode:

• Memory is often overlooked in spiritual discussions despite its significance, and yet, it is a powerfully transformative process that shapes both personal identity and our understanding of existence, offering profound insights when explored scientifically, philosophically and spiritually.

• Techniques like the memorisation of spiritual texts and conscious engagement with myths can deepen our awareness and connection to the wisdom in these texts and stories in potent ways.

• Philosophical inquiries into memory can reveal hidden aspects of the self, supporting healing and maybe even awakening through the exploration of the role of implicit memory and identity.

Resources and stuff spoken about:

• Visit Anthony’s website

• Join UNIO, the Academy of Sacred Union. This is for the old souls in this new world… Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth.

Be Mythical

Join our mailing list for soul stirring goodness: https://www.bemythical.com/moonly

Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth: https://www.bemythical.com/unio

Go Deeper: https://www.bemythical.com/godeeper

Follow us:

Facebook

Instagram

TikTok

YouTube

Thank you for listening!

There’s a fresh episode released each week here and on most podcast platforms - and video too on YouTube - if you subscribe then you’ll get each new episode delivered to your device every week automagically (that way you’ll never miss an episode).