Buckle Up Folks!
We’ve finished up our first text in the current online course, The Super Natural by Kripal & Strieber. Now that we have some background in the world of the Impossible and some Analytical Tools to keep us from losing our minds entirely, we’re heading straight into the beating heart of the Beast and we’re going to read Jeremy Vaeni’s Urgency, and have the man himself in class at least twice, this Thursday and next.
I’m explicitly following in Jeff Kripal’s tracks since my sense of reality has been dismembered and I have no epistemology of my own left. He’s my Trusted Guide. He said “Trust Jeremy.” Got it. I read Jeremy’s books and was blown away. Jeremy is everywhere when you start searching. Podcasts and interviews abound. I was hesitant to start down any of these rabbit holes because it’s time consuming, but gosh, I have talked to him on Zoom and felt like I should know more about him and his world in order to be able to really hear what he’s saying. You do need context - this is kind of an anthropological study of the world of Ufology and Weirdness - and so you need to live among the natives for a while - and I’ve already pretty much gone native anyway, so down I went.
You gotta hear some of this!
Jeremy and his late friend and colleague Jeff Ritzmann did the Paratopia podcast for years and the back issues are a treasure trove. Jeremy is continuing on since Jeff’s untimely death and so more is coming. One thing I think is really important to tell people who are finding this material via me, is that Vaeni and Ritzmann are not gullible in any way. In fact they spend a great deal of effort debunking crazy ideas. On the other hand, they are/were both “experiencers” with long histories of really, really intense and bizarre encounters. Their opinions and ideas matter and they should be listened to. They provide the source material for someone like Jeff Kripal to think about.
Here is a starter set of Paratopia Episodes that I found… Compelling? Stunning? Totally believable? All of that and more.
What I would say for Beginners is to remember your hermeneutics, and Kripal’s distinction between the literal imaginal and the symbolic imaginal, along with his notion of the mythic object. Stay ungrounded and you’ll be ok. Maybe.
Our Undoing Radio is the umbrella for all of Jeremy’s stuff online.
Paratopia 044: Colin Andrews on Crop Circles
Paratopia: Echoes in a Yawning Chasm (YouTube) Really, don’t miss this.
Paratopia: 2023 Special: The Shroudman Reveltions
GOOD LUCK!!