About this episode

The episode explores the concept of 'blowing your life up with magic' and its implications for personal transformation and initiation.

There's a common phrase in Occult circles that often precedes a cautionary tale: "blowing your life up with magic." The story goes something like this: a burgeoning magician, fresh off the armchair, skips a few steps or bites off more than they can chew. Sometimes this neophyte is drawn to a dark current that they aren't prepared for, or catfished by a parasitic entity. What tends to unfold is the practitioner's life unraveling, and often poorly applied magical remedies just dig them deeper into a hole. It's a common enough story that I find it fascinating, and would be lying if I said I didn't have some experiences that might qualify. On the one hand, this trope is plucked straight from the ancient tale "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and can serve the common fairy-tale function of reinforcing the exoteric societal taboo that magic and the occult are not to be messed with. More interesting to me, though, is when blowing up your life with magic can be conceived of as an initiatory experience. When the spirits or the powers that be may be taking apart your life to build it back better. Is there a way to transition from a disenchanted world to one teeming with magic without undergoing…

People in this episode

Host: Chad Andro

Guest: Janie Roberts

Topics covered

• magic
• occult
• initiation
• personal transformation
• spirituality

Keywords

• magic
• occult
• initiation
• spirituality
• transformation
• Janie Roberts
• Chad Andro

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

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