In this episode of the Unseen Beings Podcast, we are joined by Dr. Jack Hunter, an anthropologist exploring the borderlands of consciousness, religion, ecology and the paranormal. He is a tutor with the Sophia Centre for the Study of Cosmology in Culture, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, and teaches on the MA in Ecology and Spirituality and the MA in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology. He is also a tutor with the Alef Trust on their MSc in Consciousness, Spirituality and Transpersonal Psychology. His PhD at the University of Bristol took the form of an ethnographic study of contemporary trance and physical mediumship. He studied Secondary Religious Education at the University of Chester, completed a Permaculture Design Course at Chester Cathedral in 2017 with Sector39, and worked on the One School One Planet project between 2016-19 to develop an inter-disciplinary permaculture curriculum for schools. Jack is also a musician and an ordained Dudeist Priest, and lives in the hills of Mid-Wales with his family.
Erik and Jack discuss an array of topics, including animism, spirits, the intersection of ecology and spirituality, and transcending anthropocentrism in the realm of the paranormal.
3:18 - Jack’s Early Interest in Spirituality and Religion
6:29 - Exploring Spiritualism and Mediumship
10:42 - Challenging Perceptions of Extraordinary Experiences
15:58 - Transcending Anthropocentric Constructs in Paranormal Experiences
21:09 - Shifts Towards an Animistic Orientation
24:48 - The Role of Stories in Shaping Our Worldview
27:27 - Expanding and Clarifying the Concept of Animism
30:30 - The Natural State of Animism and Conditioning
34:50 - Animism as a Relational Ontology
36:50 - Animism and Stories
38:06 - The Primordial Nature of Animism
41:58 - Expanding the Notion of Consciousness in Non-Humans
43:12 - The Limitations of Categorizing Consciousness
45:52 - The Impact of Animism on Behaviour and Ecology
47:42 - The Connection Between Emotional Connection to Nature and Pro-Environmental Behaviours
49:11 - The Ecological Utility of Animism
51:07 - ‘Personal’ Approaches to the World
53:30 - Biodiversity and Psychodiversity
56:03 - The Intrinsic Value of Trees
57:29 - Going Beyond Anthropocentric Environmentalism
50:22 - Creating Change on Personal and Social Levels
54:34 - The Transformative Power of Myth
56:51 - Fantasy and the Non-Human
58:47 - UFOs, UAPs, and ‘Extra’terrestrial Phenomena
1:08:51 - The Projection of Sentience onto AI
1:13:15 - Jack’s Work at the Sophia Centre
1:15:42 - Jack’s Upcoming Books

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