“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
- Arthur C. Clarke
If you listen to my podcast, The Real Demons of Pop Culture, you might have noticed that this week’s episode didn’t happen. The episode is about the demon Paimon who is the demon in the movie Heredity. Last Thursday night I went into the ER. My heart was racing, like over 150 bpm racing so they took me in, took an EKG and said I had Atrial fibrillation (A-fib). They gave me some meds and sent me home. I then followed up with my primary doctor and the next day I went to see a cardiologist. I am not really sure exactly what is going on with my heart just yet. I need to schedule and Echo and and nuclear stress test. That will give the white coats the information needed to take the next steps. Meanwhile I have new meds to add to my existing medications. I am down on myself for missing a week but that is just who I am. I’ll get over it.
So I didn’t get all the research done that I wanted to on Paimon and I even though I could have made the episode, I just wouldn’t have felt good half-assing it. So I am hoping that it will be uploaded on Monday, August 15th. Then August 16th I am planning a YouTube LIVE follow-up. This will be a recurring thing. I want people to be able to have an opportunity to talk in real time about the topic of the episode.
It is also my birthday this Saturday. I will be 21 again.
I bought a deck of tarot cards (even though there is a superstition that tarot decks should be gifted and not bought). The tarot deck is the Rider-Waite-Smith deck. It’s probably the most famous one and I love the artwork. So much so that I really want to learn more about the artist Pamela Colman Smith. She sounds like such a fascination person. I will be putting the tarot deck on the windowsill tonight (Thursday) since there is a full moon and that will cleanse the deck (or so I read).
There is a new Facebook Group— The School of Dark Arts (SODA). It is a free group for people to talk about all things occult. It is a very small community currently but I am confident it will grow.
If you haven’t watched the movie PREY on Hulu, I highly recommend it. I love the Predator and this is probably my 2nd favorite Predator movie after the original. I already watched it twice. I think we will be seeing a lot more from the actress Amber Midthunder.
I also uploaded a new episode of Out of Silence, my creative conversations podcast. The latest episode is the Greg Nicotero lost episode from 2009.
From Wikipedia: Greg Nicotero is an American special make-up effects creator, television producer, and director. His first major job in special effects makeup was on the George A. Romero film Day of the Dead (1985), under the tutelage of Romero and make-up effects veteran Tom Savini.
Out of Silence is a monthly podcast. I have a guest lined up for September but I won’t announce it until it is 100% confirmed. I’m also looking for a spooky guest for October. Stay tuned.
If you know anyone who you think would love this content, feel free to share this newsletter with them.
I wish you all the best and until next week, be weird.
Peace & Love,
James Ippoliti