Growing Circuits

Space Is The Machine

Courtesy of @nightschool & @tristwchyfenywod

Tristwch y Fenywod - Tristwch y Fenywod LP
Label: Night School Records

SONDUKE is pleased to share Tristwch y Fenywod’s (@tristwch_y_fenywod) 5th track “Byd Mewn Cysgod,” from their upcoming studio album debut self-titled, ‘Tristwch y Fenywod (NIM014)’ premiering exclusively on SONDUKE. 

Tristwch y Fenywod are a Welsh-language gothic avant-rock power trio from Leeds’ experimental underground featuring Gwretsien Ferch Lisbeth, Leila Lygad, and Sidni Sarffwraig. Their self-titled debut album—recorded after just 10 gigs and a live demo—is a chilling and evocative collection of 8 tracks. Singing black-lit liturgies of bog bodies and nocturnal landscapes, their music blends dual zithers, electronic drums, and bass guitar to create a unique Celtic darkwave sound.

Influenced by The Cure, Svitlana Nianio, and Dead Can Dance, Tristwch y Fenywod’s album opens with “Blodyn Gwyrdd,” featuring lumbering bass and 6/8 rhythms. Other tracks like “Ferch Gyda’r Llygaid Du” and “Awen” showcase their ability to weave siren-like vocals with martial rhythms and swirling strings, resulting in an atmospheric, occult feminist goth sound that feels both haunting and stirring.

Premiere: Tristwch y Fenywod - Byd Mewn Cysgod [Night School]

Note: This audio upload is a selection of clips taken from the full-length Patreon interview with Dr. Aaron French. To hear the full interview, please visit my Patreon page; you could consider joining to have access to more content like this, or have the option for a one-time purchase of the full episode (visit the 'shop' link for more information about pricing). 
https://www.patreon.com/RejectedReligion 

My guest this month is Dr. Aaron French. Aaron received his doctorate in the study of religion, including an emphasis in science and technology studies, from the University of California, Davis. His monograph Max Weber, Rudolf Steiner, and Modern Western Esotericism: A Transcultural Approach will be published by Routledge in late 2024 in the “Asia, Europe, and Global Connections: Culture, History, and Trans-Area Studies“ book series. Aaron has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in academic journals and regularly gives lectures and presentations at international conferences. He currently teaches in the international Religious Studies Masters program at the University of Erfurt in Germany and works as a postdoctoral researcher at the Freie Universität Berlin.In our conversation, Aaron talks about new areas of research that he’s been exploring regarding the field of ufology, and its connections with esotericism, technology and religion. He’s currently editing a forthcoming interdisciplinary academic collaborative work about this, called Religion and the UFO Phenomenon: Methodological Challenges, that asks the questions, “how best should scholars of the humanities and social sciences approach the UFO phenomenon as an object of study? Why are otherworldly experiences intertwined with new forms of religiosity?”Aaron also gives a re-cap of the recent developments in the U.S. with regard to the UAP, or Unidentified Arial Phenomena, in Senate hearings and discusses the issues surrounding disclosure, with the largely failed attempt to establish a committee that would force the US government to declassify and release all information on UFOs. He then moves on to discuss his own developing research into the connections between ufology and esotericism, and how religion is being transformed, with some in academia speaking now of a new religiosity forming around these experiences. Aaron’s work is looking at this modern esotericism that keeps popping up in this new ‘hybrid technoscientific religiosity’ as he terms it. Ideas of evolution and training for humans who are interested in future realities in space are also discussed in terms of ritual initiation or Hero’s Journey that is likened to the Jedi training of the Star Wars story.

In closing, we also explore occulture and the cultural impact on all of this a bit, specifically how these ideas are played out in shows like X-Files and of course, my favorite, Twin Peaks.

Theme music: Daniel P. Shea

RR Patreon Tier 3 Free Excerpts Dr. Aaron French: Ufology & Esotericism

Credits;
"Comedy Bang! Bang!" (for Reggie's Musical Interludes)
and
"Q with Jian Ghomeshi" (for sample of Reggie's insight into his performances)

Reggie... this one's for you!

Lots O' Watts

Episode Notes
In preparation for next month's mini-roundtable discussion about' Hellier' and everything 'high strangeness', this episode will attempt to lay a foundation about the documentary 'Hellier,' the podcast 'Penny Royal,' and 'everything else' that seems to be connected to these phenomena - Secret Ciphers, magick rituals and gateways, the Mothman incident, Twin Peaks, and more. 

 

RESOURCES

'Hellier' Season 1: Hellier Season 1: Episode 1 | The Midnight Children - YouTube

'Hellier' Season 2: Hellier Season 2: Episode 1 | Noise and Signal - YouTube

'Penny Royal' Podcast: Penny Royal Podcast – A New Podcast of Magic, Mystery and High Strangeness On The Penny Royal Plateau.

The Secret History of Twin Peaks by Mark Frost: Amazon.com: The Secret History of Twin Peaks: A Novel (9781250075581): Frost, Mark: Books

Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier by Mark Frost: Amazon.com: Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier (9781250163301): Frost, Mark: Books

The Mothman Prophecies by John Keel: Amazon.com: The Mothman Prophecies: A True Story (9780765334985): Keel, John A.: Books

The Complete Secret Cipher of the UFOnauts by Allen Greenfield: The Complete SECRET CIPHER Of the UfOnauts: Greenfield, Allen H., Phillips, Olav: 9781718645356: Amazon.com: Books

The Super Natural: A New Vision of the Unexplained by Whitley Strieber and Jeffrey J. Kripal: The Super Natural: A New Vision of the Unexplained: Strieber, Whitley, Kripal, Jeffrey J.: 9781101982327: Amazon.com: Books

The Morning of the Magicians by Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier: The Morning of the Magicians: Secret Societies, Conspiracies, and Vanished Civilizations: Pauwels, Louis, Bergier, Jacques: 9781594772313: Amazon.com: Books
 

Cover image: Hellier: A Planet Weird Original Series  


Theme music: Daniel P. Shea

Additional music: Stephanie Shea

RR Patreon Tier 3 Free Excerpts Dr. Aaron French: Ufology & Esotericism

Rejected Religion

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