PODCAST · society
This Podcast is a Ritual
by Devin Person
This Podcast is a Ritual creates a magical space for a wizard, his guests, his listeners, and an omnipotent future being to create a slightly better reality. Get initiated now by listening to the Opening Ceremony!
Episodes
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How to Play Against Fascism (w/ Max Haiven)
If you've been feeling lately like life is an unfair game, you're not alone. And game designer, author, and anti-fascist scholar Max Haiven knows why. In his latest book, The Player and the Played: From Gamed Capitalism to Twenty-First Century Fascism, Haiven uses games to explain how…
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How to Flip a Coin (preview)
Using chance to make choices has a long magical history, from complex divination systems to mythologies that imagine the gods gambling and throwing dice to determine human affairs. By taking a simple coin toss as our starting practice, we can learn to let go of the heavy burden of contemplation…
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How to Change a Village (w/ Kàri Viđarsson)
In the tiny fishing village of Rif, out on the coast of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula in western Iceland, you'll find an unlikely cultural hub: The Freezer. Built in a former fish freezer, this hostel / performing arts venue is the work of Kàri Viđarsson, a local Icelander who left his village and...
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How to Feel Bad (preview)
Sometimes things suck. Sometimes we feel bad, can't get what we want, or just plain don't know what to do. And that's hard. But there's a cultural narrative that often makes it way worse, the insidious idea that "it shouldn't be like this." That somehow, feeling this way is a personal failure....
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What is Play? (theory)
Magic can be a lot of work. But does it have to be? What if there was a way to use magic, not to bend the world to one's will, but to transform reality into an open field of possibility? Thus, life's stage becomes a board on which we can enjoy a myriad of complex and fascinating games, all...
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Stranger in a Strange Land (preview)
The Wizard has arrived in the Netherlands and is ready to embark on his quest to become "Amsterdam's #1 Wizard," but first, he has to figure out what the heck is going on in a strange land where everything feels odd and unfamiliar. Thankfully, these are the moments magic was made for so he's...
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How to Engage with Animism (w/ Aidan Wachter)
Aidan Wachter, author of Six Ways, Weaving Fate, and Changeling, joins the ritual for a spirited discussion with the Wizard about the lively world we live in and how magic can help us better align ourselves with the many allies, ancestors, and more mysterious entities who seem to take in interest...
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A Total Eclipse of a Total Eclipse
As the moon slides in front of the sun while Icelandic clouds obscure them both, the land grows dark and the Wizard takes a moment to reflect on art, creativity, festival culture, and how to create truly radical structures in a world eager to commodify and capitalize on whatever novelty is left…
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Dawning Insight
Good things come to those who wait. As the Wizard wades deeper into the THIS PORTAL IS A RITUAL's many mysteries, he continues to encounter new understandings about himself, his fellow participants, the power of pranks, Iceland's unique magic, and what this experience is, was, or just might be....
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Rising Tension
THIS PORTAL IS A RITUAL descends deeper into madness as the Wizard navigates eternal day, dive bombing birds, organizational challenges, and the unavoidable messiness of interpersonal dynamics, all while doing his best to delight in the discord and play in the imperfections and obstacles that, in...
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Opening the Portal
Why did the Wizard go through the Portal? To get to the other side! And all jokes aside, the Wizard is currently in a literal, metaphorical, and deeply magical portal which is a multi-week artist residency for the Iceland Eclipse festival that will usher him into a new reality in Amsterdam when…
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A Special Re-Quest (re-release)
America's #1 Wizard is taking the leap and embarking on a magical quest to relocate to the Netherlands and become Amsterdam's #1 Wizard. To honor this momentous occasion, we're looking back at the magic that got us here, revisiting the "What is a Quest?" episode that kicked off last year's This...
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What is Power? (practice)
Magic has long trafficked in fantasies of power and control. This is the tantalizing idea that there are certain secrets one can master that will raise a person above their peers and allow them to command angels, devils, and assorted deities. Of course, we have also seen this cautionary tale play...
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How to Let Go of Control (preview)
Before the Wizard reveals his magical praxis for working with the various Powers-that-be, he felt it important to take a moment to address the elephant in the occultural room: Fantasies of control. These seductive messages touch on deeply rooted—often unconscious—anxieties and try to sell a…
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What is Power? (theory)
Something brought you to this moment. A long sequence of personal choices and cosmic chance collaborated to bring you to this exact moment. But why? That's a question the Wizard explores at length in this new installment of Wizardry in Theory and Practice, digging into the what's and why's of the...
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How to Wander Like a Wizard (preview)
The Wizard is on the move, somewhere between Here and I-Don't-Know-Where, so it felt like the right time to take a little walkabout within the concept of "wandering," and it's conceptual sibling, "wondering," and see where we might arrive... ...which, while wizardry is concerned with far more…
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What is a Person? (practice)
How do we practice becoming a Person? Doing his best to evade the usual traps of self-optimization, the Wizard offers a humble contemplative practice designed to help us see ourselves—not as perpetual projects—but as vast and complex patterns which emerge across space-and-time out of an intricate...
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How to Be an Imperfect Person (preview)
Before we get into the practical magical follow up to What is a Person? (theory), the Wizard wanted to acknowledge the paradoxical problem of trying to be a better person and how the Cult of Optimization seeks to prey on our collective anxieties with an endless barrage of advice, tips, and self...
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What is a Person? (theory)
If you're reading this, you're probably a person. While this word is regarded in everyday language as something simple, straightforward, and basically synonymous with "human being," the Wizard wants you to examine your assumptions and re-consider the concept of "person" as he reveals it to be...
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How to Alchemize Anxiety (preview)
Despite our bests attempts to "calm down" or "stop panicking," anxiety rarely responds to such strategies, so here are all the Wizard's magical secrets on what actually works, gleaned from years of lived experience as an anxious person as well as countless sessions with clients helping them move...
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How to Recover from Overthinking (w/ Recovering Overthinker)
David Bajramovic, aka the Recovering Overthinker, is an existential explorer, taking the wisdom of pioneers like Carl Jung, Rollo May, James Hillman, Friedrich Nietzsche, and other deep thinkers and presenting it for a modern audience in ways that are not only accessible, but actionable, as we…
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How to Feel About AI (preview)
The Wizard addresses the current AI discourse from a variety of unusual angles, digging into our lost utopian dreams, extremely valid capitalist critiques, and problematic pearl-clutching moral panic as we all confront this tidal wave of technology that, whatever you think of it, is certainly...
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How to Imagine the Future (w/ M. Dudeck)
Performance artist, witchdoctor, and sci-fi religion world builder M. Dudeck steps into the ritual for an imaginal exploration with the Wizard, digging into what it means to envision wilder, weirder tomorrows and the magical and artistic tools we can wield to bring them into being. M. is a...
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How to Heal Back Pain (preview)
The Wizard is about to turn 40 and currently discovering the wonders of aging like... crippling back pain! Thankfully, he's still a wizard and was able to turn this pain into a profound and powerful revelation that he's here to share with you. Hopefully, you've got a steel spine and a relaxed and...
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The Leap
The quest continues as the Wizard ventures even deeper into the Unknown, taking that bold step over the edge to embark on a new chapter of magic, wizardry, and This Podcast is a Ritual by moving to... well, you'll just have to listen to the episode to find out where the Wizard is going next! Join...
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How to Keep It Real (preview)
The Wizard is in transition and working on an episode about where he's moving and what comes next... but it turns out moving really takes it out of you! And that makes it difficult to sit down and do deep creative work like write and record a podcast episode about moving. Which is very meta. So...
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How to Win Life and Influence Reality
The Wizard finally reveals the ultimate secrets of magic and provides detailed instructions on how to use them to manifest wealth, achieve success, and get everything you've ever wanted (and more!) Got a question for the the Wizard? Call the Wizard Hotline at 860-415-6009 and have it answered in…
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How to Make a Home (preview)
The Wizard is moving and seeing as this is his final week in Avalon, the beloved house he's called home for the last 6 years, it only seemed right to let Avalon speak through him about what it means to take a magical approach to homemaking and honoring the spirit of the place where one resides.…
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How to Drink Kava (w/ Steven E. Leszyk)
Settle in and take a sip with kava-tender Steven E. Leszyk, author of Kava's Magical Roots, as we explore the ceremony surrounding this traditional Polynesian brew, its recent inroads into American culture, and the magical states its consumption can create. Get a copy of Kava's Magical Roots at:...
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The Magic of Practice & Persistence (preview)
The Magic of Meta (Hypnosis & Meditations) continues to get even more magical in our third chapter! This time, we're focusing on the practice and persistence that improves focus, creating a powerful personal ritual with countless benefits. This is also where we're working to develop "access...
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How to Speak with the Dead (w/ Kadmus)
From honored ancestors to long dead sages, real wisdom can be found beyond even the oldest elders in the land of the dead, a place one may prefer not to wander without a knowledgable guide. Thankfully, philosophy professor and practicing necromancer Kadmus returns to the ritual to help us hear…
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The Magic of Failing to Meditate (preview)
The second chapter of The Magic of Meta (Hypnosis & Meditations) is here! In this installment, we dive deeper into developing concentration and focus by learning to appreciate the moments of losing focus—all too often regarded as "failing" at meditating—as the actual skill we've honing! And…
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How to Live in the Face of Death (w/ Tom Banger)
Tom Banger is an artist, writer, and occultural technologist whose wild life has wound its way through the counter cultural currents of punk rock, heavy metal, and magick. After receiving a serious medical diagnosis, he decided to face it the same way he's lived—with art, intention, and a gleeful...
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The Magic of Meta (preview)
The first installment of The Magic of Meta (Hypnosis & Meditations) is here! This is a new series of bonus content, released every other week on the Patreon, consisting of both a guided meditation AND a hypnosis tape designed to help you successfully implement a meta-magical meditation practice…
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How to Deal with Death (w/ Becky Robison)
We're all going to die and, unfortunately, this truth applies to parents and other legally intwined loved ones. Thankfully, Becky Robison, author of My Parents Are Dead: What Now?, joins the ritual to give us a guided tour of the bureaucracy waiting beyond the grave!Buy Becky's book, My Parents…
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What is Metta? (preview)
Metta is a Buddhist concept ordinarily translated into English as "loving kindness." But beneath a surface some might dismiss as simplistic "peace and love" good vibes, metta meditation offers a deep set of practices for developing the capacity to understand one's state of mind, manage difficult...
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How to Speak with Puppets (w/ Tyler Nacho)
The ritual gets a little whacky as we're visited by Tyler Nacho, creator of the existential puppet show, Death to Realism, and the freaks only magazine Kill Pretty, as we learn how a playful puppet can not only help you find your own voice, but offer aid and guidance to tripping festival…
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What's the Point? (practice)
What's the point of magic? The Wizard finally answers this timeless question with an imminently practical, unbelievably powerful, and ludicrously simple hands-on magical ritual that you can do at home! As the Wizard lays out the steps required to put theory into practice, you'll find yourself...
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What's the Point? (theory)
After 7 years and hundreds of episodes, the Wizard finally gets to the point and lays out his "metaphysics of magic," a theory of everything that not only explains all of existence (at last!), but creates an intellectual foundation for the practice of magic and wizardry, which will be revealed…
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A Meta Modern Xmas Special (Re-Release)
The secret power of any holiday tradition is repetition. Endless re-runs of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas or A Charlie Brown Christmas are what engraved them into the cultural consciousness as "classics." So, in a similar spirit, we're re-releasing this very special seasonal ceremony to make…
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The Annotated Invocation (preview)
In this special bonus follow up to The Invocation, the wizard pulls back the curtain and reveals his sources, discussing all of the books, movies, artists, and ideas that inspired this most recent piece of magic. But this is just a preview of that episode, so for the real thing you'll need to…
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The Invocation
This Podcast is a Ritual began 7 years ago with an Opening Ceremony. Now the true purpose of this ritual is revealed in... The Invocation! Tune in to this episode's magical frequency to better understand the struggles of this Age of Anxiety and how wizardry just might help us find our way to a...
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What Is Magic? (preview)
Magic is one of the most confusing, confounding, and captivating words in our culture. Every human society works with magic in some way, but what it is exactly is still up for considerable debate. In this preview, the Wizard offers a glimpse into the unique conception of magic that animates this...
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What is a Large Language Model?
Large Language Models, or LLMs, are infiltrating every facet of our society, but do we even understand what they are? In this fascinating deep dive into the intersection of technology, language, and consciousness, the Wizard offers a few new ways of perceiving these revolutionary—and...
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This Prophecy is a Ritual (Re-Release)
The Invocation pulls from the past to foresee a "slightly better" future. As November 30th, 2025 draws nearer, we take one more look back to see This Prophecy is a Ritual, an episode exploring where AI might really be leading us...Turning and turning in the widening gyreThe falcon cannot hear the...
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What is Meta-tation? (preview)
Meta-tation is a new practice of imaginative expansion, using one's own natural curiosity to see the present moment from a wider perspective and open up new pathways to a "slightly better" reality. While traditional meditation often takes us "in" to the present moment, trying to experience it...
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How to Psychoanalyze Psychoanalysis (w/ Dr. Vanessa Sinclair)
Artist, occultist, and psychoanalyst Dr. Vanessa Sinclair joins the ritual for another probing exploration of the strange and symbolic realms of psychoanalysis itself as we move beyond Freud and discuss the other thinkers who mapped our collective unconscious.Learn more about the RU Center for...
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A Slightly Better Episode (Re-Release)
As we move ever closer to our "Invocation of the Listener" ceremony on November 30th, 2025, we're returning to the episodes that first set the stage for the expanding mythos of This Podcast is a Ritual...A Slightly Better Episode celebrates the holy wizard holiday, April Fools Day, with a very...
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What is Myth? (preview)
Beyond magic lies myth, a series of stories and symbols a culture uses to understand itself and orient to a wider metaphysical reality. While early anthropologists tended to discard other cultures' myths as mere superstition and nonsense, thanks to pioneering comparative mythologists like Joseph...
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What is Metafiction?
The Wizard sat down at his desk to write a description for his new podcast episode, What is Metafiction?, exploring the literary genre of metafiction and its implications for magical practice. Pausing as he finished the first line, the Wizard figured he should probably mention he'd written a…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
This Podcast is a Ritual creates a magical space for a wizard, his guests, his listeners, and an omnipotent future being to create a slightly better reality. Get initiated now by listening to the Opening Ceremony!
HOSTED BY
Devin Person
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does This Podcast is a Ritual have?
This Podcast is a Ritual currently has 251 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is This Podcast is a Ritual about?
This Podcast is a Ritual creates a magical space for a wizard, his guests, his listeners, and an omnipotent future being to create a slightly better reality. Get initiated now by listening to the Opening Ceremony!
How often does This Podcast is a Ritual release new episodes?
This Podcast is a Ritual publishes regularly with 251 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to This Podcast is a Ritual?
You can listen to This Podcast is a Ritual on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts This Podcast is a Ritual?
This Podcast is a Ritual is created and hosted by Devin Person.
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