Welcome! Who are we? What are we doing? Why are we doing it? Are we insane? Do we have enough biscuits to carry on?

Join us on our introductory episode where we give you the run down and the reason, where we beg and plead for your patience and forgiveness for our editing skills, and promise a whole buch of times that it'll be interesting, we swear!

Two brand spanking new "angry, mean girl" podcasters (that's us) are about to give you every excruciating detail of the Lore and Undoing of the UK's Mystery School; The Sacred Trust. We've dug deep into the Rise and Fall of it's founder, British shaman Simon Buxton, author of the fake autobiography The Shamanic Way of the Bee.

We've become investigative journalists, just for this! Join us! We're terrified and full of the aforementioned bisquits!

Two former "bee-priestesses" start their podcast journey by picking apart a false lineage they were once a part of and helped unravel. It will be deeply investigative, full of insight and also full of snark and laughs and a healthy dose of cuss words. Can't take yourself too seriously.

My Alchemical Romance:

This is a podcast where two spiritually over seasoned women explore and investigate the lure of magical books, hidden traditions and what it means, in reality, to follow a sacred path or what you believe to be a calling.

There are many religious, occult, shamanic traditions out there - many overlapping in their doctrines, beliefs, lore and practices. Offerings of magic in a chaos laced world are seductive, and never more so when the bond of community runs parallel.

We hold a fascination in the wellspring of belief and faith in the unseen. And more so the weave of how mystical knowing becomes the fabric of how a life is lived. But what’s often overlooked, yet as compelling, is when that weave is ripped apart.

In part 2 of The Architect, we continue laying out the Simon Buxton's public evolution through his interviews and articles. After a freshly recorded intro and chat, letting you know whats on the way- we graft in the convo we were having in Part 1. We're setting up the beginning of the Sacred Trust, Simon's journey, the teachers, and what the Path of Pollen is about, the glands, the alchemy and the magic. We're still in the details of how exactly this cult began and how the story shifted over time- the slippery slope of layers of lies, touching on euroccentric shamanic practices in America, "keeping bees", and much more. We discuss the pollen method in more depth- all leading up to the day when things took a turn toward absolute madness. Check the Link for image of the time when you could be penpals with "Devorah Schlockel" and "Fionulla Tremenheere" the imaginary Melisae.

Vanishing of the bees! Creating the inner laboratory, Nektars, Maternal Magnetic! Shamanic way of the Bee! Sex Magic! Masons! Occultism! Enjoy my really bad edits and dubs!

Also a Note: In Part one we rant about "Oral Documents" and want to acknowledge that this concept does exist a little bit, out in the world, and has some merit on it's own- we stand by Buxton's "oral documents" as being total chaff. And not very well thought out in hindsite.

Part one of the information dense coverage about Simon Buxton's start as well as the beginnings of The Sacred Trust and the Path of Pollen. We talk a bit about what The Shamanic Way of the Bee is about. Plus: Early Staff Members & Bios, British Broadsheets Interview with Lewis, The Nektary & Nektars, The Melissae, The Sisterhoods, Early Interviews, The Liber Mantikos, The Serpent Flight of the Honey Bee, Vanishing of the Bees Documentary, Impersonal Use of S*xual energy, and More.

Find Images for show notes here:

https://myalchemicalromancepod.myportfolio.com/episode-1-the-architect

We are recording Episode 3: {We’re Gonna Need A} Bigger Boat (yet again!) on Tuesday. Marie and I will be back by the end of next week with a An Even Bigger &  Better Bigger Boat. 

In 2023 I monologued on Instagram, while shaking like a an leaf and trying to remember to breathe,  to bring you the news of what I thought was a lot of plagiarism (the good ol’ Beginner Playg). And I’m about to regale you with a slightly more sophisticated terror-filled update, by me but from us both! Have a listen.

(Visit here for those original stories and look for the other highlights for records of the months of chaos)

https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18006746200889506/

Strap in! Here be Dragons! Batten the Hatches! The only way out, is through!  Abandon all hope, ye who…actually no, I think you’ll eventually get some hope back from this, we did! What I’m saying is that it’s going to be an intense couple of episodes. Episode 3, will be a pretty meticulous ride up to the top of the Roller Coaster. Then we’ll scream, wave our hands in the air,  and barf as we rocket perilously to the ground for Episodes 4-5, wondering WHYYYY.?!? Straight into the upside down loop-de-loop for Episodes 6-7 (probably). 

If you like twists and turns mixed with exhaustive factoids (and tea), HIGHLY RECOMMEND getting to the other side of this amusement park ride. Things will look so different from start to finish, and I have a feeling there will be some new discoveries while we are recording- I’m even making a field trip to hear a tip-off. 

PS: I mention that it was “just me and marie” and a handful of women behind the scenes that were encouraging. In terms of being in the 24/7 recon and research mode, that is mostly true. We did have a couple of people reach out with some key data- but they are 007s and mustn’t be named (007 is a funny occult AND spy reference which is relatively obscure so I want you to know that I’m clever). Also we had The Group Chat.  A mysterious collective with 2 other women who were in it with on the day-to-day. We still have a dedicated GC and I wouldn’t have stayed sane without the 11/10 jokes (and research) that is in it everyday. 

Enjoy a visit to the web archive and explore internet history (and so, so many books)!

https://web.archive.org/

~~Extra Credit Reading~~~

Rewatching the Instagram stories I mention- and 142 weeks ago, a very nervous me addressed my tiny following, chest pounding, and revealed "Things That Shall Not Be Said". I said in one of the 100+ frames: 

“Once again, I don’t want to hurt anybody…It’s crazy to me that my shedding light on someone else’s mistake could paint me as a bad person- but I’ve seen that happen [with this] and I’m prepared”.  

Two years later- SUPRISE SURPISE, I absolutely was not, in fact, prepared. Upon meticulous review; now having the understanding of our work, the experience, the chaos, the soft-launch verbose brutality of Instagram-famous Spiritual Women ™,  the post-revelation dark nights of the soul of other students, and the patience to comb through years of correspondence, text documents and PDFS ( plus a small group chat keeping me sane); many of us have come to recognize the textbook signs of Cult behavior and mistreatment. We’ll add some material about Preemptive Narrative Control and (the long-lasting) effects of the insidious DARVO tactics many have been coming to terms or reconciling with.