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