app02 Wed, 01 Jul 2026 02:42:40 +0000 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) Altered Mates - Episodes Tagged with “Exorcism” https://www.alteredmates.com/tags/exorcism Wed, 01 Jul 2026 06:00:00 +0800 Altered Mates is a podcast where two mates, each fascinated by altered states, meet to discuss the psychedelic experience and its implications for society, culture, health, science, and philosophy. Alejandro is novelist and a teacher of english and psychology. Tobias is an academic and a lecturer in social work and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Our conversations are always grounded in our own direct experiences with a range of ‘altered’ states of consciousness. Hero of the podcast, William James, suggests that, “Our normal waking consciousness… is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely different… No account of the universe in its totality can be final which leaves these other forms of consciousness quite disregarded.” You could say that we are trying to construct a better account of our universe, and we are taking James’ advice to heart, by seriously regarding those “other” forms of consciousness. Through our research and our subsequent discussions, we seek to find, update, and/or create, working models of the mind, and of reality, that help us to make sense of our world. We endeavour to integrate our own psychedelic experiences through the power of conversation. But we also seek to integrate the revelations of “the” psychedelic experience, and come to terms with the implications, from cultural, philosophical, and spiritual perspectives. Having said all that, we’re also just two normal blokes who enjoy each other’s company. And our fancy Socratic dialogues are filtered through our own unique brand of Australian banter. After all, we’re just two mates trying to enjoy our limited time on this planet, and to create a more meaningful life for ourselves and our community while we’re here. en-us episodic Two mates navigating altered states Altered Mates Altered Mates is a podcast where two mates, each fascinated by altered states, meet to discuss the psychedelic experience and its implications for society, culture, health, science, and philosophy. Alejandro is novelist and a teacher of english and psychology. Tobias is an academic and a lecturer in social work and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Our conversations are always grounded in our own direct experiences with a range of ‘altered’ states of consciousness. Hero of the podcast, William James, suggests that, “Our normal waking consciousness… is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely different… No account of the universe in its totality can be final which leaves these other forms of consciousness quite disregarded.” You could say that we are trying to construct a better account of our universe, and we are taking James’ advice to heart, by seriously regarding those “other” forms of consciousness. Through our research and our subsequent discussions, we seek to find, update, and/or create, working models of the mind, and of reality, that help us to make sense of our world. We endeavour to integrate our own psychedelic experiences through the power of conversation. But we also seek to integrate the revelations of “the” psychedelic experience, and come to terms with the implications, from cultural, philosophical, and spiritual perspectives. Having said all that, we’re also just two normal blokes who enjoy each other’s company. And our fancy Socratic dialogues are filtered through our own unique brand of Australian banter. After all, we’re just two mates trying to enjoy our limited time on this planet, and to create a more meaningful life for ourselves and our community while we’re here. yes altered states, psychedelics, ayahuasca, DMT, therapy, mushrooms, magic, spiritual, spirituality, religion Altered Mates alejandro.tuama@outlook.com Episode 37: The Exorcisms of Emily Rose & Anneliese Michel https://www.alteredmates.com/37 5dcfe98b-1cc4-4c9f-9a4c-d0a85b8b2eae Wed, 01 Jul 2026 06:00:00 +0800 Altered Mates full Altered Mates In this episode we discuss film The Exorcism of Emily Rose and the case of Anneliese Michel, on whom Emily Rose was supposedly based. 1:20:31 yes <p>In this episode we discuss the fascinating and baffling practice of exorcism. To anchor our discussion we focus on the American 2005 film The Exorcism of Emily Rose and the case of Anneliese Michel, from Germany in the 1970s—on whom Emily Rose was supposedly “based” (although, as we acknowledge in this episode, the film plays fast and loose with the truth, so much so, that we would suggest it shouldn’t even really be considered to be “based on a true story”).</p> <p>The film and the case bring up many of our favourite topics of discussion—complex mental health issues, psychosis, pharmaceutical medication, shamanism, religion—although there is a certain dark quality that imposes itself upon the vibe of this episode, even more-so than in our recent discussion of the folk horror film Midsommar.&nbsp;</p> <p>Listen at your peril (…and if you want to hear more then stay tuned for the addendum episode next week).</p> <p><strong>References</strong></p> <ul> <li> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exorcism_of_Emily_Rose" rel="nofollow noopener">The Exorcism of Emily Rose</a>&nbsp;(2005) directed by Scott Derrickson</li> <li> Igor J. Pietkiewicz, Urszula Kłosińska, Radosław Tomalski, Onno van der Hart.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468749921000065" rel="nofollow noopener">Beyond dissociative disorders: A qualitative study of Polish catholic women reporting demonic possession.</a>&nbsp;European Journal of Trauma &amp; Dissociation, Volume 5, Issue 4, 2021.</li> <li> Altered Mates —&nbsp;<a href="https://www.alteredmates.com/34" rel="nofollow noopener">Episode 34</a>&nbsp;— ‘Your scientific illiteracy makes me shudder!’ on The X-Files: Jose Chung’s From Outer Space</li> <li> Altered Mates — Episodes&nbsp;<a href="https://www.alteredmates.com/26" rel="nofollow noopener">26</a>&nbsp;&amp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.alteredmates.com/27" rel="nofollow noopener">27</a>&nbsp;— On the Borderline Parts 1 &amp; 2</li> <li> Altered Mates —&nbsp;<a href="https://www.alteredmates.com/11" rel="nofollow noopener">Episode 11</a>&nbsp;— Giving LSD to kids! (…to treat severe childhood schizophrenia)</li> <li> Iris McIntosh —&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cmf.org.uk/article/film-review-the-exorcism-of-emily-rose-demons-and-medicine/" rel="nofollow noopener">Film review: The Exorcism of Emily Rose: Demons and Medicine</a></li> <li> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7jK-cuNydY" rel="nofollow noopener">El Alien (Trance Mix)</a>&nbsp;— note: I (Alejandro) first heard this song sampled in the introduction to&nbsp;<a href="https://psychedelicsalon.com/podcasts/" rel="nofollow noopener">The Psychedelic Salon Podcast</a>, hosted by Lorenzo Haggarty. If you haven’t checked it out, Lorenzo’s podcast is a treasure trove of audio from Terence McKenna.</li> <li> John Duffey (2011) Lessons Learned: The Anneliese Michel Exorcism</li> <li> Austen Harvey (2025)&nbsp;<a href="https://allthatsinteresting.com/the-exorcism-of-emily-rose-true-story" rel="nofollow noopener">What Happened To Anneliese Michel? Inside The Horrific Death That Inspired&nbsp;The Exorcism Of Emily Rose</a></li> </ul> <p><strong>Links</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.alteredmates.com/" rel="nofollow noopener">Altered Mates Website</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/altered.mates/" rel="nofollow noopener">Altered Mates Instagram</a></p> <p>Altered Mates&nbsp;<a href="https://alteredmates.substack.com/" rel="nofollow noopener">Substack</a></p> <p>Altered Mates&nbsp;<a href="https://patreon.com/AlteredMates?utm_medium=unknown&amp;utm_source=join_link&amp;utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&amp;utm_content=copyLink" rel="nofollow noopener">Patreon</a></p> <p>Music for the show by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/wildmarmalade/?hl=en" rel="nofollow noopener">Si Mulumby</a></p> <p><strong>A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama</strong></p> <ul> <li> Purchase the novel&nbsp;<a href="https://books2read.com/u/m2eWjG" rel="nofollow noopener">here</a>&nbsp;(hard copy, ebook and audiobook).</li> <li> Listen to the free serialised audiobook&nbsp;<a href="https://www.patreon.com/collection/560595?view=expanded" rel="nofollow noopener">here</a>. </li> </ul> consciousness, consciousness change, DMT, ayahuasca, psychedelic, trip, psychonaut, altered states, altered mates, mysticism, exorcism, possession In this episode we discuss the fascinating and baffling practice of exorcism. To anchor our discussion we focus on the American 2005 film The Exorcism of Emily Rose and the case of Anneliese Michel, from Germany in the 1970s—on whom Emily Rose was supposedly “based” (although, as we acknowledge in this episode, the film plays fast and loose with the truth, so much so, that we would suggest it shouldn’t even really be considered to be “based on a true story”).

The film and the case bring up many of our favourite topics of discussion—complex mental health issues, psychosis, pharmaceutical medication, shamanism, religion—although there is a certain dark quality that imposes itself upon the vibe of this episode, even more-so than in our recent discussion of the folk horror film Midsommar. 

Listen at your peril (…and if you want to hear more then stay tuned for the addendum episode next week).

References

Links

Altered Mates Website

Altered Mates Instagram

Altered Mates Substack

Altered Mates Patreon

Music for the show by Si Mulumby

A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama

  • Purchase the novel here (hard copy, ebook and audiobook).
  • Listen to the free serialised audiobook here.
]]> In this episode we discuss the fascinating and baffling practice of exorcism. To anchor our discussion we focus on the American 2005 film The Exorcism of Emily Rose and the case of Anneliese Michel, from Germany in the 1970s—on whom Emily Rose was supposedly “based” (although, as we acknowledge in this episode, the film plays fast and loose with the truth, so much so, that we would suggest it shouldn’t even really be considered to be “based on a true story”).

The film and the case bring up many of our favourite topics of discussion—complex mental health issues, psychosis, pharmaceutical medication, shamanism, religion—although there is a certain dark quality that imposes itself upon the vibe of this episode, even more-so than in our recent discussion of the folk horror film Midsommar. 

Listen at your peril (…and if you want to hear more then stay tuned for the addendum episode next week).

References

Links

Altered Mates Website

Altered Mates Instagram

Altered Mates Substack

Altered Mates Patreon

Music for the show by Si Mulumby

A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama

  • Purchase the novel here (hard copy, ebook and audiobook).
  • Listen to the free serialised audiobook here.
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