In the first half, Richard Syrett was joined by astrological consultant William Stickevers, who discussed the deeper meaning behind the 2025-2026 Saturn-Neptune conjunction and how it heralds an era of global "reality reset," empire rebalancing, and various AI breakthroughs. "This is a major radical reconfiguration," he said, with the dismantling of the old system and the birthing of a new paradigm. He noted that the last time such an alignment occurred was in 1522 during the Age of Exploration, emphasizing the transformative potential of these celestial events. An exact conjunction of Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus will occur in late February 2026, bringing a heightened upheaval in the years leading up to it, he added.
Looking ahead, Stickevers expressed optimism about regional stability following a potential regime change in Iran, suggesting that we'll see more agreements among the various Arab nations. He also warned of potential conflicts involving China over Taiwan, stating that the "Chinese plan on moving forward... invading Taiwan somewhere between October 2026 and October 2027." Advancements in AI will significantly influence future conflicts, he continued, stating "AI will upgrade itself... creating new languages, new algorithms we can't even predict." He envisions a future where artificial general intelligence (AGI) will evolve into artificial superintelligence (ASI) by 2032, fundamentally altering governance, society, and humans' relationship to work.
On the economic front, Stickevers drew parallels between current trends and historical crises, such as 1929 and 2008, attributing systemic inflation to massive government debt and monetary debasement. He believes Bitcoin will emerge as a strategic reserve currency, replacing traditional fiat systems. With Bitcoin, "you don't need banks," he posited, and further that the US government would purchase 1 million Bitcoins over five years as a reserve, and the value of one Bitcoin would rise to $1 million by July of 2029.
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In the latter half, former neuroscience researcher David Jay Brown and visionary artist and writer Sara Phinn Huntley talked about the strange beings that appear to people during psychedelic experiences, particularly with DMT (view related illustrations). Brown explained that DMT (dimethyltryptamine) is an enigmatic psychedelic compound that is also a naturally occurring substance found in many plants and animals. Both guests shared their personal experiences with DMT, which revealed a striking consistency in the reported encounters with otherworldly entities. Huntley recounted her second trip, describing a "sentient being" with a huge fractal surface that was roiling with tessellations and different colors, conveying "a history of the cosmos." Brown's first experience in 1983 involved a terrifying encounter with a giant praying mantis, which seemed to be conducting a series of tests on him that bore some similarity to alien abduction reports.
Both felt the entities they encountered during their trips were "realer than real," leading them to ponder the existence of an independent reality associated with these experiences. In creating the illustrations for their book, Huntley noted that she employed AI to visualize these entities, aiming to create "portraits of people's collective consciousness" and foster a shared exploration of the psychedelic experience. Some individuals report encounters with deceased loved ones or ancestors on DMT, or while taking the plant medicine ayahuasca (which contains DMT).
The conversation delved into the varying types of DMT entities, which can range from benevolent or healing guides to trickster figures. Brown cautioned that DMT experiences are often overwhelming and should be approached with care. He also reported on extended-state DMT research where subjects at Imperial College in London and elsewhere, have the drug administered as an infusion to maintain the "hyperspace" state over longer periods (when smoked it only lasts for 10 minutes), and are sometimes "sent out" in teams to see if they have a shared experience.