Randall Carlson on Climate Change (Joe Rogan Podcast)

Alacrates's picture

For me it's been a long week of hearing about climate change news on the radio news and seeing people fiercely debate Greta Thunberg online.

I saw Randall Carlson, who runs a Sacred Geometry Institute (https://sacredgeometryinternational.com/) stitch together his discussions of his thoughts on climate change during his various JRE interviews:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGUteY0O47E

I've heard him discuss this before on other podcasts, and I find his viewpoints very interesting. As far as I know it, he thinks that the planet is definitely warming, but that it might not be primarily CO2 and/or human caused CO2 emissions that are driving this warming. His concern is that focusing only on human caused CO2 emissions, our responses might be focused towards goals that don't help with the human resilience in the face of inevitable warming.

I myself am not educated enough to really evaluate any of this, though I'm trying to learn more (it is slow going!!)

I am starting to see a gap widening between longer term human resilience and the things gaining popularity in various circles of people concerned with climate change. For instance, I see a lot of people, especially those who kind of like the status quo and and are a bit 'technocratic', feel that all we need is a lot of nuclear reactors and carbon-capture-and-sequestration plants. If nuclear energy never ends up being economically viable, and we are left with a lot of radioactive waste, and high tech plants that scrubbing CO2 from the air that don't prevent warming -- then I think we will have squandered resources that could've been spent more wisely on long term adaptations to a warming planet.

As an aside, I think Carlson would be a pretty interesting figure for people interested in JMG's work. Carlson was worked in construction for most of his career, and has been involved in freemasonry for a long time. He teaches courses on sacred geometry, and is heavily involved in researching ancient civilizations (which is why he's done so much reading on geology and climate and long term human history.)

Justin Patrick Moore's picture

I liked how he talked about the city and how it warms things by absorbing & then radiating heat in all the concrete / asphalt / built environment. Listening at work I couldn't follow all the nuances of his argument, but it was interesting. I checked out Randall's website and his Sacred Geometry course looks quite interesting. Seems like an interesting fella all around. Thanks for the links and analysis.

Alacrates's picture

Yes, I found it a little difficult to follow his arguments when I first heard him on JRE too, but when I saw him repost these clips this week (probably in response to all the media surrounding the UN Climate Summit) I listened more carefully, and found it easier to comprehend.

I think the point he was making about the built concrete environment was that it may have skewed our data on average temperatures over the last decades, having thermometers that were set up at airports which often once had a lot of green-space around them, but which have since been surrounded by heat-radiating concrete-asphalt infrastructure.

I'm pretty sure I have read a climate scientist address this point (or something like it) about efforts made to try to correct for distortions caused by where thermometers used for climate data have been placed, so I have no idea if this criticism is valid or not. This is why I have found trying to read about this subject so frustrating, I don't have much of a scientific background, and I think there are political/economic agendas that are influencing this discourse from many angles...

I'm hoping to immerse myself in this topic as much as I can, I have a number of books collected up on climate and energy, and a binder prepared for notes... I have no hopes of becoming an expert in my spare time, but I do hope to become conversant in the topic over time. With the amount of focus this issue is receiving in the media and in the local activist scene, at least in the city I live in, I think it will pay off to have something like a sane view of the issues involved, for the most part I see people running off very little information and a fair amount of hysteria...

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For anyone interested in looking into the work of Randall Carlson... I first heard of him on a small, esoteric podcast, which is why I was surprised to hear that he was a guest on the Joe Rogan Experience...

https://staging2.sacredgeometryinternational.info/occult-of-personality-...

I liked how he had worked his own long term involvement in Masonic lodges and his career in construction into his study of sacred geometry. I highly recommend his lectures on the subject, which he's released in large part on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxxJkkUiRxw

I feel his studies into ancient prehistory tie in well with JMG's work and with Green Wizardry generally, as he is of the opinion that civilization is older than archeology currently believes it to be, and it has weathered severe disruptions before our current historical record even began. I think in one recent interview, JMG asserted that humans are genetically well-disposed to passing through these hard times, as we have done it before, and I think some echoes of this can be found in the research of Randall Carlson, et al.

Randall has been on a ton of podcasts, just search his name on your podcast app of choice if anyone's interested in him. One very accessible podcast where he discussed his thoughts on climate change and the deep history of humanity is:
https://sacredgeometryinternational.com/tin-foil-hat-with-sam-tripoli-17...

Another JRE podcast that I found to be really fascinating, on the topic of the deep history of civilization, with a professor from Boston University, Robert Schoch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vka2ZgzZTvo

Justin Patrick Moore's picture

Thanks Alacrates! I'm going to have to work my way through these. I listened to the first one. First, I love Occult of Personality. There are some awesome episodes on that program. (Though I do find it odd that the host Greg never has had JMG on. I feel that it is also odd that Gordon of Rune Soup has never had JMG on: especially considering Gordon has often written and talked about disruptions to the world system.)

I listened to the first one... and man, it was excellent. I really like how Randall talked a lot about the ancient world --and the remnants of it that remain. Of course I've had a long interest in the Mounds and Earthworks so prominent in my neck of the woods (Ohio Valley -more specifically the Miami Valley bioregion) so I always get excited when I hear people talking about the mounds, ritual paths/roads, etc. that were here, and those that still remain (Serpent Mound is a little over an hour away from me... and all kinds of other smaller burial mounds even in the city... a few just a couple miles from me.)

I'm working through the Order of Essenes material right now ( http://www.orderofessenes.org/ ) but when I finish with that, I may well take up one of Randall's courses. I really like how he speaks of the universality of geometry. The application of that knowledge might prove very useful to Green Wizardry in general.

I'll be listening to these other episodes with him later today and this week.

Alacrates's picture

I actually remember Gordon Ryan mentioning JMG once in an interview (I think with the astrologer who comes on regularly) just briefly, and they both kind of dismissed JMG for being involved with peak oil/energy scarcity, I guess it didn't quite accord with Ryan's view of things to come. (Interesting that in this week's post JMG is reviewing peak oil once again.)

I never quite know what Gordon Ryan's political/economic outlook is, he is definitely into permaculture, homesteading, etc. I remember him talking about the CIA and Amazon being involved in some sort of operation to take over food distribution, making growing one's own food very important. I also hear him talk about monetary issues, maybe a collapse of the U.S. dollar, but I don't really understand that kind of thing so I don't follow his reasoning too closely. He definitely has a good podcast though.

As for why Occult of Personality hasn't had JMG on, I really don't know... I think certain circles of occultists, and circles of people concerned with energy and collapse, just haven't heard of him, and even if they have, for whatever reason, he doesn't quite spark their interest. I can't see it myself, I'm always amazed by how often JMG touches on something that I find interesting in a new & fascinating way, but I guess it takes all kinds.

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I know I've been recommending podcasts & videos on here at an unsustainable rate recently (!!!), but to continue on that trend, another new podcast that may be interesting to anyone interested in Hermeticism and related subjects, is "The Magician and the Fool" podcast.

I've been trying to read more about the ancient world in recent years, focusing on Mesopotamia, Greece, Alexandria, Rome, etc... I found the discussions on this new show, put out by two guys who are interested in the practice of classical spirituality to tie a lot of threads together in things I was interested in. They already have a lot of episodes, including some on Zosimos the early alchemist, or the modern French mage Joseph Peledan who JMG has promoted in recent years. I also really liked the interviews they did regarding the cult of Artemis of Ephesus, and on the Tarot generally with the artist Robert Place (that is a whole separate rabbit hole one could go down, I think Robert Place's interviews are are as valuable as the artwork he's done for various tarot decks.) Two podcasts I liked most of all:

On the work of Iamblichus and theurgy: https://themagicianandthefool.podbean.com/e/episode-viii-greg-shaw/

On the philosophy of Proclus: https://themagicianandthefool.podbean.com/e/episode-ix-edward-butler/