Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
This time, magician Denis Poisson (aka Foolish Fish @FoolishFishBooks ) sits with me from his home in Poland to discuss his adventures in applied mysticism and spirituality. In this lively chat, we address a wide array of subjects including perennialism, DIY in magical practices and the (free?) will of the gods.
*** ABOUT DENIS ***
Denis Poisson is the host of the Foolish Fish Youtube channel.
The majority of his content revolves around reviews and previews of books for the modern, practicing esotericist and occultist, but once a fortnight, he creates a short lesson designed to simplify an esoteric concept, introducing his viewers to new ideas, and maps of the spiritual experience, scouting the edges of commonly accepted tropes and dogma to work out what’s really going on out there because Denis Poissons’ core passion is helping others see past the maps and the words and rules and the prescriptions, and apprehend firsthand the divine ground of which we are both a part and the whole.
The YouTube channel became very popular after Denis shared an account of a very strange experience that forced him to radically reassess his assumptions about the fixed, objective nature of the Universe, and instead embrace the possibility that the material world arises within the mind, and not mind out of matter. After studying the main world religions from an experiential perspective to better understand the vocabulary that people have traditionally used to describe these numinous experiences, Denis Poisson embarked on a career as a teacher of “Religion Studies” in the South East of England where he was employed as a World Religions specialist.
After 10 years he relocated with his family to central Poland where a career change freed up enough spare time and resources to start up a YouTube channel where he could continue teaching with the freedom to delve more deeply into the esoteric, experiential aspects of spiritual encounters and activities which are his passion.
The Foolish Fish Discord chat server, which he maintains along with a group of dedicated, passionate admins, has also been an enormous success, growing to encompass most aspects of Magic and Esotericism that might be relevant to any explorer.
Denis Poisson’s relevant links:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FoolishFishBooks
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/foolishfish
Private Consultations: https://foolishfish.simplybook.it
Hidden Paths (my book): https://www.blackletter-press.com/product-page/denis-poisson-hidden-paths
*** STUFF MENTIONED IN THE SHOW ***
- Foolish Fish « What is Magic? » video
- Yamaha CS-80
- Foolish Fish « A Problem With My Religion – (in defense of Perennialism) » video
- Aldous Huxley’s The Perennial Philosophy
- Frater Acher’s Holy Daimon
- Foolish Fish « 30 minute Mind Expansion » video
- Foolish Fish « Something Very Strange Happened To Me » video
*** TIMESTAMPS ***
0:00:00 INTRO
0:07:53 Denis Poisson’s bio
0:09:56 INTERVIEW BEGINS
0:16:21 Denis (the magician)’s adventures in perennialism
0:28:26 Magic as applied mysticism and adapting one’s practice
0:39:51 More comments on « bringing our own flavour » to magic
0:45:27 Do the gods change their minds?
1:03:01 The Holy Guardian Angel VS Non-dualism: a convoluted question
1:10:11 The Holy Guardian Angel VS Non-dualism: a Denis’ perfect answer
1:23:15 Dominic’s strange story: the possessed dog and the 5$ bill
1:29:54 Denis wisely keeps from finding an explanation to the story
1:34:11 The book that wasn’t to be thrown away
1:38:51 Where to find Denis, aka Foolish Fish’s work
1:44:10 Goodbyes