494. Damien Echols

Damien Echols is an artist and New York Times bestselling author of "Life After Death". In 2018, he published his first book on ceremonial magick: "High Magick: A Guide to the Spiritual Practices That Saved My Life on Death Row". He has been a practitioner of ceremonial Magick for over 20 years and leads classes on Magick across the country. He spent over 18 years on death row in Arkansas for a crime he didn't commit before gaining his freedom in 2011. Upon release, he, along with Peter Jackson produced the documentary film "West Of Memphis" which chronicled his legal battle. During his time in prison, he was ordained into the Rinzai Zen tradition of Japanese Buddhism. He lives in New York with his wife and three cats. Other offerings: Audio CD of "High Magick: A Guide to the Spiritual Practices That Saved My Life on Death Row" Angels and Archangels Royal Science of Angels Life After Death Yours for Eternity: A Love Story on Death Row Almost Home Damien's site: damienechols.com Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group. Summary and transcript of this interview. YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump 00:05:30 - Growing Up in Poverty and Neglect 00:10:30 - False Confessions and Wrongful Convictions 00:15:20 - Satanism and Magick 00:20:03 - Life Inside Prison 00:24:50 - Morphic Fields and Collective Consciousness 00:29:25 - The Power of Meditation and Consciousness Alteration 00:34:04 - Alignment of Brain and Heart Electromagnetic Fields 00:38:27 - Ego and Karma in Enlightenment Practice 00:43:19 - Discovering Magick in Prison 00:48:06 - The Brutality in Prison 00:52:47 - The Power of Resilience and Endurance 00:57:49 - Balancing Polarities in Magick 01:03:01 - Balancing the energy centers 01:08:01 - The Disintegration of Self and the Trinity of Divinity 01:13:16 - Explaining the Concept of Archangels and Deities 01:18:00 - Magick as a Personal Journey 01:22:39 - Purifying Your Energetic Anatomy and Environment 01:27:29 - The Journey to Magick 01:32:31 - Adjusting to Life After Prison 01:37:02 - Magick and the Healing Power of Words 01:41:58 - The Misuse of Magick 01:46:28 - Working with Archangels and Negative Tendencies 01:50:55 - Talismans and Amulets: Harnessing the Power of Symbols 01:55:37 - Charging of Magick Items 02:00:14 - Surrendering and Relaxing 02:05:08 - The Importance of Relationships in the Awakening Process 02:09:39 - Unlocking the Collective Unconscious and Remembering Past Lives 02:14:31 - Expanding Psychic Perception, Overcoming Addiction, and Restructuring the Prison System 02:19:16 - The Problem with the US Prison System 02:23:40 - Check out the Impressive Documentaries