Ninjas Are Butterflies x Ky Dickens from The Telepathy Tapes | The Portal
Episode Date: December 2, 2025
Guests: Ky Dickens (Creator/Narrator, The Telepathy Tapes)
Hosts: Josh Hooper & Andy DeNoon
Episode Overview
This special "Ninjas Are Butterflies" episode features the hosts’ first-ever remote interview with documentary filmmaker and podcaster Ky Dickens, creator of "The Telepathy Tapes." Together, they delve into the mind-bending world of telepathy, consciousness, and the metaphysical, comparing personal backgrounds and discussing scientific and spiritual paradigms. The conversation spans the making of Ky’s show, communication beyond words, historical and spiritual intersections, government interest in psychic phenomena, and much more—with a signature mix of humor and earnest curiosity.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Introduction to Ky Dickens and The Telepathy Tapes
- Ky Dickens is celebrated for her docu-podcast, "The Telepathy Tapes," exploring the phenomenon of non-speaking individuals (often labeled non-verbal or non-speakers) demonstrating telepathy and other extraordinary abilities.
- Season 2 of the show spotlights deeper metaphysical ideas, near-death experiences (NDEs), plant and animal communication, energy healing, psychedelics, mediumship, and the historic, scientific, and experiential basis for these phenomena.
“Each episode looks into something else we might have dismissed… Can you communicate with plants, to near death experiences, to mediumship—can it be validated in a lab? To animal communication, energy healing, and psychedelics…” – Ky Dickens [03:23]
2. Telepathy "Test": Light-hearted Icebreaker
- The hosts ask Ky to "guess" a secret image behind Andy, jokingly testing her telepathic skills.
- Ky guesses "butterfly" and "octopus"—both incorrect but humorously close in spirit.
“That was even closer. It’s actually my uncle dressed as a Hamburglar.” – C [04:51]
3. Behind the Scenes: Creation, Challenges, and Reception
- Ky’s journey began intending to make a documentary series, which was rejected by Hollywood for defying genre categorization.
- The podcast medium became a last resort, leading to breakout success, eventual funding, and a forthcoming film adaptation.
“The podcast was really my last resort since I couldn’t get the doc made. I mean, now it’s being made…” – Ky [05:29]
4. Season 1 vs. Season 2: Paradigm Shift
- Season 1: Focused on questioning the materialist worldview, validating that telepathy might be possible, and encouraging open inquiry into consciousness.
- Season 2: Aims to convince listeners that consciousness, perhaps a "soul," is fundamental, enduring beyond bodily death, and central to the universe’s fabric.
“I hope that by the time we’re done with it, people will feel very certain that consciousness is the fundamental element building block of our universe and that consciousness survives our body…” – Ky [09:00]
5. Connections to Spirituality and Religious Texts
- The hosts, coming from a Christian background, relate ancient and scriptural stories (e.g., Jesus knowing thoughts) to Ky's research.
“It definitely gets you outside of this materialistic realm. Like everything’s just flesh and blood. Like there is more to it all.” – C [10:48]
- Ky discusses historic intersections of religion and psychedelics, implying that mystical experiences underpin spiritual traditions, referencing the Greek Eleusinian Mysteries and transformations in Western spirituality post-Constantine.
“Alcohol wasn’t even mentioned in Greek… There was something else going on with the wine and a lot of people think it had psychedelic properties… Maybe that’s why it felt in the Old and New Testament that God was so present…” – Ky [11:12]
6. Personal Beliefs and Spiritual Transformation
- Ky shares her journey: raised Christian, experiencing deconstruction and reconstruction of faith.
“If number one was deconstruction, season two is reconstruction. And for sure, I believe the soul survives death…” – Ky [14:51]
- Reveals frequent mention by non-speakers of good/evil forces, interaction with God, angels, and dark presences—even in children’s accounts.
7. Near-Death Experiences and the Potential for Deception
- Discussion on NDEs references outside literature warning of potential deception by spiritual forces.
- Ky recounts the top concern: differentiating between benevolent and “dark” energies, illustrated by an on-set story where two non-speaking girls perceived a sudden “dark energy.”
“What one person might be interpreting as a dark energy could be like the energy of a person who’s disgruntled or upset, you know, or maybe someone who’s passed on…” – Ky [20:54]
8. Non-Speakers’ Abilities: Telepathy, Dream Communication, and Physical Manifestations
- Examples of non-speakers communicating through dreams, giving specific instructions, or even displaying remarkable control over apraxic bodies in pivotal moments.
- Stories include dream visitations leading to actual-life events (e.g., house purchases, job opportunities), writing lyrics through parental dreams, and seemingly miraculous coordination during filming.
“I look around to, like, see if, like, where Lily went. And she’s just sitting on the hill, like, waiting for me. Like, you know, almost like she could read my thoughts…” – Ky [22:11]
9. Plant and Animal Communication
- Ky details non-speaker Nina’s ability to diagnose and prescribe herbal remedies through plant communication, corroborated by indigenous wisdom and modern herbalists.
“When they asked Nina, how are you doing this? She said, because I can communicate with plants…And what’s wild is… everyone kept talking about, like, ancestors are a big part of this…” – Ky [28:52]
10. Theories on the Loss of Ancient Abilities and Future of Telepathy
- The group theorizes that technology and cultural changes (post-Constantine, materialism) have suppressed once-common telepathic skills, now occasionally resurfacing.
“Technology has certainly helped us replace other skills that we had previously… And it was so just part and parcel of their world, you know.” – Ky [32:03]
11. Types of Telepathy and Scientific Validation
- Ky distinguishes two types: close-proximity (intense interpersonal connection, often among non-speakers/parents) and heart-based/connection telepathy (motivated by love, even at a distance).
- She offers multiple documented, now peer-reviewed examples (trials, double-blind tests in universities, consistent laboratory results) confirming telepathic phenomena.
“One of the things that is so cool is a lot of the scientists … have said, I don’t think there’s just one telepathy happening. There seems to be two kinds…proximity and…motivated by love and connection.” – Ky [35:42]
- Notable scientific test (timestamp 38:54):
- A “sender” in Oregon attempted to transmit the image of the Northern Lights to a non-speaker in Chicago, who described and spelled it unprompted.
- Another test: a non-speaker typed thoughts prompted by a remote sender, including their private questions about oil tankers—demonstrating accuracy beyond chance.
12. Government Interest and the CIA Involvement
- The conversation turns conspiratorial: Ky confirms that a CIA agent infiltrated their circles under false pretenses—not with intimidation but by building trust to study families with telepathic children.
“It’s not gonna be like Men in Black situation. It’s gonna be a very quiet, gentle, back door situation. And that happened and we all figured out…who it was… I don’t think it was sinister…I think it was just access…” – Ky [42:02]
- She urges caution to families, as increased interest could lead to exploitation.
13. Telepathy and Alien/UFO Phenomena
- The group links telepathy to common elements in alien abduction reports, positing that “telepathy is a communication baseline” not just for humans, but possibly for all sentient life, “the universal language.”
“What I’ve come to kind of realize through this work is that telepathy is a communication baseline. For probably anything.” – Ky [48:06]
- Ky references a savant with "quantum information holography" theory, suggesting minds can access information fields transcending normal perception and language.
14. Beyond Telepathy: Telekinesis, Bilocation, and More
- Ky acknowledges hearing repeated reports (though not personally witnessing) of non-speakers moving objects with the mind, causing technology to act autonomously, or bilocating (“projecting” consciousness elsewhere).
“There’s been many, many stories… Not just moving objects with your mind, but often it will have to do with, like, speaking through an iPad, and all of a sudden, it will talk on its own...” – Ky [53:09]
- She recalls teachers feeling the presence of non-speakers remotely—a phenomenon also reflected in religious accounts.
15. Dark and Spooky Incidents
- Some non-speakers’ parents have described their children being physically marked (scratches) at night, raising concern about spiritual vulnerability.
“There’s some dark stories… parents saying that their non-speakers are being, like, harmed. At night, but like, with scratches on their bodies and stuff. And that’s, like, really freaking weird...” – Ky [56:32]
- Nonetheless, Ky and the hosts emphasize that the overarching message is one of love, unity, and possibility.
16. Unreleased Content, Film Plans, and the Future
- Ky teases upcoming themes for future seasons, more in-depth exploration via the Backstage Pass on Supercast (with Q&As, behind-the-scenes material), and a forthcoming documentary film (expected by April).
“We will be releasing all sorts of stuff…after that, we weekly unpack the entire season in an episode of something we call the Talk Tracks…” – Ky [57:46]
Notable Quotes & Moments
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On faith in telepathy:
“I trusted so deeply like, that the parents and the non speakers were speaking truth and that they deserve to be heard and that people be very interested...” – Ky [05:29]
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On Western civilization's spiritual shift:
“When Constantine started kind of coming through and being like, no, you know, get rid of anything that's pagan, the spiritual, like, heart of kind of the Western civilization died maybe with a lot of that…” – Ky [12:22]
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On the reality of spiritual forces:
“Non speakers talk about not just ghosts and seeing the departed, but interacting with God, with angels, but also with dark forces, you know, or demons. That comes up all the time.” – Ky [14:50]
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On government interest:
“We all figured out what happened and who it was… It’s all I could do was tell everyone who it was and just to be careful…” – Ky [42:02]
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On the normalization and mutual loss of ability:
“We should be looking at us and being like, we are all magical and we’ve lost this ability or forgotten we have it…” – Ky [45:55]
Important Timestamps
- [03:23] Ky details the wide scope of Season 2: NDEs, plant/animal communication, etc.
- [05:29] Ky’s arduous path from film to podcast—and back to film.
- [09:00] Exploring the philosophical leap from telepathy to the soul/consciousness.
- [11:12] Psychedelics, ancient spirituality, and transformative religious experiences.
- [14:51] Ky’s spiritual evolution and belief that the soul survives death; dark forces in non-speaker accounts.
- [20:54] Story of two non-speakers sensing a “dark energy” on set—interpretation ambiguity.
- [22:11] Non-speaker Lily intuitively waiting for Ky—illustration of telepathic connection.
- [28:52] Plant communication, herbal knowledge, and ancestral wisdom.
- [32:03] Loss of psychic ability in industrial/technological societies.
- [35:42] Distinct types of telepathy, scientific trials, and heart-based communication.
- [38:54] Lab test: non-speakers answer questions sent from remote senders—remarkable results.
- [42:02] CIA infiltration in the telepathy community.
- [48:06] Telepathy as the “universal language,” connections to alien phenomena.
- [53:09] Reports of telekinesis, spontaneous speech via technology, bilocation.
- [56:32] Parents report children being physically marked at night—spiritual vulnerability.
- [57:46] Upcoming bonus content, film updates, and future plans.
Tone & Style
Conversational, curious, and at times irreverently funny; the interview balances skepticism, open-mindedness, and genuine wonder. Ky shares deeply personal insights, academic rigor, and wild, sometimes unsettling, stories, with the hosts riffing enthusiastically and drawing connections to spirituality, conspiracies, and fringe phenomena.
For New Listeners: Why Tune In?
- Dive into mind-expanding discussions challenging materialist assumptions about the nature of reality.
- Hear the latest on how science is cautiously, yet increasingly, validating telepathic abilities.
- Get a candid look at the intersection of spirituality, neuroscience, indigenous knowledge, government surveillance, and modern technology.
- Revel in wild tales of paranormal occurrences—from dream house-hunting to CIA infiltration.
- Enjoy a warm, humorous, and respectful exchange between hosts and guest, guaranteeing plenty to ponder and laugh about.
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