225: Weird Here to Help Halloween Special: Real Magic & Closing Down the Store (with John E. L. Tenney)

Summary

We're Here to Help Ep. 225: Weird Here to Help Halloween Special

Topic: Real Magic & Closing Down the Store (with John E. L. Tenney)
Release Date: October 31, 2025
Hosts: Jake Johnson, Gareth Reynolds
Guest: John E. L. Tenney (paranormal expert)

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Episode Overview

This special Halloween episode dives deep into the paranormal, magic, and the everyday weird, with foremost paranormal expert and raconteur John E. L. Tenney. The crew fields advice calls focusing on witch lineage, ancestor magic, and clearing haunted spaces, all while blending humor, skepticism, and a genuine curiosity about the unknown.

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Key Sections & Timestamps

1. Halloween Vibes & Guest Introduction (01:09 – 05:05)

• The episode opens with Jake and Gareth brimming with Halloween spirit, describing this as a “Halloween spectacular,” and introducing guest John E. L. Tenney, whom Berg dubs “the George Carlin of the paranormal.”
• Notable Quote:
  “He is laying down mind-blowing things and concepts… yet you’re laughing your ass off with a delicious cocktail in your hands. It is a rock show but John like, tell us a little bit about yourself…”
  — Steve Berg (02:04)

John’s Origin Story:

• No religious upbringing or early supernatural experiences (“I wasn't abducted. I was just a punk rock kid in Detroit.” — John, 03:02)
• Early mentorship from Jack Kevorkian and a local witch; eventually began lecturing on the paranormal and researching for Unsolved Mysteries.
• Refuses to be pigeonholed as just a “ghost guy” or “UFO guy,” seeing all strangeness as interconnected.

On Skepticism & Humor in the Paranormal:

• John stresses the importance of skepticism:
  “The hardest line to walk is to say… well that’s your experience. Let's talk about it, let’s see where it comes from.” (05:48)
• The fun in the paranormal should be embraced:
  “The funnier and weirder it is, the more I believe it. I don’t have anything to base that off of.” — Steve (07:08)
• Memorable Story:
  The tale of a Michigan “Dog Man” seen smoking a cigarette and doing a backflip (08:12–09:23).

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2. Call 1: The Witch Lineage Dilemma (Sabrina) (12:02 – 39:58)

Background:

Sabrina’s mother reveals they descend from a long line of witches, stirring questions about embracing or rejecting a magical path.

Discussion Points:

• Family Disclosure: Sabrina’s aunt and uncle deny knowledge, leading the hosts to speculate on secrecy and stigma.
• Jake: “The uncle and the aunt know and they're trying to keep you out of it and playing coy.” (18:42)
• John’s View: Magic is woven through daily life—“When people grow their beards out for a sports team, you’re doing sympathetic magic.” (16:13)

Advice & Insights:

• Research Your Roots:
  Steve: “Whenever I’m about ready to embark on maybe a new phase of my life, research, for me personally, is key…” (17:22)
• Honor Your Ancestors:
  John details his ancestor altar, placing coffee and even a blank frame for unknown relatives:
  “For all of you that were good, I’m gonna make you proud. And for all of you that were terrible, I’m gonna be better.” (21:16)
• Ethics of Witchcraft:
  John: “There are witch ethics, which are you don’t do unkind to people… if you curse someone, it comes back three times.” (25:53)
• Tarot and Divination:
  Tarot as a entry-level tool; eventually meanings become personal—“Even if you know what every single card means… you’re going to feel differently than what the cards are saying to you.” (32:08)
• Pendulums & Making Magic Personal:
  “I carry a yes-and-no coin around in my wallet. When I get into a weird decision, I let the coin flip decide. I give the universe a chance to be strange with me…” — John (33:03)

Dealing with Stigma:

• Words have power: “The word ‘weird’ meant the people who manifest their own destiny … It’s the greatest compliment someone can give you.” — John (37:45)
• Sabrina expresses gratitude and realization: “My big hesitation is the stigma and the weirdness. So, yeah, I think your words are really helpful.” (39:03)

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3. Call 2: The Haunted Massage Parlor (Ashley) (41:20 – 65:21)

Background:

Ashley’s massage therapist works in a spiritual building that hosts seances; Ashley experiences increasingly intense paranormal phenomena during sessions.

Experiences Described:

• Banging noises from the séance room, music flickering, oppressive atmosphere, and the image of an angel transforming into a demonic face (43:20–45:15).
  • Therapist is also scared: “She looks as scared as I do… that's never happened before.” (44:38)

Discussion & Advice:

• John’s Insight: The problem could be from “walk-in” spirits attracted by the séances, not just residual ones.

  • “Sometimes when people are doing séances, they’ve started to act like a beacon to other spirits in the area.” (47:13)

• Clearing the Space:

  • Reframe the energy with kindness, music, or incense that is meaningful to both Ashley and the therapist.
  • “Create a space of kindness and happiness and love where nothing here bad can hurt either of us.” — John (52:01)
  • Use scents with “an aroma, a smell that you like… when I smudge, I smudge with cherry tobacco. Then, it smells like this warm, comfortable, loving place that I remember from childhood.” (54:38)

• Understanding Spirit Behavior:

  • John: “A lot of times, spirits… go to stuff based around Christianity. So the fact that it picked an angel picture and tried to change it… it's trying to get you to leave the room.” (59:08)
  • Spirits may act out not from evil, but confusion, loneliness, or frustration.

Humorous Advice:

• Musically banish spirits with songs like “We Are the World,” Minor Threat, or even Nickelback/Limp Bizkit:
  “If I’m a ghost and somebody plays Limp Bizkit, I am out of there.” — Steve (62:32)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• John E. L. Tenney:
  “The word weird… meant the people who manifest their own destiny. That’s what a weirdo is.” (37:45)

• Sabrina (Caller):
  “All the witch talk has been good for me and my mom and our relationship…” (23:27)

• Steve Berg:
  “Lean into it. Life is about experimentation. And I think, like, not only that, like, you know, we live in a time where we're constantly having our lives trying to be disenchanted. And I think it's good to enchant your life.” (36:59)

• Ashley (Caller):
  “I swear the face distorted into, like, a demon.” (45:13)

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Running Gags, Energy & Tone

• The tone is irreverently earnest—encouraging listeners to embrace the weird with humor, skepticism, and practical magic.
• The hosts and guest play off each other with warmth and wit, showing deep respect for personal belief and the lived experiences of their callers.

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Summary of Advice

• Embrace curiosity and do your research, especially when stepping into magical or paranormal traditions.
• Form your own rituals—personal meaning trumps dogmatic tradition.
• Protect yourself energetically: use meaningful scents, positive intention, and create literal or figurative safe spaces.
• Don’t let stigma prevent you from owning your weirdness; words like “weird” are a badge of agency.
• In the face of paranormal weirdness, kindness, good boundaries, and a willingness to engage with the unknown on your own terms are key.

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Conclusion

This Halloween episode of “We’re Here to Help” celebrates the magical, the mysterious, and above all, the importance of embracing one's true self—even if that self is a bit weird. Through humor and insight, the hosts and John E. L. Tenney help callers navigate lineage, stigma, and spectral strangeness, blending practical advice with enchantment for all.

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For more info or to share your own weird dilemma, listen to “We're Here to Help,” and consider contacting the team at [e-mail].

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Key Segments by Timestamp

• Halloween/Intro & Guest Background: 01:09–05:05
• Witch Lineage Call (Sabrina): 12:02–39:58
• Haunted Massage Parlor Call (Ashley): 41:20–65:21
• Notable Quotes: See above in summary

Advertisements, intros/outros, and non-content have been skipped as requested.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

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[C]

Well oh my God Eric, how are you doing buddy? I'm so excited about today's show Berg.

[A]

I'm so excited to be here. It is Halloween season and boy do we have the most perfect guest possible. The first guest on we're here to help Steve break it down.

[C]

Okay okay first off folks, Eric and I are considering this a Halloween spectacular. Happy Halloween. It's my favorite favorite holiday, my favorite time of year. It's magical, it's wet, there's leaves in the ground, it's spooky, it's got everything I love in life and today I have brought on, we have brought on one of my favorite look, he's a great friend. He is one of my heroes. He is one of the funniest people I have ever seen perform live and that is John El Tenney paranormal expert. John, how are we doing brother?

[D]

I'm doing good. I don't know how funny I am I mean maybe on stage I'm a.

[C]

Little goofy okay so I look I've seen John lecture three or four times and the first time I saw him was in Omaha, Nebraska. I don't know if you've ever heard of it and John just ripped the roof off this place. First off I went to, I went up to I go I don't think it's a lecture you're doing like performance art Stand up to me. He's the George Carlin of the paranormal where it's he is laying down mind blowing things and concepts you're like I never looked at the world like this yet you're laughing your ass off with a delicious cocktail in your hands like it is, it is a rock show but John like tell us a little bit about yourself in terms of like your, your history with high strangeness and, you know, the occult and the paranormal and all that stuff. Yeah.

[A]

And not to brag on, John. Friends, we're bringing in one of the world's foremost experts on all of this stuff. And this is such a gift to all of you. I'm so grateful to Steve for knowing him and even more grateful, John El Tani, for being here.

[D]

Yes, thank you for saying that, Eric. No, I, I, it's, I'm so happy to be here. And my history. Like, I didn't, I didn't grow up with anything. I didn't grow up with any religion. My parents didn't believe in anything. I didn't grow up in a haunted house. I wasn't like abducted as a child or anything like that by aliens. Like, I was just a punk rock kid in Detroit who didn't like people telling me that I couldn't, couldn't think about things and I couldn't, couldn't live my life a certain way. And I used to skip school and I was bad at skipping school. So I would go to the library when I skipped school. And the guy who lived in my neighborhood that was always at the library was Jack Kevorkian. And this is before. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So this was before he had done any of his assisted suicides and stuff. But he was like my first mentor. He would like give me these weird books to read about philosophy and the universe and life. And then I met my first kind of local witch. Her name was Gundela Marion Kuklo, and she taught me my first spells. And then I met another guy who was a J. Chaos as an ologist. And I started helping him with his lectures. And by 1990 I was talking about any and everything weird. Ghosts, UFOs, Bigfoot, like I didn't want to be pigeonholed into one thing because I was like, this world is so vastly strange and weird. Like, how can I only talk about ghosts? I also have to talk about like time traveling aliens and I have to talk about everything and how it all, no one knows anything about it. Like it's also personalized. Like I need to hear all the stories from everyone all the time. And now it's, you know, I started working on unsolved myth mysteries in the 90s as a researcher and then it was just off to the races. I mean, the 90s was kind of slow. It was a lot of VHS movies about UFOs, like doing stuff like that.

[C]

I had them all.

[D]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then in the early 2000s, they started doing ghost hunting shows. And here I was, I was still relatively young, but had 15 years of research and lectures behind me. So I started working with all the ghost shows and now look, I get to talk to Steve and Eric.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

Yay.

[D]

Well.

[C]

Oh, I love it. And, and like one thing when I found the reason I like was so like entranced by his like, you know, his, his energy is that like he is an all purpose weirdo. And I say it with all the love in the world because I consider myself an all purpose weirdo. Because a lot of these people in these fields are like, well, I'm just a ghost guy. I'm just a UFO guy. And like, or they're all maybe sort of related or they're not. But like John is like, he's also not a credulous person who's like, I believe this, I believe that it's, I mean like he is wildly skeptical and has like the level head about this stuff. Right, John? Because like you're not just a guy who's like, this is real. And you never claim to know what things are, which I love about you too.

[D]

Yeah. Like I think that when people start telling you exactly what you experienced, that's the wrong path that someone is on. Like it's your experience. Like I said, these things are hyper personalized, I think for a reason. And so when someone says like, well it doesn't fit in this box of this, like I'm not going to jump and believe everything. As a matter of fact, because I'm a researcher, the hardest thing I have to do is say like, this might have happened, this could have happened. This, you know, instead of jumping on one side. Once you don't believe in anything, everything's fake. Once you do believe in everything, everything's real. Right. The hardest line to walk is to say like, well that's your experience. Let's talk about it, let's see where it comes from. And to your point, Steve, like there's ghost guys and there's alien hunters and there's Bigfoot people at a very early age, like it hit me in my brain at some weird part where I like, when it comes to ghosts, people always talk about full bodied apparitions. When it comes to aliens, we always imagine a big alien head and then like the third major phenomena is literally a big foot. And if you put them all together, you have a whole body. You have a head, a body and feet. Right. So it's one phenomena presenting itself in a multitude and an array of possibilities.

[C]

Oh, God, Eric. Look at Eric, huh? What about that?

[A]

Oh, I, you know, I believe. You know, I believe. No, that is so cool to tie it all in.

[C]

I told you. He's this guy. Yeah, he's the guy.

[A]

This is the guy right here.

[D]

I'm all right. I'm all right.

[A]

Oh, you better. All right, you.

[D]

I'm all right.

[C]

Well, one thing I just want to mention I was talking about earlier was John's lectures. And the thing I. I really gravitated towards John. Sorry, John. When I'm not trying to embarrass you, but like, I think in what a lot of people miss about the fun of the paranormal and ufology, encrypted is the humor. And I'm not talking about laughing at people's trauma or people's fears, but however, when you're hearing a story about a flying saucer landing in a cornfield in 1957 and a purple fuzzball rolls down, rolls out of this thing. I'm sorry, that is humorous to me. And I do think part of the reason I love these stories and love these topics so much is because it is some of the funnies stuff I have ever heard in my life. And for some reason, the funnier and weirder it is, the more I believe it. I. I don't have anything to base that off of, but, you know, I know. You know what I'm saying, John?

[D]

Yeah, I'm right there with you. Like, I. This is going back five or six years now, but in Michigan we have a cryptid called the Dog Man. And so this old farmer living up in northern Michigan, he was like, you got to come up and see. I saw a dog man on my property. Like, you got to come up. And so I went like, I want to see a dog man. I tell people all the time, if you get the chance to do something and it's safe, do it because we're here to an experience, right? And so I went up to his farm and I got there and he was telling me he saw this upright canine that was like 7ft tall standing on tin legs.

[C]

Hell yeah.

[E]

And.

[D]

But then he says, yeah, it was leaning against that part of the fence. He gestures to this part of his fence. He goes, it was lean against that fence and it was smoking a cigarette. And I was like, okay, now I love this story.

[C]

Yes.

[D]

Right.

[C]

I'm so with you. I'm so.

[D]

Not. Not that I didn't. And he goes, yeah. So he's like, I came out and I saw this huge tall dog thing. Smoking a cigarette, leaning against my fence, and when I walked toward it, did a backflip over the fence and took off into the woods. And I was like, now I love this story more. Now I have, like an acrobatic cigarette smoking dog man. Like, that's way better than just a dog man. And it's like when people say, like, oh, but he's just making stuff up.

[A]

But why?

[D]

Like, why is he making that up? Like, he's not going to get in the newspaper. He's not writing a book about it. He's not going to make a film about it. He called me some random guy in Michigan that he knows investigates weird stuff. So he talks to one person, right? And then maybe five years later, I tell this story on a puff podcast. Like, there's no reason for him to make up a cigarette smoking dog man. But so I don't think he did. I think he saw it.

[A]

I believe. I believe.

[C]

Also, before we jump across, I also do want to recommend to listeners. John has an amazing podcast called what's up Weirdo? And it's with his best buddy, Jessica Knappek, who is a absolute legend that we have to get on the show eventually. But it is one of the most pleasant, wonderful shows. You can garden to it, you can walk to it, you can cook a lovely dinner to it, but it's literally just two friends having a conversation that they would normally have, but they actually is just recorded. And it is all good vibes and it's so funny, it's insightful, and I just can't recommend it enough. So check out what's up Weirdo. Hopefully we can put a little link in the show notes to that. But y' all, you guys ready to take some calls?

[A]

Let's do it.

[D]

Let's do it.

[A]

All right.

[C]

Happy Halloween, everyone. Let's jump in.

[E]

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[A]

Hello, you are on the air. Who are we talking to? And a fake name is fine.

[F]

Hi, yes, I'm going with a fake name. I want to go with Sabrina.

[A]

Ooh, Sabrina. Great, great, great fake name. Sabrina, just so we can know just a tiny bit about you. You're on a desert island. You can only take one movie, one book, one album. What are you picking? Okay.

[F]

Okay. For album rumors, free with Mac. That's a classic.

[C]

Robin. Great call. Witch.

[F]

For movie. Another classic. Shrek.

[C]

Never seen it.

[D]

Never seen it.

[C]

Really? I haven't either.

[A]

I would recommend seeing it. It's a lot of lightness and good. But also the real tragedy was Chris Farley recorded basically all of it, and they redid it with Myers. And there's another parallel universe where Farley was. I know. I'm sorry. I think your team. This is a team that would all prefer Chris Farley to the comedic stylings of Myers. As much as we love him. It wasn't gonna be Scottish and it was gonna be Chris Farley and just being himself. And it's so sad we lost that. But we love and respect your pick of Shrek. And then finally, what book would it be?

[F]

Well, okay, right now I am reading Project Hail Mary, and I need to know how it ends. So that is my pick in this moment.

[C]

Is that about Doug Flutie? What is that?

[G]

Project Hail Mary?

[C]

Yeah. What is that book about?

[F]

Okay, so it's like there's space pollution and the sun is getting dimmer, so they send someone to space to try to solve the problem and save humanity.

[C]

Okay, fair enough.

[A]

Love it. And that's a perfect thing because you are on not only with Steve and I, but John El Tenney, who's the world's foremost expert on all of this stuff. Undiscovered crypto creatures like this is truly, as Steve said, this is the real thing. We have to Fox Mulder in this life.

[C]

Yep.

[A]

And he is digging, finding more. And there is nobody you're in better hands with than this great man. So please. Sabrina, what is going on? Weird. Here to help.

[F]

Yes. Okay, so a couple of years ago, my mom sat me down and she told me that we descend from a long line of witches.

[D]

Awesome.

[C]

Okay. Look at you.

[A]

We're just immediately out the gates going, yeah, boom. No way. What a conversation is that? I want to hear a little bit about. She sits you down, you don't know what she's talking about. What does she say?

[C]

I mean, I'm just sending from a long line of farmers. That's a little boring.

[D]

But.

[C]

So that was it. It's like, anyways, hun, we're, you know, we're descending from a long line of witches. How does a tuna salad sound? It was that simple.

[F]

Yeah. She said she'd tell me more when I'm older. Like you're just gonna tell me that? So a year later, like, hey, I have some follow ups. I am older. Can you give me a little more info? And all she said was that one day I would need to decide if I wanted to use my talents.

[A]

Agreed, King Awesome. Wow.

[F]

So that's my dilemma. I don't know. I haven't made my decision. I don't know how to make it. Or.

[C]

Just for clarification, you had the follow up meeting with Ma and she said, all right, now it's time to decide if you want to go down this path or not. And you're kind of at the fork of the road where it's like, do I want to live a normie life or do I want to be an awesome weirdo? Is that kind of where we're, where we're at?

[F]

Well, she didn't say now is the time to decide. She said that will need to decide. So the timeline is unclear.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

Because you do have to choose this. Right. It's eventually in that cosmic other world, you do have to make this active choice. Is that kind of correct, John?

[D]

You know what, it's interesting because people are normally like, we practice magic all the time. We just don't really see it as magic. And so just taking up the mantle itself. Calling yourself a witch is pretty cool. And having ancestry through witchcraft is awesome. But like you're, you're. We're probably, we're all doing magic all the time. Like whether we know it or not, when people grow their beards out for a sports team, you're doing sympathetic magic like growing your beard up. You think that helps the team, but people do and they think that's magic.

[A]

You know, Sabrina, you mentioned in your.

[E]

Email a conversation with your aunt. Would you mind sharing that email as well?

[A]

Another witch?

[C]

Of course. No.

[F]

So she's not. I asked her about it and she had no idea what my mom was talking about.

[G]

What.

[A]

And how did your mom phrase it when she said you come from a long line of witches? Like, I'm sure you're thinking this is a normal conversation. How did she phrase it? And it had to have freaked you out.

[F]

Yeah, she. I want you to know that we do descend from a long line of witches.

[C]

Well, here's something. Here's something I would say as just a first volley, right. Like whenever I'm about ready to embark on maybe like a new, like a phase of my life, research, for me personally is key. Like, I'm wondering if, like, you know, because like, we all have our ideas of like, you know, which is an entertainment in media. And I'm not always exactly sure that's the best representation of what a witch is. John, John, please jump in here anytime. But like, yeah, I think maybe doing a little research. I'm not sure if there's like a go to book to understand witchcraft or what it is. John, what do you think?

[D]

Yeah, you know what's interesting is if this is like a matriarchal witch line or something like that. It might that your aunt refused to be a witch, which is why she doesn't talk about it.

[A]

Wow. Have you done a deep dive on your genealogy? I would want to immediately find out the specifics on those witches in your line, how far it goes back, the power they have. Have you done that yet?

[F]

So my uncle is really into genealogy and I was talking to him last week and I asked him if he knew anything about this and he went through all the family and said there's no way any of them were witches. So I'm kind of stumped.

[A]

I think the uncle and the aunt know and they're trying to keep you out of it and playing coy. I think you absolutely come from a line of witches. And I think there is now kind of a family battle for where you're going to go. Of course they're playing dumb, but I don't think your mom is going to make that up. I think your aunt, your uncle have decided the other way and they're playing dumb and acting like they're not. I think you have to do some research. Research now on your own. Talk to Your mom about the witch lineage.

[F]

Okay.

[C]

Or is it because, I mean, basically. Basically what you're asking is like, should I jump in to witchcraft or should I not? Like, I, I. For. I guess for me personally, my take would be I would jump in so fast and so dramatically.

[A]

And that's a big. Steve, we love you for it, but I think that's a little scary. It is, because if you make this decision, it's going to come with a cost and there's going to be positives and negatives. John, what do you think the ramifications are if she chooses to join this maternal line of witches?

[D]

I don't think that there's actually that much to personally worry about. I mean, all your. Like I said earlier, like, so many people are already, like, thinking, sending out good intentions and good vibes and good energy. Like, that's already magical. Right. It's just with a witch, with a witchcraft line, it's like, if it's in the blood, if it's in the family, that's so much stronger and cooler.

[A]

Cooler.

[D]

So, like. And you might find people push back against you, whether it's family members or friends. That's the biggest thing that most people encounter is they get stigmatized. Right. Like, oh, you're a witch, and then they want to make fun of you. Or there's families. I don't know your family in particular, but there's families, because of their religious beliefs that separate on this stuff. Like, that might be an aspect, too, between, like, why one side of the family pretends to not know anything about it or doesn't know anything about it, and another part of the family does. Like, there's a whole lot to consider when you're, like, trying to figure out if you want to embrace a magical life. Right.

[C]

Well, and John, you know, being buddies of John for a little while now and knowing a lot about him, like, John, you. You do, like, an honor to your ancestors.

[D]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, we all so, like, in my house, I have an altar with all of my old family members on it. Everybody. I don't even know some of them because they're like great, great, great, great grandfathers and grandmothers and stuff. But there's. My family is on it. And every morning when I wake up, like, I make the first cup of coffee I make every day, I set a cup coffee that goes up there to them.

[A]

Oh, cool.

[C]

I love it. I love it that.

[D]

That way. I'm having coffee with all of my ancestors. And one of the things that I say is I, you know, because we all have ancestors that are problematic. The thing that I kind of, while I'm drinking my coffee, I say, like, for all of you that were good, I'm gonna make you proud. And for all of you that were terrible, I'm gonna be better. Like, I'm gonna be better for you.

[A]

Oh, that's beautiful.

[C]

Beautiful.

[A]

Breaking links. Starting links with the good.

[C]

Yeah. By the way, John, I literally copied that. Like, I have my grandpa and my great grandpa, my grandma and my aunt, like, all on one, like, little shelf. And I give them a little salute every morning.

[D]

And don't forget, you should put a little. I have a little frame with a blank piece of paper on it too. Right. Because there's ancestors that I'll never know. And so, like, I have to keep that in my mind too. And a little mirror so that you also see yourself because someone in the future is going to look back on you as, as either their mentor or their ancestor.

[C]

This is great. Like, you know, Sabrina, I almost like this as a first volley while you're kind of in this soul searching period of deciding what you want to do. And like you said, there's no timeline your mother gave. It's not like you have to decide you have Tenny. But like, I, I love. First of all, I'm just a big fan of the ancestor altar. I think this, it's just a beautiful thing. I wonder, since this is a lineage thing that goes back to. Maybe it's time to discuss it with some of the. The ancestors. Have a little, A little round, you know what I'm saying?

[F]

And like Ouija board.

[C]

No, I'm not necessarily, like, saying you have to use a tool of divination.

[A]

But I'm anti Ouija. They terrify me. That's my lane. I, I will say I, I recently went to one of my healers and for the first time ever, he called up ancestors because he says that ancestors limiting beliefs or trauma that happened to ancestors can continue on. And we have active role in stopping that. I think it's exactly what John just said to those ancestors that aren't in alignment with where you want to be. Actively choosing to break that. When I say something like that to you, how do you feel in your gut? How does it hit you spiritually?

[F]

Well, okay, I have two, two sides on one. All of the witch talk has been good for me and my mom and our relationship. It's closer, which is really nice. On the other hand, and no one else in my family is bought in, so it's almost like you Know and you have both.

[C]

Well, have you, have you asked your mom why no one else in the family knows about this? Because when you question or you do not want to, like, I mean, like, because that would be my first thing. I'd be like, mom, I love this. This is great. I, you know, might be a witch. However, like, you know, Auntie Beth and Uncle Jimmy boy, like, they have no idea what you're talking about. Like, have you asked your mom that? Like, are you, like, you know, know, I mean, I would maybe consider having that conversation too, to, to find out why no one else in the family apparently knows about this.

[F]

Yeah, I, I would guess. Stigma. She's kind of funny about talking about it, you know, she doesn't really want it to be. That's why I went with a fake name.

[C]

Right, right.

[F]

She's very kind of hush hush. And she, I think it was kind.

[C]

Of a secret she shared that not.

[A]

And I, I think even if your uncle doesn't believe, you need to start with him in the genealogy and know that this may be possible. His feelings on it are one thing. You need to start digging into that maternal bloodline and you can just get names and play poker with him and then start to do a deep dive on who these people in that line were. What if a whole bunch of magical stuff happened to them? I'm already thinking, I believe you have this power. Whether or not you choose to tap into it is your decision. But if you do, if you could start spreading and casting a tiny spell on other big guy actors in Hollywood that Steve and I are battling for parts. Nothing too serious, just like, you know, a sprained ankle. But daddy and I want to work and I wish love on all those other big guy actors. Don't do it to Mike Mitchell, because I love him. I'm big respect to Paul Walter Hauser, but just some of those other big guy actors Steve and I are battling with just a weenie, tiny little. Come on, we have pets to feed.

[F]

Okay, this is another question I have. How do you make sure, you know, let's say I do go with this and I do want to be a witch. How do I make sure I'm a good witch?

[C]

Right?

[F]

Like, what are their witch ethics?

[C]

John, John, I'm referring to you.

[D]

Yeah, yeah. So there are witch ethics, which are you don't do unkind to people. Right. So this is kind of when witches talk about a threefold. Like if you send something out into the world, it comes back to you three times. And so if you curse someone like that returns back three times as much. Right. So whenever you're spell crafting or casting or doing any kind of conjuring, like you have to set your intentions to be good, to be positive. Right. So you wouldn't actually cast spells on bad actor or, you know, actors that you didn't want get parts. You would just cast good spells on the actors you do want to have. Good for Steven, right?

[A]

Yeah. We're not. Okay. I love that. That's, that's better than me putting curses.

[C]

On other big guys curse, by the way. Yeah, I don't want to like. Yeah.

[A]

What if I start getting Clooney parts though, Steve? Then you're going to want to be in.

[C]

Come on.

[A]

They don't know why. They don't know why. It was supposed to be this like James Bond. I figure for some reason they got this big guy. Let me give a little bit of that curse.

[D]

I also think, I also think it's really kind of beautiful. What you said about this was something your mother shared with you because like, this is a he. This is probably a healing process for her too. Like she's been carrying around a secret and now she has someone to share it with. And this is something between you and her and only you two. Like that can be a super special thing. You know, I didn't like cars growing up. My dad was a mechanic, but like I had to go out in the garage and eventually I realized it wasn't about fixing cars, it was about being with my dad. Right. And so it became super special, like to the both of us.

[C]

I love it. Here's what I would do. You want to know what I would. I would do, Sabrina? I.

[F]

Yes, I do.

[C]

I would. I would start doing some of your own research, which I think is going to be an absolute blast. Like sitting on a Sunday afternoon. Hopefully it's raining, you have a hot cozy drink, maybe some finger foods or you know, an egg salad sandwich or something.

[A]

None of that is important to this issue. But please, none of it is. None of this is.

[C]

One must be satiated when they're looking into witchcraft. If you don't do that, John will tell you that. And then I would also also invite your mother over for some coffee cake and say, look, Mom, Mom. Well, it's always got to be paired with something. Come on, you sit. You sit your sweet mother down and say, mom, I am seriously considering going down the left hand path of witchcraft. What does this entail? How is this going to change my life? Is there anything I should be know about or Be concerned about, like, is this risky? Mom, I know you want what's best for me, for me. So lay it out on the table. Let's talk about it. Because I don't want to jump in and then jump back out.

[F]

Okay, so make an informed decision.

[C]

Yeah, always. Always. Yeah. Don't do something on a whim, especially something like this. Because I feel like, I feel like if you're going to go into this, you kind of have to go in knowing what's what, what the deal is.

[F]

Okay.

[A]

And I. Part of making that spectral decision is she's going to have to lay out both sides to you, the cost and the benefits, because that's part of choosing this life. Am I correct in that?

[D]

Yeah, for sure.

[F]

I assume so.

[D]

I think for me. No, no, for both of us. I think like, I think one of the things that I mentioned earlier too, right, like for, for female and female presenting people like the world of witchcraft is, is actually much easier to enter into, right? Because like when I was growing up as a, as a CIS white old man, like I was given a baseball bat to play with. Like, right? But like girls and women, like they were doing numerology, figure out who they were going to marry. They were folding cootie catchers to predict the future. Like, like you had sleepover parties where you floated each other. Light as a feather, stiff as a board, right? And so like there's, we're already doing like that community, your community, like female and female presenting people community is like already engaged in like this really beautiful idea of sharing like these magical secrets with each other. So you're probably already like, I'm just guessing, but you're probably already like talking to animals and like talking to tre trees and picking up flowers and cool shiny stones. Like that's stuff that's just like inborn natural witchcraft. And so like, yeah, just make an informed decision and spend those special times with your mom. Like that's I think real magic.

[G]

Yeah.

[C]

That'S beautiful. I think like there I, I don't see a downside. The, I only see upsides with this. And if I think if nothing happens a, the witchcraft stuff doesn't really float your boat, well, then you bonded and hung with your mom. This is, I mean, like, you know, I don't see a downside to, to you know, dipping a toe into witchcraft. What do you think, Sabrina? Talk to me.

[F]

Okay, so I have a couple of follow ups. So one, I was gifted tarot cards.

[C]

Hell yeah.

[F]

And I don't really know what I'm doing With them. Right. But I have made attempts with friends and a little booklet that tells you what the cards mean.

[C]

Sure.

[F]

And I made, you know, I did a reading for my mom and also with her, and they were really accurate. And that's a little freaky when you're not really sure what you're doing, you know. So is this something.

[A]

Wow, Sabrina, I think you have to.

[F]

Thank you.

[C]

Well, I think, I think tarot was a great, like, place to start. So, I mean, it sounds like you've already gotten started. I mean, in, like, John was kind of saying, giving examples. Like, you probably got started when you made your first cootie catcher back in the day. In fact, I'm gonna start carrying a cootie catcher when I hang out with Eric, you know. Oh.

[A]

So hold on. Let me take this out of my back. Okay. Okay.

[C]

But I do think. I think, think, like, the, like, using some tools of divination is fine. I'm not scared of Ouija boards. However, I, you know, there is a. You know, a lot of people are. So you don't have to, like, go there. But I think tarot is a great place to start. You know, like, why not?

[D]

And for my little comment on tarot, too, like, tarot is one of those things where, you know, whether it's art or music or whatever, you have to, like, learn the rules before you unlearn the rules. Because eventually what's going to happen, Sabrina, is. Is even if you know what every single card means, when you do these flips and you do these reads for people, you're going to feel differently than what the cards are saying to you. And that's what most tarot readers do right now. Like, people who've been reading Tara for years and years and years, they're not even paying attention to what the original meaning of the cards were. Like, if I flip, you know, a man carrying a sword, like, it means something different to me just because of the people I'm talking to in the moment and the experience I'm having. So, like, don't worry about. About, you know, if it. If it doesn't seem to be going right. Like, how does it feel when you're doing it?

[F]

Yes, okay.

[C]

Absolutely. Vibes are huge. Pay attention to your own vibes, Right?

[D]

Yeah. And so having tarot cards is cool. Get yourself a little pendulum to swing, you know, learn some pendulum swing back and forth. Yes and no. I carry a yes and no coin around in my wallet. When I get into a weird decision, I let the coin flip decide. Right. Like, I Give the universe a chance to be strange with me and like, tell me what to do, universe. Let's go. Beautiful. So, yeah, it. There's just really. Have fun with it.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

John, will you explain what the pendulum does? Because one of my favorite healers that I've had, she is absolutely very powerful.

[C]

Like, of like. Of like 50 healers, by the way.

[A]

Oh, yeah. There's a lot of upkeep for this big old body. Are you kidding? But she has this pendulum, John, and I swear it jumps and helps to provide her answers. How do those pendulums go?

[G]

Work.

[D]

Yeah. So, I mean, it starts with just finding yourself one that you feel connected with. A pendulum you feel connected with. And then you actually can train it so you can tell it. You can tell it, like, hold it, you know, every day for a couple minutes and tell it like, show me. Yes.

[C]

Show me.

[D]

Yes. Show me. Yes. And eventually you start watching what it does and then you can say, show me.

[C]

No.

[D]

Show me. No, Tell me. And you can get real specific with. There was a guy named T.C. lethbridge. Lethbridge. Back in the 60s, and he trained it to. To find gold on his property in England. And he, like, wrote a whole book called the Power of the Pendulum. Because he would walk around and he's got pieces in museums all over England. Because he used a pendulum. He taught it how to find gold.

[F]

Hell yes.

[G]

No.

[A]

What?

[C]

Sabrina, you could get stinking rich off this. Not. You're not only connecting with your mom. You can buy your mom a new house.

[A]

And 20% of all gold found through the Johnny Yell Tenny pendulum goes back to weird Here to help Industries.

[H]

We do have a real good, good lawyers, Sabrina.

[C]

Yeah, honey, of course we're gonna have to take our taste. You know, like, we get a vigor.

[A]

We gave you the pendulum wisdom. You get that gold, you gotta kick it back. Or I'd hate to have a curse put on you. Because we know a lot of witches ourselves.

[F]

This is crazy. I just experienced the pendulum with someone that I met at a bachelorette party. And we just met, but we have the same last name.

[A]

Oh, you're being.

[C]

Signs are pointing to you jumping to the left hand path of witchcraft. I'm telling you, like, you don't have to, like, dive in full force. Like I would necessarily. Like, I would be running light speed. I'd be Carl Lewis through that. All right. Carl Lewis. That's a dated reference.

[A]

Yeah, we got Steve Berg's references, Carl Lewis, the television show Dallas, Steely Dan. But I mean, Sabrina, I already think and I think perhaps you can feel it as well. You're already on a path and you're being guided even down to the fact that you call in today and it's John El Tenney instead of God bless two character actors doing the very best they can. But you have the world's foremost expert on this, and I think you're about to get in touch with a whole lot of power that's inside of you waiting to be woken up.

[C]

So. So, Sabrina, walk us through your. Your game plan and we can help you. Game plan.

[F]

Okay, so I need to do more research. I need to learn more about this family lineage.

[C]

Yes.

[F]

I need to call my office uncle.

[C]

Yes.

[F]

And see what intel I can get from him. But I don't want to tell him exactly what it's for.

[C]

Right, sure.

[F]

And then I can take that and draw some of my own inferences, and then I can take that to my mom and we can do our own side project.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's. I mean, like, I think that's a pretty good path to follow, you know, for now.

[F]

Okay. Okay. This will be good.

[A]

Pendulum tarot and ancestor altar and sending huge vibes for. For Steve, John and I to have continued career success, most importantly.

[C]

Right. Yeah.

[F]

That's step three. Once I know what I'm doing.

[C]

I mean, like, look, all the cosmic science are kind of pointing to you. It also sounds like if you, you would, you would not be calling us if you weren't interested in doing this. So I would say lean into it. Life is about experimentation. And I think, like, not only that, like, you know, we live in a time where we're constantly having our lives trying to be disenchanted. And I think it's good to enchant your life. That's opinion. Because there's a lot of negativity out there. And there's nothing wrong with finding a way to. Personally, it doesn't have to be like any, any other person's way. Like John was, you know, mentioning his altar to his ancestors. That I've never heard anyone else doing that. That's his form. So you can find out your own kind of methodology and what's comfortable for you. But I say enchant your life. Dip your toe into witchcraft. And I think it's going to be a lot of fun, if nothing else.

[D]

And if I, if I can just comment. Sabrina, really quick, just. So this is something I say in my lectures. A lot of times people get really upset if they're called weird or weirdos or stuff like that. Like the first time I got called weird. Right. But here's the thing to remember, right? People don't know what that word means. Words are important, too, for witches. I mean, it's literally called spelling. Right. Like, words. Words are important. And the word weird is from the 14th century. It was spelled W, Y, R, D, and it meant the people who manifest their own destiny. That's what. That's. That's what a weirdo is. So when someone calls you a weirdo, you say, I absolutely 100% am on my. My own path and doing my own thing. Like, that's. It's the greatest compliment someone can give you a men.

[C]

I love that.

[A]

Right. And we're all weird here to help, so. Well, this is a pack of weirdos who love this and embrace this and find a whole lot of meaning and understanding and for me, a path forward.

[F]

Yeah. Thank you.

[A]

Well, Sabrina, you're stuck with us, friend. You are stuck with this team here.

[C]

Welcome.

[A]

We believe you are meant to call here. Here with Johnny L. Tenney today, and we are dying to hear what is next for you. And. And please keep us updated.

[F]

I will. I. I really appreciate it. I think with that last comment, my. My big hesitation is. Is the stigma and. And the weirdness. So, yeah, I think your words are really helpful.

[A]

Y. A lesson, because I think for a long time, we probably pushed this aside. Side. I don't. I. I was not looking to go on a podcast and talk about all the crazy healers in my life that I put out my stones in the full moon and everything else, but there's been such a wonderful amount of stuff happening from acknowledging my own weirdness, playing weirdos, touching in with all that kind of stuff. And I. I think you're about to have so much fun. And also, these guys are right. The connection with your mom.

[C]

Yeah. There's no downside. I. I think go have a ball with it. Learn about it, get into it. It's going to be fun. Your friends into it, if they're interested, you know, like, I know. Go have a blast, Sabrina. This is gonna be great.

[F]

Thank you guys so much. This is very helpful.

[C]

Thank you. Thank you.

[D]

Thank you, Sabrina.

[C]

Yeah. Happy Halloween to you.

[F]

Happy Halloween. Thank you all.

[A]

Bye, friend. Our callers rule.

[C]

Whoa. That was great.

[A]

Amazing.

[C]

So fun.

[A]

Amazing. John, what are you doing with the rest of your life? Because we need you here. My God.

[C]

I'll tell you what. What? Like, if I had. If my mom sat down, like, here's the reality, Steve, we're from. You're from a long Line of warlocks. I mean, like nothing would be better to hear. I mean, I'd be so pumped.

[D]

Yeah, yeah, for sure. You know, I grew up, my parents had nothing. Like my parents didn't believe in anything. I wasn't even brought up with religion. And they came and saw me lecture for the first time. I'd been lecturing for 30 years and they came and saw me lecture for the first time. I was in front of a thousand people. They saw me talk about elves and magic and witchcraft and UFOs. And I went home and like they came to stay at my house and my mom came into the family room at 11 o' clock at night and my mom told me her ghost story. She had never told any story but by seeing her son be accepted by other people on stage and not be afraid to tell her story. She came and sat down and told me hers. Like that's, that's what this is about.

[A]

Hello, caller, you're on Weird. Here to help with Eric Edelstein, Steve Berg, and the great John El Tenney is here. Who am I talking to?

[G]

Hi, yeah, my name is Ashley. I'm over here in Northern California.

[C]

Northern California. Could you get any more charged? That place has got. It's going off, sister. We got the famous Patterson Gimlin Bigfoot footage which we all know is 1000% real, but we. I am so excited to hear what your problem is today.

[G]

Yeah, so I am seeing a massage therapist who I love so, so, so much. She charges like 70 for the hour, so it's like the cheapest you could find anywhere. I love her, I adore her. But I had some really crazy paranormal stuff happen last time I saw her. And I haven't been able to go back because I'm just not sure how to like protect myself from that. If I were to keep seeing her. I want to keep seeing her, but I'm just kind of of like in this predicament now.

[C]

Okay. I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm. I'm really hoping you're gonna be willing to share some of these paranormal situations with us. Do you mind giving us a little taste?

[G]

Yeah, absolutely. So the first couple times I saw her, I knew she was in this building for like spiritual healing, which in Northern California is not, is not that weird.

[A]

It's all over the place, neither here nor there. I'm the same. I have many a healer your home.

[G]

So yeah, think like psychics, mediums, stuff like that. So I was comfortable with that. I was fine with that. But then she let Me know that they do perform seances there, like, in the night.

[C]

Oh, yeah.

[G]

And I was like, okay, so we're. We're speaking to dead people, which isn't really in my comfort zone. But none of the psychics or mediums or anyone are there when I get my massage. And so, again, I wasn't super worried about it, but my last time I went there, I was getting the massage, and we started hearing, like, these banging, these noises coming from the area where the seances happen.

[A]

Okay.

[G]

And we're the only ones there, mind you.

[A]

Oh, my gosh.

[G]

And so I'm obviously a little rattled, but I'm like, you know, I'm just gonna. I'm gonna muscle through the massage. It's gonna be fine. And then as we're going, the music, she has, like, some calming yoga music playing. It starts cutting in and out. You know, it's doing all the ghost stuff. All the ghost things are happening. And so I'm like, what? And all of that is, you know, here or there. But I started. You know, when you watch a scary movie, you just get that, like, thickness in the air, kind of like that scary, you know, that feeling.

[A]

I also get that going to Buffets with Steve Berg.

[C]

It's like a bubble of unreality.

[G]

You just feel it in the air. It just feels like a thickness. Just that, like. I don't know, it just felt like dread. It felt bad. And I'm like, okay, maybe it's just me, but I'm just gonna, like, sit down through this because, I mean, I don't really have a choice. I paid for it. I'm going to get the massage. So as we finish up, I sit up and we're. I look at her, and she just looks at me, and she looks as scared as I do. And she's like, did you hear all of that? And I was like, yeah, I did. And she's like, yeah, that's never happened before. And she goes to tell me that the candle she had lit in our room during the massage got blown out during the massage. And that the music, all the cutting and everything.

[B]

She was.

[G]

She was as scared as I was. And she's been doing massages there for. For years. And so I'm like, okay, this is not normal. So she leaves to, you know, let me get dressed. So I'm laying there, I'm, like, naked and afraid at this point. I'm terrified.

[C]

Yeah.

[G]

And I have to get dressed. And so she leaves me alone in this room. And so I'm, like, panicking. I'M like, grabbing my clothes, get getting everything as fast as I can. And I look up and she has this picture of an angel on the wall. And I swear to God, when I looked at it, I still, like, I don't know if it was my mind playing tricks on me, but I swear the face distorted into, like, a demon.

[C]

Oh, my God.

[G]

And I think I blacked out at that point. I just threw my clothes on, got out, left, and she told me she took down the picture after I told her what happened. And, like, we haven't really talked about it other than that. But the thing is, is I really want to keep seeing her, but I'm obviously. I'm scared now.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

Yeah, I would be terrified, too. I'm I willing to bet anything, the most scared, the most susceptible of the three of us. John, Steve and I. I'd be absolutely terrified, and I would instantly. My first question is, okay, they are summoning things. What are they doing to clear that afterward after these seances? Because I think it's pretty clear we got stragglers and they are not playing.

[G]

Nice, which they have all the things in there, you know, the new age, the crystal, the sage, whatever. But I can't guarantee they're using it appropriately or correctly. I have no idea. You know, and so here.

[C]

Here's the beautiful thing about what I mean. Like, you know, if there is a beauty, what happened one that you. It was corroborated by another person. Because so many times when people experience these things, they're by themselves. And that can kind of make. Leave you in a place where, like, am I going bananas here? So I think that's a great thing. So I don't think you're crazy. There was someone else with you who's pretty awesome. But also, you're getting multiple different, like, manifestations of the paranormal, where a candle going out, the demonic face, you know, the. Not the little sounds going on. I mean, John, like, just what's your initial reaction to when you hear something like this?

[D]

Yeah, it just sounds exactly. I'm on Eric's page. Like, if they're doing seances and stuff in there, then you've got to make sure that whoever's doing that is closing things down properly. They're clearing the area properly. Like, even to the caller's point. Like, if. If you don't feel comfortable in there, obviously, like, don't ever go anywhere that you feel uncomfortable. But if you want to go back, like, turn, tell her, like, you and I need to clear this area, like, get together with her.

[A]

Right.

[D]

And, and, or the massage therapist, whoever it is, and say like, we're going to clear this area, we're gonna smudge it out, we're gonna light the incense, we're gonna play the right music. Because the other thing is too, is sometimes when people are doing seances, it's not even that they're not closing it out. Right. It's that they've started to act like a beacon to other spirits in the area. Right. So, so then like other spirits that are just roaming around the area looking for interactions with someone, like, go, oh, that's the, that. And so then they just start wandering over there. So even if they're getting rid of the spirits they're talking to during the seances, like there might be walk ins that are coming from like outside of the building. Right. And they're not accounting for those when they do clearings and stuff like that.

[G]

Yeah, I had not even considered that, but I could totally see that. And like I said Northern California, especially where I'm at, like, we are just like a hub for this kind of weird spiritual stuff. I don't know if you guys have heard of Mount Shasta, but.

[C]

Oh my God. I was just going to ask you. I was going to see. Ask you where your proximity to Mount Shasta was.

[G]

No, I'm very close to Mount Shasta. I do day trips up there all time, like an hour away. So we get a lot of people who are very spiritually in tune, even just flooding to our area.

[C]

Well, it's a long history of UFOs, cryptids, I mean, Bigfoot's, you know, like just chilling there 24 7. Yeah, so I mean, like, it's, it's also got some.

[G]

The Lumarians. You've heard of the Lumerians?

[C]

Sure, yeah. And a lot of that kind of like history is a little.

[A]

Can I, can you briefly tell me about the Lemurians team? Yeah, so I think the caller knows more about this stuff than I do. And I'm just fascinated and I already believe. But tell me about the Lumerians, John.

[C]

Do you want to. I'll let you, if you don't mind.

[D]

So Lumerians are like. So there's, there's a. You know, Atlantis is in one ocean, the other ocean in the. You have Lemuria. Right. And so somehow there is this old ancient tradition that has come down through different metaphysical ideas and theosophy and stuff that somehow Mount Shasta is this kind of crystal cathedral where the remnants of the city of. It's so funny. So Lemur, but they're called lemurians, right? And that's where they reside is in, like, Mount Shasta in the surrounding area. So they're like ancient old spirits from this advanced civilization.

[G]

And yeah, if you come visit Mount Shasta, there's crystal shops all up and down the boardwalk. People come from all over the world just to live there, to, like, be in the presence of the mountain. And I've had some crazy experiences there, too, where everything, you know, it's fun and interesting on the outside, but when you get a little too far in, it all gets a little creepy for me personally.

[C]

I hear you, I hear you.

[G]

But, yeah, very cool.

[D]

I would tell you, too, though, about being scared about this. So one of the things when I talk to clients about haunted locations or they're having interactions with some kind of spirit, they don't know what it is. The easiest, like, if you go into just. I'll take a personal human thing. If you walk into a restaurant. Restaurant, and you want, like, a really busy bartender to pay attention to you, right? If you're really nice and just sit there and don't say anything, like, it takes a long time for the bartender to come over to you. If you, like, smack your fist on the. On the. On the. On the bar really hard, like, they'll at least look at you. And a lot of times spirits who don't know how to interact, the spirits that don't have a lot of, like, good poise with human beings and how to deal with them, the first thing they'll go to is knocking, tapping, interrupting music. Trying to freak you out because they're trying to let you know that they're there. It's like little kids, right? Right. Like little kids don't know they're being mean when they pull on your sleeve and rip it. They're trying to get your attention. They're trying to get someone to talk to them and pay attention to them. So it might not even necessarily be an evil thing. I can see how it would make you feel creepy, of course, because there's unnatural stuff happening. But at the same time, like, if you were in a room by yourself for a year and you couldn't talk to anybody, you'd get frustrated. If you were in that room for 100 years and didn't talk to anybody, you would get, like, mad and frustrated. And one day you reach out to try and make something. Something happen. Like, the radio goes off, the face on the picture looks weird, and that's maybe not what you were intending to do. You Were just trying to get someone to pay attention that you were there. So keep that in mind too.

[C]

I really like, you know, like, I. I love the idea of you and the masseuse, your massage therapist saying, like, look, potentially the last people who use this place and we're trying to contact the other did not banish. Not necessarily banish or close down. Close down the store. Right. So I think, you know, John, do you have any recommendations of like, kind of like first volleys into clearing the room to make it a little more palatable for Hannah here or actually here. I'm sorry.

[D]

Yeah, Yeah. I would again, I would go through with the massage therapist and I would say you and I are going to just create a space of kindness and happiness and love where nothing here bad can hurt either of us or, Or. Or make us feel any kind of fear. And you can do that, like I said by sm, some incense, get music that you and. And the massage therapist both like and find like, new music that applies to both of you that puts you both in a good state and a good frame of mind. So, like, it's real simple to start like that, right. And then together, like, you might find better, like, modalities to work with once you're in the place. If that doesn't seem to be working. But I bet you if you both put yourself in a really kind space. Even talking about how, like, don't talk about how frightened you are. Talk about how weird and how cool the world is. Like, reframe it so that you're not afraid, but that you're, like, interested. That it's cool. But I don't want it to happen here.

[C]

Yes.

[G]

No, that's very solid advice. Thank you. Yeah. And I think you can change an environment with your energy, like you said. So I think just even going to it with that mindset will be definitely changing the environment for sure. For sure.

[C]

You know, I'm getting a flash of a song recommendation recommendation that everyone loves. What if you played We Are the World?

[A]

Oh, no. Who loves it?

[C]

I love.

[A]

Oh, buddy, punk rock king We Are the World.

[C]

I'm not gonna have her play like Minor Threat, you know, like, I think.

[A]

Play Minor Threat if both love it.

[C]

Like, look, I could see, right? I could see. That's true.

[A]

I think you're trying to drive the ghost away with a bad song. That's what I think. There's a real reason walked out.

[C]

But let me. Let me reframe. What Hybrid moments by the Misfits. They're kind of dark. They're well no, see, I might be doing the opposite thing where you're actually inviting them to stay here. Maybe don't listen to me, because my first inclination is if I had a haunted room, I'd be like, well, how do I make. How do I ramp this up? Let's go. Let's go. I want to study this. Obviously, that's not what you want to.

[A]

You.

[C]

You want a relaxing massage, you know.

[G]

We'Ll throw on some Nickelback. We. We'll cast them out.

[C]

It'll be good.

[G]

It'll be good.

[D]

That will.

[C]

That will drive any Nickelback got astray on Halloween. Every fucking animal in the area. I mean, the Mount Shasta might actually crumble as a mountain if you play Nickelback.

[G]

I mean, it's worth a shot.

[C]

It's worth.

[A]

John, if I could also ask you in terms of smudging or Palo Santo, what is your process on that? Because I really believe in that stuff, but I also don't want to appropriate indigenous traditions and do it poorly. What is the best way for us to smudge and clear energy in our. Our lives?

[D]

So, again, this all comes down to personal stuff. Like, there's got to be an aroma, a smell that you like, you can smudge with, you know, a bottle. Like, go on ebay and find a. If it's your grandmother's perfume, right, that you remember from being a child, right, Go on ebay, find an old bottle, that perfume, use that to smudge, like, the. The scents that make you feel the calmest, the kindness and the most loving. Like, it doesn't need to be, you know, an ancient piece of oak. It doesn't need to be. I mean, if you want it to be those things, you want to be sage and Santo Paulo and you don't want stuff like, I get it. But for me, whenever I've smudged a place, it's been, you know, when one of the. My grand. I don't have any grandparents. My grandfather used to smoke a cherry pipe. And so I, I. When I smudge, I smudge with cherry tobacco. And then it smells like this warm, comfortable, loving place that I remember from childhood.

[A]

Oh, how cool. Oh, that is awesome.

[C]

Eric, when I haunt you eventually, right? Just know I'm gonna hunt the out of you dog like you. If you want me to leave smudge with, like, bake a lasagna, rub it on the walls.

[A]

Oh, yeah. I'm going to get a red sauce going and I'll set a plate out for you. Steve, I think you are a vener. You are a venerated. Ancestor in my life.

[C]

Thank you.

[A]

Now I will say this. Okay, so it's doing some knocking. It's communicating the chills I got when she talked about that painting transforming.

[C]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

Terrified me. And I gotta say, the fact you're even entertaining going back there shows what a brave and robust person you are. Because I am weenie. I would be so unbelievably scared. So, okay, there's one thing of a spirit coming in. Let it making its action known. Turning an angel into a demon. What the hell is that?

[G]

Well, that's the thing too is I grew up in Minnesota where we built pretty much all of our houses out there on Indian burial grounds. I've experienced ghosts basically my whole life, but never like a negative spirit. And that's why when I emphasize the feeling in the room like this didn't feel, feel like a happy, kind, welcoming spirit just trying to say hey. Like it was very different. I mean, my house growing up, we'd hear people running up and down the stairs. Like, I have experienced this stuff all my life. So it doesn't generally freak me out. That's why for me to be rattled like this, it's a little unique, you know.

[C]

You know, I went my almost I've been into this stuff since like, I don't remember being alive and not into this stuff, to be honest. But I actually had my first kind of crazy experience about three years ago. And when I finally got got what I wanted, it me up for about two days. I was, I was like, I'm gonna give away all my UFO occult books. I'm done with the paranormal.

[A]

Steve, what happened? You gotta digress here. We're all here for it. This is an indica crowd. What happened three years ago?

[C]

It's such a long story. I, I, I, I'll, I'll tell maybe, maybe on Patreon. We're not trying to shake you down.

[A]

For five bucks, but I'm dying to hear. I'm dying to hear.

[C]

Yeah, it's a, it's wild. And, and I, I'll be honest, like, I thought I was the bravest dude with this stuff. And it made me like cry almost. It was horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible. After a while, like now I'm like, oh, it was kind of a cool, beautiful experience. But like, it like, like, kind of like, you know, Ashley's describing, like, it was not a pleasant.

[A]

Can you give us a one minute? Just quickest synopsis, just so for people to listen later. Like, what, what happened where you felt visited?

[C]

I was in Southern Colorado, crestone Colorado to be specific. And I was with another gent, a 65 year old man who was a flute player. And I was there emceeing a small UFO gathering and we had done like a call in to the saucers kind of, they call it a CE5. I, I do not also subscribe to CE5 stuff but like it was free and I was there so I participated. But I didn't see anything in the sky. Everyone else thought they saw some sky. But later that night I had a crazy ass experience where I saw something that looked like a humanoid that was made out of rectangles.

[A]

Oh my God.

[C]

For about a second and a half. And I didn't tell anyone for about three years. And I just started talking about it on my podcast probably like a year ago because I, you know, I don't know, it's like one of these things that sounds so crazy that, but the story leading up to it, there's a lot of like factors that go along with it that round out the story. I'll tell it on Patreon, but I, I, so I totally know what you're coming from and I'm sure John, you've been in the position where you've been in a place that was like, even though you have a high threshold for this stuff, I'm sure you've had situation situations that did not feel.

[D]

Oh yeah, yeah. 100. And to Ashley that. Right, yeah. So to your point about like in my life, right, like so I try and take paranormal stuff and make it as normal as possible as it can be for people. So like you've, I'm sure at some point in your life you've walked into someone's house or some, a bar or a restaurant where there was like an inebriated mean person and you get that feeling like I don't want to be here. Right. Like you've walked into a party at some point and like upset second after you cross the threshold you're like, I gotta get out of here. This place is terrible. 100 I feel like, yeah. And so I feel like a lot of times with entities, like I said, I don't know necessarily know if they're being mean or evil. But tradition in North America especially, one of the things that kind of confused angry spirits and entities will go to is stuff based around Christianity. Like so the fact that it picked an angel picture and tried to change it. Like it's trying to get you to leave the room, right? And it's going at what, what it thinks. What it thinks is going to affect you the most now because it doesn't know if you believe in angels. It doesn't know if you believe in, you know, God or if you're Christian. It's just going for what it knows will freak someone out. And again, that can just be like a dick. Like it doesn't necessarily have to be evil. It can just be like someone being an asshole. Which is why I think when you go in, especially again back in the human world when you've got someone being mean to you, like kill them with kindness and eventually they just shut up and they go away. They realize they're not getting a rise out of you and so they go and try and find somewhere else to go.

[G]

Yeah, and it's so interesting you say that because actually in my town we have like a mega super church. And so there's like the spiritual kind of energy in my town. It's just, it's kind of low key occult, but it's this mega church. And so we have, I mean just from the Christianity standpoint, a lot of that energy kind of going on here. It's kind of like the two battling energies like you said, of like the Christianity. And then we got Mount Shasta on the other side of us. So I could totally see them just being like annoyed as fuck with the church and doing that. So I could totally see that. And you know what, I like had been with my family right before I got this massage and they were praying and I usually, I'm not a Christian so I don't, usually I'm not around that kind of energy. But maybe like being with them right before I went, I kind of had that essence about me and just to go stuff. I don't know. Wow.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Yeah, for sure.

[C]

Yeah. You looked like a worthy person to attack. Not attack. Well, maybe attack. Yeah, yeah.

[D]

To get a rise out of you. If you have, if you had that, if, if that entity, spirit or whatever was trying to get a rise out of someone who was like, oh, you're in a metaphysical place, but you're, you just came from praying to God. Watch me. I'm going to get you out of this place immediately by, by doing this thing, by changing the face of this angel and that'll get you to never come back. Like that's a very apt possible thing that it did just to get you to leave, you know. But like I said, I think if you go in there with better energy, knowing your intention, knowing to clear that place out and doing that stuff with the massage therapist, I don't Think you're going to have any problems because you love this massage therapist, right?

[G]

Yes. And I. I mean, $70 massages, it's just unheard of. And I have a chronic illness, so I have to get a massage, like, once or twice a month, so I can't. I can't be going anywhere else, to be honest with you. So I. I needed a solution. So thank you guys so much. This was honestly really insightful.

[C]

Yeah. And if worse comes to worse than worse. Look, if I'm a ghost and somebody plays Limp Bizkit, I am out of there. I am haunting the next person. So if you have to go the route of playing some, like, early 2000s rap metal, which is obviously the worst music that was ever created, I think that's gonna work too. If nothing else is working, pick the most. The most. I mean, like. I mean, like, I think there's something to starting out with music that you both like. And this is. My unprofessional advice would be to just play some awful. Like Fred Durst.

[A]

Why is Freddie Durst? He's incredibly inclusive. He's a good film director. He did this movie Education Charlie. Also follow Fred Durst now. He's very inclusive. He's very, very open to the trans community. He's very open to lgbtq. It's not what you think. The music. Yeah. Though it'll probably drive that ghost right away.

[C]

Something to break.

[A]

Fred Durst is a little bit more nuanced than I think we ever would have thought. I. I know. Look, it's why I'm here.

[C]

Fred Dirt.

[A]

Sorry I did this. Life chose me. If you making some good decisions these days.

[C]

I love you, but, like, we. Like, we make. There might be a physical altercation next time we're in the same room.

[A]

Great. Now I picked up an entity, and it's Steve Berg. I'm gonna put out some Greek yogurt and blueberries and really low level.

[C]

Sweet.

[A]

My God.

[C]

Well, so, Ashley, what do you think you're gonna do? What do you think your course of action is gonna be after having this conversation with us?

[G]

Well, my massage therapist and I are pretty close, and she is definitely in tune with the spiritual stuff. So I think if I reach out to her and ask her that we just, you know, take on the space together, kind of acknowledge what happened, but don't let it, you know, drive us if you're. I mean, she's still there every day, so I imagine she's not experiencing this stuff all the time still, so.

[C]

Right.

[G]

I'll pitch some music ideas, you know, nickelback for Durst, whatever. And I think I'll just bring in some of my own incense from home, so I'm kind of, like, bringing in my own energy into the space. So, yeah, you guys had solid advice. I appreciate it.

[E]

Yeah.

[C]

Would you do us a huge favor and will you contact us if this happens again or if you feel that you solve the problem? Because, you know, we're. We're invested now, and we sure like to know how this works out.

[G]

Yeah. Well, I will definitely be going back soon, and I will let you guys know if anything crazy happens or, I guess if nothing happens. So either way, I will let you know.

[C]

I want to tell you, like, and I know, I know, like, this freak you out, but this is one of the best ghost stories I've heard in a while. And oh, my gosh, thank you for sharing it. This is real good.

[G]

It's just good to talk to people who actually believe it because I feel like to everyone else, I probably sound a little batshit crazy, but it is, unfortunately, very real.

[C]

Yeah, I hear you. Oh, man. What we believe. Yeah. And thanks for being brave enough to give us all the details and stuff, too. It's. It's amazing.

[D]

Yeah. Thanks for sharing.

[G]

Of course. Anytime. If you ever need a Mountain Shasta expert, I'm here for you guys, too.

[C]

If you're done.

[A]

Awesome. Done. Field trip. Let's go. We're Here to Help is hosted by.

[D]

Jake Johnson and Gareth Reynolds. If you'd like to be on the.

[A]

Show, please email us your question@ Helpful Pod Gmail.com. and if you want to watch video episodes of We're Here to Help, you can go to our [e-mail] hereto help pod to see our entire catalog.

[C]

We're Here to Help is produced by.

[A]

Rabbit Grim Productions executive producers Rob Hollis, Jeff Porter, and Natalie Hollis. Associate producer Jesse Thurston.

[C]

Editing, mix and master by Chris Faller.

[E]

Theme song by Oliver Raleigh. The COVID artwork is by James Fosdike, animations by Andrew Strecki. And if you'd like to see Gareth through the stand up on the road, go to garethreynolds.com Remember, all of the advice given on We're Here to Help is for entertainment purposes only, and all listeners should be adults and make their own decisions.

[B]

All video episodes of season one are available now on Patreon, and season two video episodes will be available every Monday starting January 20th. Go to patreon.com heretohelpod what's going on?

[H]

It's Lamorne Morris and Hannah Simone, and we host the Mess Around a New Girl. Rewatch Watch Podcasts now on Headgum. Now here's the thing. Every single week, we chat about an episode of New Girl. And we really get into it. Like, we get up in there. We get up in there. You know, we reminisce about our times on set. We share behind the scenes tea. We react to rewatching episodes that we haven't seen in years. We talk about how Jake Johnson is dog.

[G]

That's not true. We talk about so many memories we have of working with the biggest stars on the planet. I'm talking Prince, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo.

[H]

Which is two BFFs having a good old time. Okay? Sometimes we even talk to other co stars like Zooey Deschanel, Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield, and Damon Wayans Jr. And your dad. We talked to your dad on this show as well.

[G]

Make sure you subscribe to the Mess around wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop every single Tuesday.