The USA has decided on its next president. Some are crowing and some are lamenting. We discuss how it is that humanity prefers to choose hatred and scapegoating over love and what can possibly be done to heal that.

Perfectionism ... that cunning mindset that halts creativity in its path. Today we talk about the willingness to be imperfect and embrace our whole, messy selves, rather than becoming paralysed because we can't be good enough. Jesus celebrated the imperfect so why, then, did he say, 'Be perfect just as your Father in Heaven is perfect?' Lots to unpack here!

Today we discuss Lucifer, 'the light-bringer.' Not the devil as such but the myth of the tempter who disguises himself within light and glamour. Let's face it, we aren't tempted by anything that actually looks evil are we? So it dresses itself up as 'good.' We humans are mired in both light and glamour ... and it is doing us great harm under the guise of beauty.

Today Mark and Maggy discuss celebrities who go from new hearts in spirit to dyed-in-the-wool conspiracy theorists and hardline fundamentalists. And those who start out trying to make a relevant point but end up demonising.

Why is it that these people need to let go of the love and integrity at the start of their journey in order to take the hard line of condemnation and hate? Do they jump or were they pushed?

Holy Communion transubstantiates bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

Discuss!

That's exactly what we are doing, looking at the scandal of a man in a culture that rejected blood as unclean into one who asks us to drink his own blood. We take in the myth, the practicality, the beliefs of those times and tease out the heart of the meaning of communion for us and hopefully for you too.

In a change from our usual routine, this is a 50-minute talk which Maggy gave in Cornwall last week, all about the origins of Christianity and how it basically lost the plot after it went 'corporate.' Yes, there have been many amazing mystics, but the hand of Imperial Rome changed everything...

A while back, on Facebook, we had a disagreement. Luckily, being us, it was easy to agree to disagree and nobody got offended or blocked, but Mark really wanted to bring the topic of positive thinking into the podcast because, like magic, it can be so very seriously misused.

So today is Maggy talking about what she has learnt about the power of the mind. We can't change the world but we can change what we think about the world and in doing so we can project peace and love into the world rather than negativity. And, as Maggy tells, we can improve our own lives as well, simply by learning to choose our thoughts and to seek out good whenever we can.

In a nutshell, we have choice. Do we use that choice to add negativity to the world by droning on about what's wrong or do we use it to acknowledge the bad and yet to turn towards the good? Whichever way we turn adds energy. If we want more joy, then we have to import the software of the positive into our brains so that they can learn to accept it. if we don't, we'll just see more and more of the dross.

Today we talk about Mark the Magician, how he became one, what magic is to him and the shamanic origins of magic in healing. Mark uses magic to lift hearts and reassure.

We do also look at the negative side to magic - when it is used to manipulate people and for personal power. However, magic and the placebo effect can work together for great good. Maggy thinks this episode is brilliant. :-)