Your story is your operating system; Hack the code.
Narrative Alchemy is the practice of treating stories as spiritual technology—seeing inherited scripts clearly, releasing what isn't yours, and consciously authoring new myths to live by.
It's where Jung meets chaos magic, where the imaginal becomes operational, and where inner transformation reshapes outer reality.
I build games, practices, and frameworks that make this work tangible. Magus Eternal is one of those tools—a tarot RPG designed as a container for threshold crossing. The Narrative Codex is another—a living archive of techniques, lore, and experiments.
This isn't coaching or therapy. It's spiritual technology for people ready to hack their own operating system.
The Soulcruzer podcast…narrative alchemy in audio form. Call it an audioblog, call it threshold work, call it confessional mysticism.
One day I’m working through tarot as spiritual technology. The next, I’m exploring Nietzsche’s eternal return as lived practice, chaos magick techniques, or games as containers for transformation. Depth psychology meets the esoteric. Ancient wisdom meets the AI age. Theory becomes practice.
This is what narrative alchemy sounds like from the inside: raw, real, unpolished. Experiments in treating stories as code and consciousness as hackable.
If you’re here for the deep work and the edges, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
In this episode, I explore journaling as narrative alchemy, revealing how ancient alchemical stages map onto a powerful writing practice.
Here’s the original article: Journaling as Narrative Alchemy: Writing Your Way Into a New Self
Man and His Symbols is an accessible gateway into Jungian depth work. This illustrated exploration of archetypes and symbols reveals how transformation happens in the imaginal realm, below conscious awareness.
Hillman's "acorn theory" illuminates the path to Authentic Purpose. His poetic yet rigorous approach gives language to the daimonic self and the ineffable aspects of personal mythology.
Mary K. Greer's seminal workbook transforms tarot from divination tool into technology for self-knowledge and narrative sovereignty. Packed with exercises that treat the cards as doorways to the imaginal realm, this is required reading for practitioners ready to use archetypal imagery as active imagination practice.
Johnson demystifies Jung's most powerful technique with step-by-step guidance for engaging the imaginal realm directly. This slim volume transforms abstract theory into actionable practice—essential for practitioners ready to move beyond conceptual understanding.
The clearest introduction to chaos magic as pragmatic practice. Strips away dogma to reveal the core mechanics of belief as a tool. Perfectly bridges the gap between depth psychology and results-orientated transformation work.
While the hero's journey has been overused, Campbell's original text remains vital for understanding narrative structure as psycho-spiritual map. Read it to learn the pattern, then transcend it.
This groundbreaking work bridges the mystical and scientific, revealing how tarot actually works through the lens of neuroscience and cognitive psychology. Essential reading for practitioners who want to understand the neurological mechanisms behind symbol work, pattern recognition, and the imaginal realm's interface with the predictive brain.
[Sigil] Guardian daemon of thresholds and transformation. Works whether you see it as archetypal force or powerful metaphor. → Explore the sigil
Think of this station as a crossroads: one path paved with researched reflections from my NotebookLM sessions, the other with unfiltered podcast episodes from Soulcruzer. Together, they map the contours of a wandering mind.
The Alley of Consensus The concrete stretches endlessly in every direction, a monotonous expanse of gray that swallows the horizon. Buildings tower above me like tombstones, their surfaces scarred with identical posters that scream in bold red letters: TRUTH. ORDER. OBEY. The words repeat in perfect rows, layer upon layer,
“When you lose small mind, you free your life.” That lyric cuts right into the marrow of things. It’s a perfect koan dressed up in nu-metal clothing. Small mind is that cramped, anxious, grasping perspective we get locked into when we’re running on habit, fear, and borrowed life scripts. It’s
You describe the poet not as a custodian of nation or nostalgia but as a cartographer of fracture. A maker of forms that fail beautifully. A being that crosses over the thresholds of grammar, time, and self. You say, “A poem is nothing but an attempt to transcend the boundaries
Picture this: Socrates walks into a modern university philosophy department… He’s wearing his usual threadbare cloak and sandals dusty from the streets of Athens, eyes bright with that familiar mischievous gleam. He approaches a graduate student hunched over a laptop, typing furiously about “post-Kantian epistemological frameworks in late-stage capitalism.” “Excuse
Solo camping near Hay-on-Wye Day One (1) The Arrival The tent stakes bite into the soft earth beside the Wye, and I realise how long it’s been since I’ve heard this particular silence, the kind that comes when you strip away everything except what fits in a rucksack. No folding
Reflections from an afternoon wisdom walk During my wisdom walk today, I was listening to the audiobook Epicurus of Samos: His Philosophy and Life when a particular passage hit me: “To win real freedom, you must be the slave of philosophy. The man who submits and surrenders himself to her
A morning revelation sparked by ghosts, boredom, and the art of thriving I woke up this morning with a thought that wouldn’t let go. It started with something as simple as watching the US version of Ghosts — you know, that show where spirits from different eras are stuck in
The Core of Epicurean Philosophy: Pleasure is the beginning and the end of the blessed life. But not the hedonism of wine-soaked debauchery. Epicurus was not referring to the superficial pleasures that come with constant consumption. No, Epicurus meant something far subtler and more sustainable: ataraxia—a deep, inner tranquillity. The
A Wisdom Walk from Marston Doles to Napton-on-the-Hill There’s something about the rhythm of the feet on a towpath that unlocks the mind. Today’s wisdom walk wasn’t just about getting my steps in after a morning glued to the screen. It was about working through the soul of what I’m
Sunday evening. The rain has passed; the clouds linger. I’m out on a wisdom walk letting my feet meet the earth and my thoughts catch up with my breath. The day began scattered. Too many moving parts: the sale of the old truck and the logistics of the new one—registrations,
This morning, I’m sitting in my in-laws’ conservatory in Bristol, morning light filtering through glass while the rest of the house sleeps. Coffee steam rises between me and the quiet, and somewhere in this threshold between night and day, a question whispers itself awake. It’s one that’s been brewing in
This morning, sitting with my coffee still steaming, I found myself caught in a strange mirror, one that reflects not just my face but my entire sense of self back at me through the lens of engagement metrics and algorithmic approval. The question that emerged from the silence was unsettling:
Join Clay Lowe, aka Soulcruzer, for barefoot reflections on the art of living.
Each short episode is a shot of slow wisdom—10 minutes or less—served like strong coffee for the soul. Mythic musings, story sparks, and contemplative riffs to help you walk your path with presence, purpose, and poetry.
The Soulcruzer podcast…narrative alchemy in audio form. Call it an audioblog, call it threshold work, call it confessional mysticism.
One day I’m working through tarot as spiritual technology. The next, I’m exploring Nietzsche’s eternal return as lived practice, chaos magick techniques, or games as containers for transformation. Depth psychology meets the esoteric. Ancient wisdom meets the AI age. Theory becomes practice.
This is what narrative alchemy sounds like from the inside: raw, real, unpolished. Experiments in treating stories as code and consciousness as hackable.
If you’re here for the deep work and the edges, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
In this episode, I explore journaling as narrative alchemy, revealing how ancient alchemical stages map onto a powerful writing practice.
Here’s the original article: Journaling as Narrative Alchemy: Writing Your Way Into a New Self
I’m Clay Lowe, your barefoot philosopher and guide for those brave enough to walk at the speed of soul. In a world obsessed with faster, higher, more, I help fellow rebels discover the profound wisdom hiding in everyday moments: the steam rising from your cup, the pause between heartbeats, the way light shifts across an ordinary afternoon.
Here, I blend timeless wisdom with the insights of modern living, creating soul-led practices for those who know there’s more to life than the endless scroll. Think of this as your roadside shrine for slow thoughts in a fast world–a place where ancient Stoics share table space with morning reflections, where Zen koans meet Monday motivation.
As a slow living advocate, I believe we don’t need more content–we need more contemplation. We don’t need more advice–we need more presence. We don’t need more speed–we need more soul.
So pull up a chair. Let’s walk slow enough for wisdom to catch up.
Subscribe to The Barefoot Philosopher, my weekly letter for contemplative rebels who know that slowing down is the ultimate act of rebellion. Each week, I wander through the sacred ordinary—finding ancient wisdom in morning coffee, philosophy in quiet walks, and gentle ways to resist a culture that mistakes rushing for living.
No optimization hacks or productivity tips—just honest conversation about how to walk at the speed of soul in a world obsessed with speed. Think of it as your weekly visit to the café, where timeless insights meet everyday moments and we remember that the most profound wisdom often comes disguised as the most ordinary experiences.
For those ready to trade the endless scroll for something deeper, the hurried pace for something truer.
Supporting this site means you’re investing in the radical act of slowing down–and helping others remember that the most important journey isn’t toward some distant destination, but into the depths of this present moment.
