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.
Late in the afternoon, I decided I needed a break from the desk. In true barefoot philosopher style, I wandered outside with a coffee and Pierre Hadot’s Philosophy as a Way of Life, laying down in the grass underneath our event shelter to shield myself from the sun. I only
A morning reflection on living in harmony with yourself 5:30 AM. The house breathes in sleep. Coffee steams. The cursor blinks on an empty page. I sit in this stolen pocket of quiet and ask myself something dangerous: What does it mean, today, to live in harmony with myself, with
I’m writing this from my garden chair, the evening air finally offering some relief from the heat that made today’s journey to London feel like a pilgrimage through fire. My legs are stretched out, Pierre Hadot’s Philosophy as a Way of Life resting on the lawn table beside me, its
This morning, 7:13 AM, Croatian hat settled on my head, backpack loaded with gear I probably don’t need. The familiar circuit calls—out the front door, down to the path, into the rhythm that unwinds whatever the mind has been tangling. The weekend just passed brought a new soul into our
In this contemplative riff inspired by Michael Neill’s teaching, I explore what it means to return to the space before thought, that fertile void the Taoists speak of, where anything can grow. This piece is a reflection on presence, memory, and the quiet revolution of living from the realm of
What if I told you that right now, as you’re reading this, you’re under a spell? Not the mystical kind involving wands and potions, but something far more pervasive and powerful—the hypnosis of your own mind. This isn’t some new-age nonsense; it’s the central insight of a transformative approach to
It’s not exactly Walden Woods, but this morning I find myself in what Southam has to offer in the way of a small pocket of trees I’ve come to call the Southam Woods. It’s here I’ve paused, mid-walk, to speak into the rhythm of the morning. I stop and catch
A moment arrives—you know the one. You’re three hours deep in the luminous abyss, thumb dancing across glass, consuming fragments of other people’s lives like digital communion wafers. The blue light baptises your retinas while somewhere, buried beneath notifications and dopamine hits, your actual heartbeat whispers, “Remember me?” That’s the
The book says, “Breathe! You Are Alive.” And for once, I didn’t argue. This morning, after feeding the kittens, I stepped barefoot into the back garden, coffee in hand, Kindle open to a quiet teaching. The sun was already waiting—warming the stone steps, drying last night’s dew. A soft breeze
Maybe you’re feeling behind. Like the path disappeared while you were making coffee or paying bills or just trying to keep your head above the static. Like everyone else got the memo about which direction to walk, and you were in the bathroom, missing the announcement that would have saved
(A barefoot philosopher’s reflection) The kettle clicks off, and I let it sit. No rush. Let the steam linger. Let the silence finish its sentence. I used to panic in moments like this—these little gaps in usefulness, where no task was being completed, no goal moved closer. I’d reach for
a morning contemplation on Chapter 42 of the Tao Te Ching This morning, I found myself sipping not just coffee, but Chapter 42 of the Tao Te Ching—one of those deep wells you can drink from for a lifetime and still taste something new each time. It’s the kind of
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.
