Read and/or stream all episodes of In the Desert of Set for free on a variety of platforms.
Episode #1: Setianism, A Brief Introduction
What I believe, and why I wrote this brochure.
Episode #2: The LV-426 Tradition
Some background on the unique Setian coven in which I became a priest.
Episode #3: Set is a Savior, Not a Devil
Tackling the anti-Setian trope that Set is the “god of evil” or “Egyptian devil.”
Episode #4: The Underworld
On the ancient Egyptian concept of Duat, the “Underworld” or “Other Side.”
Episode #5: The Monster Film as Mythos
Explaining the LV-426 belief that monster movies are more sacred and profound than any Kirk Cameron flick.
Episode #6: Set’s Sacred Critters
A discussion of the animals that are sacred to Set—including donkeys, pigs, hippos, oryx, and elephantfish.
Episode #7: My Understanding of Magic
A brief explanation of my perspective on magic, what it is, how it works, and how it dovetails into my theological views.
Episode #8: Too Many Mummies!
Why I enjoy certain “killer mummy” movies, and why I usually roll my eyes at the rest of this subgenre.
Episode #9: Khepesh, the Iron of Set
Explaining Set’s connections to the Big Dipper, and why they are important.
Episode #10: Set On Screen
One Setian’s opinion on how certain media depictions of Set hold up against the real-life god.
Episode #11: Set and the Greek Typhon – Are They the Same?
Comparing the Egyptian god Set with the Greek titan Typhon, and explaining how the word “Typhonian” became a synonym for “Setian.”
Episode #12: The Many Names of Set
Some thoughts on what several of Set’s names mean to me personally.
Episode #13: An LV-426 Perspective on the Qliphoth
Why I refer to evil spirits as qliphoth rather than “demons,” and why I don’t recommend messing with them.
Episode #14: The Stuff Nightmares Are Afraid Of
Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) is a terrific allegory for the eternal conflict between Set and the Chaos Serpent. With instructions for a spell for protection during sleep.
Episode #15: Assorted Prayers & Incantations
Not a proper sermon, but a series of assorted prayers and incantations to Set.
Episode #16: On Setian Priesthood & Pagan Ministry
On being a priest of Set and a Pagan minister, and what spiritual leadership should (and shouldn’t) look like.
Episode #17: Get Right With Godzilla!
A Setian look at Ishiro Honda’s Gojira (1954) and how Big G parallels Set in Egyptian mythology.
Episode #18: Set and the Scarab of Ra
Explaining kheper, the ancient Egyptian concept of divine transformation, and how it relates to the scarab beetle, the solar Creator deity Atum-Ra, and Set as the Champion of Ra.
Episode #19: Set, Horus, and the Law of Thelema
Set’s relationship with His brother and/or nephew, the god Horus, and how my faith is influenced by Thelemic beliefs.
Episode #20: On Rosemary’s Baby, the Satanic Panic, and Pagan Leadership
The 1980s Satanic Panic; the persecution of Pagans (in some cases BY Pagans) as “Satanists”; and Rosemary’s Baby as a statement against systemic misogyny. (Listener discretion is strongly advised.)
Episode #21: “Do You Worship the Devil?”
The word devil is really just as vague and complex as the word god, holding multiple meanings across the world. So when we “speak of the devil,” just what in hell are we actually speaking about?
Episode #22: On the Temple of Set
Some thoughts on what is probably the most well-known Setian community today.
Episode #23: The Amityville Error
Discussing the Amityville Horror, the greatest American paranormal hoax of the 1970s, and its influence on the Satanic Panic of the 1980s.
Episode #24: Aberamentho – Set, Yahweh, and Jesus Christ
Set does not play by Christian rules, Satanist rules, or Marvel Cinematic Universe rules, and neither do Setians.
Episode #25: A Would-Be Ombite Creation Myth
My attempt at writing a Setian Creation myth that someone living in the ancient city of Nubt (Ombos or Naqada) might have believed.
Episode #26: The Horned Pentagram
Why I prefer to display my pentagrams with two points up.
Episode #27: What Are You Afraid Of? It’s Only Rock & Roll!
Discussing the theme of “backmasked” messages in heavy metal music during the Satanic Panic, as explored in the 1986 comedy horror film, Trick or Treat.
Episode #28: Polytheism Is Not “Idolatry”
Yes Virginia, some people still believe in many gods today, and it’s every bit as legitimate as believing in just one.
Episode #29: Calling Professor Quatermass!
Martian grasshoppers. Genetically modified super-apes. Invisible forces only certain people can see. Quatermass and the Pit (1967) has it all.
Episode #30: A Setian Exegesis of John Carpenter’s The Thing
Here I geek out for a bit about my vote for “the scariest monster movie ever made,” and I draw some parallels between the themes of this film and my beliefs as a Setian.
Episode #31: An LV-426 Execration Ceremony
An example of an execration ritual, a procedure to cast out and/or ward off negative energy.
Episode #32: Holy Days of the LV-426 Tradition
The times we consider most sacred in our coven.
Episode #33: Ishtar, the Lady Morningstar
She rebelled to help humanity before Prometheus. She died and rose from the grave before Jesus. And She invented the “zombie apocalypse” before George Romero.
Episode #34: Ishtar’s Final Conflict With “The Man”
How The Final Conflict (a.k.a. Omen III: The Final Conflict) can be read as an allegory for the goddess Ishtar and Her rivalry with Therion, the spirit of human tyranny.
Episode #35: Typhonian Melodies
Songs from a Setian soul.
Episode #36: An LV-426 LBRP
An LV-426 Setian adaptation of the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram.
Episode #37: Understanding the Yezidis
The Yezidis are accused of “worshiping the devil,” but are also romanticized by Western occultists—neither of which is acceptable.
Episode #38: Taweret—Or, When God is a Hippotamus
A discussion of the Egyptian hippo goddess Taweret, Her connections with Set, and the reasons I love Her so much.
Episode #39: Dua Sutekh (Free Album)
A free 22-minute album of ambient devotional Setian music.
Episode #40: Gorgo, the Irish Feminist Sea-Dragon
Gorgo (1961) is a British kaiju (giant monster) movie with several interesting subtexts, all of which seem relevant to the goddess Taweret.
Episode #41: Nephthys, the Dark Midwife
The sister and ex-wife of Set is a renowned healer of wounded hearts and minds.
Episode #42: Setian Meditations
Three brief sermons in which I discuss Set’s affinity for the color red, why Setianism is substantially different from many other religions, and how the Red Lord saves us all every night.
Episode #43: On the So-Called “Demonization” of Evangelicals
My reactions to an especially hypocritical plea for “acceptance” on behalf of a community that utterly refuses to accept diversity.
Episode #44: Setianism Predates “The Left-Hand Path”
On the conflation of all Setian spirituality with what Western occultists call “the left-hand path,” and why this is problematic.
Episode #45: Summer’s End
Shameless self-promotion for my new album, Summer’s End (2020), a musical anthology of Halloween happenings.
Episode #46: The Praying Mantis God of Ancient Egypt
An interview with the Kemetic and Neo-Pharaonic artist Setken regarding his new film, The Praying Mantis God of Ancient Egypt, in which we meet another of Set’s theological colleagues: the Netjer Abyt.
Episode #47: John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978)
How a simple “slasher movie” deplores the patriarchy and evokes Celtic folklore.
Episode #48: Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
Why Halloween 4 (1988) is one of my favorite flicks to watch for the Samhain season.
Episode #49: Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
How one of the goofier Halloween movies taught me to think beyond Hollywood depictions of Paganism, with a brief tribute to Donald Pleasence.
Episode #50: David Gordon Green’s Halloween (2018)
Why the 2018 “requel,” featuring the return of John Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis, is the best direct sequel to the original 1978 classic.
Episode #51: Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
A preternatural Pied Piper turns people into creepy crawlies with his maleficent merchandise, his android assassins, and his Stonehenge supercomputers.
Episode #52: An LV-426 Hallowtide Hootenanny! (Part 1)
A rambling discussion on horror movies and spirituality with two of my brethren in the LV-426 Tradition!
Episode #53: An LV-426 Hallowtide Hootenanny! (Part 2)
The continuing discussion on horror movies and spirituality with two of my brethren in the LV-426 Tradition!
Episode #54: His Nocturnal Majesty
My soundtrack for a Setian apocalypse.
Episode #55: Same Shit, Different Millennium
How my favorite TV show—a 1990s police procedural with apocalyptic overtones—influenced my walk with Set.
Episode #56: It’s the End of Days As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
How a really terrible Arnold Schwarzenegger movie influenced my spirituality and art.
Episode #57: John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness (1987)
Jesus is a dead alien; Satan is a prehistoric sentient ooze; and “God” is the greatest supervillain of all time. This unique fictional theology helped me think outside the box, for sure!
Episode #58: Thoughts On Kemetic Soul Anatomy
One Setian’s take on ancient Egyptian concepts of the self—including our bodies, souls, spirits, hearts, shadows, names, and the hope for unification of these features into a multidimensional whole after death.
Episode #59: Shedding Skin With the Snake God (and Snake People!)
Thoughts on Nehebukau, the holy Snake God, and the concept of Snake People, with an analysis of their appropriation by modern pop culture and conspiracy theorists.
Episode #60: Midnight Mass
A Setian midnight mass performed and recorded for an imaginary AM radio station.
Episode #61: Trapezoidal Thoughts on Fascist Fuckery
Reclaiming Set’s good name from “secret societies” that like to play “Raiders of the Ark” (but as Nazi characters!), and which have contributed to the normalization of fascism today.
Episode #62: My Religious Taxonomy
The LV-426 Tradition of Setianism is a fusion of Kemetic polytheist theology with (Setianized) Western occult practices.
Episode #63: Pazuzu Saves
Forget what you think you “learned” from The Exorcist (1973) about Pazuzu, and join this mighty deity as He quests against both human and spiritual cruelty.
Episode #64: Set Doesn’t Need a Church (and Neither Do We)
I have been asked before: “Why don’t you start your own church?” Here are some reasons why this is not only unnecessary for Setians, but probably undesirable as well.
Episode #65: Pazuzu, The Exorcist (1973), and Sorcerer (1977)
Pazuzu is most well-known today thanks to a horror movie about demonic possession; yet He is evoked much more faithfully in a completely different film by the same director.
Episode #66: Set Is Now (Album)
My first full-length album with vocals, inspired by my experiences as a Setian teenager in Satanic Panic America.
Episode #67: I Believe (Album)
My second full-length album with vocals, with hymns to various Middle and Near Eastern divinities.
Episode #68: Summer’s End II (Album)
The soundtrack for an imaginary Halloween-themed anthology horror film, with vignettes featuring banshees, changelings, and Stonehenge.
Episode #69: Our Lady of Thrones (Part I)
Listen to Disc One of my latest album, dedicated to Set’s divine sister, the Egyptian goddess Isis!
Episode #70: Our Lady of Thrones (Part II)
Listen to Disc Two of my latest album, dedicated to Set’s divine sister, the Egyptian goddess Isis.
Episode #71: It’s Setian, Not “Satanic”
Christians and Satanists might hate each other’s deities, but Setians can honor Set and Osiris at the same time.
Episode #72: It’s Okay To Have Demons
Expecting people to be John Rambo—including Setians—is unrealistic.
Episode #73: The Gods Can Handle Our Anger
It’s okay to be angry or upset with the gods, and it’s okay for us to tell Them so as well.
Episode #74: Ophidyssey (2022)
A musical offering to the Egyptian solar cobra goddess, Wadjet.
Episode #75: The Mauling Man (2022)
A different kind of werewolf story for Pagan, Kemetic, and Setian audiences.