Occult Confessions

Luke interviews Rob about his research project focusing on the mythology of the first video game heroes. The conversation ranges far and wide to encompass the nature of performance studies, Rob's early work on ghosts and psychic mediums, and the scholar's professional life and creative process.

Church Secrets interrupted our friends at the Goddess Hour during a live performance at our theater. See if you can help solve the puzzles he created to keep them from performing their Moon Bath ritual.

To view the full picture and play along, visit our website. https://www.occultconfessions.com/episodes/2026/8/7/309-the-goddess-hour-vs-church-secrets

In the second part of our discussion about Happy Science, we consider the group's doctrine and lore. How did humanity make its way from Venus to Earth and which spirits have manifested when in our midst to guide us on the spiritual path? What is Happy Science's view of the apocalypse and the triggers that might bring one on?

Kofuku no Kagaku or Happy Science was one of the most popular new religious movements in Japan in 1980s and became a major rival to the deadly Aum Shinrikyo organization. Its founder, Okawa Ryuho, claimed to be an incarnation of the Buddha and published volumes of predictions channeled from various spirits from the higher worlds including Nostradamus. These predictions became best sellers in Japan, leading to the group's more famous venture into full-length animated films.

Over a thousand Japanese legends were collected into thirty-one volumes around the turn of the first millennium. Rob selects three stories to share that shed light on the folklore and values of medieval Japan.