"Masonry was never supposed to be that big. It was a fluke in the system — we're getting back to normal." Temple Chief Erik Krogstad of the Philadelphia Golden Dawn — 33° Freemason, former pro MMA fighter, and author of The Veil of Ashes — joins Alex Aldea and Dave Ferrigno for a conversation that runs from the inside of a working magical temple to fake gurus, "healed vs. scabbed over," the egregore test, alchemy hidden in Masonic ritual, and why no one is coming to save you.

His debut novel carries forewords from three past guests of this show — Mark Stavish, Jaime Paul Lamb, and Michael Czech — which tells you the circles this conversation moves in.

Find Erik: https://www.erikkrogstad.com | Substack: https://erikkrogstad.substack.com | Instagram: @erik.krogstad.author

Watch the video edition with chapters: https://youtu.be/NA2YwRi0W0Y

Every episode + more: https://brothersofthearcana.com

The only organization that can fundamentally save Freemasonry is the Scottish Rite." That's Sovereign Grand Commander Walt Wheeler — leader of the Rite's Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, Past Grand Master of Michigan, and Honorary Past Grand Master of New Jersey — in one of the most candid conversations a sitting Grand Commander has ever given.

The real membership numbers (514,000 to 72,000), the plan to turn the curve, the historic cooperation among all four Supreme Councils including Prince Hall, a proposal to abolish annual dues entirely — and the story of the night his father presented him the Grand Master's apron. Whether you sit in a blue lodge, a Valley, or neither, this hour is about the future of a 300-year-old fraternity, told from the top.

Hosts: Alex Aldea and Dave Ferrigno — Brothers of the Arcana.

Watch the video edition with chapters: https://youtu.be/hcY5Ka3xJ6MEvery episode + more: https://brothersofthearcana.com

Surrogate partner therapy is one of the most misunderstood practices in mental health — and one of the most needed. Intimacy behavioral therapist Rebecca Torosian explains how guided touch and nervous system work help people move past anxiety, shame, performance issues, and dissociation — and why an AI girlfriend will never do what a regulated human nervous system can.

We get into what surrogate partner therapy actually is (and isn't), touch and trauma release, why men in particular get stuck, and how real connection gets rebuilt one nervous system at a time. Raw, clinical, and surprisingly hopeful.

Hosts: Alex Aldea and Dave Ferrigno — Brothers of the Arcana.

Watch the video edition with chapters: https://youtu.be/U7rBfYYmhIAEvery episode + more: https://brothersofthearcana.com