Rosicrucian Origins with Ronnie Pontiac

Ronnie Pontiac was the personal research assistant for Manly P. Hall at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles. He is author of American Metaphysical Religion: Esoteric and Mystical Traditions of the New World. He is coauthor with Tamra Lucid of The Magic of the Orphic Hymns: A New Translation for the Modern Mystic.

He explores the true origins of Rosicrucianism, arguing that the famous manifestos were a radical literary and cultural intervention rather than an ancient secret order. Pontiac situates their emergence within the religious, political, and intellectual upheavals of 17th-century Europe, particularly during the Thirty Years’ War. Ronnie reframes Rosicrucianism as a decentralized countercultural movement that spread ideas through symbolism, imagination, and culture rather than hierarchy or initiation.

00:00:01 Introduction: Rosicrucian origins and misconceptions
00:09:38 Religious conflict and the Holy Roman Empire
00:18:20 Emperor Rudolph II and hermetic culture
00:28:22 The Rosicrucian manifestos and public reaction
00:38:33 Alchemical marriage and political mythology
00:47:56 Defeat of Bohemia and shattered hopes
00:56:10 Counterculture and horizontal transmission
01:05:48 The dangers of intellectual hierarchy
01:14:21 Living Rosicrucian principles in practice
01:28:49 Conclusion

New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in “parapsychology” ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). He is also the Grand Prize winner of the 2021 Bigelow Institute essay competition regarding the best evidence for survival of human consciousness after permanent bodily death. He currently serves as Co-Director of Parapsychology Education at the California Institute for Human Science.

(Recorded on December 26, 2025)

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Evidence of the Afterlife Can Heal Your Suffering with Lauren Robertson

Lauren Robertson, MA, is a spirit communicator, transformational coach, and speaker. She has conducted 15,000+ sittings and public demonstrations globally. She is author of Medium in Manolos: A Life Affirming Guide to Modern Mediumship. She writes the Art and Science of Mediumship on Substack. As a psychic medium she helps people explore their spirituality and overcome difficult emotions to live freer and happier lives. Lauren studied philosophy and literature, specializing in Consciousness Studies, at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. (website and link to meditation on her site)

Lauren describes how mediumship can transform grief into continuing bonds of love. She gives insights on how mediums can receive accurate and detailed information from the spirit world. Lauren describes practical steps to communicate with loved ones in the spirit world, including how to ask for specific signs and messages, and the role of dreams and imagery in connecting with the afterlife.

00:00:00 Introduction
00:03:32 Burden of proof
00:12:49 Mediumship personality traits
00:23:37 Trust, practice, and skills
00:34:09 Living agent psi
00:38:31 Not a final goodbye
00:43:30 Direct communication with loved ones
00:48:31 Receiving signs and messages
00:57:35 Filling darkness with light
01:06:29 Conclusion

New Thinking Allowed CoHost, Emmy Vadnais, OTR/L, is a licensed occupational therapist, intuitive healer and coach, and spiritual guide based in St. Paul, Minnesota. Emmy is the founder of the Intuitive Connections and Holistic OT communities. She is the author of Intuitive Development: How to Trust Your Inner Knowing for Guidance With Relationships, Health, and Spirituality. Her website is https://emmyvadnais.com

(Recorded on October 7, 2025)

For a short video on How to Get the Most From New Thinking Allowed, go to https://youtu.be/aVbfPFGxv9o

Check out our new website for the New Thinking Allowed Foundation at http://www.newthinkingallowed.org. There you will find our incredible, searchable database as well as our new, FREE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE. Also, opportunities to shop and to support our video productions. There, you can also subscribe to our FREE, WEEKLY NEWSLETTER!

For a complete, updated list with links to all of our videos, see https://newthinkingallowed.com/Listings.html.

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Download and read Jeffrey Mishlove’s Grand Prize essay in the Bigelow Institute competition, Beyond the Brain: The Survival of Human Consciousness After Permanent Bodily Death. https://www.bigelowinstitute.org/docs/1st.pdf

If you would like to join our team of volunteers, helping to promote the New Thinking Allowed YouTube channel on social media, editing and translating videos, creating short video trailers based on our interviews, helping to upgrade our website, or contributing in other ways (we may not even have thought of), please send an email to friends@newthinkingallowed.com.

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To order Russell Targ: Ninety Years of ESP, Remote Viewing, and Timeless Awareness, go to https://amzn.to/4aw2iyr

To order UFOs and UAP – Are We Really Alone?, go to https://amzn.to/3Y0VOVh