Gold Coast Arcana
Podcast Description
Episodes

May 1, 2026
Episode 1: Exordium
May 1, 2026
May 1, 2026
26 min
A man walks alone down a dark road in a torrential downpour. He doesn't know his name. When twin siblings Dea and Jax pull over to help, they have no idea they're about to meet someone who will change everything — a university professor who moonlights as a psychic investigator, found wandering miles from his car with no memory of what drove him into the night.

May 15, 2026
Lessons in Neighborliness--Chapter 1: Oppression
May 15, 2026
May 15, 2026
29 min
A historic adobe. A routine tour. A feeling that won't let go. When Jax visits the Olivas Adobe, he expects old rooms and interesting history — not phantom music, a buzzing that no one else can hear, and crops blackening and dying in an expanding ring around the property. And then there's the woman. The one in the long black dress who watches him from the archway — and vanishes before he can reach her.
If you are interested in the Californios and the Olivas Adobe in Ventura, California, here are some links that might interest you.
Olivas Adobe Historical Park
This 200-Year-Old Adobe Is California's Most Active Haunted House
Who were the Californios
You can find Gold Coast Arcana on the web at Gold Coast Arcana, contact us via email at GoldCoastArcana@gmail.com.

Jun 1, 2026
Jun 1, 2026
26 min
Dr. Simon Deleon puts his hand on the ground and what he finds isn't human. It's never been human. It's angry, it's hungry, and it's radiating outward from somewhere around the Olivas Adobe. Now four people with very different gifts — a tarot reader, a dowser, a docent, and a psychic who keeps everyone at arm's length — must find the source before the land consumes everything around it. The pendulum swings. The lines converge. And something is waiting at the intersection.
You can find Gold Coast Arcana on the web at Gold Coast Arcana, contact us via email at GoldCoastArcana@gmail.com.

Jun 15, 2026
Jun 15, 2026
29 min
Lessons in Neighborliness: Chapter Three--Old Woman Datura
In the darkness behind her eyes, Dea sees centuries collapse into moments. Holy men approaching a sacred spring. A lone vaquero leaving an offering. And then the shovels — scraping across something that was never supposed to be moved. The vision tells her everything: what was taken, where it belongs, and what will happen if it isn't returned. Now the four of them have to act — before the earth finishes collecting what it's owed.
Chumash Traditional Narratives: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chumash_traditional_narratives
Charm Stones or Plummets: https://www.californiaprehistory.com/publications/proceedings/Proceedings.13Sharp.pdf
The Chumash People: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chumash_people

Jul 1, 2026
CINIS ET BENIDICTIO -- PART ONE: INTROITUS
Jul 1, 2026
Jul 1, 2026
26 min
In Ventura, California, the Mission San Buenaventura has stood for more than two centuries — whitewashed adobe, hand-hewn beams darkened by candle smoke, and a silence that presses against the chest of anyone who lingers too long. It is the last mission Junípero Serra ever founded, and the ground beneath it remembers everything. So, when a phone rings on a quiet spring evening and Dr. Simon Deleon asks a simple favor — come to mass, and afterward I'll explain — a door begins, almost imperceptibly, to open for Dea and Jax.
Links for historical locations, books mentioned in the podcast, or other fund things can be found below:
Mission San Buenaventura Basilica

Jul 15, 2026
CINIS ET BENIDICTIO -- PART TWO: VIGILIAE
Jul 15, 2026
Jul 15, 2026
42 min
The fog comes in off the Pacific just before midnight, swallowing the streetlights and the brick facade across from the Mission San Buenaventura. This is the hour the parishioners are gone and the tourists have long since drifted home — the quiet hour, when the mission belongs to something else entirely. Dea and Jax keep their separate posts, pens ready, instructed only to record what they see, hear, and feel. But what do you write in the margins when your own watch betrays you?
Links for historical locations, books mentioned in the podcast, or other fund things can be found below:
Peirano’s Market including archaeological excavation and assessment of the San Buenaventura Mission Lavanderia
Holy Ground, Haunted History: Mission San Buenaventura
Wind Chimes Bird Squirrel.wav – attribution text: wind chimes birds squirrel.wav by nixonvote -- https://freesound.org/s/516561/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
Richard Senate’s Ghosts of Ventura: Southern California’s Haunted Coastal Community
Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines by Walter Evans-Wentz
Lucid Dreams by Celia Green
Creative Dreaming by Patricia Garfield, Ph. D.

Exordium
Initially I imagined the webpage for Gold Coast Arcana would present the teaser show notes, images specific to the episode, and links to resources listeners might find interesting or useful. It has occurred to me that, although the website is an excellent place to present images that support the storytelling, the descriptions and links are contained within the show notes. So how better to make use of this space than to discuss some of the processes that resulted in the development of the narrative.
In February I discovered just much of a frustrated creative I had become. In all honesty, I am not content unless I have a creative project that I can indulge myself in. I had been wanting to write for some time, but I find that people do not make time to read and the entire publishing schtick is not something I want to involve myself with. I just wanted to write and share stories, to produce something and then distribute the product to people who might appreciate it. Suddenly, I thought of how much podcast content I consume, from news and opinion podcasts to various storytelling podcasts. This, it seemed to me, was a possible answer.
So, I set an agenda and created a podcast…

Lessons in Neighborliness: Chapter One--Oppression
As I have worked on developing characters and storylines based on the history and hauntings of Ventura County—Santa Barbara County is on my radar by not in the works as of yet—I realized that the sort of haunting story that I really like are those that are subtle. I am not a big fan of storytelling that relies on the shock of gore and works on evoking anxiety in the listeners. I like something a little more plausible. The spirits I have encountered (there have been a few) have been quiet things that might have gone un-noticed had I not stopped and paid attention. So, sadly, if you are looking for storytelling that relies on violent gouts of blood and guts and veins between your teeth this podcast will be disappointing…
Otherwise, I am excited about the development of the characters. Each of them appears to have distinct and useful abilities, and I am working to give them their own voices. It is always a thrilling moment when the characters begin to speak and the story weaves itself effortless across the page.

Lessons in Neighborliness: Chapter Two--Blight
One of the great joys for me in creating these stories has been the research process. As a transplant from the Inland Empire almost two decades ago, I am finding that digging up the history of Ventura to be not only a fascinating endeavor, but it appears to be creating in me a sense of belonging that I don't think I have ever experienced before. I find that when I walk down Main Street or the Avenue, I remember buildings and businesses that were gone long before I came on the scene, or recall historical events that happened before my birth. Between the historical research and the weaving of those past locations and events into the fabric of story, I seem to be sewing myself into the very narrative of San Buenaventura…

Lessons in Neighborliness: Chapter Three--Old Woman Datura
Grandmother Momoy was a surprise. She managed to insert herself into the storyline before I even knew she was there, and then continues to surface as the adventures unfurl. Interesting that she emerges hidden behind the image of Teodora Olivas - and in future episodes continues to wear her form with the addition of the datura flower blooming behind her ear. I find I have a certain affection for this spirit, and anyone familiar with my garden knows I have a fondness for the many members of the datura tribe. Nightshade grows throughout my garden – easily the most common weed. The apricot-colored brugmansia is slowly spreading its gigantic blossoms across the garden. The memory of moon flowers and toloache haunt the lower terracotta pots, and the seeds of henbane and belladonna are in packets awaiting future planting seasons. All of these plants find their place in the witches' apothecary or as ingredients in flying ointments, but it is the Jimson weed, scrubby on the roadside or clustering around forgotten ruins, that brings us close to Grandmother Datura.

Cinis et Benedictio: Chapter One--Introitus
Anticipated Release Date: July 1, 2026.

Cinis et Benedictio--Chapter Two: Vigiliae
Anticipated Release Date: July 15, 2026

Cinis et Benedictio--Chapter Three: Lacrimosa
Anticipated Release Date: August 1, 2026

Cinis et Benedictio--Chapter Four: Requiescat
Anticipated Release Date: August 15, 2026






