Podcast episode
We discuss three of the most important thinkers from the final generations of philosophical teaching at Alexandria. One is an upstart Christian. Two are esoteric Platonists of the Golden Chain. One may or may not have been an alchemist.
Blog post
We discuss one of the most exciting initiatives in the study of esotericism currently happening with two members of its scientific committee. RENSEP is looking to crack open the divide between practitioners and scholars, and to devise new methods for studying that most elusive of subjects, ‘esoteric practice’.
Podcast episode
We discuss how Platonist philosophical teaching played out at Alexandria before Justinian's edict of 529 and in its aftermath. Featuring cameo appearances from the fall of the western Roman empire and Horapollo's Hieroglyphika.
Podcast episode
We discuss the great Damascius, final scholarch of the Athenian Academy, with Sara Rappe. Things become very apophatic.
Podcast episode
We dive back into the dossier of late-antique magic with Joseph Sanzo, looking at the ways in which late-ancient religious communities used magic to define who they were and who they weren't.
Podcast episode
We discuss Justinian's great church, Hagia Sophia, the gem of Constantinople and of Orthodox Christianity. We then look at a number of theories out there which read Hagia Sophia as encoding esoteric messages beneath her Orthodox exterior, and use this case-study as a springboard for discussing the thorny problems involved in interpreting architecture, especially esoteric architecture.
An introduction to the podcast, discussing briefly what we mean by ‘western esotericism’. This episode also answers the burning question, ‘What’s so “secret” about The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast?’ and features a short quiz to test your knowledge of western esoteric history.
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