Podcast episode
We follow Damascius' tale from the final flowering of the Golden Chain at Athens in the 470's through a decline and fall of philosophic teaching at Alexandria, and chaos at Athens following the death of Proclus. Our book ends in disjointed fragments, which is weirdly appropriate.
Podcast episode
We begin our read-through, exploring the philosophic and religious cultures at Athens and Alexandria from the days of Hypatia down to the height of Proclus' career. Come for the prosopography of many extraordinary religious and philosophical characters of late antiquity, stay for Isidore's theurgic bird-imitations.
Podcast episode
In the first part of a Storytime read-through of Damascius' great, gossipy account of the late-Platonist life, we come to grips with the messy text as it survives, and discuss some main themes of this fascinating, fragmentary work.
Oddcast episode
Music was seen as a crucial tool for the elevation and transformation of the human soul in ancient esoteric philosophy from Pythagoras to Olympiodorus, and beyond into the western esoteric traditions of later eras. We discuss the theory and practice of anagogic music in the ancient Pythagorean/Platonist tradition with Sebastián Moro Tornese.
Blog post
In our second Roots of Magic interview, we speak with Svenja Nagel on erotic magic in ancient Egypt. Ritual practices and potions, magical continuity and change, and cross-cultural pollination feature prominently in a conversation which tells us what Egyptian erotic magic was, and what dangerous-yet-sexy things you could do with it.
Oddcast episode
In the first of a short series of synoptic episodes looking at the esoteric in ancient Platonism as a whole, we approach the scale of virtues, the ladder by which the Platonist sage, following in the footsteps of Socrates, was to practice ascent to likeness with the gods, while still engaging in daily life.
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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