Oddcast episode
The Iraqi Shiite movements known as the <em<ghulāt or ‘extremists’ held many ‘extreme’ theological and cosmological views, none more so than their belief in cyclical reincarnation into a range of entities from rocks to exalted superhuman entities. Mushegh Asatryan is our guide as we explore the texts of the earliest reincarnationists of the Believers' movement.
Roots of Magic episode
We speak with Ulrike Steinert on her MagEIA research-project ‘Metaphors in ancient Mesopotamian incantations and magic rituals: Emotions, cultural concepts and performance’. She proposes analysis of metaphors for emotional states as a means of access to ancient Akkadian magic. We are listening, and would like to see this approach applied to other cultural contexts as well.
Podcast episode
We explore the origins of an enduring idea in Islām: the idea of the mahdī, the righteous leader who will return to bring justice and purify the religion near the end of time. The origins, it turns out, are esoteric, and so are many aspects of the various mahdīs who have arisen throughout history.
Podcast episode
We explore some of the weird territory where extreme politics meet extreme theology in the pre-Umayyad and Umayyad periods. Includes case-studies of a representative selection of early shiite "extremists".
Blog post
Two lecturers in philosophy from the University of Arkansas invited me on their show Philosophy on the Fringes to discuss western esotericism and the esoteric Plato.
Podcast episode
We discuss the Iraqi context of the early shī‘ī movements, explore some of the political, esoteric, and politicesoteric concerns of the early partisans of the ahl al-bayt, and then give a basic run-down of some of the most important shiite movements and their imams.
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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