I was Interviewed on the Weird Christmas Podcast!
December 24, 2022
Mithras, sadly, ain't the reason for the season. And yet ....
The SHWEP Blog
The SHWEP blog is for all manner of things which crop up in the life of the scholar of western esotericism but don’t fit into our chronological framework: the Living Esoteric Cultures Series of interviews, reflections on the academic field of the study of western esotericism, accounts of past or upcoming events, other notifications, and perhaps even the odd blog post.
The Fifth Annual Report of the SHWEP
December 21, 2022
We reflect on the past year of doing the podcast, and this time we don't bother predicting how at the end of this coming year we will definitely have finally covered Proclus, because it's just never true. We'll confidently promise Zosimus of Panopolis and Julian, but not Proclus.
Lucinda Martin on the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica, Past, Present, and Future
December 14, 2022
We are delighted to speak with Dr Lucinda Martin, Director of the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica and Ritman Research Institute in Amsterdam, one of the world's great collections for the study of western esotericism. We discuss the history and current activities of this august institution, its recently having been awarded UNSECO status as a cultural treasure of the Netherlands, and more.
Cavan McLaughlin on Trans- States: Participant-Scholarship and the Boundaries of the Academy
July 13, 2022
We speak with Cavan McLaughlin, the guiding force behind a very interesting conference called Trans-States, which blurs the boundaries between the study of the esoteric and the esoteric itself. What happens when art, performance, ritual, magic(k), and a healthy does of humour meet in the crucible of the ‘academic conference’?
Esoteric Island Discs: Ben Chasny
December 31, 2021
Our castaway is Ben Chasny, guitarist and composer, whose long-time musical project Six Organs of Admittance is only the most well-known.
Fourth Annual Report of the SHWEP
December 29, 2021
We reflect on the year that was, with the usual divinatory prognostications for the year that will be, and wish our listeners a very esoteric 2022.
Howard Gayton on an Esoteric Pilgrimage to the COP-26 Summit
November 24, 2021
Esoteric Island Discs: Angela Voss
December 30, 2020
Our castaway is Angela Voss, researcher and lecturer on Renaissance astrology and Platonist esotericism, and performer and composer of early music.
Third Annual Report of the SHWEP
December 9, 2020
We reflect on a third year of doing the podcast, some of the things that went well, some unexpected setbacks, and prognosticate big changes to come ....
Rob Miller on the Esoteric and the New Tau Cross Album
October 28, 2020
We speak with Rob ‘The Baron’ Miller about the western esoteric influences on his music with Amebix and Tau Cross, and discuss the third Tau Cross album, Masters of Deception. It gets Gnostic.
John Crowley on the Ægypt Cycle
July 30, 2020
Ægypt is one of the great occult novels (if we want to make ‘occult novel’ a thing). We are delighted to speak with its author, John Crowley (no relation) about his writing practice, western esotericism, and the question of what the heck happened at the end of the third book.
Crystal Addey on Platonism, Theurgy, and Ecology
July 4, 2020
Crystal Addey is a scholar, philosopher, and woman of parts. Her work on ancient theurgy has broken new ground in recent years, and we see her continue to forge ahead in this interview, in which she asks whether the thought of the ancient Platonists can provide us with valuable insights in the face of environmental crisis. The answer is 'yes', of course, but the contours of that 'yes' will perhaps surprise many people who think they understand the history of western philosophy.
Laurence Caruana on Visionary Art and the Fall of Sophia
April 22, 2020
Laurence Caruana is a painter, author, and speaker. His work draws deeply on the western esoteric traditions, particularly of late antiquity, and even more particularly on the central Sethian myth as found in the Apocryphon of John and other ‘Gnostic’ texts. We discuss modern artistic practice, the Fall of Sophia, and a host of other topics of interest to the modern visionary painter.
I Was Interviewed by Freemasons!
December 3, 2019
Some freemasons from Pennsylvania got in touch and asked to interview me. It was interesting and fun.
Second Annual Report of the SHWEP
November 29, 2019
We reflect on a second year of doing the SHWEP, and make some predictions for the next year.
Randall Hall on the Theurgic Saxophone
October 12, 2019
We talk to saxophonist Randall Hall, whose work fuses the very, very modern and the authentically ancient in a quest for a ‘ritual-symbolic’, theurgic musical practice.
Julian Strube on the Debate Over Dropping the ‘Western’ in ‘Western Esotericism’
August 24, 2019
Things never stand still for very long in a young field like Western Esotericism Studies. In this interview we discuss the lively current debate over whether the term ‘western’ should be dropped altogether with a proponent of the ‘get rid of it’ position.
Thoughts on ESSWE 7
July 11, 2019
We reflect on the amazing seventh ESSWE conference, held 2-4 July 2019 in Amsterdam. Western esotericism is coming home!
Blood and Rockets: The Making of an Occult Music Video
May 28, 2019
The first in our Living Esoteric Culture series, looking at the ways in which the esoteric exists in culture, makes culture, sometimes enters into the popular or mainstream, and what happens along the way.
