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.

 

Laurence Caruana on Visionary Art and the Fall of Sophia

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!

Some freemasons from Pennsylvania got in touch and asked to interview me. It was interesting and fun.

Second Annual Report of the SHWEP

We reflect on a second year of doing the SHWEP, and make some predictions for the next year.

Randall Hall on the Theurgic Saxophone

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’

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

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

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.

Light in Darkness: An Audio Tour of an Important New Exhibition on the Life and Thought of Jacob Böhme

An audio tour of the first major international exhibition devoted to the life and work of the great Christian esotericist Jacob Böhme.

First Annual Report of the SHWEP

We reflect on a year of doing this podcast, and on the year to come.

An Interview with Dr Liana Saif on the Present and Future Study of Islamic Esotericism

The future of the study of western esotericism will encompass all the western monotheist traditions. And the future is now!

On the Necessity of Useless Scholarship

There has never been a better time to study ‘useless’ subjects. Get involved!

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