Podcast episode
Episode 68: Plutarch’s On Isis and Osiris
We look at Plutarch's tour de force of esoteric hermeneutics, the On Isis and Osiris. Egyptian myth meets Greek esoteric Platonism, and something new is born.
Podcast episode
We look at Plutarch's tour de force of esoteric hermeneutics, the On Isis and Osiris. Egyptian myth meets Greek esoteric Platonism, and something new is born.
Oddcast episode
Emily Selove shares her current work on the fascinating SirÄj al-DÄ«n al-SakkÄkÄ«, well-known Arabic grammarian and little-known sorcerer. We discuss SakkÄkÄ«'s extraordinary grimoire, the quest for the universal Perfect Man, a theory of language which might unite grammar and magic, and the identity of the mysterious āPeacock the Greekā.
Oddcast episode
We discuss the life and adventures of Yelena Petrovna Blavatskaya, co-founder of the Theosophical Society and one of the most (in)famous and influential spiritual thinkers of the modern age, whose life and thought changed the course of western esotericism (and western history) forever.
Podcast episode
We want to discuss the Testament of Solomon, an extraordinary demonological, angelogical, astrological, magical work from late antiquity. But we realise that, to get there, we need to spend some time exploring the earlier reaches of the āSolomonic traditionā. So we do. Come for the building of the First Temple, stay for the cloud upon the sanctuary.
Podcast episode
The Stoics had a naturalistic physical theory which, strangely, had a huge influence both on esoteric spirituality and on occult sciences. In this, our final episode on Stoicism, we discuss three key terms from Stoic physics and their surprising afterlives in western esotericism.
Podcast episode
We are delighted to speak with David HernĆ”ndez de la Fuente on Nonnus of Panopolis, one of the last great epic poets of the GrƦco-Roman tradition, and a man with a lot to tell us about the interplay between Christianity and āpaganismā in late antiquity. Come for the indeterminate religiosity, stay for the esoteric Orphic lore.
Oddcast episode
We discuss arguably the greatest magical book of the Islamicate tradition, the Shams al-maŹæÄrif al-kubrÄ or Great Sun of Knowledge. Turns out it isn't by al-BÅ«nÄ« as everyone thought, though there is some BÅ«nÄ« in there; but it has so much to tell us about Islamicate culture, Sufism, and the āproject of forgettingā of esoteric IslÄm among both Muslims and scholars.
Podcast episode
We introduce one of the most extraordinary and influential texts of antiquity for the history of western esotericism: the ChaldƦan Oracles. We discuss questions of authorship (Julian the Theurge, the Gods, or the Soul of Plato?) and the mythic metaphysics found in the text.
Podcast episode
We look at Marcion of Sinope, the final arch-heretic in our āunholy trinityā. Marcion compiled the first Christian textual canon ā he wrote the first Bible ā but this was not your grandma's Bible. Demiurgy, transcendence, and some interesting questions of textual hermeneutics abound.
Podcast episode
The earliest known science of astrology developed in Mesopotamia as one and the same science as the first known astronomy. We chart the earliest known texts and their development.
Podcast episode
With an expert guide, we enter the labyrinth of second-century divinatory dream-interpretation. Artemidorus' Oneirocritica is the west's earliest surviving manual of dream-interpretation, and it's amazing.
Podcast episode
Empedocles: the last great poetic philosopher of antiquity, and a cosmic thinker of mind-blowing ambition. This episode looks at his influential theory of the four elements ā earth, air, fire, and water ā but magic, reincarnation, exiled gods, and cosmic catastrophe come into the discussion as well.
Podcast episode
'Fix'd fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute And found no end, in wand'ring mazes lost.'
Podcast episode
Whenever anyone does something other than arithmetic with numbers, the name Pythagoras tends to crop up. Exactly how this strange situation came about is a fascinating story, and Dr Kalvesmaki has done groundbreaking work on the subject. This episode is a superb introduction to the origins of āgematriaā and arithmology.
Podcast episode
We explore the fascinating parallels between Near Eastern visionary materials and the Jewish apocalyptic texts of the Second Temple. Matthew Neujahr is our guide through the shifting sands of some seriously esoteric texts, as we sift what can be proven from the speculative material.
Podcast episode
We explore the polemics and counter-polemics of Origen's Contra Celsum, with a particular eye toward the use (and abuse) of the esoteric as a strategy of tradition-building, exclusion, and totalising interpretation.
Oddcast episode
Fakhr al-DÄ«n al-RÄzÄ« was a Persian universal scholar and theologian, particularly well-known for his tafsÄ«r or work of Qur'Änic interpretation, a mainstay of Sunni Islam to this day. Less well-known is his work of addressative, astral, talismanic ritual, The Hidden Secret. Michael Noble has published a study of this work in the context of RÄzÄ«'s thought and of the larger intellectual currents in which he swam. Come for the enduring legacy of staunch, but philosophically-rich, Sunni theology, stay for the orgies and severed heads.
Oddcast episode
We discuss those āmagic squaresā that we find in esoteric texts from Indonesia to London, curious grids of numbers often used as astral-magical talismans with integrated alphanumeric mysteries. Bink Hallum has done the research, and lays out the story of the magic square from China to Agrippa.
Podcast episode
We formally introduce the āsubtle bodyā, the mysterious tertium quid which, alongside the soul and the physical body, occupies a central place in the anthropologies of many esoteric traditions. Featuring the triumphant return of Doctor Strange to the podcast.
Podcast episode
So what is magic, anyway? If you think the way magic works is mysterious and occult, try defining what the word āmagicā means! This episode discusses some methodological problems with the term āmagicā, and what we can (and can't) do about them.