Podcast episode
Episode 180: Augustine of Hippo: Saint of the Exoteric
We discuss Augustine the anti-esotericist, who denies that Christianity has any esoteric dimensions. He employs the esoteric to do so. Can you trust a guy who does that?
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Oddcast episode
Tzvi Langermann on the Sefer Yetsira: Cosmology, Science, and Kabbala
We discuss the extraordinary reception-history of the extraordinary text known as Sefer Yetsirah, the āBook of Formationā. The Sefer Yetsirah would eventually become a foundational text for the Kabbalist movements of the high middle ages, but it was (and is) much more than that. Professor Langermann lays out the evolutions in reading this text from Saāadia Gaon to Aryeh Kaplan.
Podcast episode
Episode 175: Jay Bregman on Synesius of Cyrene
We dive into the fascinating life and thought of Synesius of Cyrene, Platonist philosopher and student of Hypatia of Alexandria, and Orthodox bishop of PtolemaĆÆs. Committed Christian or pagan bishop? We'll see ....
Podcast episode
Episode 29: Otherworlds, Inner Worlds, and Utopias
Platoās Republic is the worldās first utopia. But what is a utopia, exactly, and how does it differ from the other invisible worlds we encounter in western esoteric traditions, the otherworlds and inner worlds? We survey types of esoteric space.
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.
Oddcast episode
Emily Selove on the Magical Book of al-SakkÄkÄ«
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
Marina Alexandrova Introduces Madame Blavatsky
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
Episode 150: The Testament of Solomon and the Solomonic Tradition, Part I
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
Episode 45: Stoic Physics and Esoteric Metaphysics
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
Members only: David HernƔndez de la Fuente on Nonnus of Panopolis
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
Noah Gardiner on the Pseudo-Bunian Shams al-maŹæÄrif al-kubrÄ and the Corpus Bunianum
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
Episode 75: The ChaldƦan Oracles
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
Episode 84: Other Gospels and Alien Gods: Marcion of Sinope
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
Episode 10: Prayer to the Gods of Night: The Near-Eastern Roots of Astrology
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
Episode 71: Daniel Harris-McCoy on the Oneirocritica of Artemidorus
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
Episode 21: Elementary: Empedocles and the Secret History of the Elements
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
Members only: Chris Brennan Gets Fatal(istic)
'Fix'd fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute And found no end, in wand'ring mazes lost.'
Podcast episode
Episode 47: The Numbers Donāt Lie: Joel Kalvesmaki on āPythagoreanā Number
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
Members only: Matthew Neujahr on Near-Eastern Roots of Apocalyptic
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
Episode 99: Total War: Polemical Esotericism in the Contra Celsum
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.
