Podcast episode
Episode 129: NilĂźfer Akçay on Porphyry’s On the Cave of the Nymphs
We speak with Nilßfer Akçay, author of the only full-length English monograph on Porphyry's On the Cave of the Nymphs.
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Oddcast episode
Jason Josephson Storm on the Myth of Disenchantment
We discuss the widespread idea of the âdisenchantmentâ of the modern world â the idea that âwe don't believe in magic any moreâ â with Jason Josephson-Storm. It turns out that the idea is a myth, that the myth is actually a number of complex, interacting myths, and that none of them is empirically-accurate.
Podcast episode
Episode 100: Thrice-Greatest Hermes
We introduce the sage of sages, the barbarian philosopher of philosophers, the one and only (unless there were more of him) Thrice-Greatest Hermes. We also introduce his copious literary output, the Hermetica, and discuss these writings in an introductory way.
Podcast episode
So What is Western Esotericism, Anyway?
An introduction to the podcast, discussing briefly what we mean by âwestern esotericismâ. This episode also answers the burning question, âWhatâs so âsecretâ about The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast?â and features a short quiz to test your knowledge of western esoteric history.
Podcast episode
Members only: Storytime: Reading Cicero’s Dream of Scipio
We explore the Dream of Scipio, Cicero's cryptic work in which one Scipio appears to another Scipio in a dream and instructs him in astral religion, numerical/astrological cosmology, the fate of just souls in the astral afterlife, and much more. Not bad for a lawyer.
Podcast episode
Members only: Storytime: Reading Hierocles on the Golden Verses, Part I
In part I of our Hierocles Storytime, we delve into the text of Hierocles' Commentary, discussing the question of Christianity, the noetic tetrad, and possible avenues of the esoteric in Hierocles' work.
Podcast episode
Episode 18: Don’t Spill the Beans: Pythagorean Silence
One of the key legacies of ancient Pythagoreanism is its mystique of esoteric silence. We examine the figure of the late-antique 'Pythagorean' philosopher, whose silence is a higher form of speech, and the dynamics of esoteric discourse which cannot, by definition, be revealed.
Podcast episode
Episode 25: The Esoteric Plato
Plato was long considered an esoteric author who hid his true doctrines within his dialogues. We look at some of the reasons for his reputation as the esoteric author par excellence, and discuss modern academic debates around the âesoteric questionâ.
Podcast episode
Episode 57: The Esoteric Philo
In this episode we explore the deeply esoteric thought of Philo of Alexandria. Expect hidden ancient perennial traditions, divine revelation, esoteric philosophic truths hidden in plain sight, arithmological speculations, and much more.
Podcast episode
Members only: Philhellenism and the Egyptian Other: Wouter Hanegraaff on Reading the Hermetica
We discuss with Wouter Hanegraaff the history of scholarship of the Hermetica from Reitzenstein's Poimandres (1904) up to the modern day. We question 'the glory that was Greece' and investigate the glory that was Egypt.
Podcast episode
Members only: Dylan Burns Ascends to the PlÄroma
We continue our conversation with Dr Burns, concentrating on envisioning the audience for these Sethian texts and their ilk and the kinds of ritual practices we find adumbrated in the texts. Who were these Gnostics, and what were they doing?
Oddcast episode
Dylan Burns on Providence, Fate, and Dualism in Antiquity
In Part I of a two-part series, we interview Dr Dylan Burns of the Universiteit van Amsterdam on the subjects of providence and fate in Greek philosophy, early Christian philosophy, and a number of esoteric currents partaking of both in late antiquity.
Podcast episode
Episode 50: John J. Collins on Apocalyptic
In this episode Professor John J. Collins introduces a fascinating product of Second Temple Judaism, and a fertile vehicle for esoteric speculation beyond the bounds of Jewry â apocalyptic literature. All will be revealed!
Oddcast episode
Magic, Technology, Art, and Enlightenment: Gillian McIver on Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourgh
We discuss Philippe-Jacques (or âPhilip Jamesâ) de Loutherbourgh, accomplished eighteenth-century painter, polyglot socialite, alchemist, Occultist, healer, and inventor of the cinema.
Podcast episode
Members only: The Secret Life of the Undescended Self
We discuss Plotinus' controversial doctrine that some aspect of the human being never descends into the materialised kosmos, but remains eternally in the noetic. More importantly, we discuss Plotinus' descriptions of what it is like to be that higher aspect of the human being. Dig eternity!
Oddcast episode
Tatiana Bur on Living Statues, Then and Now
We speak with an expert on the (religious) use of automata in the classical world, in an attempt to enter into the thought-world and technological practice of the ancient theurgists. Come for the living statues, stay for the giant snail-robot.
Podcast episode
Episode 171: âVisibly a Goddessâ: Heidi Marx on Sosipatra of Pergamum
We discuss Sosipatra of Pergamum, an otherwise-unknown late polytheist holy woman and philosopher, depicted by her biographer Eunapius as a living goddess as well as a philosophic teacher in the lineage of Iamblichus. Come for the Late Platonist resistance to Christianity in the fourth century, stay for the mysterious ChaldĂŚan strangers.
Podcast episode
Episode 114: Plotinus the Magician? Ritual Practice and Power in Platonism
We discuss Plotinus on âmagicâ, in theory, and, yes, in practice. Come for magic as applied physics, stay for the apotropaic chickens.
Podcast episode
Episode 169: Strategies of the Esoteric in the Hellenism of the Emperor Julian: Exclusion and Pluralism in a Late-Antique Polytheism
We discuss the dynamics of Julian's esoteric religious/political formulation of Hellenism, and reflect on some of the very strange things that happen when esoteric religions like Iamblichean theurgy (and Christianity) are taken out of the small conclave and projected onto the corridors of power.
Podcast episode
Episode 178: Stephen A. Cooper on Marius Victorinus and Latinate Christian Platonism
We discuss Marius Victorinus, a fascinating character from the tumultuous Roman scene in the mid fourth century who converted from Platonism to Platonism-plus-Christianity. His life and thought give us a valuable window onto the cultural scene in fourth-century Rome, as well, as some crucial data for the transmission of Platonist ideas into the Latinate middle ages.
