Necromancy – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)

Storytime: Reading Eunapius, Part III: The Diviners’ Purge and the End of the Theurgic Revolution

We explore the tragic dénouement of Julian's reign and the rôle played therein by Maximus of Ephesus. Along the way we see a transfer of power to the Valentinianic dynasty, a ferocious political purge of suspected magicians and diviners, and learn of Maximus' final fate. We also get two descriptions of ancient, private divination-practices in action, but only one of them is something to try at home!

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Storytime: A cavern pleasant, though involv’d in night. Reading Porphyry’s On the Cave of the Nymphs, Part I

We begin a detailed read-through of the greatest work of esoteric reading to survive from antiquity. Come for the depth-allegorical reading of the ancient wisdom, stay for the Mithraic lore, necromancy, and ghosts.

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Episode 73: Ineffable Initiations and Golden Asses: Apuleius of Madauros and the Metamorphoses

Apuleius was a great Latin-language Middle Platonist writer, whose works preserve some fascinating esoteric materials which had a major impact on the development of western esotericism in the Latin middle ages and beyond. We introduce the man and his famous occult novel, the Metamorphoses, or Golden Ass.

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Jesus the Magician? Interrogating Ancient and Modern Discourses of Ritual Power in the Gospels

We explore the evidence in the New Testament for accusations that Jesus was a magus or a sorcerer. Turns out there's quite a lot of them. What we are to make of these accusations, that's the question. We discuss ancient critics, Gospel apologists, and modern scholars.

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Episode 60: The Esoteric and the State in Ancient Rome, Part 1: Late Republican Esotericism

In the first of a two-episode series exploring the relationship between state power and esoteric ideas in the late Roman Republic and early empire, we look at what it meant to be esoteric at Rome, and investigate some upper-class Roman esotericists.

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Podcast Episodes Themed "Necromancy"

Storytime: Reading Eunapius, Part III: The Diviners’ Purge and the End of the Theurgic Revolution

Storytime: A cavern pleasant, though involv’d in night. Reading Porphyry’s On the Cave of the Nymphs, Part I

Episode 73: Ineffable Initiations and Golden Asses: Apuleius of Madauros and the Metamorphoses

Jesus the Magician? Interrogating Ancient and Modern Discourses of Ritual Power in the Gospels

Episode 60: The Esoteric and the State in Ancient Rome, Part 1: Late Republican Esotericism