ANGELA'S SYMPOSIUM 📖 Academic Study on Witchcraft, Paganism, esotericism, magick and the Occult

This episode offers a critical, historically grounded examination of Aphrodite as a trans-cultural religious phenomenon rather than a stable mythological figure. It traces the goddess’s development from Near Eastern traditions associated with Astarte, Ishtar, and Inanna through her incorporation into Greek religion, where tensions between her martial, erotic, civic, and cosmic dimensions produced...

Join Maevius Lynn and me on Sunday, 28 December at 6 pm GMT and 1 pm EST for a fascinating conversation on all things Thelema. ABOUT OUR GUEST Maevius Lynn is a writer, artist, international lecturer, and ceremonial magician who currently resides in the Southern United States. Her work approaches Thelema as a living tradition from the perspective of both a solitary practitioner and an initiate of...

Join me live on Sunday 21 December at 6 pm GMT, 1 pm EST, for a festive and thought provoking deep dive into the Winter Solstice. In the first half of the livestream we will journey through midwinter traditions from around the world, exploring fire, feasting, ancestors, rebirth, and the many ways humans have ritualised the longest night of the year. Expect myths, surprising historical details, and...

This livestream brings together Manon Hedenborg White and Henrik Bogdan to discuss their newly co-edited volume The Magical Diaries of Leah Hirsig, 1923 to 1925, published by Oxford University Press. The book presents, for the first time, a critical edition of Hirsig’s surviving diaries from the period when she served as Aleister Crowley’s Scarlet Woman and played a formative role within the devel...

Have you ever lit a candle, whispered an incantation, and watched something uncannily fitting happen days later? Was it magic, or just a well-timed coincidence? In the world of esoteric practice, we are trained to notice patterns, to read signs, to find meaning where others see randomness. But what if some of those connections aren’t what they seem? What if we’re mistaking correlation for causatio...

This lecture explores the provocative question: Can magic stop wars? Drawing on historical and cross-cultural sources, we examine how rituals and spells have been used not merely as private acts of devotion but as technologies of politics, resistance, and reconciliation. From the Assyrian Maqlû tablets and Egyptian execration rites, to the Wiccan “Cone of Power” against Hitler and the modern #Magi...

In this episode, Dr Angela Puca unpacks one of the most fascinating questions in the study and practice of magic: how does magic actually work? Drawing on both historical and contemporary scholarship, she explores the six major explanatory models: the spirit, psychological, natural or energetic, information or cybernetic, sociological, and transcendent or mystical frameworks. Each reveals a differ...

For over thirty years, Richard Kaczynski has been a scholar, speaker and writer on Western esotericism, particularly the life and work of British occultist Aleister Crowley. His publications include Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley (2002, 2010), The Weiser Concise Guide to Aleister Crowley (2009), Forgotten Templars: The Untold Origins of Ordo Templi Orientis (2012), Friendship in Doubt: Al...

What happens when a work of fiction becomes a real grimoire? In this episode, we explore The Demons of the Necronomicon, H. P. Lovecraft’s imagined pantheon of cosmic entities and their extraordinary transformation into living figures within modern occultism. Drawing on peer-reviewed research, we trace how Cthulhu, Yog-Sothoth, and Nyarlathotep escaped the pages of pulp horror to become objects of...

Asmodeus is more than the “demon of lust.” In this episode, I trace his journey from the Avestan aēšma in Zoroastrian texts to Ashmedai in Jewish literature, through the Book of Tobit and the Babylonian Talmud, into Islamic narratives of Solomon’s throne, and on to Christian demonology, Renaissance grimoires, Enlightenment satire, and modern occult reinterpretations. Rather than a single biography...

Ivy Corvus has been practicing various occult philosophies for 20 years. She is the author of "Chaos Magic: A Complete Beginner's Guide", a contributing author to "This is Chaos: Embracing The Future Of Magic", and has written for Pagan Dawn magazine. Ivy is best known as “Ivy The Occultist” on her YouTube channel, established in 2022. She is a seer, witch, chaos magician,...

Across three millennia, the goddess Astarte was recast as the demon Astaroth: a transformation that reveals more about humanity’s fear of the sacred feminine than any real change in divinity. This episode traces that metamorphosis from ancient Mesopotamian goddess to grimoire demon and modern occult archetype. Drawing on sources from biblical polemics and Renaissance demonology, as well as feminis...

This video explores the fascinating figure of Paimon, one of the most prominent kings of the Goetia, tracing his journey from early modern demonological catalogues to his reinvention in contemporary occultism and popular culture. We will examine how his image shifts across grimoires, from Johann Weyer’s Pseudomonarchia Daemonum to the Ars Goetia, and how his regal yet ambiguous traits became symbo...

Is there such a thing as a universal human experience of the divine, or are all encounters shaped by culture, language, and power? In this video, we explore the classic debate between perennialism and constructivism, from William James and Mircea Eliade to Steven Katz, Talal Asad, and beyond. Drawing on philosophy, anthropology, psychology, and neuroscience, we look at how claims of universality a...

In this episode, we explore the complex and often uneasy relationship between science and magic. Rather than asking whether magic is "real," we examine why scientific methods struggle to capture the essence of magical practices, and whether such validation is even desirable. From questions of measurement and philosophy to issues of cultural autonomy and demystification, this lecture reve...

What happens when Italian folk traditions cross the Atlantic? This video explores how Italian witchcraft, especially the healing practice of Segnature, has been reimagined, reinvented, and often misrepresented in the United States. From Leland’s Aradia to Wicca-inspired “Stregheria,” we’ll look at how Italian-American communities blended folklore, Catholic devotion, and Pagan spirituality to creat...

Explore the teachings of the Temple of Set, one of the most influential yet misunderstood esoteric movements of the modern era. From Michael A. Aquino’s Diabolicon to the mysterious Leviathan Working, this lecture uncovers the philosophy of Xeper (self-becoming), the myth of Lucifer/Set, and the Temple’s quest for self-deification. Drawing on peer-reviewed scholarship and rare sources, we trace ho...

In this video, I explore Aleister Crowley’s The Vision and the Voice and why it remains one of the most powerful and unsettling texts in the Western esoteric tradition. I look at how the figure of Babalon emerges as both a theophany and a ritual of unmaking, and how this visionary work challenges our assumptions about magic, subjectivity, and divine encounter. I also trace the shifting image of Li...

What do angels, secret languages, and occult orders have in common? Enochian magic. In this episode, we trace its evolution from John Dee’s apocalyptic visions in Elizabethan England to the ritual systems of the Golden Dawn, Aleister Crowley’s initiatory drama, and its surprising reinventions in contemporary occultism—from chaos magic to digital ritual tech. Drawing on original sources and modern...

Who was Saint Cyprian: a holy bishop, a legendary sorcerer, or both? In this video, I explore the enigmatic figure of Saint Cyprian through the lens of history, folk magic, and grimoire traditions. Drawing on academic sources and rare magical texts, we trace the evolution of his legend from early Christian writings to the Black Books of Norway, the Clavis Inferni, and Latin American necromantic pr...

CONNECT & SUPPORT💖 MY COURSES 👩🏻‍🎓 https://drangelapuca.com/courses WEBSITE & NEWSLETTER 💌 https://www.drangelapuca.com/#newsletter BOOK A TUTORING OR A LECTURE 📖https://drangelapuca.com/services BECOME MY PATRON! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/angelapuca SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI ☕️https://ko-fi.com/drangelapuca ONE-OFF DONATIONS 💰 https://paypal.me/angelasymposium JOIN MEMBERSHIPS 👥 https...

What do bread blessings, hilltop fairs, and a Celtic god of light have in common? In this video, I explore the real history of Lammas and Lughnasadh, the first harvest festival in the Pagan Wheel of the Year. Drawing on peer-reviewed scholarship and historical sources, I trace the festival’s roots in ancient Celtic rites, its Christian transformation into Loaf Mass, and its creative revival in mod...

What is the Church of the SubGenius? What if parody could be sacred? This video explores the Church of the SubGenius—a surreal blend of satire, esotericism, and counterculture. Discover the origins of “Bob” Dobbs, the mystery of Slack, and how this invented religion both mocks and mirrors spiritual belief. Drawing from academic research on contemporary religion, occultism, and pop culture, this ep...

What if divination doesn’t just reveal the future, but intervenes in it? In this episode, I explore the philosophical and esoteric dimensions of divination, asking what it really means to predict the future and whether that future can be changed. Drawing on thinkers from Boethius to Bergson, Kant to Crowley, I examine how different conceptions of time—linear, cyclical, eternalist, presentist, and...

In this video, I explore the magical dimension of Bruno’s thought—an aspect often overlooked or dismissed in favour of his more fashionable reputation as a forerunner of modern astronomy. But Bruno was no mere proto-scientist. He was a visionary who believed that the universe was infinite, ensouled, and fundamentally magical—a living network of correspondences that could be navigated through imagi...