Heretics by Woven Energy

In the first of our new multi-part series on Hermeticism we explore the early origins of this esoteric tradition in the empire of Alexander the Great and the subsequent rule of his general Ptolmey's rule over Egypt. This episode sets the scene for our upcoming examination of the Corpus Hermeticum starting from the next episode.

Moving on to the subject of Karate this episode, we review the TV series Cobra Kai (2018-2020) and compare it to the original classic Karate Kid movie.

In our last look at Tai Chi for a while, we examine the context of the times in which Chen Zhaopei and Chen Fake became prominent for their martial arts in Beijing, and then at a national level, joining the wave of commerciality that had been originally instigated by the legacy of Yang Luchan and the Wu brothers. In addition we explain why the forms are similar in general order between the Yang/Wu...

In this episode we examine the Chen family's relationship with General Yuan Shikai, the friction between modernising and conservative factions within China and the events of the Boxer Rebellion.

In this episode we look at the events surrounding Yang Luchan's expulsion from the imperial service in 1861 in the context of the rise to power of Empress Dowager Cixi. We also examine how the involvement of the western powers in Chinese affairs directly led to the Self Strenghtening Movement and the establishment of the first public martial arts schools in North China.

In this episode we look at how the effects of the Taiping Northern Expedition and the Nian Rebellion of the mid Nineteenth Century drew the confucian Wu brothers and the fighters of Chen Village towards each other for the first time.

In this episode we examine the context in which the relationship between Yang Luchan, Wu Chengqing and Wu Yuxiang developed during the years of the Taiping Rebellion and the new regime of Emperor Xianfeng.

Did Tai Chi exist before 1850? In this episode we begin a new series of episodes on this subject by setting the scene and historical background to the mythmaking around the origins of Tai Chi that occurred starting from the middle of the Nineteenth Century in response to social turmoil and unrest exemplified by the Taiping Rebellion and Opium Wars.

Our review of the John-Claude Van Damme and John Woo movie Hard Target. We talk about the role of hunting in human society, and the influence of the Miasma on human collaboration and mutual support (or lack thereof).

Returning to our series on Genesis, we examine the supposed events surrounding Cain and Abel, and their social context in the civilisations of ancient Mesopotamia.

We turn our attention to the Fall of the Song, and examine the posthumous influence of the military legacy of the three great generals, Yue, Han and Zhang, on drawing out the final demise of the Dynasty.

In this episode we discuss the article "Make Xing Yi Wild Again" from Graham Barlow's Tai Chi Notebook, touching on subjects like rewilding, degrowth and shamanic practice.

This episode we head to the movies with the Heretics' review of The Art of Self-Defense, a 2019 film starring Jesse Eisenberg.

Finishing off Day One of the Chymical Wedding, we examine the significance of energy to the esoteric traditions, linking the allegorical representations and numerology in the Chymical Wedding to other traditions that we have discussed.

Today we look at the Chymical Wedding's allegorical depiction of the Miasma, and how and why Christian Rosenkreutz escapes from the pit.

We continue our journey into the Chymical Wedding, discussing why shamanic experience can come as a surprise even to people who are well prepared for it. We also look at the influence of Erasmus, and consider his outlook on the esotericism vs exotericism issue.

The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz is the primary allegory of the Rosicrucian Tradition. The work is divided into 7 days, and in this episode we start out on day 1.

The Rosicrucianism that developed at the beginning of the Fifteenth Century did not spring into existence from nowhere. In this episode we jump far back in time to the origins of the Vedic traditions and explore the early origins of the shamanic fire magic movement that eventually gave birth to Rosicrucianism, as well as setting the scene for future episodes on Alexandrian Syncretism, Hermeticism,...

We turn our attention to the founder of Rosicrucianism, Christian Rosenkreutz, his times, and his relationship to Martin Luther and the Reformation. This will be the first part in a long running series on Rosicrucianism.

In this episode we delve into the convoluted and unusual world of the Shinshukyo, which are often mistranslated as "Japanese New Religions". Pana-Wave is one of the Shinshukyo that illustrates very well both the instinctive feeling that people have for loss-of-Nature and also what the Miasma can do to the responses they come up with.

In this first episode of our new series on Wicca, we look at the historical origins of Wicca in the New Forest Coven in Dorset, England, as well as the background of some of the coven members in the Rosicrucian tradition.

In this episode we discuss the role of General Zhang Jun in the survival of Yue Fei's tradition, as well as in the survival of members of Yue Fei's extended family. We also discuss how Zhang Jun managed to protect himself from the purges carried out by Qin Hui.

In this episode we explore Heraclitus, an ancient Greek who was more Chinese than the Chinese. There are not just parallels between this remarkable man's essential worldview and ancient Daoism - more than that, he was more fundamentally Daoist in outlook than are many contemporary Daoists today.

We head at last to Ancient Greece, and look at the attempts of Thales to challenge the miasma of his time. We also discuss how he agreed with (or perhaps even originated the ideas of) Genesis in a way that modern Christians generally don't.

Forbidden fruit, cruel gods and the Apocryphon of John.