The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)

Our castaway is Carl Abrahamsson, a writer, publisher, magico-anthropologist, filmmaker, and photographer whose decades of exploration in the occultural sphere have helped shape the modern magickal landscape. The esoteric island goes back to the source.

We speak with Dan Levene, expert on the ancient Judæo-Aramaic incantation-bowls, on the bowls, the skulls , the Talmud, and what all of this tells us about late-ancient Judaism in the Sasanian empire and beyond.

In our fourth Roots of Magic interview, we speak with Jonathan Beltz, specialist on the scarier side of ancient Sumerian cultural life, the side occupied by demonic entities bringing disease and death. But one entity stands out from the crowd: Namtar, the divine psychopomp whose arrival means ineluctable mortality. Or does it? We explore the world of magical ways to send death packing in ancient S...

We discuss the dangerous, liminal space of childbirth and childhood in ancient Egypt. How might the gods, magic, and medicine interact to help make this a less perilous realm? Charlotte Rose has some ideas.

The Bodleian Library in Oxford, one of the world's greatest repositories of all manner of cultural treasures, is currently host to an extraordinary exhibition drawing on its collections. The title is Omens, Oracles, and Answers , and the subject is divination. We speak with Michelle Pfeffer, one of the exhibition's organisers.

Our castaway is Gary Lachman, prolific author on many recondite and fascinating currents of modern esotericism and, as Gary Valentine, member of the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame. The esoteric island is touched by the presence.

In our second Roots of Magic interview, we speak with Svenja Nagel on erotic magic in ancient Egypt. Ritual practices and potions, magical continuity and change, and cross-cultural pollination feature prominently in a conversation which tells us what Egyptian erotic magic was, and what dangerous-yet-sexy things you could do with it.

We discuss one of the most exciting initiatives in the study of esotericism currently happening with two members of its scientific committee. RENSEP is looking to crack open the divide between practitioners and scholars, and to devise new methods for studying that most elusive of subjects, ‘esoteric practice’.

The project known as CAS-E (full title ‘Alternative Rationalities and Esoteric Practices from a Global Perspective’) is a major, state-funded, cross-disciplinary investigation of contemporary magic and related topics headquartered at the University of Erlangen. The scope of this thing is ridiculously ambitious. We discuss the project with one of its primary movers, Bernd-Christian Otto.

In the first interview of a new series, we discuss the academic project we have all been waiting for, MagEIA: Magic between Entanglement, Interaction, and Analogy, with one of its principal investigators, Daniel Schwemer. MagEIA will host cross-disciplinary conversations across specialisms in the study of ancient (bronze-age to late antiquity) magic. Amazing work, with amazing things to come.

We are delighted to speak with Mathieu Ossendrijver about an extraordinary project he heads in Berlin investigating the earliest origins and the dissemination of Mesopotamia's most popular export, the zodiac. Interesting things happen at the intersection between scientific and historical methodologies.

There are exciting things afoot in the study of magic and esotericism. Emily Selove of the University of Exeter and Matt Melvin-Koushki from the University of South Carolina tell us about two new graduate programmes in the study of magic and related subjects.

More Nordic animism, plus a dive into pop culture, where the Mighty Thor (Kirby version) rubs shoulders with ancient gods.

We speak with Dr Rune Hjarnø, a man interested in reigniting the spirit of animism within European cultures. Note that that's ‘reigniting’, not importing from ‘indigenous’ cultures. Come for the yule-goats, stay for the Q-shaman.

We are delighted to speak with Dr Lucinda Martin, Director of the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica and Ritman Research Institute in Amsterdam, one of the world's great collections for the study of western esotericism. We discuss the history and current activities of this august institution, its recently having been awarded UNESCO status as a cultural treasure of the Netherlands, and more.

We speak with Cavan McLaughlin, the guiding force behind a very interesting conference called Trans-States , which blurs the boundaries between the study of the esoteric and the esoteric itself. What happens when art, performance, ritual, magic(k), and a healthy does of humour meet in the crucible of the ‘academic conference’?

Our castaway is Ben Chasny, guitarist and composer, whose long-time musical project Six Organs of Admittance is only the most well-known.

   (Living Esoteric Cultures Series Interview 6) A modern pilgrimage was undertaken by some British folks concerned about man-made climate change, from Henley-on-Thames up to the COP-26 Climate Summit in Glasgow, performing ceremonies along the way. Esoteric earth mysteries, ritual practice, and the art of sacred fooling meet political direct action. We discuss the pilgrimage […]

Our castaway is Angela Voss, researcher and lecturer on Renaissance astrology and Platonist esotericism, and performer and composer of early music.

We speak with Rob ‘The Baron’ Miller about the western esoteric influences on his music with Amebix and Tau Cross, and discuss the third Tau Cross album, Masters of Deception. It gets Gnostic.

Ægypt is one of the great occult novels (if we want to make ‘occult novel’ a thing). We are delighted to speak with its author, John Crowley (no relation) about his writing practice, western esotericism, and the question of what the heck happened at the end of the third book.

Crystal Addey is a scholar, philosopher, and woman of parts. Her work on ancient theurgy has broken new ground in recent years, and we see her continue to forge ahead in this interview, in which she asks whether the thought of the ancient Platonists can provide us with valuable insights in the face of environmental crisis. The answer is 'yes', of course, but the contours of that 'yes' will perhaps...

Laurence Caruana is a painter, author, and speaker. His work draws deeply on the western esoteric traditions, particularly of late antiquity, and even more particularly on the central Sethian myth as found in the Apocryphon of John and other ‘Gnostic’ texts. We discuss modern artistic practice, the Fall of Sophia, and a host of other topics of interest to the modern visionary painter.

We talk to saxophonist Randall Hall, whose work fuses the very, very modern and the authentically ancient in a quest for a ‘ritual-symbolic’, theurgic musical practice.

Things never stand still for very long in a young field like Western Esotericism Studies. In this interview we discuss the lively current debate over whether the term ‘western’ should be dropped altogether with a proponent of the ‘get rid of it’ position.