ESOTERICA
ESOTERICA
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Dr. Justin Sledge explores the arcane in history, philosophy, and religion, covering topics such as alchemy, magic, Kabbalah, mysticism, hermetic philosophy, theosophy, and the occult using academic scholarship. The podcast also offers a study guide, rare occult books, and merchandise for enthusiasts.
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Introduction to Merkavah Mysticism - 12 of 15 - Goals of the Merkavah Mysticism 20.08.2026 1sa 17dkWelcome to our seminar on Merkavah MysticismHundreds of years prior to the rise of the Kabbalah, shaman-like rabbinic mystics were described as having made the terrifying and awe-inspiring descent into the Divine Palaces. There they met with and bypassed fearsome angels with magical codes, gained control over angelic powers, became transformed into beings of fire, gained vast wisdom and mounted the very throne of G!d to carefully measure the vast dimensions of the divine body. These experiences and their praxes are recorded in about 50 manuscripts now known as the Hekhalot (lit. palaces) literature. Outside of specialists this late-classical form of (a)(de)scent mysticism is poorly understood and little appreciated. In this course, we will explore the foundations, social origins, myth-world, praxes and the afterlife of Merkavah Mysticism. Consider Supporting Esoterica!Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/esotericachannelOne Time Donation Support - Paypal Donation - https://www.paypal.me/esotericachannelMerch - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoydhtfFSk1fZXNRnkGnneQ/storeNew to Studying Esotericism? Check out my Reading Guide here - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1caKNlW7sogEF7lAeYNbOQF9pt5O5b70yAXa-icUJO3o/edit?usp=sharingRare Occult Books - https://www.esotericaoccultbooks.com/Course Syllabus: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1URUIb_AkZGM3hXzTnPFAwQYkZf_WgL0Q9wWWqSr2ug0/edit?usp=sharingCourse Materials: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-93Z0g92p4xMTFRjk5KznFvh65oRjFAo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Necromancy - How to Read a Historical Book of Magic / Necromancy - Reading a Real Necronomicon 20.08.2026 1sa 4dkThis episode celebrates 1000 Subscribers! This time we answers fans of the channel's request for an analysis of a historical book of magic. What if you were to stumble onto an actual copy of the something like the Necronomicon of HP Lovecraft / Evil Dead lore? How would you go about actually reading it? Here, we discuss at length, the various processes scholars perform to understand medieval books - from book binding, to writing media, to medieval Latin and the complex set of abbreviations that often encode the writing of the middle ages - by looking at a page from CLM 849 or the Munich Necromancer's Manual. As you will see, this specific spell is uses demonic magic to produce a magical cloak capable of rendering the magus invisible to all all manner of beings.Recommended Readings:Richard Kieckhefer - Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer’s Manual of the Fifteenth Century - ISBN-13: 978-0271017518 Bernhard Bischoff - Latin Palaeography: Antiquity and the Middle Ages - 978-0521367264You can also enter for the manuscript just contacting me via my website (https://www.justinsledge.com/contact) with favorite reflections on an episode - I don't this to be strictly based on patron support and that helps to meet legal guidelines so you don't need to pay anything at all to enter!#magic #necromancy #manuscript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Ancient Angel Magic - Sefer HaRazim - The Book of Secrets - Jewish Magic 20.08.2026 20dkThe Sefer HaRazim ( Book of Secrets / Mysteries) is an ancient Jewish book of angel magic dating to the 3rd or 4th century CE. It was discovered in the Cairo Genizah in the 1960's in fragments and was edited together over the course of three years by Mordecai Margalioth. In the text we find descriptions of the seven heavens, angelic military formations, and magical spells corresponding to the various heavens and angels. Sefer HaRazim is an interesting combination of both Merkabah mysticism (in which mystics 'descend' to the throne of the Divine through the palaces of G-d) and the sophisticated technologies of Greco-Egyptian magic. This episode explores the text in depth, several of the spells, angelic names and the long-standing impact of this kind of angelic magic on later traditions of magical practice.Recommended Reading:Michael Morgan - Sepher Ha-Razim: The Book of Mysteries - 978-0891306153Margalioth, Mordecai - Sepher Ha-Razim - Jerusalem: Yediot Achronot, 1966Medieval Latin Translation: https://histbest.ub.uni-leipzig.de/rsc/viewer/UBLHistBestCBU_derivate_00000077/cod_mag_40_jpg/cod_mag_40_001.jpg#angel #magic #judaism Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
What is Spiritual Alchemy? 20.08.2026 39dkWhat is Spiritual Alchemy? Most people interested in alchemy these days are primarily interested in alchemy as a kind of mystical self-transformation. But, where did this concept first emerge in European Alchemy? We first find the concept that the concept of alchemy as spiritual transformation in a obscure text known as Azoth Et Ignis - Azoth and Fire (1584-99/1702). Born in heterodox Protestant, Paracelsian and mystical circles Azoth and Fire argued that in the mystery of the number 666 we find that alchemy is theology and theology is alchemy. But how does Christ become the Stone of the Philosophers' Stone, our means of Spiritual Transformation and the process by which We perfect Nature itself? Let's explore this obscure, profound and important text: Azoth and Fire!Consider Supporting Esoterica!Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/esotericachannelOne Time Donation Support - Paypal Donation - https://www.paypal.me/esotericachannelMerch - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoydhtfFSk1fZXNRnkGnneQ/storeNew to Studying Esotericism? Check out my Reading Guide here - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1caKNlW7sogEF7lAeYNbOQF9pt5O5b70yAXa-icUJO3o/edit?usp=sharingRare Occult Books - https://www.esotericaoccultbooks.com/Recommended Readings:Zuber - Spiritual Alchemy - https://amzn.to/49QU4DXAzoth Et Ignis - https://archive.org/details/azothetignisdasi00fict/mode/1upDas Lebendige Buch : Ms. germ. fol. 1070 , 1599 - https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht?PPN=PPN737954477&PHYSID=PHYS_0045&DMDID=DMDLOG_0001&view=picture-downloadAlchemistische Sammelhandschrift - Cod. Allerheiligen 3 - https://digital.blb-karlsruhe.de/blbdd/content/pageview/2949214 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
The Evolution of Ghosts 20.08.2026 49dkGhosts have a history. Despite seeming like a timeless aspect of religion, metaphysics and culture, ghosts have evolved through time. From polemics with 'pagan' Romans, encounters with Germanic mythology and combat with Enlightenment Rationalism, Ghosts have greatly transformed through time. Let's explore the evolution of the western Ghost.Consider Supporting Esoterica!Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/esotericachannelOne Time Donation Support - Paypal Donation - https://www.paypal.me/esotericachannelMerch - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoydhtfFSk1fZXNRnkGnneQ/storeNew to Studying Esotericism? Check out my Reading Guide here - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1caKNlW7sogEF7lAeYNbOQF9pt5O5b70yAXa-icUJO3o/edit?usp=sharingRare Occult Books - https://www.esotericaoccultbooks.com/Recommended Readings:Medieval Ghost Stories: An Anthology of Miracles, Marvels and Prodigies - https://amzn.to/437On0cGhosts in the Middle Ages: The Living and the Dead in Medieval Society - https://amzn.to/3IX7pQ3Afterlives: The Return of the Dead in the Middle Ages - https://amzn.to/4344vjh Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Esoterica Channel Promo 20.08.2026 3dkI'm Dr. Justin Sledge and welcome to Esoterica where we explore the arcane side of history, philosophy and religion. Support Esoterica: https://www.patreon.com/esotericachannelWhat is that arcane side? We focus on concepts in what can broadly be called esotericism including: magic, mysticism, alchemy, hermetic philosophy, theosophy, gnosticism, and more Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Corpus Hermeticum - Introduction to Hermes Trismegistus and Hermetic Philosophy 20.08.2026 25dkThe Corpus Hermeticum are the texts and teachings ascribed to the legendary Egyptian sage, priest, and philosopher Hermes Trismegistus. When translated and published by Ficino in 1471 these texts were heralded as the very source of pure, perennial wisdom. In the subsequent years, these ideas went on to have a massive impact upon what is now called western esotericism. Just what are these teaching? What is the history of the text? How did this pagan wisdom survive into modernity? In this episode of Esoterica we introduce the Corpus Hermeticum, Hermes Trismegistus & Hermetic Philosophy.Reccomended Reading:Dillion - The Middle Platonists: 80 B.C. to A.D. 220 - 978-0801483165Copenhaver - Hermetica - 978-0521425438Litwa - Hermetica II - 978-1107182530Salaman, van Oyen, Wharto, Mahe - The Way of Hermes - 978-0892811861van Bladel - The Arabic Hermes - 978-0195376135Fowden - The Egyptian Hermes - 978-0691024981Festugière - La révélation d'Hermès Trismégiste - 978-2251326740 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Introduction to Merkavah Mysticism - 7b of 15 - The Map is Not Territory 20.08.2026 1sa 32dkWelcome to our seminar on Merkavah MysticismHundreds of years prior to the rise of the Kabbalah, shaman-like rabbinic mystics were described as having made the terrifying and awe-inspiring descent into the Divine Palaces. There they met with and bypassed fearsome angels with magical codes, gained control over angelic powers, became transformed into beings of fire, gained vast wisdom and mounted the very throne of G!d to carefully measure the vast dimensions of the divine body. These experiences and their praxes are recorded in about 50 manuscripts now known as the Hekhalot (lit. palaces) literature. Outside of specialists this late-classical form of (a)(de)scent mysticism is poorly understood and little appreciated. In this course, we will explore the foundations, social origins, myth-world, praxes and the afterlife of Merkavah Mysticism. Consider Supporting Esoterica!Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/esotericachannelOne Time Donation Support - Paypal Donation - https://www.paypal.me/esotericachannelMerch - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoydhtfFSk1fZXNRnkGnneQ/storeNew to Studying Esotericism? Check out my Reading Guide here - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1caKNlW7sogEF7lAeYNbOQF9pt5O5b70yAXa-icUJO3o/edit?usp=sharingRare Occult Books - https://www.esotericaoccultbooks.com/Course Syllabus: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1URUIb_AkZGM3hXzTnPFAwQYkZf_WgL0Q9wWWqSr2ug0/edit?usp=sharingCourse Materials: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-93Z0g92p4xMTFRjk5KznFvh65oRjFAo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
The Mystical Theology of Affection - Bernard of Clairvaux 20.08.2026 1sa 4dkIs Love fundamental reality? Bernard of Clairvaux (1090 - 1153) is among the pillars of western mysticism. In his mystical theology, he takes John's declaration that "God is Love" to it's radical conclusion: Love is both the means and the goal of all existence. Thus, the soul must undergo a series of transformations through love so as to be raptured up into the Divine Love which is God. Let's explore the mystical theology of Love!Consider Supporting Esoterica!Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/esotericachannelMerch - https://www.youtube.com/@TheEsotericaChannel/storeNew to Studying Esotericism? Check out my Reading Guide here - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1caKNlW7sogEF7lAeYNbOQF9pt5O5b70yAXa-icUJO3o/edit?usp=sharingRare Occult Books - https://www.esotericaoccultbooks.com/Recommended Readings:Bernard of Clairvaux: Selected Works - https://amzn.to/4qU6oZ1Sermons on the Song of Songs Set - https://litpress.org/Products/CFZ02/Sermons-on-the-Song-of-Songs-Set-Volumes-14The Mystical Theology of St. Bernard - https://amzn.to/4r2iO1hThe Growth of Mysticism: Gregory the Great Through the 12 Century - https://amzn.to/4caDAYG Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
The Three Books of Occult Philosophy - Cornelius Agrippa - Renaissance Hermeticism Cabala and Magic 20.08.2026 39dkCornelius Agrippa's 1533 The Three Books of Occult Philosophy is, perhaps, the most famous magical tome in western history. In it, he describes the process by which the magus may return to their prelapsarian, semi-divine state through the process of a reformed natural, celestial and ceremonial magic. Neither a textbook nor a summa, this work is often more celebrated or maligned than actually understood. What does Agrippa actually teach? How do we square his Hermetic idealism with his otherwise radically skeptical attitudes in his other major work of this period? This episode of Esoterica examines this (in)famous text of magic, astrology and cabala.#agrippa #occult #philosophy #magic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Magic in Theory - The Stellar Ray Theory of Al-Kindi 20.08.2026 30dkThis episode is the first in a series focusing on theories of magic. We begin with one of the most popular medieval theories: the stellar rays of Al-Kindi. Al-Kindi, a 9th century Islamicate philosopher, who argued that the stars emits rays which trickle down to the sub-lunar world where they qualify matter. Further, all entities emit rays. Certain occult or hidden rays can be manipulated by the sage to induce apparently supernatural or magical effects though speech, powerful symbols and animal sacrifice. This idea provided a route to natural, as opposed to ritual/demonic, magic in the middle ages and underwrote much of astrological theory. The stellar ray theory would also be built into the famous book of the magic the Picatrix which would be one of the earliest books learned magic to enter Western Europe. Indeed, the argument in defense of occult forces in the universe is essential for modern physics.Recommended readings:Pormann and Peterson - The Philosophical Works of al-Kindi - 978-0199062805 Liana Saif - The Arabic Influences on Early Modern Occult Philosophy - 978-1137399465Al-Kindi - De Radiis (pp. 139-260) - Marie-Thérèse d'Alverny and Françoise HudryArchives d'histoire doctrinale et littéraire du Moyen Age, Vol. 41, 1974 - https://www.jstor.org/stable/i40184716Al-Kindi: On the Stellar Rays - trans. Zoller and Hand - http://www.projecthindsight.com/archives/medieval%20contents/al-kindi.htmlEsmé L K Partridge - Al-Kindi's Theory of The Magical Arts: A Commentary on Al-Kindi's Treatise 'On Rays' - https://www.academia.edu/36457042/Al-Kindis_Theory_of_The_Magical_Arts_A_Commentary_on_Al-Kindis_Treatise_On_Rays#magic #astrology #alkindi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Kabbalah and Zohar - Advice and Tips for Starting to Study the Zohar - the core text of the Kabbalah 20.08.2026 50dkI was recently asked about tips for how to start studying the Zohar, the core text in the development of the Jewish Mystical tradition or Kabbalah. I've been study this incredibly challenging text from both religious and academic perspectives for years and here are some tips and advice for anyone - Jewish, non-Jewish, academic, secular, occultist, or just fan of literature - for starting to study this amazing text. Also note the links to the texts below including some recommendations for editions to study at any level of Zohar study.Sample Section of Talmud - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RLHGFBVl79KWYav7HSgAMblU7Q5lOP4RpTBSjm47tA4/edit?usp=sharingZohar Editions from Starter to AdvancedZohar: Annotated & Explained - 978-1893361515 - Best text for absolute beginnerZohar: The Book of Enlightenment (Classics of Western Spirituality) - 978-0809123872 - More diverse texts, still great for absolute beginnerThe Pritzker Zohar in 12 volumes - https://www.sup.org/zohar/ - Best translation in EnglishSefer Zohar (Hebrew/Aramaic) - Margaliot 3 volume edition - Standard edition for both Academic and Religious referenceFrom here, move on to both academic and religious commentariesThe Zohar can be incredibly challenging to study. Here is a short syllabus in graduated form from easier (Midrash haNe'elam) to more difficult (Idra Rabba) sections:Midrash haNe'elam / The Hidden Midrash - (2:4a–5b, 14a–22a, 2:35b–40b 46b-47b and volume 11 of the Pritzker Zohar vol. 11 )The Sava (2:94b–114a - Pritzker Zohar vol. 5) and Yanuka pericopes (3:186a–92a - Pritzker Zohar vol. 9)The main body of the Zohar - The Introduction being a real challengeIdra Zuta or the The Lesser Assembly (3:287b–96b - Pritzker Zohar vol. 9)Sifra di-Tzeni'uta (2:176b–179a - Pritzker Zohar vol. 9)Idra Rabba or The Greater Assembly (3:127b–145a - Pritzker Zohar vol. 8)#kabbalah #zohar #mysticism Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
The Mystical Dreams of Descartes - Exploring the Origins of Rationalism and Modernity 20.08.2026 45dkIn this episode we explore the non-rational origins of rationalism by investigating a series of dreams had by Rene Descartes - thought to have founded rationalism and modern philosophy - on the night of November 10/11, 1619. Early in his career Descartes, like many intellectuals of his day, was searching for new intellectual and scientific foundations as the worldview provided by Aristotle had become moribund. In this search, Descartes explores many avenues for the truth from strict logic to mystical Rosicrucianism. In this context, he experiences a profound fit of 'enthusiasm' and has a series of three dreams which ground and propel his own foundationalist project. This episode explores how the origins of rationalism and modernity are simply more esoteric, even mystical, than we typically learn in intellectual history or philosophy classes.Recommended Readings:Adrien Baillet - La vie de Monsieur Descartes - https://archive.org/download/bub_gb_RhNEAAAAcAAJ/bub_gb_RhNEAAAAcAAJ.pdfJohn Cottingham - The Philosophical Writings of Descartes in 3 vols.Alice Browne - Descartes's Dreams - https://www.jstor.org/stable/750999Michael Keevak - Descartes's Dreams and Their Address for Philosophy - https://www.jstor.org/stable/2709883William Shea - Descartes and the Rosicrucian Enlightenment - Metaphysics and Philosophy of Science in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, Pages 73-99Frances A. Yates - The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, pgs 113 et passim#descartes #philosophy #rationalism Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Introduction to Merkavah Mysticism - 11 of 15 - Qualifications and Praxes of the Merkavah 20.08.2026 1sa 43dkWelcome to our seminar on Merkavah MysticismHundreds of years prior to the rise of the Kabbalah, shaman-like rabbinic mystics were described as having made the terrifying and awe-inspiring descent into the Divine Palaces. There they met with and bypassed fearsome angels with magical codes, gained control over angelic powers, became transformed into beings of fire, gained vast wisdom and mounted the very throne of G!d to carefully measure the vast dimensions of the divine body. These experiences and their praxes are recorded in about 50 manuscripts now known as the Hekhalot (lit. palaces) literature. Outside of specialists this late-classical form of (a)(de)scent mysticism is poorly understood and little appreciated. In this course, we will explore the foundations, social origins, myth-world, praxes and the afterlife of Merkavah Mysticism. Consider Supporting Esoterica!Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/esotericachannelOne Time Donation Support - Paypal Donation - https://www.paypal.me/esotericachannelMerch - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoydhtfFSk1fZXNRnkGnneQ/storeNew to Studying Esotericism? Check out my Reading Guide here - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1caKNlW7sogEF7lAeYNbOQF9pt5O5b70yAXa-icUJO3o/edit?usp=sharingRare Occult Books - https://www.esotericaoccultbooks.com/Course Syllabus: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1URUIb_AkZGM3hXzTnPFAwQYkZf_WgL0Q9wWWqSr2ug0/edit?usp=sharingCourse Materials: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-93Z0g92p4xMTFRjk5KznFvh65oRjFAo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
How did Magical Mirrors work? The Necromantic Mirror of Floron 20.08.2026 31dkEnchanted Mirrors are one of the quintessential objects in the history of magic. But, how were historical mirrors of magic made? What did they do? And, how did they work? Let's explore the history of magical mirrors by turning to perhaps the most famous such mirror of the Middle Ages: The Necromantic Mirror of Floron. Here we find a mirror that will summon a spirit that will answer questions about the past, present and future but only following complex rituals. Recommended Readings:Kieckhefer - Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer’s Manual of the Fifteenth Century - https://amzn.to/3KNmtQOPage - Spellbound: Magic, Ritual and Witchcraft - https://amzn.to/4o0766aForeman - The Cambridge Book of Magic - https://amzn.to/4h9TD9L Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
What is the Hermetic God and Demiurge? 20.08.2026 49dkThe concept of the Demiurge is often associated with the demonic cosmos creator of the Gnostics. But, what do we know about the ancient Hermetic Demiurge? Emerging from the world of Greco-Egyptian religion and philosophy, Hermeticism was a powerfully optimistic means of reuniting one's high consciousness (Nous) with the Divine Parental Light after exorcising one's body of fatalistic daimonic infestation. But, the Hermetic Spiritual Philosophy is ambivalent about the place of any Demiurge in it's cosmology and means of salvation. Yet, some texts do speak of a magnificent Solar Demiurge as the conduit and cosmic artisan. Just what is the place of the Demiurge in Hermeticism?Demiurge 1 - https://youtu.be/mTnQ__VSQzcDemiurge 2 - https://youtu.be/GWHLuZgixHIDemiurge 3 - https://youtu.be/xfG0w4k6EA8Demiurge 4 - https://youtu.be/kq-CoIFf8l0Thumbnail art from Zdzisław Beksiński Consider Supporting Esoterica!Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/esotericachannelOne Time Donation Support - Paypal Donation - https://www.paypal.me/esotericachannelMerch - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoydhtfFSk1fZXNRnkGnneQ/storeNew to Studying Esotericism? Check out my Reading Guide here - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1caKNlW7sogEF7lAeYNbOQF9pt5O5b70yAXa-icUJO3o/edit?usp=sharingRare Occult Books - https://www.esotericaoccultbooks.com/Recommended Readings:Hermetic Spirituality and the Historical Imagination - https://amzn.to/4r7cRRBHermetica I: The Corpus Hermeticum, Asclepius, and Nag Hammadi Hermetica Ordered as a Path of Initiation - https://amzn.to/47P4kvfDr. David Litwa's YT channel - @m.davidlitwa The Demiurge in Ancient Thought: Secondary Gods and Divine Mediators - https://amzn.to/49tSc3Z Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Introduction to Merkavah Mysticism - 13 of 15 - The Sar Torah and Sh’iur Komah 20.08.2026 1sa 19dkWelcome to our seminar on Merkavah MysticismHundreds of years prior to the rise of the Kabbalah, shaman-like rabbinic mystics were described as having made the terrifying and awe-inspiring descent into the Divine Palaces. There they met with and bypassed fearsome angels with magical codes, gained control over angelic powers, became transformed into beings of fire, gained vast wisdom and mounted the very throne of G!d to carefully measure the vast dimensions of the divine body. These experiences and their praxes are recorded in about 50 manuscripts now known as the Hekhalot (lit. palaces) literature. Outside of specialists this late-classical form of (a)(de)scent mysticism is poorly understood and little appreciated. In this course, we will explore the foundations, social origins, myth-world, praxes and the afterlife of Merkavah Mysticism. Consider Supporting Esoterica!Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/esotericachannelOne Time Donation Support - Paypal Donation - https://www.paypal.me/esotericachannelMerch - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoydhtfFSk1fZXNRnkGnneQ/storeNew to Studying Esotericism? Check out my Reading Guide here - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1caKNlW7sogEF7lAeYNbOQF9pt5O5b70yAXa-icUJO3o/edit?usp=sharingRare Occult Books - https://www.esotericaoccultbooks.com/Course Syllabus: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1URUIb_AkZGM3hXzTnPFAwQYkZf_WgL0Q9wWWqSr2ug0/edit?usp=sharingCourse Materials: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-93Z0g92p4xMTFRjk5KznFvh65oRjFAo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Psychedelic Natural Magic - Potions from the 1558 Magiae Naturalis of Giambattista della Porta 20.08.2026 15dkWhile psychoactive substances are a core component in many religious traditions, with the exception of alcohol, they are conspicuously missing from much of the western European context. Did and how did such substances play a role in religious, philosophy, mysticism, and magic? This episode explores what appears to be an early selection of mind-altering compounds found in the enormously popular 1558 Magiae Naturalis (On Natural Magic). of Giambattista della Porta. Here della Porta describes four such 'potions,' to use his language, which allegedly cause "pleasant madness for a day" and provide for a range of phenomenological effects from 'being silly' to 'thinking one an animal or fish." What role did "potions" like these play beyond recreation - such as the ubiquitous flying ointments of the middle ages? What does it mean for such "potions" to appear in a book on "natural magic"?Disclaimer and Plea: I've blurred out sections which contain specific ingredients, amounts, and processes for creating the 'potions' described by della Porta for reasons of safety. It is highly unadvised to attempt to recreate or ingest anything described in this text. I also know that early modern translations of this text exist and they are very easy to find. Please respect my wishes to not reproduce the description (in Latin, English, etc.) for how to make these 'potions' in the comments. I want encourage safety, responsible consumption of psychoactive substances, and harm reduction and without specialist vetting I can't reproduce these instructions in good conscious. Comments which violate this request will be deleted. Recommended Readings:Giambattista della Porta - 1558 - Magiae Naturalis (On Natural Magic) - https://books.google.com/books?id=R6vzpy4WQYMC&pg=PR5#v=onepage&q&f=false#magic #psychedelics #occultism Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Esoteric Film Review and Analysis - A Dark Song 20.08.2026 16dkA review and analysis of the 2016 film A Dark Song. I'll be discussing the esoteric and occult aspects of the film including the Abramelin operation, Aleister Crowley's infamous invocation at Boleskine, and some thoughts on how the film deals with the Faustian trope in a novel manner.A whole video on the Abramelin operation will appear in the future as part of Esoterica's series on books of magic - stay tuned!Support Esoterica on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/esotericachannelRecommended Readings:A Dark Song trailer and rent - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-S3JqJZJ3sDehn, Guth, Duquette - The Book of Abramelin: A New Translation - 978-0892542147 - The best edition of the text (sadly, no critical edition of the text exists to date)Mathers - The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage - 978-0486232119 - Classic but defectiveSadly, it appears that Crowley's Confessions are out of print and very exspensive but I am sure they can be found onlineThe Boleskine House Foundation - https://www.boleskinehouse.org/ - contact them to help restore this important piece of Scottish and Esoteric history!#occult #abramelin #crowley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Re-Creating a 400 year old Alchemy Potion from Wormwood...then Trying it! 20.08.2026 44dkIt's often forgotten that Alchemy was central for revolutions in Medicine, especially pharmacology. Following the theories of Paracelsus, I'm re-creating a 400 year old curative potion from Wormwood. How was alchemical medicine made? How did they think it worked? And, what does it taste like and what does it do? Let's re-create some authentic alchemy medicine from 400 years ago!Consider Supporting Esoterica!Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/esotericachannelOne Time Donation Support - Paypal Donation - https://www.paypal.me/esotericachannelMerch - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoydhtfFSk1fZXNRnkGnneQ/storeNew to Studying Esotericism? Check out my Reading Guide here - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1caKNlW7sogEF7lAeYNbOQF9pt5O5b70yAXa-icUJO3o/edit?usp=sharingRare Occult Books - https://www.esotericaoccultbooks.com/Recommended Readings:Linden - The Alchemy Readerhttps://amzn.to/3VUhamtPrincipe - The Secrets of Alchemyhttps://amzn.to/3vSUOqyNewman - Newton the Alchemisthttps://amzn.to/3VK513lRampling - The Experimental Fire: Inventing English Alchemy, 1300–1700https://amzn.to/3VTzlZuZuber - Spiritual Alchemyhttps://amzn.to/43Qfmg7Weeks - Paracelsus: Speculative Theory & the Crisis of the Early Reformationhttps://amzn.to/3PVbyEGParacelsus: Essential Readingshttps://amzn.to/43QUSUuAbraham - A Dictionary of Alchemical Imageryhttps://amzn.to/3xt3Xqx Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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