Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP) Earl Fontainelle
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- Education
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Exploring the forgotten and rejected story of Western thought
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The Esoteric Proclus, Part I: The Life and Thought of an Esoteric Sage
We look further into Proclus' esoteric doings, as a sage whose privileged status is marked by inspirations and epiphanies, omens and miracles. We then attempt a (shamefully oversimplified) summary of some important aspects of his (meta)physics.
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Dylan Burns on Proclus the Successor
We welcome Dylan Burns back to the podcast to discuss the life, works, and philosophy of Proclus the Successor. ‘All in all, but appropriately to each’
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Hierocles of Alexandria and the Pythagorean Golden Verses
We discuss Hierocles of Alexandria, strudent of Plutarch of Athens made good. He wrote an esoteric commentary on the poem known as the Golden Verses of the Pythagoreans. The poem is full of good advice and the Commentary tells us a lot about the nature and purification of the luminous subtle body.
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The Great God Pan Lives: Introducing the Athenian Academy
We turn to the final flowering of polytheist Platonist philosophy, centred on Athens (and Alexandria). We review some useful historical data, discuss the history of ‘the Academy’ as a notional ‘school’ in antiquity, and introduce Plutarch of Athens and Syrianus, teachers of the great Proclus.
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Ↄ. Martiana on Martianus Capella and the Marriage of Philology and Mercury
We discuss Martianus Capella and his extraordinary and vexing philological ascent-account, the Marriage of Philology and Mercury. Ↄ. Martiana guides us through a geocentric kosmos where liberal arts are planetary spheres, gods are physical elements, the planets are daimones, but absolutely nothing is as it seems.
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Macrobius and the Commentary on Scipio’s Dream
We explore the rich seam of late-antique esoteric lore that is Macrobius' Commentary on the Dream of Scipio. We discuss who Macrobius was, what he wrote, what he wrote about, and introduce who read him later on. He emerges as a crucial transmitter of astrologised, arithmologically-informed Platonism to the Latin west in the middle ages.
Customer Reviews
What did we do before the SHWEP!?
Dear Earl, you have helped make this listener a gentle one, as the more insight you present, the less restless I become.
I realize episodes are currently branching through a timeline of Western Esoteric thought and writing, which is great, but for the future would you please kindly consider an exploration of Lilith beyond what we know of her in 8-10th Century texts and Sumerian myth? Where do scholars stand on her wildly various interpretations these days? Can we tease her out of any emerging translations as anything other than a pre-Eve, a succubus, a baby killer, or a general pedagogical device concerning shame? Does anyone view her as a metaphorical representation within the alchemical process or something of the like? Can you please get on top of this? Haha.
Outstanding!
May I request an exploration into George Gurdjieff?
I’m eating up every episode of this series of esoterica.
The DNA of the Western Mind
This podcast should be required listening for any Bachelor of Arts degree or any Western individual who wants to see above the maze of their own psyche. Simply wonderful.
Top Man.