Podcast Episodes
Back to Search
Porphyry and the Barbarians: Ethnicity, Religious Practice, and Esoteric Interpretation
We get into Porphyry's reception of Greek and non-Greek wisdom, and the ways in which esoteric truth is to be found in various cultural locales. We a…
4 years, 10 months ago
Dorian Greenbaum on Porphyry and Astrology
We talk astrology in Porphyry with Dorian Greenbaum, historian of astrology and philosophy. Along the way we situate ourselves within the history of …
4 years, 10 months ago
Porphyry’s Gods: The Metaphysics and Physics of Divinity
We discuss the universe of Porphyry, which is crawling with gods, powers, and daimones, and some of the ways a human being might expect to navigate s…
4 years, 10 months ago
‘Poet, Philosopher, Hierophant’: Introducing Porphyry of Tyre
We introduce Porphyry of Tyre, a most prolific Platonist writer and thinker. Come for the Platonist metaphysics, stay for the esoteric reading-strate…
4 years, 10 months ago
Charles M. Stang on the Divine Double in Late Antiquity
We discuss the motif of the divine twin, angelic counterpart, personal daimōn, and other forms of higher, divine self with Charles Stang. We may not …
4 years, 11 months ago
Jason BeDuhn on Mani and Manichæism
We discuss one of the most anomalous, vexing, and fascinating religious movements in history, the first to span east and west, the elusive but crucia…
5 years ago
Radcliffe G. Edmonds III on the ‘Mithrasliturgie’
We discuss PGM IV 475-824, the famous ‘Mithrasliturgie’, with Radcliffe G. Edmonds III. Come for the immortalisation, divinisation, and visionary cos…
5 years ago
Mithras and the Stars: Astral Elements in the Cult of Mithras
We discuss all the amazing astral imagery associated with Mithraic temples, the extraordinary testimonies to ascent of the Mithraic soul given by Cel…
5 years, 1 month ago
Mysteries of the Rock-Born God: The Roman Cult of Mithras
We introduce the enigmatic evidence for an innovative initiatory cult of the Roman empire, the mysteries of Mithras. Come for the underground cave-te…
5 years, 2 months ago
Jean-Marc Narbonne on Plotinus in Dialogue with the Gnostics
A leading scholar of the interconnections between Plotinus' thought and the thought of the Gnostics whom he disliked so much, Jean-Marc Narbonne disc…
5 years, 3 months ago