Podcast Episodes
Back to Search
Ahab Bdaiwi on the Rise of Shī‘ī Esotericism
In Part I we looked at the political events leading up to the formation of the Shi'a. In Part II we see that it did not take long for things to get v…
1 year, 1 month ago
Ahab Bdaiwi on ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, his Family, and the Origins of Shī‘ī Islam
We pick up from our last episode, where geopolitics and esotericism met in the crucible of Roman, Sassanian, and Arab political struggles. Ahab Bdaiw…
1 year, 1 month ago
Seventh-Century History for Students of Western Esotericism
We return to the history of late antiquity in the eastern Mediterranean and central Asia. Momentous events occur, empires rise and fall, and Jews, Ch…
1 year, 3 months ago
Introducing the Qur’an Part III: Qur’ānic Texts vs. the Qur’ān
We discuss some of the history of how the Qur'ān came to be ‘the Book’: it started in the oral milieu of the high-octane early Believers' movement, a…
1 year, 3 months ago
Introducing the Qur’ān, Part II: Ambiguity and Esoteric Themes
We begin to explore the esoteric side of the Qur'ān, examining several case-studies in terms of ambiguity and esoteric themes. It turns out that ever…
1 year, 4 months ago
Introducing the Qur’ān, Part I: Revelation, Text, and History
We cover some basic territory in introducing the Qur'ān, the holiest text of Islām. We introduce the text, discuss the traditional story of the Qur'ā…
1 year, 5 months ago
Fred Donner on the History of Early Islām
We discuss what little we know and how much we don't know about the nature of the early ‘Believers' movement’, the nature and origins of the Qur'ān, …
1 year, 6 months ago
Matthew Melvin-Koushki on Islam, ‘the West’, and Western Esotericism
We welcome Matthew Melvin-Koushki back to the show to discuss how we might improve our historical picture of western esotericism by including the vas…
1 year, 7 months ago
Introducing Islām
With Episode 200 the SHWEP has reached a milestone of sorts. We are in the seventh century, and the world-order suddenly changes irrevocably as a new…
1 year, 7 months ago
Paul Pasquesi on the Book of the Holy Hierotheos
We discuss one of the lesser-known, but most esoterically-important, classics of Syriac spiritual literature, the Book of the Holy Hierotheos. Hierot…
1 year, 8 months ago