Explore esotericism, magic, and the occult with Reverend Erik
Sam Block joins me to explain why he possibly thought it was a good idea to start a weekly Kybalion discussion group on the Hermetic House of Life (HHoL). Sam is a moderator of HHoL and runs the Digital Ambler website, a blog about Hermeticism, magic, and the occult.
This episode is based off of my recent YouTube video, The Nightmare of Hermes Trismegistus, but it includes the full interview with Sam instead of just the bits that made it into the video. Listen and enjoy!
By the way, if you are interested in what to read instead of the Kybalion, I have an excellent reading list you should check out.
Support Arnemancy on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
This episode is repurposed from my first YouTube video. It is an exploration of the methods behind why divination works, featuring my friend Tres Henry. Note that this is not an episode that tries to convince skeptics that divination works—we just take that for granted!
Tres Henry is a magician, software engineer, and tinkerer who has worked in the tech industry for over twenty years. He is now bringing all of that nerd power to bear by creating digital tools for magicians. Two that you may have heard of are the astrology software Urania and online geomantic tool Georatio. He is currently working on building the best astrology software in the world.
Support Arnemancy on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Mentioned in this episode:
Visit Sword + Scythe
Sword + Scythe creates handmade materia magica, amulets, astrological talismans, and provides divinatory services under the auspices of Mars and Saturn. Visit at swordandscythe.com
Sara Mastros is the author of Sorcery of Solomon, Orphic Hymns Grimoire, and The Big Book of Magical Incense. She teaches magic and witchcraft online and is currently working on even more incredible Solomonic pentacle material.
She joins me to discuss many topics, including the Solomonic pentacles and the nature of initiation. Sara helps put the Key of Solomon in its proper historic context, guiding us through the interpretation and explanation of these well-known but poorly-understood classics of the Western magical tradition.
Support Arnemancy on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Mentioned in this episode:
Visit Sword + Scythe
Sword + Scythe creates handmade materia magica, amulets, astrological talismans, and provides divinatory services under the auspices of Mars and Saturn. Visit at swordandscythe.com
Welcome to the 6th season of the Arnemancy Podcast! It has been a delightful ride. We are kicking off this season with another meeting of the Confraternity of Prognosticators. This time, we are reviewing our forecast for the first half of 2024, carefully combing through headlines for each month, to see where we were right, where we were wrong, and to discuss how forecasts can be more effective in the future.
My friends and frequent guests T. Susan Chang and Andrew B. Watt join me for this retrospective. Susie, as usual, handles the Tarot cards, while Andrew manages the astrology. Pour yourself a beverage and settle in, as we explore spreadsheets and newspapers to peer curiously into the recent past.
Support Arnemancy on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Mentioned in this episode:
Visit Sword + Scythe
Sword + Scythe creates handmade materia magica, amulets, astrological talismans, and provides divinatory services under the auspices of Mars and Saturn. Visit at swordandscythe.com
Jacob Budenz returns for a discussion of poetry, music, art, and how all of them intersect with witchcraft and magic. Jake shares some of their process, and discusses influences from a wide array of mystics and artists, including the anchoress Julian of Norwitch and artist Marjorie Kemp. This episode was a blast---we laughed a lot, and I am sure you will, too!
Jacob Budenz is a queer author, multi-disciplinary performer, educator, and witch with an MFA from University of New Orleans and a BA from Johns Hopkins, whose work focuses broadly on the intersection of otherness and the otherworldly. In addition to writing, Jake is the front person for Baltimore-based psychedelic witchpop darlings Moth Broth. This episode features their new song, Willa!
Support the Arnemancy podcast: https://arnemancy.com/support
Mentioned in this episode:
Visit Sword + Scythe
Sword + Scythe creates handmade materia magica, amulets, astrological talismans, and provides divinatory services under the auspices of Mars and Saturn. Visit at swordandscythe.com
Derek Hunter joins me in this episode to explore the rich and confusing world of literature in Elizabethan England! We talk about a number of very interesting characters, especially how they may relate to the question of the identity of William Shakespeare and the authorship of his plays.
Derek is theauthor of 15 books—11 works of fiction, 4 nonfiction—the creator of a philosophy called Love Chaos, an occult practitioner, and a general seeker after the variety and depths of existence.
Three of his most recent works are: Anonymous Agnostic Antichrists, Passionate Pilgrims, and The Human Drama Part Zero: The Fool, Frank Francine Fontaine. These were released in late 2023 and early 2024. AAA, a novel, and PP, a short nonfiction companion piece, were dedicated to the Shakespeare authorship question. The Human Drama series began this year with The Fool and will continue with The Magician on the Summer Solstice, a total of 78 short stories planned for the 78 tarot cards in the next 20 years.
Mentioned in this episode:
Visit Sword + Scythe
Sword + Scythe creates handmade materia magica, amulets, astrological talismans, and provides divinatory services under the auspices of Mars and Saturn. Visit at swordandscythe.com
Bishop Scott Rassbach joins me in this episode to discuss the Apostolic Johannite Church, the Friary Ordo Sacrae Flammae, and the AJC's annual Conclave, and all manner of mystical strangeness.
Bishop Rassach has a Bachelor's degree in English and History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he prepared on a thesis on Philip K. Dick and his works. He also holds a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from St. Raphael’s seminary, where he has delved into many topics in Modern Gnosticism.
He is an avid student of magical and mystic orders, modern ways of understanding ancient ideas, and the intersection of the traditional and the current. Scott likes to say that he is not a professional occult practitioner, but rather an advanced amateur. But he seems pretty advanced to me!
Mentioned in this episode:
Visit Sword + Scythe
Sword + Scythe creates handmade materia magica, amulets, astrological talismans, and provides divinatory services under the auspices of Mars and Saturn. Visit at swordandscythe.com
In this episode, Dr. Nick Literski joins me to explore the topic of spiritual guidance. What does a spiritual guide do? Who should seek one out? Along the way, we dive into the latest findings on religious affiliations and behaviors, which suggest that many identify with being spiritual seekers outside traditional settings. In such a diverse spiritual landscape, whom do these seekers turn to for guidance?
Dr. Nick Literski is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and a professional spiritual guide. Dr. Literski holds a doctorate in Depth Psychology with Emphasis in Jungian and Archetypal Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute, as well as a master’s in Spiritual Guidance from Sofia University and a Juris Doctor from the Northern Illinois University College of Law. Their research interests include depth psychological reflections on spirituality, magic, Paleolithic cave art, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Nick’s work has been published in multiple professional journals. Their recent book, Method Infinite: Freemasonry and the Mormon Restoration, was published by Greg Kofford Books in 2022.
Support this podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Mentioned in this episode:
Visit Sword + Scythe
Sword + Scythe creates handmade materia magica, amulets, astrological talismans, and provides divinatory services under the auspices of Mars and Saturn. Visit at swordandscythe.com
Rejoice, lovely listeners! In this episode, I am joined by Dr. Mat Dragonstone, astrologer, Tarot reader, astro-mage, all round nice guy. This is part two of our discussion on Agrippa, and you should definitely listen to part one on Mat's podcast before listening to this one.
Our discussion begins with a conversation about two logical fallacies: the appeal to antiquity, and the appeal to novelty. We look at how these fallacies influenced Agrippa's work in Three Books of Occult Philosophy, but that's not all! We also discuss how these fallacies may be impacting today's magicians and practitioners, and then look at ways to mitigate the confusion and wrong-turns this appeal could take. This involves a discussion of post-modernism and Jaques Derrida, which Dr. Dragonstone is well-equipped to handle because his PhD is a real honest-to-gosh philosophy degree!
This is a fascinating episode, and we only had mild internet troubles that I managed to almost completely edit around. Grab a caffeinated beverage for this one!
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Mentioned in this episode:
Visit Sword + Scythe
Sword + Scythe creates handmade materia magica, amulets, astrological talismans, and provides divinatory services under the auspices of Mars and Saturn. Visit at swordandscythe.com
Jacob Budenz joins me to discuss Greco-Roman witchcraft, and in particular the influences of a number of classical texts have had upon modern witchcraft practices. We discuss "Idyll II" by Theocritus, Euripides' Medea, and Metamorphoses by Apueleius (aka The Golden Ass).
Jacob is a queer author, multi-disciplinary performer, educator, and witch with an MFA from University of New Orleans and a BA from Johns Hopkins whose work focuses broadly on the intersection of otherness and the otherworldly. The author of magic realist short story collection Tea Leaves (Bywater Books 2023) and poetry chapbook Pastel Witcheries (Seven Kitchens Press 2018), Budenz has fiction and poetry in traditional print journals including Slipstream and Assaracus, zeitgeisty online journals including Taco Bell Quarterly and Wussy Mag, and lauded anthologies by Mason Jar Press and Unbound Edition. In addition to writing, Jake is the front person for Baltimore-based psychedelic witchpop darlings Moth Broth and has received awards and accolades for original theater work including a new adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita (Baltimore City Paper's Top Ten Staged Productions of 2016) and an original cabaret play about immortality and the cultural icon of the witch, Simaetha: a Dreambaby Cabaret (Baker Innovative Projects Grants, 2019).
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy
Mentioned in this episode:
Visit Sword + Scythe
Sword + Scythe creates handmade materia magica, amulets, astrological talismans, and provides divinatory services under the auspices of Mars and Saturn. Visit at swordandscythe.com
I was recently a guest on Mat Dragonstone's podcast to talk about Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa and his theories on divine light. My internet connection was doing horribly, though, so Mat had to do a lot of creative editing to get the episode to come out okay. He did an AMAZING job. Give it a listen, and then head over to his website to check out what else he has going on!
Mentioned in this episode:
Visit Sword + Scythe
Sword + Scythe creates handmade materia magica, amulets, astrological talismans, and provides divinatory services under the auspices of Mars and Saturn. Visit at swordandscythe.com
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