Dear Listeners, welcome to Season 1 Episode 4 of Panosophers’ Podcast.  May we express our gratitude for your ongoing support and attention to this venture.    This week, we have the company of Mark Stavish.  Mark is the founder and director of The Institute for Hermetic Studies (IHS).  Mark holds degrees in Theology, Communications and Counseling.  He is a prolific author of depth titles on Mystery subjects, centered on Western Kabbalistic knowledge.  Mark is a longtime friend of our sibling podcast, Thoth-Hermes, and a trove of additional prior conversations may be found there.  The overarching theme of the next two hours centers on: “what can you handle?”  It is plainspoken and direct, while brotherly and benevolent.   We encourage you to listen with ears open to hear.  Mark and Rudolf dive in with the starting context for the IHS: 1990s, East-Coast America.  A time of in-person groups, Gnosis Magazine, and the grit of self-publishing material perhaps too deep for the balance sheets of popular booksellers.  Mark shares stark realities of rejection and adaptation for the sake of creating inheritance to future Seekers- rather than status or income streams.   With his characteristic energy, Mark challenges listeners throughout the dialogue.  He names the essential need for Initiates to handle stark reality, including worldviews not their own, beyond personal identity and ideology.  In doing so, he identifies the need to produce a life-giving vision of the future, least populations be drawn into that which appears to be but is not.  As Mark states, this has little to do with who one wants to see elected US President in “the next election”.  It is this call to Depth that sees Mark and Rudolf explore essential questions: What is ‘tradition’ and why is it a responsibility? What is ‘initiation’ and the mindset of a true Initiate? How does ‘virtue’ relate to potency? Mark issues the Saturnian challenge to grow past “Tik-Tok clutter” and “podcasting, publishing, and product” marketplace of Occultism.  He names the Aquarian postwar Esoteric awakening as a response to mass trauma, “most vibrant when truly counter-cultural” and small-group relational.  Along the way, even the esoteric Christ is alluded to warmly.  Turning to ethics around public divination of societal energies, Rudolf and Mark note the need for maturity in any Initiate claiming to do this.  The qualifications include a true education in all of politics, history and economics- imbuing a nuance which returns to Tradition.   May this bring a cornucopia of fruit for all of us.  Music played in this episode Find out everything about our musical guest today, KARL YOUNG, and about the Shakuhachi, the Japanese bamboo flute, on his own website. Click here All tracks are from his CD "Lost in the Wood" 1) FOREST FLOWER (Track starts at 5:52) 2) YAMAGOE (Track starts at 53:34) 3) MURASAKI MURAIKI (Track starts at 1:39:12) Intro and Outro Musicespecially written and recorded for the Pansophers Podcast by Chris Roberts

You can also see this episode as a video on YouTube at https://youtu.be/BoFy2Q_o6GI

Welcome to Season 11 Episode 4 of Thoth-Hermes Podcast…. Though with our guest in this dialogue, who can be quite sure of linear time? Rudolf and Karin are in conversation with author Dr. Eric Wargo. Academically an anthropologist, Eric has extended his spirit of scientific enquiry through Hermeticism, Alchemy, and into the contemporary “paranormal” discourse at large. Most specifically, he has taken on depth exploration of time: time loops, retrocausation, and precognition. This branch of study began for Eric in 2009, after having a UFO/UAP Experience. This anomalous experience created his initiation into the branch of modern scientists fully versed in scientific method yet fully aware of the mountain of Spooky anecdotal evidence of More. Law of Large Numbers? Yes, acknowledged: and gently set aside. Materialist explanation? A precise language with descriptive validity and profound explanatory limitations. Experience and initiation- their distinction, and coexistence- are honored throughout this conversation. Eric encountered break-out success with his 2018t book “Time Loops” (which Karin is on record as “passing out almost like Gospel” and scribe Emily keeps in her inner temple box of books). He has also written on Precognitive Dreaming (2021). In his current release, “From Nowhere”, he applies these insights to creativity. Eric notes the role of skilled stress states, flow states, altered states, and creative states in the enhanced experience of precognition. He also invites a cultural shift towards the upfront naming of retrocausation; moving past Cartesian duality; and transcending the labyrinth closures found with all of free will, predestination, and Many Worlds theory. In the expanse of unknown, this interview spans a variety of lenses on time and anomaly. We hear a definition of “retrocausation” that includes both the science of the subatomic level and the co-existing validity of intuitive experience. The occult Higher Self as perhaps the Long Self which Eric articulates in relation to precognitive dreaming. The notion of “flipping Freud” and symbolic precognitive insight as the method the Long Self can use to address our agency. The challenges of True Will, Free Will, and dynamic interaction with choice. Eric suggests that our “intentions” may frequently be misrecognized precognitions. If this sounds like one wild moebius strip of a conversation: it is! And highly enjoyable. After you listen, carry receptivity for unfolding Wonder in your life events.

This is a warm November welcome to Season 10 Episode 11 of Thoth-Hermes Podcast. Today’s show brings us into conversation with American writer Peter Levenda. Peter has authored a range of titles on histories of American occultism, Nazi occultism, and the dynamics of conspiracy theory. After successfully pursuing an international business career Information Technology, Peter attained an MA in Religious Studies and Asian Studies. Peter is a member of the American Academy of Religion, several societies, and a member of AFIO (the Association of Former Intelligence Officers). Peter is careful to distinguish his expertise as around the context and content of conspiracy, rather than their promulgator. Repeatedly in the interview, he stresses the importance of listeners self-educating on the factors that make populations generally- and occultists specifically- vulnerable to conspiracy content. Peter also clearly notes that he is a “left-leaning” political “independent” capable of engaging with a variety of worldviews. Peter also offers the Adorno “Fascism Scale” as a resource for study. Peter shares formative childhood experiences- rejecting his childhood Catholicism, while retaining the seed of mysticism. A fearful encounter on a mountain in 1963 cemented his personal conviction on the presence of More. High school found Peter conducting seances, reading Crowley and the Tao Te Ching. All of this is reported with a combination of good humor and lasting reverence. Rudolf and Peter explore his writing, some of it based around his premise that “America is a haunted house” of unceded territory carrying the displaced and disregarded practices of the First Nations people. Additionally, the influence of encroaching European settlers’ own occult traditions and folkways. Turning to the West at large, Peter and Rudolf distinguish between the “traditionalist” and “surrealist” edges of esotericism; one edge flirting with the Authoritarian Right and the other edge liable to persecution from the former. Peter describes the use of “fiction” as parallel to Surrealism in the ability to analogize “truths” that cannot be proven as “non-fiction”, in the midst of grey area on both. Peter suggests this wisdom is present in many Holy Books. Peter identifies “magic” as situated in a space between Science and Religion, with the Shadow of conspiracy theory. A comprehensive take-down of conspiracy mindedness in the contemporary United States follows, including: “longstanding” inadequacy of news media, a population demotivated to learn context for theories, and the dearth of “tik-tok enlightenment”. Peter further names related internal difficulties within occult groups, including sections of the contemporary Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO) and the leadership of the late James Wasserman; the New York-based Wasserman and Levenda were aquaintances for decades. While not an OTO member, Peter suggests that Chapter 3 of The Book of the Law is a “cri de coeur” of colonized and oppressed spiritualities, while naming Crowley as a member of the “Victorian drawing room” British colonial system unable to acknowledge that facet of his prophecy. Peter invites the necessity and potency of African, Afro-Carribean, South American and Asian practices into modern Esotericism: “the Law is in front of us all”.

Greetings for Season 10, Episode 10 of Thoth-Hermes Podcast. In a calendrical resonance, Rudolf meets up with Robert Gordon- exactly one year after their last episode together! A gregarious Australian, Robert holds an M.A. in Museum Studies from University College London. In 2022, Lewis Masonic publishing released his book 21st Century Rosicrucianism. Today’s exploration centers on Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly in the context of language-based models. Rudolf characterizes digital technology as typically either a non-topic or guarded subject in the worldviews of esotericists. Later, Robert observes that many depth creators in high-technology, green technology, and adjacent fields have esoteric involvement. With these twin realities concurrent, the discussion emphasizes the need for active contribution to societal conversations about AI as a “technology of the imagination”. As both men gamely note, we are in the 21st Century, not the 16th- as much as we seek to honor history. Robert and Rudolf note the need for “reverential use of science”, Robert noting that Newton wrote more on theology than physics. Though exoteric religious doctrine is often at odds with the Esoteric (particularly in America), some parallels are noted. One is the belief in a higher Source as the bestower of human imagination, and consequently a form of sanctity in humans’ creative actions. Does AI connect to the Source through humanity? Is it fundamentally “natural” or “unnatural”? And how does the subjective, constructed nature of human-to-human communication mirror controversies with AI? There is some specific time spent with the question of AI and it’s visual “art” forays. Robert truly “goes there” makes a comparison to alchemical manuscripts’ images. Can content and imaginal inputs from humans produce outputs with “soul”? Could the vast flow of creative information placed into AI datasets produce a new form of “collective unconscious”? In many cases, today’s conversation walks a non-directive, even-handed line between answering these questions and placing them back to the listener. The “hubris of the magi” narrative is acknowledged, as well as the mythos of Daedalus. Do we only hear about the hubris that creates catastrophe? Other careful questions include: can we emphasize the use of AI for sorcery, hall-of-mirrors illusion, or as a possible bulwark against sorcery? Could AI be an actual human-created agent of healing in our society? Can we redevelop a cultural norm of functionally conversing with disagreement? Could AI help us? Does AI have to be marketplace centered or could it assist with counterbalance in the current corruption of political systems? Can AI possibly contribute or experience states that we broadly term as “shamanic”? Is there anything that this human creation can “unlock” for us? Can it become a “technological tradition of imagination”? What human wisdom is offered in the distinction between “dogmatic” and “voluntarily enigmatic”? These prompts are all introduced and posed on today’s episode. Enjoy!

"What is clear is that there are three main themes running parallel through the grimoires, with greater or less importance in individual works. These themes are spirit conjuration, divination, and simple charms/spells for dealing with the hardships of daily life and seeking to improve it." (David Rankine) Welcome to Season 10, Episode 9 of Thoth-Hermes podcast. Today, Rudolf shares a conversation with author and occultist, David Rankine. The exploration ranges over the past 40 years of modern British esotericism, and into David’s commitment to writing and knowledge sharing as an offering to Mystery. This is an easy-listening dialogue that carries its own treasures of tight question-answer teachings along in the flow. David quickly brings us into the 1980s UK occult scene, which he describes as collegial, confidential and non-competitive. Oxford, London and Leeds are all identified as hotspots during this period. Turning to the Now, David weighs the balance between organizations’ tension of socializing and secrecy. David and Rudolf explore the question: “What is a ‘serious magical attitude’?” with way of daily life, worldview and engagement in the 100th Monkey influence all composing the answer. Ethics are undergirding principle in this definition, noting that “serious magicians” are “seriously ethical”. David describes his slow development towards ancestor magic, and its interaction with aging as a human and maturation as a magician. This conversation honors the slow, serious adaptation of practices over a magical lifetime. Rudolf quotes David’s definition of “magic” in his early book Becoming Magic, “consciously direct energy flowing towards evolution”. David also shares his concept of “conjuration”, as a Process- occasional, exceptional, purposeful- which develops a long-term symbiotic dynamic with a chosen spiritual entity. Not, as David notes, “a Pokemon collection”. This year (2023) David published volumes 1 and 2 of The Grimoire Encyclopaedia…. With more yet to be revealed! Describing the construction process, David credits the necessity of his enthusiastic, persistent editor Erzebet Barthold. David also centers on the Bible as the foundational grimoire of record, providing a lens for panoramic view of historical Western magical publications. Rudolf asks the core question: “what defines a grimoire?” and David responds gamely. Enjoy!

Today marks Season 10, Episode 8 of Thoth-Hermes Podcast. For this conversation, Rudolf reconvenes with Chuck “CR” Dunning. The conversation submerges into esoteric freemasonry, then transcends into the union of ritual and exoteric religion. Far from limited to the interests of masonry, this is a multi-layered dialogue about the timeless moebius between sincere seekers of “light, life and love”. Chuck is a retired academic and psychotherapist, a self-disclosed Scottish Rite Mason, and author dedicated to guiding initiates into contemplative practice. Chuck has soft-spoken depth rare in today’s scholarly world. His most recent book is an accessible compass of the Rose Croix mysteries. A Rose Croix Oratory (Stone Guild, 2023) has been lauded by readers and reviewers, appreciating its hands-on, plain-language approach. An upcoming publication will delve into Platonic mysticism and its parallels with Craft Masonry. The conversation speaks of the upper degrees’ mythos of descent, laying to waste, then renewal and ascension. The 17th and 18th Degree introduce a visceral story of a mourning initiate, who through persistence encounters the teaching figure of the Nazarene. An encounter with “love” as the “charitas” and “agape” archetype offered by this teacher. This is not the Jesus of fast-food and sound byte religion: it is a mystical encounter of visceral “faith, hope and love”. Religious acceptance is optional, but depth initiation is required. Chuck also notes that all three Abrahamic traditions have wisdom teachings represented over the course of the initiate’s journey. Later, Rudolf and Chuck name interesting implications of the “priestcraft” of ritual found to create change in accordance with the Will of a Higher Power, to connect to the Divine, and to become more effective worldly agents for it. Chuck names the direct root connection with the Catholic Mass ritual as well as the Protestant Order of Service, even in those denominations who might strenuously distance themselves from the concept of “magic”. This flows from Chuck’s exploration of the Rose Croix texts and traditions that named ancient traditions illumination sources for the later emergence of Christianity. Other joyful content along the way includes a service-centered interpretation of the potency of alchemy, magic/magia, and kaballah. We reflect on the verified “alchemy” of meditative practice on the neurochemical physiology of the practitioner. And define True Will as readiness for change away from herd behavior, resiliency under repeated testing, and skillful refinement of personal identity; requiring the recentering on faith, hope and love.

Autumnal greetings as we converge for Season 10, Episode 7 of Thoth-Hermes Podcast. Today, Rudolf is joined by Jon E. Graham, of Inner Traditions Bear and Company, to explore the current state of occult publishing. Jon joins us from the northeastern United States, in historic Vermont. Jon is a translator, author, and acquisitions editor at Inner Traditions. Jon relates his longstanding interest in initiatory synthesis between Surrealism and Occultism, the path which brought him into esoteric publishing. Jon recommends The Esoteric Secrets of Surrealism as a prompt for curious listeners. A second set of parallels that run in the conversation are the creative processes of a publishing house (Jon’s temple) and that of an opera house (Rudolf’s lineage). Together, they explore the balance of “profitable” and “important”, as well as inclusion of new and established authors. Several times, Jon emphasizes the influence occult practice (as simple as sincere meditation) can have in counterbalancing the online “noise machine” and superficiality of cultural dialogue. He is refreshingly blunt in his rejection of social media, specifically its influence against the clear depth of thought sought by true initiates. With reference to “occult activism”, Jon and Rudolf converge over the need for an attitude of contribution and compassion, based in rational assessment over denial, ideology and Jon’s term: “unicorn fantasy”. Steadfast to his bricks-and-mortar preference, Jon asks the question held by more than one listener: will the Mortlake Books Colloquium, Texts and Traditions, return to Seattle? Enquiring minds need to know. Jon names a variety of publishing trends, celebrating the movement from “101” titles into substantive material, also noting the nascence of translated European texts. Authors named in this Deep Dive renaissance include previous Thoth-Hermes guests, Sasha Chaitow, Marlene Seven-Bremner, and Shani Oates. Jon calls out the need to avoid the mainline tendency to “karaoke publishing” (our second Harry Potter reference, two interviews in a row!) Rudolf asks specifically regarding the vibrant trend of small, independent artisanal occult publishing houses, and the “book-objects” they create. Jon responds with respect and enthusiasm for all involved. Closing with intrigue, Jon references an upcoming creative focus: Odin and the Surrealist process. As Odin undertakes to “sacrifice myself to myself” to receive the rune-mysteries, Jon suggests that Surrealism has parallel in “the psychic realm that is made available through automatist practices”. May more be revealed.