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Hello everyone I’m Dr Angela Puca and welcome to my live Symposium. As you know I’m a PhD and a University Lecturer and this is your online resource but now it’s an online live Q&A too, you know, discuss things with regards to Esotericism and Magick as we usually do from an academic point of view. You may ask why do you put it on screen during the live streams and it’s to sort of make it clear so that when people ask questions know that that’s the kind of angle that we are going to have on this channel.

So let me see who’s in the chat I already saw Andrew and Alessandro who are directly from my Inner Symposium. They are my Patrons, thank you for being here. I can also see some regulars here. Oh, there’s also Jessica and Alessio Di Gino it’s nice to see some of my Patrons here. Hello Amethyst Rose Wytch and Saleh Dura and Joe Fontaine there are a few of the names that I recognize because you guys tend to comment quite often on my videos obviously if a person only comments leaves one comment it’s difficult for me to remember that person but then when you guys comment over and over then the name sticks a bit better and so I remember you.

Hi Edward Iglesias and Vitriolearth. Oh Hi, João and Zakaria and Eric. Oh, Eric says I’m a great fan Oh thank you. Oh Hi, Joe Stone or then and John. Nice to see that there’s quite a few of you guys.

Andrew was saying; my burning question is, how is Dr Puca going to be celebrating Puca Night?

Yeah, I think I should repost last year’s video. I made a video on Samhain and apparently one of the names of Samhain is Puca Night. So which is funny, you know before moving to the UK my surname literally meant nothing to me because in Italian it doesn’t really mean anything. But then I learned here that it is actually meaningful, especially in Irish. So how am I going to celebrate? I don’t know yet. Hopefully, something will come up by the time Samhain or Halloween comes.

Lots of love from India, thank you. And Hi Thomas, Hi to you and to Teresa or Theresa – so nice to see all of you here guys. So how are you? Do you have any questions? Anything that…

No Dancing Palm Trees says; Puca-Night? That’s Awesome.

Yeah, yeah it was quite a surprise for me when I discovered and also, you may know Dr Jenny Butler. She and I are friends and she’s also a scholar. She studies Irish folklore and Irish Paganism and Witchcraft and she told me that there was the Puca Festival and it’s like I think that that was the first time that I actually realized that my surname, you know, the way he spelled not differently was an Irish term to mean the Puk or the Pukka. It has different spellings but yeah that was quite interesting to discover.

Doug says; Hi doctor. Question; will you ever discuss African Traditional Religion?

I’d like to. Yeah, I already have a video on African-American Hoodoo but it would be interesting to cover those ones as well. You know the list of things I’d like to cover on the channel is pretty endless to be fair. My main issue is a lack of time so I tend to… I’m quite fortunate, I’m lucky that I’m getting commissioned videos now. That’s quite important because it allows me to keep doing the work that I’m doing on my channel that and of course my Patreon community and those who are nice enough to join the Channel or send one-off PayPal donations. As I always mention it is thanks to your support that this project is still ongoing and yeah, I can still do it because otherwise, it would be quite impossible I’m afraid. But yeah, the list of topics that I’d like to cover is pretty endless. But definitely, African Traditional Religions would be one of the things that in the future I’d like to cover.

So Marcel Gomez says; having lived in Ireland I always found your first and last names very suitable for an Esoteric, an Esoteric Scholar I guess.

Yeah, I guess so. I always liked my name Angela which comes from the Greek – angelos, angele, angelon and it means ‘messenger of the gods.’ It is a specific term for messenger in ancient Greek it’s not just messenger it is like a messenger between the worlds or a messenger for the gods and also another interesting thing is that the anagram of my name and surname in Italian means ‘pagan light.’ You know I was once with my friends and we were trying to play this game where we would try and see whether the anagrams of our names would mean anything at all and in another case, in the cases of some of my friends there wasn’t really any specific meaning but then when I tried with my name and surname that came up and it was like whoa! That’s interesting.

So Thomas says; we talk about books about Italian Folk Magick and how accurate they are. When are you writing a book on it?

That’s a good question, Thomas. Actually, I just recently got my book proposal accepted by Brill which is an academic publisher. So I will be publishing a book on Italian Witchcraft next year, hopefully. Obviously, I’ve got to do it so apart from my university teaching position and YouTube but that’s one of my top priorities to have this book out. Because I’m aware that, especially for Italian-Americans, this might be quite important as a publication. So I really look forward to publishing it but yeah, I’ve got to work on it but at least we’ve got the book proposal out of the way. But then, when the book is written, I have to amend my PhD dissertation and then it will have to go through peer review. So it’s gonna be a long process but hopefully, by the end of next year, it’s gonna be published if everything goes well, fingers crossed.

So let me see – other questions.

Kevin Jenkins says; I have been reading a book called “Homo Sapiens from Eden to Armageddon” and I wanted to know if manifesting phenomenon, in reality, begins with thinking of an event to happen so much that it transpires?

It’s a bit unclear as a question but if your question is whether things manifest from the consciousness or whether it’s the other way around I guess that it’s kind of a question of what kind of philosophical stance you’re trying to take. Whether you are an idealist or an empiricist perhaps.

João asks; will you consider making videos on historical esoteric hoaxes?

Give me some examples João.

Alessio Di Gino is asking; from one of your last posts, I realized that besides white Magic and black Magic, in Italy it is used, as well, red Magic. Can you please explain?

Oh yeah, are you referring to a post in the Patreon community because I can’t remember whether I said it on my YouTube channel publicly as well but yeah I actually realised recently and I was chatting with my patrons about it that, in Italy, besides White Magick and Black Magick there’s also Red Magick and that’s quite common. I mean you find books in the book store on Red Magick spells and these kinds of things but apparently, it’s not a thing in the anglophone world, which kind of surprised me and Red Magick is Magick for love. Basically, that’s what it is. It’s Magick for love and relationships and I guess Sex Magick but not really Sex Magick – more attracting in your life a partner or a sexual relation. So it has to do with Magick to attract love and passion.

So, Onur Kilec says; will you consider making videos about astrological Magic especially the Pikatrix?

Yeah, that’s definitely another thing that I’d like to cover. Actually, I wanted to invite a scholar but I think she just retired and she specialized in Astrology that would have been a good introduction to the topic. But yeah, I’d like to do that as well.

Yes, Andrew. Andrew identified the anagram which is luce pagana – pagan light.

[AeriaGl0rus] Congratulations on your book deal, what amazing news.

Yeah, yeah it’s amazing news, although you know with academic books it’s never, you know the deal is not sealed until it has passed peer review. So it’s a first step.

Hello Raziel.

[Joe Jones]; cool, I was just wondering if you had a new vid?

Hello, also Joe Jones basically happened to be here because you were trying to catch up on the new video. That’s nice.

João says, some examples Pierre Plantard and his Templar shenanigans.

Yeah, I have to look into that and see what kind of research has already been published on the topic.

Kevin Jenkins is asking; are you familiar with psychic vampirism and the feeding techniques? If so, how old is psychic vampirism?

Yeah, I am familiar with what it is but there isn’t much research done on the topic. When I talk about research on the topic you know that I’m not talking about books that get published and you find in book stores. Usually, the kind of information that I deliver on this channel, I’m sure that most of you are aware, come from peer-reviewed scholarship which is a specific type of books and articles and scholarship that is peer-reviewed and is academic. So, one of the issues that I have with addressing certain topics on the channel is that in some cases, even though I personally know about the subjects and perhaps I have read primary sources, which means the books that are written by other practitioners, there isn’t much research done on it which is the second resources, the secondary sources are the academic studies on the primary sources – what the practitioners write and say and do. So, in some cases, there isn’t much scholarship. Like, for instance, I’ve been wanting to do a video on D&D, Dungeons and Dragons, for a long time but there’s nothing academic on it. That is so disappointing but yeah that would be nice to do. But I don’t know how all these psychic vampirism. I would need to have proper sources to answer that question properly and not just make up an answer.

Edward Iglesias says; I always understood the concept of red Magick was part of black Magick since it involved influencing someone’s will.

Well, the matter of the influence. Whether influencing counts as black Magick, I know, is debated within the practice, within the practising communities. It’s not as clear-cut because one may argue that any kind of Magick is a form of influence. So if you cast a spell to get a job you are influencing those that have to make the decision to choose you and not to choose somebody else. And you don’t know how much the others need that job, perhaps they may need more than you do. So I think that it’s very interesting to see. Actually, it would be interesting to investigate the moral philosophy or the ethics within Magick practices, I mean how Magick practitioners define their ethical values because it’s quite varied and even with the distinction between white Magick and Black Magick it’s quite… I think it was clear in the past and now it is getting more blurred for practitioners.

So Gerson Embalo, hope I’m not butchering too many names but I apologize if I do. So, question; is there or what’s the difference between spirituality and the occult/esoteric knowledge and spiritism? Can one walk the occult path without spirituality and vice versa?

Oh, I think you’re talking about spirituality and not spiritism. So the difference between spirituality and occult, esoteric knowledge that’s a bit difficult to define in a clear-cut way because, I imagine that different people will define it differently, but I’d say that usually, practitioners define spirituality as a way of engaging with their spirit. So as a way of working for their higher self, working with their higher self and working for their higher self and with the divine. So I guess that spirituality is a way of connecting to your higher self and to the divine, however, you define it; whether the universe or the gods or one god or the totality of spirits. And also, yeah, it is a way of connecting, I’d say, with the divine and the higher self and an occult knowledge or historic knowledge can be… That really depends on how to define that – like for Wouter Hanegraaff, a very famous scholar in the field, he defines Esotericism as rejected knowledge. So all the forms of knowledge have been rejected by the mainstream culture. So, in that sense, esoteric knowledge would be the knowledge that is concealed in a way, rejected and marginalized within the dominant culture and by the dominant religious system. But esoteric and occult knowledge can also be a knowledge that goes beyond the five senses and beyond the means that we have to acquire knowledge in a way that is currently considered to be a valid way of pursuing knowledge. So that might involve intuition or the use of correspondences. So, I guess that the two can work together spirituality and occult knowledge or static knowledge or they can be disjointed. That really depends on the practitioner.

So, what else do I have here?

So Simon says; hey Angela what’s your opinion on the significance of the use of the Atheme in Magick rituals and do you have one yourself?

I guess it is Athamé, the one that you were trying to spell here and it is usually it is notoriously used in Wicca, especially in Traditional Wicca and it is used, well it draws on ceremonial Magick practices where you have the use of wands and swords and the Athamé is used to cast the circle, usually, in Wiccan rituals and whether I have one it’s not something that I’m gonna answer.

AeriaGl0ris is asking; what are the three magical traditions you’d love to learn everything about?

Three? Only three? That’s a difficult one. I guess I’d like to learn more on Voodoo and what can be the other two? Santería and also Kemetism. But it’s not like they are my ultimate favourites, just that I’d like to learn more about these traditions and perhaps make videos about them.

[Astrogypsy] Are you familiar with the Ghost Dance rituals from Native American Lakota? I’m curious how it measures against the elements of necromancy.

No, I’m not familiar with that ritual perhaps my supervisor might be because she has done field work with the Lakota.

KC_rocka says; that’s like mysticism and Magick both can be done separately.

Yeah, yeah I’d say that another term for spirituality could be Mysticism. But these are very difficult terms to gauge and define.

Oh Hi, Doug. Thank you very much for your donation. I enjoy your videos, very informative and interesting. Keep up the good work.

Thanks that’s very appreciated.

Let me see if there are other questions.

Oh, Andrew says that Justin is also into D&D.

Yeah, we could do a discussion. There’s also one of my colleagues at my university, she’s a D&D player and I told her that we could have a discussion. She’s a philosophy lecturer so we could do something on the philosophy of D&D or something.

Zakaria asks; are you familiar with Demon Path Workings would you provide your opinion on the subject.

Well, as you know, I don’t really, I don’t usually provide opinions. I try to offer on this platform the academic research that has been done on certain topics because I think that it’s beneficial to the practising community. I’m aware that most of my subscribers and the people who watch my videos are practitioners and not scholars, although there are some scholars as well. But the majority I think are practitioners and this kind of knowledge, the research that is going on within academic circles and then that gets published in peer-reviewed journals and with peer-reviewed publishers. These tend to be studies that are not quite open and accessible to the public and to the practitioners. So that’s why I really like to share that knowledge with you guys. So I’m not sharing my opinion on Demon Path Workings but it’d be nice to see what kind of research has been done on the subject. Unfortunately, research on Esotericism is still, you know, there should be more than… definitely, also there are so many traditions that need further research, it’s just that it’s difficult to persuade universities or research bodies to fund this kind of research but hopefully we will help, we will help the cause by making people realize that this kind of research is important to people and it has an impact.

AeriaGl0ris, you’re welcome.

Darcy Smith is asking; how accurate is the Durkheimian idea that religion originated as a worship of society?

Oh, Oh! Hi James. Nice to see you here and thank you so much for your donation. You’re always very generous. And it’s also nice, you’re super effective.

So back to your question Darcy. How accurate is the Durkheimian idea? So Durkheim is quite famous for having said that religion is a public endeavour whereas Magick is an individual endeavour and so for Durkheim Magick is not as beneficial to society because it tends to be more individualistic and it kind of divides instead of allowing people and the community to stick together. How accurate it is? I think it’s a bit outdated. Of course, Durkheim is still one of those thinkers that you have to study if you do Anthropology or Sociology of Religion but I think it’s outdated and I don’t agree, I don’t think that Magick is a private endeavour necessarily and I don’t think that religion is a public endeavour necessarily. I think that in both cases you can have a public and in a private sphere even with Magick, especially now that well obviously in the past it used to be more practised privately because it was forbidden and it was less accepted, now it is a bit more accepted although, of course, it’s still kind of rejected from the dominant culture but it is a bit more accepted to the point where people can do workshops and have book stores and have public lectures or public festivals and fairs and these kinds of things. So those are definitely public endeavours I’d say.

Oh Hi, Thomas. Thank you for your donation; “Hay everyone help her out teachers, are paid in chickens.”

Thank you. That’s an interesting way of putting it. Yeah, it’s funny because universities always have money to employ new managers though. But yeah.

So let me see if there are other questions.

[Amethyst Rose Wytch ] I consider my Magick simply Magick I don’t distinguish one from another.

Amethyst Rose Wytch, are you referring to the discussion of Black versus White Magick versus Red Magick or is it about something else?

Astrogypsy; I would love an episode on the ‘satanic panic.’

Have you watched the interview with David Robertson on conspiracy theories because he mentions something about it but it would be interesting actually to cover the satanic panic? I think it’s one of those things, I mean it’s one of those occurrences where you have polarized opinions and polarized views that become endemic and you know sometimes the group mentality and group thinking tends to go in a very dangerous direction.

So thank you James, James Roland. Thanks for the chicken. Now I’m gonna, every time when I get paid from my university I will think of chickens, thanks to you guys.

And that’s a long-standing debate whether intentions are more important than… I think that that tends to be a common popular belief among practitioners although not all agree that intention is everything. But some practitioners would say that it is part of it, part of the whole picture.

Doug says; as a practitioner I kind of have a trouble reconciling Astrology with Astronomy. What are your thoughts on the two and their differences? Thanks Doctor.

I think that both Astrology and Astronomy are very interesting of course they are different disciplines but they both deal with stars and planets clearly. But Astrology is based on, the presuppositions of Astrology are more or less the same of Magick. So there is this idea that you have hidden forces and hidden correspondences that have an influence on our lives. Whereas with Astronomy, Astronomy is more interested, it is focused on understanding the planets and how the universe physically works. Whereas with Astrology there’s more of an interest in the influence that the movement of the planets have on our lives and the things that can happen in our lives and that is based on magical thinking in a way. That is based on the concept the there is based on Hermetic Philosophy and the concept of the correspondences and the fact that you know things at a distance can influence each other because everything is, in a way, connected and interrelated and you are part of this fabric and once you move the right string or the right thread you are able to move something at a distance.

So let me see if I missed anything else.

Hi Ron Fiasco; Hello Doctor and Chat! I’m late!

Well but you’re here.

[Raziel Firebat] is there a study you can recommend on the commonalities of deities and practices across different indigenous cultures?

Deities, and practices Across different indigenous cultures well this is a question this is kind of a question that comes from…

Oh, thank you Zigmund for your donation. Another chicken. Sorry, now that will stick with me.

So your question about the commonalities of deities and practices is clearly a question that is not coming from an indigenous mindset but more from a transcultural mindset because if you have ever watched any of my interviews on Transcultural Shamanism or transcultural traditions and indigenous traditions? You will see that…

Oh Hi, Mark. Thank you Vocatus for your donation. That’s really appreciated. You guys are being very generous tonight. Thank you so much. Well, it is kind of evening for me but perhaps it’s early morning for you.

But as I was saying there’s a difference between indigenous traditions and transcultural traditions. In the west our western mindset tends to focus on the transcultural aspect, on transcultural traditions and one of the main differences is that in indigenous traditions you have a lot of focus on the culture and in Transcultural Shamanism you have a lot of focus…

Oh, thank you Nicolas for becoming a member.

And in transcultural traditions, you have a focus on techniques for finding the underlying principle or commonalities among different things. So your question is actually transcultural in nature and it’s not the kind of following what an indigenous tradition would be all about because indigenous traditions are all about the specificity and the locality and the context. So even if you were to find commonalities between two different indigenous traditions they would be averse, you know, the indigenous tradition would tend to be not like the idea of two different deities to be you know combined together because they have a couple of similarities. Whereas a more transcultural approach tends to do that and try and I wouldn’t say merge but kind of associate different deities or different entities of different practices based on certain similarities or commonalities. So I hope that answers your question, let me know in the chat.

I think that I got a message from YouTube saying that every month Channel Members can ask a highlighted question. But, yeah, you can try and see if that works. Sometimes I get these messages from YouTube Creator on the new things that they have implemented.

So Francisco Santana; the sacred and profane – Mircea Eliade.

Yeah, Mircea Eliade is very loved by practitioners and not so much anymore by scholars but I think that he’s one of those thinkers that you can just not skip. I mean they are fundamental I think and even though in terms of research his methodology now would not be considered valid by contemporary academic scholars but I think it’s still extremely important. It has been very important in the formation of many of the concepts that we have including that of Shamanism.

Ron Fiasco says; in all honesty, I find being completely clear of any substances, including food, helps with spiritual work.

Okay, that’s a conversation among you guys that I didn’t follow. I think you were talking about substances during rituals.

Libra Scorpio says; would you say visiting homelands as a practitioner is important? I’m Sicilian and I’m Armenian and feel I should visit to truly connect especially in Magick.

That’s one of those questions that, you know, it’s difficult to answer as an academic. But what I can say is that you know, that I study Italian witchcraft and it is considered important to connect with the place. Yeah, that that tends to be a commonality that you find across different indigenous traditions, is that is the idea of the connection to the land. And so, if you’re trying to practice a tradition that stems from a specific environment, from a specific place it is usually considered important to connect with that place, absolutely. Because it’s a way of, like shamanic practices or even in Witchcraft, there’s the idea of having a light spirit in a way and you have spirits of different swords, according to practitioners and some of these spirits would be the spirits of the land. So if you are practising, I don’t know, Italian Witchcraft or Armenian Witchcraft or whatever kind of Witchcraft you are trying to practice. If that is not a tradition, based on the techniques, but if it is an indigenous tradition that is connected to a specific place, to a specific culture then it would seem like connecting to the place is normally considered important by traditions of this kind. So yeah, one day I will organize a trip to Italy. I know that lots of you might be interested in doing something like that. Yeah, that would be amazing actually. You know the magical, different magical places in Italy. There are so many, there are so many magical places in Italy. In Turin and in Naples and in Sicily.

So Nicholas Porter asks; do you have any thoughts on a most complete magical system? What do you mean by complete and is that a good thing?

Andrew says; I can scry an Angela’s Symposium tour to Italy being organized sometime in the future. Did you write that comment, did you write this before I said it, Andrew, or was it after?

Simon; any plans to have Professor Ronald Hutton on again in the near future?

Actually, it was interesting because when I was in Pisa for the Conference of the European Association for the Study of Religion I got approached by a post-doctoral researcher and he said he went to Professor Ron Hutton at the University of Bristol and he said that he was about to retire in a year and he said if you want a specialist you should go to Dr Angela and so he came to me at the conference and I was like Oh! Okay! Yeah, it was a surprise, you know, I was pleasantly surprised but I’d like to actually go and see him in person, perhaps next spring I’d like to go to Bristol and meet with him. On that occasion, we might also film an interview. That would be nice if he agrees on that. But Professor Hutton is a fantastic person, I cannot stress that enough. You know it’s one of those cases where you’ve been admiring this person for years and years and then when you meet them you also realize that he’s a wonderful human being and it’s like wow! You know, these are the people that really remind you that it’s worth being in the community and doing your best and try to be like them.

So Ron Fiasco; I would have to visit the Abbey of Thelema in Cefalu.

Yes, that should definitely be part of the tour. So Andrew take notes. Yeah because in the Inner Symposium, in my Patreon community, Andrew is the one that always reminds me of the things that that I forget, which is really nice.

Oh, Andrew says; before – just, you’re just showing your divination techniques.

So Nicholas Porter; right! I just started working on Enochian Magic or learning about it at least. It seems beneficial, but I am new to that sort of idea.

Yeah, Enochian Magic is a very structured and quite interesting and also complex, I’d say, system of Magic but yeah good luck with that exploration. Let me know how it goes.

Marcel Gomes; I’d love to go to Cefalu too. Though Boleskine is closer to me.

James Roland; question. What is academia’s view on the differences and similarities of High Magic and Low Magic?

So, usually by High Magic, the idea is that High Magick is the kind of Magic that pursues more forms of mysticism and Low Magic tends to be more focused on mundane achievements. So Low Magic would be more about you know finding a job or a partner and these kinds of things whereas High Magic is more about connecting to the divine and the higher self, and more mystical endeavours. So what’s academia’s view on the differences? I guess that in this respect – I’m not sure I understand your question, to be fair James. Because the difference is the one that usually practitioners make, at least in Anthropology they tend to report what are the differences that are drawn by the practitioners. But I’m not sure if you mean from a historical point of view or for a specific tradition or whether or specific reinterpretations by, I don’t know, other Magic Practitioners that wouldn’t call their Magic as High Magic versus Low Magic.

Oh Hi, Cipriano.

Andrew says; that he has a spreadsheet.

You’re more organized than I am Andrew.

So KC_rocka says; Angela I loved your interview with Dr Manon Hedenborg-White about Babalon. As someone new to the Occult and Thelema it was very interesting to watch.

Oh, thank you KC_roca. Manon is quite… I really like her and actually, I saw her in Pisa. I saw lots of people in Pisa as you can tell but it was the European Conference, so it was to be expected. But yeah, we had drinks and lots of chats. So she’s a brilliant scholar, yeah I’m really glad that I got to know her and interview her for the channel. And I think her research is so interesting and also she writes beautifully. I mean I don’t know if you have read “The Eloquent Blood” but it’s beautifully written. Apart from the fact that obviously the content is well researched and everything but I really liked her writing style.

Ron Fiasco; even the Enochian deck. I had it for a while. Okay, you’re still conversing about Enochian Magic.

But James Roland do let me know if I didn’t understand your question. Whether there was something specific that you would like to know about the difference between whether there are similarities. I guess it may depend on the traditions but the similarity would be perhaps the practice of Magic, the belief, the underlying belief Magic is part of the practice.

Darcy Smith is asking; is there any evidence of Satanic Worship before the modern era or where those all examples of social panic and Satanism is purely a modern phenomenon?

I did a lecture on Satanism for my Magus Level Patrons and I recall from that lecture that the first accusations of Satanism, you know, organized Satanism were from around the 13th century, if I remember correctly. But yeah, at first I think that the accusations of being Satan worshippers were directed towards those who would not follow Christianity properly, properly according to the Orthodox. But yeah, the idea of Satanism has been around for a very long time. Definitely before the modern era. It’s just that what we now understand is that Satanism is more of a modern concept, it’s more of a modern concept based on the worship of Satan, whereas in the past it was more the idea of being adversarial towards a certain religious orthodoxy. So that is what is new, what is more modern, if that makes sense.

[heithem boussedjada] what do you think of the philosophy of Julius Evola?

From an esoteric point of view, it would be interesting to cover. Of course, I don’t want to… that doesn’t mean that I endorse right-wing fascist ideas. But I usually I’m usually in favour of studying history regardless of these kinds of elements and also studying the history of Esotericism and addressing those matters when it is pertinent. But I wouldn’t, you know, if I ever make a video on cc it doesn’t mean that I am fascist! Just to put it out there. But Julius Evola was influential. I cannot say that he was not influential, especially on Italian Esotericism in the 20th century. So, perhaps in the future, I might make a video on him. It’s one of those topics that you have to be careful how you address them.

Lorrie Hummel says; please do an episode on the women of High Magic. Thank you for all the time and knowledge you share.

Oh, thank you, Lorrie. Yeah, I hope to do a video on that in the future.

So Rob Horner is asking; any commentary on Dean Radin’s statistical/empirical research book “Real Magic”?

I’m not familiar with that book. I have to look it up. Thank you for the recommendation.

Francisco Santana; I’d like to translate the captions of your videos to Brazilian Portuguese.

Oh Francisco, yeah I did see a comment on Instagram I think but then I forgot to reply. So yeah, I will I will get back to you on that. Thank you for reminding me.

So Aries Draco; ancient Satanic Worship is very unlikely. It is like calling your rivals cannibals.

Edward Iglesias says; we know your allegiance is with the chickens.

Well if we’re still using the metaphors from earlier in our chat. I’d say that if my allegiance was with the chickens, I have made all the wrong decisions in my life, clearly. Being an academic and studying these kinds of matters is not very conducive to chickens.

So azcactusflower1 says; hail chickens.

Edward Iglesias and Andrew say; maybe we should found a chicken-based order.

This chicken thing, it is escalating very quickly.

So Heithem says; do you have any information or thoughts about the influence of Qaballa on Spinoza’s philosophy?

Oh, no. I’m not familiar with that. I know that Spinoza was excommunicated from the Jewish community in Amsterdam. So my guess would be that he was not particularly influenced and also the Qabalah spelled with the Q as you did, Heithem, is the western esoteric Qabalah, it’s not Jewish Kabbalah.

Oh Hi Jeanette, thank you for your donation that’s really appreciated.

Mike Weird says, I so, so much appreciate your channel and knowledge it’s just awesome.

Oh, thank you, Mike. That’s very kind of you.

So Simon is asking; what is your opinion on the limitations with regards to the compartmental nature of the academic study of Magic. Opposed to free-flowing intuitive practice.

I don’t think it is compartmentalized at all. I’m not sure what you mean Simon. Maybe you mean, do you mean the academic study of Magic generally because the academic study of Magic is not compartmentalized. It’s more like every scholar will focus on a specific tradition because otherwise how can you get accurate knowledge if you don’t spend enough time and enough energy on one specific tradition? That wouldn’t be possible. So that’s why in academia and in science you have very narrow specialisms because otherwise, you wouldn’t get thorough knowledge on anything. It would just be too generic and when things are too generic they don’t really mean anything. So I don’t think it is opposed to free-flowing, intuitive practice. I think that intuitive practice is what practitioners do. I think that you know this is something that I have repeated, especially in my Patreon community, my Patrons know that very well and that is that I am delivering academic knowledge on this channel and I am an Academic, obviously. I work at a university and I’m a researcher but that doesn’t mean that I think less of the practitioner’s perspective. Actually, that is not the case at all. It is just that academic knowledge is used one methodology and practitioners use a different methodology. So then the reason why I offer academic knowledge here, on the channel, is that I think that is a gap that needs filling and I think that practitioners can benefit from having more knowledge and do what they want with it, even discard it and continue with their practice the way they want. Ultimately, religious and spiritual practices are a matter of personal beliefs and personal practice and they enrich the person first and foremost but for some people, part of that spiritual achievement part of that purpose is acquiring knowledge. So for lots of people having knowledge and having accurate knowledge on the topics they also have a religious belief and a religious interest in, is quite important. And so I’m here to offer knowledge, academic, scholarly knowledge from peer-reviewed scholarship and research and then practitioners will do whatever they want with it. It’s not like it is hindering anyone’s intuitive path or practice. It is just knowledge that is offered for anyone to do whatever they want including just putting aside and continuing to do whatever they had been doing up until that point.

[AeriaGl0ris] The order of academic chickens.

Yeah, Thomas, you have started… so we’re all just chickens trying to determine if we are eggs. Yeah, degrees in chickenology. As I said, it has escalated very quickly. It’s gonna become an endless joke on this channel.

Ron Fiasco says, the Egg is sacred. I prefer using the symbol of a flower.

Oh nice, orchids are nice.

Oh thank you, Alessandro, Alessandro Vigilante. I’m using the Italian pronunciation. I hope that is though, that is fine. But it’s actually a name that I have seen like in my home region in Italy

Ron Fiasco says; I like the academic aspect of Magick. Hence the “Method of Science. The aim of Religion.”

That’s a nice way of putting it.

Simon, I’m glad you appreciated the answer.

heithem says; is there a difference between Esotericism and Mysticism.

It’s difficult to say. My guess would be that Esotericism is the study of things that are esoteric. Esoteric means hidden or reserved to few people and exoteric with the ‘ex’ is the public knowledge. So the esoteric knowledge is the private knowledge, the exotic knowledge is the public one. So it’s more like secretive knowledge reserved to few initiates that’s the esoteric. So esoteric knowledge is the knowledge that you acquire through an initiation process or because it is connected to occult practices and Magick. But that is more of a more recent understanding of the term esoteric, Esotericism or as Hanegraaff says, rejected knowledge would be Esotericism. But originally Esotericism was meant to refer to the knowledge reserved to the few, the few that were initiated in one tradition or another. It was even used in Philosophy, you know, for those disciples that were in the inner circle. So whereas mysticism, I guess, would be more what we call spirituality, as the connection to the divine. However, the person pictures the divine and the higher self.

So Aztec General; are you familiar with the works of Dr Algiz Uzdavinys, he was a hermeneutical scholar from Lithuania?

No, I’m not familiar with these works. I should look them up. Leave the name in the comment so that I can look it up afterwards.

Academic Police I can see is engaging with the chicken joke. Yeah, we should all thank Academic Police for keeping everything in order although, you know, on this occasion everybody is being very nice and polite but unfortunately every so often we get not so very nice people joining the chat.

So Ron Fiasco; ONE of the things you taught me. I know a lot but I’m always just a student.

Yeah, it’s like I still feel like a student. I mean technically I’m not anymore. It’s like I’ve been a student for, you know, whatever. You can be a student for, you know, I have my qualifications and three degrees and a PhD but I still feel like a student. It is difficult for me to see myself as a professor or a lecturer as they say here in the UK. But yeah, I think that I will always consider myself a student. I guess that ‘researcher’ kind of gives me that sense as well because when you are a researcher you are researching, so it’s not like you have the answers and that’s nice. It’s always better to have more questions and settle for answers and never allow them to change.

So Darcy Smith is asking; does the term Esotericism makes sense these days since “hidden” knowledge has become democratised and easy to access with social media and internet?

That’s a good question Darcy and I think I’m gonna make… Oh by the way did you like, guys did you my short. I started making shorts for the YouTube channel. It’s just that I don’t like how they look on a computer screen. They look nice on smartphones but not on computer screens. But let me know in the comment in the chatbox here or in the comments, whether you like my shorts. But yeah, what was I saying? Yeah, that I was planning on making a short on the idea of ‘occulture’ and the idea that now, in our culture, the occult has become not as occult anymore, in terms of it’s not hidden – it is openly talked about, as we are doing here, now on YouTube. But the thing is that the occult is not defined as such just because it used to be hidden, secretive and concealed knowledge. That was the case because it was not really accepted, you know, you could enter into different kinds of risks by openly talking about these kinds of things. Now that is not the case anymore but it still makes sense to talk about it as occult because it still deals with occult forces that are openly, we are openly talking about these matters and this subject but how it works is still through occult forces like, you know, you have the correspondences and all these laws of Magick. But they are still hidden, they are still occult, in a way, it is still unclear how they work, it is not yet understood. So it is still part of them, it is still, of course, in that respect, I would say and also you know not all Magick traditions are open about what they practice. There are still lots of occult traditions or esoteric traditions that would only share that knowledge with the initiates. So I have been exposed to some of these from my research. So yeah, definitely not all traditions are open to the public but some are, some forms of Magick are openly discussed but I would still that they are still occult in that other sense.

So Alessandro is asking…

Oh bye James, James Roland is leaving. Have a great day everyone. Great stream Dr Puca as always.

Bye James and see you in the Inner Symposium.

Alessandro is asking, do you feel the Symposium itself is forming a society? Do you think that? The Inner Symposium perhaps, our Patreon community is. I wouldn’t say a society but it’s a nice group and especially with those that have been there for a long time, I think that we are forming a very nice community. I’m not sure about the YouTube channel but I can see there are some people that are regulars on the channel, which is nice because I start to recognize your names

Bianca Cartin says; thank you so much it’s been really informative.

Oh, thank you, Bianca. Sometimes I’m a bit worried that my Q&A live streams are not as informative as my usual videos but it’s also nice to engage with you guys

So Aztec General is asking; do you think that Magick is just the early form of theurgy. What if Magick is just meaningless religious practice.

I’m not sure I understand your question, but what if Magick is just a meaningless religious practice. Well, define what is meaningful then. I guess that that really depends on the person and the practitioner. But I would say that something has meaning if you give it meaning otherwise anything arguably could be meaningless.

Aztec general is asking can I donate through PayPal?

Yeah, you can if you want. And thank you for considering that. I usually put a link in a pinned comment on all of my videos. I will put it on this video as well. I couldn’t I usually do it before it gets publicly released but in the case of a live stream, you have to do it afterwards. But I will put my usual pinned comment with all the links to support the channel.

So yeah, I guess that we can end the live stream here. It was really fun having this conversation with you guys. I hope you enjoyed it as well and if I forgot to answer any of your questions that just slipped through and I couldn’t see them, please just leave them in the comment section down below and if you are watching this after the live stream, please do let me know in the comment section what you thought of it and whether you have any questions.

And thank you so much for being here and obviously, if you did like this video, SMASH the like button, subscribe to the channel and please share my videos with friends of yours that might be interested in the topic, it really means a lot, and allows us, our project to grow.

So yeah, thank you so much for being here and as always, stay tuned for all the Academic Fun.

Bye for now

Streamed 11 Oct 2021