Hello everyone. I am Dr Angela Puca and welcome to the Live Stream Symposium. I am a PhD and a University Lecturer and this is your online resource for the online study of Magick, Esotericism, Occultism, Paganism, Shamanism and all religious or spiritual traditions that involve some kind of Magic, which is my core interest, my core research interest.

So I’m really glad to see a few of you in the chat. Hi, Hank and Andrew and João.

Yeah, yesterday I managed to actually go on a walk with my former supervisor and now colleague, Suzanne Owen and we went to the RHS, I always get confused with acronyms, it was near Harrogate and it was a sort of botanical garden and there was some bird-watching going on and you know, bird-watching fascinates me but I am really bad at it. But I was able to recognise a jay, that got, you know, closer to me than I anticipated and also I managed to see two magpies. So I was quite happy about it.

Yeah, yesterday I managed to actually go on a walk with my former supervisor and now colleague, Suzanne Owen and we went to the RHS, I always get confused with acronyms, it was near Harrogate and it was a sort of botanical garden and there was some bird-watching going on and you know, bird-watching fascinates me but I am really bad at it. But I was able to recognise a jay, that got, you know, closer to me than I anticipated and also I managed to see two magpies. So I was quite happy about it.

I don’t know what you are doing this weekend but let me just say hi to a few of you guys. I already said hi to Andrew and João, I see two of my Patrons in the chat, which is really nice. And Hank and Joshua, hello Joshua. Let me see who else is there. And as always, thank you to Academic Police for supervising the whole situation. Hello Gothik Extravaganza, I notice that lately, you have become a poet in my comments section. Hello Inquisitor Vex and Thomas Tate. Hi Raziel and Michael Jones and hi, Radori. Oh, Radori says, Angela, found you just recently. I’m glad that you found me, welcome to the Symposium. Hello Ken Romero.

I just, a few days ago, got the acceptance of my paper at the EASR Conference, which is the European Association for the Study of Religions because, you know, among academics, we tend to use these acronyms but outside of our circle I am aware that people do not know what this means. But yeah, I got my paper accepted for presenting at the conference of the European Association for the Study of Religions and also at the ESSWE Conference which is the European Association for the Study of Western Esotericism and they are both at the University College Cork between June and July. So I will be spending like a couple of weeks there. Which is nice. Maybe I will be able to see Dublin as well.

Hi Dr and all, Almog Yarden.

Gothik Extravaganza says, my good Doc, I’m glad you like my poetry. I’m ever the artist and could send you other works on Instagram if you want.

Yeah, feel free to.

Frater Zigmund says the Austin Osman Spare video was so good! Thank you for all your hard work.

Oh, thank you so much. It’s always nice, you know, to see my work appreciated and yeah, and that was a special video because it was also a collaboration with Justin, Dr Sledge from Esoterica. But yeah, I think that Austin Osman Spare is really interesting, actually, I’d like to cover him more in terms of art. I think one of the things I’d love to do more is art in Occultism in different ways. But it is one of those things that requires more time and it is always difficult to find the time because that’s always my main issue is finding the time to do everything that I want to do. Yeah, but it would be a great project to expand more the study of Esotericism here on Angela’s Symposium to include more art. I have a video on music, well, you know, Satanism in metal but there are more things that could be said about music and Esotericism and the same goes for different forms of art. I think that art and Esotericism are very intertwined. There are also a few conferences, academic conferences on art and Esotericism.

Are there any questions yet? Or are you guys discussing amongst yourselves? Let me see. Yeah, I am glad that you guys have really enjoyed Spare’s video. I have heard that the timing in the history of Esotericism, was very fertile. Early to mid 20^th century, it was really a turning point because a seminal and foundational character is Aleister Crowley. Because a lot of Esoteric thoughts and even certain, you know, certain methodologies and certain ways of approaching the Occult have some kind of relation to his thought and his practice. Even though now I know that he is a controversial figure it’s definitely essential to be understanding of the development of contemporary Esotericism but also Paganism because Wicca was also influenced by Aleister Crowley.

So, let me see the chatbox.

Oh, Greg says you are a new Patron and subscriber, Hi Doctor. Oh, thank you, Greg. I hope you are liking our Inner Symposium so far.

Oh, Radori talks about Chaos Shaman.

That’s interesting. Is there a combination between Shamanism and Chaos Magick? There are some elements of… yeah, you already see some overlaps between Chaos Magick and Shamanism that I discussed in my video, the first video that I did on Chaos Magick and its philosophy.

Andrew has a question. Up until recently, most Western Esotericists were Monotheists. How much has the recent adoption of Polytheism or even Atheism changed esoteric practice?

That’s a good question. I think it really depends whether you really want to distinguish, how to define the Western Esotericist, that could be, perhaps… I think that you have always, across history there are always Magic Practitioners, if we want to call them that way, that were Monotheists or Polytheists or Animist perhaps, Atheism is a bit more recent. I think I’m not an expert in the history of Atheism because that is not what I study academically. From, you know, if you look at the history of the practice of Magic and the Occult you find everything really in terms of the religious underpinnings of the practices: you find Monotheists and Polytheists. But I think that I know what you mean, you mean more in terms of the so-called esoteric circles. For instance in Folkmagic in Europe, you find that a lot of vernacular healers, of Cunning Folks they were Monotheists and they would still practice Magic. But perhaps your question is more in reference to things like Ceremonial Magic and institutionalised forms of Esotericism. But maybe I think that the most interesting development could be the atheist Witches and whether Witchcraft can be actually sort of disentangled from a religious, you know, religious entities or spirits. Because some might think it’s not possible and others, obviously, argue that it is indeed possible. So we in terms of, you know, from an academic point of view we need more research and more data to establish what are the patterns of meaning that are created by the community but I think that perhaps that’s more interesting than that moving from Monotheism to Polytheism because, in my perception, I think that you’ve always found both Monotheism and Polytheism as religious underpinnings to historic practices. But yeah Atheism, perhaps, is more of a new phenomenon, I think.

Let me see if there are…

Oh, I just saw Raziel talking about Hekate. Well, Hekate is the subject of my paper at the European Conference, so you will definitely see more on Hekate.

Another thing that I have lined up is… I posted that on Instagram in a story on Instagram and I think that I also got tagged by Adam Booth, Adam Booth is a Geophysicist from the University of Leeds and he has a very interesting series of events at a pub here in Leeds called Quantum Sauce and usually, he gathers like three scholars that talk about a common theme from the perspective of their research expertise and so there is an event on the 24th of March, in case any of you are around Leeds and you want to come and see it. It’s an event on spring and so the other two scholars will talk about, I think, climate change and fertility and I will be talking about the spring equinox and the Pagan practices around the spring equinox. And I was thinking perhaps of also, you know, doing a little ritual, perhaps, on stage. There’s a stage there, yes. But yeah we will see. Maybe I’ll get to film the event so that I can upload it on my YouTube channel but it’s a fun thing actually. In the beginning of my PhD I participated in this fun thing that they were doing in Leeds which was called “Pub-HD” which is a, you know, a combination of pub and PhD and there were PhDs presenting their research in a pub and it was quite fun. I met a mathematician there and he was so funny and made his research sound extremely fascinating and you know, you wouldn’t think that mathematics could be particularly entertaining but he was really entertaining.

Let me go back to the questions, I’m sorry, I’m rambling.

So Tony Nakhle says, Dr Puca can Esotericism be separated from Mysticism? I know that my question may look a little bit vague and maybe hard to answer.

Oh, Tony, I will try and answer and then you can tell me whether I managed to address what you were interested in knowing. So can Esotericism be separated from Mysticism? Funny enough this was a conversation that I was having yesterday with Suzanne when we were on a walk and I think that quite often there is the perception that Esotericism or Magick practice is different from Mysticism and you know, for some people Magick is kind of strictly related, especially for those who are not Practitioners, I would say, you know, the popular perception, sometimes is that people that practice Magick are interested in altering their reality or acquiring certain powers and it is more about the mundane, you know, leaving the mundane and experiencing the world in a specific way, in a way, controlled to a certain degree but I’ve always argued, even in a discussion with a former Professor that was specialized in Buddhism, I’ve always argued that actually there is Mysticism underpinning…

Oh, thank you Existentialism for your donation.

I’ve always argued that there is Mysticism in Magick and Esotericism. I think that they can be disentangled but they can also be practised together. I think that that’s kind of the same with a lot, if not all, religious practices I mean you can be a Christian and you know, just go to the church and just attend to the most practical and mundane aspects of your religiosity or you could also have a mystical experience or seek mystical experiences within that religious framework. And also you have people that, you know, are extremely… So I think it really depends. It’s not a matter of one religious practice as opposed to another. I think that all practices that are somewhat religious or spiritual. That’s another big topic, would be the difference between spiritual and religious and that’s another thing that is often discussed among academic circles. And I’d say that when you have a religious practice or religious tradition it’s really up to the person how they experience it. It is about how you want to experience it. Do you want to experience from a mystical point of view and so it’s not just about changing or having a certain experience in your daily life but also work on your higher self, soul, you know, going beyond your ego or beyond your mundane ‘I’? It depends of course on the religious framework – how you conceptualise this but usually, Mysticism tends to unity. If I had to describe what Mysticism is, it’s a way to go beyond your usual perception as something separate towards a perception of you as a unity, as going, you know, with a sense of expansion or whatever you perceive to be, you know, to become something greater, wider. So yeah, I think the answer is that I think they can be separated but they can also be practised together. It really depends on the Practitioner, it depends on the person, what it is that the person is interested in. Is it just a love spell or a money spell, money drawing spell or is it to, you know, grow towards your spiritual path or have a certain experience that goes beyond your mundane ones? So I think it really depends on the person but Esotericism is very varied and encompasses them both I see, I think.

Let me see if there are other questions.

Oh, Radori says the first video you did on Chaos Magick is where I decided to rebrand the name as Chaos Shaman due to my background and understanding.

Oh, I’m glad it was useful for your personal experience.

Studio Noir says, have you ever worked, path-worked with any deity from the Greco-roman current? And what’s your take on Medusa?

As most of you know, I think, I don’t really share my personal beliefs and personal practices because this space is about, you know, the academic study of Esotericism and Magick. But I can say that, you know, that being Italian, Roman deities are of course very popular among Italian Pagans and especially I’d say the Greek deities are particularly popular in Southern Italy and the Roman ones in Central Italy, unsurprisingly.

Oh, thank you Hank for your donation.

So yeah, of course, you have that a lot of Pagans tend to work with these deities and what is my take on Medusa? On Medusa as a mythical, historical entity or how contemporary Pagans work with her? I don’t think I’ve come across any Pagan in Italy that works specifically on Medusa. Sounds like a difficult entity to work with based on the myth of Medusa. But yeah, let me know if there’s something specific that you want to know.

Thomas Tate says, can you explain Chaos Magick?

I have a video, I have a few videos on Chaos Magick. In fact, I think I have a playlist on Chaos Magick. So I think it could be helpful for you to check that out. But Chaos Magick is, I think, it’s quite popular because it’s a free form of Magick that sort of rejects the institutionalised Magick practices and has and it’s very individualistic and I think that there is a tendency towards that in contemporary Esotericism to have individually tailored practices and that’s one of the reasons as to why I think, I speculate that eclectic Wicca has become so popular because it, sort of, it gave people and Practitioners the chance to individually tailor their practice. So you have certain general broad guidelines or broad principles but then you can make it your own practice very easily. It’s quite malleable and Chaos Magick is similar in that respect and you can create your own correspondences, you create your own sigils, you can even, you know, elevate an entity or a TV show character to a deity for just for the purpose of a ritual, to evoke, you know, that kind of archetypal energy within you. So Chaos Magick is extremely, I’d say, individualistic or allows you to have a very individually tailored practice that doesn’t have to rely on an institution or a dogma of any sort in the perception of contemporary Chaos Magicians, especially.

Oh, Raziel says, is the content on Hekate still something you’re working on?

Yes, it is something that I’m still working on. I will be doing more research in the next month and actually, I also want to use TikTok as a way of gathering data it’s just that I have to… I was, once again, talking about this with Suzanne yesterday, Suzanne Owen is my former supervisor and now colleague and she does amazing research in indigenous religions. If you want to check out her work I also have interviews with her on the YouTube channel. But yeah we were talking about, you know, I was asking how can I use data collected from TikTok because when you do academic research there are lots of parameters that you have to abide by. And so one of the things is to get ethical approval but there are also other things and I’m really not sure how you can use tick TikTok in that way. I managed to use Facebook for my PhD, not for all of it of course, but there was a small bit of data that came from a Facebook group and I managed to get approval on that, so I have to see whether I can get it approved in terms of data collection and analysis. But it would be interesting to study, you know, the perception and how contemporary Pagans are re-imagining the goddess Hekate in the, you know, in the #WitchTok era. I’m sure that Andrew is enthusiastic about it Andrew is one of my Patrons. He’s very fond of TikTok, he’s actually the reason why I’m on TikTok because he persuaded me to be there.

So oh, João, João has a question. Would you be open to cover Esotericism in the world of graphic novels and comic books? Grant Morrison, Alan Moore, Alejandro Jodorowsky and Jean Giraud come to mind.

Oh yeah, that would be so interesting, yes. Yeah, I’d definitely like to cover those, absolutely. As I said it’s just that when I move a bit far from what I have to do for my academic research it requires more time because sometimes I make videos on things that I’m already studying either for lectures or for papers that I’m writing or side research for research that I’m doing academically. And in other cases, I make videos on things that are that I’m not really currently studying and so in that case it requires more time to do all the research and the reading. But in terms of the topics, I’m absolutely fascinated and interested. Anecdotally, I was once in Paris and there was the son of Jodorowsky who was reading the Tarot cards in this café in Paris. Yeah, and I went there because, you know, I found it interesting. So yeah, Jodorowsky is an interesting character. He would, yeah, I think it would be interesting to make a video on him as well but also on the other ones that you mentioned, João.

JoshuaVonNoctis is asking, I am looking for more information on Technopaganism as I feel Khonsu is leading me down that path. I saw your video but do you have any information on the subject that is non-Wiccan focused?

That’s an interesting question. So the thing is that with Technopaganism there isn’t much research really and it seemed to me when I did research on the matter, it seemed to me that the term was more used in the 90s and up to the 2000s and then after that, it was not really used that much any more. So, but yeah correct me if I’m wrong and there’s something that I should look up. Yeah, that’s something that would be interesting to investigate more. But what counts as Technopaganism? That’s another thing. Is it Paganism on social media? Because in that case, of course, you start to have papers. There are papers even on The Pomegranate, The Pomegranate is the journal of Pagan Studies…

Oh, thank you Mountain Harpie for your donation.

…is the international journal for Pagan Studies if I remember correctly. I’m not sure if it is international or not but it is the most famous journal in Pagan Studies, The Pomegranate and there are two papers, that I recall, on Instagram and is it Facebook? I think it is Facebook and so it is Paganism, you know, on the social media platform. So there is interest and there are some papers there are a few papers, not many on the matter but I’m not sure if that is what counts as Technopaganism maybe one of the things that we need. Maybe I could write that article on the Pomegranate. You know what is Technopaganism? Because I think that otherwise, it’s difficult to answer the question. So I’m assuming that you mean by Technopaganism forms of Paganism that use the social media platforms or the online world or to interact and sometimes to practice. But let me know what you mean more specifically because otherwise, it’s difficult to explain. I would imagine that Technopaganism is Paganism that lives on the internet and flourishes on the internet but then would it count as Technopaganism if they also meet in person, you know, if they only use the internet to, for instance, meet each other and then they, you know, to acknowledge that they exist and then they meet up in person. Would it count as Technopaganism or will it only count as Technopaganism if they only interact and practice online or through technology and social media? So to what extent is Technopaganism and when, you know, where do you draw the line between Paganism and Technopaganism? That would be another interesting question.

So Arche says Dr Puca how does specifically theistic Satanism, for example, of the Temple of Set relate to non-Satanist, other newish left-hand occultist ideas, for example, Chaosism and so on – any connection there?

I’m not sure I’m able to answer that question. So basic Satanism Temple of Set that relate to non… that’s a difficult question to answer because a non-Satanist group usually don’t want to be associated with Satanists. And even when there are parallels non-Satanic groups tend to be averse to the idea of being associated with them. So, for instance, what comes to mind is in Italy there is a form of Satanism that could be translated as ‘spiritual Satanism,’ the way they call it and they include the Wheel of the Year, the Wiccan Wheel of the Year and also some aspects of the Goddess and the God, you know, that the idea of these two deistic elements, in some cases, but mostly there’s the Wheel of the Year and they celebrate it and so you see parallels with Paganism and sometimes they identify as Pagans. But then the Pagan community doesn’t want them to be associated with Pagans. So if you were to analyse that as a Historian of Religion or as a Religious Study Scholar you would see, you know, this tradition calls itself Spiritual Satanism but they include Pagan elements. Is that Pagan? That’s another big question and it depends on your methodology. I would say it is not Paganism but I think that basic Satanism has elements that can have parallels with other traditions, especially left-hand path traditions. But it’s difficult to draw these parallels because first of all I would have to know exactly what traditions we are talking about and second, it’s a bit of a minefield because of the fact that quite often you find that non-Satanic groups don’t want to be associated with Satanic groups. As a Religious Study Scholar, I find Satanism very fascinating but I also acknowledge that non-Satanic traditions tend to have this kind of attitude. I’m not sure it answers your question but I hope it does at least in part.

Andrew says in the 60s Technopaganism was boiling your cauldron on an electric stove instead of an open fire.

Yes, I think that, yeah, every age has its innovations and yeah, that’s funny.

Let me see if there are other questions.

Oh, JoshuaVonNoctis says, Technopaganism as explained to me…

Oh, thank you James Roland for your donation.

Tecchnopaganism as explained to me by Khonsu and through some light reading is the use of technology in ritual and seeing the spiritual side of technology, not really uploading a video to TikTok.

Well yeah, I don’t mean uploading a video to TikTok but what if you cast a spell through TikTok? That, I guess, would classify as that. Yeah, I think it’s an interesting subject and there isn’t much academic research on it but it should be more studied. I think that I will do more research on that, academically I mean, because it’s becoming more, you know, more and more relevant to the community.

João says using a candle could count as using a technology.

Oh yeah “Cyberhenge,” the book that João is mentioning in the chat Cyberhenge is an academic book and I remember it because I read it for my video on Technopaganism but I think that what I mentioned in that video on Technopaganism is pretty much everything there is to my knowledge from an academic point of view and the thing is that a lot of you know this but I will say once again, that one of the things about my YouTube channel and my project here is that I only include knowledge that is based on peer-reviewed scholarship which is something that I also put in here because I think that sometimes viewers can be confused you know, what it is exactly that I talk about when it comes to Witchcraft and one of the, you know, of the main traits of my project is that I address, you know, the information that you get is not my own interpretation on primary sources or books. Not that there is anything wrong with it. But I chose to use this platform to deliver academic and peer-reviewed scholarship on the matter. So, for instance, if there is a book written by a Practitioner on Technopaganism and there are no papers or studies on the matter, I wouldn’t use that material or my own interpretation unless it is a study that I will carry out myself and in that case, you know, it would count as academic research. I don’t know whether, in the future, I will change my methodology but as of now that is the direction that I want my project to follow. So that makes me a bit more limited because I know many more things than the ones that I can cover on my YouTube channel just because perhaps there are some things that have not been studied yet, academically. But yeah, that is the kind of methodology that I use so it has limitations but it also has, I think, positives which is that when you find information on this platform you know that it comes from academic scholarship if that is what you’re interested in. Now that there’s anything wrong with being interested in works written by Practitioners, of course. It’s just that that is the methodology of my project and of my channel. As an academic in the field I think that I also want to help my research field because of course it’s not like the study of Esotericism and Magick, you know, is super popular in Academia. There is, you know, luckily it is growing but it is still a very small subject area and I think that by disseminating the papers and the studies and the research that are done in this research field I’m hoping to also help the field grow and make people aware that we exist, to begin with, and that work we do matters because otherwise, it’s also very difficult to find universities that would back your research or find funding. So it’s a complicated world to study these kinds of matters but luckily it’s getting slowly better.

Let me see if there are other questions.

Ah, Cern Green says hi Dr A…

Thank you for Dr A. It’s funny because I get called all sorts of Dr something, Dr P, Dr Puca, doc.

Dr A, are you getting a lot of positive or negative feedback about your Stregheria video? I thought it was great.

Oh, thank you very much. I’m glad that you liked it. I was a bit scared of releasing that video because I know that, well I got overwhelmingly positive feedback from Italians. There was actually an Italian Pagan that sent me a message saying that I have… I don’t know if I can say live… she said that I have balls of steel for releasing that video, that’s what she said and you know I’ve got a lot of Italian Pagans that sort of uploaded me and said, oh, finally, finally. Positive things to say about my video. I didn’t get a lot of backlash, there were a few that were disappointed by the fact that I said that Stregheria is not Italian Witchcraft but the majority is, you know, all the feedback was positive I think. So it went better than I expected. I was a bit worried but yeah, I think that I’m happy that I made that video. I hope it helps people and I don’t want to, you know, if as I mentioned in that video as well, if a specific practice brings value to you of any kind I think that religions and spiritualities have, as their main goal, to provide meaning perhaps to people and help us navigate the world and life and reality in a meaningful way and enrich our experiences. So if somebody finds value in that, you know, I wouldn’t of course judge that at all. It’s just when there are certain claims that are not backed by any research then, of course, a scholar should point them out without meaning any disrespect towards those who find value in that specific practice.

Abnormal says, have you worked with Egyptian Gods? If so how did you go about doing it?

I have a video on Heka. In terms of whether I work with Egyptian gods, I don’t think I’m answering that because, as I mentioned earlier, I don’t share my personal beliefs and practices. But Egyptian Gods are very fascinating, especially the Nuteru which are the ones of the family were Isis, Osiris, Matt. Yeah, they are very fascinating and I come from Naples in Italy and there are a few temples of Isis, for instance, in Naples that some of them have later become churches, Catholic churches but there is an influence of Egyptian culture there, which is fascinating. But yeah, I find Egyptian Gods very interesting. I haven’t done research on them academically but there is definitely research. I think that… what’s his name… there is a scholar that now I cannot recall. So if you write me a comment after the video, after we go offline, if you leave me a comment. William Budge maybe? [E. A. Wallis Budge] No, I don’t want to say the wrong name but there’s a scholar that has written a lot about Egyptian Magick and that’s yeah, that’s quite fascinating.

Andrew says a candle is a man-made object and is, therefore, technology and in ancient times was very expensive.

Yeah, that reminds me of the perceived and I underline, perceived dichotomy between artificial and natural. I think that, well, you don’t find that only in Paganism and Witchcraft communities but even outside of those but, you know, this dichotomy between or perceived dichotomy, I would say, I think it’s a perceived dichotomy, to me, between the artificial and the natural

Yeah, but maybe some things are because some things are man-made and so it would be they would be artificial and others are and they would be considered, especially for certain Practitioners, they have a higher status if they are deemed natural as opposed to artificial. And so if you have that kind of dichotomous mindset and also a system of value that professes one over the other then technology would be a way of undermining or, you know, diminishing or giving less value to your practice. If you use technology instead of using the mundane things, the non-technological things. Do we have non-technological things really, as Andrew was pointing out? Perhaps we don’t but yeah that’s also one of the things if I ever research Technopaganism, which I think I will, one of the things that might be interesting to address is this matter of power, you know, this perception of power and whether there is more power in things that are deemed as non-technological and even the, where do you draw the line between the technology and the non-technology. But I think that maybe in the past there were more Practitioners that thought that technology, in a way, undermines or, you know, makes the practice less poetic and less magical. But that perhaps comes from an idea of a disenchanted, from a disenchanted perception of technology and man-made things whereas if a Practitioner is endorsing an animistic worldview then everything is sentient and has a spirit – including technology. So it is more a matter of working with energies of different kinds.

So let me see if there are other questions.

Oh, thank you Almog Yarden for your donation.

Trying to see if there are other questions.

Inquisitor Vex is asking, I’m feeling a little disconnected with my religion, Paganism. Do you know any small minor rituals or practices I could use/do so I can feel like I’m actually practising my religion?

So, as a scholar, I don’t quite give advice on rituals but what I can say is that I’m trying to recall, you know, what Practitioners have said in, you know, during my fieldwork. One of the things is that Paganism is quite often associated with being nature-worshipping and it’s not just the worship of nature but it’s also connecting to nature in a way that allows the person the pagan Practitioner to feel like they are something more than what they normally, on a daily basis, feel they are. So perhaps, you know, based on what Practitioners usually do, a good starting point to get reconnected to your religiosity is to find connection with nature again, you know, being more in nature or celebrating the equinoxes and the solstices and the full moons and the new moons. These are practices that Pagans do not only because those moments in the year and in the month are considered to be sacred but also because in those celebrations they get in tune with the seasons so there is a correspondence between what happens outside in the world and on the earth and what happens inside. So by celebrating those moments you are reconnecting yourself with that with the energy and with the time and so you sort of get reconnected to the seasons inside, in a way, worshipping and connecting to the seasons outside and there’s this sort of macrocosm-microcosm connection that happens again. So I guess that that would be my advice, perhaps, to find, you know, to just start by working on your connection with the natural world, anything that inspires you and, you know, inspires wonder and makes you feel like you are alive and you are, you know, vibrating. Sometimes, at least, I tend to get that feeling when I’m in nature and especially when there are certain trees. I really like trees and there are certain trees that sort of make me feel like, you know, sort of electricity. I don’t know how to explain it but maybe if you have anything like that that could be a starting point, like a specific thing whether it be trees or rivers or something in nature that is sort of a gateway to get reconnected. I hope that helps.

Joshua says Paganism in and of itself is not a religion.

That’s a big topic are you referring to one of the Pagan faiths or just to Kemetism?

So shall we open Pandora’s box? So, I would say, Joshua, that as a scholar I would say that Paganism is a religion. But I don’t know if you know I have mentioned in a few videos in the past that there is something in anthropology called the emic and the etic perspective. So the emic perspective is how Practitioners talk about their practices and the etic perspective is scholars, when scholars, you know, study Practitioners’ practice and they sort of try and see whether what they say corresponds to a certain description or a certain dogma when there is one or with the historical developments. So the ethic perspective is the perspective of the researcher that goes beyond what one or multiple Practitioners say and identifies the patterns rather than what people say and also the historical side, the historical documents or the certain definitions that are already present in literature. So the matter of whether Paganism is a religion has a lot to do with what is believed to be a religion. And what is, at the moment, quite discussed in Religious Studies circles, among scholars, is that now slowly the term religion is losing its strict association with Abrahamic religions. So if you have a certain idea of what religion is, that resembles the three Monotheisms then you would say Paganism is not a religion because it doesn’t resemble that. But is it really the case that religion has to, you know, the term religion has to be strictly associated with those religions? Or is it, perhaps, the case that there are many different forms of religions and that the term could be, in a way, reclaimed and claimed by those who do not practice those Monotheisms? And one of the reasons why perhaps some Practitioners are moving towards re-employing the term religion has been, sort of, it has become… for a long time Practitioners were averse to use the term religion because it was associated to dogma and institutionalized religions, things resembling the Monotheisms. And Pagans, especially in the past, certainly they didn’t want to be associated with that. But the thing is that in our society religion is a social and a political actor and spirituality isn’t. So if you have a religious belief and a religious practice that doesn’t resemble a Monotheism and you call it spirituality you are removing yourself from the conversation.

And it is, I think and this is the realm of my opinion, I think that is detrimental to the community because removing yourself from the conversation will not help the, you know, the community of those who practice that religion or that spirituality because you, as a non-religious practice, you have less rights and you cannot enter the conversation even in terms with other people in your society. And it is not recognized, you know, spirituality is not a term that is recognized as a social and a political actor. So whereas religion is and so, perhaps, in terms of the rights that Practitioners can get including the status of a religion that has its own benefits from a social and political point of view. Apart from that it could also be a matter and it is a matter for some already, it is a matter of reclaiming a term that doesn’t necessarily have to only belong to certain religions and yeah, that’s what I wanted to say.

I hope that opening of the Pandora’s box has not created too much damage but I’m hoping to, you know, to having different views from you guys but these are conversations that are happening among Religious Studies scholars. I can tell you the definition of the term religion is already being reshaped in academia by using discourse analysis as a methodology and especially those who don’t study, like myself, the Monotheisms but we study Paganism, Shamanism, Witchcraft, you know, other forms of practice that include religious elements and whether they are or not religions. In some cases, you know, in some cases it’s a bit blurred whether they count as religion in other cases when you remove the strict association between religion and one of the three Monotheistic ones that are the most practised around the world, then you can see that they are indeed religions, so and then you wonder why the Practitioners are averse to using the term and can be for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes personal reasons, if you grow up in a family that has an idea of religion that is very strict and binding and dogmatic then you associate the term with those elements and then whether you classify something as a religion or not also has personal connotations and personal associations.

Thank you for the donation Marcus, Marcus Roark.

So yeah, I think it’s complicated and that’s why it’s important to also have the point of view of scholars on the matter because I think that scholars in Religious Studies are extremely, extremely respectful of Practitioners. I think that in the past, you know, you had Fraser and Tyler and these armchair-Anthropologists that sort of treated Practitioners as these, you know, backwardly people doing irrational stuff. But now Religious Study scholars are extremely respectful of Practitioners. So that it’s not really a matter of and also we have lots of even from an ethical standpoint research works in a very strict way. So, but that said, being respectful doesn’t mean that a researcher needs to endorse what every single Practitioner says and how they, you know, how they talk about their practices. I think the role of the scholar is also to go beyond the individual classifications and help understand the practice from, I wouldn’t say objective because I don’t like the word, that I’m objective but from a more scholarly, a wider perspective that also is related to, you know, what is happening in the scholarly world.

Oh, hi Justin. I can see that Justin is in the chat, Esoterica. Great Q&A Dr Puca! Wonderful to work together on the Spare episode.

Yeah, yeah. I really liked, I really enjoyed your video and as always to collaborate with you Justin or Dr Sledge and yeah I look forward to our next one. We will see what our next collaboration will bring us. But I look forward more to seeing you in person. We definitely need to find a way to meet up.

Thomas Dolcelli has a question, are you going to do a group discussion like you did during your 10k subscribers with other PhDs?

Oh yeah, I know what you’re referring to. It was an event like a round table discussion with other scholars on, I think it was on death and afterlife. Yeah, that would be interesting. Yeah, that would be good to organize another one of those. Yeah, maybe next month I might try and organize one of those but I will be at two conferences, as I said in the beginning of the live stream, I’ll be at two conferences in Ireland between June and July, so I will definitely have interviews and talks with scholars over there. Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it. I think in this moment in time I’m so starved of travelling and seeing people that I, you know, just want to go everywhere.

So but yeah, let me see what else is in the chat.

Oh Justin says let’s do it, would be great to hang out you can show me around Naples. Oh yeah, if you come to Naples I can bring you to Nola so that you can see the place where Giordano Bruno was born. It’s not impressive, I should say but you can drink the Neapolitan water and get enchanted yourself. There’s still a joke running on the Neapolitan water because I realized that, you know, all the Magicians, so the Renaissance Magicians, the Italian Renaissance Magicians are all from Naples and then I realized that the most famous Anthropologist and the only one, really, that studied Magick in the 20th century whose his name is… it’s not… it’s escaping me now, why? But he was also from Naples and I can’t remember his name now, I talk about him all the time. Anyway, I’ve blanked out. So yeah it’s fascinating there are so many Philosophers and Magicians that were from Naples, so we said maybe it’s something in the water. So, Ernesto de Martino, that’s the name. Ernesto de Martino is, perhaps, the most famous Anthropologist in Italy and he studied Magic and he was also from Naples. So, I don’t know what’s going on there but….

Oh yeah, Hank said you could fund a trip to Naples with Magick Water sales, count me in for a jug.

Yes, and Andrew, of course, says we need Neapolitan water as merch.

Yeah, then I would have to see whether to get that water. In Naples. There are lots of public, you know, fountains where you can have drinkable water but yeah, it’s funny. But yeah, Justin, of course, if you ever come to Italy or to Naples it’d be really fun to show you around and also to eat delicious food because we Italians are obsessed with food. I can see in the chat a lot of people talking about the Magic Water.

[Mountain Harpie] I’ll donate Magic Colorado snow.

Yeah, I’d also love to come to the US. I’ve never been to the US. Interestingly enough I was supposed to go to Boston for the AAR conference a couple of years ago but then the pandemic hit and that was not possible. It was moved online and I was supposed to also meet Andrew from Religion for Breakfast because he was finishing his PhD at Boston University. So it was a pity that that didn’t happen. I have to see whether I’m able to go to the next AAR Conference. The AAR Conference is the American Academy of Religion, I’m sorry I forget that these acronyms are only known to other academics. But it’s difficult to get funding for a trip to the US, it’s quite expensive. That’s the matter and at the moment I don’t have… but I had more budget for these kinds of things when I was a PhD than now, interestingly enough but yeah, I’d love to go to the US and to the AAR Conference. I have to see if the call for papers is still open.

Oh, Existentialism99 says something in Italian. Tutti a tavola a mangiare. Which means everyone at the table, to eat.

So yeah, I think it’s almost 10 past six my time and I hope I answered all of your questions. If I have forgotten any of your questions please leave them in the comment section and I will get back .to them as soon as possible.

Oh yeah, perhaps Salem I’d like to go to Salem, New Orleans because those are the typical things to do when you are interested in Magick, I guess. But I like to visit anywhere in the US really. And so yeah, I think it’s time to wrap up the live stream thank you, Justin, if you are already there, for coming over and if you guys don’t know Esoterica, but I think you do, of course, go over there and subscribe to his channel because his work is amazing and also he’s a great friend.

So and thank you everybody for coming along for the live stream. It’s always nice to interact with you guys and if you are watching this, whether it is live or offline, please consider supporting my work if you like my content and you want me to keep it going, I would really appreciate it if you considered supporting me and my work with a one-off PayPal donation, by joining Memberships or my Inner Symposium on Patreon. I can see a few of my Patrons already in the chat which is fantastic and it’s a great community. I think that if you join you will not regret it for a second. And Andrew, who is in the chat, also leads a book club and we have chats and conversations on Discord, in our server. So it’s fun, please consider joining and otherwise, you can also support by liking the video. So if you like this live stream or if you are liking the video if you watch it afterwards, don’t forget to SMASH the like button, subscribe to the channel and activate the notification bell so that you always get a nice notification when I upload a new video and stay tuned for all the Academic Fun.

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First streamed 6 March 2022