Thoth-hermes Podcast

First of all, thanks for your patience and apologies for last week's cancellation, but sometimes life just takes over. Podcasting is a great pleasure for me, but professional obligations need to be prioritized anyway. One thing I need to say though: for the next few weeks this text accompanying the show will be a bit shorter and not so detailed as it was in the last two years, also just for capacity reasons with myself and my friend Ursula, who wrote most of those texts. No worries, she won't stop completely, but it will not be so regular and weekly as until now. But after this intro, welcome to this interesting talk on our new episode. It is rather rare that we talk politics here, or rather ideology, or... ? Well, with my guest Rhyd Wildermuth Occultism, or rather Esotericism, as he prefers to name it, and ideology are inseparable. Why? Well, he will explain you. Who is Rhyd? A publisher, a writer ... well, let him tell us by himself: I’m a druid. A gay punk gardener gym bro. An occasional nomad. A theorist

When I discovered (well, I was actually made aware of it through a friend) Steve Dee's latest book "Chaos Monk", I was immediately taken in by the title. That combination seemed so intriguing: How would Chaos magic and monastism be part of the same narrative? But when you listen to Steve you will soon find out that his own life experience shows us very well those links. His book is a deeply personal one, and so is this talk. How does monastism work in the 21st century? Where do Magic and monastism - or rather the lessons we can take from it - create a possibility to regain our balance in a world that seems completely out of balance? Going on the quest that Steve proposes to us could be one of those possible paths to walk. Enjoy the episode!

Well, what should I say about myself here? Everything you would want to know - or maybe did not even want to know - has been said in the interview. And about myself you find a little article on the website anyway. So, just to tell you, that I am extremely grateful that I have met so many interesting people in those first 8 seaons and roughly 140 episodes. I would never have imagined that I will be able to talk to the most important authors, occultists, magicians etc. in the field of Western Esoteric Traditions here. And I am so much looking forward to continue to do so. Also thank you to all the listeners who have followed the show so far. Today we have around 4000 of you a week and that is really great! And special thanks to those who support the show, without you this would not be possible. It would be nice if the others, who are not yet Patrons, considered to become one. Just click HERE and that will bring you to the right place. SEE YOU AGAIN IN TWO WEEKS (SEPTEMBER 4) FOR SEASON 9!  

UNIQUE SPECIAL OFFER FOR THOTH HERMES PODCAST LISTENERSUntil September 30th, 2022, Aeon Books gives a special 20% discount off the retail price for all listeners of the podcast, when buying on their website. Just enter "KT20" when checking out! Click Here to buy "The Keys to the Temple" at 20% off

Please welcome my guest on this week’s episode, Matthew Thomas Baker, who holds an MBA in creative writing, a Master in psychology and counselling an has not only been the educational leader of an innovative High School for the Arts for approximately 25 years but also a member of the International Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids and the founder and spiritual director of the Institute of Nondual Shamanism. He just quite recently published an exceptional book ‘The Way of the Mystic Wizard’ which will be the main topic of our conversation. Growing up in Massachusetts right next to a forest upon undeveloped land surrounded by animals, Matthew spent plenty of his time outdoors and practiced nature mysticism before he even knew there was an actual term for it. In High School, a book on Zen poetry and the initiatic work ‘Siddharta’ by Hermann Hesse deeply influenced him and so after entering college Matthew was pretty much fascinated by philosophical and spiritual ideas which ultimately made him taking courses in

One of the greatest and world famous writers of Dark Fiction, or Weird Fiction, or whatever the genre may be called across the planet, Richard Gavin, returns to the show. But while we talked exactly about that type of literature he writes, about his life and backround back then in Episode 9 of Season 5, this time the subject is his non-fiction writing, where he excells just as much - a rarity among writers. "The Benigthed Path" was his first highly acclaimed publication with Theion Publishing a few years ago. Now, literally a couple of weeks ago (yes, this podcast tries to be as close to the authors and publishers as possible) another book by Richard was published by Theion: "The Infernal Masque". It is kind of a sequel without really claiming to be just that. And by the way, "The Benighted Path" has also now just been republished in a second edition and will come out as an Auric Edition shortly. Enjoy a great talk with an intelligent man after which you will see that the Left Hand Path and Ceremonial Magic a

My guest this week is the author of several books on magic, Qabalah and witchcraft and his blog has been on my personal reading list for quite some time now. He had stopped blogging some time ago, and when I noticed he had restarted publishing new entries I decided to reach out. Frater Barrabbas Tiresius got back to me and explained that the break was only due to work and travelling a lot and he would soon publish a new book, ‘Talismanic Magic for Witches’, coming out in February 2023, so we set up this interview for this episode of the podcast. Frater Barrabbas was born in 1955 and grew up in a small town in Wisconsin. From a pretty early age on he realised he was sort of different and didn’t really fit in. Defining himself as a ‘seeker’ he managed to get kicked out of Sunday school for asking too many questions instead of ‘simply having faith’. Growing up in a Protestant family with a father who was a member of the military force there was quite a lot of discipline required and being different was not reall

Thanks for your patience to wait a week longer than usual for this new episode! This episode is actually a very special one as I have the pleasure to welcome Mogg Morgan as my co-host. Mogg has been the publisher of Mandrake Press for many years and recently we aired an episode of the show where he talked about himself and his work. This time we will be having a wonderful discussion with our guest, author and practitioner Nikki Wyrd on quite a few pretty fascinating topics. Nikki holds a degree in ecology and has written ‘The Book of Baphomet’ together with Julian Vayne in 2012 which was published with Mandrake Press, she has contributed to many periodicals and collections of poetry and authored theses and academic papers on subjects such as psychedelic culture and magical thinking and philosophy. In this episode Nikki will let us know how the path was laid out in front of her with her great-grandmother and grandmother reading fortune-teller cards and using a crystal ball. She will tell our audience how she c

DON'T MISS IN THIS EPISODE THE SHORT TALK I HAD WITH KAREL MCCOY, JAKE STRATTON-KENT'S GIRLFRIEND, ABOUT HIS ACTUAL HEALTH SITUATION AND THEIR NEWS - starts at 10:24 My guest this week is again someone who really does not need to be introduced in detail, as it is very likely that most of our listeners are familiar to some degree with the personality and works of musician and author Gary Lachman. It is a great pleasure for sure to welcome him back on the show and we’re going to have a great time talking about quite a lot but especially about his two most recently published books, ‘Dreaming Ahead of Time: Experiences with Precognitive Dreams, Synchronicity and Coincidence’ and ‘The Return of Holy Russia: Apocalyptic History, Mystical Awakening and the Struggle for the Soul of the World’. Gary will tell us about the background of ‘Dreaming Ahead of Time’ which is essentially based on a talk he gave 2019 in London about the state called ‘hypnagogia’, the strange liminal space between b

ONLY SHORT SHOW-NOTES STILL FOR THIS EPISODE,NEXT WEEK FULL NOTES SHOULD BE BACK! This week I am happy and honoured to welcome once again one of those great "Tarot Ladies" on Thoth Hermes, Mary K. Greer. It is a pleasure to talk to her about her vast experience in the field, about how she got into all that, about different ways of using this Art, and many more details. The original idea to invite Mary came from another angle, though, and that gave also the title to this episode. Back in the 90's, she wrote that wonderful and thick book on the "Women of the Golden Dawn", which is still available and also seems to be the only one on the matter. And we speak about those four women whose path she describes in the book, her motivation to take up that subject, and also - very important - what it means today to be part of one of those occultist groups as a woman.

ONLY SHORT SHOW-NOTES FOR THIS AND THE COMING TWO EPISODES My guest today is a very special man - Wolf DIeter Storl is cultural anthropologist, ethnobotanist and book author. At the age of eleven, he moved with his parents from his native Germany to rural Ohio, where he in a very deep and special way did not only get interested in nature, forests and plants, but also built a very deep relationship with them. Today he lives on a remote farm in the south of Germany with his wife from Wyoming. He recently published his biography about his youth and life in America, which has shaped his life, called "Far out im America". We talk mostly about this part of his experience, but also about nautre activism and the role nature plays in our everyday's life. Wolf Dieter Storl's website His new English Language book on Amazon US and on Amazon UK All of Wolf's book in German and English on Amazon Germany A Video Clip of Wolf Dieter Storl talking about "Far out in America"

ONLY SHORT INTROS FOR THIS AND THE COMING TWO EPISODES Welcome back to Mark Stavish, the Director of the Institute for Hermetic Studies, where Rudolf and he discuss the not always easay way how to enter the world of the Western Tradition. This starts by how you want to name what you are looking for. Esotericism? Spirituality? Occultism? Or something else? But this is only the start, of course. Has it become easier in the Internet age to find your path, the right approach to it, or more difficult? What are the chances, what are the traps? These and many other questions lead to the clear conclusion: you will need discipline, whatever your approach or your path is going to be. If this now sounds to you like an episode for the beginner, then you might be wrong. It is certainly is thought to help the searcher, but with Mark's huge knowledge and personal experience also the seasoned esotericist will find points to think about, to discuss, to develop. Books by Mark Stavish Link to The I

My guest of this week is LA based scholar, tarot specialist, practicing astrologer and the author of ‘The American Renaissance Tarot’, Thea Wirsching. Calling herself ‘Pluto babe’ on her website, Thea will shed some light on the origin of this nickname and on her upbringing as an atheist who turned a Born Again Christian at age 14 spending hours in prayer, and meditation. She will tell us how this time in her life ultimately led her to Wiccan studies and a trip to Egypt and then to Munich, Germany, where an intense communication happened between her and a statue of an Egyptian goddess culminating in the decision to study astrology an hermeticism within an academic program. In our conversation Thea will take her time to explain the way she practices astrology and what looking at a chart from an evolutionary point of view requires from clients in terms of carmic/cosmic lifetime homework assignment. She will also go into detail on the more common ideas and preconceptions of people regarding astrology, elaborate

Please welcome my guest of this week, scholar and visual artist Sasha Chaitow who takes us on a journey to France during the 2nd half of the 19th century where quite a few mesmerizing persona of the occult revival era can be found, Gérard Encausse (“Papus”), Stanislas de Guaita and also the main protagonist of our episode, almost forgotten Joséphin Péladan. Sasha studied art, communication and English literature in Athens and after completing her Master in Western Esotericism at the University of Exeter she did her PhD on Joséphin Péladan. Actually it was her interest in French symbolism that got her the idea to do some research on Péladan who was a prolific author with more than 100 books and influenced artists and writers of his time alike. Luckily for us all, Sasha’s book on Péladan based on her PhD will be published by Theion Publishing late June or July this year and Péladan as a colourful and controversial figure as well as his work will be the main topic of our conversation. We will be talking about Pé

It has been part of the Mission Statement for the Thoth Hermes Podcast since its beginnings that the serious discussion of paranormal phenomena like precogntion, telepathy and clairvoyance shall be part of our subjects. But we have never treated the paranormal as such in a full episode, and now the occasion has come. Our guest today is Norwegian historian of ideas and author Terje G. Simonsen, well-versed also in all things esoteric and occult and also bearer of some quite extraordinary experiences in the field he will also tell us about. His book "A Short Story of (nearly) everything paranormal has become a real bestseller, and offers a wide overview of phenomena, tries to find explanations but without demystiying. In his very open and friendly way Terje explains us his view on the matter, but also has a lot to say about people like Carlos Castaneda, Michael Harner and Rudolf Steiner! The book on the paranormal, endorsed by consciousness experts as the