Graeme Miles on Proclus the Commentator
Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)Show Notes
We discuss Proclus' titanic labours in the field of commentary – on many Platonic dialogues, but also on the Chaldæan Oracles, the Homeric poems, and a number of other texts – with Graeme Miles, an acute reader of Platonist philosophy and part of the team translating Proclus' Republic commentary into English. Come for Platonic commentary as spiritual practice, stay for the kosmic-astrological reading of the Myth of Er.
More from Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
We explore the origins of an enduring idea in Islām: the idea of the mahdī, the righteous leader who will return to bring justice and purify the religion near the end of time. The origins, it turns out, are esoteric, and so are many aspects of the various mahdīs who have arisen throughout history.
We explore some of the weird territory where extreme politics meet extreme theology in the pre-Umayyad and Umayyad periods. Includes case-studies of a representative selection of early shiite "extremists".
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We discuss politico-religious developments among the Believers in the eighth century, setting the stage for a series of episodes exploring developments in esoteric Islām in the Umayyad period. We also discuss our evidence for how the Believers' movement became ‘Islām’ in the first place, also seemingly an Umayyad phenomenon.
In this interview, Part II of our discussion of quotidian magical practices in the East-Roman world with Alicia Walker, we explore a wealth of materia magica, which is a fancy way of saying "magical things". Come for the alchemical enamel-ware, stay for the multipurpose magic ring.