Rejected Religion Podcast

Ayesha Adamo is an academic, performing artist, and filmmaker currently working towards a PhD in Religion at Rice University under Jeffrey J. Kripal. Her dissertation project explores fluid cosmological ideas, both historically and in current quantum mechanics. She holds an MA in Religious Studies from Universiteit van Amsterdam’s Centre for the History of Hermetic Philosophy & Related Currents and is a graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University, with a degree in music. Rumor has it she was once in an Asian pop band on EMI Records. Her most recent articles can be found in Anthropology of Consciousness and Religious Studies Review. She is also an ordained Hierophant and Grand Chief of Temple of Thelema.In this discussion, we first look at Georges Bataille and his interpretation of the Acéphale. Bataille (1897-1962) was a philosopher and intellectual, interested in surrealism, and anti- fascist, who, in 1937 founded two groups with the goal of exploring how combinations of power and ‘the sacred’ were at play in society. The first group was called the College of Sociology that gave lectures (exoteric group); the second group was Acéphale, an esoteric ‘secret society.’ Additionally, a public review by the same name, whose emblem was a headless man, was published in 1936. Ayesha talks a bit about this Acéphale emblem and what this represents, including remarks about the connections to Aleister Crowley’s concept of The Abyss; the notion of receptivity, and the difference between the ‘magical’ and ‘mystical’ currents. Moving from Bataille to George Balanchine, the famous choreographer who co-founded the New York City Ballet Company in 1948; Balanchine is probably most known for his plotless ballets and minimalism, and has a famous quote, “Don’t think Dear, just do!’ Ayesha shares how are she is linking these two figures and the concept of the Acéphale. She is currently thinking about how the meditative state is the artist’s state as well.Ayesha then expands on her 2023 article, “The League of Endarkenment: Hakim Bey and the Way of Disappearance into Nature” talking about “Endarkenment” and how this fits into this same area of headlessness, the mandrake, and disappearance.Lastly, taken from her paper abstract, Ayesha talks more about what she means by “the open fluidity of no-mind”  and “the performance of headless meditation.”*Note 1: I mistakenly say ‘Endarkment’ instead of ‘Endarkenment’ (my apologies!); plus, around the 29:00 minute mark, the name ‘D.T. Suzuki’ is unfortunately cut off due to audio issues. Please find more information about Suzuki in the program notes below.*Note 2 (Not Ignoring the Elephant in the Room): Peter Lamborn Wilson, who wrote under the name ‘Hakim Bey,’ was a controversial figure, and unfortunately, rumors have arisen surrounding some of his writings regarding NAMBLA. Accusations were made by a particular website (run by one person, a fellow anarchist) against Wilson, and due to the nature of the internet, damaging assumptions were made. This article A Tribute to Peter Lamborn Wilson - The Brooklyn Rail is a collection of testimonials, and discusses this matter in more detail, giving much needed context.PROGRAM NOTES:Ayesha Adamo | Student | The People of Rice | Rice UniversityAyesha Adamo | Rice University - Academia.eduInstagramAyesha Adamohttps://www.hds.harvard.edu/faculty-research/programs-and-centers/program-evolution-spirituality#:~:text=The%20Program%20for%20the%20Evolution%20of%20Spirituality%20%28PES%29,also%20prepares%20students%20for%20ministry%20in%20these%20mov (More information forthcoming regarding this program and how to join remotely!)It Takes a Lunatic | Officiële Netflix-websiteORGCHAOSMIK - GUSTAF BROMSD. T. Suzuki: A Biographical Summary - Association for Asian StudiesWhat are Superfluids and Why Are They Important?Is 'Perpetual Motion' Possible with Superfluids?Ayesha’s article in The Fenris Wolf (#13) is forthcoming; I will post a link (on Patreon) when it becomes available.Music and Editing: Daniel P. SheaEnd Production: Stephanie Shea

This is the 'Free Content' version of this interview, the full episode can be found at my Patreon: www.patreon.com/RejectedReligion My guests this month are Dr. Sarah Perez and Dr. Cavan McLaughlin.Sarah is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bern. While her previous research focused on early modern pamphlet about deathbed visions, she is currently working on contemporary spirituality with a focus on eco- and online-spirituality as well as youth culture.Cavan McLaughlin is a Senior Lecturer in Media Production at the University of the West of England (UWE), with research interests related to the role and function of occulture. Editor of the volume Trans- States: The Art of Crossing Over (2019), Cavan has also published on Crowley, esotericism and narrativity, open-source occultism, and contemporary occulture. Having recently defended a practice-based PhD entitled ‘Occultural Production as Re-Vision and Weird Worlding, they remain a practicing filmmaker, artist, and all-around creative media practitioner. As a media professional of over twenty years, Cavan has been involved in almost all aspects of audiovisual production, specializing in video art, music videos, and visual poetry. Cavan is the founder and Chair of Trans- States (trans-states.org); co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Monad: Journal of Occultural Studies (monadjournal.com); and, a trustee of the Research Network for the Study of Esoteric Practices (www.rensep.org). Cavan has a profound affection for cows, fungi, and rainbows. This is a discussion that I have wanted to have since the last ESSWE 9 Conference in 2023. In the session “Creativity and Occultural Production” I attended, Cavan and Sarah presented some very interesting papers. I also presented on another day about my research regarding tulpas and Otherkin, and as Cavan and Sarah’s topics were in this general area as well, I thought to myself, how wonderful it would be if we could get together and talk about all of this in more detail.We each take turns talking a bit about our own projects, and from there, the discussion leads into sharing our insights and the interconnectivity of our individual research, and how underrepresented this is within academia. Some key concepts that came forward were: imagination, mind/consciousness, Cavan’s term ‘alienated agency’, power dynamics, new materialisms (inspired by Donna Haraway and Karen Barad), and serious play. We also discuss how other-than-human cultures overlap with neurodivergence and gender, as well as the importance of being ethically responsible (as researchers) and being cognizant of this very normal diversity in expression.   Theme Music and Editing: Daniel P. SheaEnd Production: Stephanie Sheahttps://www.relwi.unibe.ch/about_us/personen/dr_des_perez_sarah/index_eng.html#pane1299843https://westengland.academia.edu/CavanMcLaughlinhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sfb_AmzPZw4  [Cavan McLaughlin - ‘Another Girl, Another Planet’ (Occulture Conference 2023)]https://uva.academia.edu/StephanieShea 

Matt Marble is an artist, author, audio producer and director of the American Museum of Paramusicology. Both creatively and through historical research, his work explores the inspired intersections of art and metaphysics and the intuitive disciplines they mutually employ. Matt is the author of Buddhist Bubblegum: Esotericism in the Creative Process of Arthur Russell, and the producer/host of Secret Sound, a podcast exploring the metaphysical biopics of American musicians, and The Hidden Present, an audio interview series exploring intuitive discipline and spiritual imagination. Additional works have been featured by the California Festival, Warp Records, and the Philosophical Research Society. His writing, research, media production, and personal archive constitute the American Museum of Paramusicology (AMP), through which he also publishes the monthly AMP Journal.The term “paramusicology” was first coined in 1993 by author Melvyn Willin to address psychic and pagan histories of music. Musicology being the study of music, paramusicology is the study of paranormal music experience. Though the term has struggled to find solid footing, the paranormal generally refers us to that which is "beyond" or “outside” the normal—to experiences or phenomena which cannot be explained by scientific reasoning, objective perception, or causal agency. This points our awareness to what may be called the numinous* in human experience. Due to its abstract nature, to even convey the numinous requires active imagination and symbolic communication. The AMP explores how the numinous informs human listening. And it unpacks the esoteric philosophies and intuitive disciplines which facilitate and draw from our spiritual and auditory imagination.In this discussion, Matt shares a bit about his background, as well as his inspiration for creating his platform. He talks about his visual art project known as Wondering Stars, a mixture of music and physical visual works, and how this came out of his dreamwork.He also talks about his podcast, The Secret Sound, and his 7-part series called The Hidden Present, and we even go into a short discussion about musical modes (as used in Western music  - (*thanks to my brother Dan for making that distinction) and their ‘moods’, as well as how these can be useful tools for creativity.We then move to talk about the AMP Journal, and focus on Issue 16 from last August called “Spirit Invocations.” In this issues, Matt wrote about the film Longlegs and how sound (not ‘song’, as I misspoke in the introduction) is key to this film, including the role of folk music and rock and roll and the esoteric aspects of these, along with how Marc Bolan served as inspiration and perhaps as blueprint of sorts for the main character. He also discusses the concept of the Fohat ( taken from the Theosophical Society) and how this may have inspired the ideas behind the metal balls that Longlegs placed inside the doll heads in the film.PROGRAM NOTEShttps://www.mattmarble.net/matt-marble (all links at the top of the page)https://www.mattmarble.net/buddhist-bubblegumhttps://www.mattmarble.net/amp-longlegshttps://mattmarble.bandcamp.com/https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanMuseumofParamusicologyhttps://www.instagram.com/americanmuseumofparamusicology/Full episode can be found at https://www.patreon.com/RejectedReligion, or purchased for a one-time fee. Music and Editing: Daniel P. SheaEnd Production: Stephanie Shea

David B. Metcalfe, Windbridge Institute Scholar in Virtual Residence, is a researcher, writer, and multimedia specialist focusing on areas where creativity, culture, and consciousness collide. In 2011 he established the Liminal Analytics: Applied Research Collaborative to focus on building multidisciplinary lines of communication through applied scholarship, digital media, and social network development. David’s work has appeared in Oxford University Press and other peer reviewed anthologies. He was a research assistant for the University of Chicago under Dr. Hussein Ali Agama focusing on archival research, and he is currently the Editor-in-Chief for the Windbridge Research Center’s Threshold: Journal of Interdisciplinary Consciousness Studies.I originally had asked both Dr. Diana Pasulka and David to join me for this episode, but due to scheduling conflicts, Diana had to decline. (I am eager to talk with Diana at another time, however!) In this episode, David talks a bit about his background and his interest in the broader topic of ‘anomalous phenomena,’ and how this led him to meet Dr. Diana Pasulka and become involved in planning the course “Beyond the Stars” with her. This groundbreaking course explores the history of UFO/UAP phenomena, specific case studies, the main research traditions, and also how religion and esotericism are linked to this phenomena. The course also delves into the related areas of consciousness studies and theories of synchronicity/coincidence. David also shares his reflections/takeaways regarding the course and the participants, the gradual shift in attitudes surrounding this type of phenomena, and what he thinks is ‘the bigger picture’ regarding anomalous experiences. We also go on a few related tangents regarding memory, false memory syndrome, owls, and how popular culture absorbs and transmits ideas about high strangeness. Everything is connected. PROGRAM NOTESDavid Metcalfe:https://davidmetcalfe.wordpress.com/ https://uga.academia.edu/DavidMetcalfe/Papers https://www.academia.edu/92502645/Knowing_Others_The_New_UFO_Esotericism_of_D_W_Pasulkas_American_Cosmic_ Dr. Diana Pasulka:https://dwpasulka.com/ https://www.academia.edu/89404115/Introduction_Believing_in_Bits_Digital_Media_and_the_Supernatural_ “Beyond the Stars” Course Information:https://dwpasulka.com/courses/ Other References:https://www.societyforuapstudies.org/ https://www.dukeupress.edu/in-and-out-of-this-world https://impossiblearchives.rice.edu/ https://impossiblearchives.rice.edu/ufo-and-impossible (It seems the registration is closed for this conference as the attendee limit has been reached.)https://thesolfoundation.org/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzlWCeD3J0zVb4KSeaeDNdw Theme Music and Editing: Daniel P. SheaEnd Production: Stephanie Shea

Dean Radin is Chief Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), Associated Distinguished Professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and cofounder and chairman of the biotech company, Cognigenics. He earned an MS (electrical engineering) and a PhD (psychology) from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and in 2022 was awarded an Honorary DSc (doctor of science) from the Swami Vivekananda University in Bangalore, India.Before joining the IONS research staff in 2001, Radin worked at AT&T Bell Labs, Princeton University, University of Edinburgh, and SRI International. He has given over 750 talks and interviews worldwide, and he is author or coauthor of some 7 patents, 300 scientific and popular articles, four dozen book chapters, and nine books, four of which have been translated into 15 foreign languages: The Conscious Universe (1997), Entangled Minds (2006), Supernormal (2013), and Real Magic (2018).  In this interview, Dean opens the conversation by talking about why the scientific community is slow to emerge with theoretical explanations as to why anomalous phenomena occur, even with the empirical evidence. He then explains how the three main classes of magickal practice (Divination, Enchantment, and Theurgy) coincide with the three main of psychic phenomena that have been studied over the years by scientists (Clairvoyance, Psychokinesis, and Survival after death). First explaining the three most notable types of tests that have been developed over the years (tossed dice, random number generator outputs, and photon interference), Dean then explains in more detail the last test and the mystery of the ‘wave-particle duality’ that ‘violates the commonsense doctrine of realism, which assumes that the physical world is completely independent of observation.’ We then move on to the SIGIL (scientific investigation of gazing with intention/intuition at light) experiment that Dean performed with the funding of the Bial Foundation and RENSEP, involving practicing magicians and mediators, and the results of this experiment. Dean talks a bit about further experiments that could be created on the foundation of the SIGIL experiment, and also how all of this ties into the larger discussions about the nature of consciousness and interconnectedness.  https://www.deanradin.com/https://www.cognigenics.io/https://noetic.org/https://www.youtube.com/@InstituteofNoeticScienceshttps://www.rensep.org/https://www.youtube.com/@rensephttps://www.instagram.com/ionsonline/ https://www.instagram.com/rensep_official/Photo Credit: Jordan Engle @ Lens & SoulTheme Music & Editing: Daniel P. SheaEnd Production: Stephanie SheaThe full episode can be found at my Patreon page; it can also be purchased for a one-time fee: www.patreon.com/RejectedReligion 

Dr. Tara B. M. Smith is an early career interdisciplinary academic that works in the fields of science fiction, literature, religion and popular culture. Tara is currently a research affiliate at the University of Sydney. In 2024 Tara was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions at the Harvard Divinity School, Boston, writing on religious ideas and experiences of people that paint and play within the science fiction “grimdark” universe of Warhammer 40,000. Tara is a passionate educator who holds a Graduate Certificate of Higher Education and has taught in academic settings for over 5 years across a variety of units including media studies, religious studies, writing skills and composition. When Tara is not studying, she spends time with her two cats Thomas and Momo and her fiancé Luke in Sydney, Australia.While most people who talk and think about the story of Dune focus on the political and religious aspects of the series [for example, the Bene Geserit with their genetic breeding program and the Kwisatz Haderach, or the Butlerian Jihad -the war against thinking machines = technology and AI], Tara's article, “The Anthropocene in Frank Herbert’s Dune Series” from 2021 takes a different approach and explores the ecological/philosophical aspects of the story. As she notes, Frank Herbert was warning his readers about their anthropocentric tendencies and urging people instead to think about ecological conservation, or at least he appears to be planting a seed in the minds of the readers to be more aware of their place or role on the Earth.Poem mentioned in this interview:“I drove my feet through a desertWhose mirage fluttered like a host.Voracious for glory, greedy for danger,I roamed the horizons of al-Kulab,Watching time level mountainsIn its search and its hunger for me.And I saw the sparrows swiftly approach,Bolder than the onrushing wolf.They spread in the tree of my youth.I heard the flock in my branchesAnd was caught on their beaks and claws!”– from Arrakis Awakening by the Princess Irulan (Herbert 1978, 228)Dr. Tara Smith:https://www.linkedin.com/in/tara-b-m-smith-phd-fhea-306418192/“The Anthropocene in Frank Herbert’s Dune Series”, Foundation 140, 50.3 (2021): 62-74. The_Anthropocene_in_Frank_Herberts_Dune.docTheme Music and Editing: Daniel P. SheaEnd Production: Stephanie SheaThe full episode can be heard at my Patreon page: www.patreon.com/RejectedReligion, or can be purchased for a one-time fee. 

Happy New Year to you all! For those who may not be following me on Patreon or social media, I have some important announcements for 2025.   The first being that I’m offering a special 75% discount on the first month’s membership for all Patreon tiers! This offer lasts until the end of February. Use the code RRDINER75 for the discount. And on the topic of the RR Diner, there’s also news about a change to my Patreon Tiers 3 and 4:  The content of Tiers 3 and 4 has merged, and Tier 4 is now the RR Diner Book Club! The Club will meet 4 times per year (February, May, August & November) and the price for Tier 4 has been lowered to $17.50 as of January 1st. This price includes all the content from Tiers 1-3 plus the Live Zoom meetings for the Book Club. I’ve already announced the first book over at my Patreon, which is The Super Natural:  A New Vision of the Unexplained by Whitley Strieber and Dr. Jeff Kripal!!Plus, I'm overjoyed to announce that both authors have agreed to join me for the Live Zoom Meet in February!! We are in the process of finding three potential dates that will be listed via a poll on the Patreon page for Tier 4 members to vote on. That information will be following soon. For now, you can start reading! Additionally, you can view two free content videos – one about Sidereal Astrology & How to Understand Natal Charts, the other about a new book called _Void Machines_ by Dr. Christian Greer and Dr. Michelle Oing. This art collage book is about 'Talismanic Frequencies of Peak Experiences.' Those videos are free to watch at my Patreon page, my website or my Vimeo channel.   I’m also excited to announce that I will be collaborating with the Research Network for the Study of Esoteric Practices, otherwise known RENSEP. I will be hosting and moderating some very special conversations between scholars and practitioners throughout the year, called “Spotlight with RENSEP -- Esoteric Crossroads: Scholars Meet Practitioners.”  This content will be available for everyone, and we hope this will promote engagement between the two platforms, as well as offering new topics and opportunities for learning and discussion.Stay tuned for the announcement of the first Scholar-Practitioner Conversation in early 2025! Lastly, the new content for January has been delayed due to unexpected internet stability issues that are preventing me from recording interviews. However, I’m hoping to have things fixed well enough so I can get back to work at the end of this week, and start posting again soon.  Thanks for your patience!I’m looking forward to an excellent new year!  www.rejectedreligion.com www.patreon.com/RejectedReligionDiscount code:  RRDINER75https://vimeo.com/user220298192Music: Daniel P. Shea 

This month’s guest on the Rejected Religion Podcast is Brennan Kettelle. Brennan returns for Part 2 of our discussion on Monster Theory, this time looking at the applications of Monster Theory, as well as a more in-depth look at how Brennan is using this theory, along with other related concepts and theories. Brennan is a PhD researcher at the Centre for History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents (HHP), University of Amsterdam. Brennan holds an MA in Gender and Cultural studies (2016) and a research MA in Religious Studies, specializing in Western esotericism (2021). She is currenting writing her doctoral dissertation, investigating historical associations between the religiomythic demoness Lilith and queerness within artistic, literary, and occult discourses. Brennan also teaches an 8-week online course on Lilith - focusing on Lilith’s origins and cultural receptions within Western esotericism - for the Brooklyn-based organization Morbid Anatomy. Utilizing monster theory and queer theory in her research, Brennan is more broadly interested in investigating themes of the ‘monstrous-queer’ within esoteric literature, orders, and figures, as well as esoteric themes within queer subcultures, politics, and histories.Some highlights:Brennan’s areas of exploration are primarily located in Gender Studies, Queer Theory, Religious Studies, Horror Theory, and Esotericism. In addition, as Monster Theory has a foundation in psychoanalysis and postmodern theories, Brennan expands on this in greater detail. This leads us into a conversation about the recent film, The Substance, as well as theories found in Foucault’s works. Shifting the focus to Religious Studies, Brennan notes how monsters are most often aligned with evil; however, there are exceptions to this when it comes to werewolves in the Bible, for example. [Note: the text that I am reading from regarding werewolves in the Bible as well as the Werewolf Renaissance is taken from my own Research Master thesis.] Religion and Horror Studies intersect in films such as Longlegs, where we can see themes such as “monstrous infection” or a returning sickness.As Brennan states, “the monster is the illumination of everything a society oppresses or represses.”Speaking on the working term of ‘stigmatized alignment,’  Brennan uses the examples of poet Renee Vivien, and “The Witch of Kings Cross” Rosaleen Norton to explain this concept in more detail. In closing, Brennan touches upon the adjacent theory of Hauntology, where past ‘monsters’ linger in the present and haunt us. Time, in this instance, could be seen as a monster as well. This is the Free Content version of Episode 33; you can find the full episode at my Patreon page: https://patreon.com/RejectedReligion?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLinkThis episode is also available for a one-time purchase.PROGRAM NOTESFind Brennan:https://uva.academia.edu/SBrennanKettellehttps://www.instagram.com/_restingwitchface/ Monster Theory Resources:https://ieas-szeged.hu/downtherabbithole/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Barbara-Creed-The-Monstrous-Feminine-2007.pdfhttps://archive.org/details/monstersincloset0000benshttps://www.amazon.com/Celluloid-Closet-Arthur-Laurents/dp/B001NI5C6Uhttps://archive.org/details/religionitsmonst0000bealhttps://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203361894/philosophy-horror-noel-carrollhttps://revisesociology.com/2016/09/21/foucault-surveillance-crime-control/https://medium.com/deterritorialization/jacques-derridas-specter-s-of-marx-and-the-concept-of-hauntology-reflections-on-deconstruction-2eb687322a69https://academic.oup.com/fs/article/59/3/373/638853 Films and Shows Mentioned (Selection):https://www.imdb.com/title/tt17526714/ The Substancehttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt23468450/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt  Longlegshttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt14966898/ Late Night with the Devilhttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt4574334/  Stranger Things https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5040012/ Nosferatu 2024Renee Vivien:https://allpoetry.com/Renee-Vivien https://youtu.be/3dUc17ut3as?si=KJ9ZDCBFct00eQuj Spotlight with Brennan Kettelle 2021Rosaleen Norton:https://www.witchofkingscross.com/about-new/ Theme Music and Editing: Daniel P. SheaEnd Production: Stephanie Shea

This month’s Patreon Tier 2 guest is Peg Aloi. Peg is a freelance film and TV critic, a former professor of media studies, and co-editor (with Hannah Sanders) of The New Generation Witches: Teenage Witchcraft in Contemporary Culture (Routledge) and Carnivale and the American Grotesque: Critical Essays on the HBO Series (Macfarland). With Hannah she also co-organized two scholarly conferences at Harvard University on paganism, witchcraft and media. Peg's forthcoming book The Witching Hour: How Witches Enchanted the World is a cultural analysis of the witch in contemporary media. Peg was also one of the co-founders of The Witches' Voice and wrote about film and TV for the site for over a decade. Her long-running blog "The Witching Hour" can now be found on Substack. This conversation was inspired by a lecture in April of 2024 by Peg for The Last Tuesday Society called “The Satanic Panic: Its Roots and Branches,” that explored a number of disparate but often-related elements that converged to create the Satanic Panic of the 1980s and 90s, including Satanic-themed horror films. In this discussion, we pick up were Peg left off and explore how viewpoints surrounding Witchcraft and ‘The Occult’ have changed since that time until our present day. Peg talks about various instances within popular culture that have shown a shift in the ‘negative’ paradigm. This conversation spans several different areas, ranging from politics and society, education and scholarship, entertainment media, films and series, to magic and other ‘occult’ practices.I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!You can find the Full Episode with Peg Aloi at my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RejectedReligion The episode is also available for a one-time purchase. PROGRAM NOTESMentioned by Peg:Documentary Hail, Satan? https://youtu.be/27RtJp-rhHk?si=1IEizfm8d4xCVvV5 (trailer)Agatha, All Along https://youtu.be/R9pXbNz6Vbw?si=WDEc8Q3Lb-92pNlB (trailer)AHS: Coven  https://youtu.be/ra8aQ-CfKVw?si=J9W74jUct4dNJcPm (trailer)Film Realm of Satan https://youtu.be/7ANZCk97F7Y?si=L7rC4VStmYo_NkrL (trailer)Find Peg Aloi here:https://x.com/themediawitchhttps://themediawitch.substack.com/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7lfIuXsQmI (Podcast)Works:https://www.amazon.com/New-Generation-Witches-Witchcraft-Contemporary/dp/0754657841https://www.amazon.com/Carnivale-American-Grotesque-Critical-Essays/dp/0786448164The Witching Hour: How Witches Enchanted the World (forthcoming)Theme Music and Editing: Daniel P. SheaEnd Production: Stephanie Shea

My guests this month are Dr. Bernd-Christian Otto and Andrea Centore, co-founders of the Research Network for the Study of Esoteric Practices, otherwise known as RENSEP. In this discussion, Bernd and Andrea talk about how this network came to be, why it was created, and the exciting work that they are doing. As the name suggests, RENESP is focused on working with practitioners in all areas of esotericism, and fostering the relationships between academic research and real-life practitioners. RENSEP is still in its early stages, having officially launched in 2023, and is a unique resource for both researchers and those outside of academia who are interested to interact with scholars, as well as to help educate the public about esoteric practices. Bernd-Christian Otto (b. 1976) is a scholar of religion. After gaining his PhD in 2009 at the university of Heidelberg (Germany) with an extensive study on the conceptual history of magic, Otto pursued his academic career at various universities, among them Heidelberg, Erfurt, Bochum, Leipzig, Erlangen (Germany) and Bergen (Norway). Otto is co-founder and permanent fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies ‘Alternative Rationalities and Esoteric Practices from a Global Perspective’ at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (www.cas-e.de); he is a board member of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (www.esswe.org); and he is co-founder, trustee and scientific director of the Research Network for the Study of Esoteric Practices (www.rensep.org). Otto's research focuses on magic and esotericism, where he combines different methodologies such as conceptual history, discourse analysis, social theory, ritual studies, qualitative interviews, participant observation, and practitioner-scholarship. His book publications include "Defining Magic: A Reader" (Routledge 2013), co-edited with Michael Stausberg; the duograph "Magical Manuscripts in Early Modern Europe: The Clandestine Trade in Illegal Book Collections" (Palgrave MacMillan 2017), co-authored with Daniel Bellingradt; and the anthology "Fictional Practice: Magic, Narration and the Power of Imagination" (Brill 2021), co-edited with Dirk Johannsen. Andrea Centore holds a master's degree in Translation Studies from the University of Mons-Hainaut (Belgium), and a master's degree in Religious Studies from the University of Amsterdam. His research explores the intersection of Jewish and Islamic esotericism through the perspectives of intellectual and global history, with a particular focus on Kabbalah and Sufi lettrism. In addition, Andrea has engaged with texts from a wide range of esoteric traditions including Islamicate occultism, strands of Western esotericism, and Nāth Tantric Yoga. He is the co-founder and managing director of the Research Network for the Study of Esoteric Practices (RENSEP), where one of his key aims is to foster a more systematic dialogue between the academic community and esoteric practitioners. Andrea is also an entrepreneur in the professional services sector.  We take a look at the website, and the different options available to the members. Not only are there blog posts and research updates available, but members can also take part in study groups and take part in livestreams with scholars and practitioners alike (titled “ask a scholar” and “ask a practitioner”). Another great opportunity is the ability to meet new people, forming connections with other members to foster communication and learning, growing one’s own network of contacts in the process. RENSEP has also just launched an open-access, peer-review journal, too, called Praxis-Knowledge! RENSEP is a fantastic place to share and learn with other people with similar interests, and is one-of-a-kind with regard to online communities that offer grounded, interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed research and a wonderful platform for practitioners to engage with scholars and others who share the same interests. Bernd and Andrea have also very generously offered a 50% discount on membership for all viewers/listeners of Rejected Religion! Use the promo code RR50 when signing up at www.rensep.org! Patreon members also receive special discounts -- Tiers 1& 2 get 70% off on membership, and Tiers 3 & 4 get a FREE membership!This is a fabulous opportunity to join and start learning about esoteric practices, with access to information and resources that usually only are available to those within academia! Members can find their promo codes on the Patreon page. Rejected Religion | Illuminating the Obscure | Patreon My thanks to RENSEP for making this possible!  Theme music & video production: Stephanie Shea of Rejected Religion