Podcasts about hellenistic

Jump in with us on Talk Cosmos this Sunday 15 MARCH at 1-2pm PDT for “ASTRO JAM MYSTERY CHARTS” for Horse Years. The exhilarating mystery charts center on HORSE YEARS for transformative people or events having impacted the world!A Celestial Stage PlayImagine witnessing the consciousness of these planetary energies unfold before your eyes! Eight astrologers embody these archetypes in a spontaneous, interactive dramatization, offering a "front row seat" to the celestial dance that influences our lives.THE PLOT: Two teams each improvise spontaneously a chart's planetary voices -- unknown to them except for a mysterious ‘clue'. Once revealed, all eight esteemed astrologers unravel the chart's identity consciousness -- exploring how the sky's imprint influenced people or events affecting the whole.ABOUT THE GUESTS:ANDREW B WATT: is a professional astrologer, speaker, artist and poet with an interest in the history of the transmission of magical lore from the past to the present. In earlier parts of his life he's been a middle school teacher, a seminarian, a freelance game writer, an outdoors instructor, an intern with the US Congress, and professional storyteller — but a wizard all the way through! http://andrewbwatt.comISRAEL AJOSE: Diploma Psychology of Astrology at Center of Psychological Astrology in London with Liz Green. Full-time practitioner and teacher of astrology, tarot, philosophical and esoteric teachings. He combines traditional, mediaeval, psychological, and Vedic techniques consultations to students and clients worldwide. https://sacredplanets.co.ukJENNIFER NG: Jen teaches astrology and provides forecasting, and synastry consultations using Western and Eastern astrology, and holds the Medical Astrology Diploma and the Horary Practitioner from The School of Traditional Astrology. Jen also practices Four Pillars (八字 Ba'Zi) and Feng Shui (風水) from the Yellow Hat Sect widely practiced in East Asia, and teaches Four Pillars including at The International Academy of Astrology (IAA). www.jeningress.com.JEN SACHS: is a certified astrologer (AFA) and tarot reader (Biddy Tarot) with over 20 years of experience. Her work blends cosmic insight with lived wisdom, shaped by a lifelong quest for understanding and a late-in-life diagnosis of autism and ADHD at 38. Website: Jensachsastrology.comJOLI KNOTT: Consulting astrologer, Reiki Master, teacher, and transformational coach for Bodhi Mindful. Studied both modern and Hellenistic astrology, now studying medieval Islamicate astrology. website: bodhimindful.comMARIE O'NEILL, MBA: Evolutionary Astrologer, life coach, and speaker dedicated to helping people transform their lives. Founder of Padma Life Coaching. Author of “and the Lotus Opened”. Website: PadmaLifeCoaching.comSEAN KELLEY: Speaker, Executive, Motivational Leadership. Focus on Digital Business since 1998. Worked with many of the world's renowned astrologers, from Kelli Fox and Jan Spiller to Henry Seltzer and Michael Lutin. Sean was instrumental in the 2000's driving business for Tarot.com. Website: EvolutionaryAstro.comSUSIE COX: A professional astrologer since 1971, interpreting over 55,000 charts. She was the astrologer at the highly acclaimed Canyon Ranch Health Resort for 32 years. She started their popular Metaphysics Department and was appointed Master Astrologer in 2006. Website: SusieCox.comSUE ROSE MINAHAN: Evolutionary Astrologer Consultant, Writer, Speaker. Vibrational Astrology Student, Dwarf Planet University graduate; Kepler Astrology Toastmaster. Wine Country Speakers. Founder of Talk Cosmos weekly insightful conversations awaken heart & soul consciousness. 2026 Season 9. Website: TalkCosmos.com#TalkCosmos #astrojam #astrology #SueRoseMinahan #JenSachs #JoliKnott #MarieONeill #SusieCox #AndrewWatts #JenIngress #SeanKelley #israelajose #astrologyofthesoul #PadmaLifeCoaching #Bodhimindful #astrotheater #astrodramaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When you're feeling blue, all you have to do, is take a listen here, then you're not so blue. Why? We've got a Marrouvy kind of show. This week Jeff and Dave wrap up Part II of this portion of the book (and you might be say, "well it's about tome!") Tune in to learn all about how music iand gymnastics began to fade, and language study and literature became dominant. The Hellenistic era formed a bridge to Roman education, and while we might have a certain fondness for the wonder years of childhood – thank you Fred Savage, Danica McKellar, and Jason Hervey – the Greeks saw things quite differently. Childhood was simply a precursor for adulthood, and the whole purpose of education was to lead the youngster out of his unformed stage into the full-blown, mature adult toward which nature aimed. This took place not so much through school, but by the careful mentorship of a paedagogus, that man who led the child to and from school and taught him all the ropes. In this way, Isocrates triumphed over Plato, rhetoric over philosophy, and poetry was never completely banished from the culture. Homer reigned supreme an dclassical humanism was thoroughly traditional. Be sure also to sign up for the giveaway of the two-volume Aristotle set from Hackett! You'll need the secret code-word (it's Kontos). 

Why So Sirius? If you want to get to Doc skip forward to like - (do you pay for this? donate at paypal occultfan@gmail.com a Value For Value amount) - Skip the first part if you want but if I were you I'd stay for it. This is a hidden value, HIGGINS. This is GNI XIX ING album from 7/7/25   Syria as Sirius ~ [bandcamp width=350 height=470 album=3062996319 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false] I dig my toe in to the ocean, or hot tub (time machine) of my Libra 00 Sun with both Venus in Libra and Mercury at Demetra George's favorite point in Hellenistic astrology of 15° with a massive psychic positive download for your mindheartsoul. Like, a new great talk with Doc, after a huge huge download from my own ... whatever higher self is. So if you want the Doc, When I say there are too many women in the world, that means there are too many choices. https://gnixixing.bandcamp.com/album/mnipotent-mniscient-mnipresent My album, again. I think that my poetic soul is starting to catch fire. I think I can help others realize their own highest self, most firstly through my stage show performances. Imaginathan Lee is back, baby! Thank you to Doc for being such a great guest, and definitely read The Demon In The Ekur.   https://gizadeathstar.com/   https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Demon-Ekur/Joseph-P-Farrell/9781948803649   Poets On Pyramids Rock Stars In Rhythm Rhyme    ORIGINAL MIX OF AMERICAN ULTRA BY GNI XIX ING   https://gnixixing.bandcamp.com/track/american-ultra   HIGGINS AND THANKS!!!!!!! 

There are seasons when life stretches us beyond what we thought we could hold.In this conversation, Christine shares openly about mothering four sons, discovering Ayurveda, and answering the quiet but persistent call to restore reverence to the postpartum window. What began as her own search for healing after early motherhood slowly unfolded into a vocation—one rooted in ancient wisdom, embodied presence, and the Universal Mother Principles.Together, we explore motherhood not simply as a role, but as initiation. We speak about the courage it takes to do hard things—whether you are a sixth grader walking into something new, or a woman standing at the edge of a calling that won't leave her alone.This episode is for the woman who feels the longing for meaningful, heart-led work. For the mother healing her own postpartum story. For the birth worker seeking depth beyond technique. And for anyone who senses that caregiving—when done consciously—is sacred work.In this episode, we reflect on:Motherhood as a path of spiritual growthDiscovering Ayurveda as remembered wisdomThe sacred postpartum window as a threshold of transformationGrowing a caregiving practice through relationship, not hustleThe Universal Mother Principles as a foundation for life and serviceTrusting the inner voice that calls us forwardIf you find yourself in a season of quiet yearning, you are not alone. The path will teach you. And sometimes, it begins with simply listening.Connect with Christine and explore conscious postpartum education at the Center for Sacred Window Studies.We are more powerful in community than in isolation.About Grace:Grace Allerdice is a spiritual writer, teacher, healer, and facilitator; and is currently on a multi-year initiatory path to become an ordained Priestess. She has an extensive background in mystical and magical studies as well as embodiment practices — ranging from art-making and performance to yoga to Hermeticism, and also includes in-depth knowledge + practice of Hellenistic astrology, energetic healing modalities, ceremonial magic and death work.This episode was recorded on the Home Body Podcast with Grace Allerdice. Please follow Grace's amazing work!homebody podcast — grace allerdiceAre you feeling the call to know more about Conscious Postpartum Care?Reach out! ⁠Schedule a time with Christine⁠ to find out how this work can transform your care business or provide a meaningful career path.Here is the ⁠link⁠ to our free class@‌sacredwindowstudiesJoin our ⁠Facebook Group⁠Podcast Music is Composed by Sara Emmitt, graduate of the Center for Sacred Window Studies. You can hear more of Sara's incredible music at www.saraemmitt.com.

Ahead of her new book What's So Great About the Great Books? coming out in April, Naomi Kanakia and I talked about literature from Herodotus to Tony Tulathimutte. We touched on Chaucer, Anglo-Saxon poetry, Scott Alexander, Shakespeare, William James, Helen deWitt, Marx and Engels, Walter Scott, Les Miserables, Jhootha Sach, the Mahabharata, and more. Naomi also talked about some of her working habits and the history and future of the Great Books movement. Naomi, of course, writes Woman of Letters here on Substack.TranscriptHenry Oliver: Today, I am talking with Naomi Kanakia. Naomi is a novelist, a literary critic, and most importantly she writes a Substack called Woman of Letters, and she has a new book coming out, What's So Great About the Great Books? Naomi, welcome.Naomi Kanakia: Thanks for having me on.Oliver: How is the internet changing the way that literature gets discussed and criticized, and what is that going to mean for the future of the Great Books?Kanakia: How is the internet changing it? I can really speak to only how it has changed it for me. I started off as a writer of young adult novels and science fiction, and there's these very active online fan cultures for those two things.I was reading the Great Books all through that time. I started in 2010 through today. In the 2010s, it really felt like there was not a lot of online discussion of classic literature. Maybe that was just me and I wasn't finding it, but it didn't necessarily feel like there was that community.I think because there are so many strong, public-facing institutions that discuss classic literature, like the NYRB, London Review of Books, a lot of journals, and universities, too. But now on Substack, there are a number of blogs—yours, mine, a number of other ones—that are devoted to classic literature. All of those have these commenters, a community of commenters. I also follow bloggers who have relatively small followings who are reading Tolstoy, reading Middlemarch, reading even much more esoteric things.I know that for me, becoming involved in this online culture has given me much more of an awareness that there are many people who are reading the classics on their own. I think that was always true, but now it does feel like it's more of a community.Oliver: We are recording this the day after the Washington Post book section has been removed. You don't see some sort of relationship between the way these literary institutions are changing online and the way the Great Books are going to be conceived of in the future? Because the Great Books came out of a an old-fashioned, saving-the-institutions kind of radical approach to university education. We're now moving into a world where all those old things seem to be going.Kanakia: Yes. I agree. The Great Books began in the University of Chicago and Columbia University. If you look into the history of the movement, it really was about university education and the idea that you would have a common core and all undergraduates would read these books. The idea that the Great Books were for the ordinary person was really an afterthought, at least for Mortimer Adler and those original Great Books guys. Now, the Great Books in the university have had a resurgence that we can discuss, but I do think there's a lot more life and vitality in the kind of public-facing humanities than there has been.I talked to Irina Dumitrescu, who writes for TLS (The Times Literary Supplement), LRB (The London Review of Books), a lot of these places, and she also said the same thing—that a lot of these journals are going into podcasts, and they're noticing a huge interest in the humanities and in the classics even at the same time as big institutions are really scaling back on those things. Humanities majors are dropping, classics majors are getting cut, book coverage at major periodicals is going down. It does seem like there are signals that are conflicting. I don't really know totally what to make of it. I do think there is some relation between those two things.Ted Gioia on Substack is always talking about how culture is stagnant, basically, and one of the symptoms of that is that “back list” really outsells “front list” for books. Even in 2010, 50 percent of the books that were sold were front-list titles, books that had been released in the last 18 months. Now it's something like only 35 percent of books or something like that are front-list titles. These could be completely wrong, but there's been a trend.I think the decrease in interest in front-list books is really what drives the loss of these book-review pages because they mostly review front-list books. So, I think that does imply that there's a lot of interest in old books. That's what our stagnant culture means.Oliver: Why do you think your own blog is popular with the rationalists?Kanakia: I don't know for certain. There was a story I wrote that was a joke. There are all these pop nonfiction books that aim to prove something that seems counterintuitive, so I wrote a parody of one of those where I aim to prove that reading is bad for you. This book has many scientific studies that show the more you read, the worse it is because it makes you very rigid.Scott Alexander, who is the archrationalist, really liked that, and he added me to his blog roll. Because of that, I got a thousand rationalist subscribers. I have found that rationalists at least somewhat interested in the classics. I think they are definitely interested in enduring sources of value. I've observed a fair amount of interest.Oliver: How much of a lay reader are you really? Because you read scholarship and critics and you can just quote John Gilroy in the middle of a piece or something.Kanakia: Yeah. That is a good question. I have definitely gotten more interested in secondary literature. In my book, I really talk about being a lay reader and personally having a nonacademic approach to literature. I do think that, over 15 years of being a lay reader, I have developed a lot of knowledge.I've also learned the kind of secondary literature that is really important. I think having historical context adds a lot and is invaluable. Right now I'm rereading Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. When I first read it in 2010, I hardly knew anything about French history. I was even talking online with someone about how most people who read Les Miserables think it's set in the French Revolution. That's basically because Americans don't really know anything about French history.Everything makes just a lot more sense the more you know about the time because it was written for people in it. For people in 1860s France, who knew everything about their own recent history, that really adds a lot to it. I still don't tend to go that much into interpretive literature, literature that tries to do readings of the stories or tell me the meaning of the stories. I feel like I haven't really gotten that much out of that.Oliver: How long have you been learning Anglo-Saxon?Kanakia: I went through a big Anglo-Saxon phase. That was in 2010. It started because I started reading The Canterbury Tales in Middle English. There is a great app online called General Prologue created by one of your countrymen, Terry Richardson [NB it is Terry Jones], who loved Middle English. In this app, he recites the Middle English of the General Prologue. I started listening to this app, and I thought, I just really love the rhythms and the sounds of Middle English. And it's quite easy to learn. So then, I got really into that.And then I thought, but what about Anglo-Saxon? I'm very bad at languages. I studied Latin for seven years in middle school and high school. I never really got very far, but I thought, Anglo-Saxon has to be the easiest foreign language you can learn, right? So, I got into it.I cannot sight read Anglo-Saxon, but I really got into Anglo-Saxon poetry. I really liked the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Most people probably would not like the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle because it's very repetitive, but that makes it great if you're a language learner because every entry is in this very repetitive structure. I just felt such a connection. I get in trouble when I say this kind of stuff, because I'm never quiet sure if it's 100 percent true. But it's certainly one of the oldest vernacular literatures in Europe. It's just so much older than most of the other medieval literature I've read. And it just was such a window into a different part of history I never knew about.Oliver: And you particularly like “The Dream of the Rood”?Kanakia: Yeah, “The Dream of the Rood” is my favorite Anglo-Saxon poem. “The Dream of the Rood” is a poem that is told from the point of view of Christ's cross. A man is having a dream. In this dream he encounters Christ's cross, and Christ's cross starts reciting to him basically the story of the crucifixion. At the end, the cross is buried. I don't know, it was just so haunting and powerful. Yeah, it was one of my favorites.Oliver: Why do you think Byron is a better poet than Alexander Pope?Kanakia: This is an argument I cannot get into. I think this is coming up because T. S. Eliot felt that Alexander Pope was a great poet because he really exemplified the spirit of the age. I don't know. I've tried to read Pope. It just doesn't do it for me. Whereas with Byron, I read Don Juan and found it entertaining. I enjoyed it. Then, his lyric poetry is just more entertaining to read. With Alexander Pope, I'm learning a lot about what kind of poetry people wrote in the 18th century, but the joy is not there.Oliver: Okay. Can we do a quick fire round where I say the name of a book and you just say what you think of it, whatever you think of it?Kanakia: Sure.Oliver: Okay. The Odyssey.Kanakia: The Odyssey. Oh, I love The Odyssey. It has a very strange structure, where it starts with Telemachus and then there's this flashback in the middle of it. It is much more readable than The Iliad; I'll say that.Oliver: Herodotus.Kanakia: Herodotus is wild. Going into Herodotus, I really thought it was about the Persian war, which it is, but it's mostly a general overview of everything that Herodotus knew, about anything. It's been a long time since I read it. I really appreciate the voice of Herodotus, how human it is, and the accumulation of facts. It was great.Oliver: I love the first half actually. The bit about the Persian war I'm less interested in, but the first half I think is fantastic. I particularly love the Egypt book.Kanakia: Oh yeah, the Egypt book is really good.Oliver: All those like giant beetles that are made of fire or whatever; I can't remember the details, but it's completely…Kanakia: The Greeks are also so fascinated by Egypt. They go down there like what is going on out there? Then, most of what we know about Egypt comes from this Hellenistic period, when the Greeks went to Egypt. Our Egyptian kings list comes from the Hellenistic period where some scholar decided to sort out what everybody was up to and put it all into order. That's why we have such an orderly story about Egypt. That's the story that the Greeks tried to tell themselves.Oliver: Marcus Aurelius.Kanakia: Marcus Aurelius. When I first read The Meditations, which I loved, obviously, I thought, “being the Roman emperor cannot be this hard.” It really was a black pill moment because I thought, “if the emperor of Rome is so unhappy, maybe human power really doesn't do it.”Knowing more about Marcus Aurelius, he did have quite a difficult life. He was at war for most of his—just stuck in the region in Germany for ages. He had various troubles, but yeah, it really was very stoic. It was, oh, I just have to do my duty. Very “heavy is the head that wears the crown” kind of stuff. I thought, “okay, I guess being Roman emperor is not so great.”Oliver: Omar Khayyam.Kanakia: Omar Khayyam. Okay, I've only read The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam by Edward Fitzgerald, which I loved, but I cannot formulate a strong opinion right now.Oliver: As You Like It.Kanakia: No opinions.Oliver: Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson.Kanakia: Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson. I do have an opinion about this, which is that they should make a redacted version of Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson. I normally am not a big believer in abridgements because I feel like whatever is there is there. But, Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson, first of all, has a long portion before Boswell even meets Johnson. That portion drags; it's not that great. Then it has all these like letters that Johnson wrote, which also are not that great. What's really good is when Boswell just reports everything Johnson ever said, which is about half the book. You get a sense of Johnson's conversation and his personality, and that is very gripping. I've definitely thought that with a different presentation, this could still be popular. People would still read this.Oliver: The Communist Manifesto.Kanakia: The Communist Manifesto. It's very stirring. I love The Communist Manifesto. It has very haunting, powerful lines. I won't try to quote from it because I'll misquote them.Oliver: But it is remarkably well written.Kanakia: Oh yeah, it is a great work of literature.Oliver: Yeah.Kanakia: I read Capital [Das Kapital], which is not a great work of literature, and I would venture to say that it is not necessarily worth reading. It really feels like Marx's reputation is built on other political writings like The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte and works like that, which really seem to have a lot more meat on the bone than Capital.Oliver: Pragmatism by William James.Kanakia: Pragmatism. I mean, I've mentioned that in my book. I love William James in general. I think William James was writing in this 19th-century environment where it seemed like some form of skepticism was the only rational solution. You couldn't have any source of value, and he really tried to cut through that with Pragmatism and was like, let's just believe the things that are good to believe. It is definitely at least useful to think, although someone else can always argue with you about what is useful to believe. But, as a personal guide for belief, I think it is still useful.Oliver: Major Barbara by George Bernard Shaw.Kanakia: No strong opinions. It was a long time ago that I read Major Barbara.Oliver: Tell me what you like about James Fenimore Cooper.Kanakia: James Fenimore Cooper. Oh, this is great. I have basically a list of Great Books that I want to read, but four or five years ago, I thought, “what's in all the other books that I know the names of but that are not reputed, are not the kind of books you still read?”That was when I read Walter Scott, who I really love. And I just started reading all kinds of books that were kind of well known but have kind of fallen into literary disfavor. In almost every case, I felt like I got a lot out of these books. So, nowadays when I approach any realm of literature, I always look for those books.In 19th-century American literature, the biggest no-longer-read book is The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, which was America's first bestseller. He was the first American novelist that had a high reputation in Europe. The Last of the Mohicans is kind of a historical romance, à la Walter Scott, but much more tightly written and much more tightly plotted.Cooper has written five novels, the Leatherstocking Tales, that are all centered around this very virtuous, rough-hewn frontiersman, Natty Bumppo. He has his best friend, Chingachgook, who is the last of the Mohicans. He's the last of his tribe. And the two of these guys are basically very sad and stoic. Chingachgook is distanced from his tribe. Chingachgook has a tribe of Native Americans that he hates—I want to say it's the Huron. He's always like, “they're the bad ones,” and he's always fighting them. Then, Natty Bumppo doesn't really love settled civilization. He's not precisely at war with it, but he does not like the settlers. They're kind of stuck in the middle. They have various adventures, and I just thought it was so haunting and powerful.I've been reading a lot of other 19th-century American literature, and virtually none of it treats Native Americans with this kind of respect. There's a lot of diversity in the Native American characters; there's really an attempt to show how their society works and the various ways that leadership and chiefship works among them. There's this very haunting moment in The Last of the Mohicans, where this aged chief, Tamenund, comes out and starts speaking. This is a chief who, in American mythology, was famous for being a friend to the white people. But, James Fenimore Cooper writing in the 1820s has Tamenund come out at 80 years old and say, “we have to fight; we have to fight the white people. That's our only option.” It was just such a powerful moment and such a powerful book.I was really, really enthused. I read all of these Leatherstocking Tales. It was also a very strange experience to read these books that are generally supposed to be very turgid and boring, and then I read them and was like, “I understand. I'm so transported.” I understand exactly why readers in the 1820s loved this.Oliver: Which Walter Scott books do you like?Kanakia: I love all the Walter Scott books I've read, but the one I liked best was Kenilworth. Have you ever read Kenilworth?Oliver: I don't know that one.Kanakia: Yeah, it's about Elizabeth I, who had a romantic relationship with one of her courtiers.Oliver: The Earl of Essex?Kanakia: Yeah. She really thought they were going to get married, but then it turned out he was secretly married. Basically, I guess the implication is that he killed his wife in order to marry Queen Elizabeth I. It's a novel all about him and that situation, and it just felt very tightly plotted. I really enjoyed it.Oliver: What did you think of Rejection?Kanakia: Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte? Initially when I read this book, I enjoyed it, but I was like, “life cannot possibly be this sad.” It's five or six stories about these people who just have nothing going on. Their lives are so miserable, they can't find anyone to sleep with, and they're just doomed to be alone forever. I was like, “life can't be this bad.” But now thinking back over it, it is one of the most memorable books I've read in the last year. It really sticks with you. I feel like my opinion of this book has gone up a lot in retrospect.Oliver: How antisemitic is the House of Mirth?Kanakia: That is a hotly debated question, which I mentioned in my book. I think there has been a good case made that Edith Wharton, the author of House of Mirth, who was from an old New York family, was herself fairly antisemitic and did not personally like Jewish people. What she portrays in this book is that this old New York society also was highly suspicious of Jewish people and was organized to keep Jewish people out.In this book there is a rich Jewish man, Simon Rosedale, and there's a poor woman, Lily Bart. Lily Bart's main thing is whether she's going to marry the poor guy, Lawrence Selden, or the rich guy, Percy Gryce. She can't choose. She doesn't want to be poor, but she also is always bored by the rich guys. Meanwhile, through the whole book, there's Simon Rosedale, who's always like, “you should marry me.” He's the rich Jewish guy. He's like, “you should marry me. I will give you lots of money. You can do whatever you want.”Everybody else kind of just sees her as a woman and as a wife; he really sees her as an ally in his social climbing. That's his main motivation. The book is relatively clear that he has a kind of respect for her that nobody else does. Then, over the course of the book, she also gains a lot more respect for him. Basically, late in the book, she decides to marry him, but she has fallen a lot in the world. He's like, “that particular deal is not available anymore,” but he does offer her another deal that—although she finds it not to her taste—is still pretty good.He basically is like, “I'll give you some money, you'll figure out how to rehabilitate your reputation, and later down the line, we can figure something out.” So, I think with a great author like Edith Wharton, there's power in these portrayals. I felt it hard to come away from it feeling like the book is like a really antisemitic book.Oliver: Now, you note that the Great Books movement started out as something quite socially aspirational. Do you think it's still like that?Kanakia: I do think so. Yeah. For me, that's 100 percent what it was because I majored in econ. I always felt kind of inadequate as a writer against people who had majored in English. Then I started off as a science fiction writer, young adult writer, and I was like, “I'm going to read all these Great Books and then I'll have read the books that everybody else has read.” In my mind, that's also what it was—that there was some upper crust or literary society that was reading all these Great Books.That's really what did it. I do think there's still an element of aspiration to it because it's a club that you can join, that anyone can join. It's very straightforward to be a Great Books reader, and so I think there's still something there. I think because the Great Books movement has such a democratic quality to it, it actually doesn't get you to the top socially, which has always been the true, always been the case. But, that's okay. As long as you end up higher than where you started, that's fine.Oliver: What makes a book great?Kanakia: I talk about it this in the book, and I go through many different authors' conceptions of what makes a book great or what constitutes a classic. I don't know that anyone has come up with a really satisfying answer. The Horatian formulation from Horace—that a book is great or an author is great if it has lasted for a hundred years—is the one that seems to be the most accurate. Like, any book that's still being read a hundred years after it was written has a greatness.I do think that T. S. Eliott's formulation—that a civilization at its height produces certain literature and that literature partakes of the greatness of the civilization and summarizes the greatness of the civilization—does seem to have some kind of truth to it.But it's hard, right? Because the greatest French novel is In Search of Lost Time, but I don't know that anyone would say that the France in the 1920s was at its height. It's not a prescriptive thing, but it does seem like the way we read many of these Great Books, like Moby Dick, it feels like you're like communing with the entire society that produced it. So, maybe there's something there.Oliver: Now, you've used a list from Clifton Fadiman.Kanakia: Yes.Oliver: Rather than from Mortimer Adler or Harold Bloom or several others. Why this list?Kanakia: Well, the best reason is that it's actually the list I've just been using for the last 15 years. I went to a science fiction convention in 2009, Readercon, and at this science fiction convention was Michael Dirda, who was a Washington Post book critic. He had recently come out with his book, Classics for Pleasure, which I also bought and liked. But he said that the list he had always used was this Clifton Fadiman book. And so when I decided to start reading the Great Books, I went and got that book. I have perused many other lists over time, but that was always the list that seemed best to me.It seemed to have like the best mix. There's considerable variation amongst these lists, but there's also a lot of overlap. So any of these lists is going to have Dickens on it, and Tolstoy, and stuff like that. So really, you're just thinking about, “aside from Dickens and Tolstoy and George Eliot and Walt Whitman and all these people, who are the other 50 authors that you're going be reading?”The Mortimer Adler list is very heavy on philosophy. It has Plotinus on it. It has all these scientific works. I don't know, it didn't speak to me as much. Whereas, this Clifton Fadiman and John Major list has all these Eastern works on it. It has The Tale of Genji, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Story of the Stone, and that just spoke to me a little bit more.Oliver: What modern books will be on a future Great Books list, whether it's from someone alive or someone since the war.Kanakia: Have you ever heard of Robert Caro?Oliver: Sure.Kanakia: Yeah. I think his Lyndon Johnson books are great books. They have changed the field of biography. They're so complete, they seem to summarize an entire era, epoch. They're highly rated, but I feel like they're underrated as literature.What else? I was actually a little bit surprised in this Clifton Fadiman-John Major book, which came out in 1999, that there are not more African Americans in their list. Like, Invisible Man definitely seemed like a huge missed work. You know, it's hard. You would definitely want a book that has undergone enough critical evaluation that people are pretty certain that it is great. A lot of things that are more recent have not undergone that evaluation yet, but Invisible Man has, as have some works by Martin Luther King.Oliver: What about The Autobiography of Malcolm X?Kanakia: I would have to reread. I feel like it hasn't been evaluated much as a literary document.Oliver: Helen DeWitt?Kanakia: It's hard to say. It's so idiosyncratic, The Last Samurai, but it is certainly one of the best novels of the last 25 years.Oliver: Yeah.Kanakia: It is hard to say, because there's nothing else quite like it. But I would love if The Last Samurai was on a list like this; that would be amazing.Oliver: If someone wants to try the Great Books, but they think that those sort of classic 19th-century novels are too difficult—because they're long and the sentences are weird or whatever—what else should they do? Where else should they start?Kanakia: Well, it depends on what they're into, or it depends on their personality type. I think like there are people who like very, very difficult literature. There are people who are very into James Joyce and Proust. I think for some people the cost-benefit is better. If they're going to be pouring over some book for a long time, they would prefer if it was overtly difficult.If they're not like that, then I would say, there are many Great Books that are more accessible. Hemingway is a good one and Grapes of Wrath is wonderful. The 19th-century American books tend to be written in a very different register than the English books. If you read Moby Dick, it feels like it's written in a completely different language than Charles Dickens, even though they're writing essentially at the same time.Oliver: Is there too much Freud on the list that you've used?Kanakia: Maybe. I know that Interpretation of Dreams is on that list, which I've tried to read and have decided life is too short. I didn't really buy it, but I have read a fair amount of Freud. My impression of Freud was always that I would read Freud and somehow it would just seem completely fanciful or far out, like wouldn't ring true. But then when I started reading Freud, it was more the opposite. I was like, oh yeah, this seems very, very true.Like this battle between like the id and the ego and the super ego, and this feeling that like the psyche is at war with itself. Human beings really desire to be singular and exceptional, but then you're constantly under assault by the reality principle, which is that you're insignificant. That all seemed completely true. But then he tries to cure this somehow, which does not seem a curable problem. And he also situates the problem in some early sexual development, which also did not necessarily ring true. But no, I wouldn't say there's too much. Freud is a lot of fun. People should read Freud.Oliver: Which of the Great Books have you really not liked?Kanakia: I do get asked this quite a bit. I would say the Great Book that I really felt like—at least in translation—was not that rewarding in an unabridged version was Don Quixote. Because at least half the length of Don Quixote is these like interpolated novellas that are really long and tedious. I felt Don Quixote was a big slog. But maybe someday I'll go back and reread it and love it. Who knows?Oliver: Now you wrote that the question of biography is totally divorced from the question of what art is and how it operates. What do you think of George Orwell's supposition that if Shakespeare came back tomorrow, and we found out he used to rape children that we should—we would not say, you know, it's fine to carry on to doing that because he might write another King Lear.Kanakia: Well, if we discovered that Shakespeare was raping children, he should go to prison for that. No. It's totally divorced in both senses. You don't get any credit in the court of law because you are the writer of King Lear. If I murdered someone and then I was hauled in front of a judge and they were like, oh, Naomi's a genius, I wouldn't get off for murder. Nor should I get off for murder.So in terms of like whether we would punish Shakespeare for his crime of raping children, I don't think King Lear should count at all, but it's never used that way. It's never should someone go to prison or not for their crimes, because they're a genius. It's always used the other way, which is should we read King Lear knowing that the author raped children, but I also feel like that is immaterial. If you read King Lear, you're not enabling someone to rape children.Oliver: There's an almost endless amount of discussion these days about the Great Books and education and the value of the humanities, and what's the future of it all. What is your short opinion on that?Kanakia: My short opinion is that the Great Books at least are going to be fine. The Great Books will continue to be read, and they would even survive the university. All these books predate the university and they will survive the university. I feel like the university has stewarded literature in its own way for a while now and has made certain choices in that stewardship. I think if that stewardship was given up to more voluntary associations that had less financial support, then I think the choices would probably be very different. But I still think the greatest works would survive.Oliver: Now this is a quote from the book: “I am glad that reactionaries love the Great Books. They've invited a Trojan horse into their own camp.” Tell us what you mean by that.Kanakia: Let's say you believed in Christian theocracy, that you thought America should be organized on explicitly Christian principles. And because you believe in Christian theocracy, you organize a school that teaches the Great Books. Many of these schools that are Christian schools that have Great Books programs will also teach Nietzsche. They definitely put some kind of spin on Nietzsche. But they will teach anti-Christ, and that is a counterpoint to Christian morality and Christian theology. There are many things that you'll read in the Great Books that are corrosive to various kinds of certainties.If someone who I think is bad starts educating themselves in the Great Books, I don't think that the Great Books are going to make them worse from my perspective. So it's good.Oliver: How did reading the Mahabharata change you?Kanakia: Oh yeah, so the Mahabharata is a Hindu epic from, let's say, the first century AD. I'm Indian and most Indians are familiar with the basic outline of the Mahabharata story because it's told in various retellings, and there's a TV serial that my parents would rent from the Indian store growing up and we would watch it tape by tape. So I'm very familiar with it. Like there's never been a time I have not known this story.But I was also familiar with the idea that there is a written version in Sanskrit that's extremely long. It is 10 times as long as the Iliad and the Odyssey combined. This Mahabharata story is not that long. I've read a version of it that's about 800 pages long. So how could something that's 10 times this long be the same? A new unabridged translation came out 10 years ago. So I started reading it, and it basically contains the entire Sanskrit Vedic worldview in it.I had never been exposed to this very coherently laid-out version of what I would call Hindu cosmology and ethics. Hindus don't really get taught those things in a very organized way. The book is basically about dharma, the principle of rightness and how this principle of rightness orders the universe and how it basically results in everybody getting their just deserts in various ways. As I was reading the book, I was like, this seems very true that there is some cosmic rebalancing here, and that everything does turn out more or less the way it should, which is not something that I can defend on a rational level.But just reading the book, it just made me feel like, yes, that is true. There is justice, the universe is organized by justice. It took me about a year to read the whole thing. I started waking up at 5:00 a.m. and reading for an hour each morning, and it just was a really magical, profound experience that brought me a lot closer to my grandmother's religious beliefs.Oliver: Is it ever possible to persuade someone with arguments that they should read literature, or is it just something that they have to have an inclination toward and then follow someone's example? Because I feel like we have so many columns and op-eds and “books are good because of X reason, and it's very important because of Y reason.” And like, who cares? No one cares. If you are persuaded, you take all that very seriously and you argue about what exactly are the precise reasons we should say. And if you're not persuaded, you don't even know this is happening.And what really persuades you is like, oh, Naomi sounds pretty compelling about the Mahabharata. That sounds cool. I'll try that. It's much more of a temperamental, feelingsy kind of thing. Is it possible to argue people into thinking about this differently? Or should we just be doing what we do and setting an example and hoping that people will follow.Kanakia: As to whether it's possible or not, I do not know. But I do think these columns are too ambitious. A thousand-word column and the imagined audience for this column is somebody who doesn't read books at all, who doesn't care about literature at all. And then in a thousand-word column, you're going to persuade them to care about literature. This is no good. It's so unnecessary.Whereas there's a much broader range of people who love to read books, but have never picked up Moby Dick or have never picked up Middlemarch, or who like maybe loved Middlemarch, but never thought maybe I should then go on and read Jane Austen and George Eliot.I think trying to shift people from “I don't read books at all; reading books is not something I do,” to being a Great Books card-carrying lover of literature is a lot. I really aim for a much lower result than that, which is to whatever extent people are interested in literature, they should pursue that interest. And as the rationalists would say, there's a lot of alpha in that; there's a lot to be gained from converting people who are somewhat interested into people who are very interested.Oliver: If there was a more widespread practice of humanism in education and the general culture, would that make America into a more liberal country in any way?Kanakia: What do you mean by humanism?Oliver: You know, the old-fashioned liberal arts approach, the revival of the literary journal culture, the sort of depolitical approach to literature, the way things used to be, as it were.Kanakia: It couldn't hurt. It couldn't hurt is my answer to that question.Oliver: Okay.Kanakia: What you're describing is basically the way I was educated. I went to Catholic school in DC at St. Anselm's Abbey School, in Northeast, DC, grade school. Highly recommend sending your little boys there. No complaints about the school. They talked about humanism all the time and all these civic virtues. I thought it was great. I don't know what people in other schools learn, but I really feel like it was a superior way of teaching.Now, you know, it was Catholic school, so a lot of people who graduated from my school are conservatives and don't really have the beliefs that I have, but that's okay.Oliver: Tell us about your reading habits.Kanakia: I read mostly ebooks. I really love ebooks because you can make the type bigger. I just read all the time. They vary. I don't wake up at 5:00 a.m. to read anymore. Sometimes if I feel like I'm not reading enough—because I write this blog, and the blog doesn't get written unless I'm reading. That's the engine, and so sometimes I set aside a day each week to read. But generally, the reading mostly takes care of itself.What I tend to get is very into a particular thing, and then I'll start reading more and more in that area. Recently, I was reading a lot of New Yorker stories. So I started reading more and more of these storywriters that have been published in the New Yorker and old anthologies of New Yorker stories. And then eventually I am done. I'm tired. It's time to move on.Oliver: But do you read several books at once? Do you make notes? Do you abandon books? How many hours a day do you read?Kanakia: Hours a day: Because my e-reader keeps these stats, I'd say 15 or 20 hours a week of reading. Nowadays because I write for the blog, I often think as I'm reading how I would frame a post about this. So I look for quotes, like what quote I would look at. I take different kinds of notes. I'll make more notes if I'm more confused by what is going on. Especially with nonfiction books, I'll try sometimes to make notes just to iron out what exactly I think is happening or what I think the argument is. But no, not much of a note taker.Oliver: What will you read next?Kanakia: What will I read next? Well, I've been thinking about getting back into Indian literature. Right now I'm reading Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. But there's an Indian novel called Jhootha Sach, which is a partition novel that is originally in Hindi. And it's also a thousand pages long, and is frequently compared to Les Miserables and War and Peace. So I'm thinking about tackling that finally.Oliver: Naomi Kanakia, thank you very much.Kanakia: Thanks for having me. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.commonreader.co.uk

Gnostic Informant on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCtdweFMJ5DGj7_q5IcpQhPQNeal and I do a deep dive into the origins of the term "demon"/"demonic". What was the original meaning of the term "daimones" in Ancient Greece? How does the understanding of the term change, from the Hellenic to the Hellenistic to the Christian eras? We also discuss the imagery associated with the demonic, deriving from Pan, and discuss the anecdote from the ancient world, from which we get the phrase, "the Great God Pan is dead!"

"As above, so belove" series, where Noble Intent and Àrmunn Rìgh explore astrology, particular using the Hellenistic wholesign system.Noble Intent's channel: https://www.youtube.com/@IntentionalLovers

The Gospel of Luke is telling a deeper story than most of us have been trained to hear. Dr. Judd Burton and Doug Van Dorn return to Blurry Creatures to break down how Luke, a masterful writer addressing a Hellenistic audience, embedded his Gospel and the Book of Acts with intentional subversions of Greek mythology and the stories of antiquity. The language is deliberate. The story structures mirror and then overturn the old narratives. And Jesus doesn't just appear as a teacher or healer. He steps into spaces long claimed by rival powers, spirits, and the gods of the nations, and He displaces them all. With the divine council still in view and the principalities still pulling strings behind the curtain, Luke's Gospel becomes something bigger than biography. It becomes a confrontation with the entire spiritual architecture of the ancient world. Burton and Van Dorn walk through the quiet reversals, the cultural cues Luke's original readers would have caught immediately, and why understanding Luke's subversive genius matters for how we read the New Testament today. This is what happens when the story flips, and it changes everything. Read Dr. Judd's new article here! https://strangertheology.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Read OnlineJesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. Mark 7:31–32Throughout Jesus' public ministry, His actions, while purely charitable, were often deliberate and provocative. His words and deeds testified to the true meaning of the Mosaic Law by exposing the damaging legalism of many Pharisees, whose misinterpretations deeply influenced God's Chosen People. For example, Jesus healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath (cf. Mark 3:1–6) and cured a man who had been lame for thirty-eight years (cf. John 5:1–18). In both cases, Jesus was accused of violating the Sabbath rest as interpreted by the Pharisaic traditions. By challenging these restrictive and erroneous interpretations, Jesus demonstrated that the Sabbath is a day for mercy, healing, and honoring God, not a burdensome observance of human traditions. Jesus boldly lived the Mosaic Law as it was intended, while challenging the erroneous practices and beliefs He encountered. Another act of deliberate and charitable provocation was Jesus' ministry among the Gentiles. At that time, observant Jews often avoided direct interactions with Gentiles, considering them ritually unclean and outside the covenant community of Israel. Yet Jesus traveled into Gentile regions such as Tyre, Sidon, and the Decapolis. In today's Gospel, Jesus traveled from Tyre to Sidon and then to the Decapolis, where He healed a deaf and mute man. Being predominantly Gentile regions, they were marked by pagan worship, Hellenistic culture, and lifestyles often incompatible with Jewish religious practices. It is likely that Jesus' companions—the Twelve—were surprised and uneasy during these visits, but that was precisely the point. Their journey to these territories was itself a lesson Jesus intended to teach. By engaging with Gentiles, Jesus revealed that God's salvation is not limited to Israel but extends to all nations, fulfilling the promise made to Abraham: “All the families of the earth will find blessing in you” (Genesis 12:3). In doing so, Jesus began preparing His disciples to shed nationalistic biases and embrace the universal scope of God's covenant of salvation.The healing of the deaf and mute man carries profound significance. First, by performing the miracle in predominantly Gentile territory, Jesus directed its meaning beyond the Jews to all peoples of every nation. The message is clear: By healing the man's deafness, Jesus teaches that all must hear the saving message of the Gospel. By healing his speech impediment, Jesus further teaches that all who hear the Gospel are called to proclaim it.Though the manner of this healing—putting “his finger into the man's ears and, spitting, touched his tongue”—is rich with symbolism, it also reveals Jesus' personal and compassionate approach. For a deaf and mute man, spoken words alone would not have conveyed what Jesus was about to do. By using touch and visible gestures, Jesus communicated with the man in a way he could understand, engaging him personally and tenderly. This reflects the boundless compassion of Jesus, Who meets each of us where we are.Reflect today on the lesson the Twelve learned as they traveled with Jesus through Gentile and pagan regions. As followers of Christ, we must learn not only from His words but also from His actions. The Creed, the Sacraments, and the moral teachings of the Church are not meant for Catholics alone but for all people. At times, sharing the Gospel might require charitable provocation within the social circles in which we live and work. We must strive to do so in ways that people can understand, setting aside artificial or inconsequential traditions that obstruct the message. True compassion leads us to every person, making us instruments of their salvation, knowing that the message we bring is for all, so that “all the families of the earth” may find blessing in God through you.My compassionate and provocative Lord, You confidently and lovingly challenged the burdensome and restrictive traditions that had overshadowed the true spirit of the Mosaic Law, pointing Your disciples—and us—to the universal scope of Your saving mission. Grant me the courage and wisdom to be an instrument of Your Gospel to everyone I meet. Help me to love them where they are, with the tenderness and compassion You show, so that they, too, may be drawn into the joy of Your eternal Kingdom. Jesus, I trust in You.Image: unknown, (Markusmaler und Gehilfe), Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsSource: Free RSS feed from catholic-daily-reflections.com — Copyright © 2026 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. This content is provided solely for personal, non-commercial use. Redistribution, republication, or commercial use — including use within apps with advertising — is strictly prohibited without written permission.

Join Anna Smythe (Classics) for a discussion of their research on epigraphy, or everyday writing, from subordinate people in pre-Hellenistic Greece.

What does it mean to say that the good life is a life of pleasure? Although you might think of champagne and caviar, Hellenistic philosopher Epicurus actually considered the good life to be more about appreciating the simple things in life and letting go of the things that bring us only temporary pleasure but lead to pain in the long run. Why has Epicureanism so often been misrepresented, and what did Epicurus really say? In episode 160 of Overthink, Ellie and David investigate the teachings of Epicurus in The Epicurus Reader. They explain his four-part cure on how to life a better life, including why we shouldn't be worried about death. They also offer critiques on his view of justice and its lack of application to political life. How can attaining ataraxia lead us to achieving eudaimonia and living the good life? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts elaborate on whether or not Epicurus's argument that we should not fear death is convincing.Works Discussed:Brad Inwood and Lloyd P. Gerson, The Epicurus Reader: Selected Writings and TestimoniaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

"As above, so belove" series, where Noble Intent and Àrmunn Rìgh explore astrology, particular using the Hellenistic wholesign system.Noble Intent's channel: https://www.youtube.com/@IntentionalLovers

Read Online“Let us cross to the other side.” Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. Mark 4:35–38Our Lord's words were prophetic, but so were His actions. Today's Gospel begins after a long day of Jesus teaching parables to the people by the Sea of Galilee. One might think that, after a long day, Jesus and His disciples would have remained in Capernaum for the night, getting a good night's sleep. Instead, Jesus invites His disciples to join Him for a long night on a boat, crossing to the other side of the sea to the territory of the Gerasenes.The Gerasenes were a predominantly Gentile population living in a region that formed part of the Decapolis—a group of ten cities heavily influenced by Greco-Roman culture and pagan practices. The area was culturally distinct from the Jewish territories around the Sea of Galilee, characterized by its Hellenistic architecture, customs, and beliefs. Jesus' invitation to cross the sea was not only an invitation to a long night, but also an invitation to spend the next day within a culturally distinct and perhaps an uneasy setting different from their Jewish hometown.This dual invitation should be seen as a prophetic action by which Jesus invited His disciples—and us—to leave our comfort zone and travel into the challenging and unfamiliar. This lesson has numerous practical implications for our lives. There are many things we do not feel like doing and many ways God calls us out of our comfort zone into the unfamiliar. Fear must never deter us from answering the call, even when we are tired and prefer to rest. When God calls, we must respond.The journey across the Sea of Galilee is also packed with prophetic lessons. The journey by boat from Capernaum to the territory of the Gerasenes was about five to six miles. Under calm conditions, the journey might have taken one to two hours. However, the storm likely extended this time, possibly making the trip several hours long, especially if the disciples had to work against the wind and waves.One important aspect of the journey is that Jesus is asleep during the storm. Because it would have been difficult for anyone to sleep while “waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up,” we should see our Lord's sleep as intentional, to reveal a spiritual lesson. Though God might seem distant at times, or asleep during our time of need, He is there, waiting for us to turn to Him, wake Him, and call on Him.Though these were experienced fishermen and boatmen, they were terrified. Jesus permitted them to experience this terror to reveal their need for faith and trust in Him. His calm presence, even as He slept, was a reminder that no storm—whether physical or spiritual—can overpower the One who created the seas. His rebuke of the wind and waves, “Quiet! Be still!” not only restored peace to the sea but also revealed His divine authority, revealing Himself as God: “LORD, God of hosts, who is like you? Mighty LORD, your faithfulness surrounds you. You rule the raging sea; you still its swelling waves” (Psalm 89:9–10).Reflect today on Jesus' invitation to the disciples to make the journey across the sea after a tiring day. Similarly, God sometimes calls us to enter the chaos of this world to bring His grace where it is not found. Though rest is important, sometimes we must deny ourselves and enter into the sea toward the unfamiliar—reaching out to neighbors or others with whom we feel hesitant, volunteering in ministries, or embracing new challenges that call us out of our comfort zone. As you ponder this scene, let the words of Christ echo in your heart, bringing peace to your soul: “Quiet! Be still!” Do not fear. Have faith. Trust that His command will calm every storm, and hold on to the knowledge that He is always with you, guiding you safely to the other side.All-powerful God, in Your human nature, You faced every difficulty and conquered them so that You could provide me the grace to do the same. When You call me out of my comfort zone into the unfamiliar, give me courage to respond generously, knowing that You are always nearby, waiting to be awakened through a prayer and act of faith. Jesus, I trust in You.Image via Bible picsSource: Free RSS feed from catholic-daily-reflections.com — Copyright © 2026 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. This content is provided solely for personal, non-commercial use. Redistribution, republication, or commercial use — including use within apps with advertising — is strictly prohibited without written permission.

Contribute to the East West Lecture Series fundraiser: theeastwestseries.com Today, Dr. Jacobs tackles the common objection: Was ancient Christianity infiltrated by Greek philosophy, such that it required a reformation or restoration? The answer is a resounding no. Follow Dr. Jacobs as he tracks the history through Old and New Testaments, German Idealism, and of course, a little realism and nominalism dusted on top for good measure. All the links: Substack: https://nathanajacobs.substack.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenathanjacobspodcastWebsite: https://www.nathanajacobs.com/X: https://x.com/NathanJacobsPodSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0hSskUtCwDT40uFbqTk3QSApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nathan-jacobs-podcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/nathanandrewjacobsAcademia: https://vanderbilt.academia.edu/NathanAJacobs00:00:00 Intro 00:02:05 The case for Hellenistic or Platonized Christian baggage 00:06:49 German idealism 00:15:21 Hegel and the Church Fathers 00:20:08 The leftist Hegelians, atheism, and Christianity 00:26:18 The protestant application00:30:42 Open theism 00:35:16 Hebrew ideas vs Greek ideas 00:42:00 Mathematical truth vs Philosophical truth00:50:07 Realism and nominalism 00:56:03 The Septuagint and the Jewish shift away 01:03:58 Are the Church Fathers platonists? 01:19:19 Idealism in Old Testament studies 01:25:11 Cases in the New Testament 

In episode 519 of the podcast I'm joined by astrologer Reverend Lindsay Turner to discuss the story of the Magi, the birth of Jesus, and the astrology surrounding the Nativity story. We explore the celebration of Epiphany, also known as Three Kings Day, and analyze the Gospel of Matthew's account of the astrologers from the East who followed a star to Bethlehem. We discuss the distinction between approaching the Nativity as a historical event versus a literary narrative, and how the author of Matthew partially used the story of the Magi to legitimize Jesus as a king in the 1st century. We also look at technical astrological terms found in the Greek text, such as anatole or "at its rising," and how this relates to Hellenistic astrology. We also talk about the relationship between early Christianity and astrology, including the non-canonical Acts of Paul and Thecla, the liturgical seasons aligning with the Zodiac, and how modern Christians can reconcile their faith with astrological practice. Lindsay's Website https://badpastor.me Timestamps 00:00:00 Intro00:00:34 Epiphany and Three Kings Day traditions00:01:45 The Nativity story and the Star of Bethlehem00:03:50 Historical vs. literary approaches to the Gospels00:05:41 The Gospel of Matthew and Hebrew prophecy00:08:05 Reading the Magi passage (Matthew 2:1-12)00:10:52 Who were the Magi? Astrologers vs. Persian priests00:12:00 The context of natal astrology in the 1st Century00:13:30 The political subversion of the Nativity story00:16:27 "At its rising" (Anatole) as a technical astrological term00:18:23 Crossover between New Testament Greek and astrological texts00:20:14 Theories on the Star: Comets, conjunctions, and novae00:26:27 The solar eclipse at the crucifixion00:31:00 Astrology used to legitimize Jesus in Matthew00:33:30 Did the Magi renounce astrology?00:36:51 The Manger nebula in the constellation Cancer00:39:19 The Thema Mundi and the birth chart of the cosmos00:41:05 The debate over the date of Jesus' birth00:48:25 The Acts of Paul and Thecla and lost Christian texts00:54:38 Mary Magdalene and the seven daimons01:02:15 Fate, free will, and Stoicism in the ancient world01:05:45 Early Christianity as social rebellion01:09:30 Identity in Christ vs. astrological identity01:15:33 Liturgical seasons and the Zodiac01:17:28 Saturnalia, Sol Invictus, and the origins of Christmas01:21:50 Stigma against astrology in the modern church01:29:50 The shared origins of Christianity and Hellenistic astrology01:32:00 Astrology as a bridge between science and religion01:35:10 Lindsay's upcoming book and contact info01:36:35 Sponsors and credits Watch the Video Version of This Episode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J68CV7YYm0 - Listen to the Audio Version of This Episode Listen to the audio version of this episode or download it as an MP3:

In this episode we sit down with Walter Penrose, PhD, associate professor of history at San Diego State University. Dr. Penrose specializes in the History of Gender and Sexuality in Ancient Greek, Hellenistic, and South Asian contexts. We talk with him about the historical views of the Amazons, particularly in the non-Western world. Female bodyguards were employed by the Ancient Indians and Persians and many of these women came from the Black Sea region-- the same region where the Greeks identified the presence of Amazons.  We discuss the Indian concept of "Stri Rajya" or "The Kingdom of Women"  which the Ancient Indians located to the west of them, towards the Eurasian Steppe and Caspian Sea-- in the same neighborhood as the Black Sea.  Lastly, we also explore the stories of Hellenistic warrior queens and their connection to the warlike tribes from the same region as the female bodyguards and The Kingdom of Women: the Thracians, Scythians and Sauromatians. Sean Marlon Newcombe and Dawn "Sam" Alden co-host.

Send us a textPlease visit Steven Gambardella's site here to learn more. Show Notes:1:15 background in the arts4:00 Dutch philosopher Spinoza's parallels with Hellenistic philosophies5:20 Gambardella's Become As You Are7:30 “Stoic Kitsch” blog post 9:00 individual agency and collective action11:00 crisis of agency11:20 emergence of stoicism14:00 four-fold root of virtue20:10 four facets of autonomy, perspective, objectivity and control and their relation to the four virtues of wisdom, moderation, justice and courage/fearlessness21:25 Steven's blog 21:45 Stoic view of justice relates to ignorance26:00 moralism27:00 Seneca, tutor and advisor to Roman emperor Nero32:00 applying ancient Stoic ideas in current day35:35 Stoicism and Philosophy Reading Group 38:30 summary of Stoicism: Virtue is the only good; and you have full control over the domain of your soul/your “inner citadel”40:20 Stoicism at a crossroads 43:45 his hope to contribute to a revolution of the soul that encourages a view of the world that is more holistic and spiritual45:40 Question from Susanne van der Meer about the paradox in Stoicism about the responsibility of agency versus a Stoic view of incarceration 55:00 Stoic view of fear and desire1:00:00 Comments from Emily GouldPlease share your comments and/or questions at stephanie@warfareofartandlaw.comMusic by Toulme.To hear more episodes, please visit Warfare of Art and Law podcast's website.To leave questions or comments about this or other episodes of the podcast and/or for information about joining the 2ND Saturday discussion on art, culture and justice, please message me at stephanie@warfareofartandlaw.com. Thanks so much for listening!© Stephanie Drawdy [2025]

In this audio we will be talking about 4 ways to unlock your inner freedom from the philosophy of Epictetus. Epictetus was one of the most influential teachers of the later years of the school of Stoicism. So with that in mind, here are 4 ways to unlock your inner freedom from the wisdom of Epictetus -01. Free your mind02. Train your habits03. Control your desires04. Love your FateWe hope you enjoyed listening to this podcast and hope this video will help you to unlock your inner freedom. Epictetus was a Greek/Roman philosopher of the Hellenistic period. He managed to overcome huge obstacles in developing from a crippled Roman slave to become one of the most popular and sought after philosophers of his time. Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century BC. Even though it is over 2000 years old, more and more people are discovering how Stoicism is not only relevant to modern times, but can be applied in very simple, yet strong ways. 

Porphyry, Isaac Casaubon, and Richard Rietzenstein walk into a bar. Well, that's not true, seeing that they were separated  from each other by hundreds of years. But if they did, they would be talking about the Corpus Hermeticum, that mysterious forged document that dates to the Hellenistic era, and claimed to have been written by "Hermes Thrice-great" (the Triple-decker). Thanks to the brilliant work of Guggenheim fellow and all-around savant Anthony Grafton, Jeff and Dave have the opportunity this week to tease out the differences between forgers and literary critics. Digging through chapter 3 of Grafton's 1990 work, the guys show how Porphyry (third century A.D.), Casaubon (16th century), and Reitzenstein (20th century) each tackle this forgery from a different angle, united in their quest for the truth and using some of the same tools. But as it turns out, are truth and falsehood more closely linked than at first  they may appear? And do we have something to learn from the forgers and their methods? Tune in to find out.

It's 115ishAD, and Pope Alexander died somehow. Perhaps vaguely martyred? But probably not. That was probably another Alexander. There were a lot of Alexanders in the Hellenistic world because reasons. Anyways, who wants to be Pope next? And how far will Gregg go to get names of cardinals?* *Answer: "Very"

In this podcast, we will be talking about The 10 ways to keep our New Year's Resolutions from the writings of Epictetus. Epictetus was one of the most influential teachers of the later years of the school of Stoicism. So here are 10 ways from Epictetus's discourses, that will help you in keeping your New Year's resolutions.   So here are 10 ways to keep our New Year's Resolutions from the writings of Epictetus -  01. Keep your resolutions simple 02. Routine is everything 03. Replace bad habits 04. Don't Share your resolutions with everyone 05. Give no excuses 06. Don't wait for other people's validation 07. Reward yourself 08. Review your day 09. Never Ever Ever give up 10. Always keep evolving  Hope you enjoyed listening to this podcast and find these insights on keeping New Year's resolutions helpful. .  Epictetus was a Greek/Roman philosopher of the Hellenistic period. He managed to overcome huge obstacles in developing from a crippled Roman slave to become one of the most popular and sought after philosophers of his time.  Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century BC. Even though it is over 2000 years old, more and more people are discovering how Stoicism is not only relevant to modern times, but can be applied in very simple, yet strong ways. 

Jorge Roque, a Cuban astrologer, discusses the evolution of astrology, particularly Hellenistic astrology, which focuses on traditional techniques and conservative interpretations. He specializes in elective astrology for finding auspicious times and Astro cartography for relocating based on energy.Jorge predicts significant global changes by 2032, including a decline in U.S. power and a rise of China, driven by astrological cycles. He emphasizes the importance of understanding one's natal chart and past lives, and shares his personal journey from being a Catholic priest to an astrologer, influenced by hypnosis and near-death experiences.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/next-level-soul-podcast-with-alex-ferrari--4858435/support.Take your spiritual journey to the next level with Next Level Soul TV — our dedicated streaming home for conscious storytelling and soulful transformation.Experience exclusive programs, original series, movies, tv shows, workshops, audiobooks, meditations, and a growing library of inspiring content created to elevate, heal, and awaken. Begin your membership or explore our free titles here: https://www.nextlevelsoul.tv

Read OnlineJesus said to his disciples: “Beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans.” Matthew 10:17–18These words capture the essence of the martyrdom of Saint Stephen, the Church's first martyr, whom we honor today. The day after celebrating the birth of Christ, the Church, in her wisdom, reflects on the reality of persecution as a consequence of worshiping the newborn King.The Jewish community in Jerusalem was diverse, with traditional Hebraic Jews and Hellenistic Jews who were influenced by the Greco-Roman culture. As Jews began to convert to Christianity, a new unified community of believers emerged. Despite this unity, tensions arose, particularly when Hellenistic widows were neglected in the daily distribution of bread. To address this, the Apostles appointed seven deacons, with Stephen being the first, likely a Hellenist himself.Stephen, described as “a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit,” performed great wonders among the people. When confronted by Hellenistic Jews, he defended the faith with wisdom and courage, leading to his being dragged before the Sanhedrin. His eloquent defense angered his opponents, resulting in his stoning. In his final moments, Stephen commended his spirit to Jesus and prayed for his persecutors.At first, his martyrdom seemed a tragic loss that sparked a wave of persecution and scattered the Christian community throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria. This dispersion, however, spread the Gospel beyond Jerusalem, leading to many new converts. What appeared to be a tragedy became a catalyst for the growth of the early Church.As we honor Saint Stephen, reflect on the truth that God permits evil only to draw greater good from it. If you face suffering or persecution, let today's feast inspire hope. Trust in God's plan, reject fear, and embrace His will, knowing that He can use every cross for His glory. Saint Stephen, you were a man filled with grace and power, deeply committed to Jesus and the proclamation of the Gospel. Please pray for me, that I will have your courage and faith so that God can use me to further His Kingdom by drawing many souls to Him. Saint Stephen, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.Image: Giovanni Andrea de Ferrari, CC0, via Wikimedia CommonsSource of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2025 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

ICYMI: This episode is one of our earliest episodes, and originally aired on 5/14/2020   In this introductory conversation, Dr. Jonathan Pennington joins the Center for Hebraic Thought as its newest fellow and shares how his journey through philosophy and biblical scholarship led him to see the New Testament as part of a deeply sophisticated intellectual tradition. Pennington discusses how early Christianity, though written in Greek and shaped within a Hellenistic world, did not abandon its Jewish roots but rather translated its robust metaphysic across cultural lines. Drawing from his work on Jesus as a philosopher, Pennington explains that the New Testament doesn't reject or capitulate to Greco-Roman philosophy—it stands alongside it, often outthinking and outlasting it. In contrast to Stoicism's emotional detachment and denial of suffering's reality, the Bible presents a profoundly realistic vision: a God who enters the world, values the body, and promises the restoration of creation through Shalom. Pennington argues that Jesus—especially in Matthew's Gospel—functions as a public philosopher. In moments like the Sermon on the Mount or debates with religious elites, Jesus offers strikingly rational, ethical, and metaphysical responses to life's biggest questions. This episode introduces not only a new CHT fellow, but a vision of Scripture as intellectually vibrant, emotionally honest, and endlessly translatable. We are listener supported. Give to the cause here: https://hebraicthought.org/give For more articles: https://thebiblicalmind.org/ Social Links: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HebraicThought Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hebraicthought Threads: https://www.threads.net/hebraicthought X: https://www.twitter.com/HebraicThought Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hebraicthought.org

⁠⁠Support us on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠---"Herod the king, in his raging, charged he hath this day: his men of might, in his own sight, all young children to slay." So goes the Coventry Carol, a traditional English Christmas song commemorating the Massacre of the Innocents in Bethlehem. According to the Christian Gospel of Matthew, the jealous ruler of Judea so feared the arrival of the messiah that he ordered this slaughter of his own infant subjects. Herod's name rings through the ages with tyranny and evil. But who was Herod the Great?This episode of Gladio Free Europe explorers the life and afterlife of Jewish history's most consequential monarch. Liam and Russian Sam situate King Herod in his historical context, as a pious Jewish monarch and a Hellenistic warrior-king. Born into an ambitious family descended from the conquered backwater of Edom, nobody expected Herod would ever assume control of the Hasmonean Kingdom of Judea. But as the Mediterranean world collapsed into a century of bloody turmoil, Herod used dynastic conflicts in both Jerusalem and in Rome to propel himself to the greatest heights of power. After he was suddenly named King of the Jews by the Roman Senate, Herod had to contend with ruling the most fractious kingdom in the Near East, and the most defiant corner of the vast Roman Empire.Though his ancestors were converts to Judaism, brought into the Israelite fold at the point of a sword, Herod reigned as a pious Jew. Even scholars who doubted his commitment to the faith acclaimed his act of rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem, the center of all Jewish ritual. Though a Roman puppet who never attempted to liberate his subjects from foreign domination, Herod brought enormous prosperity and glory to his kingdom. The land that he once ruled is still marked by great works, built in Hellenistic fashion both to honor his God and to honor his own glory.Despite his great successes, Herod was cruel, vindictive, and unceasingly murderous. Although his role in folklore derives from fiction and rumor rather than actual acts, his reputation for cruelty is well-deserved. Deeply paranoid and acutely aware of his own vulnerabilities, Herod dispatched every threat to his reign with unflinching violence. Even his own wives and children could not escape this violence. After his death, Herod would be immortalized not for his contributions to his kingdom and his faith, but instead for his wickedness. This episode will touch on the origins of Hanukkah and of Christmas to understand the career of one of the most fascinating and terrifying figures of the ancient world.

A birth chart shows you more than just personality traits, it shows you your life story, your natal promise. In this episode, I'm getting on the mic in Thailand and sharing with you how I've used astrology in my life to pivot, change course, redirect my energies and not shame myself over some of my more challenging astrological placements.  When I started using my birth chart intentionally and started leaning on certain aspects and configuartions to guide my course, that's when a lot of my success and more ease (and fun!) started to flow in my life. Life started feeling more effortless, less stagnant. Knowing your birth chart can help you remember who you are: your strengths, your talents, your weaknesses. It also shows you your callings, passions and purpose.  You can watch the full video episode of this on youtube here

Appointed by the Romans as king of Judaea, King Herod's reign was defined by great architectural projects and canny diplomacy. But he could also be cruel and paranoid, with scandal and family intrigue marring his rule. King Herod even appears as an unlikely and unlikeable character in the Christmas tale; the king who ordered the execution of children in an effort to kill Jesus. But did this really happen?Dan is joined by Seth Schwartz, professor of Classical Jewish Civilisation at Columbia University, to explore the life of this ancient king and the Hellenistic world in which he ruled.Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.This episode was first released in December 2023.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.We'd love to hear your feedback - you can take part in our podcast survey here: https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on.You can also email the podcast directly at ds.hh@historyhit.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we are talking with Saffron Dennis a Hellinistic Astrologer. https://divinebaytree.com/ & https://substack.com/@divinebaytree Saffron is based in the East Anglia region of the UK. Astrology has been the main focus of study since she was a teenager in the late '80s, starting as many astrologers of the time did with the psychological style of Modern Astrology. In 2019 she began establishing new skills in Hellenistic Astrology through studies in Chris Brennans' course, which has now become integrated into her astrology practice. Those studies led her to a deeper, spiritual and devotional approach to Hellenistic Astrology through her tutor and mentor Adam Elenbaas at Nightlight Astrology. she is truly honoured to work with Adam and fellow staff at the school. Adam's classes are life-changing in many ways; spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually.  She also had the pleasure of studying with Sue Ward, a truly talented traditional astrologer whose experience in William Lilly's work is unsurpassed. Sue's humour and generosity of spirit were a contagious duo, making her classes fun and informative. Along with her astrology studies, Saffron also spent many years delving into various topics. She recently completed a diploma with the Spiritual Companions Trust as a Spiritual Coach, Companion & Caregiver. Her love of working with the crystal world has spanned over two decades, completing her first FHT-recognised diploma in 2008. She is revisiting that work with Jackie Winters at the British Academy of Crystal Healing, taking the diploma again to refresh her knowledge.  Saffron believes it is important to continue to learn and expand from the foundational level all the way up. In the past, but no longer practising, she holds qualifications as a holistic beauty therapist, and as a tarot reader as member of TABI, passing their qualification many years ago. She also hold an RHS level 3 qualification in Horticulture and a level 2 in Understanding Mental Health. She now volunteers co-facilitating a monthly on-line group for the organisation Action For Happiness which is a movement of people taking action to create a happier and kinder world, together. And lastly she is also (now) a trustee and on the board of The Astrological Association https://www.astrologicalassociation.com/board-members/  

Starting from the early third century B.C., the Nabataean kingdom ruled over much of the Levant from the Sinai Peninsula to the Hejaz. Most known for their famous rose-colored capital city of Petra, the Nabataeans occupied a unique position within the eastern Mediterranean for nearly five hundred years, competing with the Hellenistic, Hasmonean, and Herodian kingdoms. Yet they also acted as a stabilizing force for the so-called "Incense Road", leaving behind brilliant rock-cut monuments like al-Khazneh ("The Treasury"). Episode Notes: (https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/12/20/114-the-nabataean-kingdom/) Episode Transcript: (https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/114-the-nabataean-kingdom-transcript.pdf) Social Media: Twitter (https://twitter.com/HellenisticPod) Facebook (www.facebook.com/hellenisticagepodcast/) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/hellenistic_age_podcast/) Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/hellenisticpod.bsky.social) Show Merchandise: Etsy (https://www.etsy.com/shop/HellenisticAgePod) Redbubble (https://www.redbubble.com/people/HellenisticPod/shop?asc=u) Donations: Patreon (https://patreon.com/TheHellenisticAgePodcast) Ko-Fi (https://ko-fi.com/hellenisticagepodcast) Amazon Book Wish List (https://tinyurl.com/vfw6ask)

Dr. Christopher Baron, an Associate Professor of Classics at the University of Notre Dame, joins Lexie to discuss his interest in both Roman and Greek history, particularly focusing on the historiography of Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic period, how information spread in Alexander's time, the significance of classical education, and the modern portrayal of ancient history in media. So tuck in your togas and hop aboard Trireme Transit for this week's exciting odyssey! Don't forget to follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram or visit our website www.theozymandiasproject.com! Originally recorded May 5, 2025. Learn more about Dr. Baron: https://classics.nd.edu/people/christopher-baron/ Check out his publications on Academia: https://nd.academia.edu/ChristopherBaron Find his book Timaeus of Tauromenium: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/timaeus-of-tauromenium-and-hellenistic-historiography/timaeus-of-tauromenium-and-hellenistic-historiography/99CD5F068F4278E40B9D5A59BE1F6689Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheOzymandiasProject Custom music by Brent Arehart of Arehart Sounds and edited by Dan Maday. Want a transcript of the episode? Email us at theozymandiasprojectpodcast@gmail.com and we can provide one. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this deeply moving and illuminating episode, Christine welcomes writer, teacher, healer, and ceremonial guide Grace Allerdice for a conversation about one of the most universal human experiences: the reckoning—those moments when life asks us to shed who we've been and grow into who we are becoming.Together, they explore the profound terrain of transformation, postpartum identity shifts, and the vulnerable beauty that emerges in the moments we often fear the most. Grace offers an embodied, soulful lens on why the “bottom of the chasm” isn't a failure—it's a portal.Whether you're in the postpartum window, navigating a major life change, or supporting others through theirs, this episode brings spaciousness, compassion, and clarity to the unfolding process of becoming.In this episode we explore:The death-and-rebirth cycles we experience throughout lifeWhy profound change feels like freefall—and why that's not wrongThe innocence beneath our fear, shame, or expectationsPostpartum as an initiatory portal of identity and transformationHow to hold space without rescuing—especially as caregiversThe importance of beauty, quiet, and devotion as guiding anchorsGrace's powerful personal story of unraveling and reclamationWhat it means to trust the process of becoming, even in the darkAbout Grace:Grace Allerdice is a spiritual writer, teacher, healer, and facilitator; and is currently on a multi-year initiatory path to become an ordained Priestess. She has an extensive background in mystical and magical studies as well as embodiment practices — ranging from art-making and performance to yoga to Hermeticism, and also includes in-depth knowledge + practice of Hellenistic astrology, energetic healing modalities, ceremonial magic and death work.Grace's Links:3 Keys to the Soul — free!grace allerdiceVIRGIN Are you feeling the call to know more about Conscious Postpartum Care?Reach out! ⁠Schedule a time with Christine⁠ to find out how this work can transform your care business or provide a meaningful career path.Here is the ⁠link⁠ to our free class@‌sacredwindowstudiesJoin our ⁠Facebook Group⁠Podcast Music is Composed by Sara Emmitt, graduate of the Center for Sacred Window Studies. You can hear more of Sara's incredible music at www.saraemmitt.com.

From (apocryphal?) non-mainstream midrashim on the Hellenistic persecutions. This one is mentioned by Rambam in his אִגֶּרֶת הַשְׁמַד

An introduction to an obscure but powerful timing technique called recurrence transits, which occur when specific planetary alignments in the birth chart are repeated by transits in the sky, with astrologers Chris Brennan and Nick Dagan Best. Unlike standard transits that form aspects to specific points in the natal chart, a recurrence transit occurs when a planetary alignment found in a birth chart repeats in the sky between those same two planets. For example, if a person was born with a Venus-Jupiter conjunction in their birth chart, then an important event will happen in their life in the future when Venus and Jupiter again form a conjunction in the sky. The episode uses the analogy that specific planetary alignments in the birth chart act like a personal theme song; when the planets repeat the same alignment in the sky, it is as if that music starts playing again, signaling a pivotal turning point where the natal potential of the birth signature becomes awakened through a resonance between past and future. The episode opens by exploring the history and transmission of the technique, which is relatively unknown in the English-speaking world at the present time. Nick shares how he learned the method from the late Michael Lutin in the 1990s, while Chris traces potential roots back to early 20th-century German astrology and ancient Hellenistic texts like Vettius Valens. A key point emphasized early on is how these mundane planetary recurrences operate independently of aspects to natal placements, forcing a conceptual expansion of what defines a transit, and demonstrating how planetary cycles can be tied into important turning points in a life narrative even without direct contact with birth chart placements. To demonstrate the technique in practice, most of the episode is spent presenting a wide range of biographical examples as case studies, and focusing primarily on conjunctions in order to keep things simple and compelling. Case studies include the technological breakthroughs of Steve Jobs and Max Planck, the artistic peaks of Vincent van Gogh and Madonna, and the political rises and falls of figures like Richard Nixon and Joe Biden. The workshop also examines how retrogrades can both extend and intensify the importance of certain recurrence transits, as seen in the lives of Edward Snowden and Charles Manson, and we also touch on shared recurrences in relationships, such as Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love. The conversation concludes with a broader philosophical discussion on what this technique implies about the nature of astrology, touching on concepts like simulation theory and the definition of astrology as a map of time. This episode serves as a comprehensive foundation for understanding recurrence transits, providing astrologers and students with a powerful, empirically driven tool for predictive work and biographical analysis that complements traditional methods. This is episode 513 of The Astrology Podcast. Nick's Website https://www.nickdaganbestastrologer.com Bonus Episode for Patrons If you enjoy this episode and are looking for more, we recorded a followup episode on recurrence transits which is available to subscribers on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/secret-astrology-143901212 In the followup episode we share 16 more chart examples that didn't make it into the main episode, which allows us to go into some planetary combinations that we didn't cover previously, and also cover some new facets of the technique such as multiple planet recurrences and intergenerational recurrences. Timestamps 00:00:00 Introduction00:10:49 History and origins of the technique00:20:42 The technique in Vettius Valens00:24:55 Michael Lutin00:29:11 Chris coming around to the technique00:40:39 Focusing on conjunctions00:42:52 USA Mars-Uranus conjunction00:54:28 Natal examples segment begins00:54:48 Chaz Bono00:58:02 Retrograde stations heighten importance00:59:21 Vincent van Gogh01:09:42 Max Planck (Jupiter-Uranus)01:13:22 Steve Jobs (Jupiter-Uranus)01:25:56 Chris' chart01:46:40 Rock Hudson (Mars-Saturn)01:52:03 Malcolm X (Mars-Pluto)01:56:49 Kurt Cobain & Courtney Love (Venus-Saturn & Venus-Mars)02:05:01 Charlie Kirk & Zohran Mamdani (Mercury-Mars)02:11:33 Edward Snowden (Mercury-Mars)02:18:54 Venus Williams (Mars-Saturn)02:25:23 Jada Pinkett Smith (Jupiter-Neptune)02:32:10 Amelia Earhart (Mars-Jupiter)02:34:25 Richard Nixon (Mars-Jupiter)02:45:13 Joe Biden (Saturn-Uranus)02:56:41 The Beatles (Saturn-Uranus)03:10:59 Michael Jackson (Jupiter-Neptune)03:20:32 Madonna (Jupiter-Neptune)03:29:05 Charles Manson (Mars-Neptune)03:42:19 Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (Saturn-Pluto)03:52:38 Beyonce (Jupiter-Saturn)03:59:44 Reflecting on the technique04:04:34 Secret Astrology Podcast follow-up04:09:28 Lessons learned and concluding remarks04:28:35 Simulation Theory04:36:35 Astrology as a map of time04:41:54 Credits Watch the Video Version of This Episode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG0Il1QZkmU – Listen to the Audio Version of This Episode Listen to the audio version of this episode or download it as an MP3:

“ASTRO JAM MYSTERY CHARTS”.We're focusing on transformative people or events (scientist, author, historical stuff, educator, etc.) impacting the world in some tangible way. Two teams will each play out the planetary voices of an unknown chart. Once it's revealed these eight esteemed astrologers unravel the chart's identity consciousness exploring how the sky's imprint influenced people or events affecting the whole.Imagine witnessing the consciousness of these planetary energies unfold before your eyes! Eight astrologers will embody these archetypes in a spontaneous, interactive dramatization, offering a "front row seat" to the celestial dance that influences our lives.ISRAEL AJOSE: Diploma Psychology of Astrology. Full-time practitioner and teacher of astrology, tarot, philosophical and esoteric teachings combining traditional, mediaeval, psychological, and Vedic techniques consultations to students and clients worldwide. sacredplanets.co.ukJEN SACHS: is a certified astrologer (AFA) and tarot reader (Biddy Tarot) with over 20 years of experience. Her work blends cosmic insight with lived wisdom, shaped by a lifelong quest for understanding and a late-in-life diagnosis of autism and ADHD at 38. Her approach is intuitive, empowering, and unapologetically real. Website: Jensachsastrology.comJOLI KNOTT: Consulting astrologer, Reiki Master, teacher, and transformational coach for Bodhi Mindful. Studied both modern and Hellenistic astrology, now studying medieval Islamicate astrology. Connect with Joli, website: bodhimindful.comMARIE O'NEILL, MBA: Evolutionary Astrologer, life coach, and speaker dedicated to helping people transform their lives. Founder of Padma Life Coaching. Author of “and the Lotus Opened”. A dynamic lecturer at astrology conferences and co-hosts the Kepler College YouTube series, “Let's Talk Astrology Business.” Website: PadmaLifeCoaching.comROBERT PACITTI: has over a decade of experience in the world of natural magic. A Druid by calling, he currently holds the position of Grand Pendragon in the Ancient Order of Druids in America and is the Director of the MAGUS Druid Gathering in Gore, Virginia. Consultations focus on the Archetypal and Harmonic nature of the chart's planets, constellations, houses taking a deep dive into the natal chart with Deep Earth Astrology. Social media: facebook.com/SacredConnections13SEAN KELLEY: Speaker, Executive, Motivational Leadership. Focus on Digital Business since 1998. Worked with many of the world's renowned astrologers, from Kelli Fox and Jan Spiller to Henry Seltzer and Michael Lutin. Sean was instrumental in the 2000's driving business for Tarot.com. Website: EvolutionaryAstro.comSUSIE COX: A professional astrologer since 1971, interpreting over 55,000 charts. She was the astrologer at the highly acclaimed Canyon Ranch Health Resort for 32 years. She started their popular Metaphysics Department and was appointed Master Astrologer in 2006. She's written eight books including the International Directory of Astrologers, which was sold in 57 countries. Website: SusieCox.comSUE ROSE MINAHAN: Evolutionary Astrologer Consultant, Writer, Workshops, Speaker. Dwarf Planet University graduate; & tutor; Vibrational Astrology Student, Kepler Astrology Toastmaster charter member. Wine Country Speakers member. Founder of Talk Cosmos weekly insightful conversations awaken heart & soul consciousness. 2025 Season 8. Website: TalkCosmos.com#EvolutionaryAstro #TalkCosmos #YouTubepodcast #SusieCox #RobPacitti #astrologycommunity #astrologyinsights #astrologyfacts #astrologytips #astrologyanswers #trending #podcasting #astrologywisdom #mysticvibes #astrofacts #astrologyinsights #astrojam #astrologywisdom #TalkCosmos #RobertPacitti #DeepEarthAstrology #SueMinahan #jensachs #JoliKnott #MarieONeill #PadmaLifeCoaching #SeanKelley #2025Astrology #jensachs #Bodhimindful #israelajose #astrologyofthesoulSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Astrologer and consciousness teacher Mercedes Arnús Arraut explains how astrology and the star chart reveal a hidden design connecting human destiny, awakening consciousness, and the rise of technology in episode 225 of Far Out with Faust.Mercedes Arnús Arraut is an astrologer, consciousness teacher, and founder of The Astral Method, an education platform that bridges Hellenistic, Egyptian, and Vedic astrology with modern psychology and energy work. She guides students in reading their natal chart blueprint as a mirror of consciousness — a map of patterns, ancestral memory, and potential. Her teachings restore astrology's original purpose: a tool for self-knowledge and spiritual awakening.In this conversation, Faust Checho and Mercedes trace astrology's origins and its modern evolution, exploring how the star chart decodes both personal and collective destiny. They examine Carl Jung's insight that “until you make the unconscious conscious, it will rule your life,” and connect that idea to ancient cosmology and today's rise of AI and ChatGPT. Mercedes discusses how Emperor Constantine and the Catholic Church severed humanity's link to the stars, how civilizations like Atlantis fell when they misused technology, and why dream journaling can reopen a channel to higher awareness. Together they uncover how cosmic patterns, free will, and consciousness intertwine in the unfolding story of humanity's evolution.In this episode:

What happened when the laws of Moses were translated into Greek? In this episode, we journey from Sinai to Alexandria with Dr Joel Korytko, whose book The Death of the Covenant Code uncovers how Jewish translators in the third century BCE re-imagined Israel's laws for a Greek-speaking world. Together with Helen Bond and Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, Joel reveals how death penalties quietly disappeared in the Greek Exodus, and what these changes reveal about Jewish life under Greek rule. This is a story of law, language, and the authority of Scripture in a fast-changing world. Dr Joel Korytko is Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies at Northwest College | Seminary. He completed his DPhil at the University of Oxford, where his research explored how Jewish translators adapted biblical law for a Hellenistic audience. His book, The Death of the Covenant Code (Brill, 2022), examines how the laws of Exodus were reshaped in the Old Greek translation in light of Graeco-Egyptian legal traditions. Joel is also co-authoring a forthcoming commentary on Exodus for the Society of Biblical Literature Commentary on the Septuagint series.SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINEIf you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription.DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHYCheck out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.Support the showTheme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson.

Philemon IntroductionThanks to everyone who supports TMBH at patreon.com/thetmbhpodcastYou're the reason we can all do this together!Discuss the episode hereMusic by Jeff Foote

In this message, Noel draws a parallel between the excruciating recovery from sinus surgery and the difficult, often messy work of ministry, describing it as "picking out dried gunk." Focusing on Acts 6, he shows how the rapid growth of the early church led to a crisis: complaints that Hellenistic widows were being neglected in the daily aid distribution, creating cultural tension. To resolve the issue, the apostles chose to delegate the responsibility to seven capable men, freeing themselves to prioritize prayer and teaching the Word. This established a system where servants (deacons) manage practical needs while pastors (elders) focus on equipping the church, ensuring healthy growth without sacrificing core mission.Subscribe to AfterWords on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.Download a copy of the Exodus JournalVisit us online: rivchurch.comFollow us on InstagramSend us feedback: podcast@rivchurch.comSubscribe to AfterWords on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.Visit us online: rivchurch.comFollow us on InstagramSend us feedback: podcast@rivchurch.com

When it comes to astrology, you may know the basics of your sun, moon and rising, but did you know about your lot of spirit or lot of courage? In this episode of Cosmic Compass, astrologer Helena Woods delves into the 10 essential secrets of your birth chart that you might be overlooking. Learn about the the traditional Hellenistic techniques that reveal the foundational promises of your life, such as your purpose, fate and what you're here to lean into.  Helena shares insights on how each house in your chart represents more than just personal traits, but also relationships, community, and life events. Plus key times in life when you get a green light from the Universe to go for your dreams and pursue your life's calling. Don't miss out on this joyful astro chitchat that promises to change your understanding of astrology! Let's go to the show

Hellenistic astrologer Helena Woods shares personal stories of how she uses zodiacal releasing and astrology transits to maximize her life, "catch the wave" and ride momentum and how you can too! This empowering episode will inspire you to know your timing and work with it (mars in Scorpio style). Welcome to the world of ZODIACAL RELEASING.  Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you picked up your own life biography at the library?   Have you ever wanted to easily read your life periods so you know what each date means for your love life, career, and bodily health?   Want to see when there's a breakup on the horizon? Know when you'll pivot or UPLEVEL in your career or get a promotion?   What if you could know where you were in the grand cycle of your biography? Imagine knowing WHEN the seeds you've planted will finally get the results and maturation you've been yearning for. All these answers and so much more lie within your life's storybook. And the key to accurately reading each chapter of your life can be found in my zodiacal releasing + transits course: Trust Your Timeline.   Join us in my only astrological timing and zodiacal releasing course here! Doors close November 1st  Live classes begin December 2nd  BONUS! 4th live class on Sunday 12/14 to students who would like to pay in full! Lifetime access, forever updates, all access pass to future live calls in summer 2026  Come join 500+ kindred spirit students in this incredible deep dive timing course  Get My Favorite Beloved Planner and use the code "WOODS10" for 10% off » https://bit.ly/3KGCdW0

The world that Alexander remade in his lifetime was transformed once more by his death in 323 BCE. In Age of Conquests: The Greek World from Alexander to Hadrian(Harvard University Press, 2018), Angelos Chaniotis, Professor of Ancient History and Classics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, examines how his successors reorganized Persian lands to create a new empire stretching from the eastern Mediterranean as far as present-day Afghanistan, while in Greece and Macedonia a fragile balance of power repeatedly dissolved into war. Then, from the late third century BCE to the end of the first, Rome's military and diplomatic might successively dismantled these post-Alexandrian political structures, one by one. During the Hellenistic period (c. 323–30 BCE), small polities struggled to retain the illusion of their identity and independence, in the face of violent antagonism among large states. With time, trade growth resumed and centers of intellectual and artistic achievement sprang up across a vast network, from Italy to Afghanistan and Russia to Ethiopia. But the death of Cleopatra in 30 BCE brought this Hellenistic moment to a close—or so the story goes. In Angelos Chaniotis's view, however, the Hellenistic world continued to Hadrian's death in 138 CE. Not only did Hellenistic social structures survive the coming of Rome, Chaniotis shows, but social, economic, and cultural trends that were set in motion between the deaths of Alexander and Cleopatra intensified during this extended period. Age of Conquests provides a compelling narrative of the main events that shaped ancient civilization during five crucial centuries. Ryan Tripp (Ph.D., History) is currently an adjunct in History at Los Medanos Community College and Southern New Hampshire University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

The world that Alexander remade in his lifetime was transformed once more by his death in 323 BCE. In Age of Conquests: The Greek World from Alexander to Hadrian(Harvard University Press, 2018), Angelos Chaniotis, Professor of Ancient History and Classics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, examines how his successors reorganized Persian lands to create a new empire stretching from the eastern Mediterranean as far as present-day Afghanistan, while in Greece and Macedonia a fragile balance of power repeatedly dissolved into war. Then, from the late third century BCE to the end of the first, Rome's military and diplomatic might successively dismantled these post-Alexandrian political structures, one by one. During the Hellenistic period (c. 323–30 BCE), small polities struggled to retain the illusion of their identity and independence, in the face of violent antagonism among large states. With time, trade growth resumed and centers of intellectual and artistic achievement sprang up across a vast network, from Italy to Afghanistan and Russia to Ethiopia. But the death of Cleopatra in 30 BCE brought this Hellenistic moment to a close—or so the story goes. In Angelos Chaniotis's view, however, the Hellenistic world continued to Hadrian's death in 138 CE. Not only did Hellenistic social structures survive the coming of Rome, Chaniotis shows, but social, economic, and cultural trends that were set in motion between the deaths of Alexander and Cleopatra intensified during this extended period. Age of Conquests provides a compelling narrative of the main events that shaped ancient civilization during five crucial centuries. Ryan Tripp (Ph.D., History) is currently an adjunct in History at Los Medanos Community College and Southern New Hampshire University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Daniel 11 stands as one of the most remarkably detailed prophecies in all of Scripture, outlining centuries of political conflict, alliances, and rulers long before they ever existed. From the rise of Persian kings and Alexander the Great to the power struggles of the Seleucid and Ptolemaic empires, this chapter demonstrates the unparalleled historical and prophetic accuracy of the Book of Daniel.Scholars and skeptics alike have wrestled with how precisely Daniel 11 mirrors the Hellenistic era, detailing events that align perfectly with ancient records. This level of detail makes Daniel one of the most intellectually compelling and academically verified prophetic texts in the Bible.Join Lonaiah and Pastors Jim and John as they examine the historical context, archaeological evidence, and theological implications of Daniel 11—revealing how its fulfilled prophecy validates the divine inspiration of Scripture and points forward to the end times events yet to unfold.

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Tarot Emblemata is a magical and mystical tarot deck based on the 1551 book of emblems by Claude Paradin. Renaissance emblems are intimate illustrations with accompanying mottos that allegorically and symbolically express sentiments, concepts, societal concerns, and parables. These Renaissance emblems are a didactic genre of interpretive art and, within them, author and creator Nitasia Roland has discovered that their enigmatic imagery and “mottos” correspond dynamically and align perfectly with the seventy cards of the Major and Minor Arcana of the tarot.Among the many ancient and iconic images this deck portrays—plumes, helmets, swords, gemstone rings, coins, wands, clouds, wreaths, flowers, animals, and trees—Roland sees the evolution of tarot's wands, swords, cups, and coins, as well as evocative glimmers of the Major Arcana archetypes. Both secular and religious, Renaissance emblems were meant to crystallize virtue or vice and cover every sphere of early modern knowledge: ethics, natural philosophy, politics, science, religion, love, war, and everyday life, very much in the same way that modern tarot imagery provides insight and clarity today.The Tarot Emblemata deck will help readers expand on their path of embodiment, spiritual gnosis, inspired destiny, and empowerment. The accompanying guidebook presents tarot interpretations and elucidations on the symbolism of the emblems. Tarot Emblemata features a ribbon lift and gilded cards. It is an accessible deck for beginners and those familiar with the Rider-Waite-Smith system, while more experienced readers will enjoy a new and refreshing perspective. Find the deck and Natasia:Tarot Emblemata Deck: https://amzn.to/4mRCHWGWebsite: www.uraniapress.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/nitasia_roland/ and https://www.instagram.com/urania_press/Nitasia Roland is a poet and writer of nonfiction with a focus on dovetailing the wisdom and practices of Western Esotericism, magic, myth, and mysticism. She resides in Maine, USA, surrounded by 75 acres of pastoral New England countryside. Nitasia works from home as an artist, independent researcher, editor, and indie tarot deck creator at her publishing company Urania Press. For her Interdisciplinary Master's Degree, she studied English, Poetry, Printmaking, Photography, and Design. In 2019 she received her MFA in Creative Writing. The current of Nitasia's Synchromystic path syncs a mélange of curios into a body of research, contemplation, and practice with poetic trance, synchronicity, Synthēmata & Symbola, theurgy, Hellenistic household worship, daimon & deity devotion, witchcraft, hedgecraft, divination, and ceremonial & planetary magic. 

What terrifying trials did Jason and the Argonauts have to overcome to win the famous Golden Fleece from a fire-breathing dragon, in one of the greatest greek myths of all time? When and where does this thrilling story come from? How does it tie together the tales of Odysseus, Orpheus, Achilles and Circe? Is there any historical evidence for the story of Jason and the Argonauts? What are the origins of Medea, the beautiful but vindictive sorceress who Jason marries? Did the Greeks still worship the Olympian gods in the more skeptical Hellenistic age? How did the coming of Alexander the Great transform the Greeks' understanding of the divine? And, were the Olympian gods really once mortal kings and queens of an earlier age, or were they planets..? Join Tom and Dominic as they conclude their epic journey into the glorious heart of Greek mythology, as they explore their evolution in an increasingly skeptical Hellenistic world, and answer the question; why did the Greek myths endure and captivate audiences throughout history, in a way that no other culture's mythology did? Try Adobe Express for free now at https://www.adobe.com/uk/express/spotlight/designwithexpress?sdid=HM85WZZV&mv=display&mv2=ctv or by searching in the app store. LRB are offering six months access to their full archive for just £12, plus a free tote bag. Visit https://LRB.me/history Learn more at https://www.uber.com/onourway Join The Rest Is History Club: Unlock the full experience of the show – with exclusive bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to every series and live show tickets, a members-only newsletter, discounted books from the show, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at therestishistory.com For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude  Video Producer: Oli Oakley  Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Celts invaded Greece in 280-279 BC, an entirely unforeseen breakthrough of a nearly unknown people into the mainstream of the Hellenistic world. Tens of thousands of Celts poured through the passes of the Balkans, killed a Macedonian king in battle, and ravaged huge swathes of the heart of the Greek world. How and why did this happenPatrick's book is now available! Get The Verge: Reformation, Renaissance, and Forty Years that Shook the World in hardcopy, ebook, or audiobook (read by Patrick) here: https://bit.ly/PWverge. And check out Patrick's new podcast The Pursuit of Dadliness! It's all about “Dad Culture,” and Patrick will interview some fascinating guests about everything from tall wooden ships to smoked meats to comfortable sneakers to history, sports, culture, and politics. https://bit.ly/PWtPoDListen to new episodes 1 week early, to exclusive seasons 1 and 2, and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/tidesofhistorySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.