ANGELA'S SYMPOSIUM 📖 Academic Study on Witchcraft, Paganism, esotericism, magick and the Occult

What happens to spirituality when belief in traditional religion falls away? Can ritual, mysticism, awe, contemplation, divination, sacred stories and experiences of transcendence still have value without requiring supernatural explanations?

Britt Hartley is a religious deconstruction educator, author, and atheist spiritual director who helps people rebuild meaning, identity, and family culture after faith. She is the author of No Nonsense Spirituality and a doctoral student whose work explores existential crisis, secular spirituality, and life beyond traditional religion.

In this livestream, we will explore Britt’s concept of secular spirituality and her attempt to navigate a fascinating middle ground between organised religion, atheistic scepticism and contemporary alternative spirituality. We will discuss religious deconstruction, nihilism, meaning-making, mysticism, ritual and the psychology of spiritual experience, as well as the question of whether practices traditionally associated with religion and the occult can remain meaningful when their supernatural interpretations are suspended.

We will also venture into some particularly interesting territory for Angela’s Symposium: astrology, Tarot, psychedelics, intuition, altered states of consciousness, the Divine Feminine, cognitive bias, the relationship between mystical experience and metaphysical claims, and Britt’s distinction between useful spiritual tools and what she describes as “woo”.

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00:00:00 No Nonsense Spirituality Introduction
00:01:23 Meet Britt Hartley
00:05:20 From Mormonism to Atheist Spirituality – Britt Hartley’s Story
00:07:49 Hard vs Soft Polytheism: Can Atheists Be Pagan?
00:09:07 Why Humans Create Gods: Religion as a Human Project
00:12:33 Is Spiritual Atheism Actually a Form of Paganism?
00:13:34 Sufism, Shinto, Christian Mysticism and Spiritual Atheism
00:16:48 Chaos Magic, Fictional Deities and Spiritual Scepticism
00:19:42 Can Ritual Work Without Belief?
00:22:51 The Science of Ritual Without Metaphysical Belief
00:26:16 Why Practise Spirituality If You’re an Atheist?
00:33:40 How to Build a Secular Spiritual Practice
00:37:05 Situational Belief: Can Belief Be Used Temporarily?
00:41:22 Belief as a Spiritual Tool Without Dogma
00:43:59 Belief, Cognitive Bias and the Western Mind
00:49:03 Spiritual Tools Without Metaphysical Truth Claims
00:51:57 Nihilism, Phenomenology and What Is Really Real?
00:55:39 Philosophical Nihilism, Spiritual Experience and the Self
00:57:19 Is Belief Another Tool for Spiritual Practice?
00:59:05 Religious Trauma, Trance and Feeling Safe Without Belief
01:04:36 Does Everyone Need Religion or Spirituality?
01:08:17 The Paradox of Atheist Spirituality and Religious Belief
01:13:29 Clothing, Makeup and Adornment as Spiritual Practice
01:19:15 How you can support this valuable work

What lies beyond using runes as simple symbols for divination or spellcraft?

In this livestream, I speak with David Linder, author of Advanced Rune Magic: The Greater Mysteries of Nordic Spirituality, about the Elder Futhark as a path of experiential knowledge and self-transformation.

David approaches the twenty-four runes as interfaces with Runa, the greater Mystery. Drawing on the Rune Poems, Eddic mythology, historical context, meditation, galdor, talismans, and lived practice, he explores how runes can shape not only magical workings but the practitioner’s character, relationships, and engagement with the world.

We will also examine where historical reconstruction ends and personal gnosis begins, how modern practitioners can create responsibly within a living tradition, and why Odin’s ordeal on Yggdrasil offers a powerful model of sacrifice, initiation, and the reconstruction of the self.

Is rune magic ultimately about changing circumstances, or about becoming someone capable of changing the world?

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UK https://link.amazon/B06d9fKYG
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RECOMMENDED READINGS 📖

REFERENCES 📚
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00:00:00 Advanced Rune Magic with David Linder
00:02:20 From Vikings to Heathenry and Rune Magic
00:05:29 What Makes Rune Magic ‘Advanced’?
00:07:59 What Are Runes? The Elder Futhark Explained
00:09:43 Elder Futhark, Rune Names and the Rune Poems
00:12:04 Runa: The Great Mystery Behind the Runes
00:16:24 How Do You Really ‘Know’ a Rune?
00:21:40 Experiencing Runes: Galdr, Trance and Runic Practice
00:23:57 Rune Magic, Animism and Signs from Nature
00:27:57 Odin and Rune Magic as Self-Transformation
00:31:08 Historical Sources vs Personal Gnosis in Norse Magic
00:35:09 Can We Reconstruct Ancient Rune Magic?
00:41:01 Mystical Experience vs Rational Decision-Making
00:43:55 Christian Influence on the Rune Poems and Eddas
00:46:10 Creating New Myths in Modern Norse Paganism
00:48:54 Rune Magic, Fate and the Three Norns
00:52:16 Hagalaz: Chaos, Destruction and Transformation
00:56:12 Dagaz and the Dangers of Spiritual Extremes
00:58:56 The Dark Side of Odin: What Should Practitioners Emulate?
01:01:48 Laguz, Jung and the Collective Unconscious
01:04:30 Rune Practice, Compassion and the Greater Good
01:07:59 Odin, Shiva, Ásatrú and Galdr
01:09:03 What Does It Mean to ‘Win the Runes’?
01:11:47 David Linder, Living Runes and Further Resources
01:13:10 How to join Angela’s team of esoteric excellence.

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In this episode, I offer a complete guide to the grimoire tradition: what grimoires are, where the term comes from, how these books of magic developed, and why they became so central to the history of Western esotericism.

We will explore major texts such as the Key of Solomon, the Lesser Key of Solomon or Lemegeton, the Ars Goetia, the Sworn Book of Honorius, the Picatrix, the Arbatel, the Book of Abramelin, the Heptameron, the Grand Grimoire, the Grimoire of Pope Honorius, and the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses. Rather than treating grimoires as mysterious books that simply appeared from nowhere, I look at them as living technologies of magical authority, shaped by clerical manuscript culture, print capitalism, occult revival movements, and contemporary magical practice.

We will also look at how grimoires moved from medieval monastic and clerical settings into cheap printed chapbooks, Victorian ceremonial magic, Wicca, chaos magic, and modern occult practice. Along the way, I explain why many grimoires were attributed to figures such as Solomon, Moses, Honorius, Albertus Magnus and Peter of Abano, and what those false attributions tell us about authority, antiquity and magical legitimacy.

Finally, I discuss how modern practitioners can approach these texts today: not as timeless manuals dropped from heaven, but as historical artefacts, ritual technologies and sources of magical imagination that have been copied, edited, adapted and reinvented for centuries.

This is an academic, historically grounded introduction for anyone interested in grimoires, ceremonial magic, Solomonic magic, the Goetia, occult books, Western esotericism and the history of magical practice.

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RECOMMENDED READINGS 📖

REFERENCES 📚
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MY SET-UP 🛠️
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Can Alfred North Whitehead’s process philosophy offer a new way of understanding how magic works?

Join me live on Saturday, 1 August 2026, at 12 pm EST for a fascinating conversation with Dr Darren Iammarino of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Diego.

We will explore the philosophy of magic between 1875 and 1975, beginning with Spiritualism, Theosophy, William James, and the emergence of spirit and energy models. Our central focus will be Whitehead’s process philosophy and its potential to explain magic through an informational and relational model of reality, in which events, consciousness, agency, and influence are interconnected processes rather than isolated substances.

We will also consider how yoga, Tantra, and the Yoga Sūtras conceptualise siddhis, or supernormal powers, alongside the influence of perennialism on modern Western interpretations of magic.

Can process thought help us move beyond the familiar opposition between supernatural and psychological explanations? Could magic be understood as participation in a dynamic and interconnected cosmos? Join us live and bring your questions for the discussion.

Discover more from Dr Darren Iammarino:

YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ToTwoTruth?si=eUy8QTaRVEadbkTI

Books and author page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Darren-Iammarino/author/B00GJ9KV1Y/allbooks?ccs_id=19e6820b-d273-45bc-bdbb-87d6d4faeaa3

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RECOMMENDED READINGS 📖

REFERENCES 📚
(Check the related slide on screen)

MY SET-UP 🛠️
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00:00:00 Introduction to Process Philosophy & Magic
00:02:50 Meet Dr. Darren Iammarino: Background & Research
00:12:45 Actual Entities, Prehension, & Subconscious Experience
00:14:17 What is Process Philosophy? (Alfred North Whitehead Explained)
00:14:43 Meaningful Coincidence vs. Causal Magical Influence
00:17:38 How Magic Operates in a Whiteheadian Universe
00:24:17 The Information Model of Magic vs. Magical Energy
00:29:52 Action at a Distance & Non-Locality in Magic
00:33:33 Naturalizing Magic: Do Stones & Objects Have Consciousness?
00:38:25 Atheistic Magic, Panentheism, & Process Theology
00:42:58 Sigil Magic, Chaos Magic, & Altered States of Consciousness
00:51:43 Perennial Philosophy vs. Religious Pluralism
01:01:19 Why Esoteric Practitioners Should Study Process Philosophy
00:05:04 Technomancy, Prediction Markets, & AI Digital Magic
01:07:27 Defining Magic from an Academic Perspective
01:12:29 Join Dr Puca’s growing team of scholars and practitioners

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Was Lughnasadh really an ancient Celtic fire festival, and is it actually the same celebration as Lammas?

In this video, I separate historical evidence from modern Pagan reconstruction. I explore the medieval Irish assemblies associated with Lugh and Tailtiu, the English Christian origins of the Lammas loaf-mass, the folklore collected by Máire MacNeill, and how Wicca brought these distinct traditions together on the modern Wheel of the Year.

Join me if you are interested in Paganism, witchcraft, occultism, Celtic religion or harvest festivals, and discover how we can celebrate the season meaningfully without mistaking modern mythology for ancient fact.

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RECOMMENDED READINGS 📖

REFERENCES 📚
(Check the related slide on screen)

MY SET-UP 🛠️
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⚠️ Copyright of Dr Angela Puca, in all of its parts ⚠️
Music by Erose MusicBand. Check them out!