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

What if everything you think you know about Voodoo comes from Hollywood myths and colonial misconceptions?

What is Voodoo really, and how does it differ from Haitian Vodou, West African Vodun, New Orleans Voodoo and Hoodoo?

In this episode of Angela’s Symposium, we explore the fascinating history, theology, cosmology and magical practices of these Afro-Atlantic traditions, drawing on academic research and historical sources.

Discover the mysteries of the lwa, spirit possession, ancestral worship, ritual magic, sacred objects and initiatory practices. We also investigate the legends of Marie Laveau, the origins of zombies and the relationship between Vodou, Hoodoo and Western occultism.
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What happens when art becomes a vehicle for hidden knowledge, spirit communication, and alternative forms of spirituality? In this livestream interview on Angela’s Symposium, I am joined by Dr Nina Kokkinen to explore the fascinating intersections of art, esotericism, occultism, mediumship, and spiritual seekership.
We will discuss how esoteric ideas have shaped modern and contemporary art, why women’s contributions to occult and spiritual art have so often been overlooked, and how concepts such as occulture and seekership can help us understand artists whose religious and spiritual lives crossed conventional boundaries. We will also explore questions of mediumship, clairvoyance, artistic agency, and what happens when museums exhibit works that were originally understood as spiritually active or inspired.
Nina Kokkinen (PhD, 2019) is an art historian, scholar of religion, curator, and award-winning non-fiction author specialising in the intersections of modern and contemporary art with esotericism, occultism, and alternative spiritualities. Her research has contributed to scholarly discussions of concepts including occulture and seekership, while her curatorial work has explored how academic research can be translated into exhibitions and public engagement.
Her exhibitions include Arcana Borealis: Northern Women, Art and Esotericism (2026) at the Finnish National Gallery’s Ateneum Art Museum, and Aleksandra Ionowa: Visions of the Spirit World and Peace (2025) at the Gallen-Kallela Museum. From 2021 to 2024 she served as Editor-in-Chief of TaHiTi: Journal of the Society for Art History in Finland, and she is a member of the Advisory Board of Brill’s Aries Book Series: Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism. She also serves on the Scientific and Organising Committees of ESSWE 11: Alternative Epistemologies, to be held in Turku in 2027.
Join us for an academically grounded exploration of occult art, women’s esoteric networks, mediumship, spiritual creativity, and the often invisible histories behind some of modern art’s most intriguing works.

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RECOMMENDED READINGS 📖

REFERENCES 📚
(Check the related slide on screen)

MY SET-UP 🛠️
- Canon 90D camera 📸 https://amzn.to/3yQclh0
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⚠️ Copyright of Dr Angela Puca, in all of its parts ⚠️
Music by Erose MusicBand. Check them out!

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What is Hoodoo, and how does its magic actually work? This episode explores the African American history of Hoodoo, rootwork and conjure, from slavery and resistance to healing, protection, divination and spiritual empowerment.
Discover the meanings behind mojo hands, roots, Psalms, candles, ritual baths, graveyard earth and laid tricks, alongside the regional variations found in the Lowcountry, Mississippi, New Orleans and urban spiritual-supply traditions. We will also separate Hoodoo from Haitian Vodou and Louisiana Voodoo, examining how African, Christian, Indigenous and European influences were transformed within a distinctly African American tradition.

CONNECT & SUPPORT💖
BECOME MY PATRON! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/angelapuca
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BOOK A TUTORING OR A LECTURE 📖https://drangelapuca.com/services
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RECOMMENDED READINGS 📖

REFERENCES 📚
(Check the related slide on screen)

MY SET-UP 🛠️
- Canon 90D camera 📸 https://amzn.to/3yQclh0
- Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 📷 https://amzn.to/3JjU1BS
- Teleprompter 🗒️ https://amzn.to/3linWCB
- Shure SM7B Microphone 🎙️ https://amzn.to/3Jm5IYK
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⚠️ Copyright of Dr Angela Puca, in all of its parts ⚠️
Music by Erose MusicBand. Check them out!

Were the Knights Templar really an occult secret society, or did that story emerge centuries after their destruction?

In this episode, I explore the real history of the Knights Templar and trace how a medieval Christian military order became associated with Baphomet, the Holy Grail, Gnosticism, Kabbalah, the Assassins, Freemasonry and hidden initiatory traditions.

We’ll examine the mysterious accusations made during the Templar trials, what the historical evidence actually says about their alleged secret rituals, and how figures such as Agrippa, Karl von Hund, Hammer-Purgstall and Éliphas Lévi helped transform the Templars into one of the most enduring symbols of Western esotericism.

From medieval Jerusalem to Baphomet, Freemasonry, occult orders and modern conspiracy theories, discover how the Templar myth was created and why it refuses to disappear.

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RECOMMENDED READINGS 📖

REFERENCES 📚
(Check the related slide on screen)

MY SET-UP 🛠️
- Canon 90D camera 📸 https://amzn.to/3yQclh0
- Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 📷 https://amzn.to/3JjU1BS
- Teleprompter 🗒️ https://amzn.to/3linWCB
- Shure SM7B Microphone 🎙️ https://amzn.to/3Jm5IYK
- Microphone stand 🎤 https://amzn.to/3FueJOn
- Lights 💡 https://amzn.to/3Zdk8k1
- DJI Wireless microphones 📡 https://amzn.to/3NWAVVQ

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

What if the biggest problem with explaining magic is the question we keep asking: “How does it work?”

In this episode, I explore Alfred North Whitehead’s process philosophy and what happens when we stop imagining reality as a collection of separate objects and instead understand it as a web of events, relations and processes of becoming.

We examine actual occasions, prehension, causal efficacy and the “fallacy of misplaced concreteness”, asking what these concepts might contribute to the philosophy of magic. Along the way, I consider ritual perception, participatory thinking, egregores and spirits, Tanya Luhrmann’s anthropology of presence, Stanley Tambiah’s theory of participation, and the important differences between Whiteheadian process theology and Iamblichus’ theurgy.

Does process philosophy prove that magic works? No. But it may expose some of the hidden metaphysical assumptions that make magic appear impossible before the evidence is even considered.

If you are interested in magic, Western esotericism, occult philosophy, ritual theory and the academic study of religion, this episode offers a rigorous alternative to both pseudo-quantum explanations and simplistic psychological reductionism.

CONNECT & SUPPORT💖
MY COURSES 👩🏻‍🎓 https://drangelapuca.com/courses
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SUBSTACK ✉️ https://substack.com/@drangelapuca
BECOME MY PATRON! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/angelapuca
SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI ☕️https://ko-fi.com/drangelapuca
ONE-OFF DONATIONS 💰 https://paypal.me/angelasymposium
JOIN MEMBERSHIPS 👥 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPSbip_LX2AxbGeAQfLp-Ig/join
MY PODCAST 🎙 https://open.spotify.com/show/2TKoWTGe6OKRokHN2zUIxM?si=dd9f50a734b14f86
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RECOMMENDED READINGS 📖

REFERENCES 📚
(Check the related slide on screen)

MY SET-UP 🛠️
- Canon 90D camera 📸 https://amzn.to/3yQclh0
- Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 📷 https://amzn.to/3JjU1BS
- Teleprompter 🗒️ https://amzn.to/3linWCB
- Shure SM7B Microphone 🎙️ https://amzn.to/3Jm5IYK
- Microphone stand 🎤 https://amzn.to/3FueJOn
- Lights 💡 https://amzn.to/3Zdk8k1
- DJI Wireless microphones 📡 https://amzn.to/3NWAVVQ

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