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

Did the ancient Celts really believe the veil thinned at Samhain? Discover the surprising history behind one of Halloween’s most familiar spiritual claims.

Drawing on peer-reviewed scholarship and historical sources, I trace the “thinning of the veil” through medieval Irish fairy lore, Catholic traditions of the returning dead, Spiritualism and modern witchcraft. How did doors into the Otherworld become a veil between the living and the dead?

For witches, Pagans and anyone interested in ancestor rituals, this episode explores what that history means for magical practice today.

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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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00:00 The Thinning of the Veil at Samhain
02:16 The sentence and its papers
02:57 Mounds that open
03:44 Meyer’s Halloween and the opened mounds
04:26 The Otherworld as a kingdom
05:30 The dead come in by the church door
06:18 All Souls’ Night and the returning dead
07:17 A god, a New Year and a conditional
08:29 Frazer’s conditional and the invisible boundary
09:18 How a veil learned to thin
10:02 Bess Houdini and the Halloween séance
10:57 Witchcraft joins the doors and the veil
11:57 What the membrane is for
12:45 Irish Pagan practice and the dead
13:49 Learning to experience a “thin” night

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

Was The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz an allegory of alchemical initiation, a Rosicrucian manifesto, or a sophisticated satire of esoteric knowledge?

In this academic lecture, religious studies scholar Dr Angela Puca examines one of the most influential and enigmatic texts in the history of Western esotericism.

Published in 1616 and attributed to Johann Valentin Andreae, The Chymical Wedding presents a seven-day journey through mysterious initiations, alchemical transformations, royal death and resurrection, and encounters with forbidden knowledge.

Following the narrative from beginning to end, we explore its historical context, Christian theology, Hermetic symbolism, alchemical imagery and relationship to early Rosicrucianism. Drawing on contemporary scholarship, the lecture also examines competing interpretations of the text, including its possible satirical intentions and its later reception by Rudolf Steiner and Carl Gustav Jung.

What can this extraordinary work reveal about the relationship between esoteric knowledge, spiritual transformation, religious symbolism and the limits of human understanding?

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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
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- 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 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.
CONNECT & SUPPORT💖
BECOME MY PATRON! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/angelapuca
MY COURSES 👩🏻‍🎓 https://drangelapuca.com/courses
WEBSITE 🔗 https://www.drangelapuca.com/
BOOK A TUTORING OR A LECTURE 📖https://drangelapuca.com/services
SUBSTACK ✉️ https://substack.com/@drangelapuca
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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FOLLOW ME👣

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- Twitter (@angelapuca11) 🐦
- Facebook (Dr Angela Puca) 👥

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 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.

CONNECT & SUPPORT💖
BECOME MY PATRON! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/angelapuca
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BOOK A TUTORING OR A LECTURE 📖https://drangelapuca.com/services
SUBSTACK ✉️ https://substack.com/@drangelapuca
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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
MY MERCH 👕 https://drangelapuca.creator-spring.com/

FOLLOW ME👣

- YouTube (@drangelapuca)🌟
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- Twitter (@angelapuca11) 🐦
- Facebook (Dr Angela Puca) 👥

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!

Want to create live streams like this? Check out StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5768951004397568

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
MY COURSES 👩🏻‍🎓 https://drangelapuca.com/courses
WEBSITE 🔗 https://www.drangelapuca.com/
BOOK A TUTORING OR A LECTURE 📖https://drangelapuca.com/services
SUBSTACK ✉️ https://substack.com/@drangelapuca
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
MY MERCH 👕 https://drangelapuca.creator-spring.com/

FOLLOW ME👣

- YouTube (@drangelapuca)🌟
- SUBSTACK 💌 https://substack.com/@drangelapuca
- Instagram (@drangelapuca) 📸
- TikTok (@drangelapuca) 🎵
- Twitter (@angelapuca11) 🐦
- Facebook (Dr Angela Puca) 👥

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!