RR Podcast Introduction: What Do I Mean By 'Rejected'?

Summary

In this introductory episode of the Rejected Religion Podcast, host Stephanie Shea delves into esoteric and occult topics, discussing their historical roots and modern-day perceptions. The podcast aims to reach a mainstream audience interested in understanding these often misunderstood concepts, covering subjects like witchcraft, alchemy, and secret societies. Shea explores how certain beliefs became taboo under Christianity's dominance and how they've resurfaced in modern culture. Future episodes will feature interviews with scholars, starting with a discussion about the infamous magician Aleister Crowley. Listeners are encouraged to engage through social media and the podcast's website.

Takeaways

• 🎙️ The podcast is hosted by Stephanie Shea and focuses on esotericism, occultism, and related concepts.
• 🌐 The website www.rejectedreligion.com serves as a hub for connecting all online platforms associated with the podcast.
• 📖 The goal of the podcast is to introduce esoteric and occult topics to a mainstream audience, especially those without academic expertise.
• ⛪ 'Rejected religion' refers to ideas and practices considered forbidden or heretical by dominant religions in Western regions, especially Christianity.
• 🔮 Topics like witchcraft, astrology, alchemy, and indigenous beliefs, which were not always considered heretical, are key areas of focus.
• 📚 The terms 'esoteric' and 'occult' are defined, with esoteric knowledge being hidden from the general public and occult meaning 'hidden' or 'concealed.'
• 🧪 Esotericism and occultism are linked to both historical and modern contexts, often blending science, religion, and culture.
• 📺 The host will explore how occult ideas have permeated modern pop culture, including TV, books, and music.
• 🎧 Upcoming episodes will feature interviews with scholars, including a discussion on Aleister Crowley with Thomas Fombreda.
• 🔗 The podcast aims to build a community where listeners can interact, share ideas, and discuss topics through various social media and live chats in the future.

Q & A

What is the main theme of the 'Rejected Religion' podcast?

The podcast focuses on topics considered forbidden or heretical to the dominant religion in the West, particularly Christianity. It explores the esoteric and occult, including witchcraft, divination, alchemy, and indigenous beliefs.

Who is Stephanie Shea and what is her role in the podcast?

Stephanie Shea is the host of the 'Rejected Religion' podcast. She is excited to produce content that reaches out to a mainstream audience interested in the esoteric and occult.

What does the term 'rejected' refer to in the context of the podcast?

In the podcast, 'rejected' refers to everything that is considered forbidden or heretical to the dominant religion in Western regions, such as Christianity.

What is the purpose of the first episode of the podcast?

The purpose of the first episode is to introduce the podcast to a mainstream audience, providing context and explaining terms like 'esoteric' and 'occult'.

How has the perception of certain beliefs or practices, like magic and astrology, changed over time?

These beliefs and practices were not always viewed as heretical or forbidden. It was only after the powerful church conquered and ruled particular areas that they became frowned upon or taboo.

What is meant by 'esoteric' in the context of the podcast?

Esoteric refers to special knowledge that is known only to certain people, an inner circle, as opposed to exoteric knowledge that everyone can know about.

How does the term 'occult' differ from 'esoteric'?

While 'esoteric' refers to special knowledge known only to certain people, 'occult' simply means hidden or concealed, and can be found in many different places, not just in secret societies.

What is the concept of 'occulture' as mentioned in the podcast?

Occulture is a term that combines 'occult' and 'culture', referring to the integration of occult and esoteric ideas into mainstream culture.

What role does popular culture play in the podcast's discussions?

Popular culture is used as a reference point to show how rejected knowledge and occult ideas have transformed and found new expressions in modern society.

What is the plan for future episodes of the 'Rejected Religion' podcast?

Future episodes will include interviews with scholars and researchers, and discussions on topics related to the upcoming interviews, as well as exploring the connections between the occult and popular culture.

How can listeners engage with the podcast and its community?

Listeners can engage by joining the member list on the website, following on social media platforms, and participating in live chats and discussions.

Outlines

00:00

🎙️ Introduction to the Rejected Religion Podcast

In this opening episode of the Rejected Religion podcast, host Stephanie Shea introduces the podcast and its goal to reach mainstream audiences interested in esoteric and occult topics. She explains that the podcast will focus on subjects often considered forbidden or heretical to dominant Western Christian religions, such as witchcraft, divination, and indigenous practices. The aim is to shed light on how these ideas were historically repressed by powerful institutions but continued to survive underground.

05:02

📜 Understanding Esotericism and the Complexities of Definition

Stephanie Shea delves into the terms 'esotericism' and 'occultism,' explaining their historical and academic complexities. She highlights how esotericism is difficult to define, much like religion and spirituality, but notes its presence across various domains like philosophy, science, and art. The term has evolved over centuries, with scholars attempting to categorize diverse practices under the umbrella of esotericism, showing its fluidity across different areas of thought.

10:02

🔮 Occultism: From Hidden Wisdom to Cultural Tradition

This section explores the term 'occultism,' its connections to hidden or secret knowledge, and its shift in meaning through history. Stephanie highlights how occultism was once linked to alchemy, magic, and mystical religious ideas, but later became a specific construct during the Enlightenment. At this time, occultism sought to position itself as an empirically provable wisdom tradition, distinct from religion, with examples like spiritualism and mesmerism reflecting its attempt to align with scientific standards.

15:04

🌟 The Concept of Rejected Knowledge and Occulture

In this final section, Stephanie introduces the idea of 'rejected knowledge,' as coined by scholar Valter Hanagraph, and how the Enlightenment era marginalized esotericism and occultism. She also touches on how occult topics have been absorbed into modern popular culture, coining the term 'occulture.' This term, derived from 'occult' and 'culture,' represents how occult ideas, once rejected, have now become integrated into everyday media, art, and entertainment. She closes by discussing her future plans for the podcast, including interviews and community engagement.

Keywords

💡rejected religion

In the context of the video, 'rejected religion' refers to beliefs, practices, or ideas that are considered forbidden or heretical by mainstream Christianity, particularly in Western societies. This term is used to describe a wide range of esoteric and occult practices that have been marginalized or suppressed by dominant religious authorities. The video aims to explore these rejected beliefs and practices, providing a platform for understanding their historical and cultural significance.

💡esoteric

The term 'esoteric' is derived from the Greek prefix 'eso' meaning 'inner' and refers to knowledge or information that is meant to be kept secret or understood only by a select few. In the video, esoteric is used to describe special knowledge that is not widely known or accessible, often associated with elite groups or secret societies. It is contrasted with 'exoteric' knowledge, which is open and available to everyone.

💡occult

The word 'occult' comes from the Latin 'occultus' meaning 'hidden' or 'secret'. In the video, it is used to describe a body of knowledge or practices that are not part of mainstream beliefs and are often considered mysterious or hidden from the public. The occult includes areas such as magic, astrology, alchemy, and other practices that have been historically suppressed or marginalized.

💡heretical

'Heretical' is used in the video to describe beliefs or practices that deviate from the accepted doctrines of a religion, particularly Christianity in the Western context. Heresy often implies a threat to the established religious order, and heretical ideas have historically been met with rejection and persecution.

💡alchemy

Alchemy is an ancient philosophical and protoscientific tradition aimed at an investigation of nature, the cosmos, and the human soul. In the video, alchemy is mentioned as one of the practices considered forbidden or occult, suggesting a pursuit of transformative and hidden knowledge that was not accepted by mainstream religious authorities.

💡secret societies

The term 'secret societies' is used in the video to refer to groups that have exclusive membership and maintain certain knowledge or practices that are not disclosed to the public. These societies are often associated with esoteric knowledge and are seen as preserving traditions that have been rejected by mainstream society.

💡occulture

A portmanteau of 'occult' and 'culture', 'occulture' is a term that the video uses to describe the integration and normalization of occult and esoteric themes into mainstream culture. It reflects how once-marginalized beliefs and practices have found new expressions in popular culture, such as in music, art, and entertainment.

💡rejected knowledge

This concept, coined by Valder Hanograph, refers to the body of knowledge that has been dismissed or rejected by mainstream thought, particularly during the Enlightenment era. In the video, rejected knowledge is discussed as a category that includes various esoteric and occult practices that do not align with the rational and empirical standards set by both religion and science.

💡spiritualism

Spiritualism is a belief system that focuses on the existence of spirits and communication with them, often through mediums. In the video, spiritualism is mentioned as part of the occult practices that gained popularity in the late 1800s, with people seeking empirical proof of an afterlife and spirit world.

💡seances

A seance is a gathering where people attempt to communicate with spirits of the dead. The video discusses seances as a practice within spiritualism where individuals claimed to receive messages from the deceased, providing a form of proof for the existence of an afterlife and the spirit world.

💡enlightenment

The Enlightenment was an intellectual and philosophical movement in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries that emphasized reason, individualism, and skepticism. In the video, the Enlightenment is contrasted with occultism, as it represented a rational approach to knowledge that rejected the mystical and supernatural elements embraced by occult practices.

Highlights

Introduction to the Rejected Religion podcast and the host, Stephanie Shea.

Focus of the podcast on esotericism, the occult, and their historical context in Western culture.

Explanation of 'rejected religion,' referring to beliefs and practices considered forbidden or heretical by dominant religions in the West.

Discussion on how witchcraft, tarot, astrology, alchemy, and indigenous beliefs were categorized as forbidden by Christianity.

Historical shift: Certain esoteric practices were not always considered heretical but became taboo after the rise of the Church's influence.

Introduction to esoteric knowledge as 'inner knowledge' accessible only to certain groups, contrasting with 'exoteric' knowledge available to everyone.

Examples of secret societies like the Freemasons, which promote hidden knowledge and are often misunderstood or seen as deviant.

Explanation of the term 'occult,' meaning hidden or concealed, and its application in various domains, such as religion, nature, and alchemy.

Occultism in the 19th century: Viewed as a wisdom tradition and counter-cultural movement, seeking credibility during the Enlightenment era.

Popular examples of occultism in history, such as spiritualism, mesmerism, and seances, which aimed to prove the existence of an afterlife.

Relevance of 'rejected knowledge,' coined by scholar Wouter Hanegraaff, to describe the esotericism/occultism that was rejected by Enlightenment thinkers.

Exploration of how occultism, often seen as superstition or charlatanism, became marginalized by both religion and science.

Introduction of the term 'occulture,' coined by Genesis P-Orridge, blending 'occult' and 'culture' to describe the influence of occult ideas in modern society.

Occult and esoteric concepts' transformation in modern-day popular culture, evident in TV series, films, books, and graphic novels.

Announcement of future podcast episodes, starting with an interview about the infamous magician Aleister Crowley.

Transcripts

[Music]

hi

everyone and welcome to this

introductory episode of the rejected

religion podcast

i'm stephanie shea and i'm really

excited to finally be producing this

content

and hope that you will enjoy your time

with me please visit

www.rejectedreligion.com

for more information about this podcast

and about my background

the website serves as a hub to connect

all of my online platforms

so i'd appreciate it if you check it out

and stay connected with me that way

the goal of this first episode is to

reach out to the mainstream audience

those of you who are not scholars or

experts

but who are interested in the esoteric

or the occult

or are interested to know more about it

and the history of it

but may not really have a clear idea of

what those things really are

so what do i mean by rejected

in rejected religion simply put

what i'm referring to is everything that

is considered forbidden

or heretical to the dominant religion

located in the west

in the west meaning the european and

scandinavian regions

great britain and ireland and the

americas

the dominant religion i'm referring to

is christianity

whether it be roman catholic or

protestant

so now we can start to think about

what might be considered forbidden or

heretical

and of course one thing's a witchcraft

forms of divination like tarot and

astrology

alchemy and the indigenous beliefs and

practices

of the conquered peoples in these

various regions

okay so that's the simple answer but

it's a bit more complicated than all of

that

actually but for right now let's just

focus on a few things that will help to

contextualize what it is that i'm trying

to do with this platform

an important thing to remember is that

historically

certain beliefs or practices such as

magic astrology or alchemy

were not always viewed as heretical or

forbidden

it was only when the powerful church

conquered

and ruled particular areas that certain

things became frowned upon

or even taboo and as a result of that

these things or ideas never just went

away

they just went underground so to speak

the beliefs that i'm referring to can be

seen as

part of an elite or chosen group of

people who were deemed worthy of knowing

about it

so in other words the beliefs and

practices became a type of secret

to be kept this leads us to some more

terms

esoteric and occult these words have

been used for centuries

but for many of us today they are vague

and difficult to really understand

so let's start with the term esoteric

the prefix

so means inner this term

is referring to special knowledge that

is known only to certain people

an inner circle as opposed to exoteric

the prefix exo meaning outer referring

to knowledge that everyone can know

about

we see examples of this with groups such

as the freemasons

where you have to be taught special

information and techniques

and be initiated into the group groups

such as these

became known in everyday language as

secret societies and due to the nature

of the group

they were perfect targets for those

outside of the group

to speculate as to what they were really

doing and most often this was being seen

as

deviant in some way we can see a

contemporary example of this with

scientology

their training levels being highly

secretive and

only accessible to a member once they

pay for special courses

plus this information is not to be

shared with non-members

because it's a secret which leads me to

the word occult

which simply means hidden or concealed

or obscured so in this case

the information that scientologists

claim to know would be considered occult

knowledge

but again of course it's not so simple

these terms are heavily laden with bias

nowadays

and it takes some time to sort out what

is actually meant

when one uses them and when they are

used to refer to a category of something

such as esotericism or occultism

things get really complicated especially

in the academic world

to begin with the term esotericism

in english is a modern scholarly

construct

and it is very difficult to define a lot

of people have attempted to do so but

the definitions are diverse

just as an aside the same problem arises

when scholars try to define religion or

spirituality

it's nearly impossible to come to a

consensus in academia as to what it is

we are actually studying

but back to our topic we'll discuss all

these different viewpoints regarding

esotericism in later episodes but

for now it's relevant to point out that

esotericism is not just

one thing uh scholar valter hanagraph

talks about how esotericism doesn't

really belong to the areas

of religion or philosophy it's not a

scientific approach

we can't say it belongs to the domain of

the arts

either yet it is found in all of these

areas

even though it's largely ignored

and while the term esotericism is

relatively new

being used since the 19th century many

streams of

thought that have much older origins are

seen

by scholars as being a part of

esotericism too

it's a term that scholars like to use to

label or categorize world views and

practices

moving on to the term occultism we can

see the same type of thing happening

as with esotericism occult means

secret or hidden as i said and

these occult things could be found in

many different places

such as astronomy for example

when a planet obscures the sun this is

known as

stellar occultation so occultation that

that holds the word occult so it's

hidden

but it's also seen in religion for

example as the term applies to

ancient secret wisdom or the hidden imam

spoken of in the religion of islam

for my purposes here however i'm

referring to various beliefs and

practices

stemming from previous centuries such as

the 16th century viewpoint

of the hidden and mysterious nature of

god

the hidden characteristics or features

of nature

or the obscure quality of alchemy and

magic

this type of knowledge or understanding

was not viewed as being something that

everyone knew about either

yet we see a shift in the perception of

the concept in the late

1800s when the term occultism

was introduced now it was seen

as a particular construct that described

a type of

wisdom tradition a quote unquote

that had a definite beginning as opposed

to

just various ideas or practices that

it's been

evolving over time or appropriated by

other people and it was seen as a

counter-cultural tradition as scholar

christopher partridge puts it

a tradition was needed to establish a

type of

credibility and respectability that was

lacking

in the very new enlightenment way of

thinking about the world

so it needed an ancient source to make

it seem

grounded and something older like the

christian church already had

but it went a step further

there were those who were saying that

occultism

was different from religion as it was

empirically provable

because at the time of course it was all

about the new science

and empiricism and you needed proof of

things

and religion was suffering under this

we can see examples of this new

occultism with mesmerism

and spiritualism with regards to the

latter

people were shown what they saw as proof

of an afterlife and a spirit world in

seances where the spirits of the dead

would show up to give messages to their

loved ones

still living in this plane of existence

the society for psychical research was

founded in this time period

to research this phenomena and to try to

gather

evidence such as ectoplasm

or witness accounts of objects moving

through the air

on their own accord during seances

or witness accounts of apparitions of

spirit beings

or even photographs of spirit beans

things like that currently we still see

this type of

thinking in new age concepts of

channeling

and spirit guides as well as those

who are examining this type of

phenomenon

one can make the claim however that this

was seen by

most as being proof of something real so

even though they were looking for proof

it it just wasn't accepted as as being

proof

which leads me back to the word rejected

but in another form

that of rejected knowledge this is a

concept coined by

valder hanograph there we have them

again

in order to try to explain this modern

version

of esotericism slash occultism

as being all of the stuff that has been

thrown into the

historical waste basket so to speak

by the big thinkers of the enlightenment

era

because it's seen as clashing

with all of the standards set by both

religion and science

so we can see that this area is still

separated from

the rational or from the real physical

world

it's written off as superstition or

hocus-pocus

gibberish or the ravings of a crazy

person

or just a bunch of charlatan rubbish

i think you get the idea

be that as it may most people associate

the occult

and occultism with black magic demons

and the devil and everything associated

with that

which was also certainly rejected by the

dominant religion of christianity

there's more that could be said about

all of that and this will definitely be

covered in future episodes

what i found personally interesting to

study is how

all of the ideas and phenomena i've just

mentioned

have transformed and found new

expressions

in modern day popular culture another

very interesting concept that i'll be

returning to often

is known as occulture this term

was most likely coined by the late

genesis p orig

who was a performance artist musician

and

magician probably most well known for

his work

or their work i should say with the band

throbbing gristle this term is a mix of

the words

occult and culture as you can hear

it's based in the concept of what

sociologist colin campbell called

the cultic milieu in the early 1970s

which he defined as including things

like unconventional forms of science

non-conformist religions alternate

approaches to medicine

plus all things considered occult and

also fringe ideas like alien races

spirit channelers faith healers and

other new age concepts

campbell was referring to modern western

culture

that is fairly secularized meaning that

while religion is still around

it doesn't hold the ultimate power and

influence it once had

in society and due to this an

underground of all this

other stuff i just mentioned is added

so in fact it's all of the stuff that

has been rejected

interestingly though all of this stuff

has become

every day an ordinary as christopher

partridge

so aptly puts it

this is evident in the wide variety of

tv series

films books and graphic novels that are

presented to us

and in art and music as well as the

podcast progresses i will make it

a point to refer back to popular culture

references

so that we can see how a culture plays

out in the wide array of topics i'll be

covering

and while i'm on the topic my plan

is to provide a monthly podcast

interview with various

scholars and researchers and throughout

that month

i'll provide information related to the

upcoming

interview topic on all the social media

outlets i would really like as well for

you

the listener to join my member list on

the website

so that i can see your comments about

things that you'd like to discuss in

more detail

i'm continuously trying to work on

expanding

our communication outlets so i'm hoping

to provide

live chats in the future of course once

i have

enough subscribers and members um on the

youtube channel so please

check that out subscribe there

uh if you if you find it interesting uh

i hope you do

join the uh member list on the blog

on the website and follow me on all my

social media platforms

and that way you'll be connected with

everything that's going on

i'm hoping to build a good community of

people who are interested to

communicate and share ideas with each

other

also if you have any questions about

what's been discussed in an episode

please list them on the podcast page at

the website

or on youtube where i will also upload

the

episode of course

for those of you who are interested to

read more

i'll provide a list of books and

articles that i used as reference

material for this episode

that discuss all of this stuff in

greater detail

i'll put that on the website for you

all right this has been a very brief

introduction that gives a bit of context

as to what this podcast is about as well

as discussing some terms

and concepts that are important to know

about before we get into the

nitty-gritty of things the next podcast

episode will be an interview about the

infamous

magician aleister crowley with my friend

and colleague

thomas fombreda who holds a research

master

in religious studies from the university

of amsterdam

so i hope you return for that very

interesting discussion

thanks for listening

you