Past Events
Video: The Invisible Sun: Poetry, Translation, and the Mystical Imagination
CSWR Poetry Series: With Sholeh Wolpé The Invisible Sun is the first comprehensive English collection of poetry by the twelfth-century Persian mystic Attar, revered by Rumi as his master. Translated by award-winning poet Sholeh Wolpé, this luminous...
Video: Om-gnosis Episode 20: Comparing Magic, Yoga, and Occultism
In this episode of Om-gnosis, Keith Edward Cantú speaks with Gordan Djurdjevic, an independent scholar and author who writes about global esotericism, South Asian yoga and tantra, and comparative religion. As the author of the books India and the Occult...
Video: Global Ayahuasca: A Book Talk with Anthropologist Alex Gearin
Ayahuasca originated in the Amazon and has long been considered sacred by many Indigenous and mestizo communities across South America. Fueled by the “psychedelic renaissance” and growing interest in its visionary and healing potential, groups serving the...
Video: Hackett Lecture: "The Light from the Other Shore”: The Rise of Public Christianity in Contemporary China, with Xi Lian
In this year’s Hackett Lecture, Xi Lian (Duke Divinity School) explored the rise of public Christianity in post-Mao China. Tracing developments since the 1980s, the lecture examined how a homegrown Christian movement emerged amid a broader crisis of...
Video: List Lecture: “Forging the Monotheistic Triangle: Jews, Arabs, Christians and the Promises of European Modernity”
In this year’s List Lecture, Susannah Heschel (Dartmouth College) examined how Jews, Arabs, and Christians engaged the promises of European modernity in the nineteenth century. Focusing on parallel moments of optimism and eventual disillusionment, the...
Video: Hindu View of Life Lecture: Recasting the Hindu Goddess in an American Landscape
In this year’s Hindu View of Life Lecture, Tracy Pintchman (Loyola University Chicago) explored how Hindu traditions have been reinterpreted in the United States, focusing on the Parashakthi Temple in Pontiac, Michigan. The lecture examined how the Hindu...
Video: Greeley Lecture: Reconciling the Loss of Indigenous Eden
At this year’s Greeley Lecture, Blair Stonechild (First Nations University of Canada) reflected on the concept of an “Indigenous Eden,” its loss, and how processes of Truth and Reconciliation can help bridge perspectives and point toward more just futures...
Om-gnosis Episode 16: Kundalini, Subtle Energies, and Divine Machines with Marleen Thaler
Join host Keith Edward Cantú for this episode of Om-gnosis: The Occult South Asia Podcast, featuring Marleen Thaler, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Graz and the University of Vienna’s Research Centre “Religion and Transformation in...
Video: Pop Apocalypse: Integrating Wisdom Christianity and “The Work” of G.I. Gurdjieff: A Talk with Cynthia Bourgeault
In Pop Apocalypse, Ep. 18, we welcome theologian, author, and Episcopal priest Cynthia Bourgeault, whose work combines the Christian contemplative and wisdom traditions, “The Work” of GI Gurdjieff, and the philosophy of Henry Corbin into a lived mystical...
Video: Esoteric identities: Helena P. Blavatsky as a woman philosopher? With Tim Rudbøg
What counts as philosophy—and who gets to be recognized as a philosopher? In conversation with Gnoseologies host Giovanna Parmigiani, Tim Rudbøg explores Helena Petrovna Blavatsky’s engagement with major philosophical questions of being, consciousness...
VIDEO: Poetry Reading: Writing as Alchemy with Laynie Browne, Julie Carr, & Chloe Garcia Roberts
On November 13, 2025 the CSWR and Sherah Bloor, Editor-in-Chief of Peripheries, hosted three poets—Laynie Browne, Julie Carr, and Chloe Garcia Roberts—who read from their new books, each engaging in its own way in an intertextual communion with the living...
Video: Shangyang Fang Poetry Reading: Study of Sorrow
On October 8, 2025, in the CSWR Common Room, the CSWR and Sherah Bloor, Editor-in-Chief of Peripheries, hosted a celebration of the publication of Study of Sorrow: Translations (Copper Canyon Press, October 2025). Shangyang Fang read his translations of...
Om-gnosis Episode 14: Parsi Communities and Zoroastrian Esotericism in South Asia
In Episode 14 of Om-gnosis, host Keith Edward Cantú is joined by Mariano Errichiello, PhD, the Shapoorji Pallonji Lecturer in Zoroastrianism at SOAS University of London, for an insightful discussion on some social and esoteric dimensions of...
Raving, Recreation, & Religion with Michelle Lhooq and Luis Manuel Garcia-Mispireta
According to the 2024 Global Psychedelic Survey, while personal growth and well-being are common reasons for illicit drug use, recreation—music events, festivals, parties, raves—remains a leading but poorly defined motive. This panel featured Michelle...
Om-gnosis Episode 12: Searching for Sabhapati Swami and Siddha Songs in South Asia
In this episode of Om-gnosis: The Occult South Asia Podcast, host Keith Edward Cantú summarizes his summer tour through India and Bangladesh, exploring spiritual traditions, rare books on Sri Sabhapati Swami, and major cultural landmarks, including the...
Video: Pop Apocalypse: Mysticism and the Simulation Hypothesis – A Talk with Rizwan Virk
Do we live inside a Matrix-like simulation? For Episode 17 of Pop Apocalypse , we welcome one of the leading theorists behind the simulation hypothesis, Rizwan Virk, to discuss that question. Virk is an entrepreneur, videogame pioneer, and academic author...
Video: Shamanism: The Timeless Religion – a Conversation Between Manvir Singh and Charles Stang
Anthropologist Manvir Singh, PhD, joined Professor Charles Stang for a conversation about Singh’s new book, Shamanism: The Timeless Religion (Knopf, 2025), which draws on immersive research with shamans in Indonesia and the Colombian Amazon. Singh...
Video: Pop Apocalypse: AI, Hip-Hop, and the Digital Uncanny – A Talk with Paul Miller, aka "DJ Spooky"
For Episode 16 of Pop Apocalypse, we welcome composer, artist, and media theorist Paul Miller. Miller is best known for his music as DJ Spooky, the avant-garde turntableist who has collaborated with artists ranging from Chuck D to Yoko Ono. He has also re...
Om-gnosis Episode 11: Inside the Adyar Library & Research Centre: Treasures of Indian Philosophy with Radha Raghunathan, PhD
Episode 11 of Om-gnosis features Radha Raghunathan, PhD—author, editor, critic, and independent researcher in Advaita and Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta, and Honorable Director of the Adyar Library & Research Centre (ALRC) in Chennai. Recorded in the library’s...
