PODCAST

Occult Confessions

Discover the secret history of cults, witches, magicians, conspiracies and the supernatural with occultism scholar Rob C. Thompson. His crew of Alchemical Actors explore life’s mysteries with a blend of research, ritual, and old-fashioned radio drama.

history spirituality

All Episodes

00:40:06

28.4: The Cloud of Unknowing (Part One)

Occult Confessions ·

2025/10/03

Blind love is the only way to experience God according to the anonymous medieval mystic who authored the Cloud of Unknowing. In the first of two parts, we discuss the neoplatonic path outlined by an unknown priest to mystical understanding of the highest things.

en-US

01:10:25

28.3: Kabbalah

Occult Confessions ·

2025/09/19

Kabbalah has its roots in early rabbinic Judaism and became a distinct school of thought in the medieval period with the work of Isaac the Blind, Moses de Leon, and then Isaac Luria in the Renaissances. In this episode, we attempt to delineate basic principles and practices as well as the history of Kabbalah.

en-US

00:45:07

28.2: Hildegard von Bingen (Interview Special Part Two)

Occult Confessions ·

2025/09/05

Magnolia Strange returns to complete her account of the life and significance of Hildegard. Included is some of Hildegard's music performed by Magnolia.

en-US

28.1: Hildegard von Bingen (Interview Special Part One)

Occult Confessions ·

2025/08/22

Hildegard von Bingen was a medieval polymath—writer, philosopher, musician, physician, artist, mystic, and in the twenty-first century she’s been named a doctor of the church. We sit down with Hildegard expert Magnolia Strange and her partner Dr. Judas Lynch in the first of two parts on this remarkable woman to begin our series on medieval mystics. https://judasandmagnolia.com/

en-US

00:59:28

27.7: The Tamil Saint in a Locked Room Mystery

Occult Confessions ·

2025/08/08

Chidabaram Ramalingam was one of the most famous Tamil poets of his day. He taught a new form of religion that recognized all gods as one, established hospitals and temples, and disappeared from inside a locked room never to be seen or heard from again.

en-US

00:57:12

27.6: Morgan and the Anti-Masons

Occult Confessions ·

2025/07/25

After promising to publish a full account of the rites and practices of the Freemasons, William Morgan disappeared. A group of Masons were accused of kidnapping him and the case grew more sensational when a corpse washed up forty miles south of where he'd last been seen a year later. The Morgan Affair caused such a scandal that it launched a whole political movement.

en-US

00:37:50

27.5: The Devil in the Machine

Occult Confessions ·

2025/07/11

Dr. Rob is flying solo for this exploration of the spiritual, ethical, and educational ramifications of the rise of consumer artificial intelligence; namely large language models like ChatGPT. Rob talks about his experience as a teacher and researcher and explores the logical limits of a machine that promises to think for us.

en-US

27.4: The Book of Enoch (Interview Special)

Occult Confessions ·

2025/07/04

Tobias Churton, author of The Book of Enoch Revealed, talks about how the texts ascribed to Enoch, most famously the story of the Watchers, came to the West. What is the significance of Enoch's ancient tale of angels and earth women?

en-US