**Reminder that Substack has a transcript feature for those who need it, and it’s also available in podcast form (though ofc you should try to see the slides if you can).**
From the opening moments of this month’s Live Chat, we dove straight into deeply esoteric topics, some of which you might not necessarily immediately associate with Gaia:
We’re talking psychedelic plant medicine (both Egyptian and Greek),
We’re talking the origins of nautical imagery in Hellenistic astrology (“the helm,” anyone?),
We’re talking the “secret books of the Phoenicians” (which is not some New Age conspiracy, but a real-life set of temple texts attested to by several ancient sources),
We’re talking upending the old (and imho, silly) argument about whether astrology has its origins in Egypt or in Babylonia,
We’re talking Gaian JOY, baby!!!
To paraphrase the famous chant from the Wizard of Oz: Psychedelics and Phoenicians and Pherecydes of Samos, oh my!
Summary and Timestamps
Introduction & Incense Explanation (00:00-03:07)
Reading of the Orphic Hymn of Gaia (03:08-07:29)
Discussion of Ship Imagery (07:30-14:05)
Connections to Other Orphic Hymns (14:06-16:54)
14:35 - Rhea, Chthonic Hermes, Eros
15:57 - Question about "inside-outness" of cosmos imagery
The Orphic Cosmos & Element Theory (16:55-24:37)
19:16 - Cosmic process: Rhea's winds → condensation → Earth/Gaia
20:43 - "Dinos" (vessel/mixing bowl) as cosmic metaphor
Historical Context and Dating of the Hymns: Phoenicians & Pherecydes of Samos (24:38-29:29)
Dinos/Vessel Imagery, Puns, & Plant Use (29:30-39:09)
Evidence for Egyptian & Greek use of mind-altering plants
More on Phoenician Cosmology & Pherecydes (39:10-44:14)
Joy in the Hymn of Gaia (56:55-01:00:33)
The “Logic” of Orphic Incense Prescriptions (01:01:06-01:10:52)
Italian Folk Practices & Their Relationship to the Orphics and Pythagoreans (01:11:22-01:15:41)
Astrological Connections: Gaia, Birth Degree, & the “Climate System (01:16:20-01:24:33)
Flood Mythology Connections (01:24:34-01:28:41)
Revising the Common Narrative about the Origins of Hellenistic Astrology (01:28:42-01:33:36)
Personal Connections with Gaia (01:33:37-01:36:36)
Closing Hymn to Mnemosyne (Memory) (01:36:37-01:40:32)
