There is SO MUCH good stuff packed into this talk that I gave recently for the AstroMagia conference in September that I wanted to make sure all of you had access to it—as well as to the TWO NEW TRANSLATIONS it contains — not only the Hymn of Oneiros (Dream), but also a (if I do say so myself) ground-breaking translation of an Orphic golden tablet that I’m hoping will change the way we look at these mysterious texts.
The talk itself covers A LOT of ground.
A brief intro to the Orphics & the Orphic Hymns
A look at the nature of Orphic language and what it can tell us not only about magic and Mystery religions, but also about the cosmos itself
The ancient practice of astral soul travel, and how it relates to the Orphic Mysteries
A brand new translation of one of the famous Orphic “golden tablets” (aka the lamellae), with attention to its wordplay and puns that unlock its astral symbolism
A close look at the Hymn of Oneiros as a way of understanding the various levels of esoteric meaning in a text. (Spoiler alert: the Hymn of Dream is not just about everyday or even prophetic dreaming!)
Reflections on the practice of translating esoteric and magical texts, and how my translations help us better understand ancient Mystery traditions
A list of suggested resources for reading and further understanding the Orphics (because the field is developing so fast that there is a lot of outdated info floating around, even in academic texts, and certainly on the internet)
Can I just say: sometimes I can’t believe that I get to study this stuff!
On a good day, my work is like a combination of Indiana Jones (ancient golden tablets inscribed with riddles and buried in tombs!), Dan Brown (secret lineages of esoteric transmission!), Neil deGrasse Tyson (complicated Greek astrophysics!), French philosopher Jacques Derrida (slippery language! literary jouissance!), and, for good measure, children’s book author Tomie de Paola’s beloved character, Strega Nona (braziers of burning incense! Italian folk dancing!).
