Season 2 is coming soon...
In the meantime, I'm very happy to present an interview I conducted with Dr. Justin Sledge, shortly after recording the last season.
Dr. Sledge is an expert in the history of western esotericism - i.e. the belief in and practice of magic, alchemy, hermeticism and kabbalah in Europe, North Africa and Western Asia. Along with his academic work, he produces the YouTube channel Esoterica (https://www.youtube.com/@TheEsotericaChannel), which I thoroughly recommend to anyone interested in these topics.
He approaches esoteric texts and concepts with philosophical and historical rigour, taking them seriously on their own terms, and situating them within the history of philosophy, without making value judgements (either positive of negative) about them. In doing so, he elucidates an often disregarded field of study, and dispells a fair few myths about the development of western philosophy along the way.
Scars of Parchment is entirely a work of fiction, but I do my best to anchor it in the attitudes and beliefs of the Early Modern world. As such, Dr. Sledge's work has been an invaluable resource for fact checking and inspiration, and I am extremely grateful to him for taking the time to speak to me.
This interview covers the topics of witchcraft, alchemy and necromancy in Early Modern Europe, with particular reference to the works of Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola, Cornelius Agrippa and Paracelsus, as well as later thinkers such as Rene Descartes, Margaret Cavendish and Anne Conway. We also discuss Mediaeval grimoire magic, the concept of "cunning folk," and the atrocities of the witch-hunts and inquisitions.
Finally, I'd like to give a shout out to the YouTube channel Atun-Shei for the following OP recording of James VI's treatise on witchcraft Daemonologie (1597):
Atun-Shei Films, D E M O N O L O G Y
https://youtu.be/TXVQCss9yyo?si=30Vpwn0OkSHMXUFh
I hope you all find this interesting, and see you in season 2,
Sasha
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