The Occult Philosophy of Cornelius Agrippa - 8 of 14 - The Occult Philosophy III

[@davidfwooldridge3430]

I’ve been watching this series and the series on the Kabbalah you did and I appreciate how much you make context front and center. I feel like if you did a series about StarWars you’d have two episodes to start just describing the national mood of the post-Vietnam 70s to put the story in its proper time and place, and I like that.

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

Context is King :)

[@mistressofstones]

Omg I want those videos on Star Wars!!!

[@klyanadkmorr]

@@mistressofstones ah DUNE please

[@anglerfish4161]

One of my favorite parts of the lectures is the metaphors Justin comes up with to explain difficult ideas. It helps a lot. Besides, you can't go wrong with a sentence that starts with "God is a ball of dough".

[@phillipbernhardt-house6907]

God as the Pillsbury Doughboy: "Nothin' says lovin' like my creation of the cosmos--hee, hee!"

[@JoshSchiebelhut]

dat God dough 🍞

[@room5245]

I had no idea who Agrippa was before I started watching this series. You saying you didn't want to summarize and just prepare students for a critical read of the source text, has made me start reading the D.O.P. and many other relevant texts. Can't extend my appreciation enough, you have achieved exactly what you have set out to do and it's astonishing, truly wonderful and puts history as a whole into perspective for a neuroscientist like me with an interest in religiousness.

[@room5245]

saying, that the virtues of things did depend upon these; because it is the property of the Soul to be from one matter extended into divers things, about which it operates: So is a man, who extends his intellect unto intelligible things, and his imagination unto imaginable things; and this is that which they understood

[@DevinSIDScott]

Best series yet. I get excited for each new episode. Thank you for doing this, it's just incredible.

[@penguinlordalan]

I'm far from ever putting it into play but this channel has given me a ton of inspiration for 2 different games. One a TTRPG inspired by history, the workings of the divine world within Kabala, and the ancient idea of cities having patron Deities. The other has been flip flopping on what it is based on with what ever the newest inspiration I've been hit with but currently it's my deep appreciation of Aggripa, The idea in Kabala of a Divine language (and the idea that a thing is is because of what it is divinely named) and Alchemy. The latter project is still incredibly early in its progress but I will be buying a copy of the 3 Books of Occult Philosophy sooner than later to deep dive into the ideas within.

[@angelwhitewolf1116]

In my ignorance, I used to view Agripa as an ocultist; now, I view him as a true mystic who achieved enlightenment, any my respect for him and his genius has increased dramatically.

[@Dan-j6v]

This blew my mind. The parallels between this and Zen Buddhism is crazy!

[@pattimctier7647]

This is the best video I’ve ever seen to explain the mechanism of enlightenment. I am sending this to so many people who are interested in true knowledge 🥰🧐

[@adamharper389]

I really enjoy these sessions on Agrippa...his ideology and mine are aligned even though I had never read any of his work, but I will be now

[@aggressivesheep7469]

how'd the reading go?

[@sabiticus]

Funny you should mention turning this into a game mechanic. I am! I am using the old D20 Modern system as the basis (It's a very flexible system), and developing a magic mechanics around "real world" traditions. Right now I am going heavy on Hermeticism, and I need to get all learned about Kabbalah, because those paths cross a lot. And then Gnosticism, which will be a very different kind of magic. Intelligence driven divine magic. I am currently subdividing the Hermetic Tradition into Philosophies (Agrippan, Solomonic, Enochian, etc.). After that, maybe another magic tradition, or I'll start tackling religion. Speaking of, it's funny how connected magic and religion are in the real world. Keeping them separate in game terms is tricky. And now I find out Agrippa put little stock in intellect. So now the Aggripan Mage will have Wisdom as the main attribute, rather than Intelligence. That's actually kind of cool. I love your work, man!

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

This is the way

[@JimTempleman]

Finally, a good application for VR. A.C.Clark: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Derivative ideas: - Any sufficiently advanced religion is indistinguishable from magic? - Any sufficiently advanced D&D game is indistinguishable from magic? I think you could call your game: "Playing with Fire!"

[@sabiticus]

@@JimTempleman There was a game back in the 90s, an RPG called Kult, that brilliantly did something similar with Gnosticism. It's where I first heard of the Demiurge. Introduced me to whole thing I never knew existed. This is for a local gaming group, but I think I can use this to convert them into a cult built around Hermeticism in some way. Probably gonna have to be Solomonic though. You know... For the demon summoning.

[@ChipSuey207]

@@sabiticus Kult's still around, it's been resurrected with a new coat of paint and rule changes.

[@sabiticus]

@@ChipSuey207 No kidding! Such a crazy game. I'll have to check it out

[@bobhope5114]

As a glassblower, I fully approve of your uranium goblet!

[@incsic3107]

Very interesting Series on How agrippa views the world . Thank you for giving this out for free

[@adambernache3210]

The intro is filmed so well. It's insane. Good job.

[@colekrambeer572]

I think the whole "the goal is felicity and not power" point is much more widely applicable than it seems at first. With any kind of knowledge, the goal should be understanding the world around you first and gaining power second (instruction manuals aside of course)

[@michaelshelton5488]

I know this comment is off topic, buuuuut........You've done several videos on how Yahweh became God. I would definitely tune in if you did a series on how Satan became the Devil.

[@mattnewhouse1781]

He never became the devil. Christians just gave him a second name.

[@michaelshelton5488]

@@mattnewhouse1781 Obviously I didn't mean how he literally became the Devil. I meant the process by which he became identified as the Devil, just like Yahweh over time became identified as the one God who created everything.

[@michaelshelton5488]

In the Bible, Satan, Lucifer and the serpent in the Garden of Eden were all different characters who over time became conflated into one being and identified as the leader of the demons. I'm very curious to learn how that process took place.

[@michaelshelton5488]

Data Over Dogma already have a very interesting video/podcast on this topic but I would just really like to hear Dr. Sledge's take on it, if he has any more information to share.

[@Bildgesmythe]

He has a couple of good ones on Hell and Satan from a couple years ago

[@Nazareneanobis]

I've throughly enjoyed this class!! I love Agrippa!! Excot3s to see what other classes you come up with!! Thank you Justin, you are awesome!!!

[@mrpocock]

This lecture series is absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for this.

[@pedrogabrielribeiro8857]

...posted right when I finished the previous episode! Marvelous!

[@asprywrites]

This is fine work and you have my deepest appreciation, friend. 👍🏾

[@monstermoonshine]

Interesting. The view that magical powers are by-products, not the goal, is similar to the Buddhists' view regarding Abhijñā (powers like telepathy, clairaudience, clairvoyance, etc. that one gains along the path of attaining enlightenment), that one should not pay too much attention to it

[@MR-tf3gq]

Exactly what I thought of!

[@mistressofstones]

Yes I think it's the same in many schools of Buddhism and Hinduism, I think the term in Hindusim is Siddhis. That really struck me.

[@lmzaadi]

I’m unemployed but I won’t forget you when I’m back on my feet!

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

That's why I make all of this material free - I don't want any personal circumstances to come between you and access to education!

[@FraterRC]

Best one yet (I know I said that last week too, but it's true!) :P

[@room5245]

Would love to see a high res version of that crazy drawing! Funny how I've never looked forward more to any series releasing their next episode, captivating stuff

[@SilverYPheonix]

"Occult Fatigue" lmfao This guy is a tier 1 gem, how does he always get a chuckle out of me? It has to be one these pesky occult spells!

[@albatros777]

Because my brain I typically listen to audiobooks and podcasts at .5 or .7 speed. Somehow Sledge's presentation is the accepting and I listen to him at full speed.

[@mikeflannery7219]

Thanks! A gem of a lecture as always! If you have told us the best place to buy his three books in english( most accurate translations) I missed it.. I would love to buy these for reference and study on my next listen thru this series.

[@mikeflannery7219]

Nevermind. I found the one you recommended on amazon. I see what im getting myself for my bday. 😂

[@Jason-ji2zx]

I'm surprised we're this far in without much mention of Agrippa's unorthodox views on pagan gods and his equivocating of the Biblical God with Jove/God of the Philosophers. Maybe that material is later than 1510.

[@md1476]

I think ultimately Justin is most concerned with presenting the philosophical structure of what Agrippa is doing. While the pagan elements are ever present, they seem to matter tons on the level of detail more so than on the level of philosophical system.

[@md1476]

I may misunderstand, this is mybfirst time studying agrippa, butIn terms of of paganism within Agrippas system, I think Justin always incorporates it in a sort of syncretistic way, assuming a blend of neoplatonic, classical pagan, and Christian hybrid, which for agrippa seems to systematically prioritize his christian worldview with the goal being illuminatuon and ascension up the chain of being towards the ineffable (or non gnoetic, as Justin seems to out it), which once again, in this case is The One, being the christian God, and thus all the classical notions of planetary intelligences and their virtues are sort of "gods cosmic operators," being downstream from a focal point of principal emination being a christian appropriation of the platonic One. I could be wrong, but I think that is how Justin seems to regularly frame the operation of pagan elements.

[@phillipbernhardt-house6907]

Excellent as always! I will have other comments elsewhere... But, I wonder something here: I've been saying for years now that it's almost a unique difficulty of English that we don't have more than one word for "knowing," or for different "types of knowing," which many other languages have; so, the differences between "book-learnin' and know-how," for example, really throw people in the Anglophone context, whereas this wouldn't really be an issue in other linguistic milieus, because there are different words and different concepts. It's literally an epistemological issue: gnosis vs. episteme, for example. So, many studies of the Mystery Religions of the ancient world focus on "what is the Mystery?" as if it is an issue of propositional knowledge, i.e. some concentrated bit of lore or a doctrine or an idea, rather than the experiential phenomenon of being in that space, at that time, doing and seeing the things that are involved with it, which is the essence of the experience. So, my "wonder" is: if felicitas is non-gnostic and non-noetic, is it really just that it's non-propositional knowledge involved (i.e. it lacks content, so to speak), but instead is experiential knowledge? In that case, then the Greek definitions of gnosis and noesis as involving the actions and functions of the Nous (which I would think is the equivalent of the Mens/Intellectus in Agrippa's model) are what is at stake, and not a verbal or descriptive type of knowledge that Agrippa has such contempt for. Are we just getting caught up in the words for whether the knowing is in words...or, am I making this too complicated? Happy for it to be either one. ;)

[@googlesucks1515]

About to move on to the next part but I hope that you elaborate on melancholic illumination

[@slemire58]

Thanks!

[@David-yp4fl]

🌿 YOU ARE THE MAN ♂️ LOVE FROM MISSISSIPPI USA 🇺🇲

[@cha5]

It’s interesting how Agrippa was one of Victor Frankenstein’s favorite philosophers in the original Mary Shelly Frankenstein novel.

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

His father called him "sad trash"

[@JamesHoovestal]

So, the goal is to be reunited, and it feels so nice?

[@ryanvsiler]

What are your thoughts on aphantasia in this context? Did this concept exist in Agrippa's time?

[@Slit518]

Justin, in D&D 5e "Attuning" to an item is like "Binding" to it. You cannot use or unlock its magical gifts until you Attune to it. So, D&D 5e kind of already has that idea.

[@Harabanar]

I can’t help loving Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa for his social awkwardness. I have to admit I have some of the same attitude towards authorities, and it have always worked for me. 😂

[@JimTempleman]

The idea that our highest level is illumination (enlightenment). That it is the source of our breakthrough insights. That being illuminated is critical to what happens after death. That illumination trumps reason, and imagination. That illumination is inherently unknowable, by language, yet the source of everything. That we are like a drop of water in the ocean. That the illuminated view of time (i.e.,, as eternity) appears as space, as the universe laid out before us. The ecstasies or raptures corresponding to the jhanas. Felicity as sudden enlightenment within this lifetime. Treating enlightenment as a tool used by the ego, being doomed to failure. There is nothing to be gained from experiencing Felicity, one is simply left in completely reverential silence (zazen is good for nothing). - All this is a description of Buddhism! Which is known to have influenced Greek philosophy, after the Macedonians brought it back from Alexander the Great’s conquest of India. Which makes me wonder: If they knew about it but never really got a complete picture of it, they might have latched onto its mysterious nature as a centerpiece of their occult magic? Buddhism through a glass darkly? Or it could ‘just’ be the perennial experience of man rearing up again in a different culture?

[@gabriellaa1091]

loved the final fantasy reference

[@md1476]

@Dr Sledge I know u kind of wanted to avoid translating mens amd ratio as much as possible, but for us non latin readers reading the Purdue translation and want to track the development of these concepts in chapter 36 and beyond, what are Purdue's most common ways of translating them? In other words, whats the best way to know in Purdue's translation when Agrippa is explicitly using these terms? It seems the main thrust of this is pages 617-618. What I'm seeing is "mens" = "supreme/illuminated intellect" and "ratio" = "rational spirit/soul". Am I following correctly? Noticing translation terms shift a bit in chapter 43 and 44 to "mind" and reason (I'm assuming these are "mens" and "ratio" repectively?) Anything else I should be watching out for? Elsewhere across the three books, do I need to assume he consistently uses mind and reason in this way, or can I assume it's only in tlthisbpart that he uses them in this way?

[@md1476]

Also, same question regarding "felicitas": how does Purdue regularly translate it? Once again, I just want to clearly know it when I see it during my second read through of book 3

[@TheSmark666]

Do you know of any digitized copies of a book entitled, "Influence of Hermetic Philosophy on Christian Theology"?

[@typhvam5107]

Being hit with illumination all at once sounds.... deadly.

[@Diaz-nj2zv]

Dr sledge, what is your opinion on manly p hall’s work? I didn’t see him suggested in your library. I was introduced to esotericism through his book secret teachings of all ages. I wanted to ask you why you dont suggest him in the library.

[@Jason.1734]

I've noticed there's a few translations avaliable now. What would your recommend the best to get

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

The Eric Purdue

[@StonedToDaath]

Hey about the Game mechanic, and something else….The Tabletop RPG “Broken worlds” might be something….and the comic of same setting called “Kill Six Billion Demons” by Tom Parkinson-Morgan Might be of interest to some…Theres a website for the comic

[@erikmazio1205]

21:31 👍👍👍 Great for context!

[@David-yp4fl]

🌿 LOVE FROM MISSISSIPPI USA 🇮🇱♥️🇺🇲

[@MarlonOwnsYourCake]

42:41 i was JUST thinking of how it sounds like the junction system from ff8!😂

[@bellewood9521]

Listening to how Agrippa tries to avoid Averroism, I'm wondering: how much of the DOP was affected by Agrippa just trying to avoid charges on of heresy? Would it have been much different if he hadn't had to consider saving his skin? What do you think it might have been like if he'd had complete freedom of conscience?

[@bellewood9521]

Also, I've just discovered that Averroism was already in my predictive text, so I'm not sure what's going on with my phone....

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

You got that medieval phone

[@bellewood9521]

@@TheEsotericaChannel apparently it's the one that appeared in all the reliefs showing ancient astronauts....

[@boringturtle]

Watching the section about the levels of the mind (mens, ratio, idolum, body), and I'm wondering what level this philosophy would attach "muse-ic inspiration" to -- ratio or idolum. By our conception, it definitely would fall into imagination, I think, but in my experience, true inspiration has that component of immediate knowing, so maybe it's ratio.

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

I think the ratio, given how he leans on Ficino

[@101jackj]

These comments are out of control. Thanks for the upload, Dr. Sledge!

[@petsontherocks]

If Soul is eternal and undying then is it for Soul to still stay trapped in the physical realm permanently without any way out? I understand Spirit is the one that can stay back as an echo of a Soul but it seems the "ghost" part would be just like an automaton: existing but not living, being an echo of ones former combination of body, soul and spirit. So if soul can not get back to the divine after the death of the body, will it attach to a new human being to try again?

[@VisiV]

I was able to bake some Agrippa brownies a few nights back.

[@nathanaelsmith3553]

I think these old philosophies have modern relevance now that AI/LLM is taking off. They can help us understand the nature of consciousness and how/whether to recreate it. Computer science is starting to feel like a type of alchemy.

[@BluePrinceThoth]

Instead of translating the medieval 'ratio' as 'reason,' what do you think of referring to it, for the sake of easy conversation, as 'the rationale '?

[@acmnin2146]

Was not expecting a reference to FF6 Espers 😂

[@karsu]

Can’t wait to see you panel in Comicon circuit Doctor Sledge. One of these days…

[@EclecticEngineer604]

❤️🙏🏼

[@NewMessage]

Surely Rafael powers would be sai spinning, and weaponized broodiness!

[@thatmckenzie]

That "silver cord leading all the way back" sounds familiar. :)

[@lllewelll]

@@thatmckenzie Yes, As trills, trippy

[@kingchief4038]

Wow 10 hours on Cornelius that's no easy task

[@emepeguerreiro]

1:01:01 hellyeah theravada vibes

[@Bildgesmythe]

So, i think therefore I'm fallen. I don't even want to think about my imagination 😊

[@HoTrEtArDeDcHiXx]

Hey sometimes the supposed mental illness just clicks coincidentally 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@moiz85]

Agrippa space ship!!

[@MarceloKuroi]

The discursive mind of Agrippa sounds a lot like William S Burroughs "word virus".

[@thatmckenzie]

V.A.L.I.S.

[@MarceloKuroi]

@@thatmckenzie But of course! That was clear from the first class. Also David Bowie and Brian Eno. The plot thickens. But this specific class reminded me of that magic essay of old Bill Lee.

[@edwardgurney1694]

"I always imagine God as being like a big ball of dough..." The Inquisition has entered the chat.

[@RonaldCedric-h9w]

Jo Mission

[@jawadkhelil5742]

Nice one "Cornelius" was an ape character in "the Planet of the Apes movie" further implying that I think you are all apes because my mom told FB last year that I'm watching a salafist video on KZbin when I watched that video just to have fun....I don't think you are apes we are all human beings and we all come from Adam and Eve. Oh and by the way I slept around 10pm last night so that means that I had my 8 hours of sleep.Peace. hugs

[@Aleph_Null_Audio]

11:41 That image would make an amazing album cover!

[@ChocloManx]

pov you beat the averroism allegations

[@WickedAcresLindsey]

2nd

[@H-yf7mw]

1st

[@xm0rtal]

5th!

[@room5245]

Gratz

[@JanLanga-uk6us]

Is YHWH the same like ALLAH?

[@Carlos-bz5oo]

functionally yes. If you see Yahweh as being more of an individual deity rather than a generic all mighty god then no

[@NewMessage]

That dude was magically reaching the goon state. Won't ever convince me different.

[@KabbalahredemptionBlogspot]

I take it back. Way too much effort defending you. Sorry. You’re partner to idolatry. Really sorry to say. This won’t end well. Chas veshalom

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

What are you talking about?

[@adolfoketchum8157]

Thanks!