Oct 8, 2026 · 38 min · 12 segments
🔥 Did Newton’s secret alchemy experiments hold the real key to modern science? In this mind-bending episode, scholar of Western esotericism with Dr. Justin Sledge from…
Justin SledgeGuestCarl LeibowitzHostBut isn't it scary to go into these packs? Like, you're not supposed to study Kabbalah until you're over 40, supposedly.
It seems like a pretty bad idea, but people do it, and I have reports of people doing it, and it seems something that I'm not sure that I would do.
But of course, I think that's part of the reason why this material remains so alluring and has been alluring since antiquity.
And my job as an academic is what I sometimes call sympathetic criticism, where I want to be sympathetic to the worldview of the peoples that I study.
It's not for me to go in and judge them and make them wrong and look down upon them as superstitious and backwards.
My job is to understand why they made sense and how they made sense to themselves and to the world around them.
Now, the question of whether or not spirits are real or demons are real or ghosts are real, that's a metaphysical question.
And so when I do my historical work, my job is to assume all the things that they assume and then try to make sense of them on their own terms, as opposed to putting on a rationalist hat or a scientist hat and say, no, you have to prove to me that magic is real in order for me to take your book seriously.
But isn't it scary to go into these packs? Like, you're not supposed to study Kabbalah until you're over 40, supposedly.
It seems like a pretty bad idea, but people do it, and I have reports of people doing it, and it seems something that I'm not sure that I would do.
But of course, I think that's part of the reason why this material remains so alluring and has been alluring since antiquity.
And my job as an academic is what I sometimes call sympathetic criticism, where I want to be sympathetic to the worldview of the peoples that I study.
It's not for me to go in and judge them and make them wrong and look down upon them as superstitious and backwards.
My job is to understand why they made sense and how they made sense to themselves and to the world around them.
Now, the question of whether or not spirits are real or demons are real or ghosts are real, that's a metaphysical question.
And so when I do my historical work, my job is to assume all the things that they assume and then try to make sense of them on their own terms, as opposed to putting on a rationalist hat or a scientist hat and say, no, you have to prove to me that magic is real in order for me to take your book seriously.
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