If there is a single event that made Sparta’s military legend a seminal moment it is the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, when the Spartan King Leonidas’ made his famous reply: molon labe (come and take them), to the Persian king Xerxes’ demand that the Spartans lay down their arms. Yet what is the historical background to this legendary event.
Myke Cole has had a colorful and varied career, with service in war and crisis response with the CIA, the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency), and the ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence). He is the author of The Bronze Lie: Shattering the Myth of Spartan Warrior Supremacy and Legion versus Phalanx: The Epic Struggle for Infantry Supremacy in the Ancient World
The existence of Egypt’s New Kingdom dream manuals indicate private individuals in need of advice or healing had a sleep-over at the local temple, taking advantage of specialized priests who could both incubate and interpret their dreams. This had been an important part of Egyptian religion and magic. It was for example a key part of the funeral rites, especially of the elite, where the priests were adapt at using secret, magical techniques to raise the required dream, featuring the ghosts.
Mogg Morgan is a practitioner-cum-scholar of all aspects of occultism. He was a Wellcome research student at Oxford. He has been exploring the connections between the popular magick of ancient Egypt and its continuation/crossover with the living magical traditions of the middle East, and the Kaula/witchcraft of south Asia and beyond.
Since the very beginning of biblical study the nephilîm have been the topic of great controversy. Who are they and what do they represent? Are they biblical monsters or are they something more? And why does the brief mention of them in the Book of Genesis show resemblance to other mythologies? Petros Koutoupis is fluent in the language of Greek, and has been a self-taught student of Septuagintal Greek and Biblical Hebrew; with additional knowledge in
Aramaic, Ugaritic, and Akkadian grammar. He is the presenter of the podcast: Digging up the Past
Strong evidence of Paleolithic to Bronze Age cannibalism has been found in at least 18 widely dispersed archaeological sites in Europe of cannibalism. Lower and Middle Paleolithic (Neanderthal and older) cannibalism accounts for about half of these, but homo sapiens also ate each other. Did they all practice cannibalism for nutrition, ritual or war purposes?
Dr Neil Bockoven is an award-winning PhD geologist who earned his doctorate in geoscience from the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of The People Eaters and Moctu and the Mammoth People and presenter of Paleo Human Mysteries.
Dr Evans Lansing Smith, the chair of Mythological Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute discussing Joseph Campbell’s new book: Romance of the Grail: The Magic and Mystery of Arthurian Myth. Calling the Arthurian romances the world’s first “secular mythology,” Campbell found metaphors in them for human stages of growth, development, and psychology. Dr Lansing Smith discusses how the Arthurian myths opened the world of comparative mythology to Campbell, turning his attention to the Near and Far Eastern roots of myth as well as Campbell's theses, The Dolorous Stroke.
