ANGELA'S SYMPOSIUM 📖 Academic Study on Witchcraft, Paganism, esotericism, magick and the Occult

I keep being accused of using AI. I've even been accused, more than once, of being AI-generated. So I owe you something better than irritation: an actual explanation of where I stand.In this episode, I work through the real concerns: the scraping of artists' work, the environmental cost, algorithmic bias, the fear of job displacement, the worry about deskilling, and argue that every one of them is a problem of how, not of whether. They are arguments for regulation, not for personal abstention. I talk about my own practice (yes, AI images sometimes; yes, Grammarly; no, not the writing or the thinking), about teaching at university in the middle of all this, and about why, as an anthropologist, I think this debate is really a debate about authorship and authenticity wearing a technological costume.The question, in the end, was never if AI. It was always, only, how.CONNECT & SUPPORT💖MY COURSES 👩🏻‍🎓 https://drangelapuca.com/coursesWEBSITE 🔗 https://www.drangelapuca.com/BOOK A TUTORING OR A LECTURE 📖https://drangelapuca.com/servicesSUBSTACK ✉️ https://substack.com/@drangelapucaBECOME MY PATRON! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/angelapucaSUPPORT ME ON KO-FI ☕️https://ko-fi.com/drangelapucaONE-OFF DONATIONS 💰 https://paypal.me/angelasymposiumMY MERCH 👕 https://drangelapuca.creator-spring.com/FOLLOW ME👣- YouTube (@drangelapuca)🌟- SUBSTACK 💌 https://substack.com/@drangelapuca- Instagram (@drangelapuca) 📸- TikTok (@drangelapuca) 🎵- Twitter (@angelapuca11) 🐦- Facebook (Dr Angela Puca) 👥REFERENCES 📚Cognitive offloading and deskillingRisko, E. F., & Gilbert, S. J. (2016). Cognitive offloading. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 20(9), 676–688. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2016.07.002Gerlich, M. (2025). AI tools in society: Impacts on cognitive offloading and the future of critical thinking. Societies, 15(1), 6. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc15010006Training data, consent, and copyrightBuick, A. (2025). Copyright and AI training data – transparency to the rescue? Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, 20(3), 182–192. https://doi.org/10.1093/jiplp/jpae102Dornis, T. W., & Stober, S. (2025). Generative AI training and copyright law. Transactions of the International Society for Music Information Retrieval, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2502.15858Algorithmic bias and discriminationBarocas, S., & Selbst, A. D. (2016). Big data's disparate impact. California Law Review, 104(3), 671–732. https://doi.org/10.15779/Z38BG31Rosenthal-von der Pütten, A. M., & Sach, A. (2024). Michael is better than Mehmet: Exploring the perils of algorithmic biases and selective adherence to advice from automated decision support systems in hiring. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1416504. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1416504Labour displacement and the reshaping of workAcemoglu, D., & Restrepo, P. (2019). Automation and new tasks: How technology displaces and reinstates labor. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 33(2), 3–30. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.33.2.3Environmental cost of AIStrubell, E., Ganesh, A., & McCallum, A. (2019). Energy and policy considerations for deep learning in NLP. In Proceedings of the 57th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics (pp. 3645–3650). Association for Computational Linguistics. https://doi.org/10.18653/v1/P19-1355Aczel, M., Chamanara, S., Matin, M., Farsi, A., Marwala, T., & Madani, K. (2026). Environmental cost of AI's energy use: Carbon, water and land footprints. United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health. https://doi.org/10.53328/INR26RMA002Regulatory competition and the US–EU asymmetrySmuha, N. A. (2021). From a 'race to AI' to a 'race to AI regulation': Regulatory competition for artificial intelligence. Law, Innovation and Technology, 13(1), 57–84. https://doi.org/10.1080/17579961.2021.1898300⚠️ Copyright of Dr Angela Puca, in all of its parts ⚠️Music by Erose MusicBand. Check them out!

Join us live for a conversation with Dr Shira Chess on the hidden entanglements between digital culture and the occult, inspired by her new book The Unseen Internet: Conjuring the Occult in Digital Discourse.From AI “demons” like Loab to meme magic, technopaganism, simulation theory, and the ritual logics of online life, Chess argues that the internet has always been shaped by esoteric frameworks. Drawing on media history and contemporary case studies, she shows how magical thinking is not an accidental metaphor but part of the architecture of digital discourse.In this livestream, we will explore how belief, intention, and symbolic practice intersect with algorithms, platforms, and artificial intelligence, and what this means for politics, reality, and power in the twenty-first century. Bring your questions for what promises to be a sharp and thought-provoking discussion.Shira Chess is an Associate Professor of Entertainment and Media Studies at the University of Georgia. She received her PhD in 2009 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and studies digital culture and video games. Her most recent book, The Unseen Internet: Conjuring the Occult in Digital Discourse (The MIT Press, 2026) is available now. She is also currently co-authoring a history of the 90s counterculture tech magazine Mondo 2000 alongside the magazine's former editor-in-chief, R.U. Sirius. You can subscribe to her free Substack at https://unseeninternet.substack.com/. CONNECT & SUPPORT💖MY COURSES 👩🏻‍🎓 https://drangelapuca.com/courseWEBSITE & NEWSLETTER 💌 https://www.drangelapuca.com/#newsletterBOOK A TUTORING OR A LECTURE 📖https://drangelapuca.com/servicesBECOME MY PATRON! 🎩 / angelapuca SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI ☕️https://ko-fi.com/drangelapucaONE-OFF DONATIONS 💰 https://paypal.me/angelasymposiumJOIN MEMBERSHIPS 👥 / @drangelapuca MY PODCAST 🎙 https://open.spotify.com/show/2TKoWTG...MY MERCH 👕 https://drangelapuca.creator-spring.com/FOLLOW ME👣YouTube (@drangelapuca)🌟Instagram (@drangelapuca) 📸TikTok (@drangelapuca) 🎵Twitter (@angelapuca11) 🐦Facebook (Dr Angela Puca) 👥⚠️ Copyright of Dr Angela Puca, in all of its parts ⚠️Music by Erose MusicBand. Check them out!Want to create live streams like this? Check out StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5768951004397568

Do Gods exist? Why is magic more effective when Gods and spirits are involved? What makes magic effective? How to influence people and political events?All of this and more in this discussion with Chaos Magician Peter J. Carroll.Check out Peter Carroll's website: https://specularium.org/CONNECT & SUPPORT💖MY COURSES 👩🏻‍🎓 https://drangelapuca.com/coursesWEBSITE & NEWSLETTER 💌 https://www.drangelapuca.com/#newsletterBOOK A TUTORING OR A LECTURE 📖https://drangelapuca.com/servicesBECOME MY PATRON! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/angelapucaSUPPORT ME ON KO-FI ☕️https://ko-fi.com/drangelapucaONE-OFF DONATIONS 💰 https://paypal.me/angelasymposiumJOIN MEMBERSHIPS 👥 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPSbip_LX2AxbGeAQfLp-Ig/joinMY PODCAST 🎙 https://open.spotify.com/show/2TKoWTGe6OKRokHN2zUIxM?si=dd9f50a734b14f86MY MERCH 👕 https://drangelapuca.creator-spring.com/FOLLOW ME👣- YouTube (@drangelapuca)🌟- Instagram (@drangelapuca) 📸- TikTok (@drangelapuca) 🎵- Twitter (@angelapuca11) 🐦- Facebook (Dr Angela Puca) 👥RECOMMENDED READINGS 📖REFERENCES 📚MY SET-UP 🛠️- Canon 90D camera 📸 https://amzn.to/3yQclh0- Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 📷 https://amzn.to/3JjU1BS- Teleprompter 🗒️ https://amzn.to/3linWCB- Shure SM7B Microphone 🎙️ https://amzn.to/3Jm5IYK- Microphone stand 🎤 https://amzn.to/3FueJOn- Lights 💡 https://amzn.to/3Zdk8k1- DJI Wireless microphones 📡 https://amzn.to/3NWAVVQ00:00:00 Introduction: Dr. Angela Puca and Peter J. Carroll on Chaos Magick00:03:54 The Mystery of Consciousness and the Quantum Nature of Reality00:11:09 Relational Ontology: Mach’s Principle and the Rejection of Panpsychism00:13:29 Information vs. Matter: How Quantum Physics Challenges Our Senses00:16:20 Scientific Explanations for Magic: Non-Locality and Retrocausality00:23:44 The Equations of Magic: Gnosis, Sublimation, and Probability00:29:38 Testing Belief: Parapsychology and the Sheep-Goat Effect00:31:21 Strengthening Magical Links: Physical Proximity vs. Symbolic Objects00:35:05 The Limits of Psychic Influence: Why Distant Divination Often Fails 00:36:20 Divining the Future: Retrocausal Experiments in the Bristol Temple00:41:04 Quantum Entanglement and the Fragility of Non-Local Magical Links00:43:57 Political Magic: Manipulating Archetypes, Nationalism, and Propaganda 00:48:28 Glamour Magic and the Subversion of Public Identity00:49:52 How Information and Non-Rationality Influence the Social Psyche 00:50:56 The Transmission Problem: Communicating Mood and Telepathy Without Media 00:54:07 Unexplained Phenomena: Anger, Materialization, and Anomalous Physical Events00:55:36 The Ontology of Gods: Artificial Spirits and Internalized Archetypes 01:02:43 Do Deities Exist? Comparing Divine Mutation to Human Change01:07:20 Invocation as Self-Exploration: Reclaiming Suppressed Aspects of the Self01:33:31 Working with Mythos: Invoking Jupiter for Business and Lovecraft for Physics 01:20:24 The Astral Plane vs. The Ether: A Metaphysical Map of Magic01:24:11 Free Will and Randomness: A Mechanistic Approach to Agency01:29:33 Subheading Determinism vs. Probability: Why the Universe Isn't Set in Stone01:31:52 Improving Effectiveness: Bending Probability and Incremental Magical Success 01:39:31 Join the growing community at Angela’s Symposium ⚠️ Copyright of Dr Angela Puca, in all of its parts ⚠️Music by Erose MusicBand. Check them out!

In this episode, I critically examine the widespread claim that quantum physics provides scientific proof for magic, esotericism, and spiritual practice. I explore what prominent scholars have actually proposed about possible links between quantum mechanics, consciousness, and interconnected phenomena, carefully situating these ideas within their proper academic and disciplinary contexts.I then address why concepts such as the observer effect, wavefunction collapse, entanglement, and energy are so frequently misunderstood and misused in spiritual and New Age discourse, paying particular attention to questions of scale, decoherence, and category error. Throughout, my aim is not to dismiss lived experience or magical practice, but to argue for intellectual precision and methodological honesty.I conclude by acknowledging areas where scientific inquiry remains genuinely open, especially in relation to consciousness, while explaining why quantum physics, as it currently stands, cannot be used to legitimise esoteric practices.CONNECT & SUPPORT💖MY COURSES 👩🏻‍🎓 https://drangelapuca.com/coursesWEBSITE & NEWSLETTER 💌 https://www.drangelapuca.com/#newsletterBOOK A TUTORING OR A LECTURE 📖https://drangelapuca.com/servicesBECOME MY PATRON! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/angelapucaSUPPORT ME ON KO-FI ☕️https://ko-fi.com/drangelapucaONE-OFF DONATIONS 💰 https://paypal.me/angelasymposiumJOIN MEMBERSHIPS 👥 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPSbip_LX2AxbGeAQfLp-Ig/joinMY PODCAST 🎙 https://open.spotify.com/show/2TKoWTGe6OKRokHN2zUIxM?si=dd9f50a734b14f86MY MERCH 👕 https://drangelapuca.creator-spring.com/FOLLOW ME👣- YouTube (@drangelapuca)🌟- Instagram (@drangelapuca) 📸- TikTok (@drangelapuca) 🎵- Twitter (@angelapuca11) 🐦- Facebook (Dr Angela Puca) 👥RECOMMENDED READINGS 📖https://amzn.to/3YRqqbchttps://amzn.to/4jUPRSNhttps://amzn.to/4jT80Aohttps://amzn.to/49BWx4Lhttps://amzn.to/3NC2LJlREFERENCES 📚(see the final slide on screen)MY SET-UP 🛠️- Canon 90D camera 📸 https://amzn.to/3yQclh0- Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 📷 https://amzn.to/3JjU1BS- Teleprompter 🗒️ https://amzn.to/3linWCB- Shure SM7B Microphone 🎙️ https://amzn.to/3Jm5IYK- Microphone stand 🎤 https://amzn.to/3FueJOn- Lights 💡 https://amzn.to/3Zdk8k1- DJI Wireless microphones 📡 https://amzn.to/3NWAVVQ00:00:00 Is Quantum Physics Magic? Intro to Quantum Esotericism 00:02:21 Support Angela’s Symposium00:04:03 Why Science & Spirituality Are Talking Again00:06:05 The Link Between Quantum Physics & Consciousness 00:07:00 Does the Observer Create Reality? (Wavefunction Collapse) 00:13:55 Quantum Brain Theory: Penrose & Hameroff (Orch-OR)00:17:58 Explaining Telepathy & Psi with Quantum Entanglement 00:23:09 The Zero-Point Field & Universal Mind (Akashic Records?) 00:27:22 Theoretical Frameworks: Dualism, Idealism, and Beyond00:31:48 The Skeptics' View: Why Scientists Reject Quantum Mysticism 00:32:56 Debunking "Quantum Woo": The Mainstream Consensus 00:37:51 The "Observer Effect" Myth vs. Reality00:40:16 Entanglement is Not Telepathy (Faster-Than-Light Myths) 00:41:37 Understanding Superposition (Being in Two Places at Once) 00:41:43 Why Quantum Consciousness Theories Fail 00:46:42 "Everything is Energy": The Misuse of "Vibration." 00:48:24 Why the World Looks Solid: Quantum Decoherence Explained 00:53:05 Is Quantum Mysticism Pseudoscience? 00:55:54 Why We Want Quantum Magic to Be True (Psychology) 01:00:09 The Dangers of Bad Science & "Quantum Flapdoodle" 01:01:33 The Hard Problem: Where Science is Still Open-Minded 01:06:21 Conclusion: A Middle Path for Science & Magic 01:09:34 Join Angela’s Symposium⚠️ Copyright of Dr Angela Puca, in all of its parts ⚠️Music by Erose MusicBand. Check them out!

This episode offers a critical, historically grounded examination of Aphrodite as a trans-cultural religious phenomenon rather than a stable mythological figure. It traces the goddess’s development from Near Eastern traditions associated with Astarte, Ishtar, and Inanna through her incorporation into Greek religion, where tensions between her martial, erotic, civic, and cosmic dimensions produced multiple and often contradictory forms of worship. The discussion then follows her Roman reconfiguration as Venus, focusing on the political and ideological implications of her role as divine ancestress and guarantor of imperial order.Combining literary sources, archaeological evidence, cult practice, and ritual calendars, the lecture analyses how Aphrodite functioned within ancient economies of desire, gender, power, and civic cohesion, as well as how regional cults negotiated her ambivalent capacity to generate both harmony and destruction. The final section examines modern resurrections of Aphrodite in Neopaganism, feminist spirituality, Hellenic reconstructionism, and Western esotericism, assessing how contemporary movements selectively reinterpret ancient materials.CONNECT & SUPPORT💖MY COURSES 👩🏻‍🎓 https://drangelapuca.com/coursesWEBSITE & NEWSLETTER 💌 https://www.drangelapuca.com/#newsletterBOOK A TUTORING OR A LECTURE 📖https://drangelapuca.com/servicesBECOME MY PATRON! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/angelapucaSUPPORT ME ON KO-FI ☕️https://ko-fi.com/drangelapucaONE-OFF DONATIONS 💰 https://paypal.me/angelasymposiumJOIN MEMBERSHIPS 👥 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPSbip_LX2AxbGeAQfLp-Ig/joinMY PODCAST 🎙 https://open.spotify.com/show/2TKoWTGe6OKRokHN2zUIxM?si=dd9f50a734b14f86MY MERCH 👕 https://drangelapuca.creator-spring.com/FOLLOW ME👣- YouTube (@drangelapuca)🌟- Instagram (@drangelapuca) 📸- TikTok (@drangelapuca) 🎵- Twitter (@angelapuca11) 🐦- Facebook (Dr Angela Puca) 👥RECOMMENDED READINGS 📖REFERENCES 📚on screen by the end (too long for the description)MY SET-UP 🛠️- Canon 90D camera 📸 https://amzn.to/3yQclh0- Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 📷 https://amzn.to/3JjU1BS- Teleprompter 🗒️ https://amzn.to/3linWCB- Shure SM7B Microphone 🎙️ https://amzn.to/3Jm5IYK- Microphone stand 🎤 https://amzn.to/3FueJOn- Lights 💡 https://amzn.to/3Zdk8k1- DJI Wireless microphones 📡 https://amzn.to/3NWAVVQ00:00 Aphrodite and Venus: Cult, Myth, and Evolution05:07 Origins and the Problem of Divine Genealogy08:05 Mythographic Ambivalence and the Dual Birth Narratives10:27 Panhellenic Proliferation and Local Variations13:43 The Roman Transformation: From Foreign Goddess to Divine Ancestress17:15 Mythological Narratives: Love, War, and the Price of Beauty22:51 Dangerous Liaisons: Ares, Hephaestus, and the Comedy of Divine Adulter20:05 Adonis: Mortality, Mourning, and Cyclical Return22:37 Regional Variations and Lesser-Known Narratives24:37 Cult Practices and Sacred Economies26:41 Ritual Calendars and Festival Cycles29:02 Regional Variations in Worship31:59 Sacred Spaces and Architectural Statements33:39 Modern Resurrections: From Antiquarian Fantasy to Living Religion35:42 Wiccan Appropriations and Transformations37:31 Hellenic Reconstructionism and the Quest for Authenticity41:09 Feminist Spirituality and the Reclamation of the Erotic43:04 Esoteric Traditions and Planetary Magic44:31 Conclusion: The Immortality of Desire47:55 Support Angela’s Symposium⚠️ Copyright of Dr Angela Puca, in all of its parts ⚠️Music by Erose MusicBand. Check them out!