MIND/WAVE #9 - “The Occult, The Esoteric, and Hypnagogia” with Mitch Horowitz x Jesse Draxler
Mitch Horowitz is a historian of alternative spirituality and one of today’s most literate voices of esoterica, mysticism, and the occult. He is among the few occult writers whose work touches the bases of academic scholarship, national journalism, and subculture cred. Mitch is a writer-in-residence at the New York Public Library, lecturer-in-residence at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles, and a PEN Award-winning historian whose books include Occult America; One Simple Idea: How Positive Thinking Reshaped Modern Life; and The Miracle Club.
The Washington Post says Mitch “treats esoteric ideas and movements with an even-handed intellectual studiousness that is too often lost in today’s raised-voice discussions.”
He has discussed alternative spirituality across the national media and is collaborating with Emmy-nominated director Ronni Thomas on a feature documentary about the occult classic The Kybalion, shot on location in Egypt. Mitch received the Walden Award for Interfaith/Intercultural Understanding. The Chinese government has censored his work.
Show Notes:
- 00:05:50 - Mitch’s approach towards his craft
- 00:09:52 - The origins of thoughts and ideas
- 00:17:17 - The brain within the metaphysical
- 00:20:57 - Tapping into an imaginal realm with art
- 00:29:35 - Being honest with your desires
- 00:36:10 - Artists going unrecognized
- 00:42:42 - Being uncompromising in our desires
- 00:50:06 - Depression and anxiety
- 00:59:58 - Navigating dark energy
- 01:06:43 - Free will
- 01:10:52 - Hypnagogic state
- 01:18:47 - The pathos of death
- 01:29:46 - Wrap Up