Re-Enchanting the Cosmos: Hermeticism, Brain Hemispheres, and the Evolution of Consciousness

What do a Renaissance magician, a modern neuroscientist, and a forgotten philosopher of language have in common? In this episode, I dive into a wild, mythically-informed rabbit hole that took me from the Corpus Hermeticum to the divided brain model of Iain McGilchrist and the linguistic revelations of Owen Barfield. Together, these three worldviews—Hermeticism, brain lateralization, and the evolution of consciousness—seem to be providing us with the same message: that the world is not dead, but alive… if only we remember how to see it.

This is a journey through magic, metaphysics, language, and psyche—a kind of Jungian time-travel into the heart of our disenchanted world. I explore how perception is not passive but participatory, how imagination might just be the bridge back to meaning, and why the way we attend to reality could be the most urgent moral act of our time.

If you've ever felt like something sacred has gone missing, or that the modern world has forgotten how to listen—this episode is for you.

 

Books Mentioned:

• Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition by Frances Yates • The Master and His Emissary by Iain McGilchrist • The Matter with Things by Iain McGilchrist • Cosmos and Psyche by Richard Tarnas • Poetic Diction by Owen Barfield • English Words by Owen Barfield • Saving the Appearances by Owen Barfield • The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life by Thomas Moore • Inner Work by Robert A. Johnson