Secrets of the Occult

The history of the occult is pretty fascinating, but I can't stand it when people treat speculation as fact. The last straw was the Werewolves, Vampires and Zombies episode where he goes on about Peter Stumpp's confession, and despite everthing this poor fellow said about himself was extracted by torture or the threat of it, our lecturer treats this as a confession of real behavior, going on to speculate that he really did have a wolf-belt, and that he really was a serial killer and satanist, "probably" inducted by a family member?? This is still during the Inquisition years, remember and people seemed to have less mortal fear of the sin of bearing false witness than whatever motives made them accuse others of witchery, werewolvery, cannibalism and the like. This series undermines my confidence in the rest of Wondrium since it seems they are curating these "courses" for entertainment only, not educational value.

This is quite possibly the most boring course I've purchased through the Great Courses, and I've been buying courses here since 1999. From the minimalist set to the equally minimalist production values, there is nothing here that can’t be learned on other information web sites, at no cost. The G.C. has, for some time now, implemented the annoying habit of filming their presenters from the side and from the front when the presenter is not looking directly at the camera. Bad idea. I think that maintaining eye contact between the presenter and the viewer is crucial when communicating content. I wouldn’t mind so much if the material was presented in a more interesting manner, but this course just leaves me with the feeling that I could have been doing something better with my time.

If I don't know the answer to a math problem, that doesn't mean all answers are equally likely. And if you don't know the answer to the problem, that doesn't make it more likely that my guess is correct. I believe it is hazardous to present as educational information presented in such a sensationalistic matter that he remains "devoutly agnostic," I think he calls it. He uses anecdotes including using a Ouija board and experiencing something he can't explain to allow the listener to balance the hypothesis: 'Ouija boards are magical' with 'it's a board with letters on it' as though those hypotheses equally likely. For him to use sensationalism and personal anecdotes to promote an equality among hypotheses is all the more irresponsible on Wondrium when you identify as a 'historian.' I listened to this course and I enjoyed it enough to finish it, but with the discrediting factors already mentioned, I wasn't able to distinguish between what constitutes as evidence and fanciful storytelling.

Well maybe...One of the presenter's favorite phrases as he was stringing together conjecture, supposition, rumors and possibly conspiracy theories mixed in with some history. The whole class struck me that it might have been made for the History Channel except they did not leave much time for commercials. Having said that I did learn a few times, and the presenter, for the most part, was engaging and entertaining. Would I recommend this class, well maybe...If you already have and interest or wanted to learn some of the history of Occultism.

This course dosen't fail as a lesson on the occult, but it does as a visual production of lectures. The set - as it is - is little more than an empty room witht he professor sat in a chair that looks like it came form his home. There is also little visual support for the lectures or the occult as a whole. Mostly, it comprises of the teacher sat in his chair, overly lit talking about the topic at hand from multiple angles. The productioin is closer to something I would expect from Public Access TV than from the Teaching Company. And that's a shame because this course is both comprehensive and entertaining. Richard Spence is a quality lecturer and this is evident during this series. He has a skeptics eye and wry sence of humor when speaking about his subjects. He is not a man to fully buy into any of the topics he lectures about. And when dealing with a shadow movement that is full of charlatans, he is not averse to presenting it as so. He is also well versed in his subjects, exposing certain movements or connections that I did would not associate with the Occult as a whole. After watching this series I felt that it was wortht he 24 episodes alloted to it. But the production was too poor for me to give it five stars and I felt a real studio with props and better visual support would have made this lecture series one of my favorties.

Well done by professor from Idaho. Covers objectively

Speaker is very easy to follow and the course is entertaining. I know he wrote something about Alister Crowley, but does he have to reference that one person 15-20 times in each lecture? There are more reputable occultists out there! It got very redundant. The lectures flowed nicely, and he spoke like he was knowledgeable. Other than that, I would prefer more facts and college lecture style format and less TV entertainment style format.

I've lost track, but I've viewed some 60 courses so far, and "Secrets of the Occult" is one of the most fascinating and informative I've ever seen. I had little real knowledge of the subject, which is the main reason for viewing the series, which I found to be very well researched and excellently presented and opened my mind to the subject. His balance between real life examples and academic analysis is well done. I also enjoyed Professor Spence's wry humor and wordplay. Highly recommended.

The course is both informative and entertaining. the subject is controversial to many but the presenter was objective presenting different viewpoints and always with a cautious caveat. The lessons were well researched and as i am interested in magic from an anthropological, rather than practitioner, viewpoint, this course was perfect for filling in gaps in my knowledge and introducing viewpoints i had not considered or come across previously. I highly recommend.

A fine in depth review of Occultism. I felt the lectures started a little slowly, but the second half of the series is amazing. That is not to say the first half is dull. Far from it. But it lays a lot of the groundwork for the later discussions. I highly recommend this to anyone who is remotely interested in the occult.