The Alexandrian

About The Alexandrian

Steeped in the rigorous tradition of the British occult revival, The Alexandrian is a weekly discourse on the lived reality of the Western Esoteric path. Hosted by Karagan and Elie Barnes, this is an exploration of the magic circle not as a historical artifact, but as a vibrant, demanding space of transformation. Moving beyond the scholarly record, they share the visceral experience of the Priesthood—the internal alchemy of the rites, the silent gravity of service to the Old Gods, and the profound mystery of a life dedicated to the Arte Magical.

Publisher

Karagan Griffith

Category

religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

29 Mar 2026

Latest episode

12 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

14 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   12 Aug 2026

   Magical Connections

   In this episode, Elie and Karagan reflect on their journey through the Alexandrian tradition, discussing the importance of community, the nature of initiation, and the spontaneity of learning. They share personal experiences, including a profound moment at a magical tree in Lisbon, which symbolizes their connection to the past and future in their spiritual practices. In this conversation, Elie and Karagan explore the themes of magical activations, personal power, and the significance of shared experiences in spiritual practices. They discuss the importance of recognizing and owning one's power, the nature of power within the craft, and the role of priesthood in enhancing personal practice. The dialogue also delves into philosophical inquiries about ultimate reality and the infinite field, emphasizing the interconnectedness of all beings and the transformative potential of consciousness.

2. 

   5 Aug 2026

   The Heart as the Guide in Spiritual Seeking

   In this episode, Elie and Karagan explore the spiritual journey, the nature of religion, and the seeker’s path to witchcraft and divine connection. They discuss how intuition, heart, and personal resonance guide us to our true spiritual paths.

3. 

   29 Jul 2026

   Freedom, Power, and Beauty

   There exists, within the Alexandrian tradition, a discipline that modernity finds almost inconceivable: the deliberate cultivation of silence between those who share a craft. In this episode, Kerrigan and Ellie turn their attention to Maxine's rule of no socialising — the custom by which initiates gather, labour, and worship together, then part without further word or visit, until the circle calls them again. What might appear, at first hearing, a minor austerity reveals itself instead as something closer to a philosophy: a considered defence against the erosions of gossip, the dilution of hierarchy, and the quiet but real damage done to the bond between teacher and student when that bond is left to compete with the ceaseless murmur of modern discourse. Yet this is no mere exposition of custom. It is, rather, a searching and candid meditation on the price of belonging to something hierarchical, oath-bound, and unapologetically demanding, in an age inclined to mistake constant contact for genuine intimacy. The conversation moves between covens riven by rivalry and others content to labour in complete obscurity; between the freedom to depart and the far harder freedom to remain; between ethics, so often denied to witchcraft, and its quiet insistence upon them regardless. By its close, one begins to suspect that the silence enjoined between covens is not an absence at all, but a form of attention — and perhaps even of reverence.

4. 

   23 Jul 2026

   The Memory Palace of the Gods

   In the sixteenth century, Giordano Bruno went to the stake for an idea he refused to recant: that the mind, properly trained, could become an instrument of transformation rather than mere storage. This episode traces that idea back further still — to the philosophers' schools of antiquity, where Plato prized the art of memory and Socrates distrusted it, through the Hermetic writings of Alexandria, into the Renaissance where Bruno fused memory with magic, and onward to the Golden Dawn, who renamed the technique "path working" without altering its bones. Karagan and Elie sit with what this inheritance means inside a working coven today. They discuss how symbolic, carefully sequenced imagery — walked deliberately through the imagination — becomes a rehearsal for ritual itself, so that by the time the circle is cast, the contact has already been made in the inner temple of the mind. They speak of the "safety keys" that let covens test whether their members are moving through the same inner landscape together, of the delicate art of improvisation once the foundational stations are known (Elie's comparison to jazz musicians who have mastered their chords before they dare to depart from them), and of the danger of ritual performed without this interior labour: what they call, plainly, empty ritual. Drawing on Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki's path working tradition, the Corpus Hermeticum's account of the soul's descent and return through the seven spheres, and their own experience building and testing workings within the Alexandrian tradition, the conversation moves fluidly between history and confession, doctrine and personal gnosis. It is, in the end, an episode about the architecture of consciousness itself — how the mind that can hold a structure of images can, in time, learn to hold the gods.

5. 

   14 Jul 2026

   The Unadorned Priesthood

   Before the Book of Shadows is opened, before the circle is cast and the candle lit, there is character — and it is this, rather than any wand or working, that Elie and Karagan set out to examine. In an age that has learned to photograph its altars and caption its rites, what remains of the old, unglamorous virtues: discretion, service, the keeping of an oath simply because it was given? Drawing the conversation back through Rosicrucian creed, the wisdom of the Book of Shadows, and the quiet, unbending household of a small-town Florida judge, the two hosts trace a lineage of conduct that predates social media and may yet outlast it. They ask what a priesthood actually is, once the robes are set aside. They ask what truth requires of a person who claims to seek it. And they ask, gently but insistently, whether the modern occultist has mistaken the aesthetics of the craft for its substance. This is not an episode about spellwork. It is an episode about the soul that does the spellworking — old-fashioned, unfashionable, and, they would argue, entirely necessary.

6. 

   8 Jul 2026

   To Keep Silent — On Sacredness, Secrecy, and the Living Magic

   There is a magic that leaves no photograph. It asks nothing of the audience. It is done in the dark hours, put away with care, and never spoken of — and it is precisely this silence that gives it wings. In this episode, Elie and Karagan descend into one of the most ancient and quietly urgent questions of the practitioner's path: what becomes of the sacred when it is spoken aloud? Drawing from the fourth precept of the Witch's Pyramid — to keep silent — they explore how silence is not merely an absence of noise, but a holy vessel, a chalice waiting to be filled with only the most consecrated of sounds. From the Iberian initiation rites that left the seeker alone on a mountain for weeks with nothing but water and the divine, to the shuttered contemplative cloisters of Catholic convents, to a grandmother's garden in Portugal and a childhood stump in the woods, they trace the same sacred instinct across time and tradition: that which is most real must be most protected. They speak, too, of the quiet crisis of contemporary witchcraft — aestheticised, hashtagged, curated — and ask, with gentle gravity, whether the very mention of magic is enough to make it evaporate. And they reflect on what it means to carry priesthood not as a role one steps into and out of, but as a permanent state of being; a vocation as ancient as the first temple, the first silence, the first hum that pierced it. Because the silence is the holy chalice. And what you pour into it — that is everything.

7. 

   1 Jul 2026

   A Game of Mirrors

   What is magic, truly? Not the pageantry of it, nor the costume — but the live current beneath; the thing that moves in the body before the mind has found the word for it. In this episode, we descend into the heart of the matter. We speak of theurgy and thaumaturgy, of the god-connection that must precede all working, and of the cardinal rule that has quietly governed all serious practice since the beginning: necessity. If you do not need it — truly, viscerally need it — the work will lie flat. Magic, it turns out, is not wishful thinking dressed in candlelight. It is a precision instrument that demands the full weight of a human being behind it. We speak too of the dangers of dilution — the well-meaning practitioner who drums too many drums, stirs too many currents, and arrives at the circle carrying the residue of five other altars. Of psychic vampirism. Of the madness that stalks those who push too far without the foundation to hold them. Of what it means to be clean — not merely the ritual space, but the mind, the aura, the life one builds outside the temple walls. And at the last, we arrive at consciousness itself. The hermit on the mountain, lantern raised, seeing three hundred and sixty degrees. The lemniscate folding everything back. The mirror turning endlessly inward and outward at once. It is a game of mirrors. And it always has been.

8. 

   24 Jun 2026

   Guarded Mysteries

   There is an old and quiet law within the Craft — that the bond between priesthood and pupil must answer first to the Mysteries, and only after to affection. In this episode, Karagan and Elie turn their attention to the so-called "no socializing rule," tracing its wisdom through coven politics, the perilous electricity of raised power, and the very particular vanities of the ego left untended. They ask what happens when reverence curdles into familiarity, when friendship eclipses respect, and when the sacred work of polarity is mistaken for something altogether more mundane. From the cautionary candour of Israel Regardie to the seductions of the algorithmic age, this is a conversation about discretion as devotion — about choosing, always, to be a beacon rather than a flashlight. A meditation on boundaries, power, and the discipline required to keep a Mystery a Mystery.

9. 

   17 Jun 2026

   On Power, Polarity, and the Priesthood

   In this fifth gathering, Karagan and Elie step beyond the threshold of the First Degree into the deeper chambers of the Alexandrian Mysteries — the Second and Third Initiations, where polarity ceases to be theory and becomes lived current. They speak candidly of the electromagnetic dance between priest and priestess, of prana drawn from earth and channelled through trained bodies, and of the old, fertile magic that bound ancient communities to the turning seasons. Along the way: the true meaning of "High Priesthood" (a title of service, not status), the perils of an inflated magical ego, and the hard-won lessons, trust given too freely, rules held too tightly — that only experience can teach. A frank, warm, and richly instructive conversation on what it means to recognise, own, and wield one's own power in the Craft.

10. 

    10 Jun 2026

    Before the Abyss

    There comes a moment in every witch's formation when the ground beneath them simply ceases to exist — and the only path forward is to leap. In this episode of The Alexandrian, Karagan and Elie trace the long, luminous arc of initiation: from the careful choreography of the first degree — its memorised lines, its assigned meditations, its patient rehearsal of mystery — to the vertiginous threshold of the second and third, where all that has been learned must finally be surrendered. They speak of the will at its most ferocious: not the dramatic gesture, but the deep and quiet need that makes magic inevitable. They speak of power, and of how it flows — delicately, like a net of golden silk laid over a sleeping body, or with the ancient, geological weight of a land that has never forgotten its own enchantment. Portugal enters the conversation, as it often must — its ley lines thick with memory, its folk magic threaded through centuries of survival. Scotland, too, with its cold sacred hills and its knowing old creatures encountered by chance in village pubs. And then, a tree in Lisbon. In the middle of a busy street, amid passing cars and a woman selling cherry liqueur in chocolate cups, a priest and a priestess recognised something old and stopped — because magic, as they remind us, does not wait for a convenient moment. The second and third degrees, they reflect, are not merely an elevation. They are a dissolution and a reconstitution of the self — a crossing of the abyss that closes a sacred circuit and opens, at last, an entirely different room. The mystery, as ever, only deepens.

11. 

    3 Jun 2026

    On training

    In this episode, Elie and Karagan reflect on their early training and experiences in the magic circle after their initiation, emphasizing that Alexandrian witchcraft is far more complex than simply memorizing steps, facing the right direction, or controlling the aesthetics of a ritual. Karagan, drawing from his background in theater production, explains how he quickly learned that treating a circle like a stage play is futile, as the craft is a flow of currents that one cannot rigidly control ; instead, a witch must navigate this "river of energy" with an open heart and a willingness to accept the unexpected. They discuss the palpable, shamanic reality of interacting with the gods, sharing profound experiences of divine indwelling and possession where the ego fades and magic is tangibly birthed through the physical body. Both speakers contrast the potent energy of "natural," born witches—who may be unpolished or undisciplined on the outside but are naturally wired to channel immense power—with "paper doll" or "flat pancake" witches who are overly obsessed with perfect form, structure, and degrees but ultimately block the flow of magic. They conclude that true training in the craft is not about rigid outer control, but about dedication to the intense inner work required to align oneself with the cosmos and become a healthy, powerful vessel capable of moving between dimensions.

12. 

    27 May 2026

    The Rest of It

    This podcast episode features a reflective and deeply personal conversation between Karagan and Elie, two experienced practitioners of the Alexandrian Wiccan tradition, exploring the profound journey from initial initiation to senior priesthood. The speakers emphasize that despite achieving the third degree, true mastery requires maintaining a "first-degree mind"—a continuous openness, curiosity, and willingness to learn. They compare their early experiences in the craft, discussing the intense dedication required to master ritual basics like casting circles and memorizing invocations, while blending structure with an intuitive ability to surrender to the spiritual experience. Karagan shares his background in professional theater, noting how it informed his approach to intent and spatial awareness in the temple, and recalls his early days training alongside the foundational figures of American Alexandrian witchcraft in Massachusetts. A significant portion of the episode details the history and migration of Maxine Sanders' "Temple of the Mother" teachings to the United States, illustrating how Karagan directly collaborated with Sanders to refine and realign American ritual practices with her deep, philosophically rich London methods. Ultimately, the conversation highlights the evolution, connectivity, and active preservation of the tradition worldwide, concluding with an open invitation for senior Third-Degree high priests and priestesses to participate in advanced "training circles" to ensure the continuous refinement and future protection of the priesthood.

13. 

    20 May 2026

    Initiation

    In this episode, the hosts delve into the deeply private, intimate, and soul-tailored experience of first-degree initiation within the Alexandrian Witchcraft Tradition. Drawing from their own backgrounds—having both practiced independently or eclectically for over a decade before being initiated —they discuss how nothing can truly prepare a person for the psychic and metaphysical reality of the ritual, even if they have already read the script. The discussion highlights the altered states of consciousness triggered by the ritual's sensory elements, like the distinct smell of roses and incense, which often leave initiates with fascinating gaps in their memory. They explore the concept of initiation as an internal, energetic transformation that unfolds at its own pace rather than a localized physical event. Lastly, the hosts reflect on the unique nature of coven work and emphasize how the Alexandrian path distinguishes itself from traditions like Gardnerian witchcraft through its deep focus on hermetics, Western esoteric philosophy, and a structured, religious framework of devotion.

14. 

    29 Mar 2026

    Teaser - The Alexandrian

    The Architecture of the Unseen To the outsider, the circle is a boundary of salt and stone; to the initiate, it is the threshold of a different physics altogether. It is the moment the rational mind of the scholar bows to the ancient, rhythmic pulse of the Arte Magical. Within that geometry lies the silent joy of the Priesthood. Service is not a performance; it is a profound commitment to the sacred circle. Becoming the very cup that holds thelight and the blade that directs the power, that is the singular conscious choice of the initiate. One does not simply do the rites; one is spiritually consumed by them. We speak of the "occult" because these experiences remain hidden, even from those standing within the temple, until the spirit is tempered to receive them. We are stewards of a living current, exploring the mysterium of the Priesthood. We are the stewards of a flame that burns away the ego, leaving only the vessel of service to the Old Gods. This is The Alexandrian.

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Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

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