Program archive

Program 2024

(Main Program / Other Program /  Blocks and Languages / * short break )

- Friday, October 25-

OPENING CEREMONY
17:00 - The venue opens

17:30 - Ceremonial Tour of the Mahen Memorial (in Czech, Slovak, and English)

18:00 - Welcome & Introduction of Organizers (in Czech, Slovak, and English)
18:30 - Delivery of Greetings (in Czech, Slovak, and English)
*
19:00 - Mgr. Jan Ševčík - Opening Lecture:
“Updates from Research on the Relationships between Nationalist, Nazi, and Occult Movements (1892-1945)” (in Czech, Slovak, and English)
*
20:00 - Opening of the Exhibition of Artifacts from Pavel Langer’s Collection
“The World of Tarot" (in Czech, Slovak, and English)
20:15 - Opening of the Exhibition of Paintings and Sculptures by Lenka Jirková Táborská &
Opening of the Exhibition of Mystical Paintings by Šárka Kotásková (in Czech, Slovak, and English)
*
20:30 - Welcome Reception with Buffet
Concert by the band “Klastracinski/project”

- Saturday, October 26-

MORNING SESSION (in Czech/Slovak)
9:00 - Tea Ceremony
9:30 - Mgr. Matouš Mokrý: “Prince of Darkness and Son of the Goddess Typhon: Antinomian Interpretations of Set in the Works of the Temple of Set and Kenneth Grant”
*
10:15 - Mgr. David Plass: “Postmodern Hermeticism and its Others: A Case Study in Individual identity formation"
*
11:00 - Martin Sarkyr Král: “O.T.O. and Thelema”
*
11:45 - Mgr. Ivo Chmelař, Ph.D.: “SES, SAD Bhaí, Paragava, Continuity of Initiation”
12:30 - Group Lunch
14:30 - Book bazaar

 AFTERNOON INTERNATIONAL SESSION (in English)
15:00 - Friday Dancers: dance performance
15:15 - Prof. emer. György E. Szönyi: “Mephistophilis and Faustus”
*
16:25 - Mgr. Marion Vrbicky, Ph.D.: “Eleusinian Mysteries, an Initiation Cult in Ancient Greece”
*
17:35 - B.A. John Meek: “A Holistic Approach to Masonry”
*
18:45 - Mgr. Gordan Djurdjevic, Ph.D.: „>I am One of a Concourse!< - Reading Aleister Crowley’s The Heart of the Master as a Thelemic Apocalypse“
20:30 - Group Dinner

- Sunday, October 27-

MORNING SESSION (in Czech/Slovak)
9:00 - Tea Ceremony
9:30 - Mgr. Alexandra Haratíková: “The History of Women in Astrology”
*
10:15 - Mgr. Jan Krása, Ph.D.: “Children’s Play – On Hermetic Evolution”
*
11:00 - PhDr. Mgr. Tomáš Kubisa, PhD.: “Activities of IVSE and the Occult Scene in Slovakia”
*
11:45 - Pavel Langer: “Modern Magic and Occult Magic”
13:00 - Group Lunch
15:00 - Book bazaar

AFTERNOON SESSION (in Czech/Slovak)
15:30 - Klára Šiška: occut performance
16:00 - Mgr. Lenka Příplatová, Ph.D.: “Sleep Paralysis as a Source of Religious Experience”
*
17:00 - Mgr. Veronika Šulcová: “Voodoo and Inner Practice”
*
18:00 - Mgr. Olga Čejková: “Ritual Space in Hunting and its Transformational Function”
*
19:00 - Mgr. Tancredi Marrone: „Allan D Couldt - Psychedelic Esotericist and Anthropologist“
20:30 - Group Dinner

- Monday, October 28 -

THEMATIC CITY TOUR (in Czech, Slovak, and English)
9:00 - Tea Ceremony
9:30 – Virtual (i.e., screened) tour of the Romani Culture Museum in Brno, specifically the section dedicated to Romani magic.
The tour will be accompanied by commentary from educator Dana Kroková.
*
11:00 – Tour of the Church of St. James, including newly accessible attics and the tower.
Entrance fee: approx. 300 CZK
*
12:30 PM – Lunch
*
13:30 – Guided tour of the city center with commentary by historian Mgr. Jan Ševčík.
*
14:30 – Guided tour of the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul and visit to the Diocesan Museum.
Entrance fee: 110 CZK + 30 CZK for the tower
*
16:00 PM – End of the official program
*
16:30 – Optional tour of Špilberk Castle, including its casemates and armory.

OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE CONFERENCE
18:00 - Welcoming & Introduction of Organizers (in Czech and in English)
18:30 - Opening Words: Ing. Libuše Nivnická, prof. Jiří Hanuš, prof. György E. Szönyi, Mgr. Dell Rose, Mgr. Jiří Varaďa etc. 
(in Czech and in English)
19:30 - Petr Kohout Lasenic - a Brno Countryman. New Information and Discoveries by the Documentation Centre for Czech Hermetism (in Czech)
20:30 - Display of the accompanying exhibition „Contemporary Czech Hermetism in Photography and Artifacts“
(in Czech and in English)
21:00 - Welcome Party at the Jiří Mahen Memorial with Refreshments and Music

- Saturday, October 28th -

MORNING PROGRAM BLOCK (in Czech)
8:00 - Chinese tea ceremony
8:30 - Mgr. Ivo Chmelař, Ph.D.: The Great Mark - Magical Operations, Gruppo di Ur and Implications of Italian Esotericism.
9:10 - Petr Tomek: Libertines Against Delusion: A Critique of Superstition and Religion in a Historical Perspective Since Austria-Hungary Up To Today
9:50 - Mgr. Lenka Příplatová, Ph.D.: Experimental Research of Religion and Ateism in a Secularizing Society
10:30 - Mgr. Veronika Šulcová: Business and Folk Magic in the USA
11:10 - Mgr. Matouš Mokrý: "They Clad Themselves in Poisoned Robes of the Form" - Development of the 'Left-Hand Path' as a Negative Esoteric Category in Anglophone Culture 1875 - 1972
11:50 - Communal lunch

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM BLOCK (in English)
14:00 - Friday Dancers: Weavers of the Flow (dance performance)
14:15 - Prof. emer. György E. Szönyi: The Esoteric Concept of Exaltatio
15:15 - Bc. et Mgr. Dell Rose: An Eruption of Myth - D’Annunzio’s Fiume, Martinism, and the Politics of Esoteric Vision
15:55 - Mgr. Marion Vrbicky, Ph.D.: Hecate
16:35 - Mgr. et Mgr. Miroslav Vrzal, Ph.D: Czech Satanism - history, directions, trends
17:15 - Refreshment break & book bazaar

EVENING PROGRAM BLOCK (in Czech)
18:00 - Friday Dancers: Eclipse of the Triple Goddess (dance performance)
& Reading from Mefistofeles – a drama by Jiří Mahen
18:15 - Mgr. Jan Ševčík: Occultism and Politics
19:15 - Mgr. Olga Čejková: Hunting Magic in Modern Huntsman Culture
19:55 - Leoš Kyša (alias František Kotleta): Conspiracy Theories Before Their Time: Memories of an Old Sceptic
20:35 - Readings from the books of František Kotleta and discussion with the author
21:15 - Jiří Mahen Memorial closes
21:30 - Communal dinner and pub crawl

- Sunday, October 29th -

MORNING PROGRAM BLOCK (in Czech)
8:00 - Contemporary Czech tea ceremony
9:00 - Róbert Adamec: A Man With a Secret - Life and Influence of Professor Ján Okruhlica, a Slovak Hermeticists From Plavecké Podhradie
9:40 - JUDr. Olga Rosenkranzová, Ph.D.: Dignity of Man According to Giovanni Pica della Mirandola
10:40 - Honza Krása: Alchemy Before Alchemy: The Development of Technologies Leading to First Alchemic Texts at The End of The Last Era
11:20 - Jakub Staněk: Contemporary Slavic Natural Faith in Czech Republic and Other Slavic Countries
12:00 - Communal lunch

THEMATIC CITY TOUR (in Czech and in English)
13:30 Visit to St. James's Church and its surroundings
14:00 Tour of the Ossuary at St. James's (with a guide)
14:30 Stroll through the city and St. Peter and Paul Cathedral
16:00 Exploration of the mummies in the Brno Capuchin Crypt (with a guide)
17:00 Tour of the underground labyrinth beneath Zelný Market (with a guide)
18:00 Visit to Špilberk Castle walls