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Hermetic American Spiritual Classics

Hermetic American Spiritual Classics

By: Roger Weir
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 This series explores the cultural history of America through a person by person examination spanning from the pre-colonial era, to colonial times, into the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. The series is fittingly bookended by presentations about indigenous American cultures.

This person-by-person historical exploration winds its way through the lives of ancient Amerindian cultures, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Fenimore Cooper, James McNeill Whistler, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Greene and Greene (Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene), William James, Henry Adams, Winslow Homer, William Faulkner, Andrew Wyeth, Alan Hovhaness, Morris Graves, and Black Elk.

This series of lectures was originally delivered by Roger Weir in the spring of 1982 in Los Angeles, California.

Discover more content related to this series – https://sharedpresencefoundation.org/presentations/hermetic-america-1982

Discover more presentations by Roger Weir – https://sharedpresencefoundation.org/presentations

Learn more about Roger Weir – https://sharedpresencefoundation.org/resonance/person-roger-weir

Learn more about the Shared Presence Foundation – https://sharedpresencefoundation.org​Shared Presence Foundation Education Philosophy Social Sciences World
Episodes
  • Herman Melville - An Underrated American Author

    Herman Melville - An Underrated American Author
    May 16 2025
    Have you ever read Melville? What struck you most? What drives a man to chase a white whale across the oceans — and what does that say about the human soul? In this presentation, Roger dives into the life and legacy of Herman Melville, author of Moby-Dick and one of America’s most profound literary voices. Discover how his works, once overlooked, came to define a major chapter in American literature.

    This is the sixth in a series of 13 presentations that explores Hermetic American history by focusing on a diverse group of hermetic figures spanning architecture, poetry, drama, religion, esoteric philosophy, and occultism. These presentations were delivered by Roger Weir in the spring of 1982 in Los Angeles, California.

    Episode transcript - https://sharedpresencefoundation.org/transcripts/119

    Discover more content related to this series
    https://sharedpresencefoundation.org/presentations/hermetic-america-1982

    Discover more presentations by Roger Weir
    https://sharedpresencefoundation.org/presentations

    Learn more about the Shared Presence Foundation
    https://sharedpresencefoundation.org​
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 31 mins
  • How Two Writers Redefined American Freedom - Emerson and Thoreau

    How Two Writers Redefined American Freedom - Emerson and Thoreau
    May 7 2025
    Have you ever read the works of Henry David Thoreau or explored the transcendentalist movement of the 19th century? Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thoreau were two pioneering voices at the heart of this influential spiritual and philosophical movement. In this presentation, Roger examines their writings, their personal lives, and the lasting impact they had on American culture.

    This is the fifth in a series of 13 presentations that explores Hermetic American history by focusing on a diverse group of hermetic figures spanning architecture, poetry, drama, religion, esoteric philosophy, and occultism. These presentations were delivered by Roger Weir in the spring of 1982 in Los Angeles, California.

    Episode transcript - https://sharedpresencefoundation.org/transcripts/118

    Discover more content related to this series
    https://sharedpresencefoundation.org/presentations/hermetic-america-1982

    Discover more presentations by Roger Weir
    https://sharedpresencefoundation.org/presentations

    Learn more about the Shared Presence Foundation
    https://sharedpresencefoundation.org​
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 26 mins
  • How Cooper and Whistler Shaped American Identity

    How Cooper and Whistler Shaped American Identity
    Apr 19 2025
    Have you read any works from James Fenimore Cooper? Or have you seen one of James McNeill Whistler's paintings? These two men, born in early America, captured the "Age of Revolution" spirit in their work and helped shape the landscape of literature and art in the 19th century.
    This is the fourth in a series of 13 presentations that explores Hermetic American history by focusing on a diverse group of hermetic figures spanning architecture, poetry, drama, religion, esoteric philosophy, and occultism. These presentations were delivered by Roger Weir in the spring of 1982 in Los Angeles, California.

    Episode transcript - https://sharedpresencefoundation.org/transcripts/117

    Discover more content related to this series
    https://sharedpresencefoundation.org/presentations/hermetic-america-1982

    Discover more presentations by Roger Weir
    https://sharedpresencefoundation.org/presentations

    Learn more about the Shared Presence Foundation
    https://sharedpresencefoundation.org​

    Check out our YouTube channel

    Image credit: Detail from “Scene from James Fenimore Cooper’s ’The Last of the Mohicans’” by Thomas Cole (1827).
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 35 mins

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