I Might Believe in Faeries

Today, I am joined by my friend Gregorio Montejo to discuss a subject that has caused a minor controversy in the world of re-enchantment and Traditionalist Catholicism. I am talking about a book titled Mysticism, Magic & Monasteries: Recovering the Sacred Mystery at the Root of Reality (Os Justi Press, 2024) by Dr. Sebastian Morello. In this book, Dr. Morello argues for the integration (possibly re-integration) of neoplatonic and hermetic thought into the Church. What does this mean? What does this look like? We discuss all this, critiques of the book, and much more.
Gregorio Montejo can be found on Twitter.com @KtistecP
Gregorio’s substack, Past Master, can be found here.
Books by Sebastian Morello:
Mysticism, Magic & Monasteries can be found here.
The World as God’s Icon can be found here.
Morello’s Critics and Responses:
Hermetic Tradition or Catholic Tradition? A Critique of Sebastian Morello by Matthew Minerd, Thomas Mirus, Matthew Scarince
Dialogos on Magic with Drs Morello and Minerd from The Meaning of Catholic



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In this episode, Susannah Black Roberts returns to the show to discuss the best books we read in 2025. We talked a lot about C. S. Lewis, Philip Pullman, Patrick O’Brian, Tim Powers, and others. We discussed how some authors are able to depict “holiness” in their books and what that can do to the reader.
Check it out!
Susannah is the editor of both Plough and Mere Orthodoxy and she can be found on Twitter.com @suzania
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Follow me on Twitter @AaronIrber
Subscribe to my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@imightbelieveinfaeries7563
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Donate to my Patreon - I Might Believe in Faeries https://www.patreon.com/imightbelieveinfaeries
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This podcast and its content may not be used for training and developing A.I. systems without permission.
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“Master Nathaniel Chanticleer, the actual head of the family, was a typical Dorimarite in appearance; rotund, rubicund, red-haired, with hazel eyes in which the jokes, before he uttered them, twinkled like a trout in a burn.”
I am joined by Carla Arnell, Professor of English at Lake Forest College, to discuss the almost unknown fantasy novel, Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees. We discuss the plot of the book, the characters and the Catholic sacramental themes that permeate the novel.
Neither of us are kidding when we say this is one of our top favorite fantasy novels of all time.
Professor Arnell wrote a paper on Lud titled, Lud-in-the-Mist as Memento Mori: Existential Anxiety and the Consolations of an Aesthetic Theology in Hope Mirrlees’s Fantasy Novel.
Professor Arnell’s faculty page: https://www.lakeforest.edu/academics/faculty/arnell
Divine Representations: The Rise of the Mystical Novel in Twentieth-Century England https://sunypress.edu/Books/D/Divine-Representations
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Follow me on Twitter @AaronIrber
Subscribe to my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@imightbelieveinfaeries7563
Subscribe to my Substack -
for updates on the show, essays, and more!
Donate to my Patreon - I Might Believe in Faeries https://www.patreon.com/imightbelieveinfaeries
Like my Facebook page - I Might Believe in Faeries
Battle Of The Creek by Alexander Nakarada | https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Logo Art by Linnea Kisby
This podcast and its content may not be used for training and developing A.I. systems without permission.



This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aaronirber.substack.com/subscribe

A lot of ink has been spilled over the Catholic and religious underpinnings of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Pretty much everyone knows this by now, but very few have probed the depths of how the liturgy and the Catholic Mass influenced the very foundation of Middle Earth. In this episode, Professor Ben Reinhard joins the show to explore Tolkien’s deep liturgical roots in his book, The High Hallow: Tolkien’s Liturgical Imagination.
We also discuss how to initiate a hobbit into true religion! You just need Elves and the oldest song-slinging being in Middle Earth (Tom).
The High Hallow: https://stpaulcenter.com/store/the-high-hallow-tolkiens-liturgical-imagination
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Follow me on Twitter @AaronIrber
Subscribe to my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@imightbelieveinfaeries7563
Subscribe to my Substack -
for updates on the show, essays, and more!
Donate to my Patreon - I Might Believe in Faeries https://www.patreon.com/imightbelieveinfaeries
Like my Facebook page - I Might Believe in Faeries
Battle Of The Creek by Alexander Nakarada | https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Logo Art by Linnea Kisby
This podcast and its content may not be used for training and developing A.I. systems without permission.


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aaronirber.substack.com/subscribe

*This episode contains content that may not be suitable for children.
Essayist, poet, and playwright, Jane Scharl returns to the show to discuss her new play, The Death of Rabelais. This is the second in a loose trilogy featuring France’s infamous humanist and humorist, François Rabelais.
In this play, Rabelais finds himself lost in a snow storm on the Eve of Epiphany only to find that Death awaits him. We discuss the play and the different approaches artists and critics take when discerning the different levels of meaning in a work of literature.
Jane Scharl’s website: https://jcscharl.com/
Substack: J.C. Scharl
Wiseblood Books Link: https://www.wisebloodbooks.com/store/p169/The_Death_of_Rabelais%3A_A_Play%2C_Jane_Clark_Scharl.html
*************************************************************************************************************
Follow me on Twitter @AaronIrber
Subscribe to my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@imightbelieveinfaeries7563
Subscribe to my Substack -
for updates on the show, essays, and more!
Donate to my Patreon - I Might Believe in Faeries https://www.patreon.com/imightbelieveinfaeries
Like my Facebook page - I Might Believe in Faeries
Battle Of The Creek by Alexander Nakarada | https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Logo Art by Linnea Kisby
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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aaronirber.substack.com/subscribe