Profs and Pints Baltimore

Profs and Pints Baltimore presents: “Ancient Magic and Witchcraft,” on beliefs in supernatural powers in the Greece and Rome of antiquity, with Barbette Spaeth, professor emerita of classical studies at the College of William & Mary.

[Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/baltimore-ancient-magic .]

In the Greco-Roman world of the ancient Mediterranean existed people who practiced magic and witchcraft in much the same way that we think of it today. They wrote down and uttered spells—for both themselves and their clients—to curse enemies, force others to fall in love, prophesy the future, heal both physical and mental injuries, and even raise the dead. Belief in their powers was widespread.

Take a scholarly journal back to antiquity to learn who practiced magic, and how they did it, with Professor Barbette Spaeth, an expert on Greek and Roman religion who has extensively researched ancient magic and witchcraft and offered two courses on it.

In a talk that has received rave audience reviews when previously given in Charlottesville and Richmond, Dr. Spaeth will discuss the evidence of ancient magical practices found in ancient Greek and Latin literature, inscriptions, and artifacts uncovered by archaeologists.

You’ll learn how ancient practitioners of magic could supposedly turn themselves into animals, be in two places at once, and force ghosts and demons to do their bidding. The tools they used in their work included plants and herbs, wands, lead tablets, and animal or human body parts.

While both women and men practiced magic, but there appears to have been marked differences in how they approached it. Men were considered "magicians" who learned their craft from books or consultations with divine beings and mainly practiced positive “white magic.” Women were more likely to be depicted practicing evil “black magic” that they learned from other female “witches” or through powers they’d come upon naturally.

Greek witches like Circe and Medea were seen as beautiful young women who did magic most commonly to help others, particularly their lovers. In contrast, Roman witches like Canidia and Erichtho, were portrayed as old ugly hags who used magic to harm others and ultimately to undermine the very foundations of the universe.

The state, particularly under the Roman Empire, tried to control the practice of magic, particularly the “black” form. The sanctions imposed on those convicted of practicing it included exile and execution. ( Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Doors open at 5. The talk begins at 6:30.)

Image: From the 1892 John William Waterhouse painting “Circe Invidiosa,” which depicts the witch Circe turning the beautiful maiden Scylla into a monster by pouring a magic potion into the waters where Scylla took her bath.

Profs and Pints Baltimore presents: “Mermaid Tales,” a discussion of the enigmatic water spirits of East Slavic countries, with folklorist Philippa Rappoport of George Washington University.

[Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/baltimore-rusalki .]

Be careful out there. According to Slavic folklore, in the late spring the rusalki, an East Slavic version of mermaids, emerge from lakes and streams to water crops and to claim lives. They're mostly beautiful, with wild hair and blazing eyes, and they’re more than happy to drag smitten young men to watery graves.

Join Philippa Rappoport, an expert on Slavic folklore and rituals, for a discussion of the water spirits of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia and the traditions centered around them. She'll describe how rusalki were both revered and feared by people who would sing songs in their honor while carrying protective charms.

You'll learn how East Slavic mermaid lore permeated wedding rituals and parades, inspired the construction of effigies, and reflected beliefs about women that, throughout the world, have translated into a lot of concern over how women wear their hair and cover their heads.

Philippa has wowed crowds with fascinating talks on East Slavic nature spirits and folktales related to the underworld and winter. Her accounts of mermaids promise to be equally entertaining. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Doors open at 5. The talk begins at 6:30.)

Image: “Rusalka and her daughter,” an engraving by I. Volkov published in 1899.

Profs and Pints Baltimore presents: “Goddess of Spring and the Underworld,” an introduction to the Greek goddess Persephone in her many incarnations, with Brittany Warman, former instructor at Ohio State University and co-founder of the Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic.

[Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/baltimore-persephone .]

Join Brittany Warman, who has earned a huge following among Profs and Pints fans by delivering fantastic talks on folklore, myths, legends, and fantasy, for the perfect event for the season: a look at the spring goddess Persephone and the many ways in which she has inspired the human imagination.

The story of Hades and Persephone is one of the most famous—and most retold—episodes in Greek mythology. Persephone’s abduction, her interlude in the Underworld, and her partial return to the world above have inspired statues and webcomics, ancient cults and contemporary poetry. Thousands of years after her tale was first told, we’re still fascinated by this goddess.

Brittany will discuss how Persephone’s appeal lies in her liminality in being caught between two very different worlds and lives. She represents spring, renewal, and rebirth because Earth blooms with her return, but she’s also the Queen of the Underworld. From a 21st-century perspective, she’s basically a goth girl adorned with a flower crown.

We’ll also look at Persephone’s mythic roots, including their connections to the Eleusinian Mysteries. And then we’ll dive into some of the ways that Persephone has been revised and retold in recent years, from the Tony award-winning musical Hadestown to the webcomic Lore Olympus to memes and fairy tales and fashion.

After all, why be just one thing when you can be the queen of spring and of darkness? (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Talk begins at 4:30. Attendees may arrive any time after 3 pm.)

Image: From “Proserpine” (Persephone) painted by Dante Gabriel Rossetti in 1882. (Birmingham Museums Trust / Wikimedia Commons.)

Profs and Pints Baltimore presents: “A Return to the Gilded Age,” with Allen Pietrobon, assistant professor of Global Affairs at Trinity Washington University and former professorial lecturer of history at American University.

[Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/baltimore-gilded-age .]

Crippling economic crises. Fears related to immigration and disease. Income inequality. Corporate monopolies. Technological disruption. Big money unduly influencing politics. A few wealthy men seizing control of how most Americans exchanged information and got the news.

Sound like 2025? Actually, here we’re talking about America from 1875 to 1900.

Known as “The Gilded Age,” it was a crucial era of rapid industrialization, economic dislocation, social change and turbulence, and political turmoil. It set the United States on the path to becoming the most economically powerful country in the world while also creating an astronomical wealth gap between the rich and the poor.

Some enterprising Americans took advantage of economic disruption to succeed. Industrial tycoons like the Rockefellers and the Carnegies built unthinkably large business empires and then used their monopoly power to hold down wages and shut down competition. They deployed their vast profits to buy politicians, corrupting politics and tilting it and the economy in their favor.

Expansive new factories needed unskilled workers, who arrived via the largest wave of immigration in American history. New arrivals from Europe and Asia poured into rapidly expanding major cities, which came to be seen as rife with corruption and filled with squalor. As many Americans who were ill-equipped to compete in this new economy found themselves left behind, strikes broke out and labor violence, protests and counter-protests bloodied the streets. All the while Americans grew increasingly divided and angry at their political leaders.

Join award-winning professor Allen Pietrobon as he describes this tumultuous period and explores why this all sounds so familiar to us today. Among the questions he’ll answer: How did this period draw to a close? Might ours have a similar end? (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Doors open at 5. The talk begins at 6:30.)

Image: An 1883 cartoon from Puck magazine depicts rich robber barons being carried by the workers of their day (Library of Congress / Wikimedia).