The Research Network for the Study of Esoteric Practices (RENSEP) is pleased to announce its first international online conference, Magic and Consciousness, taking place from 25 to 27 November 2026.

This conference brings together leading scholars, scientists, philosophers, and experienced practitioners to explore the relationship between magical practices and contemporary consciousness studies. Across three days of keynote lectures, themed panels, and practitioner-based discussions, the event will create a focused space for dialogue between academic research, scientific inquiry, and lived experience.

Historically, magical practices have often been concerned with the transformation of perception, the cultivation of altered states, the use of symbols and language, and the possibility of interactions between consciousness and matter. Today, these questions are being revisited from new perspectives in consciousness studies, psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, transpersonal studies, psychedelic research, and theoretical physics. Magic and Consciousness seeks to examine these intersections in a rigorous, interdisciplinary, and open-minded way.

The conference will address themes such as qualia and consciousness, language, symbols, and consciousness, lettrism and kabbalah, predictive processing and magical cognition, psychedelics and psychonautics, transpersonal psychology, and theories of non-local consciousness. Particular attention will also be given to the role of practitioners’ perspectives, with a dedicated panel exploring lived experience, practice-based models of consciousness, and the challenges of articulating experiential knowledge in dialogue with academic research.

Confirmed keynote speakers include Les Lancaster, speaking from the perspective of transpersonal psychology, and Mike Daw, addressing theories of non-local consciousness. The programme will also include contributions engaging the work of Wouter J. Hanegraaff and Federico Faggin, creating a rich conversation across esotericism, consciousness studies, philosophy, and scientific speculation.

As RENSEP’s first international online conference, Magic and Consciousness reflects the network’s broader commitment to advancing the academic and scientific study of esoteric practices while fostering constructive exchange between scholars and practitioners. The aim is to ask how magical traditions, practices, and experiences might contribute to some of the most pressing contemporary debates about mind, reality, perception, and the limits of knowledge.

The conference will be fully online and free of charge.

We warmly invite scholars, practitioners, students, and all those interested in the study of magic and consciousness to join us for this event.