About Thyrathen
Thyrathen is where I reweave the scattered threads of Greek magical and mythical traditions. It’s part scholarly project, part creative revival, and part personal reckoning.
After a long and painful hiatus following two family bereavements and the end of a long caregiving chapter, I found myself returning to the questions that first set me on this path. This journal is the result. It marks not a new beginning, but a return to what I always wanted to do.
This project isn’t just about documenting obscure lore. It’s about repairing what time, politics, and academic silos have broken. My focus is on the continuity of Greek thought, from the ancient world through Byzantine and modern folk practices, where esoteric, symbolic, and vernacular knowledge intersect.
About Sasha
I’m Sasha Chaitow — a British-Greek cultural historian, writer, and artist now based in Corfu. My academic background is in Communications and Western Esotericism (MA/PhD), and I’ve spent years exploring Greek traditions both academically and from within. I bring a combination of scholarly rigour, linguistic familiarity, insider cultural knowledge, and lived experience. Full CV is available here.
For over two decades I’ve been teaching, editing, translating, curating, and creating across various disciplines. Thyrathen represents the convergence of all of this: a semi-formal research diary, a space for cultural reclamation, and a creative process made visible.
This is also a return for me personally. After some years away from public work due to intensive caregiving and personal loss, this journal marks a turning point. It reflects both recovery and recommitment: to research, interdisciplinary thinking, and the work of cultural repair.
Why Thyrathen?
In Byzantine usage, the term θύραθεν meant knowledge “from outside the gates” — ideas outside accepted doctrine, often from ancient or ‘pagan’ sources. It’s a fitting title for a project concerned with recovering displaced knowledge and giving voice to what history pushed to the margins.
This isn’t just about the past. Thyrathen is about continuity — about what survives in language, ritual, place, and practice. It’s about repair through knowledge and returning to what matters.
What you’ll find here:
Weekly longform essays on Greek myth, magic, and living folklore
Critical translations of rare or unpublished texts
Reflections on cultural continuity and esoteric tradition
A curated archive of folk tales, many never translated before
Free and paid video lectures on Greek myth and sacred art
The writing here is grounded in historical, linguistic, and anthropological research, but it’s also an offering to all those who sense the quiet threads running through time. Whether you're a scholar, practitioner, or lifelong reader, you're welcome.
Subscribe to support the work
Thyrathen is a labour of love, scholarship, and cultural reclamation. Your support helps this project grow, sustain itself, and reach those who might never otherwise discover these stories. If this work speaks to you, subscribe. It’s free to follow—and paid subscriptions support everything I do.
Free subscribers receive weekly essay previews and updates, extensive Notes, and a number of free videos from my mythology course.
Paid members access full-length articles, exclusive translations, behind-the-scenes commentary, chat access, and full access to the Birth of the Greek Gods course, hosted right here.
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