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Western esotericism
Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and
sometimes the Western mystery tradition,[1] is a term under which
scholars have categorised a wide range of loosely related ideas and
movements which have developed within Western society. These ideas and
currents are united by the fact that they are largely distinct both from
orthodox Judeo-Christian religion and from Enlightenment rationalism.
Esotericism has pervaded various forms of Western philosophy, religion,
pseudoscience, art, literature, and music, continuing to affect intellectual
ideas and popular culture.

The idea of grouping a wide range of Western traditions and philosophies

together under the category that is now termed esotericism developed in
Europe during the late seventeenth century. Various academics have
debated how to define Western esotericism, with a number of different
options proposed. One scholarly model adopts its definition of
"esotericism" from certain esotericist schools of thought themselves,
The tree of life as represented in the
treating "esotericism" as a perennialist hidden, inner tradition. A second Kabbalah, containing the Sephiroth.
perspective sees esotericism as a category that encompasses movements
which embrace an "enchanted" world-view in the face of increasing
disenchantment. A third views Western esotericism as a category encompassing all of Western culture's "rejected
knowledge" that is accepted neither by the scientific establishment nor by orthodox religious authorities.

The earliest traditions which later analysis would label as forms of Western esotericism emerged in the Eastern
Mediterranean during Late Antiquity, where Hermeticism, Gnosticism, and Neoplatonism developed as schools of
thought distinct from what became mainstream Christianity. Renaissance Europe saw increasing interest in many of
these older ideas, with various intellectuals combining "pagan" philosophies with the Kabbalah and Christian
philosophy, resulting in the emergence of esoteric movements like Christian theosophy. The seventeenth century saw
the development of initiatory societies professing esoteric knowledge such as Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry, while
the Age of Enlightenment of the eighteenth century led to the development of new forms of esoteric thought. The
nineteenth century saw the emergence of new trends of esoteric thought that have come to be known as occultism.
Prominent groups in this century included the Theosophical Society and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
Modern Paganism developed within occultism, and includes religious movements such as Wicca. Esoteric ideas
permeated the counterculture of the 1960s and later cultural tendencies, from which emerged the New Age
phenomenon in the 1970s.

Although the idea that these varying movements could be categorised together under the rubric of "Western
esotericism" developed in the late eighteenth century, these esoteric currents were largely ignored as a subject of
academic enquiry. The academic study of Western esotericism only emerged in the late twentieth-century, pioneered
by scholars like Frances Yates and Antoine Faivre. Esoteric ideas have meanwhile also exerted an influence in popular
culture, appearing in art, literature, film, and music.

Contents
Etymology
Conceptual development

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Definition
Esotericism as a universal, secret, inner tradition
Esotericism as an enchanted world view
Esotericism as claims to higher knowledge
Western esotericism as "rejected knowledge"
History
Late Antiquity
Middle Ages
Renaissance and Early Modern period
18th, 19th and early 20th centuries
Later 20th century
Popular culture
Academic study
Emic and etic divisions
See also
References
Footnotes
Sources
Further academic reading
Further reading
External links

Etymology
The concept of the "esoteric" originated in the second century AD[2] with the coining of the Ancient Greek adjective
esôterikós ("belonging to an inner circle"); the earliest known example of the word appeared in a satire authored by
Lucian of Samosata[3] (c. 125 – after 180)

The noun "esotericism", in its French form "ésotérisme", first appeared in 1828 [4] in the work by Jacques Matter
(1791–1864), Histoire critique du gnosticisme (3 vols.).[5][6] The term "esotericism" thus came into use in the wake of
the Age of Enlightenment and of its critique of institutionalised religion, during which time alternative religious groups
began to disassociate themselves from the dominant Christianity in Western Europe.[7] During the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries, the term "esotericism" came to commonly be seen as something which was distinct from
Christianity, and which had formed a subculture that had been at odds with the Christian mainstream from at least the
time of the Renaissance.[7] The French occultist and ceremonial magician Eliphas Lévi (1810–1875) popularized the
term in the 1850s, and Theosophist Alfred Percy Sinnett (1840–1921) introduced it into the English language in his
book Esoteric Buddhism (1883).[5] Lévi also introduced the term l'occultisme, a notion that he developed against the
background of contemporary socialist and Catholic discourses.[8] "Esotericism" and "occultism" were often employed
as synonyms until later scholars distinguished the concepts.[9]

Conceptual development
The concept of "Western esotericism" is a modern
scholarly construct rather than a pre-existing, self-
defined tradition of thought.[11] In the late seventeenth
century, several European Christian thinkers presented
the argument that certain traditions of Western
philosophy and thought could be categorised together,
thus establishing the category that is now called
"Western esotericism".[12] The first to do so was de:
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'Western esotericism' is not a natural term but an
artificial category, applied retrospectively to a range
of currents and ideas that were known by other
names at least prior to the end of the eighteenth
century. [This] means that, originally, not all those
currents and ideas were necessarily seen as
belonging together:... it is only as recently as the
later seventeenth century that we find the first
attempts at presenting them as one single, coherent
field or domain, and at explaining what they have in
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Ehregott Daniel Colberg (1659–1698), a German common. In short, 'Western esotericism' is a modern
Lutheran who wrote Platonisch-Hermetisches
scholarly construct, not an autonomous tradition
that already existed out there and merely needed to
Christianity (1690–91). A hostile critic of various be discovered by historians.
currents of Western thought that had emerged since the — The scholar of esotericism Wouter Hanegraaff,
Renaissance—among them Paracelsianism,
2013.[10]
Weigelianism, and Christian theosophy—in his book he
labelled all of these traditions under the category of
"Platonic–Hermetic Christianity", arguing that they
were heretical to what he saw as true Christianity.[13] Despite his hostile attitude toward these traditions of thought, he
was the first to connect these disparate philosophies and study them under one rubric, also recognising that these ideas
linked back to earlier philosophies from late antiquity.[14]

In Europe during the eighteenth century, amid the Age of Enlightenment, these esoteric traditions came to be regularly
categorised under the labels of "superstition", "magic", and "the occult", terms which were often used
interchangeably.[15] The modern academy, which was then in the process of developing, consistently rejected and
ignored topics coming under "the occult" and thus research into them was largely left to enthusiasts outside of
academia.[16] Indeed, according to historian of esotericism Wouter J. Hanegraaff (born 1961), rejection of "occult"
topics was seen as a "crucial identity marker" for any intellectuals seeking to affiliate themselves with the academy.[16]

Scholars established this category in the late 18th century after identifying "structural similarities" between "the ideas
and world views of a wide variety of thinkers and movements" which prior to this had not been placed in the same
analytical grouping.[10] According to the scholar of esotericism Wouter J. Hanegraaff, the term provided a "useful
generic label" for "a large and complicated group of historical phenomena that had long been perceived as sharing an
air de famille."[9]

Various academics have emphasised the idea that esotericism is a phenomenon unique to the Western world; as Faivre
stated, an "empirical perspective" would hold that "esotericism is a Western notion".[17] As scholars such as Faivre and
Hanegraaff have pointed out, there is no comparable category of "Eastern" or "Oriental" esotericism.[18] The emphasis
on Western esotericism was nevertheless primarily devised to distinguish the field from a universal esotericism.[19]
Hanegraaff has characterised these as "recognisable world views and approaches to knowledge that have played an
important although always controversial role in the history of Western culture."[20] Historian of religion Henrik
Bogdan asserted that Western esotericism constituted "a third pillar of Western culture" alongside "doctrinal faith and
rationality", being deemed heretical by the former and irrational by the latter.[21] Scholars nevertheless recognise that
various non-Western traditions have exerted "a profound influence" over Western esotericism, citing the prominent
example of the Theosophical Society's incorporation of Hindu and Buddhist concepts into its doctrines.[22] Given these
influences and the imprecise nature of the term "Western", the scholar of esotericism Kennet Granholm has argued
that academics should cease referring to "Western esotericism" altogether, instead simply favouring "esotericism" as a
descriptor of this phenomenon.[23] This attitude was endorsed by Egil Asprem.[24]

Definition
The historian of esotericism Antoine Faivre noted that "never a precise term, [esotericism] has begun to overflow its
boundaries on all sides",[25] with both Faivre and Karen-Claire Voss stating that Western esotericism consists of "a vast
spectrum of authors, trends, works of philosophy, religion, art, literature, and music".[26] There is broad agreement
among scholars as to which currents of thought can be placed within a category of "esotericism", ranging from ancient
Gnosticism and Hermetism through to Rosicrucianism and the Kabbalah and on to more recent phenomenon such as
the New Age movement.[27] Nevertheless, "esotericism" itself remains a controversial term, with scholars specialising
in the subject disagreeing as to how it can best be defined.[27]

Esotericism as a universal, secret, inner tradition

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A definition adopted by some scholars has used "Western

esotericism" in reference to "inner traditions" which are
concerned with a "universal spiritual dimension of reality, as
opposed to the merely external ('exoteric') religious institutions
and dogmatic systems of established religions."[28] According
to this approach, "Western esotericism" is viewed as just one
variant of a worldwide "esotericism" which can be found at the
heart of all world religions and cultures, reflecting a hidden
esoteric reality.[29] This usage of the term "esotericism" is
closest to the original meaning of the word as it was used in late
antiquity, where it was applied to secret spiritual teachings
which were reserved for a specific elite and hidden from the
A colored version of the 1888 Flammarion
engraving masses.[30] This definition was popularised in the published
work of nineteenth-century esotericists like A.E. Waite, who
sought to combine their own mystical beliefs with a historical
interpretation of esotericism.[31] It subsequently became a popular approach within several esoteric movements, most
notably Martinism and Traditionalism.[32]

This definition—originally developed by esotericists themselves—became popular among French academics during the
1980s, exerting a strong influence over the scholars Mircea Eliade, Henry Corbin, and the early work of Faivre.[32]
Within the academic field of religious studies, those who study different religions in search of an inner, universal
dimension to them all are termed "religionists".[29] Such religionist ideas also exerted an influence on more recent
scholars like Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke and Arthur Versluis.[29] Versluis for instance defined "Western esotericism" as
"inner or hidden spiritual knowledge transmitted through Western European historical currents that in turn feed into
North American and other non-European settings".[33] He added that these Western esoteric currents all shared a core
characteristic, "a claim to gnosis, or direct spiritual insight into cosmology or spiritual insight",[33] and accordingly he
suggested that these currents could be referred to as "Western gnostic" just as much as "Western esoteric".[34]

There are various problems with this model for understanding Western esotericism.[29] The most significant is that it
rests upon the conviction that there really is a "universal, hidden, esoteric dimension of reality" that objectively
exists.[29] The existence of this universal inner tradition has not been discovered through scientific or scholarly
enquiry; this had led some to claim that it does not exist, although Hanegraaff thought it better to adopt a view based
in methodological agnosticism by stating that "we simply do not know - and cannot know" if it exists or not. He noted
that, even if such a true and absolute nature of reality really existed, it would only be accessible through 'esoteric'
spiritual practices, and could not be discovered or measured by the 'exoteric' tools of scientific and scholarly
enquiry.[35] Hanegraaff also highlighted that an attitude which seeks to uncover an inner hidden core of all esoteric
currents masks the fact that such groups often contain significant differences from one another, being rooted in their
own historical and social contexts, and expressing ideas and agendas which are mutually exclusive.[36] A third issue
was that many of those currents widely recognised as esoteric never concealed their teachings, and in the twentieth
century came to permeate popular culture, thus problematizing the claim that esotericism could be defined by its
hidden and secretive nature.[37] Moreover, Hanegraaff noted that when scholars adopt this definition, it shows that
they subscribe to the religious doctrines which are espoused by the very groups that they are studying.[9]

Esotericism as an enchanted world view

Another approach to Western esotericism has treated it as a world view that embraces 'enchantment' in contrast to
world views influenced by post-Cartesian, post-Newtonian, and positivist science which have sought to 'dis-enchant'
the world.[38] Esotericism is therefore understood as comprising those world views which eschew a belief in
instrumental causality and instead adopt a belief that all parts of the universe are interrelated without a need for causal

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chains.[38] It therefore stands as a radical alternative to the disenchanted world

views which have dominated Western culture since the scientific revolution,[38] and
must therefore always be at odds with secular culture.[39]

An early exponent of this definition was the historian of Renaissance thought

Frances Yates in her discussions of a "Hermetic Tradition", which she saw as an
'enchanted' alternative to established religion and rationalistic science.[40] However,
the primary exponent of this view was Faivre, who published a series of criteria for
how to define "Western esotericism" in 1992.[41] Faivre claimed that esotericism was
"identifiable by the presence of six fundamental characteristics or components",
four of which were "intrinsic" and thus vital to defining something as being esoteric,
while the other two were "secondary" and thus not necessarily present in every form
of esotericism.[42] He listed these characteristics as follows:

1. "Correspondences": This is the idea that there are both real and symbolic
correspondences existing between all things within the universe.[43] As
examples for this, Faivre pointed to the esoteric concept of the macrocosm and The Magician, a tarot card
microcosm, often presented as the dictum of "as above, so below", as well as displaying the Hermetic
the astrological idea that the actions of the planets have a direct corresponding
concept of "as above, so
influence on the behaviour of human beings.[44]
below." Faivre connected
2. "Living Nature": Faivre argued that all esotericists envision the natural universe
as being imbued with its own life force, and that as such they understand it as this concept to
being "complex, plural, hierarchical". [45] 'correspondences', his first
3. "Imagination and Mediations": Faivre believed that all esotericists place great defining characteristic of
emphasis on both the human imagination, and mediations – "such as rituals, esotericism
symbolic images, mandalas, intermediary spirits" – and mantras as tools that
provide access to worlds and levels of reality existing between the material
world and the divine.[46]
4. "Experience of Transmutation": Faivre's fourth intrinsic characteristic of esotericism was the emphasis that
esotericists place on fundamentally transforming themselves through their practice, for instance through the
spiritual transformation that is alleged to accompany the attainment of gnosis.[47]
5. "Practice of Concordance": The first of Faivre's secondary characteristics of esotericism was the belief – held by
many esotericists, such as those in the Traditionalist School – that there is a fundamental unifying principle or root
from which all world religions and spiritual practices emerge. The common esoteric principle is that by attaining
this unifying principle, the world's different beliefs can be brought together in unity.[48]
6. "Transmission": Faivre's second secondary characteristic was the emphasis on the transmission of esoteric
teachings and secrets from a master to their discipline, through a process of initiation.[49]
Faivre's form of categorisation has been endorsed by scholars like Goodrick-Clarke,[50] and by 2007 Bogdan could note
that Faivre's had become "the standard definition" of Western esotericism in use among scholars.[51] However, in 2013
the scholar Kennet Granholm stated only that Faivre's definition had been "the dominating paradigm for a long while"
and that it "still exerts influence among scholars outside the study of Western esotericism".[52] The advantage of
Faivre's system is that it allows varying esoteric traditions to be compared "with one another in a systematic
fashion".[53] However, criticisms have also been expressed of Faivre's theory, pointing out its various weaknesses.[54]
Hanegraaff claimed that Faivre's approach entailed "reasoning by prototype" in that it relied upon already having a
"best example" of what Western esotericism should look like, against which other phenomenon then had to be
compared.[55] The scholar of esotericism de: Kocku von Stuckrad (born 1966) noted that Faivre's taxonomy was based
on his own areas of specialism – Renaissance Hermeticism, Christian Kabbalah, and Protestant Theosophy – and that
it was thus not based on a wider understanding of esotericism as it has existed throughout history, from the ancient
world to the contemporary period.[56] Accordingly, Von Stuckrad suggested that it was a good typology for
understanding "Christian esotericism in the early modern period" but lacked utility beyond that.[57]

Esotericism as claims to higher knowledge

Somewhat crudely, esotericism can be described as a

Western form of spirituality that stresses the
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As an alternative to Faivre's framework, Von Stuckrad importance of the individual effort to gain spiritual
developed his own variant, although argued that this
knowledge, or gnosis, whereby man is confronted
with the divine aspect of existence.
did not represent a "definition" but rather "a
— Historian of religion Henrik Bogdan, 2007.[58]
framework of analysis" for scholarly usage.[59] He
stated that "on the most general level of analysis",
esotericism represented "the claim of higher
knowledge", a claim to possessing "wisdom that is superior to other interpretations of cosmos and history" and which
serves as a "master key for answering all questions of humankind".[60] Accordingly, he believed that esoteric groups
placed a great emphasis on secrecy, not because they were inherently rooted in elite groups but because the idea of
concealed secrets that can be revealed was central to their discourse.[61] Examining the means of accessing higher
knowledge, he highlighted two themes that he believed could be found within esotericism, that of mediation through
contact with non-human entities, and individual experience.[62] Accordingly, for Von Stuckrad, esotericism could be
best understood as "a structural element of Western culture" rather than as a selection of different schools of
thought.[7]

Western esotericism as "rejected knowledge"

An additional definition was proposed by Hanegraaff, and holds that "Western esotericism" is a category representing
"the academy's dustbin of rejected knowledge."[20] In this respect, it contains all of the theories and world views that
have been rejected by the mainstream intellectual community because they do not accord with "normative conceptions
of religion, rationality and science".[20] His approach is rooted within the field of the history of ideas, and stresses the
role of change and transformation over time.[63]

Goodrick-Clarke was critical of this approach, believing that it relegated Western esotericism to the position of "a
casualty of positivist and materialist perspectives in the nineteenth-century" and thus reinforces the idea that Western
esoteric traditions were of little historical importance.[64] Bogdan similarly expressed concern regarding Hanegraaff's
definition, believing that it made the category of Western esotericism "all inclusive" and thus analytically useless.[65]

History

Late Antiquity
The origins of Western esotericism are in the Hellenistic Eastern Mediterranean,
then part of the Roman Empire, during Late Antiquity, a period encompassing the
first centuries of the Common Era.[66] This was a milieu in which there was a mix of
religious and intellectual traditions from Greece, Egypt, the Levant, Babylon, and
Persia, and in which globalisation, urbanisation, and multiculturalism were
bringing about socio-cultural change.[67]

One component of this was Hermetism, an Egyptian Hellenistic school of thought

that takes its name from the legendary Egyptian wise man, Hermes
Trismegistus.[68] In the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE, a number of texts appeared
which were attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, including the Corpus Hermeticum,
Asclepius, and The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth.[69] Although it is still
debated as to whether Hermetism was a purely literary phenomenon, or whether A later illustration of
Hermes Trismegistus
there were communities of practitioners who acted on these ideas, it has been
established that these texts discuss the true nature of God, emphasising that
humans must transcend rational thought and worldly desires in order to find salvation and be reborn into a spiritual
body of immaterial light, thereby achieving spiritual unity with divinity.[69]

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Another tradition of esoteric thought in Late Antiquity was Gnosticism, which had a complex relationship with
Christianity. Various Gnostic sects existed, and they broadly believed that the divine light had been imprisoned within
the material world by a malevolent entity known as the Demiurge, who was served by demonic helpers, the Archons. It
was the Gnostic belief that humans, who were imbued with the divine light, should seek to attain gnosis and thus
escape from the world of matter and rejoin the divine source.[70]

A third form of esotericism in Late Antiquity was Neoplatonism, a school of thought influenced by the ideas of the
philosopher Plato. Advocated by such figures as Plotinus, Porphyry, Iamblichus, and Proclus, Neoplatonism held that
the human soul had fallen from its divine origins into the material world, but that it could progress, through a number
of hierarchical spheres of being, to return to its divine origins once more.[71] The later Neoplatonists performed
theurgy, a ritual practice attested in such sources as the Chaldean Oracles. Scholars are still unsure of precisely what
theurgy involved, although it is known that it involved a practice designed to make gods appear, who could then raise
the theurgist's mind to the reality of the divine.[72]

Middle Ages
After the fall of Rome, alchemy and philosophy and other aspects of the tradition were largely preserved in the Arab
and Near Eastern world and reintroduced into Western Europe by Jews and by the cultural contact between Christians
and Muslims in Sicily and southern Italy. The 12th century saw the development of the Kabbalah in southern Italy and
medieval Spain.

The medieval period also saw the publication of grimoires, which offered often elaborate formulas for theurgy and
thaumaturgy. Many of the grimoires seem to have kabbalistic influence. Figures in alchemy from this period seem to
also have authored or used grimoires.

Renaissance and Early Modern period

During the Renaissance, a number of European thinkers began to synthesize "pagan" (that is, not Christian)
philosophies, which were then being made available through Arabic translations, with Christian thought and the
Jewish kabbalah.[73] The earliest of these individuals was the Byzantine philosopher Plethon (1355/60–1452?), who
argued that the Chaldean Oracles represented an example of a superior religion of ancient humanity which had been
passed down by the Platonists.[74]

Plethon's ideas interested the ruler of Florence, Cosimo de Medici, who employed Florentine thinker Marsilio Ficino
(1433–1499) to translate Plato's works into Latin. Ficino went on to translate and publish the works of various Platonic
figures, arguing that their philosophies were compatible with Christianity, and allowing for the emergence of a wider
movement in Renaissance Platonism, or Platonic Orientalism.[75] Ficino also translated part of the Corpus
Hermeticum, although the rest would be translated by his contemporary, Lodovico Lazzarelli (1447–1500).[76]

Another core figure in this intellectual milieu was Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463–1494), who achieved notability
in 1486 by inviting scholars from across Europe to come and debate the 900 theses that he had written with him. Pico
della Mirandola argued that all of these philosophies reflected a grand universal wisdom, however Pope Innocent VIII
condemned these actions, criticising him for attempting to mix pagan and Jewish ideas with Christianity.[77]

Pico della Mirandola's increased interest in Jewish kabbalah led to his development of a distinct form of Christian
Kabbalah. His work was built on by the German Johannes Reuchlin (1455–1522) who authored a prominent text on the
subject, De Arte Cabbalistica.[78] Christian Kabbalah was expanded in the work of the German Heinrich Cornelius
Agrippa (1486–1535/36), who used it as a framework through which to explore the philosophical and scientific
traditions of Antiquity in his work De occulta philosophia libri tres.[79] The work of Agrippa and other esoteric
philosophers had been based in a pre-Copernican worldview, but following the arguments of Copernicus, a more

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accurate understanding of the cosmos was established. Copernicus' theories were adopted into esoteric strains of
thought by Giordano Bruno (1548–1600), whose ideas would be deemed heresy by the Roman Catholic Church,
eventually resulting in his public execution.[80]

A distinct strain of esoteric thought developed in Germany, where it came to be

known as Naturphilosophie; although influenced by traditions from Late Antiquity
and Medieval Kabbalah, it only acknowledged two main sources of authority:
Biblical scripture and the natural world.[81] The primary exponent of this approach
was Paracelsus (1493/94–1541), who took inspiration from alchemy and folk magic
to argue against the mainstream medical establishment of his time which, as in
Antiquity, still based its approach on the ideas of the second-century physician and
philosopher, Galen, a Greek in the Roman Empire. Instead, Paracelsus urged
doctors to learn medicine through an observation of the natural world, although in
later work he also began to focus on overtly religious questions. His work would The Masonic Square and
gain significant support in both areas over the following centuries.[82] Compasses.

One of those influenced by Paracelsus was the German cobbler Jacob Böhme (1575–
1624), who sparked the Christian theosophy movement through his attempts to solve the problem of evil. Böhme
argued that God had been created out of an unfathomable mystery, the Ungrud, and that God himself composed of a
wrathful core, surrounded by the forces of light and love.[83] Although condemned by Germany's Lutheran authorities,
Böhme's ideas spread and formed the basis for a number of small religious communities, such as Johann Georg
Gichtel's Angelic Brethren in Amsterdam, and John Pordage and Jane Leade's Philadelphian Society in England.[84]

From 1614 to 1616, the three Rosicrucian Manifestos were published in Germany; these texts purported to represent a
secret, initiatory brotherhood which had been founded centuries before by a German adept named Christian
Rosenkreutz. There is no evidence that Rosenkreutz was a genuine historical figure, nor that a Rosicrucian Order had
ever existed up to that point. Instead, the manifestos are likely literary creations of Lutheran theologian Johann
Valentin Andreae (1586–1654). However, they inspired much public interest, with various individuals coming to
describe themselves as "Rosicrucian" and claiming that they had access to secret, esoteric knowledge as a result.[85]

A real initiatory brotherhood was established in late 16th-century Scotland through the transformation of Medieval
stonemason guilds to include non-craftsman: Freemasonry. Soon spreading into other parts of Europe, in England it
largely rejected its esoteric character and embraced humanism and rationalism, while in France it embraced new
esoteric concepts, particularly those from Christian theosophy.[86]

18th, 19th and early 20th centuries

The Age of Enlightenment witnessed a process of increasing secularisation
of European governments and an embrace of modern science and
rationality within intellectual circles. In turn, a "modernist occult" emerged
that reflected varied ways in which esoteric thinkers came to terms with
these developments.[87] One of the most prominent esotericists of this
period was the Swedish naturalist Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772), who
attempted to reconcile science and religion after experiencing a vision of
Jesus Christ. His writings focused on his visionary travels to heaven and
hell and his communications with angels, claiming that the visible,
Hypnotic séance. Painting by
materialist world parallels an invisible spiritual world, with
Swedish artist Richard Bergh, 1887
correspondences between the two that do not reflect causal relations.
Following his death, followers would found the Swedenborgian New
Church, although his writings would influence a far wider array of esoteric philosophies.[88] Another major figure
within the esoteric movement of this period was the German physician Franz Anton Mesmer (1734–1814), who

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developed the theory of Animal Magnetism, which later came to be known more commonly as "Mesmerism". Mesmer
claimed that a universal life force permeated everything, including the human body, and that illnesses were caused by a
disturbance or block in this force's flow; he developed techniques which he claimed cleansed such blockages and
restored the patient to full health.[89] One of Mesmer's followers, the Marquis de Puységur, discovered that mesmeric
treatment could induce a state of somnumbulic trance in which they claimed to enter visionary states and
communicate with spirit beings.[90]

These somnumbulic trance-states would heavily influence the esoteric religion of Spiritualism, which emerged from
the United States in the 1840s and spread throughout North American and Europe. Spiritualism was based on the
concept that individuals could communicate with spirits of the deceased during séances.[91] Although most forms of
Spiritualism had little theoretical depth, being largely practical affairs, full theological worldviews based on the
movement would be articulated by Andrew Jackson Davis (1826–1910) and Allan Kardec (1804–1869).[90] Scientific
interest in the claims of Spiritualism resulted in the development of the field of psychical research.[90] Somnambulism
also exerted a strong influence on the early disciplines of psychology and psychiatry; esoteric ideas purvey the work of
many early figures in this field, most notably Carl Gustav Jung, although with the rise of psychoanalysis and
behaviourism in the 20th century, these disciplines distanced themselves from esotericism.[92] Also influenced by
artificial somnambulism was the religion of New Thought, founded by the American Mesmerist Phineas P. Quimby
(1802–1866) and which revolved around the concept of "mind over matter", believing that illness and other negative
conditions could be cured through the power of belief.[93]

In Europe, a movement usually termed "occultism" emerged as various figures

Pentagram of Eliphas Levi
attempted to find a "third way" between Christianity and positivist science while
building on the ancient, medieval, and Renaissance traditions of esoteric
thought.[93] In France, following the social upheaval of the 1789 Revolution, various
figures emerged in this occultist milieu who were heavily influenced by traditional
Catholicism, the most notable of whom were Eliphas Lévi (1810–1875) and Papus
(1865–1916).[94] Also significant was René Guénon (1886–1951), whose concern
with tradition led him to develop an occult viewpoint termed Traditionalism; it
espoused the idea of an original, universal tradition, and thus a rejection of
modernity.[95] His Traditionalist ideas would have a strong influence on later
esotericists like Julius Evola (1898–1974) and Frithjof Schuon (1907–1998).[95]

In the Anglophone world, the burgeoning occult movement owed more to Enlightenment libertines, and thus was more
often of an anti-Christian bent that saw wisdom as emanating from the pre-Christian pagan religions of Europe.[95]
Various Spiritualist mediums came to be disillusioned with the esoteric thought available, and sought inspiration in
pre-Swedenborgian currents; the most prominent of these were Emma Hardinge Britten (1823–1899) and Helena
Blavatsky (1831–1891), the latter of whom called for the revival of the "occult science" of the ancients, which could be
found in both the East and West. Authoring the influential Isis Unveiled (1877) and The Secret Doctrine (1888), she
co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875.[96] Subsequent leaders of the Society, namely Annie Besant (1847–1933)
and Charles Webster Leadbeater (1854–1934) interpreted modern theosophy as a form of ecumenical esoteric
Christianity, resulting in their proclamation of Indian Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986) as world messiah.[97] In
rejection of this was the breakaway Anthroposophical Society founded by Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925).[97]

New esoteric understandings of magic also developed in the latter part of the 19th century. One of the pioneers of this
was American Paschal Beverly Randolph (1825–1875), who argued that sexual energy and psychoactive drugs could be
used for magical purposes.[97] In England, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, an initiatory order devoted to
magic which based itself on an understanding of kabbalah, was founded in the latter years of the century.[98] One of
the most prominent members of that order was Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), who went on to proclaim the religion of
Thelema and become a prominent member of the Ordo Templi Orientis.[99] Some of their contemporaries developed
esoteric schools of thought that did not entail magic, namely the Greco-Armenian teacher George Gurdjieff (1866–
1949) and his Russian pupil P.D. Ouspensky (1878–1947).[100]

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Emergent occult and esoteric systems found increasing popularity in the early 20th century, especially in Western
Europe. Occult lodges and secret societies flowered among European intellectuals of this era who had largely
abandoned traditional forms of Christianity. The spreading of secret teachings and magic practices found enthusiastic
adherents in the chaos of Germany during the interwar years. Notable writers such as Guido von List spread neo-
pagan, nationalist ideas, based on Wotanism and the Kabbalah. Many influential and wealthy Germans were drawn to
secret societies such as the Thule Society. Thule Society activist Karl Harrer was one of the founders of the German
Workers' Party,[101] which later became the Nazi Party; some Nazi Party members like Alfred Rosenberg and Rudolf
Hess were listed as "guests" of the Thule Society, as was Adolf Hitler's mentor Dietrich Eckart.[102] After their rise to
power, the Nazis persecuted occultists.[103] While many Nazi Party leaders like Hitler and Joseph Goebbels were
hostile to occultism, Heinrich Himmler used Karl Maria Wiligut as a clairvoyant "and was regularly consulting for help
in setting up the symbolic and ceremonial aspects of the SS" but not for important political decisions. By 1939, Wiligut
was "forcibly retired from the SS" due to being institutionalised for insanity.[104] On the other hand, the German
hermetic magic order Fraternitas Saturni was founded on Easter 1928 and it is one of the oldest continuously running
magical groups in Germany.[105] In 1936, the Fraternitas Saturni was prohibited by the Nazi regime. The leaders of the
lodge emigrated in order to avoid imprisonment, but in the course of the war Eugen Grosche, one of their main leaders,
was arrested for a year by the Nazi government. After World War II they reformed the Fraternitas Saturni.[106]

Later 20th century

In the 1960s and 1970s, esotericism came to be increasingly associated with the
growing counter-culture in the West, whose adherents understood themselves in
participating in a spiritual revolution that would mark the Age of Aquarius.[107] By
the 1980s, these currents of millenarian currents had come to be widely known as
the New Age movement, and it became increasingly commercialised as business
entrepreneurs exploited a growth in the spiritual market.[107] Conversely, other
forms of esoteric thought retained the anti-commercial and counter-cultural
sentiment of the 1960s and 1970s, namely the techno-shamanic movement
promoted by figures such as Terence McKenna and Daniel Pinchbeck which built on
the work of anthropologist Carlos Castaneda.[107]

This trend was accompanied by the increased growth of modern Paganism, a

Sculpture of the Horned
movement initially dominated by Wicca, the religion propagated by Gerald
God of Wicca found in the
Gardner.[108] Wicca was adopted by members of the second-wave feminist
Museum of Witchcraft in
movement, most notably Starhawk, and developing into the Goddess Boscastle, Cornwall
movement.[108] Wicca also greatly influenced the development of Pagan neo-
druidry and other forms of Celtic revivalism.[108] In response to Wicca there has
also appeared literature and groups who label themselves followers of traditional witchcraft in opposition to the
growing visibility of Wicca and these claim older roots than the system proposed by Gerald Gardner.[109] Other trends
which emerged in western occultism in the later 20th century were satanism as exposed by groups such as the Church
of Satan and Temple of Set,[110] as well as chaos magick through the Illuminates of Thanateros group.[111][112]

Popular culture
In 2013, Asprem and Granholm highlighted that "contemporary esotericism is intimately, and increasingly, connected
with popular culture and new media."[113]

Granholm noted that esoteric ideas and images could be found in many aspects of Western popular media, citing such
examples as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Avatar, Hellblazer, and His Dark Materials.[114] Granholm has argued that
there are problems with the field in that it draws a distinction between esotericism and non-esoteric elements of

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culture which draw upon esotericism; citing the example of extreme metal, he noted that it was extremely difficult to
differentiate between artists who were "properly occult" and those who referenced occult themes and aesthetics in "a
superficial way".[115]

Writers interested in occult themes have adopted three different strategies for dealing with the subject: those who are
knowledgeable on the subject including attractive images of the occult and occultists in their work, those who disguise
occultism within "a web of intertextuality", and those who oppose it and seek to deconstruct it.[116]

Academic study
The academic study of Western esotericism was pioneered in the early 20th
century by historians of the ancient world and the European Renaissance,
who came to recognise that – although it had been ignored by previous
scholarship – the effect which pre-Christian and non-rational schools of
thought had exerted on European society and culture was worthy of
academic attention.[64] One of the key centres for this was the Warburg
Institute in London, where scholars like Frances Yates, Edgar Wind, Ernst
Cassirer, and D. P. Walker began arguing that esoteric thought had had a London's Warburg Institute was one
greater effect on Renaissance culture than had been previously of the first centres to encourage the
academic study of Western
accepted.[117] The work of Yates in particular, most notably her 1964 book
esotericism
Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition, has been cited as "an
important starting-point for modern scholarship on esotericism",
succeeding "at one fell swoop in bringing scholarship onto a new track" by bringing wider awareness of the effect that
esoteric ideas had on modern science.[118]

At the instigation of the scholar Henry Corbin, in 1965 the world's first academic post in the study of esotericism was
established at the École pratique des hautes études in the Sorbonne, Paris; named the chair in the History of Christian
Esotericism, its first holder was François Secret, a specialist in the Christian Kabbalah, although he had little interest in
developing the wider study of esotericism as a field of research.[119] In 1979 Faivre assumed Secret's chair at the
Sorbonne, which was renamed the "History of Esoteric and Mystical Currents in Modern and Contemporary
Europe".[120] Faivre has since been cited as being responsible for developing the study of Western esotericism into a
formalised field,[121] with his 1992 work L'ésotérisme having been cited as marking "the beginning of the study of
Western esotericism as an academic field of research".[122] He remained in the chair until 2002, when he was
succeeded by Jean-Pierre Brach.[118]

Faivre noted that there were two significant obstacles to establishing the field. One
was that there was an engrained prejudice towards esotericism within academia,
resulting in the widespread perception that the history of esotericism was not
worthy of academic research.[123] The second was that esotericism is a trans-
disciplinary field, the study of which did not fit clearly within any particular
discipline.[124] As Hanegraaff noted, Western esotericism had to be studied as a
separate field to religion, philosophy, science, and the arts, because while it
"participates in all these fields" it does not squarely fit into any of them.[125]
Elsewhere, he noted that there was "probably no other domain in the humanities
Prominent scholar of that has been so seriously neglected" as Western esotericism.[126]
esotericism Wouter
Hanegraaff In 1980, the U.S.-based Hermetic Academy was founded by Robert A. McDermott
as an outlet for American scholars interested in Western esotericism.[127] From
1986 to 1990 members of the Hermetic Academy participated in panels at the

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annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion under the rubric of the "Esotericism and Perennialism
Group".[127] By 1994, Faivre could comment that the academic study of Western esotericism had taken off in France,
Italy, England, and the United States, but he lamented the fact that it had not done so in Germany.[123]

In 1999, the University of Amsterdam established a chair in the "History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related
Currents", which was occupied by Hanegraaff,[128] while in 2005 the University of Exeter created a chair in "Western
Esotericism", which was taken by Goodrick-Clarke, who headed the Exeter Center for the Study of Esotericism.[129]
Thus, by 2008 there were three dedicated university chairs in the subject, with Amsterdam and Exeter also offering
master's degree programs in it.[130] Several conferences on the subject were held at the quintennial meetings of the
International Association for the History of Religions,[131] while a peer-reviewed journal, Aries: Journal for the Study
of Western Esotericism began publication in 2001.[131] 2001 also saw the foundation of the North American
Association for the Study of Esotericism (ASE), with the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism
(ESSWE) being established shortly after.[132] Within a few years, Michael Bergunder expressed the view that it had
become an established field within religious studies,[133] with Asprem and Granholm observing that scholars within
other sub-disciplines of religious studies had begun to take an interest in the work of scholars of esotericism.[134]

Asprem and Granholm noted that the study of esotericism had been dominated by historians and thus lacked the
perspective of social scientists examining contemporary forms of esotericism, a situation that they were attempting to
correct through building links with scholars operating in Pagan studies and the study of new religious movements.[135]
On the basis of the fact that "English culture and literature have been traditional strongholds of Western esotericism",
in 2011 Pia Brînzeu and György Szönyi urged that English studies also have a role in this interdisciplinary field.[136]

Emic and etic divisions

Hanegraaff follows a distinction between an “emic” and an “etic” approach to religious studies. The emic approach is
that of the alchemist or theosopher as an alchemist or theosopher. The etic approach is that of the scholar as an
historian, a researcher, with a critical view. An empirical study of esotericism needs “emic material and etic
interpretation”:

Emic denotes the believer’s point of view. On the part of the researcher, the reconstruction of this emic
perspective requires an attitude of empathy which excludes personal biases as far as possible. Scholarly
discourse about religion, on the other hand, is not emic but etic. Scholars may introduce their own
terminology and make theoretical distinctions which are different from those of the believers
themselves.[137]

Arthur Versluis proposes approaching esotericism through a “sympathetic empiricism”:

Esotericism, given all its varied forms and its inherently multidimensional nature, cannot be conveyed
without going beyond purely historical information: at minimum, the study of esotericism, and in
particular mysticism, requires some degree of imaginative participation in what one is studying.[138]

Many scholars of esotericism have come to be regarded as respected intellectual authorities by practitioners of various
esoteric traditions.[139] Although many scholars of esotericism have sought to emphasise that "esotericism" is not a
single object, practitioners who are reading this scholarship have begun to regard it and think of it as a singular object,
with which they affiliate themselves.[140] Thus, Asprem and Granholm noted that the use of the term "esotericism"
among scholars "significantly contributes to the reification of the category for the general audience – despite the
explicated contrary intentions of most scholars in the field."[141]

See also
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Black magic
Involution (esoterism)
Magic (supernatural)
Metaphysics of presence
References
Footnotes
1. Brian Morris, Religion and Anthropology: A Critical
Introduction, Cambridge University Press, 2006, p.
298.
2. Hanegraaff, Wouter J. (2013). "What is Western
esotericism?" (https://books.google.com/books?id=kh
aNd720XQMC). Western Esotericism: A Guide for
the Perplexed. Guides for the Perplexed. London:
Bloomsbury Academic. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-4411-8897-
7. Retrieved 2018-11-11. "The adjective 'esoteric' first
appeared in the second century CE [...]."
3. Von Stuckrad 2005b, p. 80; Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 3.
4. Von Stuckrad 2005a, p. 2.
5. Hanegraaff 1996, p. 384.
6. Compare: Hanegraaff, Wouter J. (2013). "What is
Western esotericism?" (https://books.google.com/boo
ks?id=khaNd720XQMC). Western Esotericism: A
Guide for the Perplexed. Guides for the Perplexed.
London: Bloomsbury Academic. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-
4411-8897-7. Retrieved 2018-11-11. "The adjective
'esoteric' first appeared in the second century CE, but
the substantive is of relatively recent date: it seems to
have been coined in German (Esoterik) in 1792,
migrated to French scholarship (l'estoterisme) by
1828 and appeared in English in 1883. [...] In short,
'Western esotericism' is a modern scholarly
construct, not an autonomous tradition that already
existed out there and merely needed to be
discovered by historians."
7. Von Stuckrad 2005b, p. 80.
8. Strube 2016a; Strube 2016b.
9. Hanegraaff 1996, p. 385.
10. Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 3.
11. Von Stuckrad 2005b, p. 88; Bogdan 2007, p. 6;
Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 3.
12. Hanegraaff 2012, p. 78.
13. Hanegraaff 2012, p. 107.
14. Hanegraaff 2012, pp. 107–108.
15. Hanegraaff 2012, p. 230.
16. Hanegraaff 2012, p. 221.
17. Faivre 1994, p. 17.
18. Faivre 1994, p. 6; Hanegraaff 2013a, pp. 14–15.
19. Asprem 2014, p. 8.
20. Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 13.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_esotericism
Western esotericism - Wikipedia
21. Bogdan 2007, p. 7.
22. Bogdan 2013, p. 177.
23. Granholm 2013a, pp. 31–32.
24. Asprem 2014, p. 4.
25. Faivre 1994, p. 3.
26. Faivre & Voss 1995, pp. 48–49.
27. Von Stuckrad 2005b, p. 79.
28. Hanegraaff 2013a, pp. 10–12.
29. Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 11.
30. Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 10.
31. Hanegraaff 2012, p. 251.
32. Hanegraaff 2013b, p. 178.
33. Versluis 2007, p. 1.
34. Versluis 2007, p. 2.
35. Hanegraaff 2013a, pp. 11–12.
36. Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 12.
37. Hanegraaff 1996, p. 385; Von Stuckrad 2005b, p. 81.
38. Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 5.
39. Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 7.
40. Hanegraaff 2013a, pp. 6–7.
41. Von Stuckrad 2005a, p. 3; Bogdan 2007, p. 10;
Hanegraaff 2013a, pp. 3–4.
42. Faivre 1994, p. 10; Von Stuckrad 2005a, p. 4;
Bergunder 2010, p. 14; Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 3.
43. Faivre 1994, p. 10; Hanegraaff 1996, p. 398; Von
Stuckrad 2005a, p. 4; Versluis 2007, p. 7.
44. Faivre 1994, pp. 10–11.
45. Faivre 1994, p. 11; Hanegraaff 1996, p. 398; Von
Stuckrad 2005a, p. 4; Versluis 2007, p. 7.
46. Faivre 1994, p. 12; Hanegraaff 1996, pp. 398–399;
Von Stuckrad 2005a, p. 4; Versluis 2007, p. 7.
47. Faivre 1994, p. 13; Hanegraaff 1996, pp. 399–340;
Von Stuckrad 2005a, p. 4; Versluis 2007, p. 7.
48. Faivre 1994, p. 14; Hanegraaff 1996, p. 400; Von
Stuckrad 2005a, p. 4; Versluis 2007, p. 8.
49. Faivre 1994, pp. 14–15; Hanegraaff 1996, p. 400;
Von Stuckrad 2005a, p. 4; Versluis 2007, p. 8.
50. Goodrick-Clarke 2008, pp. 7–10.
51. Bogdan 2007, p. 10.
52. Granholm 2013b, p. 8.
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53. Von Stuckrad 2005a, p. 4. 93. Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 39.

54. Von Stuckrad 2005a, p. 5; Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 3. 94. Strube 2016a; Hanegraaff 2013a.
55. Hanegraaff 2013a, pp. 4–5. 95. Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 40.
56. Von Stuckrad 2005a, p. 5. 96. Faivre 1994, pp. 93–94; Hanegraaff 2013a, pp. 40–
57. Von Stuckrad 2005b, p. 83. 41.
58. Bogdan 2007, p. 5. 97. Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 41.
59. Von Stuckrad 2005b, p. 93. 98. Faivre 1994, p. 91; Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 41.
60. Von Stuckrad 2005b, p. 88. 99. Hanegraaff 2013a, pp. 41–42.
61. Von Stuckrad 2005b, p. 89. 100. Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 42.
62. Von Stuckrad 2005b, pp. 91–92. 101. Hermann Gilbhard: Thule-Gesellschaft (http://www.hi
storisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/artikel/artikel_44318).
63. Bergunder 2010, p. 18.
102. Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke: The Occult Roots of
64. Goodrick-Clarke 2008, p. 4.
Nazism (https://books.google.com/books?id=9hMP5Z
65. Bogdan 2007, p. 15. Mu6bIC&pg=PA149#v=onepage&q&f=false). London:
66. Goodrick-Clarke 2008, pp. 3, 15; Hanegraaff 2013a, Tauris Parke Paperbacks 2005, p. 149.
p. 18. 103. Corinna Treitel: A Science for the Soul: Occultism
67. Goodrick-Clarke 2008, p. 13; Hanegraaff 2013a, and the Genesis of the German Modern (https://book
p. 18. s.google.com/books?id=VG7e-LnLhEcC&pg=PA220#
68. Versluis 2007, p. 24; Goodrick-Clarke 2008, p. 16– v=onepage&q&f=false). Baltimore: The Johns
20; Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 19. Hopkins University Press 2004, p. 220.
69. Goodrick-Clarke 2008, p. 16–20; Hanegraaff 2013a, 104. Corinna Treitel: A Science for the Soul: Occultism
p. 19. and the Genesis of the German Modern (https://book
70. Faivre 1994, p. 53; Goodrick-Clarke 2008, pp. 27–29; s.google.com/books?id=VG7e-LnLhEcC&pg=PA215#
Hanegraaff 2013a, pp. 19–20. v=onepage&q&f=false). Baltimore: The Johns
Hopkins University Press 2004, pp. 215ff.
71. Faivre 1994, p. 52; Goodrick-Clarke 2008, pp. 20–27.
105. |Wouter Hanegraaff: "The most important magical
72. Goodrick-Clarke 2008, p. 25; Hanegraaff 2013a,
secret lodge of the 20th century in the German-
pp. 20–21.
speaking world." "Fraternitas Saturni" at Wouter
73. Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 25. Hanegraaff (ed). Dictionary of Gnosis and Western
74. Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 26. Esotericism. Brill. 2006. p. 379
75. Faivre 1994, p. 58; Hanegraaff 2013a, pp. 26–27. 106. Stephen E. Flowers. Fire & Ice: The History,
76. Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 27. Structure and Rituals of Germany's Most Influential
Modern Magical Order: The Brotherhood of Saturn.
77. Hanegraaff 2013a, pp. 27–28.
St Paul, MN: Llewellyn, 1994 pp. 23–24
78. Hanegraaff 2013a, pp. 28–29.
107. Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 43.
79. Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 29.
108. Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 44.
80. Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 30.
109. Robert Cochrane and the Gardnerian Craft: Feuds,
81. Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 31. Secrets, and Mysteries in Contemporary British
82. Faivre 1994, pp. 61–63; Hanegraaff 2013a, pp. 30– Witchcraft Ethan Doyle White. The Pomegranate:
31. The International Journal of Pagan Studies. 2011. pp.
83. Faivre 1994, pp. 63–64; Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 32. 205–206.
84. Hanegraaff 2013a, pp. 32–33. 110. "Satanism" at Wouter Hannegraaff (ed). Dictionary of
85. Faivre 1994, pp. 64–66; Hanegraaff 2013a, pp. 33– Gnosis and Western Esotericism. Brill. 2006. p. 1035
34. 111. Nevill Drury. Stealing Fire from Heaven: The Rise of
86. Hanegraaff 2013a, pp. 35–36. Modern Western Magic.Oxford University Press.
2011. p. 251
87. Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 36.
112. Colin Duggan. "Perennialism and iconoclasm. Chaos
88. Faivre 1994, p. 72; Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 37.
magick and the legitimacy of innovation". Egil
89. Faivre 1994, pp. 76–77; Hanegraaff 2013a, pp. 37– Asprem and Kennet Granholm (eds). Contemporary
38. esotericism. Equinox Publishing. 2013
90. Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 38. 113. Asprem & Granholm 2013, p. 6.
91. Faivre 1994, p. 87; Hanegraaff 2013a, p. 38. 114. Granholm 2013a, p. 31.
92. Hanegraaff 2013a, pp. 38–39. 115. Granholm 2013b, pp. 8–9.
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116. Brînzeu & Szönyi 2011, p. 185.
117. Goodrick-Clarke 2008, pp. 4–5.
118. Von Stuckrad 2005a, p. 3.
119. Faivre 1994, p. ix; Von Stuckrad 2005a, p. 3; Von
Stuckrad 2005b, p. 81; Bergunder 2010, p. 11.
120. Faivre 1994, p. x; Von Stuckrad 2005a, p. 3; Von
Stuckrad 2005b, p. 81; Bergunder 2010, p. 12.
121. Versluis 2007, p. 6; Goodrick-Clarke 2008, p. 5.
122. Hanegraaff 2013b, p. 179.
123. Faivre 1994, p. ix.
124. Faivre 1994, p. ix; Versluis 2007, p. 6.
125. Hanegraaff 2013a, pp. 1–2.
126. Hanegraaff 2013b, p. 198.
127. Faivre 1994, p. x; Faivre & Voss 1995, p. 59.
128. Von Stuckrad 2005a, p. 3; Von Stuckrad 2005b,
p. 81; Bergunder 2010, p. 12–13.
129. Von Stuckrad 2005a, p. 3; Versluis 2007, p. 7.
130. Goodrick-Clarke 2008, p. 3.
131. Von Stuckrad 2005b, p. 81.
132. Versluis 2007, p. 6.
133. Bergunder 2010, p. 9.
134. Asprem & Granholm 2013, p. 1.
135. Asprem & Granholm 2013, pp. 3–4.
136. Brînzeu & Szönyi 2011, p. 184.
137. Wouter J. Hanegraaff, New Age Religion and
Western Culture. Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular
Thought, Albany: State University of New York Press,
1998, 6.
138. Arthur Versluis, “Methods in the Study of Esotericism,
Part II: Mysticism and the Study of Esotericism”, in
Esoterica, Michigan State University, V, 2003, 27-40.
139. Asprem & Granholm 2013b, p. 44.
140. Asprem & Granholm 2013b, pp. 43–44.
141. Asprem & Granholm 2013b, p. 45.

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Asprem, Egil; Granholm, Kennet (2013b). "Constructing Esotericisms: Sociological, Historical and
Critical Approaches to the Invention of Tradition". Contemporary Esotericism. Egil Asprem
and Kennet Granholm (editors). Durham: Acumen. pp. 25–48. ISBN 978-1-317-54357-2.

Bergunder, Michael (2010). Kenneth Fleming (translator). "What is Esotericism? Cultural Studies
Approaches and the Problems of Definition in Religious Studies". Method and Theory in the
Study of Religion. 22: 9–36. doi:10.1163/094330510X12604383550882 (https://doi.org/10.1
163%2F094330510X12604383550882).

Bogdan, Henrik (2007). Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation. New York: SUNY Press.
ISBN 978-0-7914-7070-1.

Bogdan, Henrik (2013). "Reception of Occultism in India: The Case of the Holy Order of Krishna".
Occultism in a Global Perspective. Henrik Bogdan and Gordan Djurdjevic (editors).
Durham: Acumen. pp. 177–201. ISBN 978-1-84465-716-2.

Brînzeu, Pia; Szönyi, György (2011). "The Esoteric in Postmodernism". European Journal of
English Studies. 15 (3): 183–188. doi:10.1080/13825577.2011.626934 (https://doi.org/10.10
80%2F13825577.2011.626934).

Faivre, Antoine (1994). Access to Western Esotericism. New York: SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-
7914-2178-9.

Faivre, Antoine; Voss, Karen-Claire (1995). "Western Esotericism and the Science of Religions".
Numen. 42 (1): 48–77. doi:10.1163/1568527952598756 (https://doi.org/10.1163%2F156852
7952598756). JSTOR 3270279 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3270279).

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Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas (2008). The Western Esoteric Traditions: A Historical Introduction.

Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-532099-2.

Granholm, Kennet (2013a). "Locating the West: Problematizing the Western in Western
Esotericism and Occultism". Occultism in a Global Perspective. Henrik Bogdan and Gordan
Djurdjevic (editors). Durham: Acumen. pp. 17–36. ISBN 978-1-84465-716-2.

Granholm, Kennet (2013b). "Ritual Black Metal: Popular Music as Occult Mediation and Practice"
(https://web.archive.org/web/20140819085712/http://correspondencesjournal.files.wordpres
s.com/2013/09/11302_20537158_granholm.pdf) (PDF). Correspondences: An Online
Journal for the Academic Study of Western Esotericism. 1 (1): 5–33. Archived from the
original (http://correspondencesjournal.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/11302_20537158_gra
nholm.pdf) (PDF) on 2014-08-19. Cite uses deprecated parameter |dead-url= (help)

Hanegraaff, Wouter (1996). New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of
Secular Thought. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-10695-6.

Hanegraaff, Wouter (2012). Esotericism and the Academy: Rejected Knowledge in Western
Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-19621-5.

Hanegraaff, Wouter (2013a). Western Esotericism: A Guide for the Perplexed. London:
Bloomsbury Press. ISBN 978-1-4411-3646-6.

Hanegraaff, Wouter J. (2013b). "Textbooks and Introductions to Western Esotericism". Religion. 43

(2): 178–200. doi:10.1080/0048721x.2012.733245 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F0048721x.2
012.733245).

Strube, Julian (2016a). Sozialismus, Katholizismus und Okkultismus im Frankreich des 19.
Jahrhunderts: Die Genealogie der Schriften von Eliphas Lévi. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter.
ISBN 978-3-11-047810-5.

Strube, Julian (2016b). "Socialist Religion and the Emergence of Occultism: A Genealogical
Approach to Socialism and Secularization in 19th-Century France". Religion. 46 (3): 359–
388. doi:10.1080/0048721X.2016.1146926 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F0048721X.2016.114
6926).

Versluis, Arthur (2007). Magic and Mysticism: An Introduction to Western Esotericism. Lanham:
Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-7425-5836-6.

Von Stuckrad, Kocku (2005a). Western Esotericism: A Brief History of Secret Knowledge. Nicholas
Goodrick-Clarke (translator). Durham: Acumen. ISBN 978-1-84553-033-4.

Von Stuckrad, Kocku (2005b). "Western Esotericism: Towards an Integrative Model of

Interpretation". Religion. 35 (2): 78–97. doi:10.1016/j.religion.2005.07.002 (https://doi.org/1
0.1016%2Fj.religion.2005.07.002).

Further academic reading

Faivre, Antoine (2010). Western Esotericism: A Concise History. Christine Rhone (translator). New
York: SUNY Press. ISBN 978-1-4384-3377-6.

Giegerich, Eric (2001). "Antoine Faivre: Studies in Esotericism". The San Francisco Jung Institute
Library Journal. 20 (2): 7–25. doi:10.1525/jung.1.2001.20.2.7 (https://doi.org/10.1525%2Fju
ng.1.2001.20.2.7).

Granholm, Kennet (2013). "Esoteric Currents as Discursive Complexes". Religion. 43 (1): 46–69.
doi:10.1080/0048721x.2013.742741 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F0048721x.2013.742741).

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Hanegraaff, Wouter J., ed. (2005), Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism I, Leiden /
Boston: Brill

Hanegraaff, Wouter J. (2015). "The Globalization of Esotericism" (http://correspondencesjournal.co

m/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/14303_20537158_hanegraaff.pdf) (PDF).
Correspondences: An Online Journal for the Academic Study of Western Esotericism. 3.
pp. 55–91.

Tweed, Thomas A. (2005), "American Occultism and Japanese Buddhism. Albert J. Edmunds, D.
T. Suzuki, and Translocative History" (http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/publications/jjrs/pdf/721.pdf)
(PDF), Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 32 (2): 249–281

Versluis, Arthur (1993), American Transcendentalism and Asian Religions, Oxford University Press

Further reading
Scholarly

Aries: Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism (https://archive.is/20130103142028/http://brill.publisher.ingent

aconnect.com/content/brill/arie), Leiden: Brill, since 2001.
Aries Book Series: Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism (http://www.brill.nl/arbs), Leiden: Brill, since 2006.
Esoterica (http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/Contents.html), East Lansing, Michigan State University (MSU). An online
resource since 1999. I (1999) (http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/Contents.html#Volume1); VIII (2006) (http://www.esote
ric.msu.edu/VolumeVIII/EsotericaVIII.pdf); IX (2007) (http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/VolumeIX/EsotericaIX.pdf)
Wouter J. Hanegraaff, “The Study of Western Esotericism: New Approaches to Christian and Secular Culture (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=OYsk8ZtJaMIC&pg=PA489&lpg=PA489&dq=%E2%80%9CThe+Study+of+Wester
n+Esotericism:+New+Approaches+to+Christian+and+Secular+Culture&source=bl&ots=IcmnMDcPww&sig=XX7jR
aTy4JL49DRWXJnlYaaUvGs&hl=fr&ei=4YA-Tb-yNYmj4Qa0qK22Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1
&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9CThe%20Study%20of%20Western%20Esotericism%3A%20N
ew%20Approaches%20to%20Christian%20and%20Secular%20Culture&f=false)”, in Peter Antes, Armin W.
Geertz and Randi R. Warne, New Approaches to the Study of Religion, vol. I: Regional, Critical, and Historical
Approaches, Berlin / New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2004, 497 p.
Wouter J. Hanegraaff (ed.), in collaboration with Antoine Faivre, Roelof van den Broek, Jean-Pierre Brach,
Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism, Leiden / Bristol: Brill, 2005, 2 vols., 1228 p. ISBN 90-04-14187-1.
Kelley, James L., Anatomyzing Divinity: Studies in Science, Esotericism and Political Theology, Trine Day, 2011,
192 p., ISBN 978-1936296279.
Pierre Martin, Esoterische Symbolik heute - in Alltag. Sprache und Einweihung. Basel: Edition Oriflamme, 2010,
118 p. illustrated ISBN 978-3-9523616-1-0.

Le Symbolisme Esotérique Actuel - au Quotidien, dans le Langage et pour l'Auto-initiation. Basel: Edition
Oriflamme, 2011, 120 p. illustrated ISBN 978-3-9523616-3-4

External links
An Esoteric Archive (http://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/index.htm)
Center for History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents (http://www.amsterdamhermetica.nl), University of
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
The Western Esoteric Tradition Research Site (http://www.westernesoterictradition.com/)
Association for the Study of Esotericism (ASE) (http://www.aseweb.org/)
European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE) (http://www.esswe.org)
University of Exeter Centre for the Study of Esotericism (EXESESO) (http://www.huss.ex.ac.uk/research/exeseso/)
Aries: Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism (https://web.archive.org/web/20110912073919/http://www.brill.
nl/aries)
Esoterica. A peer-reviewed academic journal devoted to the transdisciplinary study of Western esotericism (http://
www.esoteric.msu.edu/)
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