Esotericism And The Academy

Author : Wouter J. Hanegraaff
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 0521196213
Total Pages : 479 pages
Book Rating : 4.15/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Esotericism and the Academy written by Wouter J. Hanegraaff and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-01-19 with total page 479 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The neglected history of how intellectuals since the Renaissance have approached ideas of the occult which challenged biblical religion.

Author : Wouter J. Hanegraaff
Publisher : Amsterdam University Press
ISBN 13 : 9056295721
Total Pages : 165 pages
Book Rating : 4.21/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Hermes in the Academy written by Wouter J. Hanegraaff and published by Amsterdam University Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 165 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Hermes in the Academy" commemorates the tenth anniversary of the Center for History of Hermetic Philosophy and related Currents (GHF) at the University of Amsterdam. The center devotes itself to the study of Western esotericism, which includes topics such as Hermetic philosophy, Christian kabbalah and occultism. This volume shows how, over the past ten years, the GHF has developed into the leading international center for research and teaching in this domain.

Author : Wouter J. Hanegraaff
Publisher : A&C Black
ISBN 13 : 1441188975
Total Pages : 225 pages
Book Rating : 4.77/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Western Esotericism: A Guide for the Perplexed written by Wouter J. Hanegraaff and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2013-02-14 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Western esotericism has been a pervasive presence in Western culture from late antiquity to the present day, but until recently it was largely ignored by scholars and surrounded by misconceptions and prejudice. This accessible guide provides readers with the basic knowledge and tools that will allow them to find their way in this bewildering but fascinating field. What is it that unites phenomena as diverse as ancient gnosticism and hermetism, the "occult sciences" of astrology, alchemy, and magic, rosicrucianism, as well as Christian theosophy, occultism, spiritualism, and the contemporary New Age spiritualities? What can the study of them teach us about our common cultural and intellectual heritage, and what is it that makes them relevant to contemporary concerns? How do we distinguish reliable historical knowledge from legends and fictions about esoteric traditions? These and many other questions are answered clearly and succinctly, so that the reader can find his way into the labyrinth of Western esotericism and out of it again.

Author : Glenn Alexander Magee
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1316679357
Total Pages : 820 pages
Book Rating : 4.57/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Cambridge Handbook of Western Mysticism and Esotericism written by Glenn Alexander Magee and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-04-18 with total page 820 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mysticism and esotericism are two intimately related strands of the Western tradition. Despite their close connections, however, scholars tend to treat them separately. Whereas the study of Western mysticism enjoys a long and established history, Western esotericism is a young field. The Cambridge Handbook of Western Mysticism and Esotericism examines both of these traditions together. The volume demonstrates that the roots of esotericism almost always lead back to mystical traditions, while the work of mystics was bound up with esoteric or occult preoccupations. It also shows why mysticism and esotericism must be examined together if either is to be understood fully. Including contributions by leading scholars, this volume features essays on such topics as alchemy, astrology, magic, Neoplatonism, Kabbalism, Renaissance Hermetism, Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, numerology, Christian theosophy, spiritualism, and much more. This Handbook serves as both a capstone of contemporary scholarship and a cornerstone of future research.

Author : Egil Asprem
Publisher : SUNY Press
ISBN 13 : 1438469926
Total Pages : 662 pages
Book Rating : 4.28/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Problem of Disenchantment written by Egil Asprem and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2018-05-31 with total page 662 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Challenges the conventional view of a “disenchanted” and secular modernity, and recovers the complex relation that exists between science, religion, and esotericism in the modern world. Max Weber famously characterized the ongoing process of intellectualization and rationalization that separates the natural world from the divine (by excluding magic and value from the realm of science, and reason and fact from the realm of religion) as the “disenchantment of the world.” Egil Asprem argues for a conceptual shift in how we view this key narrative of modernity. Instead of a sociohistorical process of disenchantment that produces increasingly rational minds, Asprem maintains that the continued presence of “magic” and “enchantment” in people’s everyday experience of the world created an intellectual problem for those few who were socialized to believe that nature should contain no such incalculable mysteries. Drawing on a wide range of early twentieth-century primary sources from theoretical physics, occultism, embryology, radioactivity, psychical research, and other fields, Asprem casts the intellectual life of high modernity as a synchronic struggle across conspicuously different fields that shared surprisingly similar intellectual problems about value, meaning, and the limits of knowledge. “The Problem of Disenchantment is, in its entirety, extraordinarily well researched, argued, and written—representing at once the most complete and nuanced treatment of the notion of disenchantment within this network of scientific, religious, philosophical, and esoteric discourses and currents.” — Nova Religio

Author : John Walbridge
Publisher : SUNY Press
ISBN 13 : 9780791450512
Total Pages : 188 pages
Book Rating : 4.11/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Wisdom of the Mystic East written by John Walbridge and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2001-08-09 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An expert on the thought of medieval Islamic philosopher Suhrawardi argues that philosophers have romanticized this work as a revival of “oriental” wisdom.

Author : Wouter J. Hanegraaff
Publisher : BRILL
ISBN 13 : 9047443586
Total Pages : 566 pages
Book Rating : 4.82/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Hidden Intercourse written by Wouter J. Hanegraaff and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2008-12-31 with total page 566 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history of Western esotericism is rich in references to the domains of eros and sexuality, but this connection has never been explored in detail from a critical scholarly perspective. Bringing together an impressive array of top-level specialists, this volume reveals the outlines of a largely unknown history spanning more than twenty centuries.

Author : Yves Mühlematter
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN 13 : 3110660334
Total Pages : 312 pages
Book Rating : 4.33/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Occult Roots of Religious Studies written by Yves Mühlematter and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2021-06-08 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The historiographers of religious studies have written the history of this discipline primarily as a rationalization of ideological, most prominently theological and phenomenological ideas: first through the establishment of comparative, philological and sociological methods and secondly through the demand for intentional neutrality. This interpretation caused important roots in occult-esoteric traditions to be repressed. This process of “purification” (Latour) is not to be equated with the origin of the academic studies. De facto, the elimination of idealistic theories took time and only happened later. One example concerning the early entanglement is Tibetology, where many researchers and respected chair holders were influenced by theosophical ideas or were even members of the Theosophical Society. Similarly, the emergence of comparatistics cannot be understood without taking into account perennialist ideas of esoteric provenance, which hold that all religions have a common origin. In this perspective, it is not only the history of religious studies which must be revisited, but also the partial shaping of religious studies by these traditions, insofar as it saw itself as a counter-model to occult ideas.

Author : Wouter J. Hanegraaff
Publisher : BRILL
ISBN 13 : 9004378936
Total Pages : 598 pages
Book Rating : 4.33/5 ( download)

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Download or read book New Age Religion and Western Culture written by Wouter J. Hanegraaff and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2018-09-24 with total page 598 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent years have seen a spectacular rise of the New Age movement and an ever-increasing interest in its beliefs and manifestations. This fascinating work presents the first-ever comprehensive analysis of New Age Religion and its historical backgrounds, thus providing the reader with a means of orientation in the bewildering variety of the movement. Making extensive use of primary sources, the author thematically analyses New Age beliefs from the perspective of the study of religions. While looking at the historical backgrounds of the movement, he convincingly argues that its foundations were laid by so-called western esoteric traditions during the Renaissance. Hanegraaff finally shows how the modern New Age movement emerged from the increasing secularization of those esoteric traditions during the 19th century. This ground-breaking publication is compulsive reading for all those involved or interested in the New Age movement.

Author :
Publisher : BRILL
ISBN 13 : 9004446451
Total Pages : 263 pages
Book Rating : 4.58/5 ( download)

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Download or read book New Approaches to the Study of Esotericism written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-12-15 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume offers new approaches to some of the biggest persistent challenges in the study of esotericism and beyond. Commonly understood as a particularly "Western" undertaking consisting of religious, philosophical, and ritual traditions that go back to Mediterranean antiquity, this book argues for a global approach that significantly expands the scope of esotericism and highlights its relevance for broader theoretical and methodological debates in the humanities and social sciences. The contributors offer critical interventions on aspects related to colonialism, race, gender and sexuality, economy, and marginality. Equipped with a substantial introduction and conclusion, the book offers textbook-style discussions of the state of research and makes concrete proposals for how esotericism can be rethought through broader engagement with neighboring fields.