[New Book] Innovation in Esotericism from the Renaissance to the Present

Editors: Georgiana D. Hedesan (University of Oxford) & Tim Rudbøg (University of Copenhagen)

Publisher: Springer, 2021

This collection explores the role of innovation in understanding the history of esotericism. It illustrates how innovation is a mechanism of negotiation whereby an idea is either produced against, or adapted from, an older set of concepts in order to respond to a present context. Featuring contributions from distinguished scholars of esotericism, it covers many different fields and themes including magic, alchemy, Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, Tarot, apocalypticism and eschatology, Mesmerism, occultism, prophecy, and mysticism.

Contents

  • Front Matter
  • Introduction: Reconceptualizing Innovation and Its Role in Esotericism – Georgiana D. Hedesan & Tim Rudbøg
  • Diligentia et divina sorte: Oracular Intelligence in Marsilio Ficino’s Astral Magic – Angela Voss
  • The Transformation of the Notion of “Adept”: From Medieval Arabic Philosophy to Early Modern Alchemy – Georgiana D. Hedesan
  • A Necessary Conjunction: Cabala, Magic, and Alchemy in the Theosophy of Heinrich Khunrath (1560–1605) – Peter J. Forshaw
  • The Rosicrucian Diaspora in the Seventeenth Century – Christopher McIntosh
  • John Henderson (1757–1788) and Changing Attitudes to the Occult in Enlightenment England – Jonathan Barry
  • Psychic Disciplines: The Magnetizer as Magician in the Writings of Jules Dupotet de Sennevoy (1796–1881) – Jean-Pierre Brach
  • H. P. Blavatsky’s “Wisdom-Religion” and the Quest for Ancient Wisdom in Western Culture – Tim Rudbøg
  • Orientalist Aggregates: Theosophical Buddhism Between Innovation and Tradition – Julie Chajes
  • Theosophical Chronology in the Writings of Guido von List (1848–1919): A Link Between H.P. Blavatsky’s Philosophy and the Nazi Movement – Jeffrey D. Lavoie
  • The Esoteric Roots of the Iranian Revolution: The “Wardenship of the Jurist” Through the Metanomian Shi’a of Ayatollah Khomeini (1902–1989) – George J. Sieg
  • Reflections on the Various Uses of Tarot – Antoine Faivre
  • Back Matter

Source: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-67906-4