Magic and Mysticism: An Introduction to Western Esoteric Traditions is a concise overview, from antiquity to the present, of all the major Western religious esoteric movements. Topics covered include alchemy, Gnosticism, Hermeticism, Rosicrucianism, Theosophy and many more. Magic and Mysticism is ideal for students of Mysticism and New Religious Movements, as well as for general readers of Metaphysics and Esoterica.

Magic and Mysticism: An Introduction to Western Esoteric Traditions is a concise overview, from antiquity to the present, of all the major Western religious esoteric movements. Topics covered include alchemy, Gnosticism, Hermeticism, Rosicrucianism, Theosophy and many more. Magic and Mysticism is ideal for students of Mysticism and New Religious Movements, as well as for general readers of Metaphysics and Esoterica.

The Greek word "gnosis," defined as direct spiritual knowledge or insight, has its origins in historical offshoots of Christianity in late antiquity. But the terms “Gnosticism” and “gnosis” have become widespread in many other contexts. They are common in contemporary scholarship on religion and in popular usage among magical, religious, and spiritual practitioners. And they have entered popular usage in contemporary society, with applications in numerous political, religious, and cultural contexts. Gnosis and Gnosticism have become leitmotifs in popular culture, in films such as The Matrix and Dark City, as well as in anime and other popular art forms. In American Gnosis, Arthur Versluis explores the fascinating connection between the Gnostic tradition and contemporary American spirituality, politics, and popular media. Versluis surveys themes of Gnosticism and gnosis in American culture, both within the United States and in global contexts. Versluis shows that gnosis is key to understanding a wide spectrum of global syncretic religious and intellectual movements-some sensational, even wild, but all fascinating. American gnosis, he argues, is a defining feature of hybrid new religious forms in the twenty-first century. Versluis provides case studies of major contemporary figures and texts that are emblematic of neo-gnosticism, offering a comprehensive framework of gnosis and an understanding of gnostic trends in modernity. He explores how neo-gnostic memes recur in social media and shows how American gnosis has manifested as spiritual independence, reflecting the ever-growing demographic category “spiritual but not religious.” In delving into the intersection of contemporary American spirituality, politics, and literature, American Gnosis uncovers the remarkable prevalence of neo-gnostic elements today.

1896. Karezza was a name coined (from the Italian for caress) by the Victorian reformer Alice Bunker Stockham. It refers to non-religious spiritual sexual practices that draw upon tantric techniques of body control but do not involve any of tantra's cultural or iconographic symbolism. Stockham, an Ob-Gyn from Chicago, and the fifth woman to be made a doctor in the United States, traveled to northern India to learn the secrets of tantra-for example, control of the orgasm response-but she did not have any interest in Eastern religions and she felt that such addenda to the methods were not essential. Her view of spirituality was basically Quaker-Christian, and she fitted sacred sexuality into a Christian paradigm with no apparent difficulty. A most interesting read.

By the early twenty-first century, a phenomenon that once was inconceivable had become nearly commonplace in American society: the public spiritual teacher who neither belongs to, nor is authorized by a major religious tradition. From the Oprah Winfrey-endorsed Eckhart Tolle to figures like Gangaji and Adhyashanti, there are now countless spiritual teachers who claim and teach variants of instant or immediate enlightenment. American Gurus tells the story of how this phenomenon emerged. Through an examination of the broader literary and religious context of the subject, Arthur Versluis shows that a characteristic feature of the Western esoteric tradition is the claim that every person can achieve "spontaneous, direct, unmediated spiritual insight." This claim was articulated with special clarity by the New England Transcendentalists Bronson Alcott and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Versluis explores Transcendentalism, Walt Whitman, the Beat movement, Timothy Leary, and the New Age movement to shed light on the emergence of the contemporary American guru. This insightful study is the first to show how Asian religions and Western mysticism converged to produce the phenomenon of "spontaneously enlightened" American gurus.

Light-its symbolism pervades the world religions. There even has developed a modern religion of light whose practitioners refer to themselves as "lightworkers." Buddhists aspire to enlightenment; Christian and other mystics seek illumination. But what are the meanings of light in religion? Surprisingly, this is the first and only book to explore this profound subject. From the ancient standing stones of England and Europe to the now lost religion of Manichaeism, from Pythagoras and Plato to the present, Religion of Light provides an unforgettable introduction to light and to our consciousness of light. Arthur Versluis is author of more than twenty-five books, translated into many languages. Religion of Light is the second in a trilogy of books that began with The Mystical State, and will conclude with another groundbreaking work, Perennial Philosophy.

In this groundbreaking collection, scholars explore how politics can be understood in a much wider range of esoteric religious contexts than is usually recognized. Included here are articles on subjects ranging across the modern era and from a broad geographical expanse, including Europe, Eastern Europe, Russia, and North America. This is the first book to focus on how esotericism and politics intersect not only across the conventional spectrum, but also outside it. Taken together, these articles shed new light on the connections between politics and religion. Authors include Joscelyn Godwin, Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, Lee Irwin, Daniel McKanan, Arthur Versluis, M. E. Warlick, and many others. The third in a series of volumes on Western esotericism, this book emerged from international academic conferences held by the Association for the Study of Esotericism (www.aseweb.org).

This is not just another book, so much as a new way of seeing the world and our way of being in it. Groundbreaking, and profoundly optimistic, this is the only book to investigate how mysticism can inspire cultural and political renewal. At heart, _The Mystical State_ looks toward the future, toward what is possible on the other side of the difficult times that confront us, and how we can envision and encourage cultural emergence. In _The Mystical State_, Arthur Versluis delves into the origins of modernity and what led to the crises of our time. But he also looks to the future, and in particular, to how spirituality can inform cultural and political life in new and illuminating ways.

"Arthur Versluis s _The Mystical State: Politics, Gnosis and Emergent Cultures_, asks a question long overdue in the study of mysticism: what are the political implications of direct mystical experience and thinking? His analysis ranges freely over both ancient and modern thought and experience. His focus on Western thought, ancient and modern, is a welcome respite from the tendency to focus on Eastern meditation and philosophy among scholars of mysticism. His exploration of the marginalized is especially important. And by focusing on the road not taken when Gnosticism was repudiated long ago, he dares to imagine what a new culture and state that s centered on the mystical might look like: the end of gigantism, the re-framing of life and value, and a form of political authority centered in value. It is a courageous and thought provoking book, and should open the door to a series of questions important in our struggling world."

Robert K. C. Forman, author of _Mysticism, Mind, Consciousness_ and numerous other books on mysticism.

It's simply amazing Each page is a feast to both my mind and soul Miguel Conner, editor of _Voices of Gnosticism_

A wonderful book . . . fascinating I highly recommend that people buy it and read it as soon as possible. I can t say enough about it. William Kennedy, Sphinx Radio

Praise for Other Works by Arthur Versluis:

"At a time when the religions of the world are meeting on a spiritual level and in a global context, it is crucial that the Christian West rediscover its often forgotten inner or esoteric wisdom. Arthur Versluis skillfully guides the reader to recover the wide range of this rich heritage." Ewart Cousins, general editor, _World Spirituality: An Encyclopedic History of the Religious Quest_

"A collection of very precious clues to the sources of the Western spiritual tradition, pointing to the hidden currents both in history and in our own selves." Jacob Needleman, author of _The American Soul_ and _The Heart of Philosophy_

In this groundbreaking collection, leading scholars in this emerging field explore how nature can be understood in a wide range of esoteric religious contexts. Included here are articles on subjects ranging from alchemy and panpsychism to music, Appalachian folk magic, and new religions. Esotericism, Religion, and Nature illuminates the way that nature is understood by figures and in traditions that historically have not always been recognized or well understood. Taken together, these articles shed new light on the connections between humanity, nature, and religion. Authors include Joscelyn Godwin, Wouter Hanegraaff, Lee Irwin, Richard Smoley, Arthur Versluis, M. E. Warlick, and many others. The second in a series of volumes on Western esotericism, this book emerged from international academic conferences held by the Association for the Study of Esotericism (www.aseweb.org). Edited by Arthur Versluis, Claire Fanger, Lee Irwin, and Melinda Phillips

The term 'Western esotericism' refers to a wide range of spiritual currents including alchemy, Hermeticism, Kabbala, Rosicrucianism, and Christian theosophy, as well as several practical forms of esotericism like cartomancy, geomancy, necromancy, alchemy, astrology, herbalism, and magic. The early presence of esotericism in North America has not been much studied, and even less so the indebtedness to esotericism of some major American literary figures. In this book Arthur Versluis breaks new ground, showing that many writers of the so-called American Renaissance drew extensively on and were inspired by Western esoteric currents. Before offering his detailed analysis of the esoteric elements in the writings of figures from the American Renaissance, Versluis offers an overview of esotericism in Europe and its offshoots in colonial America.

Transcendentalism is well-known as a peculiarly American philosophical and religious movement. Less well-known is the extent to which such famous Transcendentalists as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau drew on religions of Asia for their inspiration. Arthur Versluis offers a comprehensive study of the relationship between the American Transcendentalists and Asian religions. He argues that an influx of new information about these religions shook nineteenth-century American religious consciousness to the core. With the publication of ever more material on Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism, the Judeo-Christian tradition was inevitably placed as just one among a number of religious traditions. Fundamentalists and conservatives denounced this influx as a threat, but the Transcendentalists embraced it, poring over the sacred books of Asia to extract ethical injunctions, admonitions to self-transcendence, myths taken to support Christian doctrines, and manifestations of a supposed coming universal religion. The first major study of this relationship since the 1930s, American Transcendentalism and Asian Religions is also the first to consider the post-Civil War Transcendentalists, such as Samuel Johnson and William Rounseville Alger. Examining the entire range of American Transcendentalism, Versluis's study extends from the beginnings of Transcendentalist Orientalism in Europe to its continuing impact on twentieth-century American culture. This exhaustive and enlightening work sheds important new light on the history of religion in America, comparative religion, and nineteenth-century American literature and popular culture.