The more than 30 essays in this volume examine the engagement of the Enlightenment with esoteric traditions of the Early Modern Era and the transformative pathways by which Hermeticism, magic, alchemy, and Kabbalah influenced Spiritualism, Occultism, and Theosophy. The contributors explore intersections between the Enlightenment and Esotericism and identify the concerns and preoccupations that made possible the transition to modern esotericism.

This volume assembles letters from the period of the secret society's headlong growth in the first six years of its existence.

From its beginnings with Thomas More, the classical Utopian tradition laid claim to the status of a regulatory principle or ideal. In the 18th century this changed radically. This volume is designed to trace the way in which the Enlightenment brought the problem of how to actually change existing conditions into the discussion on Utopianism, thus generating forms of legitimization for social praxis anticipating developments in the 19th century. The articles were originally papers held at a symposium on "The Politicization of Utopianism in the 18th Century" organized at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Research into the European Enlightenment in Halle in early 1995.

The Age of Enlightenment continues the debate with traditional elements from Neo-Platonism and Hermetism, Pythagoreanism, magic, alchemy and Kabbalah which today are subsumed under the heading of early modern age esotericism. The reactions range from the critical or historicising to emphatic acceptance and integration. At the same time, however, the discourse of the age also gives rise to polemic confrontations with the newly emerging esoteric formations. The papers in this volume explore these tense constellations with their progression in the 18th century.