This first volume in the Introduction Series to Western Esotericism serves as a handbook for students and scholars who seek a better understanding of the academic treatment of central ideas and theses concerning mysticism, the hermetic tradition, traditionalism, the occult, Gnosticism, magic, Kabbalah, and related currents. In The Academic Study of Western Esotericism: Early Developments and Related Fields, Dr. Rudbog outlines the main theoretical developments relevant to the academic study of Western esotericism as they emerged prior to Antoine Faivre s foundational model of Western esotericism as a form of thought first formulated in 1992. Preceding the burgeoning growth of the field in the last two decades of the twentieth century, several specialized academic subjects relevant to the discipline had already been well researched and some had even been established as academic categories with their own methodology and specific areas of research. These earlier developments form the basis of this book and will be explored in eight chapters dealing with: 1. the occult revival from 1800 to 1950 2. the sociology of the occult 3. the traditionalists and perennial philosophy 4. the academic study of magic and religion 5. the history of science and the hermetic tradition 6. studies in mysticism 7. the academic study of Kabbalah 8. studies in Gnosticism and gnosis More recent academic developments, including Faivre s typology, will be covered in subsequent volumes of the series. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dr. Tim Rudbog holds an MA research degree in the History of Religion with Philosophy from the University of Copenhagen (thesis: Constructing Kabbalah: From Mysticism to Western Esotericism) and has recently received his PhD from the University of Exeter (thesis: H. P. Blavatsky s Theosophy in Context: The Construction of Meaning in Modern Western Esotericism). Dr. Rudbog lectures on and has published several articles related to esotericism, philosophy and the history of religion and has a long-standing interest in these interrelated fields. Dr. Rudbog is also internationally known as a specialist in rare occult books and the proprietor of H.E.R.M.E.S. Antiquarian.

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.

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.

This first volume in the Introduction Series to Western Esotericism serves as a handbook for students and scholars who seek a better understanding of the academic treatment of central ideas and theses concerning mysticism, the hermetic tradition, traditionalism, the occult, Gnosticism, magic, Kabbalah, and related currents. In The Academic Study of Western Esotericism: Early Developments and Related Fields, Dr. Rudbog outlines the main theoretical developments relevant to the academic study of Western esotericism as they emerged prior to Antoine Faivre s foundational model of Western esotericism as a form of thought first formulated in 1992. Preceding the burgeoning growth of the field in the last two decades of the twentieth century, several specialized academic subjects relevant to the discipline had already been well researched and some had even been established as academic categories with their own methodology and specific areas of research. These earlier developments form the basis of this book and will be explored in eight chapters dealing with: 1. the occult revival from 1800 to 1950 2. the sociology of the occult 3. the traditionalists and perennial philosophy 4. the academic study of magic and religion 5. the history of science and the hermetic tradition 6. studies in mysticism 7. the academic study of Kabbalah 8. studies in Gnosticism and gnosis More recent academic developments, including Faivre s typology, will be covered in subsequent volumes of the series. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dr. Tim Rudbog holds an MA research degree in the History of Religion with Philosophy from the University of Copenhagen (thesis: Constructing Kabbalah: From Mysticism to Western Esotericism) and has recently received his PhD from the University of Exeter (thesis: H. P. Blavatsky s Theosophy in Context: The Construction of Meaning in Modern Western Esotericism). Dr. Rudbog lectures on and has published several articles related to esotericism, philosophy and the history of religion and has a long-standing interest in these interrelated fields. Dr. Rudbog is also internationally known as a specialist in rare occult books and the proprietor of H.E.R.M.E.S. Antiquarian.

The Theosophical Society (est. 1875 in New York by H. P. Blavatsky, H. S. Olcott and others) is increasingly becoming recognized for its influential role in shaping the alternative new religious and cultural landscape of the late nineteenth and the twentieth century, especially as an early promoter of interest in Indian and Tibetan religions and philosophies. Despite this increasing awareness, many of the central questions relating to the early Theosophical Society and the East remain largely unexplored. This book is the first scholarly anthology dedicated to this topic. It offers many new details about the study of Theosophy in the history of modern religions and Western esotericism. The essays in Imagining the East explore how Theosophists during the formative period understood the East and those of its people with whom they came into contact. The authors examine the relationship of the theosophical approach with orientalism and aspects of the history of ideas, politics, and culture at large and discuss how these esoteric or theosophical representations mirrored conditions and values current in nineteenth-century mainstream intellectual culture. The essays also look at how the early Theosophical Society's imagining of the East differed from mainstream 'orientalism' and how the Theosophical Society's mission in India was distinct from that of British colonialism and Christian missionaries.