Access to Western Esotericism

Description

This is the first systematic treatment of esotericism to appear in English. Here is also a historical survey, beginning with the Alexandrean Period, of the various esoteric currents such as Christian Kabbalah, Theosophy, Alchemy, Rosicrucianism, and Hermeticism. Common characteristics of these currents are the notion of universal interdependency and the experience of spiritual transformation. The author establishes a rigorous methodology; provides clarifying definitions of such key terms as "gnosis," "theosophy," "occultism," and "Hermeticism;" and offers analysis of contemporary esotericism based on three distinct pathways. The second half of the book presents a series of studies on several important figures, works, and movements in Western esotericism--studies devoted to some of the most characteristic and illuminating aspects that this form of thought has taken, such as theosophical speculations on androgyny, rosicrucian literature, and Masonic symbolism. The book is completed by a rich and selective Bibliography conceived as a means of orientation and a tool for research. Access to Western Esotericism Contents Part One: Methodology and Reflexions Part Two: A Short History of Western Esoteric Currents Chapter 1: Ancient and Medieval Sources of Modern Esoteric Currents Chapter 2: Esotericism at the Heart of the Renaissance and in the Flames of the Baroque Chapter 3: Esotericism in the Shadow of the Enlightenment Chapter 4: From Romantic Knowledge to Programmatic Occultism Chapter 5: Twentieth-Century Esotericisms Faith and Knowledge in Franz Von Baader and in Modern Gnosis* The Inner Church and the Heavenly Jerusalem The Temple of Solomon in Eighteenth-Century Masonic Theosophy The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosencreutz as Pilgrimage of the Soul Love and Androgyny in Franz von Baader Introduction General Works Alchemy Esoteric Freemasonry From the Second (Corpus Hermeticum) to the Fifteenth Century Renaissance and Seventeenth Century Eighteenth Century Romanticism and "Naturphilosophie" End of the Nineteenth Century Through the Twentieth Century Concerning Tradition Esotericism and Islam Esotericism, Literature, and Art Journals and Serials A Word About Libraries Index of Names A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Y Z Index of Subjects and Terms A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z