The Occult Nineteenth Century: Roots, Developments, and Impact on the Modern World

Description

The nineteenth century witnessed a proliferation of alternative religious currents and practices, appropriating earlier traditions, entangling geographically distinct spiritual discourses, and crafting a repository of mindscapes eminently suitable to be accommodated by later generations of thinkers and practitioners. Penned by specialists in the field, this volume examines important themes and figures pertaining to this occult amalgam and its resonance into the twentieth century and beyond. Global guises of the occult, ranging from the Americas and Europe to India, are variously addressed, with special attention to the crucial role of mesmerism and the origins of modern yoga. Contents List of Contributors Chapter 1: Introductory Remarks References Part I: Mesmerism Chapter 2: Carl August von Eschenmayer and the Somnambulic Soul From Philosophical Idealism to Animal Magnetism Eschenmayer’s Psychology The World of Spirits Decline Eschenmayer’s Relevance References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 3: Priest-Doctors and Magnetisers: Mesmerism, Romantic Medicine, and Catholic Thought in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century Introduction Windischmann’s “Christian Healing Art” Ringseis’ Medical System Conclusion References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 4: Animal Magnetism and Its Psychological Implications in Hungary Introduction The Onset of Animal Magnetism in Hungary Animal Magnetism in Hungary Within and Outwith Medicine The “Magnetising Count”: Ferenc Szapáry and his Followers The Legacy of Gárdos Spiritualistic Magnetisers Popular Magnetisers: The Example of Mrs. Wunderlich Concluding Remarks References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 5: From Fluidum to Prāṇa: Reading Mesmerism Through Orientalist Lenses Introduction: The “Pranic” Branch in the Reception History of Mesmerism Anquetil-Duperron’s Mesmeric View of Prāṇa and Its Ensuing Reception Among German Mesmerists Blavatsky’s Orientalism and “The Power to Heal” Reuß’s First Announcement of Pranatherapie Vivekananda’s Prāṇa-Based Model of Alternative Healing Methods Reuß Continued: From Pranatherapie to Prana Healing Conclusion References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Part II: Occultism in America and Europe Chapter 6: Total Recall: The “Panoramic Life Review” Near Death as Proof of the Soul’s Timeless Self-Presence in Western Esotericism of the Nineteenth Century Introduction Platonic Prelude: Anamnesis as a Recall of the Soul’s Former Thoughts and Perceptions Swedenborg on the Memories of the Dying Soul Jan Baptist van Helmont on Drug-Induced Mental Lucidity (1648) Total Recall and the Life Review Near Death: A Discursive Formation of the Nineteenth Century Conclusion References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 7: Stages in the Development of an Occult Linguistics An Emerging Science of Language Rejecting the Mainstream Early Occultist Theories Helena Blavatsky on Language Ariosophy and the Ario-Germanic Ursprache Rudolf Steiner’s Theory of Language Origins Speech Eurythmy References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 8: The Art of Esoteric Posthumousness Esoteric Posthumousness The Cultural and Political Value of Posthumousness Esoteric Posthumousness: Types and Motivations A Comparative Analysis of Posthumous Esoteric Artists Concluding Remarks References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 9: Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie and Sexual Regeneration The Techniques Levels of the Practice Later Years and Influence References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 10: The Theosophical Maitreya: On Benjamin Creme’s Millenarianism Introduction Benjamin Creme and Share International The Painter Maitreya’s Voice Maitreya Buddhist Origins The Theosophical Appropriation Creme’s Maitreya and the Millennium Maitreya The Age of the Group Concluding Remarks References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 11: Martial Arts Spirituality in Sweden: The Occult Connection Introduction Situating Martial Arts Spirituality in Swedish Secularity The MAM, Glocalisation and Intercultural Mimesis Martial Modernity and the Mystic East Bushidō as Occult Self-Help Moving Meditation, Self-Control, and Other Secrets Contemporary Intersections Between the Occult Milieu and the MAM Concluding Remarks References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Part III: Occultism in Global Perspective Chapter 12: A Study into a Transreligious Quest for the Ultimate Truth: Indian, Muslim, and European Interpretations of the Upanishads Introduction India Mughal India France Concluding Remarks: A Transreligious Quest for the Truth References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 13: Occult’s First Foot Soldier in Bengal: Peary Chand Mittra and the Early Theosophical Movement Early Life Mittra’s Spiritualist Turn The Esoteric Subculture Transnational Spiritualist Network Correspondences with the Founders of the Theosophical Society Mittra’s Contribution to Spiritualist and Occult Literature Conclusion References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 14: Re-Imagining an Ancient Greek Philosopher: The Pythagorean Musings of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (Osho) Introduction “Pythagoras represents the eternal pilgrim for the philosophia perennis”: On the Reception History of Pythagoras “Pythagoras had to pass through this training.” First Example: The Vigyan Bhairav Tantra (1972/73) “This is all that is left of that great man’s effort.” Second Example: The Golden Verses of Pythagoras (1978/79) Concluding Remarks References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 15: African and Amerindian Spirits: A Note on the Influence of Nineteenth-Century Spiritism and Spiritualism on Afro- and African-American Religions Allen Kardec Kardecism in Brazil Kardecism in the Caribbean Spiritual Churches in New Orleans and the Legacy of Spiritualism Conclusion References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Part IV: Occultism and Modern Yoga Chapter 16: Sri Sabhapati Swami: The Forgotten Yogi of Western Esotericism Who Was Sri Sabhapati Swami? Camp Theosophy Camp Thelema Concluding Thoughts References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 17: Tracing Vivekananda’s Prāṇa and Ākās´a: The Yogavāsiṣṭha and Rama Prasad’s Occult Science of Breath Prāṇa and Ākāśa in Premodern Indian Thought Vivekananda’s Cosmology in Relation to Sāṃkhyan Cosmology Prāṇa and Ākāśa in the Yogavāsiṣṭha Rama Prasad’s Occult Science of Breath The Occult Science of Breath within German Occultism and Theosophy Additional Arguments for Ākāśa Concluding Remarks References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Abbreviations Chapter 18: Guru and Messiah: On the First Yoga Handbook in Polish Language: Wincenty Lutosławski’s The Development of the Power of Will by Means of Psychophysical Exercises (1909) Introduction Biographical Context The Genesis of the Work The Context of Modern Yoga Rājayoga and Messianism Summary Annex Table of Contents (Lutosławski 1910b) References Unpublished Manuscript Primary Sources Secondary Sources Index