Western Esotericism (Anthropology)

Satanic Feminism from the Nineteenth Century to Present Times

by Per Faxneld

Paper presented at Satanism in Western culture: International conference on the Devil's disciples, Stockholm University, Sweden, September 25-26, 2011.

Review: Jesper Aagaard Petersen (ed.), Contemporary Religious Satanism: A Critical Anthology

by Per Faxneld

Published in Aries: Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism Vol. 12, No. 1, 2012, pp. 170-177.

Coming forth by Night

by Marco Pasi

Published in: Alexis Vaillant (ed.), Options with Nostrils, Rotterdam, Sternberg Press - Piet Zwart Institute, 2010, pp. 103-111.

”Mircea Eliade e Julius Evola. Un rapporto difficile” (Nuova Storia Contemporanea, Firenze, XVI, no. 2, marzo-aprile 2012)

by Liviu Bordas

John Michell, Radical Traditionalism, and the Emerging Politics of the Pagan New Right.

by Amy Hale

The Pomegranate 13.1 (2011) 77-97

Although the legacy and work of John Michell is frequently associated with a culturally liberal neo-tribalism, certain... more Although the legacy and work of John Michell is frequently associated with a culturally liberal neo-tribalism, certain aspects of Michell’s thought can be, and have been, interpreted as an esoteric extension of more explicitly right-wing political positions, ones which are currently convergent with the political subcultures surrounding the European New Right both in Europe and also among newly emerging right-wing groups in the US. This essay examines the ways in which the work of John Michell is resonant with many of the philosophies of the European New Right, and how in his final years and after his death new markets for his work are emerging in the various subcultures associated with right-wing Paganism.

Theses de magia

by Marco Pasi

Published in: Societas Magica Newsletter, 20 (Fall 2008), pp. 1-8.

Julies Evola, l'alchinia ed il tradizionalismo.

by marco pucciarini

This article aims to show that Julius Evola was the first to develop an organic idea that Alchemy is a type of spiritual realization.

Book Review: The Quest for Hermes Trismegistus by Gary Lachman

by Mike Rush

Published in De Numine, No. 52, Spring 2012, pp47-48.

Oriental Kabbalah and the Parting of East and West in the Early Theosophical Society

by Marco Pasi

Published in: Boaz Hus, Marco Pasi, and Kocku von Stuckrad (eds.), Kabbalah and Modernity: Interpretations, Transformations, Adaptations, Leiden - Boston, Brill, 2010, pp. 151-166.

The Modernity of Occultism: Reflections on Some Crucial Aspects

by Marco Pasi

Published in: Wouter J. Hanegraaff and Joyce Pijnenburg (eds.), Hermes in the Academy: Ten Years’ Study of Western Esotericism at the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Amsterdam University Press, 2009, pp. 59-74.

Del sogno iniziatico di Polifilo e di alcuni suoi paralleli orientali

by Alessandro Grossato

Magick in Theory and Practice: Ritual Use of Colour in Kenneth Anger’s Invocation of My Demon Brother

by Deborah Allison

Published in Senses of Cinema, issue 34, January-March 2005.

White Men Can’t Dance: Evaluating Race, Class and Rationality in Ethnographies of the Esoteric

by Amy Hale

The difficult encounter in Rome. Mircea Eliade's post-war relation with Julius Evola - new letters and data (International Journal on Humanistic Ideology, IV, no. 2, Autumn-Winter 2011)

by Liviu Bordas

Călătoriile adolescentului miop prin țara brahmanilor și fachirilor - partea I (Viața Românească, CVI, nr. 9-10, 2011)

by Liviu Bordas

Love is the Law, Love under Will. Kjærlighet, sex og magi i Aleister Crowleys diktning 1920-1923

by Giuliano D'Amico

Popular article in Norwegian published in Aorta 27 (2011)

Entre ésoterisme chrétien, Franc-maçonnerie et Eglise gnostique : les enjeux du martinisme en Belgique dans les années soixante

by Olivier Santamaria

Conférence prononcée le 9/11/2011 à l'Université Lille 3 : séminaire "l'Eglise et la Société"

Après avoir donné quelques clés méthodologiques relative à l'étude de l'ésotérisme chrétien, l'article rappelle les... more Après avoir donné quelques clés méthodologiques relative à l'étude de l'ésotérisme chrétien, l'article rappelle les circonstances de l'apparition du martinisme, et en particulier de l'Ordre Martiniste de Papus, puis de l'Eglise gnostique universelle de Jules Doisnel, et montre les proximités de ces milieux entre eux, avec la Franc-maçonnerie occultiste et avec certains milieux spirites.

L'étude se concentre ensuite sur la situation du martinisme dans les années 1960, dans le contexte de la réunion des martinistes dans l'Ordre Martiniste dit de Paris sous la direction de Philippe Encausse (1962). La signature en 1968 du traité d'alliance entre cet Ordre martiniste, auquel s'étaient ralliés les martinistes belges, et l'Eglise gnostique apostolique de Robert Ambelain (partiellement héritée de Doisnel) causa le trouble en Belgique entre martinistes de l'Eglise gnostique et martinistes de l'Eglise Catholique Libérale. Ces derniers, par la création de l'Ordre martiniste de Belgique (Brahy, Warnon, etc) puis de l'OM des Pays Bas, signèrent la rupture avec les fidèles de l'Eglise gnostique. Cette rupture a donné lieu à de nouvelles structures, notamment l'Ordre Martiniste des Chevaliers du Christ (Armand Toussaint) en lien avec l'Eglise rosicrucienne apostolique. L'article tente de présenter de cette histoire complexe un tableau cohérent.

L'article termine par quelques réflexions sur l'importance des filiations dans ces milieux maçonnico-martinistes et gnostiques en tentant d'en montrer les mécanismes et les raisons.

The Esoteric Experience

by Mike Rush

This article is based on a dissertation written for the MA in Religious Experience run by the then University of Wales, Lampeter, 2008.  It was published in Paranthropology, Vol. 2, No. 3, http://paranthropologyjournal.weebly.com

What kinds of spiritual experiences are reported by people involved with esotericism and occultism?  Are... more What kinds of spiritual experiences are reported by people involved with esotericism and occultism?  Are experiences, and their outcomes, negative or positive?  This approach was based upon that of William James, author of the seminal Varieties of Religious Experience (James, 1902), who advocated judging spiritual experiences by their fruits.  The three traditions selected were Helena Blavatsky’s Theosophy, G.I. Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way movement, and Mathers’ Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.  Sources of written accounts of spiritual experiences were collected from published texts, the archive of the Religious Experience Research Centre (RERC), and from contemporary practitioners. It was found that esoteric or occult spirituality can be a source of positive experiences and outcomes.  This is contrary to the popular conception of these traditions.    Finally, there is no esoteric experience per se that can be characterised from the data. The experiences reported, whilst differing in emphasis, tend to be similar to accounts from other traditions.

Etude de l'ésotérisme: aspects méthodologiques

by Olivier Santamaria

E. Granjon, G. Balzano, B. Decharneux, F. Nobilio (eds), Esotérisme et initiation. Etudes d'épistémologie et d'histoire des religions, Bruxelles/Fernelmont, E.M.E., "Divin & sacré", 2010, pp. 7-20

L'article vise à donner un aperçu des définitions, critères et méthodes utilisées dans l'histoire des courants... more L'article vise à donner un aperçu des définitions, critères et méthodes utilisées dans l'histoire des courants ésotériques occidentaux depuis quelques dizaines d'années.
Après un historique des notions d'"ésotérique" et d'"ésotérisme", ainsi qu'une étude étymologique, je présente en particulier les méthodes proposées par Pierre Riffard et par Antoine Faivre, en pointant les principales questions débattues dans la littérature spécialisée.

Dans le même volume, Emilie Granjon discute également ces questions méthodologiques : "Penser une sémiotique de l'initiation", pp. 21-36

(keywords: faivre ; riffard ; stuckrad ; hanegraaff ; methods in the study of western esotericism)

Dieu du désir, dieu de la raison (Le Diable en Californie dans les années soixante)

by Marco Pasi

Published in: Le Diable, Paris, Dervy, 1998 (proceedings of the Cerisy-la-Salle conference, July 1997), pp. 87-98.