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Libra Esoterica

The Western Esoteric Traditions

a historical introduction

by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke

  • First published:
  • 21st century
  • Language: English

Description

Description from OpenAlex (opens in a new tab)

Western esotericism combines spirituality with an empirical observation of the natural world while also relating humanity to the universe through a harmonious celestial order. This introduction to the Western esoteric traditions offers a concise overview of their historical development. It explores these traditions, from their roots in Hermeticism, Neo-Platonism, and Gnosticism in the early Christian era up to their reverberations in today's scientific paradigms. While the study of Western esotericism is usually confined to the history of ideas, the book examines the phenomenon much more broadly. It demonstrates that, far from being a strictly intellectual movement, the spread of esotericism owes a great deal to geopolitics and globalization. In Hellenistic culture, for example, the empire of Alexander the Great, which stretched across Egypt and Western Asia to provinces in India, facilitated a mixing of Eastern and Western cultures. As the Greeks absorbed ideas from Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, and Persia, they gave rise to the first esoteric movements. From the late 16th to the 18th centuries, post-Reformation spirituality found expression in theosophy, Rosicrucianism, and Freemasonry. Similarly, in the modern era, dissatisfaction with the hegemony of science in Western culture and a lack of faith in traditional Christianity led thinkers like Madame Blavatsky to look east for spiritual inspiration. The book further examines Modern esoteric thought in the light of new scientific and medical paradigms along with the analytical psychology of Carl Gustav Jung.

Provenance

Why this book is in the catalog

Included because retained bibliographic metadata links this work to Alchemy and Hermeticism, Gnosticism and esoteric Christianity, Initiatory orders and secret societies, Mesmerism, animal magnetism, and hypnosis, Occultism and esotericism, Ritual magic and grimoires, and Theosophy, Anthroposophy, and New Thought.

  • Occultism and esotericism

    Controlled discovery queries from openalex matched “esotericism”. Retained metadata contains “esoteric” in the title, “esoteric” in the description, “Esotericism” in the description, and 2 additional metadata match(es).

    • “esotericism”· via OpenAlex
    • “esoteric”· in title
    • “esoteric”· in description
    • “Esotericism”· in description
    • “Occultism”· in subject
    • “esoteric”· in edition title
  • Ritual magic and grimoires

    Controlled discovery queries from wellcome matched “ritual magic”. Retained metadata contains “Magic” in the subject metadata.

    • “ritual magic”· via Wellcome Collection
    • “Magic”· in subject
  • Alchemy and Hermeticism

    Controlled discovery queries from openalex matched “Hermeticism”. Retained metadata contains “Hermeticism” in the description and “Alchemy” in the subject metadata.

    • “Hermeticism”· via OpenAlex
    • “Hermeticism”· in description
    • “Alchemy”· in subject
  • Gnosticism and esoteric Christianity

    Retained metadata contains “Gnosticism” in the description and “Gnosticism” in the subject metadata.

    • “Gnosticism”· in description
    • “Gnosticism”· in subject
  • Theosophy, Anthroposophy, and New Thought

    Retained metadata contains “Theosophy” in the description.

    • “Theosophy”· in description
  • Initiatory orders and secret societies

    Retained metadata contains “Freemasonry” in the description and “Rosicrucians” in the subject metadata.

    • “Freemasonry”· in description
    • “Rosicrucians”· in subject
  • Mesmerism, animal magnetism, and hypnosis

    Retained metadata contains “Mesmerism” in the subject metadata.

    • “Mesmerism”· in subject

Membership records how this book met the catalog’s discovery criteria — relevance to a tradition, not a judgment of the book’s claims.

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Editions

One edition cataloged here.

a historical introduction

OpenAlex scholarly book record

viii, 286 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

2008-10-14Oxford University Press; Oxford University Press eBooksEnglish
  • 9780195320992
  • 0195320999
Catalog record

Subjects

30 subject headings

Identifiers & provenance

How this record was assembled, and the authority identifiers it carries.

Cataloged from

Catalog id
openalex:W2477374066
Edition coverage
Multi source partial
Retrieved