Late Antiquity The origins of Western esotericism are in the Hellenistic Eastern Mediterranean, then part of the
Roman Empire, during
Late Antiquity. This was a milieu that mixed religious and intellectual traditions from Greece, Egypt, the Levant, Babylon, and Persia—in which
globalisation, urbanisation, and
multiculturalism were bringing about socio-cultural change. One component of this was Hermeticism, an Egyptian Hellenistic school of thought that takes its name from a legendary Egyptian wise man named
Hermes Trismegistus. In the 2nd and 3rd centuries, a number of texts attributed to Hermes Trismegistus appeared, including the
Corpus Hermeticum,
Asclepius, and
The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth. Some still debate whether Hermeticism was a purely literary phenomenon or had communities of practitioners who acted on these ideas, but it has been established that these texts discuss the true nature of God, emphasising that humans must transcend rational thought and worldly desires to find
salvation and be reborn into a spiritual body of immaterial light, thereby achieving spiritual unity with divinity. Another tradition of esoteric thought in Late Antiquity was
Gnosticism. Gnostic sects broadly believed that the so-called divine light had been imprisoned within the material world by a malevolent entity known as the
Demiurge, who was served by demonic helpers, the
Archons. It was the Gnostic belief that people, who were imbued with the divine light, should seek to attain gnosis and thus escape from the world of matter and rejoin the divine source. A third form of esotericism in Late Antiquity was
Neoplatonism, a school of thought influenced by the ideas of the philosopher
Plato. Advocated by such figures as
Plotinus,
Porphyry of Tyre,
Iamblichus, and
Proclus, Neoplatonism held that the human soul had fallen from its divine origins into the material world, but that it could progress, through a number of hierarchical spheres of being, to return to its divine origins once more. The later Neoplatonists performed
theurgy, a ritual practice attested in such sources as the
Chaldean Oracles. Scholars are still unsure of precisely what theurgy involved, but know it involved a practice designed to make gods appear, who could then raise the theurgist's mind to the reality of the divine.
Middle Ages After the
fall of Rome,
alchemy and philosophy and other aspects of the tradition were largely preserved in the Arab and Near Eastern world and reintroduced into Western Europe by
Jews and by the cultural contact between
Christians and
Muslims in Spain,
Sicily and southern Italy. The 12th century saw the development of the
Kabbalah in southern Italy and
medieval Spain. The
medieval period also saw the publication of
grimoires, which often offered elaborate formulas for
theurgy and
thaumaturgy. Many of the grimoires seem to have kabbalistic influence. Figures in alchemy from this period also seem to have authored or used grimoires. Medieval sects deemed heretical, such as the
Waldensians, were thought to have utilized esoteric concepts.
Renaissance and Early Modern period . Esoteric Christianity properly emerged during the
Renaissance; the theory of
prisca theologia, present in sectors of the
humanist movement, favored the Christian reinterpretation of platonism, hermeticism, alchemy, and kabbalah. However, the esoteric Christianity that reached the contemporary era was mediated by the
Romantic movement of the late 18th century and 19th century; Romantic sensibility revalued the imagination, the forces of nature, and the symbolic world—in a context of declining esotericism in the face of Enlightenment trends and scientific revolutions—thus fostering the cultural climate of the subsequent 19th century occult revival. During the
Renaissance, a number of European thinkers began to synthesize "
pagan"—more directly, non-Christian—philosophies, which were then being made available through Arabic translations, with Christian thought and the Jewish Kabbalah. The earliest of these individuals was the
Byzantine philosopher
Gemistos Plethon (1355/60–1452?), who argued that the
Chaldean Oracles represented an example of a superior religion of ancient humanity that had been passed down by the
Platonists. Plethon's ideas interested the ruler of Florence,
Cosimo de' Medici, who employed Florentine thinker
Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499) to translate Plato's works into Latin. Ficino went on to translate and publish the works of various Platonic figures, arguing that their philosophies were compatible with
Christianity, and allowing for the emergence of a wider movement in
Renaissance Platonism, or Platonic Orientalism. Ficino also translated part of the
Corpus Hermeticum, though the rest was translated by his contemporary,
Lodovico Lazzarelli (1447–1500). Another core figure in this intellectual milieu was
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463–1494), who achieved notability in 1486 by inviting scholars from across Europe to come and debate with him 900 theses that he had written. Pico della Mirandola argued that all of these philosophies reflected a grand universal wisdom.
Pope Innocent VIII condemned these ideas, criticising him for attempting to mix pagan and Jewish ideas with Christianity. Pico della Mirandola's increased interest in Jewish Kabbalah led to his development of a distinctly
Christian Kabbalah. His work was built on by the German
Johannes Reuchlin (1455–1522) who authored an influential text on the subject,
De Arte Cabalistica. Christian Kabbalah was expanded in the work of the German
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486–1535/36), who used it as a framework to explore the philosophical and scientific traditions of antiquity in his work
De occulta philosophia libri tres. The work of Agrippa and other esoteric philosophers had been based on a pre-Copernican worldview, but following the arguments of
Nicolaus Copernicus, a more accurate understanding of the cosmos was established. Copernicus' theories were adopted into esoteric strains of thought by
Giordano Bruno (1548–1600), whose ideas were deemed
heresy by the
Roman Catholic Church, which eventually publicly executed him. A distinct strain of esoteric thought developed in Germany, which became known as
Naturphilosophie. Though influenced by traditions from
Late Antiquity and medieval Kabbalah, it acknowledged two main sources of authority: the
Christian Bible and the
natural world. The primary exponent of this approach was
Paracelsus (1493/94–1541), who took inspiration from alchemy and folk magic to argue against the mainstream medical establishment of his time—which, as in Antiquity, still based its approach on the ideas of the second-century physician and philosopher
Galen, a Greek in the Roman Empire. Instead, Paracelsus urged doctors to learn medicine by observing the natural world, though in later work he also focused on overtly religious questions. His work gained significant support in both areas over the following centuries. One of those influenced by Paracelsus was the German cobbler
Jakob Böhme (1575–1624), who sparked the
Christian theosophy movement through his attempts to solve the
problem of evil. Böhme argued that God had been created out of an unfathomable mystery, the
Ungrund, and that God himself was composed of a wrathful core, surrounded by the forces of light and love. Though condemned by Germany's
Lutheran authorities, Böhme's ideas spread and formed the basis for a number of small religious communities, such as
Johann Georg Gichtel's Angelic Brethren in
Amsterdam, and
John Pordage and
Jane Lead's
Philadelphian Society in England. From 1614 to 1616, the three
Rosicrucian Manifestos were published in Germany. These texts purported to represent a secret, initiatory brotherhood founded centuries before by a German adept named
Christian Rosenkreutz. There is no evidence that Rosenkreutz was a genuine historical figure, nor that a
Rosicrucian Order had ever existed. Instead, the
manifestos are likely literary creations of Lutheran theologian
Johann Valentin Andreae (1586–1654). They interested the public, so several people described themselves as "Rosicrucian", claiming access to secret esoteric knowledge. A real initiatory brotherhood was established in late 16th-century Scotland through the transformation of medieval stonemason guilds to include non-craftsmen:
Freemasonry. Soon spreading into other parts of Europe, in England it largely rejected its esoteric character and embraced
humanism and rationalism, while in France it embraced new esoteric concepts, particularly those from
Christian theosophy.
18th, 19th and early 20th centuries , 1887 The
Age of Enlightenment witnessed a process of increasing secularisation of European governments and an embrace of modern science and rationality within intellectual circles. In turn, a "modernist occult" emerged that reflected varied ways esoteric thinkers came to terms with these developments. One of the esotericists of this period was the Swedish naturalist
Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772), who attempted to reconcile science and religion after experiencing a vision of
Jesus. His writings focused on his visionary travels to heaven and hell and his communications with angels, claiming that the visible, materialist world parallels an invisible spiritual world, with correspondences between the two that do not reflect causal relations. Following his death, followers founded the
Swedenborgian New Church—though his writings influenced a wider array of esoteric philosophies. Another major figure within the esoteric movement of this period was the German physician
Franz Anton Mesmer (1734–1814), who developed the theory of
Animal Magnetism, which later became known more commonly as
Mesmerism. Mesmer claimed that a universal life force permeated everything, including the human body, and that illnesses were caused by a disturbance or block in this force's flow; he developed techniques he claimed cleansed such blockages and restored the patient to full health. One of Mesmer's followers, the
Marquis de Puységur, discovered that mesmeric treatment could induce a state of
somnambulic trance in which they claimed to enter visionary states and communicate with spirit beings. These somnambulic trance-states heavily influenced the esoteric religion of
Spiritualism, which emerged in the United States in the 1840s and spread throughout North America and Europe. Spiritualism was based on the concept that individuals could communicate with spirits of the deceased during
séances. Most forms of Spiritualism had little theoretical depth, being largely practical affairs—but full theological worldviews based on the movement were articulated by
Andrew Jackson Davis (1826–1910) and
Allan Kardec (1804–1869). Scientific interest in the claims of Spiritualism resulted in the development of the field of
psychical research. Somnambulism also exerted a strong influence on the early disciplines of
psychology and
psychiatry; esoteric ideas pervade the work of many early figures in this field, most notably
Carl Jung—though with the rise of
psychoanalysis and
behaviourism in the 20th century, these disciplines distanced themselves from esotericism. Also influenced by artificial somnambulism was the
New Thought movement, which grew out of the teachings of the American mesmerist
Phineas P. Quimby (1802–1866). It revolved around the concept of "
mind over matter," believing that illness and other negative conditions could be cured through the power of belief. Quimby's teachings would also provided the conceptual foundation for the emergence of
Christian Science. In the late nineteenth century, these currents were further systematized through the teaching of
suggestive therapeutics, as first developed by the
Nancy School in France under physicians
Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault and
Hippolyte Bernheim who treated hypnosis as a psychological process governed by suggestion. In 1896,
Herbert A. Parkyn established the
Chicago School of Psychology, the first American institution devoted specifically to instruction in hypnotism, suggestion, and auto-suggestion. Drawing on these European clinical models, the school presented mental influence as a psychological law rather than a spiritual principle.'''' of Éliphas Lévi In Europe, a movement usually termed
occultism emerged as various figures attempted to find a "third way" between Christianity and positivist science while building on the ancient, medieval, and Renaissance traditions of esoteric thought. In France, following the social upheaval of the
1789 Revolution, various figures emerged in this occultist milieu who were heavily influenced by traditional Catholicism, the most notable of whom were
Éliphas Lévi (1810–1875) and
Papus (1865–1916). Also significant was
René Guénon (1886–1951), whose concern with tradition led him to develop an occult viewpoint termed
Traditionalism; it espoused the idea of an original, universal tradition, and thus a rejection of
modernity. His Traditionalist ideas strongly influenced later esotericists like
Julius Evola (1898–1974), founder of the
UR Group, and
Frithjof Schuon (1907–1998). In the
English-speaking world, the burgeoning occult movement owed more to
Enlightenment libertines, and thus was more often of an anti-Christian bent that saw wisdom as emanating from the pre-Christian pagan religions of Europe. Various Spiritualist mediums came to be disillusioned with the esoteric thought available, and sought inspiration in pre-Swedenborgian currents, including
Emma Hardinge Britten (1823–1899) and
Helena Blavatsky (1831–1891), the latter of whom called for the revival of the "occult science" of the ancients, which could be found in both the East and West. Authoring the influential
Isis Unveiled (1877) and
The Secret Doctrine (1888), she co-founded the
Theosophical Society in 1875. Subsequent leaders of the Society, namely
Annie Besant (1847–1933) and
Charles Webster Leadbeater (1854–1934), interpreted modern theosophy as a form of ecumenical esoteric Christianity, resulting in their proclamation of Indian
Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986) as world
messiah. In rejection of this was the breakaway
Anthroposophical Society founded by
Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925). According to Maria Carlson, "Both turned out to be 'positivistic religions,' offering a seemingly logical theology based on pseudoscience." Another form of esoteric Christianity is the
spiritual science of the Danish mystic
Martinus (1890-1981), who was popular in Scandinavia. New esoteric understandings of magic also developed in the latter part of the 19th century. One of the pioneers of this was American
Paschal Beverly Randolph (1825–1875), who argued that sexual energy and psychoactive drugs could be used for magical purposes. In England, the
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn—an initiatory order devoted to magic based on Kabbalah—was founded in the latter years of the century. One of the members of that order was
Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), who went on to proclaim the religion of
Thelema and become a member of
Ordo Templi Orientis. Some of their contemporaries developed esoteric schools of thought that did not entail magic, namely the Greco-Armenian teacher
George Gurdjieff (1866–1949) and his Russian pupil
P.D. Ouspensky (1878–1947). Emergent occult and esoteric systems became popular in the early 20th century, especially in Western Europe. Occult lodges and secret societies flourished among European intellectuals of this era who had largely abandoned traditional forms of Christianity. The spreading of secret teachings and magical practices found enthusiastic adherents in the chaos of Germany during the interwar years. Notable writers such as
Guido von List spread
neo-pagan, nationalist ideas, based on
Wotanism and the
Kabbalah. Many influential and wealthy Germans were drawn to secret societies such as the
Thule Society. Thule Society activist
Karl Harrer was one of the founders of the
German Workers' Party, which later became the
Nazi Party; some Nazi Party members like
Alfred Rosenberg and
Rudolf Hess were listed as "guests" of the Thule Society, as was
Adolf Hitler's mentor
Dietrich Eckart. After their rise to power, the Nazis persecuted occultists. While many Nazi Party leaders like Hitler and
Joseph Goebbels were hostile to occultism,
Heinrich Himmler used
Karl Maria Wiligut as a clairvoyant "and was regularly consulting for help in setting up the symbolic and ceremonial aspects of the
SS" but not for important political decisions. By 1939, Wiligut was "forcibly retired from the SS" due to being institutionalised for insanity. On the other hand, the German hermetic magic order
Fraternitas Saturni was founded on Easter 1928, and it is one of the oldest continuously running magical groups in Germany. In 1936, the Fraternitas Saturni was prohibited by the
Nazi regime. The leaders of the lodge emigrated to avoid imprisonment, but in the course of the war,
Eugen Grosche, one of their main leaders, was arrested for a year by the Nazi government. After
World War II, they reformed the Fraternitas Saturni.
Later 20th century of
Wicca found in the
Museum of Witchcraft in
Boscastle, Cornwall In the 1960s and 1970s, esotericism came to be increasingly associated with the
growing counter-culture in the West, whose adherents understood themselves as participating in a spiritual revolution that marked the
Age of Aquarius. By the 1980s, these millenarian currents had come to be widely known as the
New Age movement, and it became increasingly commercialised as business entrepreneurs exploited a growth in the spiritual market. Conversely, other forms of esoteric thought retained the anti-commercial and counter-cultural sentiment of the 1960s and 1970s, namely the
techno-shamanic movement promoted by figures such as
Terence McKenna and
Daniel Pinchbeck, which built on the work of anthropologist
Carlos Castaneda. This trend was accompanied by the increased growth of
modern paganism, a movement initially dominated by
Wicca, the religion propagated by
Gerald Gardner. Wicca was adopted by members of the second-wave feminist movement, most notably
Starhawk, and developed into the
Goddess movement. Wicca also greatly influenced the development of Pagan
neo-druidry and other forms of Celtic revivalism. In response to Wicca, there has also appeared literature and groups who label themselves followers of
traditional witchcraft in opposition to the growing visibility of Wicca, and these claim older roots than the system proposed by Gardner. Other trends that emerged in western occultism in the later 20th century included
satanism, as exposed by groups such as the
Church of Satan and
Temple of Set, as well as
chaos magick through the
Illuminates of Thanateros group. Additionally, since the start of the 1990s, countries inside the former
Iron Curtain have undergone a radical and varied religious revival, with many occult and new religious movements gaining popularity.
Gnostic revivalists, New Age organizations, and
Scientology splinter groups have found their way into much of the former
Soviet bloc since the cultural and political shift resulting from
the dissolution of the
Soviet Union. In Hungary, a significant number of citizens (relative to the size of the country's
population and compared to its neighbors) practice or adhere to new currents of Western Esotericism. In April 1997, the Fifth Esoteric Spiritual Forum was held for two days in the country and was attended
at-capacity; in August of the same year, the International Shaman Expo began, being broadcast on live television and ultimately taking place for two months wherein various
neo-shamanist, millenarian,
mystic, neo-pagan, and
UFO religion congregations and figures were among the attendees.
New Age has been described as rife with pseudoscience: "New Age has always relied on pseudoscience".
Massimo Introvigne agrees: "a classic feature of New Age". ==Academic study==