WRSP

Esotericism (or “Western” esotericism) is used here as an umbrella term denoting a complex of genealogically linked religious currents originating in late antiquity. These include “gnostic,” Hermetic, or theurgical currents in late antiquity, the so-called “occult sciences” (astrology, alchemy, magic), Jewish and Christian kabbalah, theosophy, Rosicrucianism, Swedenborgianism, illuminism, Freemasonry, occultism, spiritualism, and related trends in modern and contemporary culture such as modern witchcraft, Satanism, new age and occulture.

Scholars have proposed different approaches to defining esotericism, focusing, among other aspects, on the emphasis on an intuitive, experiential knowledge (gnosis) in many esoteric currents, on the quality content of esoteric worldviews (including notions of correspondences and living nature), or on discourses of “higher” knowledge. The adjectival “Western” has been used in academic scholarship since the 1990s to distinguish the historical study of esotericism from essentialist approaches. In recent years, however, a number of scholars have proposed dropping this qualifier in recognition of esotericism as a globally entangled phenomenon. This WRSP special project aims to present profiles on a broad range of esoteric movements and practitioners from antiquity until today and across geographical, cultural, and societal contexts.