History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents

Just a very short description of chaos magic and its links to postmodernism. Written for an academic milieu that does not have access to texts on that subject.

Очень краткое описание хаос-магии как явления и её связи с эпохой постмодернизма.

Статья опубликована в сборнике "Мистико-эзотерические движения в теории и практике. «Тайное и явное»: многообразие репрезентаций эзотеризма и мистицизма. Сб. материалов Четвертой международной научной конференции (2-4 декабря 2010 г., Днепропетровск)"/ Под. ред. С. В. Пахомова. – СПб.: РХГА, 2011. — 207 с. ISBN 978-5-88812-495-6

A short essay about how occult and esoteric groups perceive their own history and employ it in ritual practices.

Краткий очерк от отношении оккультных и эзотерических групп к собственной истории и применении истории в эзотерических практиках.

Опубликовано в: Мистико-эзотерические движения в теории и практике. Проблемы интерпретации эзотеризма и мистицизма: Сб. материалов Третьей международной научной конференции / Под. ред. С. В. Пахомова. – СПб.: РХГА, 2010. – 288 с. ISBN 978-5-88812-419-2

A short essay about the interaction between occultism and literature, as well as about employing literary works as additional sources in the study of magic.

Краткий очерк о взаимодействии литературы и оккультизма, а также об использовании художественной литературы как воспомогательного источника в изучении магии.

Опубликовано в: Мистико-эзотерические движения в теории и практике. История. Психология. Философия: Сб. материалов Второй международной научной конференции / Под. ред. С. В. Пахомова.– СПб.: РХГА, 2009. – 338 с. ISBN 978-5-88812-386-7

Very short and general essay on the magical name, focusing on the shift away from using publicly-known personal names in magical practice to the use of specifically-picked ritual names that are often kept secret.

Originally published in: Mystic and Esoteric Movements in Theory and Practice. History and Discourse: Historical and Philosophical Aspects of the Study of Esotericism and Mysticism. Proceedings of the 5th International Conference (December 2–5, 2011, St. Petersburg) / Ed. by Sergey Pakhomov. — St. Petersburg: Russian Christian Academy for Humanities, 2012. — 234 p. ISBN 978-5-88812-581-6

Russian version of my GRC article on magic in post-Soviet territory.

О том, как изменялось понятие магии на территории бывшего СССР, а также о некоторых сопутствущих явлениях, иллюстрирующих это изменение.

Опубликовано в: "Государство, религия, церковь". № 4 (31) 2013. Стр. 164-168.

English version of the "State, Religion and Church" article.

This article examines definitions of magic in the context of the humanities and shows how many working definitions are inaccurate. It proposes that we view magic as an umbrella term, the use of which depends on cultural context, and that the best way to approach the study of magic in the present is to determine its borders anew with regard to each particular culture, carefully examining whether a particular phenomenon belongs to the occult in that specific context. It then aims to provide a guide for historians and scholars of religion on handling primary sources on magic, both print and oral, illustrating the usefulness of the methodology described above by applying it to the study of magic in the post-Soviet space. In the process, the transition of the post-Soviet magician from a person of knowledge to a person of power, the redefinition of previously negative terms (witch [ved’ma] and inhuman [neliud’] or un-human [ankhuman]) into positive ones, and the use of terms borrowed from Western occulture are examined.

Keywords: folk magic, witchcraft, ceremonial magic, anthropology, translations of magical texts, otherkin, folk Christianity, Carlos Castaneda.

With special thanks to my editor, Chris Stroop, whose contribution was invaluable.

Originally published in "State, Religion and Church" 1(2), 2014, p. 29-60.

"Joseph Banks Rhine (1895–1980) is usually considered the founder of modern professional parapsychology. Through his work at Duke University in the 1930s, he established a working research program (in the Lakatosian sense) for the controversial discipline, setting down various methodological standards and experimental procedures. Despite Rhine’s clear and important influence on modern parapsychology, this article argues that he came to a stage that had already been set.
Adopting recent theoretical advances in the study of scientific professionalization, it is argued that Rhine’s mentor, the controversial British psychologist William McDougall (1871–1938), has a stronger claim to the parenthood of modern parapsychology than is typically recognized. Following McDougall’s attempts to carve out and establish an institutional space for professionalized psychical research in the 1920s America, furthermore, takes us to little explored connections between psychical research, Lamarckism, neo-vitalism and policies of eugenics."

In the early twentieth century, certain elements of the Kabbalah were transformed by being given new interpretations and uses in the context of what I term the “programmatic syncretism” of modern, fin de siècle occultism. In so doing I focus specifically on one text by Aleister Crowley, which I consider the full-blown example of the phenomenon in question. The text demonstrates how the occultists' Kabbalah functions first and foremost as a classificatory tool and a mnemonic system, mainly for practical use in magical rituals. That use is part of a reinterpretation of the Kabbalah in the modern occult revival, mainly from Eliphas Levi through the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, culminating in the works of Aleister Crowley. It is my intention that this focus will not only shed light on a process of reinterpretation peculiar to fin de siècle occultism, but also on the processes characteristic of religious innovation in the modern age in general.

"One of the central questions in the study of modern Western Esotericism concerns the continued appeal of magic; how did magic survive “the disenchantment of the world”? An appealing explanation has been that the emergence of “occultist magic”, based on the writings of Eliphas Lévi (1810–1875) and the teachings of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (est. 1888) in particular, resulted in a “psychologisation” of magic. By interpreting magical practices as psychological techniques, and the trafficking with esoteric entities as manipulation of internal, psychological states rather than externally real spiritual beings it has become possible for well-educated, upper middle class moderners to retain both their belief in magic and their rational integrity.
By presenting a case study of one of the most influential modern occultists, Aleister Crowley (1875– 1947), this article seeks to demonstrate that “the psychologisation thesis” is not entirely tenable. Special notice will be given to Crowley’s magical system, presented as “Scientific Illuminism”, and the role and appeal of science in that system. Contrary to the psychologisation thesis, which it will be argued represents a sort of “psychological escapism”, Crowley did not seek to insulate his magical beliefs from his rational beliefs by withdrawing them to the realm of psychology and internal states; instead, influenced by the ideals of scientific naturalism, he sought to devise a naturalistic method by which magical practice could be rationally criticised, tested and refined. In short, it will be argued that Crowley’s system represent a move towards the naturalisation rather than the psychologisation of magic.
In addition to presenting a close reading of some of Crowley’s ideas on the relation between science and magic, a historical contextualisation will be provided, in which special notice will be given to Crowley’s relation to prominent intellectual currents with interest in this issue, including the Society for Psychical Research, Sir James Frazer, and naturalist philosophers and psychologists, from T. H. Huxley to Henry Maudsley.
"

"The variety of religious positions commonly grouped together under the heading “Neo-Paganism” call for no homogenous reading of that phenomenon. As recent research on contemporary forms of paganism has flowered in recent years, emphasis has been given to the nuances and complexities of this kind of new religious currents. For instance it is clear that contemporary pagan currents, such as Wicca, Ásatrú, and Roman paganism, tend to vary significantly between themselves on matters of theology, sociological profile, and political tendencies.
While varieties in the social manifestations of given groups can be partly explained by diverging religious/ideological content, it also holds true that ideological formations will be determined in part by the society in which they emerge. This means that a contemporary pagan current such as “Ásatrú” is not necessarily describable as one single tendency on a global scale, but will unavoidably be shaped by local conditions. Thus varieties within currents will tend to follow national and geographical borders, being always locally situated, and adapted to local political, social, and religious conditions.
This article discusses the emergence and development of contemporary Norse paganism in Norway in light of the abovementioned framework. Special notice is given to the interplay between public discourses on issues such as paganism, the occult, neo-Nazism, and the relationship between the church and state in Norway, and the self-fashioning of reconstructionist Norse pagans. Through a partial comparison with the thoroughly discussed American context of contemporary Norse religion an argument is advanced that Norwegian Ásatrú came to bear certain distinct marks that are due to and only explicable by specific, local cultural conditions."

Thelema og ritualmagi med magi som livsholdning i moderne vesdig esoterisme Av Egil Asprem Innledning \ denne artikkelen vil jeg med utgangspunkt i to intervjuer1 argumentere for hvordan ritualmagi kan gis en performativ fortolkning. Jeg vil vise hvordan moderne magikere, ...

The academic study of Western esotericism has gone through a process of professionalization during the last two decades. Access to new institutional platforms has given more room for debates and theoretical reflections on the foundations of research on esotericism. This article deals critically with recent discussions on the definition and theorisation of ”esotericism” and its place within the broader disciplinary frameworks of religious studies and the history of ideas. It argues that the recent debate has brought the field to a paradoxical position where the scope of the term ”esotericism” is mostly agreed upon, while the theoretical justification for the usage remains contested. It is also argued that much of the disagreement is due to three different strategies taken by scholars in order to approach the subject matter; historical, typological, and discursive. This article extracts valuable points from the different perspectives in order to single out some commonalities despite the differences. I will subsequently suggest new directions for esotericism research by emphasizing a closer allegiance with the critical approaches within religious studies and the sociologically oriented history of ideas.

This paper engages in a revisionist reading of Max Weber's notion of disenchantment, and the lesser known concept of an "intellectual sacrifice". It argues that Weber's original formulations of disenchantment as a process has occludes and delegitimises certain important cultural trends in the borderlands between science and religion in modernity. The implications are discussed with examples from early twentieth century science, and the attempt to create a new "natural theology" in this period.