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1 Introduction Series to Western Esotericism 1 The Academic Study of Western Esotericism: Early Developments and Related Fields Tim Rudbøg H.E.R.M.E.S. ACADEMIC PRESS Copenhagen, 2013

2 Published by H.E.R.M.E.S. Academic Press Holsteinsgade 13, st. th Copenhagen Ø Denmark First Published 2013 Tim Rudbøg First edition, second printing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. ISBN: (Paperback) (Hardback)

3 CONTENTS

4 The Academic study of Western Esotericism ō

5 1.2 SOCIOLOGY AND THE OCCULT In the 1960s and 1970s especially due to the influence of the occult revival and the emergence of the New Age phenomena in popular society the concept, the occult, took on a sociological and historical connotation with some influential theories such as the work of Marcello Truzzi ( ), Edward A. Tiryakian (1929-), Danny Lynn Jorgensen (1951-), Mircea Eliade ( ), and James Webb ( ). 50 Marcello Truzzi was one of the first sociologists to attempt a specification of the category: the occult. In his article Definition and Dimensions of the Occult: Towards a Sociological Perspective (1971) Truzzi examined the various usages of the term occult and defined the occult as 50 For a bibliographic overview of early studies related to the new interest in the occult during the 1970s, see Mircea Eliade, Occultism, witchcraft, and cultural fashions (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1976), p For a more recent survey, see Sarah M. Pike, Rationalizing the Margins: A Review of Legitimation and Ethnographic Practice in Scholarly Research on Neo-Paganism, in Magical Religion and Modern Witchcraft, ed. by James R. Lewis (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1996), pp

6 The Academic study of Western Esotericism follows: In many ways, the occult is a residual category, a wastebasket, for knowledge claims of science or religion. And once such a knowledge claim gains acceptance within establishment, science or religion, it loses its status as an occultism 51 in short, the occult is invalid knowledge. In Toward the Sociology of Esoteric Culture, Tiryakian was one of the first scholars to define the occult in relation to the esoteric and took on a slightly different perspective than Truzzi in his definition of the occult as the intentional practices, techniques, or procedures whereas the esoteric is defined as the religiosophic belief systems which underlie occult techniques and practices. 52 According to Tiryakian the occult and the esoteric belong together and form two sides of one body of theory and practice: a view that later was to influence the early views of the important scholar of Western esotericism, Antoine Faivre (1934-). 53 The occult is furthermore related to secret knowledge and constitutes belief systems that are constructed around what is regarded as an inner hidden core of absolute true knowledge. Occult traditions are thus sociologically 51 Marcello Truzzi, Definitions and Dimensions of the Occult: Towards a Sociological Perspective, in On the Margin of the Visible: Sociology, the Esoteric, and the Occult, ed. by Edward A. Tiryakian (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1974[rep. from Popular Culture, 5, 3 (1971)]), p Tiryakian A. Edward, Toward the Sociology of Esoteric Culture, in On the Margin of the Visible: Sociology, the Esoteric, and the Occult, ed. by Edward A. Tiryakian (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1974 [rep. from The American Journal of Sociology, 78 (1972)]), p Antoine Faivre, What is Occultism?, in Hidden Truths: Magic, Alchemy, and the Occult, ed. by Lawrence E. Sullivan (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1989), pp

7 Sociology and the Occult structured as hierarchical systems in which the newly accepted member, the neophyte, has to go through degrees, initiations, and stages to reach this inner knowledge. 54 In sociological terms, Tiryakian seeks to place the occult and what came to be called the occult revival in the sociology of culture, rather than the sociology of mass society and religion. 55 In cultural terms, he goes on to define what he proposes to call exoteric culture and esoteric culture. 56 Exoteric culture approximates common opinion or mass opinion, whereas esoteric culture is related to a secret opinion or secret knowledge. 57 Exoteric culture is something everybody is part of and experiences everyday whereas esoteric culture is something one has to gradually be initiated into as in a secret society. Tiryakian argues that exoteric culture and esoteric culture have influenced each other, and he attempts to show how the innovative ideology of modernization actually originates in esoteric culture, 58 and even implies that at the very heart of the ideology of modernization, or modernism, is an esoteric influence. 59 He then goes on to suggest that if we analyze many of the esoteric or occult traditions, we will find that their ideology is the same as that of the spirit of modernization; that is the will to 54 Tiryakian, Toward the Sociology of Esoteric Culture, pp Tiryakian, Toward the Sociology of Esoteric Culture, p Tiryakian, Toward the Sociology of Esoteric Culture, p Tiryakian, Toward the Sociology of Esoteric Culture, p Tiryakian, Toward the Sociology of Esoteric Culture, p Tiryakian, Toward the Sociology of Esoteric Culture, p

8 The Academic study of Western Esotericism transform society and the liberation of man from darkness. 60 The avant-garde movements, surrealism, romanticism, the Bavarian Illuminati, Freemasons, Nazis, Freud, Jung, Charcot and Mesmer, Newton and Kepler, Hegel and Marx were all inspired by occult doctrines from theosophy, Kabbalah, and alchemy to Meister Eckhart and Jacob Boehme. Tiryakian finds it interesting that nearly every time in history when there has been a revival of the occult, a transformation in exoteric culture has occurred directly thereafter. It is seen in Hellenistic times with the Roman Empire, during the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the 1960s. There is a sense of counter-culture inherent in occult traditions. Tiryakian therefore agrees with Frances Yates s ( ) ideas or the so-called Yates thesis that the hermetic tradition had a significant influence on the development of science and the scientific revolution and uses her work as an illustrative example of his own theory. 61 James Webb, the great but short-lived historian from Cambridge, U.K. was the first to write comprehensive histories of the occult and the occult revival, especially of the period from approximately 1800 to His three major books are: Flight from Reason: Volume 1 of The Age of the Irrational (1971), The Occult Establishment: Volume 2 of The Age of the Irrational (1976), and The Harmonious Circle: 60 Tiryakian, Toward the Sociology of Esoteric Culture, p Tiryakian, Toward the Sociology of Esoteric Culture, pp This topic will also be examined in chapter

9 Sociology and the Occult The Lives and Work of G. I. Gurdjieff, P. D. Ouspensky, and Their Followers (1980). Webb s theory of the occult revival can be regarded as a synthesis of Truzzi s and Tiryakian s approaches. 62 Webb argues, on the one hand, like Tiryakian that a study of the history of the occult is a fruitful study in itself, which might reveal much about established society; the occult is therefore not an irrelevant category. On the other hand he argues like Truzzi that the occult is a bi-product of established society, and that it only exists as a reaction to established values, at times spontaneously bursting forth from the underground. 63 Webb s fundamental thesis, which can be called the irrational thesis, therefore classifies the occult much in the same way Truzzi did, as rejected knowledge. 64 The sociologist Danny Jorgensen offered an alternative, ethnographically oriented approach to the occult focused on the study and classification of contemporary occult groups through participant observation. 65 Jorgensen argues that since the occult, and the form of knowledge it represents, actually originates from before a sharp distinction between religion and science arose, it is 62 It should however be noted that Webb did not make explicit use of Truzzi s and Tiryakian s works. 63 James Webb, The Flight from Reason: The Age of the Irrational (London: Macdonald, 1971), p. vi. 64 Webb, Flight from Reason, p See Danny L. Jorgensen, Social Meanings of the Occult The Sociological Quarterly, 23, 3 (1982), Danny L. Jorgensen, The Esoteric Scene, Cultic Milieu, and Occult Tarot (New York: Garland Publishing, 1992). 49

10 The Academic study of Western Esotericism not a bi-product of society thus categorizing it as either of the two would be false. In other words it is another form of knowledge and from a sociological perspective; it represents a rival alternative meaning of reality. 66 Jorgensen agrees with Tiryakian s view that the occult or occultism is a sort of religiophilosophical belief system, 67 but generally finds earlier sociological approaches too formal. Jorgensen finds it important to explore how modern occult practitioners interpret their own doctrines and practices in everyday life rather than to construct general definitions. 68 In this exploration, he argues that it is actually difficult to maintain as sharp a distinction between, so called, exoteric and esoteric culture in the way Tiryakian did it. It is true, Jorgensen argues, that secret societies once did exist and still to some extent exist today, but in general modern occult communities consist of ordinary people with ordinary jobs, participating in ordinary modern activities and when they get together, it is often in informal group gatherings or fairs open to all. 69 During this same period the great and influential historian of religion Mircea Eliade ( ) also had a brief comment on the nature of the occult relevant to the theories of the sociologists. Mircea Eliade published a work in 1976 entitled Occultism, witchcraft, and cultural fashions wherein he primarily summed up the various usages of the terms 66 Jorgensen, Social Meanings of the Occult, Jorgensen, Social Meanings of the Occult, Jorgensen, Social Meanings of the Occult, 374, Jorgensen, Social Meanings of the Occult,

11 Sociology and the Occult occult and occultism, discussed their etymological origins, and paid some unsystematic attention to Tiryakian s definition of the occult and the esoteric, as discussed above. While Eliade did not advance any new explanatory theory on the nature of occultism itself, he did argue that some esotericists contrary to Tiryakian s theory did not interconnect the two terms esotericism and the occult, but strongly contended against occult practices, as did René Guénon ( ). 70 Eliade furthermore traced what he saw as two different trends of occultism: (1) the emergence of a popular form of occultism, which looks towards a brighter future and transformation of society such as the Aquarian age; and (2) another more traditional and relatively unpopular form which rejects the optimistic hope of cosmic and historic renewal without the preliminary catastrophic dissolution of the modern world. 71 This last form is exemplified by the so-called traditionalist school initiated by René Guénon in the early 20th century. 72 The sociological definitions of the occult, which generally regarded it as a category for trash left by established society or as a reaction to or a by-product of established society, was later, like the enlightenment categories of rational versus irrational, to be greatly challenged by the recent consolidation of Western 70 Mircea Eliade, Occultism, Witchcraft, and Cultural Fashions (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1976), pp Eliade, Occultism, Witchcraft, and Cultural Fashions, p The traditionalist school will be dealt with in the next chapter. 51

12 The Academic study of Western Esotericism esotericism as an academic field. 73 The influential scholar of Western esotericism Wouter J. Hanegraaff (1961-) has for example argued that sociological definitions of the occult that regard the occult as an irrational temptation of the human mind, such as Truzzi s, are normatively based on modern secular values of rationality and thereby neglect to treat the occult as a continuous historical phenomenon. 74 Hanegraaff does not argue that sociological theory should be kept out of the study of esotericism on the contrary, he simply asks that such theories be compatible with a historical framework. 75 Today the application of sociological theory in relation to the study of Western esotericism continues and as clearly shown by Kenneth Granholm in his recent article The Sociology of Esotericism constitutes an important dimension of the academic field For more on this discussion please see volume 2 in the present book series. 74 Wouter J. Hanegraaff, New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1998 [1996]), p Wouter, J. Hanegraaff, On The Construction of Esoteric Traditions, in Western Esotericism and the Science of Religion: Selected Papers presented at the 17th Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions Mexico City 1995, ed. by Antoine Faivre and Wouter J. Hanegraaff, (Leuven: Peeters, 1998), pp Hanegraaff, On The Construction of Esoteric Traditions, p For an overview of sociological theory in relation to esotericism, see Kenneth Granholm, The Sociology of Esotericism, in The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Religion, ed. by Peter Clarke (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), pp ; see also Brian J. Gibbons, Spirituality and the occult: from the Renaissance to the twentieth century (New York: Routledge, 2001), pp

13 Sociology and the Occult In this chapter however, it was important to show that the early sociological study of the occult and the esoteric constituted another vital step in the consolidation of Western esotericism as an academic discipline because the early sociologists tried to define the terms in a scholarly manner, and sought to explain the reasons for the existence of this phenomenon in Western culture in sociological and historical terms. Furthermore the sociologists became aware of or constructed a third other in Western culture that was neither strictly faith nor reason. While exceptions existed, this third other was primarily conceived as a rejected knowledge or as the belief in an inner secret knowledge notions, which were to be greatly challenged by the next generation of scholars working with these subjects. 53

The Western Esoteric Roots of Contemporary New Spirituality. Jussi Sohlberg, Church Research Institute , Helsinki

The Western Esoteric Roots of Contemporary New Spirituality Jussi Sohlberg, Church Research Institute 29.9.2015, Helsinki Western esotericism: Most scholars agree that Western esotericism covers such currents