Although Aleister Crowley has become the icon of modern ritual magic and occultism, magic did not end with his death in 1947. While approximately a dozen books have been devoted to Crowley, surprisingly little has been written about his legacy in contemporary occultism. His impact on later currents such as contemporary witchcraft, Satanism, and various pagan groups has often been mentioned, but vast areas still remain uncharted, from Chaos Magic and cyber paganism to the recent history of the Ordo Templi Orientis, the Golden Dawn, and Crowley’s A\A\. The result is that a relatively broad range of contemporary western esotericism remains essentially unstudied. Below follows my review of Dave Evans’ contribution to this field of study, recently published in Aries 10.2. Hyperlinked for the occasion.
British magic after Crowley: review
IAHR: Two panels
As mentioned a couple of times before, I am going to Toronto next weekend to join the IAHR World Congress. It only happens every five years, and is a big happening in the fields of religious studies/Religionswissenschaft. This year there will also be a considerable presence of esotericism research. Marco Pasi, Cathy Gutierrez and Allison Coudert are hosting a large panel on “Western esotericism and its boundaries”, which, by systematically tackling the issue of the cultural and geographical boundaries of this concept will no doubt be an important occasion for this field of research. In addition there is the “Seduced by Science” panel, which I co-host with Tessel M. Bauduin. For anybody who’s interested, I attach more details about these two panels below.
Breaking the silence – and some news
Summer time has been upon me and Heterodoxology has been dead silent for a while. Unfortunately, when I look at the pile of things to do these coming months I fear it may stay that way. This is nevertheless an honest attempt at getting things rolling again. I’ll just kick off with some whimsically chosen (perhaps relevant) news:
Lux in Tenebris: Call for papers for the 3rd international congress of the ESSWE
The Visual and the Symbolic in Western Esotericism
The call for papers is out for next year’s biannual conference of the ESSWE. This is the third one: after Tübingen in 2007 and Strasbourg 2009, the 2011 conference will be held in Szeged, Hungary, on 6-10 July. The title is “Lux in Tenebris: The Visual and the Symbolic in Western Esotericism”, and should open for some interesting cross-disciplinary perspectives (art history, film studies, literary studies, cultural analysis?) on esoteric discourse, from late antiquity to contemporary times. (Also, the program includes a visit to the catacombs of the Buda castle in Budapest – wouldn’t miss it!) Deadline for proposals is November 15, 2010. I attach the full call for papers below.
Plato the Pythagorean – a possible revolution in Plato research?
I must admit to feeling a sceptical gut reaction when I first read about J. B. Kennedy’s brand new article on Pythagorean number theories being embedded in the structure of Plato’s dialogues – a possible key to his unwritten doctrine. I first read about it in The Guardian‘s rather popularizing account. After doing some more searches, and finally checking the original paper published in Apeiron, I am happy to say it looks much more solid than one first expects when hearing something along the lines of “lone scholar x cracking codes in the works of legendary intellectual hero y“.
Alchemy, and how to write about it: ESSWE thesis workshop
As advertised before on this blog, the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE) has been organising a thesis workshop on alchemy. It took place in Amsterdam on June 24; here is a short report.
Lawrence Principe and the Rehabilitation of Alchemy – another lecture in Utrecht
Utrecht has apparently become the place for me to see visiting historians of science. A couple months back Peter Galison gave lectures and a workshop on secrecy and science, and now last week, the alchemy specialist Lawrence Principe gave the third Descartes-Huygens lecture on “Uncovering the Secrets of Alchemy and its Role in the History of Science”. It was quite a ceremonial occasion, as Principe, who is ordinarily based at John Hopkins University, was officially given an honorary fellowship at Utrecht Unversity. As the man himself opened by saying, this was probably the first time since the 17th century that the oration of a new fellow would be devoted to the art of alchemy.
Marginality in The European Legacy
There is a call for papers out for an upcoming special issue of The European Legacy, the official organ of the International Society for the Study of European Ideas (ISSEI). The issue will focus on the problem of marginality in European intellectual history – both posed as an empirical problem and as a problem for methodological and theoretical reflection in humanities disciplines which too often focus on “canons” (whether in art, literature, philosophy, religion, politics, or science). The topic should interest readers of this blog as much as it does me. The deadline is shortly after next vernal equinox, and the issue should be out shortly before the end of the world. More information (official CFP) below. (Thanks to Renaud Evrard for bringing this to my attention).
Gnosticism in Antiquity: book presentation in a historical environment
The blog has been silent for a while as I have been busy with finishing up classes and managing upcoming deadlines, among other things. To get going again, I’ll take this opportunity to write about a book presentation I went to last week. The specialist of gnosticism, hermetism and early Christianity, Roelof van den Broek, presented his latest book, Gnosis in de Oudheid: Nag Hammadi in Context in the magnificent Huis met de Hoofden (“house with the heads”) in Amsterdam. Below follows a few words about the book, the house, and the occasion.
New articles from Aries
The latest issue (10.1) of Aries: The Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism has recently been published. It contains four research articles, on John Dee’s angel conversations (J. J. Sledge), a little-known text by Martinès de Pasqually ( Dominique Clairembault), the curious link between engineering and spiritualism in the case of John Murray Spear (Joseph Laycock), and some aspect of Aleister Crowley’s sexual magic and the connection with some yogic traditions (Gordan Djurdjevic). Also seven book reviews. See below for bibliographic details and short reviews of the articles.
Heterodoxology 