INASWE | Heterodoxology

Theosophical Appropriations – videos from a workshop

INASWE workshop on Theosophy, kabbalah, Western esotericism, and appropriations of traditions

The INASWE [Israeli Network for the Academic Study of Western Esotericism] has done it again. Videos from a workshop held last December on the theme of “Theosophical Appropriations: Kabbalah, Western Esotericism, and the Transformation of Traditions” are now online, and they show an impressive number of great scholars talking about intriguing aspects of modern esotericism, angled through the Theosophical current one way or another. The conveners Julie Chajes and Boaz Huss have done a great job putting together this group. One of the nice aspects of this collection is the global scope, giving a panoramic view of Theosophical groups across a number of different countries.

As in previous years, it is wonderful that all of this is made available online. So go and watch Karl Baier talk about how the chakras were introduced into Theosophy, John Patrick Deveney lecture on Theosophy as Lesenmysterium, Moshe Idel pontificate on Theosophy and Kabbalah in Romania, Massimo Introvigne entertain on the topic of Canadian Theosophy, and let Marco Pasi enlighten you on the role of the Theosophical movement in Italian esoteric milieus. And much, much more.

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on May 30, 2014 at 6:13 pm Comments (1)
Tags: Boaz Huss, chakras, ESSWE, INASWE, John Patrick Deveney, Julie Chajes, Karl Baier, Lesenmysterium, marco Pasi, Massimo Introvigne, Moshe Idel, Theosophical Society

Getting ready for ESSWE4: interdisciplinary panels, international networking, magickal musick – and the transhuman apocalypse

ESSWE4: Gothenburg, Sweden, June 26-29, 2013.

I’m only doing one conference this summer season, but that is already turning out to be a massively busy and exciting event. Now that the final program is available, and the book of abstracts can be downloaded, the ESSWE4 conference in Gothenburg, Sweden, stands out as everything that an international conference of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism should be: strongly interdisciplinary (the inclusion of historians of science and medicine is particularly noticeable, and a greater number of sociologists and anthropologists is also a highly welcome development), with a rich and varied program that includes panel sessions, discussion groups, roundtables, and keynotes. There is also a dinner in the Masonic Hall and a final esoteric concert event: Genesis P-Orridge and Carl Abrahamsson (known in the esoteric world as editor of The Fenris Wolf) perform live with their act, White Stains. P-Orridge and Abrahamsson will even appear in a half-hour discussion group at the conference itself on the final day, entitled “Music and Esotericism from the Inside Out”.

Browse the program on the website to find out more.

In addition to that, you should check what people are saying about the event in social media on this Tagboard (join the conversation with the tag #ESSWE4). This promises to be the first ESSWE conference with live twitter feeds to follow, so do check that out and contribute if you are going! (I hear there will be free wifi available, so no need to worry about insane roaming charges) .

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on June 23, 2013 at 10:48 am Comments (2)
Tags: Carl Abrahamsson, CEEO-UNASUR, ContERN, eschatology, ESSWE, ESSWE4, European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism, Francis Fukuyama, Genesis P-Orridge, Google, Gothenburg, INASWE, nanobots, NSEA, Ray Kurzweil, Silicon Valley, Singularity, SNASWE, Tagboard, The Fenris Wolf, transhumanism, White Stains

ESSWE newsletter, Spring 2012

The ESSWE’s newsletter for Spring 2012 was sent out to the Society’s members this morning. It has already found its way online, and can be read here. The editor, Per Faxneld, has put together a nice little overview of what is going on in the field, including a report from the three centres at Paris, Amsterdam, and Exeter. Besides this, Sasha Chaitow (of Phoenix Rising Academy) presents her PhD project on Péladan (“A Babylonian Mage in 19th Century Paris”), while Mike Zuber, who is just about to join the Amsterdam group as a PhD candidate, describes his upcoming research on Pietism and alchemy. It should be exciting stuff.

There is also a report on the second INASWE conference, that took place in Haifa, Israel, earlier this Spring. The Israeli group has rapidly become the most active local network in the ESSWE, as it has now produced two workshops/conferences in less than one year (see this post for their first event last summer)! Finally, the “scholar interviews” this time are with Kocku von Stuckrad, and yours truly. Enjoy!

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Esotericism

on June 28, 2012 at 2:25 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: alchemy, ESSWE Newsletter, INASWE, Kocku von Stuckrad, Mike Zuber, Péladan, Per Faxneld, Phoenix Rising Academy, Pietism, Sasha Chaitow

INASWE launched with lecture on Jung and Eranos

The European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE) is expanding. The society was established in 2005. Since then it has encouraged the establishment of regional subgroups, to promote research and teaching about esotericism on the local level and on independent initiatives. In 2007 the first such local initiative was established in the Scandinavian countries (SNASWE). Since last year scholars at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, largely on the initiative of Professor Boaz Huss, have worked to establish an Israeli Network for the Study of Western Esotericism (INASWE).

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