Table of Contents

Provenance of the Articles Published in This Volume Preface: Esotericism and Academic Research Geneses Universities Criteriologies Methods THEOSOPHIES THE THEOSOPHICAL CURRENT: A PERIODIZATION I. The Birth and the First Golden Age of the Theosophical Current (End of the Sixteenth Century Through the Seventeenth Century) Its Gensis and Appearance The Characteristics of Theosophy and the Reasons for Its Success The First Corpus and the First Critical Discourses II. The Transitional Period (First Half of the Eighteenth Century) Two Theosophical Families Some Succinct Criticisms Jacob Brucker, or the First Systematic Description III. From Pre-Romanticism to Romanticism, or the Second Golden Age Reasons for the Revival Three Areas of the Theosophical Terrain The Word "Theosophy" and a Few Criticisms IV. Effacement and Permanence (End of the Nineteenth to Twentieth Centuries) Factors in the Dissolution A Discreet Presence New Perspectives on the Theosophical Current THEOSOPHY AND SPECULATIVE MYSTICISM OF THE BAROQUE CENTURY IN GERMANY (NOTE ON THE WORKS OF BERNARD GORCEIX) Valentin Weigel Johann Georg Gichtel Mysticism and Theosophy in Baroque Germany Theater, Kabbalah, and Alchemy Society and Utopias THEOSOPHICAL POINTS OF VIEW ON THE DEATH PENALTY Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin Joseph de Maistre Franz von Baader EXERCISES OF IMAGINATION VIS IMAGINATIVA (A STUDY OF SOME ASPECTS OF THE MAGICAL IMAGINATION AND ITS MYTHICAL FOUNDATIONS) From Jacob's Sheep to the Magical Seed of Paracelsus Ways, Byways, and Stakes in the Great Century Pre-Romatic Versions From Romantic Naturphilosophie to Occultist Spheres of Influence THOUGHTS OF GOD, IMAGES OF MAN (FIGURES, MIRRORS, AND ENGENDERING IN J. BOEHME, F.C. OETINGER, AND F. VON BAADER) I. Sophia and the Bildniss of Jacob Boehme The Sophianic Mirror The Image in Man: Greatness and Self-Effacement The Image in Man: Paths of Renewal II. Mirrors and Engendering in Franz von Baader The Theory of the Three Images Images and Reflections in God, in Man, and in Nature FROM THE DIVINE FIGURE TO THE CONCRETE FIGURE, OR TRANSPARITION THROUGH MIRRORS Introduction: Two Apocrypha, One Homily I. The Isomorphy of the Images and of Its Model Primacy of the Image for Access to the Model Isomorphy of Light and of the Eye II. The Reciprocal Engendering of the Image and Its Model The Personal Presence Reciprocal Engendering Through Seeing Perspectives IN TERMS OF "TRADITION" THE ROSICRUCIAN MANIFESTOS (1614, 1615) AND THE WESTERN ESOTERIC "TRADITION" I. Medieval Esoteric Themes in the Manifestos Literary Themes Arithmology and Organon The Philosophy of Nature II. Presence of Renaissance Philosophia Occulta in the Manifestos Paracelsism Esoteric Themes in Vogue in the Latin Renaissance Presence of the New Hermes III. The Manifestos Between the Old and the New Torchlight and Shadow The Fortunes of a Paradox Literary Esotericism in the Wake of the Manifestos Perspectives ANALYSIS OF THE MEDITATIONS OF VALENTIN TOMBERG ON THE TWENTY-TWO MAJOR ARCANA OF THE TAROT OF MARSEILLES Introduction: Bio-bibliographical Elements and Situation of the Work I. Christian Hermeticism and Traditions The Tarot and Hermetic Symbolism East and West The Hermetic Balance: Mysticism, Gnosis, and Sacred Magic II. Nature Philosophy and Anthropology The Signature of Things and Universal Becoming Living Polarities Hermetic Points of View on Man Regrets and Queries RAYMOND ABELLIO AND THE WESTERN ESOTERIC "TRADITION" I. Esoteric Elements and Themes Biographical Data and the Gnosis Tradition Traditional Sciences and the "Primoridial Tradition" II. Esotericism and Modernity Rene Guenon and the Status of the West Abellio and His Kin III. Raymond Abellio's Specific Contribution to Esotericism Phenomenology and Absolute Structure Universal Interdependence and Love Perspectives A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE TO RESEARCH (CONTINUED) General Works Alchemy Freemasonry and Fringe Masonry From the Second (Corpus Hermeticum) to the Fifteenth Centuries Renaissance and Seventeenth Century Eighteenth Century Romanticism and Naturphilosophie From the Nineteenth Through the Twentieth Centuries Concerning Tradition Esotericism, Literature, and Art Journals and Serials Index of Names

About the Author

Antoine Faivre is Professor at the E.P.H.E. (Religious Studies), Sorbonne. He has published extensively, including Access to Western Esotericism, also published by SUNY Press.

Reviews

"A pinnacle of achievement. A colossal work. Before such an accomplishment, one hesitates between the Titanesque and the Benedictine. A remarkable book in every respect that may be consulted as individual essays, each of which may be read with pleasure and interest..." - Pierre Zimmer, Sources et Meridiens "A true history of western esotericism was sorely lacking, and a large gap is now being filled thanks to the important work of Antoine Faivre. He has endeavored to open up many fascinating areas of research. Through this scholarly work, an entire long-neglected domain of the western imagination is brought to light by Antoine Faivre." - Francois Sturel, L'Action Francaise