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The Occult Tradition: From the Renaissance to the Present Day
 
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The Occult Tradition: From the Renaissance to the Present Day (Hardcover)

by David S. Katz (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 260 pages
  • Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd; illustrated edition edition (1 Dec 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0224061658
  • ISBN-13: 978-0224061650
  • Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.6 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 462,123 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Times Literary Supplement
"Boldly straddles magic and religion in the pursuit of a particular shared strand"

Independent
`absorbing exploration... Katz delights in the unexpected' --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The Big Picture, 24 Sep 2006
By Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)   
This engrossing work is a study of the occult tradition from its flowering in the Renaissance up to the New Age phenomenon of the present day. The theme that emerges is one of a unified esoteric tradition with ancient roots that is alive and thriving today. The book presents the big picture of a vast and fascinating body of beliefs that has had a profound influence on Western civilization.

Chapter One discusses George Frazer's classic book The Golden Bough and some characteristics of the occult tradition: correspondences, living nature, imagination and mediations, and the experience of transmutation. The ancient roots like Neoplatonism, Hermeticism and Gnosticism and their revival in the Renaissance are covered here, as well as the history and influence of the Kabbalah.

Chapter Two deals with conspiracy and enlightenment from the Rosicrucians to Isaac Newton, who had a keen interest in the temple of Solomon and the Bible as a whole. Freemasonry, the Mormons and Swedenborg are explored in Chapter Three. This chapter also includes passages on the Counts Saint-Germain and Cagliostro.

The next chapter takes a look at the Gothic Novel of the 17th and 18th centuries and how it paved the way for a greater acceptance of the supernatural in the 19th century. It also deals with German Romanticism, Victorian Occultism, Mesmerism and the establishment of the Society for Psycical Research in 1882.

Chapter Five investigates the interaction between psychology and the esoteric, with reference to inter alia Robert Burton, Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, Mary Baker Eddy, William James, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. In the 19th century, India replaced Egypt as the primary occult inspiration. Chapter Six looks at amongst others Max Muller, Helena Blavatsky, The Golden Dawn and Rudolf Steiner.

The last chapter explores Christian movements like Seventh Day Adventism, the Jehovah's Witnesses and Fundamentalism, as well as the New Age movement. I am not at all convinced by the author's assertion that Evangelical Christianity is an occult movement. He readily admits that Fundamentalism is merely a clear restatement of the basic tenets of Protestantism.

Katz's criteria for linking it to the occult do not convince me - by this reasoning, all religions should be considered occult. Despite this flaw, his discussions on Dispensationalism and biblical prophecy are quite interesting. The book concludes with a look at Holism and New Age with reference to Edgar Cayce, Jan Smuts, David Bohm, Karl Pribram, Rupert Sheldrake and others.

The Occult Tradition is highly informative in charting the history of the occult tradition during the last 500 years and in demonstrating how this worldview fits together. One of its most significant revelations is how many prominent scientists, including Charles Darwin, Francis Bacon, Sigmund Freud and Isaac Newton, held a strong interest in the esoteric.

The are 8 pages of plates with 22 photographs and portraits. The book concludes with 50 pages of bibliographic notes and an index. It is a gripping and occasionally humorous read.
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