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The foundations of re-enchantment : Freemasonry, Theosophy, and the occult revival / Christopher Coome.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Coome, Christopher, author.
- Series:
- Oxford studies in Western esotericism.
- Oxford scholarship online.
- Oxford studies in Western esotericism
- Oxford scholarship online
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Theosophy--History.
- Theosophy.
- Occultism--History.
- Occultism.
- Freemasonry--Influence.
- Freemasonry.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (389 pages)
- Edition:
- 1st ed.
- Place of Publication:
- New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2025]
- Summary:
- Seemingly hidden behind the glare of the occult revival, Freemasonry provided many of the variables of fin de sicle occultism: syncretism, initiation, hidden superiors, and reverence for ancient mystery cults. From Helena Blavatsky to Aleister Crowley, each of the leading occultists stated their supreme debt to the Masons and their mysteries. In 'The Foundations of Re-Enchantment', Christopher Coome tells an immersive and compelling story of this remarkable emergence of occult organizations at the turn of the 19th century.
- Contents:
- Cover
- Half Title
- Series
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Brief Contents
- Detailed Contents
- Introduction
- Esotericism and the Occult
- Historiography
- Intervention
- Eighteenth-Century Precedents
- Hermeneutic (A): Phenomenon and Philosophy
- Hermeneutic (B): The Masonic Perennial Philosophy
- Making Claims, Weaving Threads, Avoiding Reductions
- Cultural Significance
- Exits from the Revival
- Structure
- Part I The Structure of Revival
- 1 The Theosophical Society
- Helena Blavatsky
- The Masters and Mythology
- Our Context: Spiritualism, Science, and the Occult at Mid-Century
- Henry Steel Olcott and Searching for Specters
- Elementals
- From Spiritualism to Theosophy: The Founding of the Theosophical Society
- Early Theosophy as Conceived by Its Founders
- Hard Times and Isis Unveiled
- Isis Unveiled or Freemasonry Unveiled?
- A Merger Considered
- 2 Rethinking Religion: Freemasonry, Theosophy, and the Perennial Philosophy
- Understanding Freemasonry
- Between Enlightenment and Reaction: Freemasonry in the Eighteenth Century
- Freemasonry and the Science of Religion
- The Invention of Tradition
- The Nineteenth Century
- 3 Occident and Orient
- Theosophy and Christianity
- The Founders in London
- India
- Anna Kingsford's Squabbles
- The Trouble with Specters
- Unveiled at Last: The Secret Doctrine
- 4 The Golden and Rosy Dawn
- The Genesis of the Rosy Cross
- The Rosy Cross in Nineteenth-Century England
- Magic and the French Occulte
- The Masonic Rosicrucian Revival
- A Rosicrucian in Focus: Hargrave Jennings
- An Unsung Herald: Kenneth Mackenzie
- Paschal Beverly Randolph and the Alchemy of Sex
- The Rise of the Dawn
- The Ritual and Structure of the Golden Dawn
- New Wine in Old Bottles
- Theosophy and the Golden Dawn
- Part II Fracture and Fragmentation.
- 5 The Changing of the Guard, 1889-1903
- Annie Besant
- The End of an Era: The Death of Blavatsky
- Blavatsky's Final Ode to the Craft
- Leo Taxil and the Occult World War
- Fragmentation and Collapse
- The Judge Case
- The Sun Sets on the Golden Dawn
- Aleister Crowley
- Part III The Neo-Revival
- 6 The Academia Masonica and the Rise of Rudolf Steiner
- Fin de Siècle Occultism in Germany
- The Academia Masonica
- Freemasonry in Germany
- John Yarker and the Rite of Memphis Misraim
- Rudolf Steiner
- Rudolf Steiner and Theosophy
- 7 Freemasonry, Sex Scandals, and Psychic Powers
- Charles Webster Leadbeater
- Annie Besant and Theosophical Freemasonry
- The Ordo Templi Orientis and Anthroposophy
- Leadbeater, Reuss, and Their Sexual Scandals
- 8 Crowley and Steiner: Prophets of the New Age
- Aleister Crowley and Freemasonry
- Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy
- Anthroposophy and the English
- Freemasonry and the Foundation of English Anthroposophy
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Description based on online resource and publisher information; title from PDF title page (viewed on September 10, 2025).
- ISBN:
- 0-19-780959-6
- 0-19-780958-8
- 0-19-780960-X
- 9780197809587
- OCLC:
- 1535711473
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