Subtle energies in therapy, spirituality, arts, and politics : 1800-present / edited by Julian Strube, Marleen Thaler & Dominic Zoehrer.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Strube, Julian, editor.

Thaler, Marleen, editor.

Zoehrer, Dominic, editor.

Series:

Studies in the history of religions ; 0169-8834 182.

Numen book series, studies in the history of religions, 0169-8834 ; volume 182

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Energy medicine--Social aspects.

Energy medicine.

Mental healing.

Spiritual healing.

Mind and body therapies.

Mental Healing.

Mind-Body Therapies.

Medical Subjects:

Mental Healing.

Mind-Body Therapies.

Physical Description:

xiii, 390 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2026]

Summary:

"Few ideas have captured the imagination of contemporary culture as powerfully as that of 'subtle energies.' The belief in subtle energies has shaped alternative medicine and mind-body practices on a global scale. It also had a profound - although little recognized - impact on music and visual arts, debates on gender and race, as well as political and ecological movements. This groundbreaking volume uncovers the historical roots of the concept of subtle energies and explores its many trajectories" -- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction / Dominic Zoehrer, Marleen Thaler and Julian Strube

Part 1. Prelude.

Historical roots of 'subtle energies' : occult physicalism / Dominic Zoehrer

Historical roots of 'subtle energies' : occult Orientalism / Dominic Zoehrer

Part 2. Subtle energies in healing.

Animal magnetism's conceptualization of healing energies : comparing the metaphors of Franz Anton Mesmer and contemporary practitioners / Bastiaan van Rijn

Dewanchand Varma and pranotherapy : healing and subtle energies in the French interwar period / Léo Bernard

Universalizing 'energy' in reiki and therapeutic touch : from occult(ed) roots to medicalized fruits / Justin B. Stein

Healing with qì via qìgōng, acupuncture, and fēngshui ̌: code-switching and the case of a Chinese American healer / Kin Cheung

Subtle energies in Ayahuasca healing / Wouter J. Hanegraaff

Gaia's energy flows : the interplay of eco-spirituality and terrestrial energy healing / Marleen Thaler

Part 3. Subtle energies in yoga, tantra, and new syntheses.

From blessing dīkṣā to mesmerism : Sabhapati Swami's Tamil 'Shaktipat' / Keith Edward Cantú

The paths of the serpent : kuṇḍalinī as subtle energy, from tantra to neo-tantra / Hugh B. Urban

Awakening śakti : kuṇḍalinī within the nondual tantric teachings of Sally Kempton / Tova Olsson

A pilgrimage of astral energies and a French yogi in the Americas / Adrián Muñoz

Part 4. Subtle energies in the arts and politics.

Subtle energies of sound : Leser-Lasario's vowel breathing and mantra chanting / Magdalena Kraler

Subtle energies and blunt politics : occultism, technology, and the politics of vril / Julian Strube

Sexual education and vital forces to heal the race : Ida Craddock's and Frances Swiney's use of eugenics and esotericism / Jessica A. Albrecht.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9004736212

9789004736214

OCLC:

1527155546