some remarks on the study of western esotericism

7/29/2015 SomeRemarksontheStudyofWesternEsotericism

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SomeRemarkson

theStudyofWesternEsotericism

WouterJ.Hanegraaff

UniversityofUtrecht

Theacademicstudyofwesternesotericismisoneof those new developments in the study ofreligionswhichmaystrikethecasualobserverashavingappearedalmostovernight,duetothefactthatitsgradualdevelopmentoverthepastdecadesis easily overlooked.[1] Like any newcomer, thediscipline tends to evoke curiosity as well assuspicion and such reactions are all the morenatural because thevery term "esotericism" (likethe related term "occultism") is a particularlyloaded one. In this article, I intend to provide abriefintroductiontothecurrentstateof"thestudyof esotericism" and to give special attention towhyitisimportantforstudentsinthisfieldeventhose whose approach is strictlyhistorical/descriptive to consider issues of amethodologicalandtheoreticalnature.

What is understood by "WesternEsotericism"?

The substantive "esotericism", like the adjective"esoteric", carries differentmeanings in differentcontexts, and this is a major cause of confusion(not only among outsiders, but even amongspecialists)about thenatureof thediscipline.Noless than fivemeaningsmay be distinguished incurrentusage,onlythelastofwhichreferstothesubject of the present article.[2]First:"Esotericism" is commonly used by booksellersand publishers as a synonym of "the occult" inthis case, it functions as a generic term for adiffuse collectionofwritings concernedwith theparanormal, the occult sciences, various exoticwisdom traditions, contemporary New Agespiritualities,andsoon.[3]Second:Theadjective"esoteric" (perhaps somewhat more frequently



than the substantive) may be understood asreferringtosecretteachingsandthe"disciplineofthearcane"withitsdistinction

4between initiates and noninitiates.[4]Third:Within the discourse of the "perennialist" or"Traditionalist" school of religious studies, theesotericisametaphysicalconceptreferringtothe"transcendent unity" of exoteric religions.[5]Fourth: In "religionist" approaches to religiousstudies, esotericism tends to be used as a nearsynonymofgnosis in theuniversalizing senseofthe word (i.e., covering various religiousphenomena which emphasize experiential ratherthan rational and dogmatic modes of knowing,and which favour mythical/symbolic overdiscursive formsofexpression).[6]Fifth:Fromastrictlyhistoricalperspective,westernesotericismis used as a container concept encompassing acomplex of interrelated currents and traditionsfrom the early modern period up to the presentday,thehistoricaloriginandfoundationofwhichlies in the syncretistic phenomenon ofRenaissance "hermeticism" (in the broad andinclusive sense of the word).[7] Westernesotericismthusunderstoodincludesthesocalled"occult philosophy" of the Renaissance and itslaterdevelopmentsAlchemy,ParacelsianismandRosicrucianism Christian and postChristianKabbalah Theosophical and Illuminist currentsand various occultist and related developmentsduringthe19thand20thcentury.[8]

BoundaryDisputes

Theacademicstudyofwesternesotericismwearediscussing here is based upon the fifth and finalmeaning: it investigates a series of specificinterrelated historical currents in modern andcontemporarywesternculture,whichhavelargelybeen neglected or disregarded by earliergenerations. However, the relationship of thediscipline to approaches linked to the four othermeaningsofesotericismisacomplicatedone.

1.Althoughthepopularandcommercialmeaning



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of the term"esotericism"isclearlynotsuitedforscholarlyends, ithas infacta large impactupontheinitialperceptionofthestudyofwestern

5esotericism among academics no less thanlaymen: again and again, scholars of westernesotericismareforcedtoexplainthatthestudyofpopularNewAgespiritualitiesconcernsnomorethanasmall subareaof theirdomain[9],andthatthose who wish to study subjects such as theparanormal or altered states of consciousnessshould turn to other disciplines (such asparapsychologyortranspersonalpsychology).[10]

2.Asfortheassociationof"esoteric"withsecrecyandconcealment,itisimportanttopointoutthat,although there is obviously a significant area ofoverlapbetweenthestudyofsecrecyinreligioustraditionsandthestudyofwesternesotericisminthe historical sense of the word, these twodomains of study are by no means equivalent.Secret traditions and initiations are not restrictedto western esoteric traditions and, reversely,manyaspectsofthelatterhaveneverbeensecretandarenotlinkedtoinitiatoryorganizations.Therelationbetweenthetwodomainsisinfactaquitesubtle one, partly because the meanings andconnotationsof"secrecy"withinwesternesoterictraditions aremuchmore diverse than is usuallyrealized.[11]

3.The relationshipbetween thestudyofwesternesotericismandthetypeof"comparativereligion"known as perennialism or traditionalism isproblematicforpracticalandorganizationalratherthan scholarly reasons. The frequent assumptionthatthetwoshareacommondomainofinterestismistaken: there is hardly any demonstrableconnection between the perennialist concept ofesotericism as the metaphysical point of unitywhere exoteric religions are believe to converge,and thehistorical concept ofwestern esotericismas a specific series of currents in modern andcontemporarywesternculture.[12]Perennialismisamode of interpreting not esotericism, but thephenomenon of religion as such and whereasperennialist literature showsamarkedpreferencefor such religions as Hinduism and Islam,



historical currents typical of western esotericismplayamarginalroleinit.[13]

6Nevertheless, due largely to the existing lack ofclarity about the meaning(s) of the termesotericism, scholars ofwestern esoteric currentsfrequently find themselves scheduled in seminarprograms or publication series together withperennialists. Experience shows that suchartificialmarriagesdonotlast.

4.The relationof thehistorical studyofwesternesotericism to "religionist" approaches ofesotericism is probably the most problematic ofall,andneedstobediscussedatsomewhatgreaterlength. It roughly reflects a division within thestudy of religion generally, between those forwhom the study of religionmeans the empiricohistorical and comparative study of specifichistorical religions,and thoseforwhomitmeansthe study of a domain frequently referred to as"thesacred."[14]Scholars belonging to the lattercategory tend to be motivated by a latent orexplicitdissatisfactionwithcontemporarywesternculture, and particularly with patterns ofdesacralization and "the disenchantment of theworld."[15] To them, studying the sacredmeanscalling attention to a vital and importantdimension of reality which they feel is beingthreatened by onesided rationalization,secularization, and the mechanization of theworld. Now, certain scholars of this persuasionpresent the sacred in western culture as closelyassociated,ifnotsynonymous,withits"esoteric"dimensionandaswesaw,theyperceivethelatteras characterized by experiential rather thanrational and dogmatic modes of knowing, andmythical/symbolicratherthandiscursivemodesofexpression.[16]] By calling attention to"esotericism"inthissenseofthewordtheyhopeto contribute to a "new Renaissance" under thesignofa"reenchantmentoftheworld".

Of course, scholars studying western esoterictraditions in thehistoricalsenseof thewordmaypersonally share such hopes for cultural renewaland a "rebirth of the sacred", andmayhope thattheirworkwillcontributesomethingtoit[17]but



thedifferenceisthatwhetherornottheydosoisirrelevanttotheirunderstandingofwhat

7is meant by "western esotericism". When theyrefer to their domain of study by the term"esotericism" they do not mean some kind ofuniversal and transhistorical sui generisphenomenon (analogous to "the sacred" inreligious studies), but a certain number ofhistorical currents and traditions in westernculture that are available for study regardless ofhow theyare evaluated.Asadomainof inquiry,westernesotericisminthishistoricalsenseof thewordlieswideopentoscholarsofallpersuasions:they may or may not happen to believe in theexistence of "the sacred", they may personallyregardspecificesotericbeliefsasprofoundtruthsorasinterestingsuperstitions,ortheymaysimplyseenoreasontoexpressopinionsproorcontra.

Theprimaryproblem in the relationbetween thehistorical study of western esotericism and"religionist" approaches to esotericism thereforehas to do with different ways of defining anddemarcating thefieldof inquiry, rather thanwiththe methodologies used in studying that field.Thispointisfrequentlymisunderstoodandneedsto be strongly emphasized. Understanding"western esotericism" in a historical sense (i.e.,according to the fifth meaning discussed above)imposes clear limits upon the range of historicalphenomenawhichareunderstoodasfallingwithinthepurviewofthefieldbutitdoesnotimplybyany means that only one particular method isconsideredvalidinstudyingthem.Thereisampleroomforvariousapproachestocomplementeachother as well as compete with each other in aconstructivemanner,within a general context ofmethodologicalpluralism.[18]

Towards Methodological Pluralism andInterdisciplinaryResearch

I would suggest that two dimensions may bedistinguished in the current emergence of theacademic study of western esotericism: the firstone may be called "organizational", the second



one"constructive".

1. Research into western esoteric currents hasbeengoingonfora

8long time but scholars in the field have eitherbeenworking in relative isolation, or have donetheirresearchinthecontextofanotherdisciplinethan"westernesotericism".Forexample,onemayfind historians of medicine specializing inParacelsian traditions, art historians specializingin the occultist backgrounds ofmodern painting,and so on. Such scholars are de facto working,among other things, in the field of westernesotericism but in practice most of theirprofessional contacts (including participation inconferencesorpublicationseries)arelikelytobewiththeircolleaguesinthehistoryofmedicineorart history rather than with fellow specialists ofwestern esoteric currents. The first,"organizational" aspect of the emerging study ofwestern esotericism consists in creatinginstitutional frameworks for bringing suchscholarsintocontactwitheachotherandstimulateconstructive exchangebetween them this resultsin "makingvisible" the remarkably largeamountof research that is already being done in awidevariety of academic settings, and making theresults more readily available across disciplines.Organizational frameworksmay take the formofinterdisciplinary conferences, professionalacademic journals,monograph series, and so on.Variousinitiativesinthesedirectionsarecurrentlybeing developed, based upon the creation of ainternationalnetworkofscholarscombinedwithacomputerizeddatabasewhichkeeps trackofnewresearch.[19]

One major problem facing those who take suchinitiatives is the seemingly trivial one ofterminology. I already referred to the fact thatterms such as "esotericism" and "occultism" areparticularly loaded ones, which tend to arousesuspicion and misunderstanding. Indeed,experienceshows that it ispractically impossibletousetheterm"esotericism"(evenifqualifiedbythe adjective "western") in standard academicdiscussions, if one is not prepared to take the



trouble of explaining it over and over again ateachandeveryoccasion.Giventhisnecessity,onemightprefer amoreneutral term,but experienceshows that such a one is extremely difficult tofind.If,bywantofabetteralternative,onesticksto"western

9esotericism" as the label for new institutionalframeworks, one may find that some excellentspecialists hesitate or flatly refuse to participate,simply because being associated with"esotericism" may cause them to lose academiccredibility. I see only two ways of dealing withthis unfortunate problem. One might choose toavoid the term "esotericism", and opt for neutraland nonoffensive but inevitably somewhatclumsy descriptions (for example, "hermetic andrelated currents in modern and contemporarywesternhistory").Or,alternatively,onemayhopethatcontinuedusageoftheword"esotericism"inseriousacademicdiscussionwilleventuallycauseit to shed its questionable associations andbecome broadly accepted as a neutral term.Obviously, thisarticleisbaseduponachoiceforthesecondoption.

2.Whereasthe"organizational"dimensionmerelymakes visible the amount of research that isalready being done in the field of westernesotericism,the"constructive"dimensionaimsatdevelopingthatfieldintoagenuinediscipline.Anacademic discipline is characterized by theexistenceofgeneralquestionsandproblemareasof a comparativeor systematicnature,whichareproper to the field in question by the very factthat such questions and problem areas are of amore general nature, they may prove to berelevanttospecialistsworkinginwidelydifferentsubdomains of the field and can therefore serveto bring them together for collaborating incommonresearchprojects.Thismakesitpossibleforthestudyofwesternesotericismnottorestrictitself to empiricohistorical description ofnarrowlycircumscribed currents andpersonalities, but also to develop interpretivetheories pertaining to various dimensions ofwesternesotericismingeneralor,atleast,largeand significant subareas of it. Of course, many



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scholars working on aspects of westernesotericism from the perspective of traditionalacademic discipines are already using a widevariety of existing theoretical tools andinterpretive frameworks, sometimes with highlyinteresting results.[20] In addition to these, it ispossibletodevelopa

10theoretical dimension proper to the field ofwesternesotericismassuch.[21]

Letme emphasize that the development of suchprojects is not by any means incompatible withprecise historical and philological study ofprimarysources,basedstrictlyupontheadfontesprinciple. Not a few specialists working onspecifichistoricalcurrentsorpersonalitiesfeelnoneedatallforinterpretivetheories[22],butpreferto"letthesourcesspeakforthemselves"asmuchas possible. In my opinion, such predominantlydescriptive historical research based upon solidtext editions is and remains the indispensablefoundation of any serious study of religioustraditions[23], including western esoteric ones,and no research of a comparative or systematicnaturewouldbeconceivablewithoutit.Mypointhere is merely that in order for the study ofwestern esotericism to develop into a genuineacademicdiscipline,thistypeofresearchmustnotbe the only one questions of a comparative andsystematic nature deserve serious attention (atleast by part of the scholars) in addition to thebasic groundwork of historical and philologicalresearch.

Such a combination of historical and systematictypesofresearchnotonlystimulatescollaborationbetween scholars whose research is focused ondifferent periods and subdomains of the field italsoopens theway tomutuallyfruitfulexchangewith entirely different disciplines in thehumanities and the social sciences. Thewritingsof FrancesA.Yates are an excellent example ofthis possibility: although they were intended ascontributions to Renaissance historiography andare not overtly theoretical, their phenomenalsuccess and influence is due largely to the factthat they broached general issues which were



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recognized as highly relevant to problemswhichoccupied scholars in other disciplines.[24] Thisquestionof relevance is important,not leastwithrespect to the tension, just alluded to, betweenhistorical and systematic approaches. Everybodyknows examples of excellent historical researchwhich remains devoid of interest to anybodyoutside a very small and narrow circle ofspecialistsandsotoo,thereisthenolessfamiliar

11phenomenonofgrandspectaculartheorieswhich,atcloserexamination,appeartolackanybasisinhistorical fact.[25] The former is a case of highquality at the expense of relevance the latter acase of (seeming) "relevance" at the expense ofquality. Undoubtedly the former type is to bemuchpreferredoverthelatter,foritdoesproducereal and lasting contributions to scholarlyknowledge which may be picked up and put tofurther use by others the latter, in contrast,merely produces errors and confusion.Nevertheless, the ideal should obviously be acombination ofwhat is best in both: research ofthe highest possible quality, which is not onlybased upon solid and precise historical researchbutalsospeaks to issuesofmoregeneral interestinawaysuchastomakeitsrelevanceevidenttothereader.

Conclusion

The realization that there may in fact be arelevancetothestudyofwesternesotericismhasrecentlybeengaininggroundinacademiccircles.The very idea of studying esotericism seriouslyand from a neutral perspective would havesoundedbizarreandpotentiallydangeroustomostacademicsnomore thana fewdecadesago,[26]]andsuchreactionsarestillnotuncommontoday.Ithasbecomemoreandmoreapparent,however,thatthetraditionalneglectofwesternesotericismasadomainofhistoricalinquiryhasledtoseriousgapsinourknowledge,withpredictablynegativeeffectsupontheunderstandingofourownculturalheritage. The same point may obviously beformulated in a positive manner as well: it hasbecome clear that serious research into westernesoteric currents may often throw a fresh new



lightonoldquestions,andmayoccasionallyturnout to be the "missing link" which makes asolutionpossibleatlast.[27]

That the present academic climate is morefriendly to the study ofwestern esotericism thaneverbeforemaybeexplainedbyacombinationofcultural factors. One of these is the continuing(although diminishing) influence of the 1960scounterculture upon the development ofmainstreamacademiclife:aninfluence,

12however, which I feel is very much a mixedblessing for the future development of thediscipline.[28]Abroadly"postmodern"Zeitgeist,instinctively critical of the "grand narratives" ofmodernityand therefore sympathetic towards therecovery of "suppressed alterities" is mostcertainly another.[29] But although the study ofwesternesotericism isnow indeed in theprocessof coming into its own, the discipline still has alongway to go.As I have argued elsewhere, itsemancipation will be accomplished when thestudyofwesternesotericismnolongerrepresentssomething resembling an academic "counter'Counterculture'culture" but will have beenassimilated as a normal part of the academicmainstream.[30] The necessary conditions forsuch a development are now in existence but tousetheopportunitiestotheirfullestpotential isatask awaiting contemporary as well as futuregenerationsofresearchers.

This articlewill be published inTheosophicalHistory inspring,1999.

Notes

1Onthehistoryofthediscipline:AntoineFaivre&KarenClaire Voss, "Western Esotericism andtheScienceofReligions,"Numen 42 (1995), 4877 Wouter J. Hanegraaff, "Introduction: TheBirth of a Discipline," in: Antoine Faivre &Wouter J. Hanegraaff, eds.,WesternEsotericismand the Science of Religion: Selected Papers



presented at the 17th Congress of theInternational Association for the History ofReligions,MexicoCity 1995 (Gnostica: Texts &Interpretations2),(Peeters:Louvain,1998).

2Cf.AntoineFaivre,"QuestionsofTerminologyproper to the Study of Esoteric Currents inModernandContemporaryEurope," inFaivre&Hanegraaff,WesternEsotericismandtheScienceof Religion. Whereas Faivre distinguishes fourmeanings,Iproposetosplituphisthirdone.

3 Faivre, "Questions of Terminology," 1. Cf.Christoph Bochinger, "New Age" und moderneReligion: Religionswissenschaftliche Analysen,(Gtersloh: 1994), ch. 8.1 and Wouter J.Hanegraaff,

13New Age Religion and Western Culture:Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought,(Leiden:1996/Albany:1998),385388.

4 Antoine Faivre, "The Notions of Concealmentand Secrecy in Modern Esoteric Currents sincethe Renaissance (AMethodological Approach),"paper read at the conference Rending the Veil:ConcealmentandSecrecyinReligions,NewYorkUniversity,April,1997seeAntoineFaivre,''TheNotions ofConcealment and Secrecy inModernEsoteric Currents since the Renaissance (AMethodological Approach)," in: Elliott R.Wolfson (ed.), Rending the Veil: Concealmentand Secrecy in the History of Religions, SevenBridges Press: New York & London 1999, pp.155176.

5 See for example Frithjof Schuon, TheTranscendent Unity of Religions, revised edition(Wheaton/Madras/London: 1984) and WilliamW. Quinn, The Only Tradition, (Albany: 1997).Cf. the discussion in Wouter J. Hanegraaff,"EmpiricalMethod in theStudyofEsotericism,"Method & Theory in the Study of Religion 7:2(1995), 110 and id., "On the Construction of'Esoteric Traditions'" in: Faivre & Hanegraaff,WesternEsotericismandtheScienceofReligions,2628.



6 See the examples ofGillesQuispel and PierreA. Riffard, discussed in Hanegraaff, "On theConstruction,"pars.3.1.1.and3.1.2.IntheUnitedStates, this fourth type is linked in particular toapproachesinfluencedbyMirceaEliadeandCarlGustavJung.

7Thebest introduction andoverviewofwesternesotericism in this sense of theword is AntoineFaivre,Access to Western Esotericism, (Albany:1994). As an innovative syncretism of variousolder traditions, the origins of Renaissance"hermeticism"reachbacktoantiquity.Seeforthecontinuities between ancient, medieval andmodern traditions: Antoine Faivre, "Ancient andMedieval Sources of Modern EsotericMovements," in: Antoine Faivre & JacobNeedleman (eds.),Modern Esoteric Spirituality,(NewYork:1992)and thecollectivevolumebyRoelof van den Broek & Wouter J. Hanegraaff(eds.),GnosisandHermeticismfromAntiquitytoModernTimes,(Albany:1998).

8 ItwillbenotedthatwesternesotericisminthissenseremainslimitedessentiallytothecontextofChristian culture (but extending to its postChristian development since the Enlightenment).ElsewhereIhavesuggestedthattheconceptmaybebroadenedsoastoinclude

14parallelphenomenainJewishandIslamicculture,so that "westernesotericism"mightbeperceivedas a broad domain of study common to theReligions of the Book (Hanegraaff, 'EmpiricalMethod', 121124). Such an extended usagewould constitute a further, sixth meaning of"esotericism".

9Seemyobservationsonthispoint,inWouterJ.Hanegraaff, "The New Age Movement and theEsoteric Tradition," in: Van den Broek &Hanegraaff,GnosisandHermeticism,359361.

10 Obviously I do not intend to suggest thatscholarsofwesternesotericismcannot, incertaincases at least, make use of the results of suchdisciplines in interpreting esoteric currents. See



forexampletheworkofDanMerkur,Gnosis:AnEsoteric Traditions of Mystical Visions andUnions,(Albany:1993).

11Foradiscussionofthesevariousmeanings,seeFaivre, "The Notions of Concealment andSecrecy."

12 Obviously I do not mean to deny that the"concordance"ofdifferenttraditions(intheformofdiscoursesonaphilosophiaperennisorpriscatheologia) has been a major concern in manyhistorical forms of western esotericism, nor thatsomeofthelatterhavehadaninfluenceoncertainimportant perennialist authors. These points ofcontactbetweenthe twomeaningsofesotericismwould constitute a highly interesting subject ofinvestigation.Mypointismerelythatperennialistauthors study (what they consider to be)metaphysical Truth,whereas students ofwesternesotericism study a certain number of historicalcurrents(regardlessofwhethertheirteachingsareconsideredtrueorfalse).

13 Ren Gunon considered his beliefs to beembodied most clearly in Hinduism, andconverted to Islam. He showed little interest inhermetic traditions,andpositivementionofsucha central westernesoteric currents as Christiantheosophy is limited to only a few lines in hiswhole voluminous oeuvre (Antoine Faivre, "Lecourant thosophique (fin XVIXXe sicles):Essaidepriodisation," in:Accsde l'sotrismeoccidentalII,Paris1996,9394).Similarly,

15Frithjof Schuon almost completely neglectswestern esoteric currents in the historical sense(cf. S.H. Nasr, ed,, The Essential Writings ofFrithjofSchuon,(Shaftesbury&Rockport:1986),1920,233261).

14HereandinwhatfollowsIamneverreferringto the sacred in the Durkheimian sense of theword(onthedifference,seeW.E.Paden,"Before'The Sacred' became Theological: Rereading theDurkheimian Legacy: Method & Theory in theStudyofReligion3:1(1991)cf.thediscussionsofDurkheim and Eliade in Hanegraaff, "Defining



Religion").

15 On this point, see Wouter J. Hanegraaff,"DefiningReligioninSpiteofHistory,"in:JanG.Platvoet & Arie L. Molendijk (eds.), TheDefinition of Religion: Concepts, Contexts &Conflicts,Royal(Leiden:Brill,1998).

16 An excellent example is the French scholarPierre A. Riffard. See esp. his L'sotrisme,(Paris:1990).

17 For example, no less than three thoroughlyhistoricalarticlesinFaivre&Hanegraaff,WesternEsotericism and the Science of Religionsignificantly end with expressing hopes forcultural renewal:ArthurVersluis, "Alchemy andChristian Theosophic Literature," 141144 JaneWilliamsHogan, "The Place of EmanuelSwedenborg in Modern Western Esotericism,"250 Garry W. Trompf, "Macrohistory inBlavatsky,SteinerandGunon,"294.

18ContraKarenClaireVoss,"TheUniversityasa Space of Possibility," Rencontrestransdisciplinaires 12 (1998), 100101. Thisarticle is a particularly clear example of themisunderstandingreferred tohere.Defending themerits of an empiricohistorical methodologyagainst "religionist" methodologies (see my"EmpiricalMethod" and "On the Construction")must not be confusedwith dogmatic attempts toimposesuchamethodologyastheonlyscholarlyvalidone.

19 For further information on thisnetwork/database project, contact WouterHanegraaff (address: Dept. of the Study ofReligions, Faculty of Theology, P.O.Box 80105,3508 TC Utrecht email:[email protected]).Asforconferences,seeespeciallythe

16innovative section on western esotericismorganized in the context of the fiveyearlycongressesoftheInternationalAssociationfortheHistoryofReligions(IAHR)thefirsteditionwasorganized at the 17th IAHR congress (Mexico



City 1995 see the proceedings: Faivre &Hanegraaff,WesternEsotericismandtheScienceof Religion) and will be continued at the 18thcongress (Durban, South Africa, 2000). A newmonograph series calledGnostica, concentratingon text editions, has been started by Garry W.Trompf, the late John Cooper, and Wouter J.Hanegraaff(publ.:Louvain:Peeters).Atrilingualjournal ARIES has circulated on a limited scalesince 1985 preparations for a new formula andformat, to be published by a major academicpublisher,arenowinanadvancedstage.

20 Some recent examples: contemporary literarytheory applied to the study of kabbala (AndreasKilcher, Die Sprachtheorie der Kabbala alssthetisches Paradigma: Die Konstruktion einersthetischen Kabbala seit der frhen Neuzeit,(Stuttgart & Weimar: 1998)) Michel Foucault'sarchologie du savoir applied to Renaissancemagic (Gary Tomlinson, Music in RenaissanceMagic: Toward a Historiography of Others,(Chicago&London: 1993)) psychoanalysis andalteredstatesofconsciousnessresearchappliedtovarioustraditionsofwesternesotericism(Merkur,Gnosis, op.cit.) anthropological theories of"magic" applied to ritualmagic in contemporaryoccultism (T.M. Luhrmann, Persuasions of theWitch's Craft: Ritual Magic in ContemporaryEngland,(CambridgeMass.:1989)).

21 Suchprojects shouldbe sensitive to the everpresentdangerofuniversalizingattheexpenseofhistorical uniqueness. Any attempt to makestatements about esotericism "as such" is indeedvulnerabletothesametypeofcriticismwhichisvery legitimately addressed by historians atgrand theories of religion "as such" (AntoineFaivre, L'sotrisme, Paris 1992, 4 cf.Hanegraaff, "Defining Religion," Introduction).Someparticularlyrelevantexamplesofhownonessentialist theoretical approachesmay affect theinterpretationofhistoricalmaterialsmaybefoundinthemodernstudyofJewish

17"mysticism",adisciplinefromwhichthestudyofwesternesotericismhasmuchtolearn.SeeMosheIdel's plea for what he refers to as a



"phenomenological"approachasanalternativetoGershom Scholem's "philologicalhistorical" one(Kabbalah: New Perspectives, (New Haven &London: 1988), esp. ch. 2), and Joseph Dan's"contingental"approach('InQuestofaHistoricalDefinition of Mysticism: The ContingentalApproach', Studies in Spirituality 3 (1993), 5890)andcf.mydiscussionofScholemandDanin"On the Construction," par. 3.3.2. AntoineFaivre's muchquoted definition of westernesotericism in terms of four intrinsic and twoextrinsic characteristics (Access, 1014) has farreaching implications for the conception of thediscipline I have myself used it, in slightlymodifiedform,fordevelopingageneralandnonessentialist theory pertaining to the specificproblem of the secularization of westernesotericism (New Age Religion, Part III). Theseareonlyafewexamples.

22Ontheinevitabletension(but,inmyopinion,acreative one) between the systematic and thehistoricaldimensionofthestudyofreligions,seemy observation in "Defining Religion,"Introduction.

23 In thecaseofcontemporarycurrents thismayobviously be combined with sociological andanthropological research techniques (participantresearchetc.).

24 The Wirkungsgeschichte of Yates' oeuvrewould be an interesting research topic. Mostobviousisitsrelevancetotheinterpretationofthescientific revolution (for the debate on thecontroversial "Yates thesis", see H. FlorisCohen,The Scientific Revolution: AHistoriographical Inquiry, (Chicago & London:1994),169183)butithasalsoservedasan"eyeopener"tospecialistsinsuchdivergentdisciplinesas the study of Romanticism (M.H. Abrams,Natural Supernaturalism: Tradition andRevolutioninRomanticLiterature,(NewYork&London:1971),154163)andtheanthropologyofreligion and magic (Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah,Magic, Science, Religion, and the Scope ofRationality, (Cambridge UP: 1990), 2429). Thestudyofwesternesotericismwillalwaysbe



18indebted to Yates, even if her work is nowcriticizedonmanypoints.

25 The former type refers to a phenomenon sowellknownastoneednofurtherillustrationonecharacteristicexampleofthelattertypewouldbeEric Voegelin's theory of "modern gnosticism"(cf. Hanegraaff, "On the Construction," par.3.2.1.).

26 See the pertinent remarks made as early as1976byPaulOskarKristeller,whoadmitsthatin1953 he had still felt somewhat embarrassed athavingtoreport twocasesofexorcismdescribedby Marsilio Ficino: '... grce l'oeuvre deThorndike, de Miss Yates et d'autres, nous nesommespluspouvantsquandnousrencontronsdesidesscientifiquesbizarresoudesconceptionsastrologiques, alchimiques oumagiques chez lespenseurs des sicles passs. Si nous dcouvronsdesidesdecegenredansl'oeuvredeFicin,nousne lui en faisons pas le reproche, mais nous leplaons simplement dans une vaste traditionintellectuellequi avait tngligeet vite troplongtempsparleshistoriens,etquiestreprsenteparunelittraturetendueetdifficilequiaencorebesoin ... d'un grand effort d'tude etd'exploration' ('L'tat prsent des tudes surMarsile Ficin', in: Platon et Aristote laRenaissance,(Paris:1976),63).

27OnthischangewithrespecttotheRenaissance,seeKristellerasquotedinnote26cf.alsoBrianCopenhaver, "HermesTrismegistus,Proclus, andthe Question of a Philosophy of Magic in theRenaissancem," in: Ingrid Merkel & Allen G.Debus, eds., Hermeticism and the Renaissance:Intellectual History and the Occult in EarlyModern Europe, (Washington: 1988), 79.Although the "Yates thesis" (cf. note 24) is nolonger accepted in its original strong form,Renaissance magic is now generally takenseriously as an important dimension in thedevelopmentof thescientific revolution.Togivean example from another historical period, seehow the factor of western esotericism, and its"hermetic" component in particular, affects theinterpretationofRomanticism(foranoverviewofthedevelopmentinAngloSaxonresearch,seemy



"Romanticism and the Esoteric Connection," inVan den Broek & Hanegraaff, Gnosis andHermeticism).

19

28 Cf. my observations with respect to thepopularity of Frances Yates's oeuvre, beginningwith her book on Giordano Bruno published in1964(Hanegraaff,"Introduction," ixxv),and theneedforthestudyofwesternesotericismtomovebeyondthe"Yatesparadigm."

29 Cf. my review of Gary Tomlinson,Music inRenaissance Magic, forthcoming in ARIES 22(1999).

30Hanegraaff,"Introduction,"xv.

some remarks on the study of western esotericism

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