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  • © 2021

Innovation in Esotericism from the Renaissance to the Present

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Argues that the concept of innovation is important in understanding the history of esotericism
  • Reconsiders what innovation means in relation to ideas and intellectual production in general
  • Features contributions from distinguished scholars of esotericism, as well as up-and-coming researchers

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Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxii
  2. Introduction: Reconceptualizing Innovation and Its Role in Esotericism

    • Georgiana D. Hedesan, Tim Rudbøg
    Pages 1-31
  3. The Rosicrucian Diaspora in the Seventeenth Century

    • Christopher McIntosh
    Pages 135-154
  4. Reflections on the Various Uses of Tarot

    • Antoine Faivre
    Pages 315-326
  5. Back Matter

    Pages 327-342

About this book

This collection explores the role of innovation in understanding the history of esotericism. It illustrates how innovation is a mechanism of negotiation whereby an idea is either produced against, or adapted from, an older set of concepts in order to respond to a present context. Featuring contributions from distinguished scholars of esotericism, it covers many different fields and themes including magic, alchemy, Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, Tarot, apocalypticism and eschatology, Mesmerism, occultism, prophecy, and mysticism.

Reviews

“The volume is dedicated to the memory of Nicholas Goodricke-Clarke, a leading scholar of esotericism, and contains a Foreword about him written by Joscelyn Godwin. The volume transcends the boundaries of historical periodization and successfully introduces the notion of ‘innovation’ to the scholarship of esotericism.” (Mriganka Mukhopadhyay, Religious Studies Review, Vol. 49 (1), March, 2023)

Editors and Affiliations

  • History Faculty, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Georgiana D. Hedesan

  • Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Tim Rudbøg

About the editors

Georgiana D. Hedesan is Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Oxford, UK. She is the author of An Alchemical Quest for Universal Knowledge: The ‘Christian Philosophy’ of Jan Baptist Van Helmont (1579-1644) (2016).

 

Tim Rudbøg is Associate Professor and Director of the Copenhagen Center for the Study of Theosophy and Esotericism at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. His recent co-edited book Imagining the East: The Early Theosophical Society was published in 2020.  



Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access