the western esoteric roots of contemporary new...

The Western Esoteric Roots of Contemporary New Spirituality

Jussi Sohlberg,Church Research Institute

29.9.2015, Helsinki

Western esotericism:

• Most scholars agree that Western esotericism covers such currents as Gnosticism, ancient Hermeticism, occult sciences, especially astrology, magic, alchemy, Christian Theosophy, Renaissance Hermeticism, Kabbalah, Rosicrucianism, modern occultism, traditionalism and various related currents of New Age spiritualities.

1.10.2015 Esityksen / esittäjän nimi2

Antoine Faivre: Esoteric form of thought

• Four of these principles are held to be central and their simultaneous presence is a necessary for that studied material can be defined “esoteric”. These four premises are:

• 1.) Correspondences 2.) Living Nature 3.) Imagination and mediations 4.) The Experience of Transmutation

• 5.) The Praxis of Concordance 6.) Transmission


Structure of western culture:

• K. Von Stuckrad does not give any detailed definition of esotericism itself or its precise contents. Here esotericism is understood rather as a one structure in western culture including different discourses of higher knowledge and ways of achieving this knowledge. This include mediation by higher beings and personal mystical experience. Also, esoteric world views are very often based on ontological monism.


Corpus Hermeticum:

• Corpus Hermeticum: CH is actually part of larger body of hermetic literature originating mainly from the 2th and 3th centuries AD. CH includes several texts and one of the most well known is Poimandres. Poimandres describes salvation as the gradual ascension of soul to Godhead. CH describes also creation of universe, different cosmological spheres, nature of human being and other spiritual beings as well as astral body of human being. According CH human being can begin his journey to Godhead by initiation


Marcilio Ficino (1433 – 1499)


Post-Enlightenment esotericism:

Romanticism: Natural Philosophy

Occultism: Theosophy, Antroposophy, Spiritualism,

Golden Dawn, Ritual Magic, Mesmerism.


Eliphas Levi (1810 – 1875)


• During the Romantic era “occult revival”, one key person among the many, was Frenchman Alphonse Constant Louise (Eliphas Levi, 1810-1875). Levi was one of those who re-invented the magical and esoteric tradition of Renaissance

Levi re-found and formulate three basic “laws” of magic that were adopted by GD. 1.) The Law of human willpower. Human willpower is real force, “magical subject”. A trained human will can cause chance and also produce physical effects. 2.) The law of astral light. This astral light is spiritual energy that pervades whole universe. Levi himself refers to astral light as the World

Soul. 3.) The law of correspondence.


Mesmerism & New Thought:

• Three modern innovation has influenced in turn by memerism: 1.

Spiritualism 2. New Thought and 3. Modern psychology.

• The core teaching of New Thought was that human mind can radically effect

on physical reality and matter. American mesmerist Phineas Quimby laid

foundations of the New Thought in the mid-19th century. He emphasized

radically power of belief and not surprisingly, according to this view also

illness and poverty can be cured and removed by changing ones way of

thinking. Using affirmations or short positive statements is typical main

technique for ”deprogramming” mind to overcome negative thoughts.


The Occult milieu:

There were certain elements, which prevailed in the occult milieu through 19th century and on:

1. The rise of spiritualism is understood to be a great outpouring of Divinity

2. Bible and life of Jesus is seen in symbolical way

3. Humanity must turn from Christianity back to Primordial tradition

4. All religions are essentially same, because they derived from Divinity manifested in Nature

5. Jesus is one messiah among others

6. Man is not need of vicarious atonement

7. Evil is foremost ignorance and resistance to Divine plan

8. Humankind and cosmos are in the evolutionary process towards Divinity


Wouter J. Hanegraaff:

• New Age is very much intervowen into western esoteric currents. Hanegraaff has pointed out that new age has emerged from long-time western traditions that either belong to or either are closely linked to Western esotericism.

• Old esoteric currents were much transformed by four innovations of modern time which emerged since 19th century : the new world view of causality (referring to natural sciences), new study of religions (referring, increasing knowledge of religions), evolutionism (referring evolution theory and idea of progress) and new psychologies.

• Especially, movements like Swedenborgianism, Spiritualism, New Thougth, Theosophy, and Mesmerism among others have greatly influenced to New Age.


New Age:

• Historically oriented scholars have often emphasized difference between narrow and broader categories of new age. In fact, already in the late 1950s there were signs of forthcoming New Age culture.

• The New Age (sensu stricto, strict sense) was kind of millenialist movement focused on arrival of the new era, when whole humanity will experience a shift into new spiritual age.


• millenialist phase started to weaken at the late 1970s and New Age (sensu lato, wider sense) started to became more visible in our culture. Millenialism was gradually overtaken by emphasis of the individual spiritual growth and personal experiences. New Age themes; spiritual growth, healing and well being have been taken away from their countercultural locations and they have became part of mainstream institutions


• As one example of mapping key elements in New Age is list by Olav Hammer:

• A view of the entire cosmos as an interconnected whole

• A direction in existence – indicating that humans create their circumstances not vice versa

• The idea of everything in existence being permeated by a divine force or energy

• The idea that humans have mismanaged their existence but the present condition is possible to mend

• A view of the earth is a living thing which has been abused by humanity

• The idea that every human being has his/her own unique part in existence

• A belief in reincarnation combined with a belief in spiritual evolution through the different reincarnations

• The conviction that there are better ways to attain knowledge than through science

• The sentiment that eastern and traditional nature religions contain universal and ancient wisdom

• The opinion that humanity is on the verge of a spiritual and societal revolution


Subjective life of sacred:

• According to Paul Heelas and his associates this domain of spirituality or subjective life of sacred is manifesting in the holistic milieu, which in turn is part of the general wellbeing culture.

Subjective life forms of the sacred emphasize inner sources of human being and that inner -self constitutes basis of authority, instead of external authority.

New Age is part of the holistic milieu (holistic milieu can be seen as synonymous to new spirituality)


Higher Self:

• The ultimate meaning and goal of the Golden Dawn ritual magic can summarize also as following: The final goal is purify person`s lower personality and achieve an elevated state of consciousness. Magician`s aim is that his ego (limited, mundane,) enters into union with his Higher Self and through it achieves the relationship with Divinity(Cicero, Regardie)


Paul Heelas:

• According to Heelas, New Age doctrine of salvation has three basic tenets:

1.) Recognition that one´s life is mired in unnatural, deterministic and misguided routines.

2.) Understand that one must move beyond ego or lower self.

3.) The embrace of specific spiritual diciplines to overcome this lower self and liberate one´s true self.


Christopher Partridge: Occulture (”Culture + Occult”):

• Complex cultural phenomena of late modernity.

Occulture is a sociological term referring to enviroment and social processes by which certain elements and ideas relating typically to spiritual, esoteric, paranormal and conspirational merge and dissemitate in society. Popular culture has central role in the complex world of occulture.


• Examples of movies and tv-series: Dark Skies, The X-Files, Supernaturals, Rosemary´s Baby, The Wicker Man, Contact, Paranormal Activity and True Blood.


Challenges of contemporary spirituality:

• In essence, human being is divine and ontologically same as Divinity.

• Human being and cosmos have hidden and latent spiritual energies to cultivate.

• Methods and techniques to manipulate those energies are numerous, what matters most, is that they work and ”feel right”


• There are many roads to Divinity,

• Inner voice of human being is the most important and trustworthy guide.

• Religions has often forgotten and supressed mystical traditions, which are the basically same at heart of every religious tradition.


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