- University of Amsterdam, History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents, Department Memberadd
- Esotericism, Cognitive Science of Religion, Religious Studies, History of Religion, Intellectual History, History of Science, and 24 moreNew Religious Movements, Secularization, Religious Pluralism, New Age spirituality, Sociology of Knowledge, Magic, Religion and Popular Culture, Occultism, Agnosticism, Postsecularism (Sociology), Method and Theory in the Study of Religion, History of Physics, History of Biology, Esotericism & Science, Western Esotericism (History), Philosophy, History, Science and Religion, Religion and Politics, Sociology of Religion, Philosophy and Religious Studies, Philosophy of Science, Evolutionary Psychology, and Philosophy of Mindedit
- Professor of History of Religions at Stockholm University. PhD from University of Amsterdam, 2013 (Centre for History... moreProfessor of History of Religions at Stockholm University. PhD from University of Amsterdam, 2013 (Centre for History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents), postdoc at UCSB (2013-2015). Research and teaching focuses on esotericism, the history of magic, contemporary alternative religion/spirituality, entanglements of science and the occult, method and theory with an emphasis on the cognitive science of religion.edit
This volume offers new approaches to some of the biggest persistent challenges in the study of esotericism and beyond. Commonly understood as a particularly “Western” undertaking consisting of religious, philosophical, and ritual... more
This volume offers new approaches to some of the biggest persistent challenges in the study of esotericism and beyond. Commonly understood as a particularly “Western” undertaking consisting of religious, philosophical, and ritual traditions that go back to Mediterranean antiquity, this book argues for a global approach that significantly expands the scope of esotericism and highlights its relevance for broader theoretical and methodological debates in the humanities and social sciences.
The contributors offer critical interventions on aspects related to colonialism, race, gender and sexuality, economy, and marginality. Equipped with a substantial introduction and conclusion, the book offers textbook-style discussions of the state of research and makes concrete proposals for how esotericism can be rethought through broader engagement with neighboring fields.
The contributors offer critical interventions on aspects related to colonialism, race, gender and sexuality, economy, and marginality. Equipped with a substantial introduction and conclusion, the book offers textbook-style discussions of the state of research and makes concrete proposals for how esotericism can be rethought through broader engagement with neighboring fields.
Research Interests: Religion, Gnosticism, History, Sociology, Postcolonial Studies, and 15 moreSpirituality, Race and Ethnicity, Gender, Late Antiquity, Islamic Studies, Global History, Theosophy, Islamic Esotericism, Reception of Antiquity, Africana Studies, Esotericism, Western Esotericism, South America, Entangled History, and New Age Religions
The Problem of Disenchantment offers a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach to the intellectual history of science, religion, and “the occult” in the early 20th century. By developing a new approach to Max Weber’s famous idea... more
The Problem of Disenchantment offers a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach to the intellectual history of science, religion, and “the occult” in the early 20th century. By developing a new approach to Max Weber’s famous idea of a “disenchantment of the world”, and drawing on an impressively diverse set of sources, Egil Asprem opens up a broad field of inquiry that connects the histories of science, religion, philosophy, and Western esotericism.
Parapsychology, occultism, and the modern natural sciences are usually viewed as distinct cultural phenomena with highly variable intellectual credentials. In spite of this view, Asprem demonstrates that all three have met with similar intellectual problems related to the intelligibility of nature, the relation of facts to values, and the dynamic of immanence and transcendence, and solved them in comparable terms.
Parapsychology, occultism, and the modern natural sciences are usually viewed as distinct cultural phenomena with highly variable intellectual credentials. In spite of this view, Asprem demonstrates that all three have met with similar intellectual problems related to the intelligibility of nature, the relation of facts to values, and the dynamic of immanence and transcendence, and solved them in comparable terms.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Parapsychology, History and Philosophy of Chemistry, History and Philosophy of Biology, History of Philosophy of Science, and 14 moreScience and Religion, Natural Theology, Intellectual and cultural history, Spiritualism, Western Esotericism (History), History and Philosophy of the Human Sciences, Occultism, History of Science and Religion, Naturalism (Philosophy), Max Weber, Religious Studies, Disenchantment, History of psychical research, and Problemgeschichte
Research Interests:
The study of contemporary esoteric discourse has hitherto been a largely neglected part of the new academic field of Western esotericism. Contemporary Esotericism provides a broad overview and assessment of the complex world of Western... more
The study of contemporary esoteric discourse has hitherto been a largely neglected part of the new academic field of Western esotericism. Contemporary Esotericism provides a broad overview and assessment of the complex world of Western esoteric thought today. Combining historiographical analysis with theories and methodologies from the social sciences, the volume explores new problems and offers new possibilities for the study of esoterica. Contemporary Esotericism studies the period since the 1950s but focuses on the last two decades. The wide range of essays are divided into four thematic sections: the intricacies of esoteric appeals to tradition; the role of popular culture, modern communication technologies, and new media in contemporary esotericism; the impact and influence of esotericism on both religious and secular arenas; and the recent ‘de-marginalization’ of the esoteric in both scholarship and society.
Research Interests:
In this article, we introduce the ContERN special issue on ethnographies of the esoteric. While the study of esotericism has been dominated by historical-philological scholarship, recent years have seen an increase in anthropological... more
In this article, we introduce the ContERN special issue on ethnographies of the esoteric. While the study of esotericism has been dominated by historical-philological scholarship, recent years have seen an increase in anthropological approaches to contemporary esotericism. We argue that this development provides the field not only with new tools, but also fresh perspectives on long-standing theoretical challenges. What are the implications of situating esotericism in particular ethnographic fieldsites? How does anthropological theory reflect on deep-rooted assumptions in the field? We address these questions using examples from the articles in the present special issue as well as other recent ethnographies of esoteric subject matter.
Research Interests: Philology, Sociology, Epistemology, Ethnography, Cultural Theory, and 12 moreColonialism, Relativism, Method and Theory in the Study of Religion, Western Esotericism (Anthropology), Religious Studies, Rationality, Western Esotericism, Scholarship, Ethnography Research methodology, Religionsvetenskap, Correspondences, and languages And Literatures
At the center of this article stands a striking but poorly understood artefact held at the Nordic Museum in Stockholm (NM.0159389): A piece of bovine leg bone carved in the likeness of a human skull. Traditionally described as an “idol,”... more
At the center of this article stands a striking but poorly understood artefact held at the Nordic Museum in Stockholm (NM.0159389): A piece of bovine leg bone carved in the likeness of a human skull. Traditionally described as an “idol,” the artefact belongs to a bundle of “witchcraft tools” (trolltyg) that have been attributed to the legendary witch, “Captain Elin,” loosely built on the historical person Elin Eriksdotter from Mofikerud, who was tried in a late witch trial in Näs, Värmland, in 1720. Scholars have long known that the attribution of the skull figure and most of the other items to Elin is false. In this article, we first describe how the association with “Captain Elin” arose, shedding new light on the creation of the legend and its association with the “witchcraft tools.” Secondly, we present new archival evidence that suggests an entirely different context for the bone artefact, namely in the encounters between Romani people and the majority population at the end of the Swedish Great Power era. We discuss the significance of this new context for the cultural memory of magic and witchcraft in Sweden, and for our understanding of the Romani minority’s place in early-modern society.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Religion, History, Sociology of Religion, Philosophy Of Religion, Postcolonial Studies, and 14 moreSouth Asian Studies, Race and Ethnicity, Gender, Late Antiquity, Islamic Studies, Global History, New Age spirituality, Reception of Antiquity, Religious Studies, Western Esotericism, Eurocentrism, Esoterism, Entangled History, and Modernity/coloniality/decoloniality
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
To get beyond the solely negative identities signaled by atheism and agnosticism, we have to conceptualize an object of study that includes religions and non-religions. We advocate a shift from " religions " to " worldviews " and define... more
To get beyond the solely negative identities signaled by atheism and agnosticism, we have to conceptualize an object of study that includes religions and non-religions. We advocate a shift from " religions " to " worldviews " and define worldviews in terms of the human ability to ask and reflect on " big questions " ([BQs], e.g., what exists? how should we live?). From a worldviews perspective, atheism, agnosticism, and theism are competing claims about one feature of reality and can be combined with various answers to the BQs to generate a wide range of worldviews. To lay a foundation for the multidisciplinary study of worldviews that includes psychology and other sciences, we ground them in humans' evolved world-making capacities. Conceptualizing worldviews in this way allows us to identify, refine, and connect concepts that are appropriate to different levels of analysis. We argue that the language of enacted and articulated worldviews (for humans) and worldmaking and ways of life (for humans and other animals) is appropriate at the level of persons or organisms and the language of sense making, schemas, and meaning frameworks is appropriate at the cognitive level (for humans and other animals). Viewing the meaning making processes that enable humans to generate worldviews from an evolutionary perspective allows us to raise news questions for psychology with particular relevance for the study of nonreligious worldviews.
Research Interests:
Open peer commentary to Marc Andersen's target article, "Predictive Coding in Agency Detection."
Research Interests:
In this essay we address challenges raised in response to our article on "Explanation and the Study of Religion"
Research Interests:
This chapter argues that explanation is a necessary, but under-examined, aspect of theories of religion. After reviewing historical impediments to explanatory approaches to “religion” and considering explanation in the philosophy of... more
This chapter argues that explanation is a necessary, but under-examined, aspect of theories of religion. After reviewing historical impediments to explanatory approaches to “religion” and considering explanation in the philosophy of science, the authors argue that contemporary attempts at renewing mechanistic approaches to the “special sciences” holds particular promise. Contrary to common assumptions, a new mechanistic approach is capable of integrating meanings, values, and intentional action as causal factors in nested levels of mechanisms. Doing so, however, requires us to shift our object of explanation from “religion” in the abstract to the concrete interaction of human behaviors.
Research Interests:
We discuss the conceptual advantages that would accrue if we were to conceive our discipline more broadly as Worldview Studies with an emphasis on the scientific study of their emergence, development, and function. We realize that... more
We discuss the conceptual advantages that would accrue if we were to conceive our discipline more broadly as Worldview Studies with an emphasis on the scientific study of their emergence, development, and function. We realize that implementing such a vision would raise many practical questions at the level of departments and divisions in universities in the U.S. and Europe, so present this primarily as a vision that could shape both our research and our teaching.
Research Interests:
In tandem with the professionalization of research on esotericism over the past two decades, another sub-discipline has risen to prominence within the study of religion: the cognitive science of religion (CSR). Both of these fields, CSR... more
In tandem with the professionalization of research on esotericism over the past two decades, another sub-discipline has risen to prominence within the study of religion: the cognitive science of religion (CSR). Both of these fields, CSR and the study of esotericism, have made significant impact on how we study religion. Research on esotericism, as Aries readers well know, has deepened our understanding of the historical complexities of religion and its others in the West (the European countries and their spheres of influence), identifying blind spots relating to heterodox religion, radically experiential practices, and overlaps between "religion" , "magic", and "science" that may look curious with the hindsight of history. Meanwhile, CSR is changing the way scholars think about and approach key aspects of religious thought and practice while adding new experimental and analytical tools to the scholar's toolbox, by grounding the study of religion in our best current theories of how the human mind works. This special issue is the first collaborative attempt to date at exploring the potential of bringing these two innovative fields together. Two questions motivate this endeavour. First, what can CSR approaches add to the study of empirical material from the field of esotericism? Secondly, and conversely, can key problems in the study of esotericism, such as the notion of experiential gnosis, correspondence thinking, the role of imagination, and the use of esoteric hermeneutical strategies applied to obscure texts contribute to the development of CSR approaches?
Research Interests:
The imagination is central to esoteric practices, but so far scholars have shown little interest in exploring cognitive theories of how the imagination works. The only exception is Tanya Luhrmann's interpretive drift theory and related... more
The imagination is central to esoteric practices, but so far scholars have shown little interest in exploring cognitive theories of how the imagination works. The only exception is Tanya Luhrmann's interpretive drift theory and related research on mental imagery cultivation, which has been used to explain the subjective persuasiveness of modern ritual magic. This article draws on recent work in the neuroscience of perception in order to develop a general theory of kataphatic (that is, imagery based) practice that goes beyond the interpretive drift theory. Mental imagery is intimately linked with perception. Drawing on " predictive coding " theory, I argue that kataphatic practices exploit the probabilistic, expectation-based way that the brain processes sensory information and creates models (perceptions) of the world. This view throws light on a wide range of features of kataphatic practices, from their contemplative and cognitive aspects, to their social organization and demographic make-up, over their pageantry and material culture. By connecting readily observable features of kataphatic practice to specific neurocognitive mechanisms related to perceptual learning and cognitive processing of mental imagery, the predictive coding paradigm also creates opportunities for combining historical research with experimental approaches within the study of religion. I illustrate how this framework may enrich the study of Western esotericism in particular by applying it to the paradigmatic case of " astral travel " as it has developed from the Golden Dawn tradition of ritual magic, especially by Aleister Crowley.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Foreword to Volume 6 of the series Schriften – Rudolf Steiner Kritische Aufgabe (frommann-holzboog Verlag, 2016), edited by Christian Clement. This volume contains Steiner's two texts, Theosophie and Anthroposophie. The foreword discusses... more
Foreword to Volume 6 of the series Schriften – Rudolf Steiner Kritische Aufgabe (frommann-holzboog Verlag, 2016), edited by Christian Clement. This volume contains Steiner's two texts, Theosophie and Anthroposophie. The foreword discusses Steiner's relationship to the Theosophical and post-Theosophical currents.
Research Interests:
Scholars agree that the imagination is central to esoteric practice. While the esoteric vis imaginativa is usually attributed to the influx of Neoplatonism in the Italian Renaissance, this article argues that many of its key properties... more
Scholars agree that the imagination is central to esoteric practice. While the esoteric vis imaginativa is usually attributed to the influx of Neoplatonism in the Italian Renaissance, this article argues that many of its key properties were already in place in medieval scholasticism. Two aspects of the history of the imagination are discussed. First, it is argued that esoteric practice is rooted in a broader kataphatic trend within Christian spirituality that explodes in the popular devotion literature of the later Middle Ages. By looking at the role of Bonaventure's " cognitive theology " in the popularization of gospel meditations and kataphatic devotional prayer, it is argued that there is a direct link between the scholastic reconsideration of the imaginative faculty and the development of esoteric practices inspired by Christian devotional literature. Secondly, it is argued that the Aristotelian inner sense tradition of the scholastics left a lasting impression on later esoteric conceptualizations of the imaginative faculty. Examples suggesting evidence for both these two claims are discussed. The article proposes to view esoteric practices as an integral part of a broader kataphatic stream in European religious history, separated out by a set of disjunctive strategies rooted in the policing of " orthopraxy " by ecclesiastical authorities.
Research Interests:
This chapter in a textbook for an entry-level undergraduate audience provides an introduction to the notion of disenchantment, focusing on the transformation of the "supernatural".
Research Interests:
This contribution to the Cambridge Handbook of Western Esotericism and Mysticism provides an overview of two of the most influential occultist initiatory orders of the 19th and 20th centuries, with a particular look at their roles in the... more
This contribution to the Cambridge Handbook of Western Esotericism and Mysticism provides an overview of two of the most influential occultist initiatory orders of the 19th and 20th centuries, with a particular look at their roles in the history of modern ritual magic.
Research Interests:
We are grateful to the commentators who took the time to respond to our target article and think they raised a number of important concerns. Before discussing them, however, we were pleased to note that there was little opposition to the... more
We are grateful to the commentators who took the time to respond to our target article and think they raised a number of important concerns. Before discussing them, however, we were pleased to note that there was little opposition to the general idea of viewing experiences as events. Although Radvansky (as well as Zacks) did not envision this use of their theory, we were particularly gratified that Radvansky not only affirmed but offered means of extending our application of their research into the realm of experience. Our response to the concerns raised falls under four headings: (1) opening clarifications, (2) issues related to the use of first-‐person narratives, (3) concerns related to extending event segmentation theory (EST) to internally experienced states, and (4) the effects of cross-‐event integration. I. Opening Clarifications Experience as Event: Kavanagh worries that our definition of events is too broad and suggests that event cognition is the " preferred analytical method to employ for all research on religious experience. " We adopted the definition used in the event cognition literature (Zacks & Tversky 2001). Researchers in this field intentionally define it broadly, recognizing that people view events in multiple timeframes from the micro to the macro and can readily switch between perspectives. In referring to " experiences as events, " our intention was to distinguish between experience as the flow of information and experiences, which reflect the chunking of the flow of information into events with a beginning and an end. This framework not only gave us a starting point for recasting some traditional problems in the study of " religious experience " but also, as we will discuss below, provides a means of integrating disparate lines of research. Thus, we do not view event cognition as " a tool " but as a theoretical framework that embeds the study of experience in current neurocognitive research on how people generate models of what is happening. [Religious] Experience: Both Proudfoot and van Elk & Zwaan raise concerns about our reference to " (religious) experience " (RE). In placing " religious " in parentheses in the title, we meant to signal our embrace of an attributional approach (Taves 2009) in which we assume that no experiences are inherently religious (or spiritual) and that their characterization as such is a matter of appraisal, both conscious and unconscious. Thus, we were presupposing from the outset that there is, as van Elk
Research Interests:
This article responds to Hans Kippenberg's, Willem Drees's, and Ann Taves's commentaries on my book, The Problem of Disenchantment. It presents an overview of the key arguments of the book, clarifies its use of Problemgeschichte to... more
This article responds to Hans Kippenberg's, Willem Drees's, and Ann Taves's commentaries on my book, The Problem of Disenchantment. It presents an overview of the key arguments of the book, clarifies its use of Problemgeschichte to reconceptualize Weber's notion of disenchantment, and discusses issues in the history and philosophy of science and religion. Finally, it elaborates on the use of recent cognitive theory in intellectual history. In particular, it argues that work in event cognition can help us reframe Weber's interpretive sociology and deepen the principle of methodological individualism. This helps us get a better view of what the ‘problems’ of Problemgeschichte really are, how they emerge, and why some of them may reach broader significance.
Research Interests:
We argue that EVENT is a basic concept that humanists, social scientists and cognitive psychologists can use to build a consilient research platform for the study of experiences that people deem religious. Grounding the study of... more
We argue that EVENT is a basic concept that humanists, social scientists and cognitive psychologists can use to build a consilient research platform for the study of experiences that people deem religious. Grounding the study of experience in event cognition allows us to reframe several classic problems in the study of “religious experience”: (1) the function of culture-specific knowledge in the production of experiences, (2) the relationship between original experiences and later narratives, and (3) the relationship between experiences and appraisal processes. At the same time, construing experiences as events allows us to integrate disparate lines of research in CSR to create an integrated framework for studying both existing and emergent phenomena.
Research Interests:
In this contribution to the roundtable on John Brooke's pathbreaking monograph, Refiner's Fire, we revisit its reliance on the Yates thesis, and seek to update Brooke's arguments about the heterodox origins of Mormonism in light of recent... more
In this contribution to the roundtable on John Brooke's pathbreaking monograph, Refiner's Fire, we revisit its reliance on the Yates thesis, and seek to update Brooke's arguments about the heterodox origins of Mormonism in light of recent research on Western esotericism.
Research Interests:
Those who have followed the development of online new religiosity over the past decade will not have failed to notice that conspiracy theories and ‘New Age’ ideas are thriving together. But how new and how surprising is the phenomenon of... more
Those who have followed the development of online new religiosity over the past decade will not have failed to notice that conspiracy theories and ‘New Age’ ideas are thriving together. But how new and how surprising is the phenomenon of ‘conspirituality’? In the present article, we challenge the thesis put forward by Charlotte Ward and David Voas in their article of 2011, published in the Journal of Contemporary Religion, that a confluence of spirituality and conspiracism has emerged in the past two decades as a form of New Age theodicy. Instead, we argue, on theoretical grounds, that conspirituality can be viewed as a predictable result of structural elements in the cultic milieu and, on historical grounds, that its roots stretch deep into the history of Western esotericism. Together, these two considerations allow us not only to suggest that conspirituality is old and predictable, but also to identify a large potential for further research which will contribute to the study of conspiracy culture and enable a new line of comparative research in religious studies.
Research Interests:
The article introduces a framework for preparing complex cultural concepts for the cognitive science of religion (CSR) and applies it to the field of Western esotericism. The research process (‘reverse engineering’) rests on a building... more
The article introduces a framework for preparing complex cultural concepts for the cognitive science of religion (CSR) and applies it to the field of Western esotericism. The research process (‘reverse engineering’) rests on a building block approach that, after problematic categories have been deconstructed, seeks to reconstruct new scholarly objects in generic terms that can be operationalized in interdisciplinary contexts like CSR. A four-step research process is delineated, illustrated by a short discussion of previous work on ‘Gnosticism,’ ‘magic,’ and ‘religion,’ before applying it to ‘esotericism.’ It is suggested that the implicit scholarly objects of esotericism scholarship can be reconstituted in generic terms as concerned with processes of creating and disseminating ‘special knowledge.’ Five definitional clusters are identified in the literature; these provide a basis for formulating research programs on the psychological and cognitive level, drawing on metarepresentational processes, event cognition, and psychological dispositions for altering experience.
Research Interests:
Research on relations between esotericism and science exhibit a fundamental asymmetry. While historians of science have been eager to uncover esoteric contexts for early modern sciences, scholars of modern esoteric movements look almost... more
Research on relations between esotericism and science exhibit a fundamental asymmetry. While historians of science have been eager to uncover esoteric contexts for early modern sciences, scholars of modern esoteric movements look almost solely at esotericism in the context of scientific progress. This asymmetry is largely due to a division of intellectual labor following lines of specialization in the humanities. The early modern period has been of supreme interest for historians of science, who have employed their expertise to uncovering important connections. In contrast, late modern esoteric thought has almost exclusively fallen under the purview of religious studies scholars, who lack the tools (and often the interest) to dissect the workings of the sciences. The result has been that, for relations of science and esotericism in the late modern period, the prevailing picture has been one of a unidirectional influence from “proper” science to a culturally parasitic esoteric discourse.
The present article aims to remedy this asymmetry. A systematization and evaluation of existing approaches to esotericism/science leads to an argument that new methodology and conceptual tools are needed for a sufficient analysis of esotericism/science relations in the modern world to develop. These tools are found in the interdisciplinary field of science and technology studies.
The present article aims to remedy this asymmetry. A systematization and evaluation of existing approaches to esotericism/science leads to an argument that new methodology and conceptual tools are needed for a sufficient analysis of esotericism/science relations in the modern world to develop. These tools are found in the interdisciplinary field of science and technology studies.
Research Interests:
Research on cultural transfers between science and religion has not paid enough attention to popular science. This article develops models that grasp the complexities of the epidemiology of science-based representations in non-scientific... more
Research on cultural transfers between science and religion has not paid enough attention to popular science. This article develops models that grasp the complexities of the epidemiology of science-based representations in non-scientific contexts by combining tools from the cognitive science of religion, the history, sociology, and philosophy of science, and the study of new religious movements. The popularization of science is conceptualized as a process of cognitive optimization, which starts with the communication efforts of scientists in science-internal forums and accelerates in popular science. The popularization process narrows the range of scientific representations that reach the public domain in structured ways: it attracts minimally counterintuitive representations, minimizes the massively counterintuitive, and re-represents (or translates) hard-to-process concepts in inferentially rich metaphors. This filtered sample trigger new processes of meaning-making as they are picked up and re-embedded in new cultural contexts.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This is the uncorrected proofs of a chapter on "intermediary beings" in the history of Western esotericism, published in Christopher Partridge (ed.), The Occult World (Routledge, 2014). It contains reflection on the categorization of... more
This is the uncorrected proofs of a chapter on "intermediary beings" in the history of Western esotericism, published in Christopher Partridge (ed.), The Occult World (Routledge, 2014). It contains reflection on the categorization of different kinds of beings, broad-scale historical developments, the role of intermediaries in occult institutions, and current trends.
Research Interests:
“The fate of our times is the disenchantment of the world” – thus spoke Max Weber at the close of World War I. Since Weber, the notion that monotheistic theologies, and more recently, the growth of the natural sciences and technological... more
“The fate of our times is the disenchantment of the world” – thus spoke Max Weber at the close of World War I. Since Weber, the notion that monotheistic theologies, and more recently, the growth of the natural sciences and technological mastery, have effected not only a form of rationalisation of society but also changed, in a drastic way, our expectations of what nature might contain, and what we can possibly know about it, has become an influential bedrock of theories of modernity. However, a careful historical investigation will show that modern natural science has had a complex relationship with the “mysterious and incalculable powers” that Weber associated with an enchanted view of the world. This article gives an overview of key developments in the natural sciences and related intellectual fields of the early twentieth century that all seemed to challenge a disenchanted perspective
Research Interests:
Chapter 70 of The Occult World (ed. Christopher Partridge; Routledge, 2014). Uncorrected proofs.
Research Interests:
Uncorrected proofs of chapter on "Contemporary Ritual Magic" for The Occult World (Routledge, 2014), edited by Christopher Partridge.
Research Interests:
Handbook chapter on the Society for Psychical Research, appearing in Christopher Partridge (ed.), The Occult World (Routledge, 2014).
Research Interests:
This article has two main objectives: 1) to account for the relation between definitions, boundaries and comparison in the study of “esotericism” in a systematic manner; 2) to argue for an expansion of comparative research methods in this... more
This article has two main objectives: 1) to account for the relation between definitions, boundaries and comparison in the study of “esotericism” in a systematic manner; 2) to argue for an expansion of comparative research methods in this field. The argument proceeds in three steps. First it is argued that a process of academic boundary-work has been instrumental in delimiting esotericism as a historical category. Second, a Lakatosian “rational reconstruction” of competing “research programmes” is provided to clarify the relationship between views on definition, boundaries and comparison. Third, a typology of different comparative methods is constructed along two axes: a homological-analogical axis distinguishes between comparison based on shared genealogy (homology) versus purely structural or functional comparisons (analogy), while a synchronic-diachronic axis picks out a temporal dimension.
Historical research programmes have typically endorsed homological comparison, while analogical comparison has remained suspect. This limitation is shown to be entirely arbitrary from a methodological point of view. It is argued that a reconsideration of analogical comparison has the promise of shedding new light on fundamental problems and must be a part of the ongoing theoretical reorientations in the field.
Historical research programmes have typically endorsed homological comparison, while analogical comparison has remained suspect. This limitation is shown to be entirely arbitrary from a methodological point of view. It is argued that a reconsideration of analogical comparison has the promise of shedding new light on fundamental problems and must be a part of the ongoing theoretical reorientations in the field.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Conspiracy culture has started to attract attention within the study of religion. This article takes as its starting point a recent article by Charlotte Ward and David Voas, who describe and analyze the confluence of conspiracy culture... more
Conspiracy culture has started to attract attention within the study of religion. This article takes as its starting point a recent article by Charlotte Ward and David Voas, who describe and analyze the confluence of conspiracy culture and contemporary spirituality in something they call ’conspirituality’. There is much to applaud with the article, but we take issue with their arguments regarding this confluence as new and paradoxical. It is, we argue, neither. The demographic arguments do not seem to hold, the apparent separation may be the result of a reification of discourses not holding up the possibility of previous overlapping memberships, and emic, ”anti-conspiracy theory” positions within the spirituality discourse show but tensions within the discourse community. Rather than a new and paradoxical phenomenon, ’conspirituality’ is both a natural result of the very structural similarities Ward and Voas point to, and a phenomenon closely tied to the formation of esoteric discourse they partake of. We show that this is a well documented historical phenomenon, and argue that it is useful to analyze central conspiracy discourse as itself a form of esoteric discourse.
KEYWORDS: Conspiracy culture, esoteric discourse, New Age, occulture, conspirituality
KEYWORDS: Conspiracy culture, esoteric discourse, New Age, occulture, conspirituality
Research Interests:
This editorial article, written in the weeks following the 22/7 terrorist attack in Oslo, reflects on aspects of religion, esotericism, ideology and violence in the case of Anders Behring Breivik.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
"Joseph Banks Rhine (1895–1980) is usually considered the founder of modern professional parapsychology. Through his work at Duke University in the 1930s, he established a working research program (in the Lakatosian sense) for the... more
"Joseph Banks Rhine (1895–1980) is usually considered the founder of modern professional parapsychology. Through his work at Duke University in the 1930s, he established a working research program (in the Lakatosian sense) for the controversial discipline, setting down various methodological standards and experimental procedures. Despite Rhine’s clear and important influence on modern parapsychology, this article argues that he came to a stage that had already been set.
Adopting recent theoretical advances in the study of scientific professionalization, it is argued that Rhine’s mentor, the controversial British psychologist William McDougall (1871–1938), has a stronger claim to the parenthood of modern parapsychology than is typically recognized. Following McDougall’s attempts to carve out and establish an institutional space for professionalized psychical research in the 1920s America, furthermore, takes us to little explored connections between psychical research, Lamarckism, neo-vitalism and policies of eugenics."
Adopting recent theoretical advances in the study of scientific professionalization, it is argued that Rhine’s mentor, the controversial British psychologist William McDougall (1871–1938), has a stronger claim to the parenthood of modern parapsychology than is typically recognized. Following McDougall’s attempts to carve out and establish an institutional space for professionalized psychical research in the 1920s America, furthermore, takes us to little explored connections between psychical research, Lamarckism, neo-vitalism and policies of eugenics."
Research Interests:
The academic study of Western esotericism has gone through a process of professionalization during the last two decades. Access to new institutional platforms has given more room for debates and theoretical reflections on the foundations... more
The academic study of Western esotericism has gone through a process of professionalization during the last two decades. Access to new institutional platforms has given more room for debates and theoretical reflections on the foundations of research on esotericism. This article deals critically with recent discussions on the definition and theorisation of ”esotericism” and its place within the broader disciplinary frameworks of religious studies and the history of ideas. It argues that the recent debate has brought the field to a paradoxical position where the scope of the term ”esotericism” is mostly agreed upon, while the theoretical justification for the usage remains contested. It is also argued that much of the disagreement is due to three different strategies taken by scholars in order to approach the subject matter; historical, typological, and discursive. This article extracts valuable points from the different perspectives in order to single out some commonalities despite the differences. I will subsequently suggest new directions for esotericism research by emphasizing a closer allegiance with the critical approaches within religious studies and the sociologically oriented history of ideas.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
"One of the central questions in the study of modern Western Esotericism concerns the continued appeal of magic; how did magic survive “the disenchantment of the world”? An appealing explanation has been that the emergence of “occultist... more
"One of the central questions in the study of modern Western Esotericism concerns the continued appeal of magic; how did magic survive “the disenchantment of the world”? An appealing explanation has been that the emergence of “occultist magic”, based on the writings of Eliphas Lévi (1810–1875) and the teachings of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (est. 1888) in particular, resulted in a “psychologisation” of magic. By interpreting magical practices as psychological techniques, and the trafficking with esoteric entities as manipulation of internal, psychological states rather than externally real spiritual beings it has become possible for well-educated, upper middle class moderners to retain both their belief in magic and their rational integrity.
By presenting a case study of one of the most influential modern occultists, Aleister Crowley (1875– 1947), this article seeks to demonstrate that “the psychologisation thesis” is not entirely tenable. Special notice will be given to Crowley’s magical system, presented as “Scientific Illuminism”, and the role and appeal of science in that system. Contrary to the psychologisation thesis, which it will be argued represents a sort of “psychological escapism”, Crowley did not seek to insulate his magical beliefs from his rational beliefs by withdrawing them to the realm of psychology and internal states; instead, influenced by the ideals of scientific naturalism, he sought to devise a naturalistic method by which magical practice could be rationally criticised, tested and refined. In short, it will be argued that Crowley’s system represent a move towards the naturalisation rather than the psychologisation of magic.
In addition to presenting a close reading of some of Crowley’s ideas on the relation between science and magic, a historical contextualisation will be provided, in which special notice will be given to Crowley’s relation to prominent intellectual currents with interest in this issue, including the Society for Psychical Research, Sir James Frazer, and naturalist philosophers and psychologists, from T. H. Huxley to Henry Maudsley.
"
By presenting a case study of one of the most influential modern occultists, Aleister Crowley (1875– 1947), this article seeks to demonstrate that “the psychologisation thesis” is not entirely tenable. Special notice will be given to Crowley’s magical system, presented as “Scientific Illuminism”, and the role and appeal of science in that system. Contrary to the psychologisation thesis, which it will be argued represents a sort of “psychological escapism”, Crowley did not seek to insulate his magical beliefs from his rational beliefs by withdrawing them to the realm of psychology and internal states; instead, influenced by the ideals of scientific naturalism, he sought to devise a naturalistic method by which magical practice could be rationally criticised, tested and refined. In short, it will be argued that Crowley’s system represent a move towards the naturalisation rather than the psychologisation of magic.
In addition to presenting a close reading of some of Crowley’s ideas on the relation between science and magic, a historical contextualisation will be provided, in which special notice will be given to Crowley’s relation to prominent intellectual currents with interest in this issue, including the Society for Psychical Research, Sir James Frazer, and naturalist philosophers and psychologists, from T. H. Huxley to Henry Maudsley.
"
Research Interests:
"The variety of religious positions commonly grouped together under the heading “Neo-Paganism” call for no homogenous reading of that phenomenon. As recent research on contemporary forms of paganism has flowered in recent years, emphasis... more
"The variety of religious positions commonly grouped together under the heading “Neo-Paganism” call for no homogenous reading of that phenomenon. As recent research on contemporary forms of paganism has flowered in recent years, emphasis has been given to the nuances and complexities of this kind of new religious currents. For instance it is clear that contemporary pagan currents, such as Wicca, Ásatrú, and Roman paganism, tend to vary significantly between themselves on matters of theology, sociological profile, and political tendencies.
While varieties in the social manifestations of given groups can be partly explained by diverging religious/ideological content, it also holds true that ideological formations will be determined in part by the society in which they emerge. This means that a contemporary pagan current such as “Ásatrú” is not necessarily describable as one single tendency on a global scale, but will unavoidably be shaped by local conditions. Thus varieties within currents will tend to follow national and geographical borders, being always locally situated, and adapted to local political, social, and religious conditions.
This article discusses the emergence and development of contemporary Norse paganism in Norway in light of the abovementioned framework. Special notice is given to the interplay between public discourses on issues such as paganism, the occult, neo-Nazism, and the relationship between the church and state in Norway, and the self-fashioning of reconstructionist Norse pagans. Through a partial comparison with the thoroughly discussed American context of contemporary Norse religion an argument is advanced that Norwegian Ásatrú came to bear certain distinct marks that are due to and only explicable by specific, local cultural conditions."
While varieties in the social manifestations of given groups can be partly explained by diverging religious/ideological content, it also holds true that ideological formations will be determined in part by the society in which they emerge. This means that a contemporary pagan current such as “Ásatrú” is not necessarily describable as one single tendency on a global scale, but will unavoidably be shaped by local conditions. Thus varieties within currents will tend to follow national and geographical borders, being always locally situated, and adapted to local political, social, and religious conditions.
This article discusses the emergence and development of contemporary Norse paganism in Norway in light of the abovementioned framework. Special notice is given to the interplay between public discourses on issues such as paganism, the occult, neo-Nazism, and the relationship between the church and state in Norway, and the self-fashioning of reconstructionist Norse pagans. Through a partial comparison with the thoroughly discussed American context of contemporary Norse religion an argument is advanced that Norwegian Ásatrú came to bear certain distinct marks that are due to and only explicable by specific, local cultural conditions."
Research Interests:
In the early twentieth century, certain elements of the Kabbalah were transformed by being given new interpretations and uses in the context of what I term the “programmatic syncretism” of modern, fin de siècle occultism. In so doing I... more
In the early twentieth century, certain elements of the Kabbalah were transformed by being given new interpretations and uses in the context of what I term the “programmatic syncretism” of modern, fin de siècle occultism. In so doing I focus specifically on one text by Aleister Crowley, which I consider the full-blown example of the phenomenon in question. The text demonstrates how the occultists' Kabbalah functions first and foremost as a classificatory tool and a mnemonic system, mainly for practical use in magical rituals. That use is part of a reinterpretation of the Kabbalah in the modern occult revival, mainly from Eliphas Levi through the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, culminating in the works of Aleister Crowley. It is my intention that this focus will not only shed light on a process of reinterpretation peculiar to fin de siècle occultism, but also on the processes characteristic of religious innovation in the modern age in general.
Research Interests:
Introduction: The rise of the evolutionary and cognitive science of religion in the last two decades has sparked a resurgence of interest in explaining religion. Predictably, these efforts have prompted rehearsals of longstanding debates... more
Introduction: The rise of the evolutionary and cognitive science of religion in the last two decades has sparked a resurgence of interest in explaining religion. Predictably, these efforts have prompted rehearsals of longstanding debates over whether religious phenomena can or should be explained in nonreligious terms. Little attention has been devoted to the nature of explanation, methods of explanation, or what should count as an adequate explanation.
Research Interests:
The essential lack of transparency regarding both the content of concealed knowledge and the causes for adopting strategies of dissimulation enables intriguing dynamics of cultural creativity and meaning making. There is ample evidence... more
The essential lack of transparency regarding both the content of concealed knowledge and the causes for adopting strategies of dissimulation enables intriguing dynamics of cultural creativity and meaning making. There is ample evidence (e.g. in conspiracy theories, on “mystery cults”, “ alchemy” etc.), that the use of secretive techniques for quite practical ends can trigger innovative speculations on profound esoteric secrets that were never there in the first place, along with novel ideas on the causes for secrecy. We can better understand this dynamic by drawing on the epidemiology of representations pioneered Dan Sperber. The key problem of an epidemiology of secrecy is to explain why, how, and in what sense secrets, which on the face of it are about restricting public communication, can become powerful cultural entities that are transmitted through larger populations.
This paper explores secrecy as a form of meta-‐representation that produces “relevant mysteries”, affording salient but divergent inferences in different social and cultural contexts, which account the cultural and religious productivity of secretive representations.
This paper explores secrecy as a form of meta-‐representation that produces “relevant mysteries”, affording salient but divergent inferences in different social and cultural contexts, which account the cultural and religious productivity of secretive representations.
Research Interests:
Robert McCauley (2011) recently argued that, while “religion” utilizes “natural” cognitive features that require little or no training, “science” is dependent on cognitively costly, “unnatural” inferences that require heavy cultural... more
Robert McCauley (2011) recently argued that, while “religion” utilizes “natural” cognitive features that require little or no training, “science” is dependent on cognitively costly, “unnatural” inferences that require heavy cultural scaffolding. However, this only holds for comparisons between institutionalized science and “popular” religion. What happens if we focus on popular science instead? A cognitive analysis of the interaction between “popular science” and “popular religion” can tell us something new about the selection, mutation, and transmission of scientific concepts in religious discourses. I propose a cognitive-cultural model of science-religion transfers that predicts a predominance of certain types of concepts being transferred to the neglect of others. Central to this model is the formation of high-salience “minimally counterintuitive concepts” and their transmission and adaptation in “cognitive optimum” religion. It is suggested that a process of cognitive optimization of cognitively high-cost (scientific) concepts provides a bridging mechanism for scientific and religious domains.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This paper engages in a revisionist reading of Max Weber's notion of disenchantment, and the lesser known concept of an "intellectual sacrifice". It argues that Weber's original formulations of disenchantment as a process has occludes and... more
This paper engages in a revisionist reading of Max Weber's notion of disenchantment, and the lesser known concept of an "intellectual sacrifice". It argues that Weber's original formulations of disenchantment as a process has occludes and delegitimises certain important cultural trends in the borderlands between science and religion in modernity. The implications are discussed with examples from early twentieth century science, and the attempt to create a new "natural theology" in this period.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The dissertation presents a novel thesis on Max Weber’s notion of the “disenchantment of the world”. According to Weber, the disenchantment process was driven primarily by the modern natural sciences, leading to the disappearance of... more
The dissertation presents a novel thesis on Max Weber’s notion of the “disenchantment of the world”. According to Weber, the disenchantment process was driven primarily by the modern natural sciences, leading to the disappearance of “magic” and the absolute separation of the spheres of science and religion. Combining history of science with the history of religion and esotericism, this work demonstrates that the modern natural sciences, pace Weber and his interpreters, cannot easily be described as having led to a disenchantment of the world. Instead, we find a number of significant overlaps between science, theology, and broadly “esoteric” outlooks, particularly in the form of “new natural theologies” and in philosophical positions defined as “open-ended naturalism”. These overlaps, moreover, signify areas where individual scientists and scientific institutions (journals, lecture platforms, scholarly societies) have suggested implications of their own work that go against the technical understanding of “disenchantment” – viz., countering strict mechanism, materialism, and/or reductionism, in favour of “re-enchanted” scientific worldviews, advocating the continuity between scientific research and the value spheres of religion, metaphysics, and ethics. While such reenchantment projects are well-known from “alternative” and “New Age” circles in the post-war era, a significant find of this work is that they were predated and prefigured in the intellectual production of influential pre-war scientists, scholars, and philosophers.
While this challenges the notion that modern science has been a straight-forwardly disenchanting agent, that is not to say that we are forced to accept the opposite view, often argued by post-war spiritual activists and some postmodern scholars, that the radical scientific changes of the early 20th century “naturally” suggests a form of “reenchanted science”. Avoiding such simplifications, this book instead proposes a new model of disenchantment that is able to account for the ultimately ambiguous role of science in the production of worldviews and identities. This model implies a change in focus, which can be summed up as a shift from process to problem: disenchantment should not be seen as a trans-historical “process”, but as a historically situated intellectual problem, to which individual actors – within and outside of academia – have found different responses.
Adopting and developing this model permits the writing of a historical narrative of the cultural entanglements of the pre-war sciences that brings surprising complexities to the fore. The book thus analyses responses to “the problem of disenchantment” in the established and emerging sciences of the early 20th century (physics, chemistry, biology, and psychology), the prospective science of parapsychology, and in prominent Western esoteric discourses (to wit, Theosophy, Anthroposophy and Crowleyan ritual magic). The work is concluded by a discussion of the broader implications of adopting a methodological stance of Problemgeschichte for the writing of intellectual history.
While this challenges the notion that modern science has been a straight-forwardly disenchanting agent, that is not to say that we are forced to accept the opposite view, often argued by post-war spiritual activists and some postmodern scholars, that the radical scientific changes of the early 20th century “naturally” suggests a form of “reenchanted science”. Avoiding such simplifications, this book instead proposes a new model of disenchantment that is able to account for the ultimately ambiguous role of science in the production of worldviews and identities. This model implies a change in focus, which can be summed up as a shift from process to problem: disenchantment should not be seen as a trans-historical “process”, but as a historically situated intellectual problem, to which individual actors – within and outside of academia – have found different responses.
Adopting and developing this model permits the writing of a historical narrative of the cultural entanglements of the pre-war sciences that brings surprising complexities to the fore. The book thus analyses responses to “the problem of disenchantment” in the established and emerging sciences of the early 20th century (physics, chemistry, biology, and psychology), the prospective science of parapsychology, and in prominent Western esoteric discourses (to wit, Theosophy, Anthroposophy and Crowleyan ritual magic). The work is concluded by a discussion of the broader implications of adopting a methodological stance of Problemgeschichte for the writing of intellectual history.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Review of: Henrik Bogdan & Olav Hammer (eds.), Western Esotericism in Scandinavia. Leiden: Brill, 2016. 698 + xviii. [Norwegian]
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
A book review of Frank Klaassen's book, The Transformations of Magic: Illicit Learned Magic in the Later Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Pennsylvania State University Press, 2013.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Book review of Arthur Versluis, Lee Irwin, and Melinda Phillips (eds.), Esotericism, Religion, and Politics (Minneapolis, MI: New Cultures Press 2012).
Research Interests:
Religious Studies Review 40.3 (September 2014)
Research Interests:
Religious Studies Review 40.3 (September 2014)
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
A longish review of Mark Morrisson's book, Modern Alchemy: Occultism and the Emergence of Atomic Theory.
Research Interests:
A review of Dave Evans' British Magick after Crowley (Hidden Publishing, 2007).
Research Interests:
Egil Esperm and Markus Altena Davidsen are setting up a special issue of Aries exploring the potential of combining esotericism research with the cognitive science of religion. We are currently looking for abstracts from people who would... more
Egil Esperm and Markus Altena Davidsen are setting up a special issue of Aries exploring the potential of combining esotericism research with the cognitive science of religion. We are currently looking for abstracts from people who would be interested in submitting their research articles for peer review. Please find details in the call for papers.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Introduction: The rise of the evolutionary and cognitive science of religion in the last two decades has sparked a resurgence of interest in explaining religion. Predictably, these efforts have prompted rehearsals of longstanding debates... more
Introduction: The rise of the evolutionary and cognitive science of religion in the last two decades has sparked a resurgence of interest in explaining religion. Predictably, these efforts have prompted rehearsals of longstanding debates over whether religious phenomena can or should be explained in nonreligious terms. Little attention has been devoted to the nature of explanation, methods of explanation, or what should count as an adequate explanation.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Religion, History, Sociology of Religion, Postcolonial Studies, and 15 moreRace and Ethnicity, Colonialism, Gender, History of Religions, Late Antiquity, Islamic Studies, Global History, New Age spirituality, Religious Studies, Race, Esotericism, Horizon, Esoterism, Entangled History, and Postcolonialism
Research Interests: Gnosticism, History, Philosophy, Postcolonial Studies, Race and Ethnicity, and 15 moreColonialism, Gender, History of Religions, Late Antiquity, Islamic Studies, Global History, Occultism, Islamic Esotericism, Reception of Antiquity, Africana Studies, Race, Esotericism, Marginality, Entangled History, and New Age Religions
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
We are grateful to the commentators who took the time to respond to our target article and think they raised a number of important concerns. Before discussing them, however, we were pleased to note that there was little opposition to the... more
We are grateful to the commentators who took the time to respond to our target article and think they raised a number of important concerns. Before discussing them, however, we were pleased to note that there was little opposition to the general idea of viewing experiences as events. Although Radvansky (as well as Zacks) did not envision this use of their theory, we were particularly gratified that Radvansky not only affirmed but offered means of extending our application of their research into the realm of experience. Our response to the concerns raised falls under four headings: (1) opening clarifications, (2) issues related to the use of first-person narratives, (3) concerns related to extending event segmentation theory (EST) to internally experienced states, and (4) the effects of cross-event integration.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In the early twentieth century, certain elements of the Kabbalah were transformed by being given new interpretations and uses in the context of what I term the programmatic syncretism of modern, fin de siècle occultism. In so doing I... more
In the early twentieth century, certain elements of the Kabbalah were transformed by being given new interpretations and uses in the context of what I term the programmatic syncretism of modern, fin de siècle occultism. In so doing I will focus specifically on one text by Aleister ...
Research Interests:
Volume 4 of Correspondences