Theosophy, Imagination, Tradition: Studies in Western Esotericism

Front Cover
SUNY Press, Feb 17, 2000 - Body, Mind & Spirit - 269 pages
Not only does this book present the current state of research in esotericism, but it also explores three main aspects of the field from the Renaissance to the twentieth century. Previously published in French and now available in English for the first time, Theosophy, Imagination, Tradition traces the history of the theosophical current, its continuity and shifts, against the background of social and cultural events. The book also covers the Paracelsian course, the romantic Philosophies of Nature and the Occultist movement. The book provides glimpses into the notions and practices of the so-called "active" and "creative" imagination, and questions how they serve as a bridge into certain kinds of mystical experience. It also examines the place that the notion of "tradition" occupies in some major exponents of western esotericism.
 

Contents

The Birth and the First Golden Age of the Theosophical Current
5
The Transitional Period First Half of the Eighteenth Century
15
Effacement and Permanence End of the Nineteenth
26
THEOSOPHY AND SPECULATIVE MYSTICISM
49
THE ROSICRUCIAN MANIFESTOS 1614 1615
84
THEOSOPHICAL POINTS OF VIEW
87
VIS IMAGINATIVA A STUDY OF SOME ASPECTS
99
THOUGHTS OF GOD IMAGES OF
137
AND THE WESTERN ESOTERIC TRADITION
171
The Manifestos Between the Old and the New
180
Perspectives
186
Christian Hermeticism and Traditions
195
Nature Philosophy and Anthropology
208
Regrets and Queries
223
RAYMOND ABELLIO AND THE WESTERN
229
Esotericism and Modernity
235

Mirrors and Engendering in Franz von Baader
143
FROM THE DIVINE FIGURE TO
153
Perspectives
161
Perspectives
245
General works
249
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2000)

Antoine Faivre is Professor at the E.P.H.E. (Religious Studies), Sorbonne. He has published extensively, including Access to Western Esotericism, also published by SUNY Press.

Bibliographic information