Esotericism and the Academy: Rejected Knowledge in Western Culture

by Wouter J. Hanegraaff

Academics tend to look on 'esoteric', 'occult' or 'magical' beliefs with contempt, but are usually ignorant about the religious and philosophical traditions to which these terms refer, or their relevance to intellectual history. Wouter Hanegraaff tells the neglected story of how intellectuals since the Renaissance have tried to come to terms with a cluster of 'pagan' ideas from late antiquity that challenged the foundations of biblical religion and Greek rationality. Expelled from the academy on the basis of Protestant and Enlightenment polemics, these traditions have come to be perceived as the Other by which academics define their identity to the present day. Hanegraaff grounds his discussion in a meticulous study of primary and secondary sources, taking the reader on an exciting intellectual voyage from the fifteenth century to the present day and asking what implications the forgotten history of exclusion has for established textbook narratives of religion, philosophy and science.

Genres: History, Philosophy, Occult, Religion, Anthropology, Spirituality, Nonfiction

478 pages, Hardcover

First published December 15, 2011

About the author

Wouter J. Hanegraaff (1961) studied classical guitar at the Municipal Conservatory at Zwolle (1982-1987) and Cultural History at the University of Utrecht (1986-1990), with a specialization in alternative religious movements in the 20th century. From 1992-1996 he was a research assistant at the department for Study of Religions of the University of Utrecht, where he defendedhis dissertation New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought on 30 november 1995 (cum laude). From 1996 to 2000 he held a postdoctoral fellowship from the Dutch Assocation for Scientific Research (NWO), and spent a period working in Paris. On 1 september 1999 he was appointed full professor of History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents at the University of Amsterdam. From 2002-2006 he was president of the Dutch Society for the Study of Religion (NGG). From 2005-2013 he was President of the EuropeanSociety for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE). In 2006 he was elected member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (Koninklijke Nederlandse Academie van Wetenschappen, KNAW); since 2013 he is an honorary member of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism.

Editorial Activities

From 2001-2010 Hanegraaff was editor (with Antoine Faivre and Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke) of Aries: Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism (Brill publ.) and from 2006-2010 editor of the " Aries Book Series: Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism" (Brill publ.). He is member of the editorial board of the journals Aries (Brill), Numen (Brill), Religion Compass and Esoterica , and of the advisory board of Journal of Contemporary Religion (Carfax) and Nova Religio (University of California Press).

Reviews

[Juuso Järvenpää · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wouter J. Hanegraaff's 'Esotericism and the Academy' (2012) is a major contribution to the study of Western esotericism. It examines the historical development of the very category of - what is now termed - 'Western esotericism', thus shedding revealing light on the much discussed problem: what do we actually mean by "esotericism" in academic usage?

Hanegraaff argues that the category has its roots in the late 15th century, when the neoplatonic and hermetic movements of late antiquity (as well as Jewish kabbalah) became available for Renaissance humanists' innovative minds. In the following centuries there emerged a wide variety of religio-philosophical movements that drew inspiration from these "pagan" currents. Although these movements didn't form a single "esoteric" tradition as such, they were linked together in the scholarly imagination of theologians and - later - Enlightenment philosophers and modern academics, who were eager to reject them.

Hanegraaff claims that this polemical process of rejection is the very source of the category of 'Western esotericism'. The category has had many names throughout centuries and in different contexts, but the attitude towards its composite movements has always been negative. Protestant theologians of the 17th century talked about, for example, "platonic-hermetic christianity", which in their eyes was - of course - heretic, whereas Enlightenment thinkers and modern academics saw in these movements nothing but "irrationality" and "superstition".

While protestant scholars had paid serious effort to understand the nature of these rejected movements, in the Enlightenment and scientific discourses "the occult" - to introduce another name for the polemical category - was usually simply ignored as a manifestation of the ahistorical irrational tendencies of the human mind. This attitude resulted in an unfortunate lack of interest to pay closer academical attention to these historical movements, and thus their historical study was for a long time left for amateurs and insiders. This situation has been improved only since the 20th century, especially from the 1990's onwards, as the study of Western esotericism has been formed as an academic discipline.

For Hanegraaff this polemical construction of the category of 'Western esotericism' has interesting and wide consequences: he argues that, throughout centuries, this category of rejected knowledge has functioned as "the Other", against which scholars and academics have formed their own identity and - as a result - the identity of modern Western culture. If this is true, then the study of Western esotericism may have a deep impact for the self-understanding of the modern culture and academy. At the very least, when this rejected Other is drawn to the light of academic reflection, our history begins to look very different than what we are used to think of it.

Hanegraaff's work is a well-studied and well-written piece of academic historiography. It's a compulsory reading for anyone who wishes to keep up with the study of Western esotericism, but its scope is wide enough to interest also others than just mere specialists.

[Samuel Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely useful overview of the historiography of Western esotericism from Renaissance to the present day. I would recommend this as the first book after a simple introduction (like Goodrick-Clarke's) for someone trying to get a sense for the academic study of Western esoteric traditions. You have to want to understand the field, though, as with rare exceptions (e.g., Dame Yates) academic books on esotericism are almost as poorly written as many of the esoteric works themselves.

[Sebastian · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a decent history book except for the annoying notes at the end of each page which most of the time just send you to other sources.
What is most interesting about this book though, is one of the notes.
"The term “spiritual alchemy” would not be applicable to Lazzarelli, for two reasons. First, because of his evident interest in the practical alchemy of Petrus Bonus and Pseudo-Lull. Second, because his talk of “interior regeneration” was not meant as a metaphor for purely “spiritual” processes, but referred to a literal transformation of the entire person understood as an organically integrated unity of body, soul, and spirit."
What I like about this part is that it further debunks Principe on his ignorant, even stupid claim that spiritual alchemy is a product of the 19th century. What I hate about it is that the author contradicts himself by claiming that this alchemy is not spiritual, when he shows that it is evidently an alchemy related to the soul and spirit.
Why is there so much incompetence and cognitive dissonance in the academy?

[Luke Mizzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crucial, especially if paired with 'The Myth of Disenchantment'.
The book traces a history of the Other - the religious ideas and practices we threw into the waste bin of history.
First, because of their dangerous quality, and second, due to their 'irrationality' - only to see them come back through the curiosity of amateur hobbyists and, eventually, critical scholarship.
History is weirder than we've allowed it to be.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wouter J. Hanegraaf's Esotericism and the Academy is a dry as dust reading of a wildly problematic and perplexing corner of Western Intellectual History that in the end sheds no new light on the subject and as an introduction manages to somnambulize the reader on the one hand and infuriate English readers with Latin, French, and German phrases and quotes which are not translated or referenced in translation in the endnotes. The latter was a deeply arrogant and destructive gesture on the writer's part.

Although not a bad book it lacks clarity, a narrative hook, and any sympathy for readers who do not have more than a passing acquaintance with Latin, French, German. If you read the Kindle edition, on a tablet or phone, at least you will be able to look these quotes and phrases up online.

Recommendation: Give this one a pass.

Rating 3 out of 5 stars

[Robert Priddle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could not be more timely.

Update: In response to a negative comment.

Just because my review is short does not make it useless. When I say that this text could not be more timely I mean that this is the most appropriate time for a work such as this. It is a valuable contribution to the study of western esoterica.