An Enthralling History of the People, Ideas, and Practices that Shaped Today’s Occult
In his most sweeping historical work, occult scholar and widely known voice of esoteric ideas Mitch Horowitz presents a lively, intellectually serious historical exploration of modern occultism, from astrology and alchemy to the dawn of Theosophy and modern witchcraft, and the spiritual revolutions that followed. In this erudite, vibrant, and full-circle history, Mitch Each chapter is rounded out with key terms and supplemental readings for a full-360 tour of modernist arcana and a historical journey that leaves your experience of esoterica forever changed.
“I admire Mitch Horowitz enormously. He has struggled virtually single-handedly to get the American intelligentsia to give occult and esoteric currents the serious attention they deserve.”— Richard Smoley, author of Hidden Christianity
“In many ways, Horowitz is the perfect mix of Manly P. Hall, Joseph Campbell, and Prometheus, eloquently carrying the torch of mythic and spiritual illumination into the 21st century.”— Carl Abrahamsson, author of Occulture
“The New Age has always been gnostic, by which I mean the movement has often been both fiercely critical of society and deeply rooted in transcendent experience. Whenever I am asked about it, I ‘Go read Mitch Horowitz. You will see’.”— Jeffrey J. Kripal, Associate Dean of the Humanities, Rice University
MITCH HOROWITZ is the editor-in-chief of Tarcher/Penguin and the author OCCULT AMERICA: THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOW MYSTICISM SHAPED OUR NATION (Bantam, Sept '09), which has been called "a fascinating book" by Ken Burns and "extraordinary" by Deepak Chopra. Visit him online at www.MitchHorowitz.com "