New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consider it a religious movement, its adherents typically see it as spiritual or as unifying Mind-Body-Spirit, and rarely use the term New Age themselves. Scholars often call it the New Age movement, although others contest this term and suggest it is better seen as a milieu or zeitgeist.
The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism and their varied spells. It can also refer to supernatural ideas like extra-sensory perception and parapsychology.
Christian theosophy, also known as Boehmian theosophy and theosophy, refers to a range of positions within Christianity that focus on the attainment of direct, unmediated knowledge of the nature of divinity and the origin and purpose of the universe. They have been characterized as mystical philosophies. Theosophy is considered part of Western esotericism, which believes that hidden knowledge or wisdom from the ancient past offers a path to enlightenment and salvation.
Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas and currents are united since they are largely distinct both from orthodox Judeo-Christian religion and Enlightenment rationalism. It has influenced various forms of Western philosophy, mysticism, religion, pseudoscience, art, literature, and music.
Helen Cohn Schucman was an American clinical psychologist and research psychologist. She was a professor of medical psychology at Columbia University in New York from 1958 until her retirement in 1976. Schucman is best known for having "scribed" with the help of colleague William Thetford the book A Course in Miracles, the contents of which she claimed had been given to her by an inner voice she identified as Jesus. However, at her request, her role as its "writer" was not revealed to the general public until after her death.
UR Group was an Italian esotericist association, founded around 1927 by intellectuals including Julius Evola, Arturo Reghini and Giovanni Colazza for the study of Traditionalism and Magic. They published monthly series of issues in UR (1927-28) and KRUR (1929) journals, reprinted in the three volumes of the book Introduzione alla Magia quale Scienza dell'Io in 1955 and 1971.
Wouter Jacobus Hanegraaff is professor of the History of Hermetic Philosophy and related currents at the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. He served as the first president of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE) from 2005 to 2013.
Gnosis was an American magazine published from 1985 to 1999 devoted to the study of Western esotericism.
Antoine Faivre was a French scholar of Western esotericism. He played a major role in the founding of the discipline as a scholarly field of study, and he was the first-ever person to be appointed to an academic chair in the discipline. Together with Roland Edighoffer he founded the predecessor to the journal Aries in 1983, which in 2001 was relaunched with Wouter Hanegraaff as its editor.
Western Esotericism is an academic discipline of research, scholarship, and education that focuses on the history of Western esotericism.
Pierre A. Riffard is a French philosopher and specialist in esotericism. Born in Toulouse (France), he is a professor of pedagogy and philosophy at the University of the French West Indies and Guiana . Teaching in the French overseas departments and territories and elsewhere: Asia, Oceania, Sub-Saharan Africa, Guiana.
The European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE) is Europe's only scholarly society for the study of Western esotericism. Founded in 2002, the society promotes academic study of Western esotericism in its various manifestations from late antiquity to the present, and works to secure the future development of the field.
The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering the field of Pagan studies including historical, sociological, and anthropological studies dealing with contemporary Paganism and other forms of pagan religion. Since 2004 the journal has been published by Equinox Publishing and the editor-in-chief is Chas S. Clifton.
Arthur Versluis is a professor and Department Chair of Religious Studies in the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University.
Hermann Fictuld was a pseudonym used by an early Freemason, whose identity has not been definitely determined. He wrote books on alchemy and on Hermeticism.
Martine Theodora Bax is a Dutch-Canadian art historian and art critic in modern art. Her specializations are the work of Piet Mondrian and the relationship between art and Western Esotericism, especially Modern Theosophy and Anthroposophy.
Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism, it draws upon both older European philosophies such as Neoplatonism and Indian originated religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism.
Hans Thomas Hakl is an Austrian publisher, essayist and translator. He has used the signatures H. T. Hakl, H.T.H., or the pseudonym H. T. Hansen.
Kocku von Stuckrad is a German scholar of religious studies. He specialises in the European history of religion and the academic study of Western esotericism.
Modern paganism and New Age are eclectic new religious movements with similar decentralised structures but differences in their views of history, nature, and goals of the practitioner. Modern pagan movements, which often have roots in 18th- and 19th-century cultural movements, seek to revive or be influenced by historical pagan beliefs. New Age teachings emerged in the second half of the 20th century and are characterised by millenarian ideas about spiritual advancement. Since the counterculture of the 1960s, there has been interaction, mutual influence, and often confusion in the popular mind between the movements.
