Aries
December 14, 2020
Manon Hedenborg White
1 citation
The article argues that the concept of revelation, traditionally central to religious studies, can be rethought through a white mutation in art history and literature. It explores how artistic and literary works, particularly those engaging with the 'Thou' and historical consciousness, manifest a form of revelation that is not tied to institutional theology but emerges from creative and philosophical engagements with the divine or the other. The author suggests that this perspective bridges religious studies, philosophy, and art history, offering a new understanding of spiritual practices and the study of Western esotericism.
Aries
June 4, 2026
Dell J. Rose
Swedish visionary Emanuel Swedenborg's thought was received and adapted in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Japan, particularly during the Meiji era. Japanese intellectuals regarded Swedenborg as the world's greatest theologian, even calling him the Buddha of the North. The article examines how Deguchi Onisaburō, co-founder of the Ōmoto faith, applied Swedenborg's teachings in Japanese contexts while aiming to introduce the world to its primordial ancestry in Japan. It also sketches Buddhist interpretations of Swedenborg that Deguchi used. The article combines Buddhist and Shintoist perspectives on Swedenborgian studies, encouraging esotericism scholars to consider East Asian receptions of Western esoteric thinkers.
Aries
November 22, 2021
Z. Kostićová
Carlos Castaneda is typically examined as a fraudulent anthropologist, novelist, philosopher, and contributor to neo-shamanism. This article instead analyzes his individual philosophy and religious system as presented in his written works, proposing a threefold classification—early, transitional, and late works—with distinct characteristics for each. The analysis shows Castaneda drifting from a scholarly style through narrative emphasis to fully religious texts, reflecting his personal trajectory from academic ambition through public scandal over his counterfeit works to founding a new religious movement as a charismatic leader. Unlike most scholarship focusing on early writings, this article emphasizes the late works, where Castaneda fully developed as a religious thinker and guru.
Aries
October 10, 2023
Steven Engler, Mark Q. Gardiner
Rather than arguing for a single correct definition of esotericism, the authors examine what definitions themselves are. They contend that rigid definitions requiring necessary and sufficient conditions are problematic, while fluid definitions that aim to clarify or explain are more useful. They propose a stable property cluster definition of esotericism, related to family-resemblance definitions but with explicit justification for the chosen criteria. This definition is offered as a tool for ongoing discussion, not as definitive. The article contrasts meaning realism with meaning antirealism, arguing the latter is more helpful here. This approach may aid in exploring the global spread of Western esotericisms and how esotericism overlaps with similar categories in other cultures.
Aries
January 30, 2023
G. Szönyi
Since the early 2000s, the academic study of Western esotericism has grown considerably, aided by the founding of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE) in 2005. In East-Central Europe, the collapse of communist regimes between 1989 and 1991 allowed scholars to pursue research in fields previously only tolerated. Scholars from the region formed the Central and Eastern European Network for the Academic Study of Western Esotericism (CEENASWE) under ESSWE. This article introduces a special issue surveying recent research, moving geographically from north to south, and reviews work from Poland, Czechia, and Hungary in the form of a Forschungsbericht, a term recalling Jürgen Habermas.