Contents

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Preface vii
3. Contents xi
4. 1. Religion and Science in Discursive Perspective 1
5. Part One: Discarded Knowledge and Its New Legitimacy in Secular Discourse
6. 2. From Polemical Disjunction to New Integration: The Science of the Stars 25
7. 3. Alchemical Quests in Modern Garb 56
8. 4. Darwinism Turned into Religion: Monism 76
9. 5. Merging Occultism, Philosophy, Science, and the Academic Study of Religion: The Theosophical Society 94
10. Part Two: Academics as Religious Pioneers
11. 6. The Trouble with Europe: Academic Orientalism and New Mystical Religions 115
12. 7. In Search of the Great Goddess: How Academic Theories Generated Paganism and Witchcraft 139
13. 8. Normatizing Shamanism: Academic Teachers as Religious Experts 159
14. Conclusion: The Scientification of Religion 178
15. Bibliography 183
16. Index 211