What Is Esotericism? Does It Exist? How Can It Be Understood?

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter I
2. Contents V
3. Detail Contents VII
4. The Occult Roots of Religious Studies: An Introduction 1
5. What Is Esotericism? Does It Exist? How Can It Be Understood? 14
6. The Science of Religion, Folklore Studies, and the Occult Field in Great Britain (1870–1914): Some Observations on Competition and Cain-Abel Conflicts 44
7. Magnetism, Spiritualism, and the Academy: The Case of Nees von Esenbeck, President of the Academy of the Natural Sciences Leopoldina (1818–1858) 82
8. Academic Study of Kabbalah and Occultist Kabbalah 104
9. Tantra as Experimental Science in the Works of John Woodroffe 132
10. A Common Core of Theosophy in Celtic Myth, Yoga, and Tibetan Buddhism: Walter Y. Evans-Wentz and the Comparative Study of Religion 161
11. Paul Masson-Oursel (1882–1956): Inside and Outside the Academy 187
12. The Ancient Processional Street of Babylon at the Pergamonmuseum Berlin: Walter Andrae’s Reconstruction and Its Anthroposophical Background 216
13. Short Biographies 239
14. Contributors 267
15. Index 275