NEW AND ALTERNATIVE RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS: JACOB BÖHME AND HIS WORLD. Edited by BoAndersson, LucindaMartin, Leigh T. I.Penman, and AndrewWeeks. Aries Book Series. Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism, 25. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2019. Pp. xiv+386. Hardback, $211.00.

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 392-393
Keyword(s):  
Religious Movements ◽  
Book Series ◽  
Western Esotericism

scholarly journals New Religious Movements: A Bibliographic Introduction

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Zeller
Keyword(s):  
Religious Movement ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
Online Resources ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Book Series ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Academic Study

This article provides a map to the bibliographic landscape for the academic study of new religious movements (NRMs). The article first considers the development of the scholarly subfield, including debates over the nature of the concept of ‘new religious movement’ and recent scholarship on the nature of this key term, as well as the most salient research areas and concepts. Next, the article introduces the most important bibliographic materials in the subfield: journals focusing on the study of NRMs, textbooks and reference volumes, book series and monographic literature, online resources, and primary sources.

scholarly journals CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF THE MYTHMAKING OF H.P. LOVECRAFT

2019 ◽  
pp. 137-142
Author(s):  
Denis D. Pyzikov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
New England ◽  
Cultural Landscape ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Horror Genre ◽  
Western Esotericism

H.P. Lovecraft created an original mythology that has not only become science fiction and fantasy classics, but also determined horror genre development in general. In his literary works, Lovecraft used images derived from both ancient religious traditions and contemporary western esotericism, filling his imaginary worlds with mysterious cosmic creatures. The writer’s cultural and historic environment played a very important role as the cultural landscape of New England and theosophical concepts widespread at that time had a great impact on the author’s work and writing. The original “mythology” invented by Lovecraft later played a key role in development of some new religious movements. Besides, Lovecraft’s mythology and images are reflected in the modern popular culture. The paper analyzes Lovecraft’s works and religious motives that are used or reflected in them, cultural factors that influenced the writer and Lovecraft’s heritage place in occult concepts, practices and subcultures of today.

Western Esotericism and New Religious Movements

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik Bogdan
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Western Culture ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Western Esotericism ◽  
Four Discourses ◽  
Absolute Knowledge

The study of Western esotericism is a comparatively new field of research that covers a wide range of currents, notions and practices from late antiquity to the present. Esotericism is often understood as the “rejected knowledge” of Western culture, which often centers on claims of absolute knowledge or gnosis. This chapter discusses four discourses that can be found in many esoteric NRMs, namely “secrecy and unveiling”, “initiation and progress”, “the higher self”, and “Secret Masters”. In the second part of the chapter four examples of esoteric NRMs are briefly discussed, Spiritualism, Theosophy, Thelema, and Wicca.

scholarly journals (Re)Introducing “Secular Religion”: On the Study of Entangled Quests for Meaning in Modern Western Cultures

Numen ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 256-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dave Vliegenthart
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
North America ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Logical Connection ◽  
The Social ◽  
Alternative Sources ◽  
Western Esotericism ◽  
Secular Religion ◽  
Metaphysical Religion

Abstract The disenchantment of reality has bankrupted conventional sources of meaning for many people in modern Western cultures. This has led a growing number of figures and groups to search for alternative sources of meaning. Typical of their quests for meaning is the entanglement of secular and religious discourses. Since the twentieth century, scholars have studied the social configurations of these figures and groups as “cults” or “new religious movements” and their ideologies as “New Age” or “spirituality,” which are seen as parts of a longer tradition of “Western esotericism” (Europe) or “metaphysical religion” (North America). Several leading scholars have also interpreted them as forms of “secular religion,” but this has yet to gain academic traction. This article argues that the former concepts are lacking or losing a logical connection with the socio-historical phenomena to which they pertain and reintroduces the latter concept as a more appropriate one.

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