Review of Theosophy, Imagination, Tradition: Studies in Western Esotericism By Antoine Faivre. Trans. Christine Rhone.

In William Patrick Patterson’s Struggle of the Magicians, a detailed study of the relationship between the prominent figures of Western esotericism, G. I. Gurdjieff and P. D. Ouspensky, he writes ‘Only in a time as confused as ours could one think that the teacher–student relationship – an archetypal and sacred form – exists as an option, rather than a necessary requirement, a station on the way’ (1997: 92). My paper examines the numerous ways in which the famous teacher–disciple relationship that existed between Muhammad Jalal ad-Din, known to the anglophone world as Rumi, and his spiritual guide and mentor, Shams of Tabriz, is represented in Elif Shafak’s novel The Forty Rules of Love (2010) and how her depiction of this relationship is predicated upon her knowledge of, and belief in, the general principles of what can be termed ‘Western Sufism’. Although she had previously thematised elements of Sufi dialectics in her earlier fiction and clear, if minor, references to Sufi philosophy permeated novels such as The Bastard of Istanbul (2007), Shafak’s fascination with the teachings of Rumi and Shams of Tabriz reaches its culmination and most significant artistic expression in The Forty Rules of Love. Published in 2010, the novel situates a fictionalised representation of the relationship between Rumi and Shams at the centre of the narrative and provides an overt depiction of the emanationalist, perennialist and universalist ethics contained within Sufi dialectics. In addition, given that Shafak’s text represents one of the more prominent and commercially successful contributions to what Amira El-Zein (2010: 71–85) has called ‘the Rumi phenomenon’ my paper examines how, in privileging the aesthetics and the interests of American readers over conveying a more complete and more nuanced image of Sufism, Shafak succumbs to the oversimplification and decontextualisation of Rumi’s teachings perpetrated by the Western popularisers of his work.

Download Full-text

Interpretations of Emanuel Swedenborg’s image of the afterlife in the novel Oneiron by Laura Lindstedt

Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis ◽

10.30674/scripta.85054 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 29 ◽

Author(s):

Tiina Mahlamäki ◽

Tomas Mansikka

Keyword(s):

Eighteenth Century ◽

Western Culture ◽

First Century ◽

The Novel ◽

Late Eighteenth Century ◽

Late Eighteenth ◽

Twenty First Century ◽

Postmodern Novel ◽

Western Esotericism ◽

The Relationship

This article discusses the relationship between Western esotericism and literature. As an example of a secular author who uses and benefits from esoteric texts, ideas and thoughts as resources in creating a literary artwork, the article analyses Laura Lindstedt’s novel Oneiron. A Fantasy About the Seconds After Death (2015). It contextualises the novel within the frames of Western esotericism and literature, focusing on Emanuel Swedenborg’s impact on discourses of the afterlife in literature. Laura Lindstedt’s postmodern novel indicates various ways that esoteric ideas, themes, and texts can work as resources for authors of fiction in twenty-first century Finland. Since the late eighteenth century Swedenborg’s influence has been evident in literature and among artists, especially in providing resources for other-worldly imagery. Oneiron proves that the ideas of Swedenborg are still part of the memory of Western culture and literature.

Download Full-text

The Babalon Working 1946: L. Ron Hubbard, John Whiteside Parsons, and the Practice of Enochian Magic

Numen ◽

10.1163/15685276-12341406 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 63 (1) ◽

pp. 12-32 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Henrik Bogdan

Keyword(s):

Human Being ◽

Western Esotericism

In the spring of 1946 L. Ron Hubbard and John W. Parsons performed a series of magical rituals with the aim of incarnating the Thelemic goddess Babalon in a human being. Hubbard’s cooperation with Parsons, known as the Babalon Working, remains one of the most controversial events in Hubbard’s pre-Scientology days. This article sets out to describe the content of the magical rituals, as well as their purpose. It is argued that in order to fully understand these events, it is necessary to approach the Babalon Working from the study of Western esotericism in general, and the study of Enochian magic in particular.

Download Full-text

Introduction

Visions in a Seer Stone ◽

10.5149/northcarolina/9781469655666.003.0001 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-6

Author(s):

William L. Davis

Keyword(s):

Nineteenth Century ◽

Oral Performance ◽

Early Nineteenth Century ◽

Nineteenth Century America ◽

Book Of Mormon ◽

Western Esotericism ◽

Oral Composition

The introduction situates Joseph Smith's oral composition of the Book of Mormon within the religious and rhetorical culture of early nineteenth-century America. In an extended oral performance, Smith gazed into a seer stone and dictated the Book of Mormon to his scribes. The study focuses on orality, oral performance, and the oral composition techniques that Smith used to dictate the work. The introduction also includes a brief summary of the Book of Mormon narratives, along with a discussion on the academic framework for understanding seer stones in the context of Western esotericism and folk magic.

Download Full-text

Seer Stones and Western Esotericism

Visions in a Seer Stone ◽

10.5149/northcarolina/9781469655666.003.0002 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 7-13

Author(s):

William L. Davis

Keyword(s):

Book Of Mormon ◽

Treasure Hunting ◽

Western Esotericism

Chapter One contextualizes Joseph Smith's use of a "seer stone" to compose the Book of Mormon within contemporary folk magic practices, the philosophies of Western esotericism, and Christian occultism. The seer stone (sometimes described as a "Urim and Thummim") represented one of several folk magic practices that the Smith family pursued, most notably in relation to "money digging" or treasure hunting with mystical objects as guides. Such mystical pursuits entangled esoteric thought with religious efforts to discover God's mysteries, and Smith's practices reflected this magical worldview.

Download Full-text