Esotericism in Western Culture - Counter-Normativity and Rejected Knowledge

This accessible introduction by the world''s leading expert explains why the study of esotericism is not a marginal pursuit but belongs at the center of modern research in the humanities . Reflecting updates in the field since the foundational publication Western Esotericism: A Guide for the Perplexed (2013), Wouter J. Hanegraaff demonstrates that the exclusion of "rejected knowledge" from normative accounts of Western civilization is the reflection of a narrow Eurocentric ideology that became the template for discrediting and ultimately destroying so-called "primitive" cultures associated with "superstition" and "pagan idolatry" during the global colonial age. Rejecting this "rejection of rejected knowledge" means restoring the suppressed to its legitimate place in history and cultural analysis. Through this approach, Wouter J. Hanegraaff depicts a radically inclusive vision of the Greater West and its forgotten histories, from pagan antiquity through Jewish, Christian, and Islamic cultures up to secular modernity and beyond.

About the author

Wouter J. Hanegraaff is Professor of History of
Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents at the University of Amsterdam, the
Netherlands, and President of the European Society for the Study of Western
Esotericism.

Product details

• Authors: Wouter J Hanegraaff, Wouter J. Hanegraaff
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 15.05.2025
• EAN: 9781350459694
• ISBN: 978-1-350-45969-4
• No. of pages: 344
• Dimensions: 154 mm x 232 mm x 22 mm
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Religion: general, reference works; RELIGION / Spirituality, RELIGION / Cults, BODY, MIND & SPIRIT / Occultism, Spirituality & religious experience, Eclectic & Esoteric Religions & Belief Systems, Christian and quasi-Christian cults and sects, Occult Studies