Theosophy, Imagination, Tradition

Antoine Faivre is Professor at the E.P.H.E. (Religious Studies), Sorbonne. He has published extensively, including Access to Western Esotericism, also published by SUNY Press.

• Provenance of the Articles Published in This VolumePreface: Esotericism and Academic ResearchGenesesUniversitiesCriteriologiesMethodsTHEOSOPHIESTHE THEOSOPHICAL CURRENT: A PERIODIZATIONI. The Birth and the First Golden Age of the Theosophical Current (End of the Sixteenth Century Through the Seventeenth Century)Its Gensis and AppearanceThe Characteristics of Theosophy and the Reasons for Its SuccessThe First Corpus and the First Critical DiscoursesII. The Transitional Period (First Half of the Eighteenth Century)Two Theosophical FamiliesSome Succinct CriticismsJacob Brucker, or the First Systematic DescriptionIII. From Pre-Romanticism to Romanticism, or the Second Golden AgeReasons for the RevivalThree Areas of the Theosophical TerrainThe Word "Theosophy" and a Few CriticismsIV. Effacement and Permanence (End of the Nineteenth to Twentieth Centuries)Factors in the DissolutionA Discreet PresenceNew Perspectives on the Theosophical CurrentTHEOSOPHY AND SPECULATIVE MYSTICISM OF THE BAROQUE CENTURY IN GERMANY (NOTE ON THE WORKS OF BERNARD GORCEIX)Valentin WeigelJohann Georg GichtelMysticism and Theosophy in Baroque GermanyTheater, Kabbalah, and AlchemySociety and UtopiasTHEOSOPHICAL POINTS OF VIEW ON THE DEATH PENALTYLouis-Claude de Saint-MartinJoseph de MaistreFranz von BaaderEXERCISES OF IMAGINATION VIS IMAGINATIVA (A STUDY OF SOME ASPECTS OF THE MAGICAL IMAGINATION AND ITS MYTHICAL FOUNDATIONS)From Jacob's Sheep to the Magical Seed of ParacelsusWays, Byways, and Stakes in the Great CenturyPre-Romatic VersionsFrom Romantic Naturphilosophie to Occultist Spheres of InfluenceTHOUGHTS OF GOD, IMAGES OF MAN (FIGURES, MIRRORS, AND ENGENDERING IN J. BOEHME, F.C. OETINGER, AND F. VON BAADER)I. Sophia and the Bildniss of Jacob BoehmeThe Sophianic MirrorThe Image in Man: Greatness and Self-EffacementThe Image in Man: Paths of RenewalII. Mirrors and Engendering in Franz von BaaderThe Theory of the Three ImagesImages and Reflections in God, in Man, and in NatureFROM THE DIVINE FIGURE TO THE CONCRETE FIGURE, OR TRANSPARITION THROUGH MIRRORSIntroduction: Two Apocrypha, One HomilyI. The Isomorphy of the Images and of Its ModelPrimacy of the Image for Access to the ModelIsomorphy of Light and of the EyeII. The Reciprocal Engendering of the Image and Its ModelThe Personal PresenceReciprocal Engendering Through SeeingPerspectivesIN TERMS OF "TRADITION"THE ROSICRUCIAN MANIFESTOS (1614, 1615) AND THE WESTERN ESOTERIC "TRADITION"I. Medieval Esoteric Themes in the ManifestosLiterary ThemesArithmology and OrganonThe Philosophy of NatureII. Presence of Renaissance Philosophia Occulta in the ManifestosParacelsismEsoteric Themes in Vogue in the Latin RenaissancePresence of the New HermesIII. The Manifestos Between the Old and the NewTorchlight and ShadowThe Fortunes of a ParadoxLiterary Esotericism in the Wake of the ManifestosPerspectivesANALYSIS OF THE MEDITATIONS OF VALENTIN TOMBERG ON THE TWENTY-TWO MAJOR ARCANA OF THE TAROT OF MARSEILLESIntroduction: Bio-bibliographical Elements and Situation of the WorkI. Christian Hermeticism and TraditionsThe Tarot and Hermetic SymbolismEast and WestThe Hermetic Balance: Mysticism, Gnosis, and Sacred MagicII. Nature Philosophy and AnthropologyThe Signature of Things and Universal BecomingLiving PolaritiesHermetic Points of View on ManRegrets and QueriesRAYMOND ABELLIO AND THE WESTERN ESOTERIC "TRADITION"I. Esoteric Elements and ThemesBiographical Data and the Gnosis TraditionTraditional Sciences and the "Primoridial Tradition"II. Esotericism and ModernityRene Guenon and the Status of the WestAbellio and His KinIII. Raymond Abellio's Specific Contribution to EsotericismPhenomenology and Absolute StructureUniversal Interdependence and LovePerspectivesA BIBLIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE TO RESEARCH (CONTINUED)General WorksAlchemyFreemasonry and Fringe MasonryFrom the Second (Corpus Hermeticum) to the Fifteenth CenturiesRenaissance and Seventeenth CenturyEighteenth CenturyRomanticism and NaturphilosophieFrom the Nineteenth Through the Twentieth CenturiesConcerning TraditionEsotericism, Literature, and ArtJournals and SerialsIndex of Names

"A pinnacle of achievement. A colossal work. Before such an accomplishment, one hesitates between the Titanesque and the Benedictine. A remarkable book in every respect that may be consulted as individual essays, each of which may be read with pleasure and interest..." — Pierre Zimmer, Sources et Meridiens"A true history of western esotericism was sorely lacking, and a large gap is now being filled thanks to the important work of Antoine Faivre. He has endeavored to open up many fascinating areas of research. Through this scholarly work, an entire long-neglected domain of the western imagination is brought to light by Antoine Faivre." — François Sturel, L'Action Francaise