The Esoteric Origins of the American RenaissanceOxford University Press, 2001 M03 8 - 240 pages The term "Western esotericism" refers to a wide range of spiritual currents including alchemy, Hermeticism, Kabbala, Rosicrucianism, and Christian theosophy, as well as several practical forms of esotericism like cartomancy, geomancy, necromancy, alchemy, astrology, herbalism, and magic. The early presence of esotericism in North America has not been much studied, and even less so the indebtedness to esotericism of some major American literary figures. In this book, Arthur Versluis breaks new ground, showing that many writers of the so-called American Renaissance drew extensively on and were inspired by Western esoteric currents. |
Contents
| 3 | |
| 8 | |
3 Esotericism in Early America | 21 |
4 The Esoteric Ambience of the American Renaissance | 53 |
5 Hitchcock | 64 |
6 Poe | 72 |
7 Hawthorne | 81 |
8 Melville | 91 |
11 Emerson | 124 |
12 Fuller | 147 |
13 Whitman | 157 |
14 Dickinson | 171 |
15 The Esoteric Origins of the American Renaissance | 183 |
Notes | 193 |
| 217 | |
| 231 | |
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Common terms and phrases
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