Occultism and Romanticism as Two Forms of "Secularized Esotericism" of the 19th - Early 20th Centuries

Abstract

Based upon the theories of Western researchers such as W. Hane-graaff, A. Faivre, and E. Asprem, the paper offers an analysis of the relationship between science and “Western esotericism" in the 19th and early 20th century. It discusses the theory of “secularization of Western esotericism" that led to the formation of the two new distinct forms: “romanticism" and “occultism". The fault line that divides them was the attitude toward modern science. “Occultism" of E. Blavatsky, A. Besant, C. Leadbeater, R. Steiner, A. Saint-Yves dAlveydre, Papus, A. Stoker, and the Society for Psychical Research, was a form of adaptation of esotericism to new scientific, positivistic worldviews and procedures. By contrast, “romanticism," represented by the “new alchemy" and “integral traditionalism," asserted incompatibility of esotericism and science and promoted esoteric knowledge as an irreconcilable alternative to the modern worldview.