The Esoteric Origins of the American Renaissance

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Oxford University Press, Mar 8, 2001 - Religion - 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.

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Contents

Introduction
European Esoteric Currents
Esotericism in Early America
The Esoteric Ambience of the American Renaissance
Hitchcock
6
Hawthorne
Melville
Emerson
Fuller
Whitman
Dickinson
The Esoteric Origins of the American Renaissance
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Greaves
Alcott

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