Theosophy, Imagination, Tradition: Studies in Western Esotericism (Suny Series in Western Esoteric Traditions) [Paperback]

Antoine Faivre (Author), Christine Rhone (Author)

Book Description

Series: SUNY Series in Western Esoteric Traditions | Publication Date: February 17, 2000

A historical and interpretive study of three aspects of Western esotericism from the Renaissance to the twentieth century.

Not only does this book present the current state of research in esotericism, but it also explores three main aspects of the field from the Renaissance to the twentieth century. Previously published in French and now available in English for the first time, Theosophy, Imagination, Tradition traces the history of the theosophical current, its continuity and shifts, against the background of social and cultural events. The book also covers the Paracelsian course, the romantic Philosophies of Nature and the Occultist movement. The book provides glimpses into the notions and practices of the so-called "active" and "creative" imagination, and questions how they serve as a bridge into certain kinds of mystical experience. It also examines the place that the notion of "tradition" occupies in some major exponents of western esotericism.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

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. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 308 pages
• Publisher: State University of New York Press (February 17, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791444368
• ISBN-13: 978-0791444368
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,824,849 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An overview of Western theosophical traditions, June 12, 2000

By 

ozan bekci (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Theosophy, Imagination, Tradition: Studies in Western Esotericism (S U N Y Series in Western Esoteric Traditions) (Hardcover)

Antoine Faivre's book is maybe the most comprehensive overview of the Western theosophical traditions that I have seen. Theosophy as understood by this book is not affiliated by the Society that took upon itself this name, but rather refers to its various manifestations throughout Western esoteric traditions starting with Jakob Boehme. Boehme, von Baader, and Schelling emerge, as widely accepted by other scholars and people from esoteric circles, as the starting point of the so-called modern conception of theosophy, under which the possibility of a direct connection between the individual and the Godhead is presupposed and the whole universe is seen as a theogonic process unfolding within God. The book traces the genealogy of this central notion in its form peculiar to Western theosophists starting from Boehme, through Christian Kabbalists to 19th and 20th century. Antoine Faivre, it should be remembered, is from esoteric circles himself. So the book may not be for those looking for cold and disinterested or prejudiced scholarship. The book contains material about some difficult to find or rarely analyzed figures like von Baader, who nevertheless are very crucial in the evolution of Western esotericism. Antoine Faivre has been deeply influenced by the late Henry Corbin, his idea of "Imaginal World" and religious phenomenology. As such, his interpretation has a bias towards Corbin, and the Imagination in the title as well as discussed in the book is not Imagination in the sense of phantasy that we normally use in daily life, but refers to an independent ontological sphere, which is very crucial to understanding Corbin's, and Faivre's views. I would refer the reader to Corbin's "Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn Arabi". Over all, a very systematic and nearly comprehensive, if not totally unbiased overview of the subjects in question.