Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism
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Subject: Religious Studies
Edited by: Wouter J. Hanegraaff, in collaboration with Antoine Faivre, Roelof van den Broek and Jean-Pierre Brach
Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism Online is the comprehensive reference work to cover the entire domain of “Gnosis and Western Esotericism” from the period of Late Antiquity to the present. Containing around 400 articles by over 180 international specialists, Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism Online provides critical overviews discussing the nature and historical development of all its important currents and manifestations, from Gnosticism and Hermetism to Astrology, Alchemy and Magic, from the Hermetic Tradition of the Renaissance to Rosicrucianism and Christian Theosophy, and from Freemasonry and Illuminism to 19thcentury Occultism and the contemporary New Age movement. Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism Online also contains articles about the life and work of all the major personalities in the history of Gnosis and Western Esotericism, discussing their ideas, significance, and historical influence.
Subscriptions: see brill.com
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Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism Online is the comprehensive reference work to cover the entire domain of “Gnosis and Western Esotericism” from the period of Late Antiquity to the present. Containing around 400 articles by over 180 international specialists, Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism Online provides critical overviews discussing the nature and historical development of all its important currents and manifestations, from Gnosticism and Hermetism to Astrology, Alchemy and Magic, from the Hermetic Tradition of the Renaissance to Rosicrucianism and Christian Theosophy, and from Freemasonry and Illuminism to 19thcentury Occultism and the contemporary New Age movement. Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism Online also contains articles about the life and work of all the major personalities in the history of Gnosis and Western Esotericism, discussing their ideas, significance, and historical influence.
Subscriptions: see brill.com
Blake, William
(3,175 words)
Blake, William, * 28 Jan 1757 (London), † 12 Sep 1827 (London) An engraver by trade, Blake was primarily a self-educated graphic and literary artist whose work reflects the attempt to confront contemporary political and social problems through a philosophically based spiritualism. Although baptized and buried in the Anglican Church, Blake was born into a family of freethinkers, and himself attempted to get back to the pure form of Christianity he believed to have existed before it was corrupted by organized religion. Blake's life reflects the conflict between corporeal and sp…
Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna
(6,850 words)
Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna, * 12 Aug 1831 (Ekaterinoslav), † 8 May 1891 (London) Undoubtedly one of the most fascinating, controversial, and influential women in the 19th century writing on the ancient wisdom tradition, Blavatsky was born in the von Hahn family on August 12, 1831 (or on July 31, according to the old Julian calendar that was still current in Russia) in Ekaterinoslav (Dnepropetrovsk), the Ukraine. Descended from a prominent family of Russian, French Huguenot, and German background, her father,…