Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism

Get access Subject: Religious Studies
Edited by: Wouter J. Hanegraaff, in collaboration with Antoine Faivre, Roelof van den Broek and Jean-Pierre Brach

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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.

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Soulès, Georges

(6 words)

→ Abellio, Raymond
Source: Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism

Spiritualism

(6,127 words)

Author(s): Deveney, John Patrick
1. Terminology In its most basic form, Spiritualism is simply the belief that living men can and do hold intercourse, usually through an intermediary, with “spirits” of the dead. It is thus both a recurring possibility of human experience in all ages and a specific, historically defined phenomenon with roots in mid-19th century America. The first definition is so sweeping as to be of little use, encompassing as it does everything from the trance voyages of shamans to King Saul's recourse to the Witch of Endor, and only the historical movement will be discussed here. 2. Origins The middle 50…
Source: Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism

Starkey, George

(1,358 words)

Author(s): Principe, Lawrence M.
Starkey, George (ps.: Eirenaeus Philalethes), * 8 or 9 Jun 1628 (Bermuda), † summer 1665 (London) The character of George Starkey has long been eclipsed by that of his fictional creation the alchemical adept Eirenaeus Philalethes, “author” of some of the 17th century's most influential and popular treatises on transmutational → alchemy. Starkey's books, published both under his own name and under that of Philalethes, render him the most widely read scientific writer from the New World until Benjamin Franklin. Starkey was born in Bermuda, the son of a Scottish minister who h…
Source: Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism

Steiner, Rudolf

(6,286 words)

Author(s): Leijenhorst, Cees
Steiner, Rudolf, * 25 Feb 1861 (Kraljevec (Croatia)), † 30 Mar 1925 (Dornach (Switzerland)) Rudolf Steiner was born in Kraljevec, Croatia (then part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire) on 25 February 1861, although his official birthday is the 27th, the day he was baptised. He was an eldest son, with a sister and a younger brother born later. Having worked originally as a forester, Steiner's father was employed at the Austrian railways, mostly in the more remote parts of the Austrian-Hungarian empire. Steiner r…
Source: Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism

Stella Matutina

(1,798 words)

Author(s): Gilbert, Robert A.
The Order of the Stella Matutina was the largest and most successful of the three segments into which the → Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn divided in 1903. At the time of that division the Isis-Urania Temple of the Golden Dawn remained in the hands of → A.E. Waite who interpreted the workings of the Order in a mystical sense, while those members who remained loyal to → S.L.M. Mathers continued the magical tradition. The Stella Matutina followed a rather different path, which reflected the cre…
Source: Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism

Suavius, Leo

(6 words)

→ Gohory, Jacques
Source: Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism

Sufism, Neo-

(5 words)

→ Neo-Sufism
Source: Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism

Summit Lighthouse (Church Universal and Triumphant)

(2,324 words)

Author(s): Lucas, Phillip Charles
Summit Lighthouse is the original name for an eclectic, → New Age religious organization that since 1974 has called itself Church Universal and Triumphant (CUT). The group has its roots in such New Age forerunner traditions as Theosophy [→ Theosophical Society], → New Thought, the Arcane School [→ Alice Bailey], and the Saint Germain Foundation. In particular, CUT has adopted the Saint Germain Foundation's belief in a hierarchy of spiritual masters known alternatively as the Great White Brotherh…
Source: Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism