Access to Western Esotericism.

Albany, NY State University of New York Press, 1994. Hardcover First Edition; First Printing indicated. First Edition; First Printing indicated. Very Good+: shows light wear to the extremities (a little heavier at the lower rear corner).The binding leans slightly, but remains perfectly secure; text clean. Bright; structurally sound and tightly bound: Remains clean, sturdy, and quite presentable. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. 8vo. 369pp.Translated by Joscelyn Godwin. (S U N Y Series in Western Esoteric Traditions). Hardcover: Pictorial Laminate Boards. This is the first systematic treatment of esotericism to appear in English. Here is also a historical survey, beginning with the Alexandrean Period, of the various esoteric currents such as Christian Kabbalah, Theosophy, Alchemy, Rosicrucianism, and Hermeticism. Common characteristics of these currents are the notion of universal interdependency and the experience of spiritual transformation. The author establishes a rigorous methodology; provides clarifying definitions of such key terms as "gnosis," "theosophy," "occultism," and "Hermeticism;" and offers analysis of contemporary esotericism based on three distinct pathways. The second half of the book presents a series of studies on several important figures, works, and movements in Western esotericism--studies devoted to some of the most characteristic and illuminating aspects that this form of thought has taken, such as theosophical speculations on androgyny, rosicrucian literature, and Masonic symbolism. The book is completed by a rich and selective Bibliography conceived as a means of orientation and a tool for research. This is certainly Faivre's most useful book for a broad knowledge of esotericism. It's really not a book, actually, but a series of articles and an annotated bibliography, but it holds together well and is readable just as it is. The translation is solid--it's the work of Joscelyn Godwin, a student of Faivre's, whose works are also very useful. The nice thing about Faivre is that he takes the subject-matter seriously, which isn't exactly usual, and he goes into some depth about the 18th and 19th century thinkers he's interested in (von Baader, notably). For an introduction to a somewhat lost period, i.e. Enlightenment occultism, you could hardly do better than Faivre. He was until recently a professor at the Sorbonne, and has founded a whole little school of scholarship on esotericism (Hanegraaf and Godwin leap to mind). The distinctions he makes among esotericism, mysticism, and occultism are at times problematic, and lead him to cut off from view a lot of interesting figures. The reason, I think, is that he believes that a certain sort of syncretic esoteric viewpoint is the best hope for a spiritual revival of western humanity, and so he focuses on the thinkers he thinks best support that goal. The very best thing here is his annotated bibliography. It's not perfect, to be sure, and now a bit dated, but there is nothing like it since Albert Caillet, who's so encyclopedic as to be unhelpful to a beginner (he's also very dated, of course). If you're serious about learning something about the occult in later European history, you need to read through this bibliography and take Faivre's advice. I don't think this is a book that a serious student should be without. That said, this is a dense book, yet it is that very density that makes it a cornerstone for research into Western estotericism. Not for the beginner, "Access" is written by one of the world's leading academic authorities on western mystical and occult movements from the Renaissance to the present. Carrying the information of an encyclopedia and written like a Ph.D. thesis, "Access" contains in 369 pages an entire synopsis of 1,000 years of Western European spiritual development. Beginning with the Alexandrian Period, the reader is taken through the development of the various esoteric currents of Rosicrucianism, Alchemy, Qabala, Hermeticism, and Christian Qabala. Then, in the second half of "Access" the reader is introduced to the key figures, works, and movements in esotericism. A great deal of the book is concerned with defining key terms, such as 'esotericism', 'gnosis', 'theosophy', and 'occultism'. As stated, it is a dense book written by a brilliant man, it is not easy reading, but it is well worth reading if you take your esotericism seriously. Faivre is Professor at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Religious Studies Section, Sorbonne, Paris. He holds the chair of "History of Esoteric and Mystical Currents in Modern and Contemporary Europe."