Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Western esoterism : Ultimate Sacred Postulates and Ritual Fields

Steen Larsen, Lars LU (2008) In Lund Studies in History of Religions 25.
Abstract
The greater part of Western Esoterism holds beliefs in five important matrices. This branch of esoterism, rooted in a Hermetic milieu, is labelled dialectical esoterism because of the dialectical relationship between the ‘lower’ (man, earth) and the ‘higher’ (heaven, the divine, God). These five matrices are:



I: Purpose (pronoia), rather than karma or sin.

II: The dialectical relationship between Man and God (or the divine), including the healing of other people, society and/or the Earth.

III: The inter-dependency of Dualism and Monism, including the mind and/or the world as a stairway to heaven.

IV: Scientific laws are synonymous with spiritual principles.

V: The holistic cosmos,... (More)
The greater part of Western Esoterism holds beliefs in five important matrices. This branch of esoterism, rooted in a Hermetic milieu, is labelled dialectical esoterism because of the dialectical relationship between the ‘lower’ (man, earth) and the ‘higher’ (heaven, the divine, God). These five matrices are:



I: Purpose (pronoia), rather than karma or sin.

II: The dialectical relationship between Man and God (or the divine), including the healing of other people, society and/or the Earth.

III: The inter-dependency of Dualism and Monism, including the mind and/or the world as a stairway to heaven.

IV: Scientific laws are synonymous with spiritual principles.

V: The holistic cosmos, including the concept of ‘sympathy’ between its parts.



The aim of this thesis is to make clear that Western Esoterism is unique because of the presence of the five matrices and deals with both ‘beliefs’ (recognition) and ‘doing’ (religious practices, e.g. astrology, alchemy, magic and clairvoyance). As a consequence it is also demonstrated that foreign religious ideas and practices can be assimilated because they are transformed and hence adopt new meanings in order to fit the important USP of Western Esoterism. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Hammer, Olav, Odense universitet
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
gnosis, mysticism, religions experience, Eckhart Tolle, New Age, James Redfield, Theosophy, Agrippa, anthropology, Paracelsus, Western esotericism, USP., Hermetica, ritual fields, Western esoterism
in
Lund Studies in History of Religions
volume
25
pages
354 pages
publisher
Lund Studies in History of Religions
defense location
Sal 118, CTR, Allhelgona kyrkogata 8, Lund
defense date
2008-10-17 13:15:00
ISSN
1103-4882
ISBN
978-91-633-3465-8
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ba14b2d1-43b9-44cc-aff4-240bb26a6606 (old id 1236319)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:58:56
date last changed
2019-05-21 19:42:47
@phdthesis{ba14b2d1-43b9-44cc-aff4-240bb26a6606,
  abstract     = {{The greater part of Western Esoterism holds beliefs in five important matrices. This branch of esoterism, rooted in a Hermetic milieu, is labelled dialectical esoterism because of the dialectical relationship between the ‘lower’ (man, earth) and the ‘higher’ (heaven, the divine, God). These five matrices are:<br/><br>
<br/><br>
I: Purpose (pronoia), rather than karma or sin. <br/><br>
II: The dialectical relationship between Man and God (or the divine), including the healing of other people, society and/or the Earth. <br/><br>
III: The inter-dependency of Dualism and Monism, including the mind and/or the world as a stairway to heaven. <br/><br>
IV: Scientific laws are synonymous with spiritual principles. <br/><br>
V: The holistic cosmos, including the concept of ‘sympathy’ between its parts.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The aim of this thesis is to make clear that Western Esoterism is unique because of the presence of the five matrices and deals with both ‘beliefs’ (recognition) and ‘doing’ (religious practices, e.g. astrology, alchemy, magic and clairvoyance). As a consequence it is also demonstrated that foreign religious ideas and practices can be assimilated because they are transformed and hence adopt new meanings in order to fit the important USP of Western Esoterism.}},
  author       = {{Steen Larsen, Lars}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-633-3465-8}},
  issn         = {{1103-4882}},
  keywords     = {{gnosis; mysticism; religions experience; Eckhart Tolle; New Age; James Redfield; Theosophy; Agrippa; anthropology; Paracelsus; Western esotericism; USP.; Hermetica; ritual fields; Western esoterism}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Lund Studies in History of Religions}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  series       = {{Lund Studies in History of Religions}},
  title        = {{Western esoterism : Ultimate Sacred Postulates and Ritual Fields}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/4282366/1259363.pdf}},
  volume       = {{25}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}