Contemporary Esotericism, edited by Egil Asprem and Kennet Granholm, New York: Routledge, 2013

Contemporary Esotericism, edited by Egil Asprem and Kennet Granholm, New York: Routledge, 2013, ix + 448 pp. ISBN 978 1 908049 32 2, US$120.00 (hardback); ISBN 978 1 13 885611 0, US$49.95 (paperback) „Religion”, 2015, vol. 45, iss. 3. DOI:10.1080/0048721X.2015.1036711 Adam Anczyka & Halina Grzymała-Moszczyńska a

Jagiellonian University, (Poland)

Contemporary Esotericism, authored by academics from the Netherlands, the USA, Sweden, the UK, Australia, and Ireland, is a collection of articles focused on particular traditions or alternative religious movements like Satanism, Scientology, and Chaos Magick. The volume also considers the influence of esoteric discourses on pop culture, media, and the public sphere. When one reads such a collection, questions about the coherence of the contributions may arise as the first point of critique. In the case of Asprem and Granholm's Contemporary Esotericism, one of the main motifs present in the majority of chapters is the notion of ‘tradition’ and its meaning, usage, and impact on the various esoteric movements discussed by the authors therein. This motif, delineated in the ‘Introduction,’ appears consistently in all chapters, and thus it could even be added as a subtitle to the whole book. The main aim of the volume is to present contemporary movements that can be described as ‘esoteric,’ and it is worth mentioning that the adjective ‘contemporary’ is understood literally, as the chapters focus on phenomena that chronologically are really a part of ‘contemporaneity.’ Indeed, the main focus of the authors’ interests lies between the 1950s and the present day. The objective of this book is to present a study on contemporary esotericism that is both historical and empirical, as many studies on these movements presented elsewhere are mostly limited to their historical aspects. The concentration on the present time in Contemporary Esotericism is noticeable in most of the chapters and clearly it is a mark of good editorial skills to make the essays in this volume as coherent as possible for such a diverse research field. The editors mention in their chapter on ‘Constructing Esotericism’ (25–48) some of the terminological issues implicated in the use of the term ‘esotericism.’ They suggest that it is more a constructed idea than an analytical, natural category. They point out that the main problem is that historically and doctrinally diverse movements and ideas were gathered together under the umbrella term ‘esotericism’ by believers and academics alike. It resulted in specifically sociological and psychological effects, as many people affiliate themselves with the ‘esoteric’ and sometimes use the term to self-depict their beliefs. However, it is difficult to stop using the term in scholarly research, simply because it has become a part of a popular discourse. Most people know intuitively what ‘esoteric’ means, and to which religious or spiritual groups the term may refer. Even the editors of the book entitled it ‘Contemporary Esotericism,’ which illustrates the power of the term. Certainly they do explain in what context the notion is used, and on what bias it was constructed, but – concerning the variety of content found inside – we thought that a better title would be a plural form of the concept like ‘Contemporary Esotericisms’ or ‘Contemporary Esoteric Movements,’ which would be in line with the editors’ plea concerning the watchful usage of ‘esotericism’ in scholarly works (37–38).

In our review we would like to mention some particular threads that are found in various chapters and which attracted our attention the most during reading the book. These will be the motif of (or legitimization of) tradition and its relevance to contemporary Esotericism, the construction of the identity of followers, and the relation between esoteric movements and contemporary culture. It is then only an eagle-eye perspective on the book, which otherwise covers a lot of different topics. We hope that enumerating some of them may attract the attention of potential readers of this review to the book in question. With the terminological aspects, and the discussion concentrated around the problem regarding which parts of esotericism might be a construct made by scholars, comes the notion of ‘tradition’ as an occurring theme in the articles found in the book. The first part of the book is devoted to that issue (Part I: Tradition, 25–112), especially to the ways of inventing traditions and legitimizing beliefs in the movements. Per Faxneld (72–90) traces the meaning that tradition had to the founder of the Church of Satan, Anton LaVey, and admits that in the case of LaVeyan Satanism, references to esoteric traditions were in many cases made on purpose to create a specific atmosphere within the movement. The quotation, taken from the interview conducted by Faxneld with Peter H. Gilmore, current leader of the Church, is a perfect summary of this standpoint: ‘None of it is authentic, but we'll use whatever props work best’ (87). Legitimizing beliefs with the notion of tradition may be helpful for the movement to look more ‘authentic.’ Academically speaking it contributes to the discussion about the notion of ‘invented traditions’ started by Hobsbawm & Ranger in 1983. They wonder whether movements that explicitly admit that they are invented fit within the definition proposed in ‘The Invention of Tradition.’ Satanism, as a movement, comes back in a chapter by Jesper A. Petersen, ‘From Book to Bit: Enacting Satanism Online’ (134–158), which should be read not only by those interested in Satanism, as it is a valuable source of information, but also – considering the methodology used – by academics and students who wish to explore the plethora of ways and possibilities of studying religion online, as the article by itself is an example of good research. In the matter of studying the occult, the chapter by Colin Duggan on Chaos Magick (91–112), is worth mentioning in the context of good practices in research design, as the author is dealing with a movement that rarely had been a subject of inquiry. With the issue of legitimization and tradition in the social context comes the notion of the personal identities of esoteric movements’ followers and the problem of multidimensional (ethnic, social, religious) construction of one's identity. An interesting attempt at research on inventing new cultural identity via esoteric movements pertains to Frederik Gregorius's (49–71) analysis of Afro-Americans’ attitude towards Africa as a way of changing the cultural selfperception of followers and, at the same time, a method to change the way they were perceived by the dominant culture (which frequently saw them as a second-class citizens). Gregorius reviews the interesting, even if today highly controversial, writings of several black activists in the United States (since the 1700s) who attempted the intellectual development of their people. They stressed African origins of human civilization. They also considered white people as inferior, genetically deficient, lacking the melanin gene, and mutants of black people expelled from Africa. Such a discourse has served an important role in restoring the sense of self-worth among the African diaspora in the United States. Africa, both in a real and in a mythical sense, became a central source of identity for this group. Within the discourse, Gregorius provides an analysis of the ethnic religious traditions of Africa which should be traced not to Christian or Islamic traditions but to Egyptian Mysteries and indigenous African religions (including controversial

remarks on the African origins of Masonry, as well as the influence African culture had on figures such as Moses, Pythagoras, and Euclid). Relations between the esoteric/occult and contemporary culture forms another field of inquiry within the volume. In his article ‘Occulture is Ordinary’ (113–133), Christopher Partridge elaborates on the term that he has proposed in his previous works (the ‘occulture’) and comes to a conclusion outlined in the title of the chapter: that the esoteric discourse influences pop culture, and because of this it is getting more and more embedded into mainstream culture. Wouter J. Hanegraaff (392–409) also relates his analysis to contemporary culture. He takes into consideration the role of psychoactive substances, which influenced popular Western spirituality, eventually contributing to re-interpretations of the concept of the religious experience: the socalled ‘instant mysticism’. Ethenogenic substances are considered as a means of access to experiences that can be labeled ‘spiritual’ and provide insights into the nature of reality (392). The author stresses the need to study this kind of phenomena because of its role in the development of modern esoteric tradition. In the matter of getting access to the spiritual realities, John L. Crow (159–180) traces the meaning of Astral, one of the key ideas in many esoteric movements. He points at the Internet as the possible embodiment of the Astral Plane and an open space for celebrating cyber-rituals. The Church of Scientology definitely represents an important landmark among newly appearing religious phenomena and has had an influence on popular culture. Hugh B. Urban's analysis (181–199) presents how the Church creates, uses, and defends secretive, esoteric knowledge as a special kind of cultural capital. The most unusual connection between esoteric ideas and the popular culture gets presented in Eduard ten Houten's analysis (265–286). He is exploring the influence of Paulo Coelho's Warrior of Light on the Chechens' leader Shamil Basayev war manifesto Manual of the Mujahid. Eduard ten Houten's analysis (265–286) may shed an interesting light on rarely explored but documented in Basayev's writings inspirations of Chechens’ ideology. The question of post-secularism and its associations with secularization theory is raised in Kenneth Granholm's chapter on the esoteric in the public sphere (309–329). He puts forth the idea that since the esoteric conquers new terrains, such as new media or pop culture (examples given are the science-fiction series Stargate and the movie Avatar), then academic study should follow. The conclusion a reader may reach is that a study of these trends and their cultural expressions should become an important area of research for contemporary religious studies. Speaking of trends, it is worth mentioning that today very few books on contemporary cultural and religious phenomena ignore the category of gender. This perspective is also present in this volume: a chapter by Jay Johnston (410–425) aims at examining esotericism's interrelations with gender. The role of women in Theosophy, Spiritualism, New Age, and Neo-Paganism provides a natural exemplification of the connection. Sexual non-normativity, a subject of research within queer studies, also gets implicated here by showing that unstable sexual and social roles that are prone to re-definition are also present in religious contexts. In conclusion, the book is definitely a must for those who are interested in new and alternative religious movements. It is to say that both researchers focused on particular esoteric traditions or the occult in general and those interested in current issues in religious studies will benefit from this reading. Methodological and terminological issues that were raised can be considered as important voices in the ongoing academic discussion on the nature of contemporary religion and spirituality. The substantial influences that esoteric movements have on popular culture may be a reason for researchers in fields other than religious studies,

sociology, or cultural studies to have an interest in Contemporary Esotericism. As a concluding remark, we would like to state that school and developmental psychologists (who otherwise are among the least likely to read this book) may benefit from familiarizing themselves with Daniel Kline's analysis (351–371) of esoteric discourse around Indigo Children (a growing category of children displaying symptoms of disorders like autism, ADHD, or ADD).

Adam Anczyk and Halina Grzymała-Moszczyńska Jagiellonian University, (Poland) © 2015, Adam Anczyk http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0048721X.2015.1036711