India and the occult
Subtitle: the influence of South Asian spirituality on modern western occultism
By: Gordan Djurdjevic
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2014
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 194
ISBN-13: 9781137404985
Subjects: Tantrism; Yoga; Occultism; RELIGION / Comparative Religion; RELIGION / Eastern; RELIGION / Spirituality
Description: "At the beginning of the twentieth century, Indian Yoga and Tantra become attractive to some major exponents of Western occultism. In a gesture typical of the syncretic tendency in Esotericism, Yoga is by these Westerners often identified as an Eastern form of magic: the two disciplines were considered to share similar theoretical perspective, the difference in their methods notwithstanding. India and the Occult explores the reception of Indian spirituality among Western occultists through several case studies. Unlike existing works focusing on the activities of Theosophical Society, it looks at the 'hard-core' occultism, in particular the British twentieth century currents associated with Aleister Crowley, Dion Fortune, Kenneth Grant, and related individuals and groups. Without denying the specificity of its Western historical manifestation, it suggests that esotericism is a category that may be applied as a conceptual tool in order to interpret aspects of non-Western religious thought and practice"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 175-189) and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note:; title: Introduction: The Idea of India in the Imaginary of Western Occultism 1. A Web of Relations : Interpreting Indian Yoga and Tantra as Forms of Esotericism; title: 2. The Great Beast as a Tantric Hero : The Role of Yoga and Tantra in Aleister Crowley's Magick; title: 3. Solve et Coagula: Attitudes toward the Ambrosial Aspects of Human Seed in Certain Yogic Traditions and in Sexual Magick of Aleister Crowley; title: 4. Dion Fortune : The Shakti of the Age; title: 5. Secrets of Typhonian Tantra : Kenneth Grant and Western Occult Interpretations of Indian Esotericism; title: 6. When Yoga Becomes Magick : Dadaji Mahendranath, His Disciples, and the East-West Order.