Spirituality and the Occult

"Against the widely held view occult spiritualities are marginal to Western culture, Spirituality and the Occult argues that the esoteric tradition has played a major role in European intellectual and cultural history. Among the disciplines in which B.J. Gibbons identifies the influence and continued presence of esoteric mystical movements are: medicine; science; philosophy; Freudian and Jungian psychology; radical political movements; and imaginative literature." "Showing that the esoteric tradition is an unfairly neglected area in Western culture and that much of what we take to be 'modern' derives, at least in part, from this tradition, Spirituality and the Occult casts a perspective on intellectual and cultural history in the West that is fresh, intriguing and persuasive."--Jacket.