Hammer Olav. Claiming Knowledge. Strategies of Epistemology from Theosophy to the New Age

Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2004. — xviii, 548 p. — (Numen Book Series. Studies in the History of Religions. Volume XC). — ISSN 0169-8834, ISBN 90-04-13638-X.This volume deals with the transformation of religious creativity in the late modern West. Its point of departure is a set of esoteric beliefs, from Theosophy to the New Age. It shows how these traditions have adapted to the cultural givens of each successive epoch. The claims of each movement have been buttressed by drawing on various structural characteristics of late modernity. The advance of science has resulted in attempts to claim scientific status for religious beliefs. Globalization has given rise to massive loans from other cultures, but also to various strategies to radically reinterpret foreign elements. Individualism has led to an increasing reliance on experience as a source of legitimacy. The analytical tools applied to understanding religious modernization shed light on changes that are fundamentally reshaping many religious traditions.The Plan of This Study.
Note.An Encounter.
Historical Framework.
The Enlightenment Revolution.
Esotericism, Occultism, Esoteric Tradition.
Modernity and its Phases.
Further Delimitations.
Previous Research.
Studies of the Esoteric Positions Surveyed.
Studies of the Discursive Strategies Surveyed.
Some Theoretical Preliminaries.The Cultic Milieu.
Discourse and Position.
Secularization.
Globalization.
Tradition, Continuity and Innovation.
Spokespersons.
Movement Texts.
Time-lines.
Discursive Strategies.
Emic Epistemology, Rhetoric and Religious Creativity.
Three Discursive Strategies.
Some Esoteric Positions: A Historical Sketch.The Modernization of Esotericism: An Overview.
Some Themes of the Modern Esoteric Tradition.
A Brief Chronology of the Modern Esoteric Tradition.
The Mesmerist Tradition.
Theosophy.
Three Post-Theosophical Positions.
Modern Psycho-Religion.
The Rise and Transformation of the New Age.
An American Lineage.
The Choice of Positions and Texts.
Theosophy as a Starting Point.
The Multiplicity of Positions.
The Choice of Sources.
The Appeal to Tradition.
Emic and Etic Historiography.
Imaginative History and Sacred Geography.
Case Study — Constructing the Chakra System, Part I.
Questions of Tradition.
Some Significant Others of Esoteric Historiography.
Imaginary Utopias.
Egypt.
India.
Tibet.
Native Americans.
The New Age Blend of Traditions.
The Role of Christianity.
Christianity as a Significant Other.
Constructing a Tradition.
Stages of Invention.
Stages of Appropriation.
Reduction.
Pattern Recognition.
Synonymization.
The Time-line of Esoteric Historiography.
The Perennial Philosophy.
Esoteric Exegesis of Myth.
Source Amnesia.
Case Study — Constructing the Chakra System, Part II.
Concluding Remarks: Structurally Radical Globalization.
Scientism as a Language of Faith.
Science as a Significant Other.
Scientism: A Definition.
An Outline.
Historical Background.
The Rise of Positive Scientism.
Ambivalent Scientism in the Esoteric Tradition.
Modes of Scientism.
Terminological Scientism.
Paratechnology and Parascience.
Technological Ritual Objects.
Calculations and the Rhetoric of Rationality.
Struggles With Opponents.
Scientism and Esoteric Evolutionism.
Evolution and the Esoteric Tradition.
Scientism and Esoteric Cosmology.
The Scientistic Cosmology of The Secret Doctrine.
Atomic Metaphysics.
Quantum Metaphysics.
Case Study: Scientific Miracles and the Creolization of Faith.
Miracles Within the New Age.
Modern Miracles.
Final Remarks: Re-enchanting Science.
Narratives of Experience.The Problematic Nature of Personal Experience.
On the History of Religious Experience.
Toward a Constructivist Model of Religious Experience.
Third-Person Narratives: Vicarious Experience.
Healing Narratives and the Construction of a Worldview.
Divination Narratives and the Construction of Personhood.
Spiritual Experience as Social Praxis.
First-Person Narratives: Privileged Experience.
Prophecy, Spiritualism, Channeling.
The Status of Privileged Experience in the Esoteric Tradition.
The Source of Wisdom.
The Nature of the Channeled Messages.
The Source and the Message.
The Recipient of Wisdom.
Handling Contradiction.
Second Person Narratives: The Democratization of Privileged Experience.
The Explicit Epistemology of Rudolf Steiner.
Do-it-yourself Channeling.
Discovering Synchronicity.
Gaining Paranormal Powers.
Experiencing What We Already Know.
Archetypes: Jung and the Jungians.
Elements of the Self as Experience Cues.
Case Study: A Course In Miracles.
Cueing Experience.
Schucman as Prophet and Exemplum.
Testimonies and Commentaries.
A Case Study: Reincarnation.The Rise of a Modern Myth.
Western Reincarnationism Before Blavatsky.
Reincarnation in Pre-Theosophical Esotericism.
The Road to Theosophy.
A Discourse is Born.
Reincarnation and Christianity.
From Abstract Myth to Personalized Legends.
Client-Centered Legends.
The Bridey Murphy Case.
The Democratization of Experience.
Past Life Therapy.
Do-it-yourself Methods.
Reincarnation as Rational Belief.
Reincarnation as a Modern Doctrine.
Coda.
On Belief and Evidence.
Tradition.
Science.
Experience.
The Construction of a Modern Worldview.
List of Sources.
The Selection of the Sources.
Theosophy.
Anthroposophy.
Alice Bailey.
Edgar Cayce.
New Age.
List of Esoteric Movement Texts.
References.
Index of Names.
Index of Subjects.