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Wouter J. Hanegraaff

19 papers in the library · 121 citations · publishing 2008-2026

Papers

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On the Construction of 'Esoteric Traditions'

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) May 2, 2026 Wouter J. Hanegraaff

in: Antoine Faivre & Wouter J. Hanegraaff (eds.), Western Esotericism and the Science of Religion: Selected Papers presented at the 17th Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions, Mexico City 1995 (Gnos­tica 2) Peeters: Louvain 1998., 11-61.

Introduction: The Birth of a Discipline

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) May 2, 2026 Wouter J. Hanegraaff

in: Antoine Faivre & Wouter J. Hanegraaff (eds.), Western Esotericism and the Science of Religion: Selected Papers presented at the 17th Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions, Mexico City 1995 (Gnos­tica 2) Peeters: Louvain 1998., vii-xvii.

Introduction: Things We Do Not Talk About

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) May 2, 2026 Wouter J. Hanegraaff, Jeffrey J. Kripal

in: Wouter J. Hanegraaff & Jeffrey J. Kripal (eds.), Hidden Intercourse: Eros and Sexuality in the History of Western Esotericism, Brill: Leiden / Boston 2008 [U.S. Paperback edition: Fordham University Press: New York 2011, ix-xxii.

Introduction: Thirty red pills from Hermes Trismegistus

October 1, 2025 Wouter J. Hanegraaff, Peter J. Forshaw, Marco Pasi

Ten years ago the Centre for History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents (HHP) of the University of Amsterdam celebrated its first decennial anniversary by publishing a memorial volume. Paying playful homage to the legendary Egyptian sage Hermes Trismegistus, who stands at the origin and symbolic centre of the field of research nowadays known as “Western esotericism,” it was titled...

Rejected knowledge…

October 1, 2025 Wouter J. Hanegraaff

That’s a very loaded question, so I’ll try to unpack it carefully. First of all, it is important to see that the study of Western esotericism involves much more than studying “esotericists.” Today it is not so hard to find groups or individuals who understand the terminology as a marker of identity, meaning that they would accept or even actively embrace it as a label for who they are and what...

Hidden Intercourse: Eros and Sexuality in the History of Western Esotericism

Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) April 1, 2011 Wouter J. Hanegraaff, Jeffrey J. Kripal 12 citations

From rumors about gnostic orgies in antiquity to the explicit erotic symbolism of alchemical texts, from the subtly coded eroticism of medieval kabbalah to the sexual magic practiced by contemporary occultists and countercultural translations of Asian Tantra, the history of Western esotericism is rich in references to the domains of eros and sexuality. This volume, which brings together an...