A Bubble Ready to Burst: Esoteric Global Awareness, the State Church and the Advocacy of a non-Secular Religious Pluralism in the Works of Lucie Lagerbielke

Abstract

During the first decades of the twentieth century, there were recurring debates about the role of religion in Swedish society. These public debates about religion preceded and contributed to the more complete freedom of religion that was legally introduced in 1951 as well as a more general development towards religious pluralism in Sweden. Among the most prolific representatives of esotericism who wrote on the subject was Lucie Lagerbielke, a wealthy author and publisher of religious literature. In a number of works, Lagerbielke argued for thorough reformation of Swedish culture, brought about by an intense religious revival and a rectification or dissolution of the Swedish state church. Although emphatically Christian, Lagerbielke's works were likely inspired by Theosophical expressions of orientalism as well as an increasing awareness of global religious pluralism that had been brought to Sweden by new religious movements in the late nineteenth century. The article will explore the role perennialist notions of universal truth and the concept of ‘Eastern Wisdom’ played in Lagerbielke's advocacy of religious freedom and pluralism.