Hermes Explains

Table of Contents Introduction: 9 Thirty red pills from Hermes Trismegistus Aren't we living in a disenchanted world? EgilAsprem 13 Esotericism, that's for white folks, right? 21 Justine M. Bakker Surely modern art is not occult? It is modern}. TesselM. Bauduln 29 Is it true that secret societies are trying to control the world? 39 Henrik Bogdan Numbers are meant for counting, right? 47 Jean-Pierre Brack Wasn't Hermes a prophet of Christianity who lived long before Christ? 54 Roelofvan den Broek Weren't early Christians up against a gnostic religion? Dylan M. Burns 61 There's not much room for women in esotericism, right? 70 Allison P. Coudert The imagination... You mean fantasy, right? Antoine Faivre 80 Weren't medieval monks afraid of demons? 88 Claire Fanger What does popular fiction have to do w i t h the occult? Christine Ferguson 95 Isn't alchemy a spiritual tradition? 105 PeterJ. Forshaw Music? What does that have to do with esotericism? 113 Joscefyn Godwin W h y all that satanist stuff in heavy metal? Kennet Granholm 120 Religion can't be a joke, right? 127 /. Christian Greer Isn't esotericism irrational? Olav Hammer 137 Rejected knowledge... So you mean that esotericists are the losers of history? WouterJ. Hanegraaff 145 The kind of stuff Madonna talks about - that's not real kabbala, is it? 153 Boaz Huss Shouldn't evil cults that worship satan be illegal? 161 Massimo Introvigne Is occultism a product of capitalism? 168 Andreas B. Kiicher Can superhero comics really transmit esoteric knowledge? 177 JeffreyJ. Kripai Are kabbalistic meditations all about ecstasy? John MacMurphy 184 Isn't India the home of spiritual wisdom? Mriganka Mukhopadhyay 191 If people believe i n magic, isn't that just because they aren't educated? Bernd-Christian Otto 198 But what does esotericism have to do with sex? 207 Marco Past Is there such a thing as Islamic esotericism? 216 Mark Sedgwick Doesn't occultism lead straight to fascism? Julian Strube 225 A man who never died, angels falling from the sky... 232 What is that Enoch stuff all about? Gyorgy E. Szonyl Is there any room for women in Jewish kabbalah? 243 Elliot R. Wo If son Surely born-again Christianity has nothing to do with occult stuff like alchemy? 252 Mike A. Zuber Bibliography 261 Contributors to this volume 305 Index of Persons 309 Index of Subjects 317