Wouter J. Hanegraaff: Current Research Projects
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Esotericism and the Academy
The goal of this project is to write an introduction to the study of Western esotericism as an academic field of research, which outlines the history of the discipline and addresses central theoretical and methodological issues related to it. The project relies partly on thoroughly revised and updated articles and chapters about method and theory in the study of Western esotericism published by the author between 1995 and the present. The book will consist of four parts: (1) An introductory overview of the study of Western esotericism as it currently exists; (2) An historical overview of how the concept of what is nowadays referred to as Western esotericism has developed since its origins in the 17th century up to the present; (3) An argument for perceiving Western esotericism as the historical outcome of what may be referred to as the “Grand Polemical Narrative“ basic to Western culture; (4) A perspective on how the study of Western esotericism might develop on such foundations, and its wider implications for our understanding of Western religion and culture. -
The Presence of Gods: Monotheism and the Animation of Images
This project investigates the history in Western culture of the belief that images (e.g. statues, pictures, amulets, and signs) may become “animated” by a spiritual or demonic force or presence. A classic example is the description in the Hermetic Asclepius of how the ancient Egyptians used to “make gods” by drawing down higher powers into their temple statues. Due largely to the condemnation of such practices by Augustine in his De Civitate Dei, the hermetic animation of statues became a central issue in various debates concerning the relation between biblical monotheism and “pagan” traditions. While the animation of images might at first sight look like a subject of somewhat minor importance to the history of religions, it will be argued that it is in fact central to the “Grand Polemical Narrative” of Western culture, because it is crucial to most of the oppositions that have structured its development, notably monotheism versus paganism, religion versus magic, Protestantism versus Roman Catholicism, materialism versus animism, doctrinal belief versus ritual practice, and even science and rationality versus art and the irrational. The field nowadays referred to as “Western esotericism” is the result of a complex historical process in which Western culture has been (and keeps) defining its own identity by excluding certain kinds of belief and practice and enclosing them into the domain of the imagined “other”. For a variety of reasons, images are central to this domain, in particular if combined with the idea that they may be animated. By tracing the notion of animated images through its main stages of historical development, this project explores the relevance of this notion to the history of Western esotericism, and the implications for our understanding of monotheism, rationality, science and art. -
Altered States of Knowledge
This project investigates the textual and empirical evidence for so-called “altered states of consciousness” (ASC) as a crucial, but traditionally underestimated, dimension of Western esotericism. With origins in early-20th century approaches to the study of religion such as notably that of William James, the concept of ASC was coined in the 1960s in the wake of the “psychedelic revolution” of that period, and has been adopted notably by transpersonal psychology. As a result of these backgrounds, the concept of ASC is still quite strongly associated with the countercultural agendas of the 1960s, and the subject has accordingly been neglected by mainstream academic research (in this regard, the parallel with “Western esotericism” is a close one). This is highly unfortunate, because the concept of ASC in fact stands for a domain of study in the history of religions that is widely documented in the textual sources and particularly relevant to the history of Western esotericism, but is easily overlooked because of the absence in academic research of an appropriate scholarly terminology and theoretical apparatus. The research project seeks to highlight the relevance of ASC for the history of Western esotericism, with examples such as e.g. the platonic “frenzies” and their reception in Christian contexts; the notion of “gnosis” as noetic experience in gnostic, hermetic and related contexts; religious practices such as e.g. theurgy; visionary trance phenomena reported from contexts such as Christian theosophy; practical techniques for inducing ASC in the wake of mesmerism; and the use of psychoactive substances for inducing ASC in esoteric and occultist contexts in the 19th and 20th centuries. While the emphasis will be on analyzing textual sources, the research will also include empirical research into contemporary use of ASC in esoteric contexts, such as e.g. channeling and neo-shamanism. Central to the analysis of materials will be how ASC are related to ideas on the one hand, and to practices on the other.