Hidden Intercourse Eros and Sexuality in the History of Western Esotericism

by Hanegraaff, Wouter J.; Kripal, Jeffrey J.

• ISBN13: 9780823233410
• ISBN10: 0823233413
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-04-01
• Publisher: Fordham University Press

Summary

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 impressive array of top-level specialists, is the first to analyze the eroticism of the esoteric without sensationalism or cheap generalizations, but on the basis of expert scholarship and attention to textual and historical detail. While there are few domains where the imagination may so easily run wild, the various contributions seek to distinguish fact from fiction--only to find that historical realities are sometimes even stranger than the fantasies. In doing so, they reveal the outlines of a largely unknown history spanning more than twenty centuries.

Author Biography

Wouter J. Hanegraaff is Professor of History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents at the University of Amsterdam and a member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences. Among his many publications is the two-volume Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism. Jeffrey J. Kripal holds the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University, where he is also the Chair of the Department of Religious Studies. He is the author of numerous books, including Authors of the Impossible: The Paranormal and the Sacred and Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Things We Do Not Talk About	p. ix
Sexuality and Sexual Symbolism in Hermetic and Gnostic Thought and Practice (Second-Fourth Centuries)	p. 1
Conceiving Spirits: The Mystery of Valentinian Sex	p. 23
Sexual Intercourse Between Humans and Demons in the Islamic Tradition	p. 49
Murmuring Secrets: Eroticism and Esotericism in Medieval Kabbalah	p. 65
Ta'anug: Erotic Delights from Kabbalah to Hasidism	p. 111
Complications of Eros: The Song of Songs in John of Morigny's Liber florum celestis Doctrine	p. 153
Under the Mantle of Love: The Mystical Eroticisms of Marsilio Ficino and Giordano Bruno	p. 175
Revealing Analogies: The Descriptive and Deceptive Roles of Sexuality and Gender in Latin Alchemy	p. 209
Probing Women and Penetrating Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe	p. 231
Sensuous Relation with Sophia in Christian Theosophy	p. 281
Deadly Dates: Bodies and Sex in Spiritualist Heavens	p. 309
Sexual Mysticisms in Nineteenth Century America: John Humphrey Noyes, Thomas Lake Harris, and Alice Bunker Stockham	p. 333
Paschal Beverly Randolph and Sexual Magic	p. 335
The Knight of Spermatophagy: Penetrating the Mysteries of Georges Le Clément de Saint-Marcq	p. 369
The Yoga of Sex: Tantra, Orientalism, and Sex Magic in the Ordo Templi Orientis	p. 401
The Theory and Practice of Sexual Magic, Exemplified by Four Magical Groups in the Early Twentieth Century	p. 445
The Roar of Awakening: The Eros of Esalen and the Western Transmission of Tantra	p. 479
List of Contributors	p. 521
Index of Persons	p. 529
Index of Subjects	p. 540
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