Occultism for the coffee table

“Ockulta boken” is a Swedish translation of John Michael Greer´s “The Occult Book: A Chronological Journey from Alchemy to Wicca”. I haven´t seen the American original, but in the Swedish edition, the print is too small, although I suppose it´s possible that I´m simply getting old and even more near-sighted!

Otherwise, I have no particular objections to this volume, described by its author as a “coffee table book”. It could also be described as an encyclopedic teaser trailer to the arcane world of the occult. The author takes us on an extended journey from Pythagoras to the 2012 phenomenon. Most of the landfalls along the path would be familiar to avid students of these truly esoteric topics. Thus, there are entries on Corpus Hermeticum, Paracelsus, Böhme, the Rosicrucian Manifestoes, Eliphas Levi, Golden Dawn, Blavatsky and Steiner. Other topics covered are perhaps more obscure, such as the mysterious Benandanti, a 16^th century pagan cult in northern Italy exposed by the Inquisition. Or what about Hoodoo drug stores, once a staple of the US urban landscape?

“The Occult Book” shows the diversity of the Western occult tradition, which includes both “low” folkish superstition and “high” philosophical speculation…and pretty much everything in between! A thing that struck me when reading about Swedish 18^th century occultism in another work, was how broad the occult interests even of aristocrats actually were, ranging all the way from the Cabala to tasseomancy. Thus, the author´s decision to include other strands of the secret tradition besides Hermetic philosophy and Böhmean mysticism was clearly a good one. And speaking of Sweden, two Swedes have been included in this volume, Johannes Bureus and Emmanuel Swedenborg (our very own prophet). Left out is Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm, but perhaps he is less known internationally?

For those who consider the entries in this teaser trailer too short, a list of recommended reading has been included in the last section. I noticed that it included another book by John Michael Greer, “Apocalypse Not”, the author´s very own take (or take down) of the 2012 phenomenon. Finally, a minor quibble with the Swedish translation. Blavatsky´s magnum opus is called “Den Hemliga Läran” in Swedish, nothing else.