Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism

This is a one-volume edition of the two-volume reference published in 2005. European scholars (mostly) and some North American and Australian scholars survey historical currents and personalities that have flourished in Western culture and society over roughly 2,000 years. While providing a broad reference work to traditions that involve secret teachings, they also question certain ingrained assumptions about the history of Western religion and culture, and promote new agendas and analytic frameworks for research in these areas. The text is accessible to readers with no specialized background in religions and hermetic matters. Only people are indexed, but the cross-referencing is extensive. Bibliographies are provided for each entry. Published under the auspices of the Chair of History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents at the University of Amsterdam. Annotation c2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Wouter J. Hanegraaff is Professor of History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He has published extensively on modern and contemporary Western esotericism, including a book devoted to the 15th-century Christian Hermetist Lodovico Lazzarelli and a monograph on the New Age movement. Antoine Faivre is Professor Emeritus of History of Esoteric and Mystical Currents in Modern and Contemporary Europe at the 5th section of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Sorbonne), Paris, France.Roelof van den Broek is Professor Emeritus of History of Christianity at the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands. Jean-Pierre Brach is Professor of History of Esoteric Currents in Modern and Contemporary Europe at the 5th section of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Sorbonne), Paris, France.