Out of Egypt: Hermetic Theosophy between Reitzenstein and Mead
in: Charles Stang & Jason A. Josephson Storm (eds.), Theosophy and the Study of Religion, Brill: Leiden / Boston 2024, 83-111.
Richard Reitzenstein's seminal monograph Poimandres (1904) and G.R.S. Mead's three-volume Thrice-Greatest Hermes (1906) were published just two years apart, but while the former kick-started modern academic research of the Hermetica, the latter was almost completely ignored by academics, due to the autho'rs Theosophical beliefs. However, they were both on the right side in criticizing the dominant philhellenist ideology, and there's quite a bit more value in Mead's interpretations than most scholars have been willing to admit.
The Unnecessity of Definition
Aries 24:2 (2024), 227-230.
A short contribution to a special issue on the definition of "esotericism," responding to a stimulating lead article by Steven Engler and Mark Q. Gardiner. I argue that we do not actually need a definition at all, address the crucial question of Eurocentrism, and try to correct a few misinterpretations of my previous work.
A Suggestive Inquiry into Hermetic Rebirth: Nondual Noēsis and Bodily Fluids in Victorian England
in: Sarah Perez, Bastiaan van Rijn & Jens Schlieter (eds.), Intentional Transformative Experiences: Theorizing Self-Cultivation in Religion and Esotericism, De Gruyter 2024, 149-178.
Mary Anne South (1817-1910; the picture is an AI-generated youthification based on the only portrait we have of her, made when she was over 90 years old) was a naturally giften metaphysician whose seminal volume A Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery (1850) deserves much more credit than it has received. Her interpretation of the Corpus Hermeticum was remarkably perceptive any, in several key respects, far ahead of its time.