Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism
edited in collaboration with Antoine Faivre,
Roelof van den Broek and Jean-Pierre Brach
Brill: Leiden / Boston 2005. xxix + 1228 pp.
ISBN: 90 04 14371 8 (vol. 1)
90 04 24372 6 (vol. 2)
90 04 14187 1 (set)
This is the first comprehensive reference work to cover the entire domain of Gnosis and Western Esotericism from the period of Late Antiquity to the present. Containing around 400 articles by over 180 international specialists, it provides critical overviews discussing the nature and historical development of all its important currents and manifestations, from Gnosticism and Hermetism to Astrology, Alchemy and Magic, from the Hermetic Tradition of the Renaissance to Rosicrucianism and Christian Theosophy, and from Freemasonry and Illuminism to 19th-century Occultism and the contemporary New Age movement. Furthermore it contains articles about the life and work of all the major personalities in the history of Gnosis and Western Esotericism, discussing their ideas, significance, and historical influence. The one-volume edition of 2006 is an unabridged version of the two-volume edition published in 2005.
The online edition of the DGWE is available here.
"This book succeeds on all counts. Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism is a gift to the academic world ...". Erin Nix, Nova Religio 12;3 (2009)
"These volumes are a monument to a current trend in the history of religion ... Every history of science library should buy a copy". Lauren Kassell, Isis 98:1 (2007).