Western Mystical Traditions

The Egyptian and Hellenic Mystery religions, in the several millenia BC, Hermeticism, Gnosticism and Neoplatonism, bracketing the beginning of the Christian era, are the oldest. For the most part, specific teachings were preserved via oral tradition passed from teacher to initiate, though not entirely, from here up to the medieval period. Christian Pentecostal mysticism in this period includes the desert hermits who founded the monastic tradition. Kabbalah arose in the early medieval period, along with the troubadour and grail traditions, Beloved mysticism (particularly amongst women), and Pentecostal traditions such as the Brethren of the Free Spirit. Renaissance magic revived the occult traditions of Late Antiquity, recovering texts treating Greco-Roman magic and Hermeticism, Kabbalah, alchemy, thaumaturgy and medieval grimoires. Renaissance scholarship gave rise to a Christian Kabbalah and later (in the Baroque period) to the Rosicrucian Brotherhood. The Enlightenment saw another occult revival, spurred by a growing rejection of mainstream religion, increased democracy and freedom of conscience. This period also saw the rise of occult fraternities, most notably Speculative Freemasonry, a revived Rosicrucian Brotherhood and Spiritual Alchemy. The late 19th century saw a radical split in the western mystery tradition, with HP Blavatsky reinventing the tradition in Theosophy, largely ignoring the medieval traditions, instead focusing on more ancient mystery teachings and incorporating Eastern yoga. The extant traditions prospered alongside Theosophy, especially under the influence of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and teachers such as Eliphas Levi, MacGregor Mathers, and Aleister Crowley of the Ordo Templi Orientis. These traditions began to see themselves as an alternative to Christianity, emphasizing theurgy. This occult revival lasted through World War II and aspects of it were further revived in the 1960s. Western theurgy strongly influenced the development of neo-paganism, including the Wiccan tradition. Jim McNamara