Politics and the Occult: The Left, the Right, and the Radically Unseen (2008)

by Gary Lachman

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The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age by Frances Yates (slickdpdx)

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A highly readable wide-ranging tour through Western occult movements and the politics they have been associated with and, on occasion, influenced, from the late 1500s through the present day U.S. Lachman knows what is interesting about the subject and tosses in the right odd details. There is a whole lot of really fun stuff in here. If you care to follow any of the threads Lachman unwinds, the book is thoroughly sourced. I have been happily following those threads for months. (

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slickdpdx | Dec 22, 2008 |

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2008

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Epigraph

Nothing could be more dangerous for the human race than to beleive that its affairs had fallen into the hands of supermen. -Colin Wilson, The Mind Parasites

Dedication

For James Webb (1946-1980) and Robert Anton Wilson (1932-2007), Illuminati supreme

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I first became interested in the realtionship between politics and the occult through reading a remarkable book published in the 1970s by the occult historian James Webb.

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Wikipedia in English (5)

Animal magnetism

Gary Valentine Lachman

George Gurdjieff

History of the Knights Templar

Savitri Devi

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Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0835608573, Paperback)

The gritty business of politics is not something we usually associate with the occult. But esoteric beliefs have influenced the destiny of nations since the time of ancient Egypt and China, when decisions of state were based on portents and astrology, to today, when presidents and prime ministers privately consult self-proclaimed seers. Politics and the Occult offers a lively history of this enduring phenomenon. Author and cultural pundit Gary Lachman provocativly questions whether the separation of church and state so dear to modern political philosophy should be maintained. A few of his fascinating topics include the fate of the Knights Templar and the medieval Gnostic Cathars, the occult roots of America and the French Revolution in Freemasonry, Gurdjieff and the swastika, Soviet interest in UFOs, the CIA and LSD, the Age of Aquarius, the millenarian politics that inform the struggle with Islamic terrorism, fundamentalism, and more.

(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:46:29 -0500)

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"The link between the occult and politics is as old as politics itself. In ancient Egypt and China, magi translated the messages of the gods into the edicts of the land." "These days that link has become obscure, limited mostly to studies on the "dark side" of fascism. But countercultural critic Gary Lachman shows there is a "progressive," democratic occult politics as well. Focusing on notions of "hidden superiors" and the "retreat from the modern world," he traces how occult ideas have informed politics in the West ranging from the Knights Templar and Freemasonry to the French and American Revolutions, Spiritualism and Feminism, Theosophy and India, the search for Shambhala, the roots of Nazism, the occult revival of the 1960s, and Christian fundamentalism in the U.S. today.""Lachman's critique of occult politicians like Annie Besant, Emanuel Swedenborg, Nicholas Roerich, Rene Guenon, Julius Evola, Rudolf Steiner, Mircea Eliade, C. G. Jung, and Aleister Crowley shows that politics is as swayed by the occult now as it ever was. His fresh and conscientious view proves him one of the most reliable writers on this matter in the English-speaking world."--BOOK JACKET.… (more)