Joscelyn Godwin is a Professor at Colgate University. His previous works include Arktos; Robert Fludd; Athanasius Kircher; Mystery Religions in the Ancient World; Harmonies of Heaven and Earth; The Mystery of the Seven Vowels; and L'Ésotérisme musical en France.

"As in all his former books, Godwin's style is not only elegant but clear and understandable. It lends itself to a pleasant reading by any person who, though being a layman in the field, has a minimal breadth of culture." — Antoine Faivre, Sorbonne"This is a wonderful work: witty, charming, erudite, profound. It demonstrates on the basis of extraordinary research and scholarship that the theosophical, spiritualist, and esoteric movements of the nineteenth century were significant in many ways we are only now in a position to realize." — Christopher Bamford, Lindisfarne Press

• List of IllustrationsPreface1. The Worship of the Generative Powers2. The Cult of the Sun3. The Blasphemers4. The Shoemaker and the Squire5. Magicians and Revolutionaries6. Neophytes and Initiates7. Artists and Astrologers8. Animal Magnetism9. Visions in the Crystal10. Hydesville and After11. From the Orphic Circle to the Golden Dawn12. The Way to Christ13. Rosicrucian Pretenders14. Enter Madame Blavatsky15. Wisdom from the East16. The Hermetic Reaction17. The Parting of East and WestAppendix A Letter from Rammohun Roy to Robert Dale OwenAppendix B Letter from Hargrave Jennings to Bulwer-LyttonNotesBibliography of Works CitedIndex

Joscelyn Godwin is a Professor at Colgate University. His previous works include Arktos; Robert Fludd; Athanasius Kircher; Mystery Religions in the Ancient World; Harmonies of Heaven and Earth; The Mystery of the Seven Vowels; and L'Ésotérisme musical en France.

"As in all his former books, Godwin's style is not only elegant but clear and understandable. It lends itself to a pleasant reading by any person who, though being a layman in the field, has a minimal breadth of culture." — Antoine Faivre, Sorbonne"This is a wonderful work: witty, charming, erudite, profound. It demonstrates on the basis of extraordinary research and scholarship that the theosophical, spiritualist, and esoteric movements of the nineteenth century were significant in many ways we are only now in a position to realize." — Christopher Bamford, Lindisfarne Press

• List of IllustrationsPreface1. The Worship of the Generative Powers2. The Cult of the Sun3. The Blasphemers4. The Shoemaker and the Squire5. Magicians and Revolutionaries6. Neophytes and Initiates7. Artists and Astrologers8. Animal Magnetism9. Visions in the Crystal10. Hydesville and After11. From the Orphic Circle to the Golden Dawn12. The Way to Christ13. Rosicrucian Pretenders14. Enter Madame Blavatsky15. Wisdom from the East16. The Hermetic Reaction17. The Parting of East and WestAppendix A Letter from Rammohun Roy to Robert Dale OwenAppendix B Letter from Hargrave Jennings to Bulwer-LyttonNotesBibliography of Works CitedIndex