Solomon's Secret Arts
The Occult in the Age of Enlightenment
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- $40.99
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- $40.99
Publisher Description
The late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are known as the Age of Enlightenment, a time of science and reason. But in this illuminating book, Paul Monod reveals the surprising extent to which Newton, Boyle, Locke, and other giants of rational thought and empiricism also embraced the spiritual, the magical, and the occult. Although public acceptance of occult and magical practices waxed and waned during this period they survived underground, experiencing a considerable revival in the mid-eighteenth century with the rise of new antiestablishment religious denominations. The occult spilled over into politics with the radicalism of the French Revolution and into literature in early Romanticism. Even when official disapproval was at its strongest, the evidence points to a growing audience for occult publications as well as to subversive popular enthusiasm. Ultimately, finds Monod, the occult was not discarded in favor of “reason” but was incorporated into new forms of learning. In that sense, the occult is part of the modern world, not simply a relic of an unenlightened past, and is still with us today.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Despite being known as an era which valued science and reason, the Enlightenment, argues Monod, did not totally eradicate belief in the magical, mystical, and the occult. The Middlebury College histo-ry professor examines the popularity of occult philosophical beliefs and practices such as astrology, alchemy, ritual magic, and witchcraft, demonstrating not just the ways the occult survived the Enlight-enment in Britain, but also its influence over some of the era's rational thinkers like Boyle and New-ton. Throughout the period, the occult's pervasiveness, or lack thereof, was defined by its association with popular superstition and its attendant social acceptability. As Monod successfully demonstrates, interest in the occult did not disappear, but continuously underwent changes in response to the times, becoming less of a science primed for new discoveries than a focus of academic interest. His impres-sively thorough research delves into both contemporary studies and primary sources to reveal these influences, focusing primarily on intellectual pursuits into the occult (rather than vernacular). Monod's text will primarily be used by students and academics, but for such a definitive document of its materi-al, it is surprisingly accessible for those with an interest, but no academic background, in the subject.
