A Science for the Soul: Occultism and the Genesis of the German Modern
376
A Science for the Soul: Occultism and the Genesis of the German Modern
376Hardcover
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Overview
In A Science for the Soul, historian Corinna Treitel explores the appeal and significance of German occultism in all its varieties between the 1870s and the 1940s, locating its dynamism in the nation's struggle with modernization and the public's dissatisfaction with scientific materialism. Occultism, Treitel notes, served as a bridge between traditional religious beliefs and the values of an increasingly scientific, secular, and liberal society. Drawing on a wealth of archival materials, Treitel describes the individuals and groups who participated in the occult movement, reconstructs their organizational history, and examines the economic and social factors responsible for their success.
Building on this foundation, Treitel turns to the question of how Germans used the occult in three realms of practice: Theosophy, where occult studies were used to achieve spiritual enlightenment; the arts, where occult states of consciousness fueled the creative process of avant-garde painters, writers, and dancers; and the applied sciences, where professionals in psychology, law enforcement, engineering, and medicine employed occult techniques to solve characteristic problems of modernity. In conclusion, Treitel considers the conflicting meanings occultism held for contemporaries by focusing on the anti-spiritualist campaigns mounted by the national press, the Protestant and Catholic Churches, local and national governments, and the Nazi regime, which after years of alternating between affinity and antipathy for occultism, finally crushed the movement by 1945.
Throughout, A Science for the Soul examines German occultism in its broadest cultural setting as a key aspect of German modernism, offering new insights into how Germans met the challenge of pursuing meaningful lives in the modern age.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780801878121 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Johns Hopkins University Press |
| Publication date: | 04/20/2004 |
| Pages: | 376 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.22(d) |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Table of Contents
List of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsPart I: The Occult in ContextChapter 1. The Lure of the PsycheChapter 2. A Psychological Point of ViewChapter 3. The Occult PublicPart II: The Occult in ActionChapter 4. Varieties of Theosophical ExperienceChapter 5. The Creative UnconsciousChapter 6. Occult Sciences and Their Applied DoublesPart III: Policing the OccultChapter 7. The Crime of Anna RotheChapter 8. Between Church and StateChapter 9. The Spectrum of Nazi ResponsesConclusion: A Voice from the Beyond?AppendixesNotesSelected BibliographyNames IndexSubject IndexWhat People are Saying About This
Corinna Treitel's A Science for the Soul is perhaps the most daring and innovative study in modern German cultural history since David Blackbourn's Marpingen. Challenging entrenched myths about occultism's embeddedness in völkisch and anti-modern thought, Treitel shows that the occult sciences were, in fact, comfortably at home in the essentially liberal, consumerist Wilhelmine Empire and played an important role in Germans' adjustment to the modern world. This highly significant insight is supported by research that is both deep and wide-ranging, as the author moves from private séances to university laboratories, from the market for horoscopes to the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke.
— Suzanne Marchand, Louisiana State University
An original and substantial contribution to the field of modern German—and European—cultural and social history. Corinna Treitel's scholarship is sound, her sources extensive and appropriate, and her writing clear and concise.
— Geoffrey Cocks, Albion College
Corinna Treitel's A Science for the Soul is perhaps the most daring and innovative study in modern German cultural history since David Blackbourn's Marpingen. Challenging entrenched myths about occultism's embeddedness in völkisch and anti-modern thought, Treitel shows that the occult sciences were, in fact, comfortably at home in the essentially liberal, consumerist Wilhelmine Empire and played an important role in Germans' adjustment to the modern world. This highly significant insight is supported by research that is both deep and wide-ranging, as the author moves from private séances to university laboratories, from the market for horoscopes to the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke.—Suzanne Marchand, Louisiana State University
An original and substantial contribution to the field of modern German—and European—cultural and social history. Corinna Treitel's scholarship is sound, her sources extensive and appropriate, and her writing clear and concise.—Geoffrey Cocks, Albion College