The Foundations of Re-Enchantment: Freemasonry, Theosophy, and the Occult Revival

In 1875, in a small apartment in New York City, a handful of freemasons and spiritualists met in secret. After hours spent debating advances in science and the spiritual mysteries of the Orient, the assembled guests settled on an idea. What the 19th century needed most, they concluded, was an institution dedicated to exploring the untamed borderlands between scientific and religious thought. Two weeks later, the Theosophical Society was born, inspiring a trans-continental occult revival tha...