I was under the weather the entire first week of july, so i spent july 4 in bed, reading this book by mitch horowitz. From its earliest days, america served as an arena for the revolutions in alternative spirituality that eventually swept. The secret history of how mysticism shaped our nation hardcover uk mitch horowitz is the editorinchief of tarcherpenguin and the author of the occult america. In keeping with the books title, horowitz chronicles the history of the occult in america.
Greg kaminsky in conversation with mitch horowitz about his book occult america. Oct 24, 2016 the best praise i can give occult america by mitch horowitz is that its a difficult book to put down. It touched lives as disparate as those of frederick douglass, frank. Oct 30, 20 michael cross, author of the freedom from conscience book series and host of ucys unlock the door radio show interviews mitch horowitz on americas occult history. The endtime occult invasion, david benoit and i drew from nearly 50 years of combined ministry experience often dealing with new age spiritualism, witchcraft and overt occultism. Mitch is the editorinchief of tarcherpeguin in new york and has appeared previously in podcast 21, podcast 42 the life and w.
The occult and satanism in america the american tfp. The allseeing eye and broken pyramid on the back of the dollar bill is a masonic image, placed there in 1935 by president franklin d. Download occult america or read occult america online books in pdf, epub and mobi format. Its authors examine such diverse and facinating subjects as witchcraft in 17th century new england, occult religion among 18th century black slaves, 19th century spiritualism, the impact of the occult on mormonism and christian science, feminist perspectives on.
His previous book, occult america bantam, received the 2010 pen oaklandjosephine miles award for literary excellence. Sep 20, 2009 an excerpt from the book occult america, by mitch horowitz. Mitch horowitz is an american writer in occult and esoteric themes. While this book was informative on various periods of the occult, it was not the concise history that it had lent itself to be. Its impossible to separate strangeness from american history and thats a good thing to remember on occult day. Occult america the secret history of how mysticism shaped our nation book. Published in 2009, occult america is an entertaining survey of a variety of occult religious trends that blossomed over three centuries of american history. White house seances, ouija circles, masons, and the secret mystic history of our. The secret history of how mysticism shaped our nation bantam, september 2009, called a fascinating book by ken burns and extraordinary by deepak chopra. We are pleased to welcome mitch horowitz as the august 2009 author of the month. The preface and chapter one were written by harshbarger. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets.
This book is a delightfully original tour through american history, as seen. Library journal one of the best recent books on patterns of belief. He recounts the history in a series of stories, generally chronological, that include the ouija and the selling of spiritualism the mailorder prophet, the rise of magic in afro america, the return of the secret teachings, politics and the occult during the new deal, secrets for sale, and aquarius rising at the dawn of the new age. The chapters in this book seemed like it might have been dull, but it was not. Occult america wasnt quite the book i expected, but i enjoyed it all the same. Note if the content not found, you must refresh this page manually. Cults, conspiracies, and secret societies by arthur goldwag covers more material but is not quite as indepth. It covers in depth the renaissance of mysticism in america in the 20th century, concentrating on the personalities behind a range of. Chapter xiisatan in the suburbs, pages 241 249 section concerning anton lavey and the church of satan all you have to do is ring a certain san francisco telephone number and wait until a chirpy secretarial voice at the other end says, good morning. Esoteric philosophies and personasfrom freemasonry to spiritualism, from madame h. White house seances, ouija circles, masons, and the secret mystic. The secret history of how mysticism shaped our nation published by bantam books.
Each week, our editors select the one author and one book they believe to be most worthy of your attention and highlight them in our pro connect email alert. Click download or read online button to get occult america book now. These beliefs include theosophy, alchemy, hoodoovoodoo theres a major difference, and new thought. It is meant to raise awareness regarding the growing popularity of the occult and satanism in america, its threat to our children and how society is being transformed to be more accepting of the devil.
A feast for believers in alternative spirituality, an eyeopener for anyone curious about the unknown byroads of american history,occult americais an engaging. The secret history of how mysticism shaped our nation bantam, 2009 2010. The book received the 2010 pen oakland josephine miles award. White house seances, ouija circles, masons, and the secret mystic history of our nation. You carry an occult symbol in your pocket every day. Occult america makes a persuasive argument that many of these movements were closely linked with womens suffrage, abolitionists, and other progressive causes, and that as a result they had a substantial impact on the development of this countrys values, politics, and government. The word occult, as we point out on our homepage, simply means hidden. A spiritual resource since 1918 the occult book store. Thanks to him, he reveals america has more mysterious origins beyond our limited imaginations. Tarcherpenguin editor in chief and metaphysical enthusiast horowitz charts the movement of mystical philosophies from their origins in the late 1600s. The secret history of how mysticism shaped our nation by mitch horowitz. In podcast episode 70, our good friend mitch horowitz returns to discuss his excellent book, occult america.
The secret history of america expands on that legacy, offering a collection of halls works from books and journals to transcriptions of his. From the meaning of the symbols on the onedollar bill to the origins of the ouija board,occult america briskly sweeps from the nations earliest days of mystical and esoteric movements to the birth of the new age era, tracing the many people and episodes that continue to exert such a powerful. Occult america fills a gap in the knowledge of religion for most people. Topics include free masonry, the mormon church, spiritualism, mesmerism, mediums, hoodoo and voodoo, norman vincent peale and the power of positive thinking, rhonda byrne and the secret and other subjects that can loosely be grouped. It is also somewhat juicier and written from a more esoteric perspective. The same definition applies to occult truthknowledge and wisdom which is not visibly apparent. We are a pantraditional team focused on preserving the wisdom of the masters and keeping the knowledge of the ancient mysteries intact, including initiatory experience in. Get cozy and expand your home library with a large online selection of books at. Nonetheless, we still say that the bible is an occult book. Hall 19011990 is one of the most significant names in the study of the esoteric, symbolic, and occult. He has recently seen a re typesetting and correction of the occult classic the kybilion and the publishing of master of the mysteries. Oct 29, 2015 this articlereport is based on studies by the author as well as an interview with exsatanist zachary king. The best praise i can give occult america by mitch horowitz is that its a difficult book to put down. The secret history of how mysticism shaped our nation bantam, september 2009, called a fascinating book by ken burns and extraordinary.
He is the former editorinchief of tarcherpenguin in new york city. This articlereport is based on studies by the author as well as an interview with exsatanist zachary king. Even to someone well versed in occult history, there was a wealth of information explored very intimately here. He recounts the history in a series of stories, generally chronological, that include the ouija and the selling of spiritualism the mailorder prophet, the rise of magic in afroamerica, the return of the secret teachings, politics and the occult during the new deal, secrets for sale, and aquarius rising at the dawn of the new age. He has recently seen a re typesetting and correction of the occult classic the kybilion and the publishing of master of the mysteries a biography of manley p. Fortean times a fantastic tour guide to the fringes of reason, high weirdness, deep esoterica, secret societies, and mystery religions. Occult america the secret history of how mysticism shaped our nation by mitch horowitz, hands down is one of my favorite 2009 reads. White house seances, ouija circles, masons, and the secret mystic history of our nation horowitz, mitch on. Horowitzs casts such a wide net with his subjects that most are regulated to a cold recitation of their first publication occult experience, major events of their. Mitch horowitz is a historian of alternative spirituality and one of todays most literate voices of esoterica, mysticism, and the occult mitch illuminates outsider history, explains its relevance to contemporary life, and reveals the longstanding quest to bring empowerment and agency to the human condition. The author, mitch horowitz is was the chief editor of penguintarcher. Apr 29, 2017 the mistake of many preachers such as peale is an admixture of occult principles of an inner godlike force with sincere christianity no one doubts the good intentions. The occult in america is the first book to deal with the full chronological range of america s 300year experience with the occult.
In tracking the history of supernatural and mystical religions in america, i explore how occult spirituality travelled from the lateancient world through renaissance europe to find an unlikely. Haphazardly assembled history on the genesis of spirituality and mysticism and its impact on american culture. This is an interesting and nicely sympathetic overview of the popular occult tradition in america, but its covering so much material in such a short space only 250 pages. Downloading these free of charge occult america ebooks might make book publishers sad more than their lost income but they wont send an armada of lawyers right after. Read occult america white house seances, ouija circles, masons, and the secret mystic history of our nation by mitch horowitz available from rakuten kobo. The secret history of how mysticism shaped our nation 9780553806755 by horowitz, mitch and a great selection of similar new, used and collectible books available now at great prices. Occult america john godwin this is a book about the american world of the supernatural. Its rather a series of essays on different aspects of the occult in america over time, without really connecting the periods of showing the evolution of thought regarding the occult. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading occult america. Occult america looks at the history of the occult and mysticism in the us from colonial times to the present. An excerpt from the book occult america, by mitch horowitz. Occult america book notes 7152018 book notes, books rough drafts.
America has provided fertile ground for alternative spirituality, particularly the form known as occult, whose american leaders, unlike their. Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers. Sep 08, 2009 in podcast episode 70, our good friend mitch horowitz returns to discuss his excellent book, occult america. What other book might you compare occult america to and why. Mitch horowitz is the editorinchief of tarcherpenguin and the author of the occult america. Occult america is a serious, wideranging study of all the magical, mystical, and spiritual movements that have arisen and influenced american history in oftensurprising ways. The secret history of how mysticism shaped our nation seems to be a very well researched book, but the writing comes off heavyhanded, like students research paper. The universal friend the dreamers and planners who flourished along the psychic highway seemed to relish splitting apart orthodoxies, remaking christianity as a new source of mystery and magic. The mistake of many preachers such as peale is an admixture of occult principles of an inner godlike force with sincere christianity no one doubts the good intentions. The secret history of how mysticism shaped our nation. Blavatsky to edgar caycedramatically altered the nations culture, politics, and religion. His legendary book the secret teachings of all ages has been an underground classic since its publication in 1928. These are issues that occasionally make the most alert christian uncomfortable and the unaware simply cringe. Mitch received the 2019 walden award for interfaithintercultural understanding.
Mitch horowitz composed occult america as an overview of alternative spiritualities rising in early america, not glorified conspiracy porn i tend to read those anyway. Other chapters were written by those who went through differing yet similar experiences with the occult in america. Released in september 2012, the book is a collection of accounts from christians once involved in some branch of occult practice. Michael cross, author of the freedom from conscience book series and host of ucys unlock the door radio show interviews mitch horowitz on. From its earliest days, america served as an arena for the revolutions in alternative spirituality that eventually swept the globe. It was a key facet of the occult and metaphysical mindset being born in america.
Mitch horowitz is a historian of alternative spirituality and one of todays most literate voices of esoterica, mysticism, and the occult mitch illuminates outsider history, explains its relevance to contemporary life, and reveals the longstanding quest to bring. Opening a new window on the past, occult america presents a dramatic, pioneering study of the esoteric undercurrents of our history and their. Occult america ebook by mitch horowitz rakuten kobo. Every person on the occult bookstore staff is a skilled and experienced practitioner on the path of spirituality. Sep 16, 2009 you carry an occult symbol in your pocket every day. It is in this correct sense that the word is used by doctors to describe blood that is not visibly apparent.
An essential book for occult poets, described by graves as a historical grammar of. Oct 27, 2018 read occult america if you enjoy dabbling in occult studies. White house seances, ouija circles, masons, and the secret mystic history of our nation kindle edition by horowitz, mitch. His previous book, occult america bantam, received the 2010 pen oakland josephine miles award for literary excellence. If you havent noticed already, occult imagery is all.
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