Book Report: Occult Underground & Establishment, part 2 of 3

[Earl Wajenberg]

Here is a short outline of "The Occult Underground," based on the table
of contents:

Introduction: The Flight From Reason

This contains the thesis statement and defintions of "private" terms I
have outlined in my first post. It also contains hedges. Webb knows full
well, for instance, that the "Age of Reason" had weird ideas and
superstitions, and the "Age of the Irrational" had plenty of logic and
scientolatry.

Chapter 1: The Necromancers

This describes the origins of mediumship and interest in spiritualism,
including Spiritualism proper and the career of the famous/notorious Fox
sisters, who invented table-rapping; the Swedenborg Church; and the
Society of Psychical Research.

Chapter 2: Babel

This describes the interest, attractions, repulsions, and confusions in
the West that resulted from exposure to Hinduism, Buddhism, and other
high religions of the East. It examines the considerable role of
oriental thought in western occultism; the origins of Baha'i; and the
Parliament of Religions at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, where the
interest and confusion were particularly evident.

Chapter 3: The Masters and the Messiah

This is concerned with the origins of Theosophy, a major force in 19th-
and 20th-century occultism. It gives a delightful precis of the colorful
(to say the least) career of Mme. H. P. Blavatsky, the founder of
Theosophy, and of other Theosophical notables, such as Annie Besant
(successor to Blavatsky), Rev. C. W. Leadbeater (famous for observations
of auras and "thought-forms"), Rudolf Steiner (one-time Theosophist and
founder of the rival sect of Anthroposophy), and Krishnamurti (an Indian
chosen as a child by Besant as the incarnation of Maitreya, the next
Buddha, which position he later publically renounced).

Chapter 4: The Lord's Anointed

This chapter describes the interactions between Christianity and
occultism -- other than simple emnity. This includes the millenialist
groups like the Millerites and their successors, Seventh-Day Adventists
and Jehovah's Witnesses; the Mormons; the Christian Scientists; a small
Counter-Reformation Part II in extremist Anglo-Catholic circles; and the
vision-laden, conspiracy-hunting, semi-Catholic sect of the French
Vintrasians. Much of the American activity started up in the
"burned-over region," an area of upper New York state once famous for
traveling revivalists. Please note that most of these Christian
"occultisms" do not entail spell-casting or seances. This illustrates
Webb's wider use of the term "occult" as "rejected knowledge" -- in this
case, rejected revelations or doctrines.

Chapter 5: Visions of Heaven and Hell

This chapter describes the role of occultism in the artistic community,
focusing on "Bohemia" in late 19th-century Paris. This is a particularly
juicy chapter, full of colorful characters. Webb divides the artists,
particularly the authors, into two camps -- aesthetes and
_poetes_maudites_ ("accursed poets," their own phrase). Both reacted
against the naturalism of Established art. Aesthetes searched for an
ideal beauty beyond the limits of nature. _Poetes_maudites_ sought to
plumb the depths of experience in their search for wisdom, and I do mean
depths. (They produced scandalous novels about depravity, like "La Bas"
by the Abbe Boullan.) One of the leading aesthetes was Josephin Peladan,
who proclaimed himself "Sar Merodach," and a sort of archbishop of an
order of Catholic mage-artists (founded by himself). Accursed poets
include J. K. Huysmans and (I think) Baudelaire.

Chapter 6: Secret Traditions

This chapter is much more generally historical than the rest of the
book. It examines the ancient sources that contributed to "the
Tradition," by which Webb means the body of lore that occultists largely
draw on. These include Neo-Platonism, Gnosticism, Hermetism, and the
mystery religions. While not wanting to push the idea too far, Webb
assigns Plato as the patron saint of the occultists, versus Aristotle as
the patron saint of the Establishment intelligensia. Stirring up and
confusing this semi-coherent body of ancient lore is a large dollop of
rejected science that started accumulating back in the 18th century.

Chapter 7: An Anatomy of Souls

This chapter examines the opening moves of the occultic revival in the
19th century. It seems to start with the partition of Poland and the
scattering of Polish refugees all over Europe. Some of these refugees
appear to have been occultists, and brought the Traditions (as outlined
in the previous chapter) to France, where French occultists had been
subsisting on Mesmerism and second-hand Hinduism. The chapter also
describes the career of Eliphas Levi, a founding father of modern
occultism.

Chapter 8: The Spiritual in Politics

This follows closely on the theme of the previous chapter. The occultist
accompaniment to liberal protests over the treatment of Poland went on
amid grandiose political fevering about Poland being a "Christ-nation"
crucified for the sins of other nations, and the second coming of
Napoleon. Others put up France up as the "Christ-nation," crucified at
Waterloo. Seers claimed that Louis XVII had not died as a child in the
Terror, but (rather like Anastasia and Elvis) was still around;
pretenders, of course, were plentiful and colorful. More immediately
interesting, Webb claims that the Irish sense of national identity was
*created* by W. B. Yeats, James Morgan Pryse, and other poetic
occultists. He compares this to a less successful attempt to promote
Scottish home rule.

Chapter 9: The Two Realities

In this summing-up chapter, Webb points out the natural affinity
occultism has for other anti-Establishment and revolutionary movements.
One such companion is that flavor of nationalism that sees the Nation as
a metaphysical being greater and realer than the individuals in its
population. Another natural ally is any ideology held with the force of
a religion. The common denominator to all such things is an idealist
temper, subordinating the material world to an immaterial scheme,
whether that scheme be magical, biological, or social. This is a theme
he enlarges on in the next book.

Earl